Sometimes, it feels like the people in biblical times had an inside scoop on faith and spirituality. We imagine that walking with Jesus and witnessing the events of his life, firsthand, would make us feel closer to Him. Yet often those people we envy are anything but models of faith. The disciples, for instance, astound us with their confusion, resistance, and lack of trust. There’s an important reason why. We need revelation more than we need experience. Take the episode of Jesus walking on the water. If we were there, it would have been memorable. But we may not have heard everything. We may not have understood everything. And even if we saw and heard everything, we may not have known what to make of it. We have something better than a view of this event, sitting by the 1st c. Sea of Galilee. We have revelation. God has given us in the gospels perfect accounts, not only recording the necessary historical details but giving us an authoritative interpretation of what we’re supposed to learn from them. Understanding this helps us to know how to read them.
On Sunday, we were away in Brampton serving at Bramalea Baptist’s missions conference. I preached and Jennifer sang in their morning services and Jennifer sang again in the evening at their short-term mission fundraising event. The reason for our involvement was their Japan focus. Specifically, they’re sending two teams to Japan to serve in two cities with which I have a deep connection. The first, Toyama, was the place where I was baptized and served initially teaching English as a new believer and recent university graduate. The second, Tsukuba, was where Jennifer and I served to plant a church. It’s exciting to see God continuing to raise up people to support the work of the gospel in these two cities.
There were three take-aways for me from the day of ministry.
Last week, I attended the regional conference of The Fellowship. Sam Allberry, of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, spoke in four sessions on, “Jesus, Sexuality and The Good News of the Gospel.” About the same time that he began to investigate Jesus and the Bible, Sam began to realize that he was attracted to men. He ended up trusting Jesus and developed deeply held biblical convictions that led him to a life of celibacy. Now an Oxford-trained pastor and author of “Is God Anti-Gay?” he is often invited to speak at conferences and universities on issues related to Christian sexuality. Regularly speaking in front of people from the LGBT community, Sam has learned to not only articulate Scripture, but to do so with love, compassion and sensitivity. Let me share some of what I learned.
Jesus said that the Scriptures pointed to Him but for a long time, I wasn’t sure how. It seemed as if the Bible mostly told stories about people like Noah, Moses, and David. How could they also be speaking of Jesus? I came to learn that one of the ways that the Old Testament points to Jesus is by laying down patterns that foreshadow Him. Those parallels can be seen clearly in the account of Daniel in the lion’s den.
I was someone who avoided the Psalms. I couldn’t figure out what to do with them. They don’t contain great stories or many commands, principles, or warnings. And there’s lots of repetition and emotion that feels like it gets in the way while you’re reading. But as I’ve continued to learn about them, I can now say that I love the Psalms. Let me share three things that helped me along the way.
People often assume that the temple is just an Old Testament church and essentially the same as the building Christians go to on Sunday, or they think it’s so foreign to their experience that they can’t relate to it at all. The temple is such a prominent theme in Scripture that having a sense of what it means and why it’s so significant helps in understanding the Bible's message.
Almost everybody has heard of the story of David and Goliath. It’s so well known that it’s become part of the English vocabulary and a way of referring to any showdown involving an underdog facing insurmountable odds. But what is the story about? What does it mean? And how do we apply its message? Getting these questions right can help open up our understanding of many other parts of Scripture. Let’s consider the message as it’s told in 1 Samuel 17.
We love biographies of successful business people, great inventors, and glamorous celebrities. When we read stories about people in the Bible, we tend to read them in the same way. We assume that the central figure must be a hero, and we look for ways to imitate them. But that usually isn’t a great strategy.
Most people read the Bible for practical principles and spiritual encouragement. When you come to a section like the plagues of Egypt, you find neither. How are you supposed to read sections like this and what can you learn from them?
There are some great stories in the Bible. And there are some important life lessons. For many people, the life of Joseph is one of their favourite portions of Scripture. We learn about God’s presence in conflict, how He shapes us through adversity, and the power of forgiveness. The biblical account seems ready-made for a biography. And it can be profitably enjoyed at this level. But if that’s our grid for reading all of Scripture, there will be many things that don’t make sense and we can miss some important truths that God is trying to communicate to us. As you grow in your reading of Scripture, it’s helpful to look for the ‘big story’ even as you’re enjoying the ‘little stories.’ The big story is the overarching story that often can be traced through a book of the Bible as well as the entirety of the Scriptures. Let me explain how this works with the story of Joseph.
