Meditating on God’s word is an ancient command and tradition. Joshua 1:8:

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

Of course, not everyone during Joshua’s time, or even Christ’s time would have access to their own personal copies of the scripture. The idea was that they would know it and remember it. It would be a constant reminder to them.

Today, we have the same need and command to remember God’s word. And our memory hasn’t gotten any better. In fact, with the instant nature of the internet and entertainment, it’s probably gotten worse.

This is why, even though actually reading the bible every day is not exactly a biblical command, we should do it daily. With our plethora of resources, it’s likely the best way we can fulfill the commands to remember God’s word.

There’s just no good excuse not to.

One of my favorite passages of scripture is when, to Mary and Martha’s dismay, Jesus allows Lazarus to die (John 11:1-16). I love it because it’s one of the clearest places in the Bible where God’s purpose and man’s happiness collide. For the sake of God’s glory, Jesus would allow Mary and Martha and Lazarus to suffer deep remorse, for a time, so that his glory would be seen.

Within that passage though, there is a very brief quotation from Jesus that always gives me chills. I’m not sure exactly why. It comes right before Jesus and his disciples finally leave for Lazarus’ grave. John 11:11:

“Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.”

To everyone else, Lazarus was absolutely dead. But before this ever happened, Jesus knew that he would be going to restore him to life. For sinners who don’t yet know Jesus, the bible describes them as ‘dead’ spiritually. For all intents and purposes they are just that. But those who will believe, Jesus knows. From his perspective, they are like Lazarus. Merely asleep, waiting to be awakened.

The classic puritan Christian, Thomas Watson, eloquently shares his thoughts on the tension between the heart and the mind.

"The bare knowledge of God’s will is inefficacious, it doth not better the heart. Knowledge alone is like a winter sun, which hath no heat or influence; it doth not warm the affections, or purify the conscience. Judas was a great luminary, he knew God’s will, but he was a traitor."

“Knowledge alone is like a winter sun…” Superb. The sun is always hot, but its heat is not appreciated under a blanket of frozen water. Much like our minds, when filled with heat radiating knowledge of God and his word—it can’t do anything for an icy heart.

Thomas Watson affirms that both must be working for spiritual prosperity.

Since I became a Christian, one verse has always stuck out to me as strange and even somewhat comical. The verse in mind is Proverbs 26:13:

The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road!
  There is a lion in the streets!”

Like much of Proverbs, this is just one in a long line of punchy, biblical one-liners of wisdom. So the context doesn’t do much to explain this verses meaning. So, when you read all on its own, it sounds, well, a little nuts.

But, recently I’ve come to find this has quite a lot of meaning to me.

I often make excuses not to do the difficult things I want to do, or should do, or need to do. Instead, inaction is vindicated by pointing out all the dangers along the path ahead of me. Of course, the actions are not truly vindicated—I’m left as a ‘sluggard’ for my inaction.

I think it’s interesting that this verse doesn’t make any commands. It only points out that making excuses makes us something we don’t want to be. And what’s worse, really?

As a younger reader of the bible, I used to think about the people who witnessed Jesus’ miracles. It seemed to me that they had an unfair advantage over people today. After all, who could argue with seeing someone raised from the dead? Yet, people today can only read about it.

But, as I grew into a better understanding of ‘destiny’, I also grew to understand that there are some people that will simply remain slaves to their own devices and will not believe, no matter what they see or hear.

That’s at least part of the idea I find in Jesus’ parable of Lazarus and the rich man. Lazarus was poor and hungry and he longed for the scraps off the rich man’s table. The rich man refused and eventually Lazarus died. Then some time later, the rich man did as well. Lazarus was ushered into paradise, while the rich man condemned to hell.

The parable goes that the rich man, from hell, calls out to Abraham who he sees far off in the distance. He asks him to send Lazarus to his brothers to warn them so that they wouldn’t suffer the same fate. Abraham’s answer may not be what we wanted to hear, but it’s the reality we live in:

"[The rich man asked], ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ ‘No, father Abraham,’ [the rich man] said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ [Abraham] said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ “

Of course, we can’t know who those people are, so in the details, it’s a somewhat moot talking point. However, if we have already believed, this is only more reason to thank God that we have been freed from our own bonds of stubbornness and rebellion.

In the details, it’s fairly original. But zoom out and see the bigger picture, and the new NBC show Kings is clearly none other than the biblical story of Saul and David found in the books my the same name: Kings.

I know this isn’t an entertainment blog, but after watching the first few episodes tonight, I’ve got to say it’s one of the most entertaining dramas I’ve seen on TV since Lost or Heroes. And as a Christian I find it compelling to watch corporate America’s take on the biblical events.

The story is about literal Kings—like in the political sense. But, with the twist that its set in the 21st century as we know it today. It makes for some interesting story telling. And like I said, it’s only really in the big picture and major story threads is it the story of David and Saul. In the details and interactions (and in some cases, Characters) the story is totally original.

The acting is interesting. The casting is good. The actors really are the people you might picture when thinking about the biblical story. Especially the actor behind Silas (Saul).

The writing is good too. And, while it’s not necessarily always accurate they often work dialogue into the script directly out of scripture. Most notably when Reverend “Samuels” tells Silas that God is no longer working for him. Yeah, they’re overt about God’s direct involvement in the plot. Also adding an interesting flavor.

Anyway, it’s good TV and you should check it out. It comes on Saturdays at 8:00pm. Or just do it now and watch it on Hulu.

Some friends had a discussion last night about biblical hermeneutics. Biblical hermeneutics is basically the science of interpreting biblical text. It’s the process of going from reading what is written to understanding what is meant. Subconsciously, we do this any time we read anything. It requires a bit more intention when we’re reading a text that’s 1900 years old.

I’m not going to detail on the hermeneutic process that I use. If you want to study that, I’d encourage you to do so. There’s lots good resources available.

What I wanted to mention was one critical part of anyone’s biblical hermeneutic. It’s the piece that ensures we are not the Gnostics from the second and third centuries. I’m speaking of the Single Meaning point of any good biblical hermeneutic. It’s also sometimes called The Single Sense.

The idea is that when the author was writing, he had a single meaning, or sense, in mind. Hermeneutics seeks to discover that meaning. If the author was discussing money, then the meaning has to do with money. If the author was talking about faith, then the meaning has to do with faith. We can’t derive meaning beyond what the author intended.

Of course this varies slightly based on what type of text is being read (i.e., poetry, history, prophecy, etc).

Here’s another explanation:

"The basic meaning of a passage is the single sense evident to any reader who allows the words their ordinary meanings and who expects the grammar and syntax to shape and combine these meanings in a normal fashion. We need not await a mystical revelation of a truer sense dependent on allusions hidden to ordinary readers, the numerical values of letters, esoteric definitions, or other mumbo jumbo. No spiritual application, typological analysis, or theology derived from the text is legitimate unless it is faithful to this single sense. In other words, no larger meaning may be construed which distorts what the words actually say." (a)

Make sense? A lot of people will have problems with this. Bear with me.

A lot of people stop there. Their pursuit of understanding the Word of God stops with the author’s intended meaning. But it shouldn’t. Because while all scripture has a single meaning, it has many applications.

What I mean is this: The implications of the authors meaning will apply to you or your community in many different ways.

The author may be talking about money, but with the guiding of the Holy Spirit, you might find there is an important application about faith there. Or perhaps the author is talking about faith, you may find an important application about your use of money there. These are legitimate applications, although not necessarily the meaning of the verse.

The important thing to remember is that the personal application we receive from scripture will never be entirely different from it’s meaning and absolutely never in contradiction to the whole of scripture. The single meaning becomes the defense against heretical applications.

Christians should be faithful in seeking the single meaning of scripture, and patient and prayerful in waiting for the personal application of it. Both are absolutely essential, but seeking the meaning should always come first.

References:
a. http://www.themoorings.org/doctrine/issues/hermeneutics/intent.html