Line Upon Line

 "To whom will (the LORD) teach knowledge, and to whom will he explain the message?  Those who are weaned from the milk, those taken from the breast?  For it is precept upon precept... line upon line... here a little, there a little.  Is. 28:9-10

The spiritual man can not become mature by studying a passage of scripture once and forming an opinion on it.  It does not matter how many scholarly books he reads or how many sermons he has heard. He can not form a lasting doctrine to use every time the passage comes up in a Bible study or theological discussion.  It becomes dangerous when every time we read the Bible, we depend on dusty old interpretations we learned from confirmation class or Sunday school etc.  Study of the Word of God is a life long pursuit where your perspective must change as you grow in Christ.

My understanding of  scripture has developed over many years of constant study.  I have gone through seasons where I used one translation, then switched to another.  When I read the Bible through in one year (which I have done several times) I don't always read it in the same sequence of books.  Sometimes I read while also studying the context of the Hebrew customs or political climate of the time the book was written.  This past year I started looking up some words in the original Greek and Hebrew.  Presently, I am learning to read Hebrew so that I can get into the etymology of key words.  The one thing I always try to do when studying the Word is to read, think about it, apply it to my life, evaluate, read, think, apply, evaluate: over and over.

Many of my ideas have changed over these 40 years.  Like Paul, I know in part.  When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.  Now that I am older I am not so judgmental of the Hebrew slaves when they complained in the desert.  I am a little more thoughtful about acting like Elijah on the mountain with the Baal worshipers or like Jesus over-turning tables in the temple (sure, what they did looks cool but it takes guts to do what they did in the presence of so many who are enjoying their idol worship).

Many Biblical passages are very hard to understand.  Hebrews 5:1-10 is an example, especially verses 7 and 8:
     For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.  He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward since he himself is beset with weakness.  Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people.  And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was.
     So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest but was appointed by him who said to him, "You are my Son, today I have begotten you"' as he says also in another place, "You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek."  In the days of his flesh, "Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.  Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.  And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

  The writer of Hebrews goes on in verses 11ff to say you need far greater understanding of the nature of God in order to catch what he is talking about.  The words and commandments that God has given us must be on our hearts.  We must teach them diligently to our children, and talk of them when we sit in our house and when we walk by the way, when we lie down and when we rise.   We must bind them as a sign on our hands and they shall be in our minds (Deut. 6:6-8).

If we are not careful to study diligently the Word of God, we will find that He surprises us at "the Second Coming" because He will not come as we expect.