Why understanding the Bible is hard for many folks.

Why understanding the Bible is hard for many folks. 

Read That Book Ministry©2021

Hello friends,

Understanding the Bible is difficult. One thing that makes it tough is, we look at the Bible stories through our modern lens, what we need to remember is that the Bible was written to us but not for us.

What do I mean by that?? Well, what I mean is that we were not the sole intended audience that the Bible writers had in mind when they put pen to paper. We must understand the world that the Bible writers understood for the Bible to make sense to us. We must always remember if the story or information is in the Bible it is in there for a reason, the person who wrote wasn’t just filling space...there was a reason for the information to be placed in just that particular spot.

Because we look at the Bible through our narrowly focused lens of modernity we interpret the Bible based on our narrow understanding of what is in our modern times, we do not realize that there is a whole world that we have very little to no understanding of, we must take into consideration the culture and of course the word etymology of the ancient world...and we must keep in mind that just as words change and evolve in spelling and in meaning in our modern times they also did so in the ancient past.

We also must come to realize and accept that there are works that are not in the canonized version of the Bible but they are still very relevant and we must realize that Bible writers like Peter and Jude (and others) read those works and incorporated some of the ideas from them as well as, in some cases, quoted directly from those works.

Works like The Book of Enoch, The Book of Jasher, Jubiliees, 1 & 2 Esdras and Maccabees, Book of Tobias, Book of Judith, Book of Wisdom, Book of Sirach just to name a few. The men who wrote the Bible were not a bunch of illeterate people, they read books and were informed for their time period. Which is why reading materials that come from that era (Dead Sea Scrolls for example) is very important for our understanding of ancient Bible times.

By reading and understanding what is written in those works we can come to understand the culture and etymology of their languages – Aramaic, Semitic, ancient Hebrew, and ancient Greek – to name a few). So many of the misunderstandings we as modern people have of concepts in the Bible are due to our not knowing or understanding of the ancient culture that much of the Bible comes from.

Always remember the Bible was written for us NOT to us....those who lived in the time the Bible was written knew the culture in which they lived and concepts that was common place to them is often not completely understood by those of us of modern-day.

For example: The concept of engagement today is not really that similar to what it was back in that time period, just two or three thousand years ago. Back then, the bride and groom would become engaged over a glass of wine after the groom paid the bride price to her family...(What modern-day groom pays a bride price to the bride’s family today? It doesn’t happen a lot if at all). Then the groom would go away and he would build a home for his bride often as a room addition to his father’s house....this would usually take around 1 year...and when he would be done, his father would inspect the room addition. Only when the father was happy with it would the groom be able to go get his bride.

The bride never knew exactly the day or time that her groom would come for her so she would get prepared and always be ready.

Often at midnight the groom and the wedding party would come to the bride’s home, she would know he is on the way because he would give a shout to alert her....the groom would collect his bride and take her to the home he built, the couple and the wedding party would enter a week-long wedding feast to celebrate the marriage of the couple.

Going back to the concept of betrothal...in our modern-day betrothal(engagement) is not taken as seriously as it was in Bible times.

Take Mary and Joseph for example...the young couple was betrothed and then Mary turned up pregnant with the baby Jesus...before Joseph understood the miraculous nature of her pregnancy Joseph thought her to be guilty of adultery and instead of shaming her in public he was going to “divorce her quietly” Matthew 1:18-19. In the passage, he was referred to as her husband even while only betrothed. In those days, a betrothal was a very serious contract.

We, in our day and age, do not take betrothal that seriously. If a couple in our modern-day decided to break the engagement, they simply walk away from each other with no other legal action to be done unless there is shared material goods/land. There is much more to be understood with regard to betrothal from that time period and I do hope that you get curious and look deeper into all concepts brought up in this and subsequent blogs

So you see, understanding a cultural aspect of the ancient Hebrews and their neighbors is very important to understanding the Bible. Without the cultural understanding, many things in the Bible is confusing, doesn’t make sense, and it seems contradictory...but it is not if you dig deeper and learn the “back story” of how issues were understood in the days of the Bible both before and after Christ walking on this earth. This step is a very necessary step to understanding the Bible. I will post more on the subject with the prayer that those who are interested will gain wisdom from the things I am learning. God bless those who read this.

Read That Book Ministry©2021 

Spiritual Warfare and Spiritual Battles

                                         Spiritual Warfare and Spiritual Battles 

                                            ©Read That Book Ministry 2021

                                                        All Bible scripture is from ESV unless stated otherwise.

      You are on a battlefield, even if you don't know it.

All of us face battles daily, some face health battles, others face battles in the social area of life (family, friends, peers, etc.) and still others face battles of addiction of any sort...of course there are other battles people face, this is a short list. 

Behind every battle we face there is a cause, whether we realize it or not there is something behind all the battles in our lives. Some of the battles in our health for example are caused simply because we don't eat right, drink enough water, get enough sleep or get enough exercise those things will cause our health to go "out of wack" and cause us to face battles to get ourselves back onto an "even keel". And of course there are other things that can start problems in our lives. 

So please do understand I KNOW that not every battle we face is caused by spiritual or demonic forces acting against us...but the fact is, sometimes demonic forces are entirely the cause or a very good part of the cause of some of the battles we go through, whether we know and understand this or not. Those are the battles this blog post will focus on. 

But once again I want to say NOT every battle will be caused in anyone's life by demonic forces, but some are. 

The truth is that there are dark spiritual forces, demonic entities that influence us, the people around us and situations in our lives. Make no mistake, they do influence people and situations just as they have for thousands of years.

The Bible clearly tells us in Ephesians 6:12

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 

Not every thought we have is purely and organic/authentic thought that we personally came up with, sometimes these demonic things whisper into our hearts and minds and attempt to get us to stray from the right and correct. 

This is not something that many ministries or churches will teach about, which is sad because clearly God wants us to know about this truth and He gave us information on how to fight in the spiritual battle that lays out before us. 

The very good news is that as a child of God we can fight and we should fight. One of the battle grounds that Satan and his demons attack is the battlefield of our mind. Yes, you read that correctly, our mind is a battlefield. How many times have you had a thought come into your mind that was not in any way aligned with what Jesus would want you to think? Be honest, it has happened to all of us at one time or another. But remember we have the choice to act on those thoughts that come or not. If the thought is clearly not from God, then you really should NOT act on it. 

2 Corinthians 10:5 says 

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

Romans 12:2 says 

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

James 4:7 says 

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

We are in a battle, the weapons of our warfare is not weapons that we can pick up with our physical hands and wield against a physical enemy. Other humans are NOT our enemies in this battle. Granted there are some humans that are unwittingly doing the bidding for the dark forces, (and yes, there are some who know they are in line with the devil and his forces and they have made that choice, we should pray for them.) 

The bottom line is we are given some tools we can use to protect ourselves and assist our loved ones and others from falling victim to the wiles of the dark forces. The first thing we can do is work diligently to conform our thoughts to obey Christ as 2 Corinthians 10:5 says. How do we do this? No matter how long you have been a Christian...whether brand new to the faith or even if you have been in the faith many years there will be times when a dark thought will pass through your mind, what works for me, what I do in those instances is I say out loud or silently "The Lord rebuke you" to those thoughts...if a dark thought is brought to me by a dark force in order to tempt me to do wrong or at least entertain the thought of doing wrong I want to dispel that thought as fast as possible...The only name I know that strikes fear into the hearts of those demonic things is the name of my Lord and Savior...Jesus Christ...so when a dark thought comes to mind...I don't take a moment to analyze it, I don't think about or wonder where that thought came from...no, I don't waste that time...I say "Jesus rebuke you" or "The Lord rebuke you" and the thought drifts away along with any temptation. 

How do I know this will work for you as well as for me? Well, for one thing I have put it to use in my life...so I know it works but also the Archangel Michael used those very words to assist himself on the battlefield. 

Read this in Jude 1:9.

But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.”

Another way that we fight on this battlefield is through our prayers. We can pray for our own needs, the needs of our friends and family and the needs of our country and our fellow man around the world. In fact, we should pray for all. We should stand in the gap and pray for our fellow man. Keep praying and trusting God to fulfill the prayers. He does hear us and He will respond...it may seem like He is taking a great deal of time to respond, but we must remember time for Him is not like time for us. Remember Romans 8:28

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 

God will use everything He chooses to for the good of those that He has called...Trust God, believe in Him. Look to Jesus for your salvation...do NOT be deceived into thinking you can save yourself, you can't. 

I thank everyone who has taken the time to read this blog and it is my prayer that that this blog helps many at least a little bit. To those who have never accepted Christ as your Savior I employ you to do so now. 

It is so simple to become a child of God...be sincere...this is not a game, take a quiet moment. Say out loud or quietly to yourself this prayer below.

Dear God, I come to you in the name of Jesus Christ. I admit, I am a sinner, I need a savior. I can't save myself. I have sinned against You God I have done some wrong things. I see that now. I am sincerely sorry for all the sins that I have done. I want to be washed clean by the blood of the Savior Jesus Christ. Please God in heaven, wash me clean in the blood of Jesus. The same Jesus who died on the cross in Calvary so many years ago...He allowed His blood to be shed to pay the price for my sins and I accept that precious gift of salvation now. I believe God that you raised Jesus from the dead three days after He was put in that grave. Death could not conquer Jesus Christ. God please forgive me for my sins, wash me in the blood of the Savior Jesus Christ and make me new, renew my mind, send to me the Holy Spirit to assist me and guide me away from the darkness. I do not want to be deceived or misled anymore so I need you God to help me. I believe in you God and I trust in You Jesus Christ. I accept Jesus as my Savior, Lord and King. 

If you prayed that prayer, welcome to the family of God, it won't always be easy but it will be worth it in the end. You must remember though to always turn from sin...so read that Bible get to know what God wants, get to know what He approves of and what He calls sins. A good place to start is Exodus 20, Matthew 5:17-48. 

God bless you and keep you. Lead others toward the saving grace and mercy of Jesus...that is the great commission. 

Here is a one of the most beautiful Psalms in the Bible. It is a Psalm of protection. I pray that it brings you peace in your heart.

Psalm 91 (Septuagint version)

He that dwells in the help of the Highest shall sojourn under the shelter of the God of heaven. He shall say to the Lord, Thou art my helperand my refuge: my God; I will hope in Him. For He shall deliver thee from the snare of the hunters, from every troublesome matter. He shall overshadow thee with His shoulders and thou shalt trust under His wings: His truth shall cover thee with a shield. Thou shalt not be afraid of terror by night; nor calamity, of the evil spirit at noon-day. A thousand shall fall at thy right side and ten thousand shall fall by thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou observe and see the reward of sinners. For thou, O Lord, art my hope; thou, my soul, hast made the Most High thy refuge. No evils shall draw nigh to thy dwelling. For He shall give His angels charge concerning thee, to keep thee in all thy ways! They shall bear thee up on their hands, lest at any time thou dash they foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread on the asp and basilisk: and thou shalt trample on the lion and dragon. For he hoped in Me, and I will deliver him. I will protect him, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will harken to him, I am with him in affliction; and I will deliver him, and glorify him, I will satisfy him with length of day, and shew him My salvation.

Romans 10 8 to 13 Learn Bible scripture; gain wisdom and peace from the ...