2 Timothy 3:14-4:5; Psalm 119:9-16

The psalmist in our lesson says, “I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.” I think most church people would agree that “not neglecting [God’s] word” is important, but most people would also admit that they do not do it.  Even though the Bible remains the best-selling book of all time, people rarely study what it has to say.  How about you, my friends?  Are you not neglecting God’s word?

Let me offer some advice this morning to those of you who know you need to study scripture and are willing to give it a try.   There are 2 things to remember before we read and study the Bible.   By the way, I talked about this in our Bible Study last year.   

1) There are different ways of thinking/knowing between the East and the West.   The Western way of thinking is: rational, logical, and/or conceptual, while the Eastern way of thinking is: intuitional, perceptive, and/or apprehensive.  Generally speaking, the Western way of thinking is interested in “How-Question,” while the Eastern way of thinking is interested in “Why-Question.”

Since we are raised and educated in the Western culture, we are all familiar with the Western way of thinking.   Even I, who was born and raised in the Eastern country, have a Western eye because the modern educational system of Korea was bench-marketed from Western countries.   

When we read the Bible, we need to read it with an Eastern eye/mind-set.   For example, if we read the creation story in the Genesis with a question like, “How is this possible…  in 6 days?,”  we miss the whole point.   Did you know there are two different creation stories in the Bible?   Yes, two VERY different stories.   They are Genesis 1:1-2:3; and Genesis 2:4-25.   

We can easily find a lot of nonsense in the creation stories in the Genesis if we read these with the Western eyes/mind-set.   Well, let’s try to find some absurdness in these stories right now.   

• If God created from nothingness, who witnessed the whole process?
• The order of creation: Adam (last day) vs.  (first day)?  God created everything else for him.
• Adam and Eve (together) vs.   Adam -> Eve
• Material?  Word (image of God) vs.  Dust from the ground
• They are written as if the earth is the center of the universe.
• River runs against the gravity?  (2:10) etc.

Ok…, then, which is the authentic one?  Chapter 1?  Or, chapter 2?  Question like this is a wrong question.   Why?  (It is wrong) Because the Bible is not a scientific book.   The writers were not interested in giving you a scientific explanation about how the universe was created. 

Then, what is the point? 

The point is that these stories are not about HOW the universe was created.   It is about the Hebrews’ confession of their experience of the world and God:  God is the creator; we are the creatures.   God’s Spirit is the foundation of our being.   Spirit is the breath of life.

The point is… when we read the Scripture, we need to ask what the meaning is.   What is it that the writers try to say here?   Oh..  yeah?  The whole universe was created in a week?  Huh?  That’s not the point.   We need to develop a disciplined eye to find out the meaning of the text.

2) We need to remember that the Bible had been being written for a LONG period of time.   In addition, the Bible consists of all kinds of forms of literature: such as historical description, poem, prophecy, wisdom, myth, folk tale, narrative, parable and so on.   These are all about human experiences.   The Bible is therefore all about people’s experience and their understanding of their world and God.   It is a product of human experience and human history.   

Let me give you an example.   Jeremiah 16:1-4 reads:

Then the word of the LORD came to me: ^“You must not marry and have sons or daughters in this place.”  For this is what the LORD says about the sons and daughters born in this land and about the women who are their mothers and the men who are their fathers: “They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried but will be like dung lying on the ground. They will perish by sword and famine, and their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.”

How do we understand this passage?  Is this still valid?  If, no?  Why not?

This text was written when the Israelites were taken to the Babylon for about 60 years (597-537 BCE).  In this situation, (Babylonian Captivity), Israelites began to marry the natives who were ethnically and religiously different from them.   As a leader of the nation, Jeremiah gave a warning to his people.   His message was: Wait for the nation’s restoration.  Don’t be settled in Babylon; we will return to Zion.  Actually, a brief promise of future restoration follows in the following verses (16:19-20).

So, the point is: The Bible has to be interpreted.   We should not take as it is.   

Another point related to this one is: Bible reading cannot be haphazard.  I remember as a youngster being challenged by one of my friends about the uselessness of Bible reading.  To prove his point, he opened a Bible at random and began to read.  Of course, he had begun right in the middle of a passage which, needless to say, made no sense because he had not begun at the beginning.  No other book could be read that way either.  You cannot simply set your Bible on its spine, let it fall open anywhere, begin reading, and hope to get much out of it.  You need a plan. 

Let me tell you a funny story:

A modern-day Jean Valjean was standing outside of a bakery.   He was very hungry and couldn’t make his mind whether to steal a loaf of bread or not.   He happened to be a very religious man so he decided to have some guidance from the Bible.   He flipped open the Bible and randomly pointed out one verse.   He read (Gen 13:17), “Go, (he skipped several words and he continued to read) I am giving it to you.”  It sounded like God was approving what’s in his mind, didn’t it?  But he was still not sure about this.   He opened up the Bible again.   This time he read (Mark: 26:50), “…do what you came for.”  But, still, he was not sure.   He opened up the Bible one more time and read (John 13:27), “Do quickly what you are going to do.”

How happy he was!  He stole the bread as much as he wanted and ate them all without any guilty feeling.   As his hunger was satisfied, he desired to be affirmed.   He opened up the Bible again.   This time the verse he read was (Mark 26:24), “it would be better for him if he had not been born.”  Oops!  He didn’t like that.   So, he opened up the Bible again.   It was Mark 9:42.   “It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck.”   I hope he didn’t go to the sea with a millstone around his neck.

We should not read the Bible as this man did.   The text without considering the context is meaningless.   Even worse, it could be dangerous.   I suggest to apply 5W and 1H to the text: Who said/wrote what?  When?  Where? And why?  And HOW (Is it written?)    In other words, is it a report of a certain event?  Or, is it someone’s dream?  Is it a historical fact or a myth or someone’s imagination or allegory or parable?  For example, the story of Jonah is a fiction; not a historical fact.   If someone read this story and said, “This is one stupid story,” then, again, he or she totally missed the point.   

When you read the Bible, 1) please remember that there is a huge gap between the Bible and us: the first one is cultural/spatial gap; the other is historical/temporal gap.    We need to study to find out what the text meant when it was written thousands years ago and what the text means to us, here and now.   2) Apply 5Ws and 1H every time you read the text.   This is a good way to read the Bible.   I believe it is the best way for a lay person to read and understand the Bible. 

Lastly, if you like, use a daily devotional.  That will assign a passage and then offer a comment on it.  For example, The Upper Room is an excellent resource.  If you care to, use a Scripture Reading plan designed to take you all the way through the Bible within a certain time.  There are 1189 chapters in the Bible.  So, if you read 3 chapters on week days and read 4 chapters on the weekend, you can read the Bible from the beginning to the end within a year.  However, be careful not to bite off more than you can chew – if the reading plan involves too much, you might get discouraged and stop.  After all, the important thing is not how many times you have gone through the Bible, but whether or not the Bible has gone through you.

Let’s listen one more time to Paul: “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.”

Profitable Bible reading is not difficult if you are willing to do so, to pursue a plan, to exercise some discipline, to approach it with an open mind and heart.  If you do that, I promise, YOU WILL BE BLESSED! I can promise because that’s what the scripture says.   Blessed are those who meditate the Word of God day and night.  Amen!