Karl Peters
Well-Known Member
How to understand the Bible. Well, to be honest one must take in the whole counsel of God.
Here is an experiment. Take an extreme view based on one verse or two...now..refute that extreme by finding a verse that seems to contradict it. Do it again and again...until you you have a whole list of seeming contradictions.
To know the truth, even in low resolution form...takes BOTH extremes into account.
The range of our perceptions as humans is very narrow. Dogs can hear things and smell things way beyond the range of humans. Eagles can see much better than we do.
If we can admit that animals are superior to us in many perceptions...then why is it so difficult to consider that the writers of the Bible had far more understanding than we do? Do we limit the smell of dogs to what we can smell? Do we limit eagles to what we can see?
So why do we limit God and those whom He reveals Himself to?
God hates an unjust balance.
"A false balance (moznayim) is abomination to the Lord: but a just weight is his delight." Prov. 11:1
The word for balance in Hebrew means "from ears" (plural) moznayim, which means we have to listen with both ears. Now hardly anyone does this. People will accept a notion of the truth as if truth was the same as facts. We are so used to forming our own opinions we don't realize that facts are only for this temporal world. We need an entirely other means to understand eternal truth. And eternal truth always comes to us as a plurality of seeming contradictions. That's why a balanced view is so important.
Our opinions will lead us astray...every time.
We are not to lean on our own understanding. We will certainly close one of our ears unless we have experienced eternal truth on ITS terms...not ours.
I like the OP though it seems a bit unclear. I thought I might try a clear a few things up.
First is that we are not trying to understand the Bible but rather we need to be trying to understand what God what for us - as in what God wants us to do. So if our opening question thoughts are "How to understand the Bible" - we need better understanding. Like a textbook, the Lord as our Teacher will use the Bible to help us understand, but it is not understanding the textbook that is important but understand what God wants us to do that is important. The first words I hear Him tell me were, "Read Your Bible" so one thing God wants me to do is read my Bible, but that is just one thing and not a primary thing. Life is made up of a whole lot more that reading your Bible!!
Now as for "To know the truth" - well one of the nice pieces of understanding we can get from reading the Bible is that Jesus Christ is the Truth!! So I am not sure what "even low resolution form... takes Both extremes into account" means. Does it mean not seeing Jesus Christ with enough clarity, meaning we need to practice using our spiritual eyes more? Perhaps it means using both our physical eyes and our spiritual eyes. Afterall, God is spirit so if we are going to see the "Truth" Jesus Christ then we are going to be using our spiritual eyes unless He comes in the flesh on to this world again while we are still in the flesh. Maybe the OP is talking about some symbolic meaning of "low resolution". It's written in red in the OP, so it must be important to the OP but is perhaps the most vague part of the OP. So I go with using our spiritual eyes, because the Lord gets on to me for not using my spiritual eyes more. I find it weird to see the Spirit of Jesus next to me in the car while I talk back and forth with Him. He of course is omni-present, so everywhere, but He shows up to our spiritual eyes in places that have meaning for us - like just sitting next to us in the car and talking to us via that small voice of His. So I like the OP, but it is hard to actually tell what the author means?
Then in the OP we see comparisons with how animals hear and perceive compared to us. Obviously with some parabolic meaning, which I like. But as for limiting God and those whom He reveals Himself to, applies strictly to us personally!!!
Maybe that is the point of the OP, to show us that each of us personally limit God in our lives. Yes, that is the case!! We don't use our spiritual senses like we should. I know I don't, and from all I see, only Jesus Christ did and said only what the Father told Him, which is why He alone is called the Word of God and why He alone was found worthy, even in all the heavens. Still that is always a good thing to point out: that we need to all seek Him more in our lives! So I like the OP.
Then it instantly goes into "an unjust balance". The OP covers balance meaning to listen with both ears. It still is not clear what exactly was meant by "both ears". I mean everyone has 2 physical ears - one on each side of the head, and then there is also the physical ears and spiritual ears? And since God made both the heavens and the ear, do we not also have two spiritual ears, one on both sides of our spiritual head" Maybe one to hear the Lord and one to hear the enemy? Some deep spiritual thinking, but also unclear thinking! Maybe it is somewhat cleared up with the "our own opinions" part that comes up afterwards? Perhaps the author of the OP is referring to both ears to mean our thinking verses God's thinking - as is do we just listen to ourselves an our understanding or do we listen to the small voice of the Lord and try to pick up on what He has to say to us?
To me that is the question, and the question that gets at the truth! Since Jesus Christ is the TRUTH, then to get the truth I have to listen to Him and not just lean on my understanding!!! Maybe that is all that really needed to be written in the OP -
So really the OP only needed to ask - Do we listen to Jesus Christ every day called "Today" or not?