How To Have A Correct Study Of Scripture.
How To Have A Correct Study Of Scripture.
You must prayerfully study with all your heart, and with all your
soul, and with all your might, if you truly desire to learn His word.
To begin your Search, if you are to find The ETERNAL CREATOR and SOVEREIGN of the Universe, The Ancient of Days, The 'SOVEREIGN' of Abraham, The 'SOVEREIGN' of Isaac and The 'SOVEREIGN' of Jacob, you must first know who HE is:
(Exodus 3:13)[1] (KJV) And Moses said unto 'god', Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The 'god' of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?
(Exodus 3:14) (ALL) And 'god' said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, the ETERNAL hath sent me unto you.
(Exodus 3:15) (ALL) Say to the people of Israel, '(YHWH)', the 'God' of your fathers, the 'God' of Abraham, the 'God' of Isaac and the 'God' of Jacob has sent me to you. This is My name forever and I am to be remembered throughout all generations.
In order to search for the Ancient of Days we must seek Him diligently and if we do seek Him with all of our heart and soul then He has promised us something. There is only one condition the CREATOR has for us to receive this promise. The CREATOR says that we must search for Him with ALL our heart and being. That means that we will not receive His Promise with just a half-hearted search and only obey the Commandments of our choosing. But to receive His Promise, we must search for Him with ALL of our heart. Then the CREATOR says, "you will find Him..." In other words, "we will find the ETERNAL!" To receive the ETERNAL's promises, the conditions have to be fulfilled.
In the following verses the ETERNAL sends a message by Moses for the people to search for the SOVEREIGN and that no matter what conditions they encounter they will find Him:
(Deuteronomy 4:29-35) (NKJV) 29But from there you will seek the ETERNAL your CREATOR, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the ETERNAL your CREATOR and obey His voice 31(for the ETERNAL your CREATOR is a merciful SOVEREIGN), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them. 32For ask now concerning the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that the ETERNAL created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether any great thing like this has happened, or anything like it has been heard. 33Did any people ever hear the voice of the ETERNAL speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live? 34Or did the ETERNAL ever try to go and take for Himself a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the ETERNAL your CREATOR did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35To you it was shown, that you might know that the ETERNAL Himself is SOVEREIGN; there is none other besides Him.
That still holds true for you and me. In fact, to see why you should seek Him, and how we came to be scattered among the nations of the earth as outcasts, read the above chapter in it's entirety (Deuteronomy 4). [Hint: it has to do with worshiping idols, icons, figurines, self-proclaimed, 'saviors', and other 'gods' that the fathers from Adam, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob did not know]. It is very sad that today, we are still doing those very same things. Many years ago I began to doubt the integrity and credibility of the [New Testament]™[2]. Because, no matter how hard I tried, or studied, or prayed to the so-called 'savior', I never felt anything in return. No love. Not even a feeling of well-being. Just deafening silence. I thought, how can this be? I remember I prayed the following prayer:
"I am praying to the CREATOR of the universe, who created mankind in His own image, to The Mighty One that led the Hebrew Children of Israel out of Egypt, who knew Moses face to face (Deuteronomy 34:10). The Mighty One that was a friend to Abraham. The Mighty One that wrestled with Jacob. I do not even know Your Name. Wherever You are and Whoever You are, please reveal Yourself to me. I want to come to know You, and what pleases You so that I may begin to honor You as You wish to be honored. I also want to learn about Your great plan for mankind, and for me, so that I can begin do what is expected of me, so I may be included in that great plan. But most of all, please fill me with your spirit of love, and strengthen me, so that I can come to love You, Your creation, and my fellow human beings, with all of my heart, and with all of my soul, and with all of my might, just as You love us. I thank You for hearing my prayer today, and opening my mind and heart to receive Your truth."
I did not hear any voices or sounds; I did not see any signs or visions. I did not feel any warm fuzzy feelings. But what did happen was quite remarkable. As I started over reading the Hebrew Scriptures [OT] from the beginning, the meaning of things I had read many times before, and mostly ignored, started to jump off the page and into my being with a clarity I had never noticed before. Suddenly I started seeing the Truth! The ETERNAL CREATOR started revealing to my heart and mind, the things He wanted me to know. He cleaned me of the falsehoods I had been taught by attending church. And it felt wonderful. Finally everything had meaning. I knew without doubt that my prayer was being answered. Before each session of study, if you pray for, and thankfully receive the understanding you ask for, it will be given to you. The ETERNAL CREATOR and Mighty One of Israel, your Father, really wants you to have all His knowledge and wisdom. Yes, He has tested me, and is testing me (as He will you), to this very day. I often wondered before I prayed that prayer, "why it never felt real"? However, beginning with that prayer, and His answer, I have read the Hebrew Scriptures [OT] anew. I can now see what they plainly state. I can now completely reject with confidence, the concept of [New Testament]™ vs Old Testament, that the new replaced the old. The Hebrew Scriptures [The Torah and The Tanakh], are NOT outdated or done away with, or 'Nailed To The Cross' as they would have you believe. If the loving CREATOR isn't teaching you, then you are open to being decieved. Try it. It works!
Pray For Understanding Before You Begin To Study.
In order to have understanding we must turn from our iniquities and pray for understanding. The prophet Daniel knew this.
(Daniel 9:13) (NKJV) As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the ETERNAL our SOVEREIGN, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth.
King David gives us an example of praying for understanding:
(Psalms 119:33-34) (NKJV) 33Teach me, O ETERNAL, the way of Your statutes, And I shall keep it to the end. 34Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your Law; indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart.
The coming Mashiach[3] (Messiah) gave us the main clue to gain understanding. We must "observe (do) what we learn from the Law with our whole heart." If you do that the ETERNAL will take notice and open your mind to more understanding.
Dr. James Moffatt translated both the Old Testament and the so-called [New Testament]™. In the "Introduction" to his translation he makes the statement: "The Old Testament is just a collection of religious literature thrown up in the course of the story of the journeys of the Israelites." Dr. Moffatt is educated enough to translate the Hebrew Scriptures, yet he does not understand what they so plainly state; he has no clue. Why? Because he does not take these words to heart to be the words of the CREATOR of the universe and thus does not obey what He writes. Therefore, he has no understanding of the Scriptures.
In addition, a formal education is not needed to understand Scripture for the ETERNAL tells us that His Word is plain, simple to understand, and the meaning is not hidden:
(Proverbs 8:8-9) (NKJV) 8All the words of My mouth are with righteousness; Nothing crooked or perverse is in them. 9They are all plain to him who understands, and right to those who find knowledge.
(Deuteronomy 30:11-12) (NKJV) 11For this Commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. 12It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?'"
Never Accept A Verse Out Of Context.
There is an old saying: "you can prove anything from the 'Bible.'" This is only true if Scriptures are taken out of context and then linked together. The former church I belonged to was a Sabbath-keeping Protestant church that made up many doctrines this way. They would take a verse here and a verse there and somehow put them together. Their explanation for this practice was based in (Isaiah 28:10), "For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little." Now read these verses in context and determine if that is what they really mean.
(Isaiah 28:9-10) (NRSV) 9Whom will he teach knowledge, and to whom will he explain the message? Those who are weaned from milk, those taken from the breast? 10For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.
(Isaiah 28:11-14) (NRSV) 11Truly, with stammering lip and with alien tongue he will speak to this people, 12to whom he has said, "This is rest; give rest to the weary; and this is repose"; yet they would not hear. 13Therefore the word of the ETERNAL will be to them, `Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little;' in order that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken. 14Therefore, hear the Word of the ETERNAL, you scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem.
The very verse that they took out of context to prove that it is okay to take verses out of context, if read in context, proves just the opposite. Verse 13 is the answer. If verses are taken out of context then "they (the people doing it) may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken." Why? Because they are intentionally or unintentionally distorting the actual meaning of what the ETERNAL was telling you in the first place.
Whenever some human quotes a Scripture to you, do not take his word on what he says the verse means. He may be quoting it correctly, but what he says it means may be incorrect. Read the entire context (whole chapter), for yourself to see what the ETERNAL says it means. What it says is what it means. Also, remember that chapter and verse breaks interrupt the story flow and were first introduced by Cardinal Hugo[4] of the church in Rome.
Check The Hebrew Meaning For Controversial Words.
The Greek Septuagint has had a great impact on English translations of the Scriptures. The King James Version contains many mistranslated words that shade the true meaning of a verse. For example:
(Isaiah 7:14) (KJV) Therefore the ETERNAL Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
This is the primary verse upon which the worship of the 'man from Galilee' is based. However, there are two problems with this verse. First, the verse is taken out of context; see (Isaiah 7:10-16)[5]. Second, the verse contains a mistranslated word. The English word "virgin" in this passage comes from the Hebrew word 'almah', Strong's #H5959, and means "young woman of marriageable age, maid, newly married, or damsels". Never in the experience of man, nor in the pages of the Hebrew Scriptures, has a virgin conceived without having had sexual relations with a man. The Hebrew word for 'virgin' with the single actual meaning of "pure and unspotted, as being separated and secluded from intercourse with men" is 'bethuwlah', Strong's #H1330.
As you can see, it is vital that you research The ETERNAL's word with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. This is because many a translation is slanted by the bias of the translater(s), and is NOT the actual transription of what was originally said. However the ETERNAL ensures us that to those who earnestly and diligently seek for Him, He will be found by them:
(Deuteronomy 4:29) (KJV) But if from thence thou shalt seek the ETERNAL thy CREATOR, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul*.
*NOTE: See the full context of the above Scripture, and the final message to the Israelites from Moses here: (Deuteronomy 4:1-40). But it involves more than to just seek Him; you must also apply what He teaches you, and walk in all His ways, and Love Him as He loves you.
The Word of our loving CREATOR is plain and simple to understand, and if you follow these guidelines, you will find this to be a true statement.
Footnotes:
[1] [a] All scriptural links point to the Bible Gateway, A Searchable Online Bible In Over 100 Versions And 50 Languages, located at "BibleGateway.Com", a vast biblical resource containing all the major texts and reference materials useful for in-depth bible studies. Most scriptual quotations are from the (KJV) of the Bible, however versions noted in (parentheses) should also be consulted. [b]All Strong's scriptural references point to the Blue Letter Bible Lexicon, located at "BlueLetterBible.Org", another vast biblical resource which has over 4,000,000 links available, pointing to more than 165,000 pages of concordances, lexicons, dictionaries, commentaries, images, and several Bible versions.
[2] See the article: "[New Testament]™ Credibility".
[3] This is not referring to a 'man from Galilee'. To see who the real Messiah is, please refer to the essay: "Quest for the Messiah"
[4] "Stephen Langton" (Archbishop of Canterbury 1207-1228). Chapters of the Bible: Classically, scrolls of the books of the bible have always been divided by blank spaces at the end (petuhoth) or middle (setumoth) of the lines. However, Langton is believed to be the one who divided the Bible into the standard modern arrangement of chapters. While Cardinal Hugo de Sancto Caro is also known to come up with a systematic division of the Bible (between 1244 and 1248), it is Langton's arrangement of the chapters that remains in use today.
[5] For a fuller explanation see the essay: "Understanding Isaiah 53".