Laws of Interpretation
Intro: “That’s your interpretation!” How often has this been said to refute the plain teaching of the Bible when people disagree? The idea is that no one can ever know the true meaning of a passage because it is so vague, ambiguous and open-ended. So called Bible scholars use this approach in convincing us that only they know the truth so we must trust them. Often people at a home Bible study will sit in a circle and each one will share what the passage means to them. The fact is that there is only one interpretation, but many applications. Confusing the two will often lead us to trouble discerning God’s Word.
“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.”
2 Peter 1:20
Hermeneutics – the study of Bible interpretation
3 Basic Methods
Preterist – Prophecies and events in the Bible were fulfilled Historically. This is the basic approach of the Catholic Church and was popularized by Augustine. (City of God).
Literal – The bible is to be understood Literally along with all of its promises and prophecies. This is the basic approach of Evangelicals and Fundamentalists.
Cf. 2 Peter 1:20&21
Allegorical – The words of scripture are only important as they relate the spiritual meaning of a passage containing God’s thoughts and intents. This approach was used by the church fathers at Alexandria. (Clement/Origen) – cf. Mat 16:25-32
The 7 Laws of Interpretation
#1 – Words – should be understood by their plain sense and accepted meaning.
Cf. Rom 3:23, 1 Thes 4:13-18
Note: All of the Laws of Interpretation must be utilized and not just simply using #1. This leads to “ultra-literalism” and can also present difficulty in understanding.
#2 – Historical/Grammatical – I.e. Creation, Adam & Eve, Fall of Man (Gen 1-3)
#3 – Context is King! – I.e., The Bible claims that, “Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Guess who said that! (Gen 3:5). Without understanding of the context, it is impossible to accurately interpret the divine message conveyed by the inspired words.
#4 – Times/Customs – A basic understating of the times and customs is necessary in order to plainly understand what is taking place in a given passage.
Cf. Ruth 4:1-16, Mat 1:18-20
#5 – Writers/Circumstances – It is imperative that we understand who is writing, to whom is it being written, and what is the purpose of the writing. I.e. Acts 2:41-47
#6 – Whole Counsel of God – When determining the mind of God on any given subject, we must first investigate every instance of that subject throughout the entire Bible.
Singularity– A doctrine or belief should not be based on a single or segregated passage of the Scripture without the testimony of every other occurrence in the Bible.
Weight – A plain/clear passage should never be negated by an obscure or unclear passage.
#7 – Law of Double Reference (Near View/Far View) – Interpretation of Bible Prophecy. Prophecy quite often has a “partial” fulfillment in the present or near future and a complete fulfillment in the future afar. Terms such as, “after that, in that day, and at that time” refer to the end times and are understood by the context to refer to the Tribulation and/or Millennial Kingdom. cf. Jer 33:14-16, 30:1-9
Also, Ezek 36:24-30, 37:20-26, 39:25-29, Joel 2:28-32, 3:1-21 and Zeph 1:8