The Bible is a book full of spiritual riches that can make us wise unto salvation, train us to live godly lives, and equip us for ministry (2 Timothy 3:14-17). It’s the world’s all-time bestseller and the best selling book in every year that sales have been recorded.
Even so, the task of reading the Bible can feel like putting together a massive jigsaw puzzle that is missing pieces!
Who are the Amalekites? Why does God command Israel to wash so much in Leviticus? Who are the Pharisees and how do they affect me? What do the seals and trumpets mean in Revelation?
I know every jot and tittle of Scripture is important for us today, but why can the Bible be so hard to understand? Here are nine reasons and some encouragement.
The Bible was written between about two and three thousand years ago. Times have changed since Moses parted the Red Sea and David ruled as king over Israel. Understanding the historical setting of the Bible and specific book you are reading will greatly help you bridge the gap between then and now.
The biblical authors wrote to distinct groups of people in distinct places throughout the ancient world. Biblical writers assume readers know specific cultural details and often use these details to teach a lesson. For example, while the woman at the well in John 4 might not jump off the page to a 21st century reader, a Jew around the time of Christ would have seen how Jesus crossed cultural taboos by talking to a Samaritan woman who was rejected even by her own people. In crossing such boundaries, Jesus honors a woman Israel would despise and demonstrates that His gospel is for all.
The 66 books of the Bible were originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and ancient Greek. The nature of language makes precise translation sometimes difficult. The original language might have words to express something crucial to the story that a modern language may not have.
1 Corinthians 2:14 says that, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” Our natural minds often struggle with what we cannot see and what is not easy to understand. (This is one reason why God illustrates many spiritual truths in Scripture with everyday language we do understand like God as our Father and our need to be “born again.”)
Our sin separates us from God and blinds us to spiritual reality (Isaiah 59:2; Psalm 115:4-8). When we come to Christ, we receive the Holy Spirit who helps us in our fight against sin and reveals the truth of Scripture to us (John 14:26). Even so, sin presents a barrier from fully grasping what God reveals to us. This truth is expounded when God’s communications through His prophets sometimes had the express intention of hiding truth from some and revealing it to others (see Jesus’s explanation of why he taught in parables in Mark 4:10–12; Isaiah 6:9–10).
The Bible is fundamentally a story of God reconciling the sinful world to Himself through Jesus Christ. Every part of the Bible story advances that storyline or provides commentary on important issues fleshed out in the story (think Proverbs or Leviticus, for example).
Understanding the key promises, people, and events of the Bible give it structure and a flow. A key chapter of the Bible is Genesis 12 where God promises Abraham descendants, land, and to be blessed and be a blessing. The rest of the Old Testament develops those promises as Abraham’s family (later known as the nation of Israel) grows, ultimately leading to fulfillment in Jesus Christ. The discipline of Biblical Theology helps us read the Bible as it should be read.
Modern technology and social media don’t encourage careful reading. Many today don’t read carefully because they don’t have to, which makes reading the Bible and other forms of literature difficult. Learning simple techniques like asking good observation and interpretation questions of the text, looking for repeated words and phrases, and keeping a close eye on context will empower readers to discover the meaning of Scripture.
Part of reading the Bible well includes knowing how to read different biblical genres. You don’t read the editorial section of the newspaper the same way you read the comics or advertisements: you adapt your thinking to the type of content you are reading. The same should be true with the Bible: historical narratives should be treated differently than poetry and the apocalyptic literature of the Bible should be treated differently than New Testament letters.
So often we want quick benefits from the Bible without putting in the necessary labor. We may spend time reading a chapter of the Bible and only think about what comes to mind easily and what we like—missing what God wants to communicate to us entirely. A famous preacher once said that any true devotional reading of Scripture has to care about understanding what the text is actually saying. It would be like a husband trying to show love to his wife but not trying to understand her words!
In 2 Timothy 2:15, Paul writes to Timothy to, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” If we don’t do our best to handle the Word correctly, we not only might have reason to be ashamed, but we may forfeit God’s approval.
So many approach the Bible trying to find what they want (i.e. tips for a better marriage or how to fight anxiety) instead of first asking, “What does God want to communicate to humanity?” Without that last question, we approach the Bible as if it were first about us instead of about God. The Bible is not an encyclopedia of spiritual truths or a book of random magical phrases that we can use however we want. It is God’s self-revelation through sixty-six distinct books that contain distinct messages. A self-centered approach to the Bible almost always misses the most important things God wants to communicate about Himself, our sin, His glorious provision in Christ.
Considering the difficulties I mentioned above used to discourage me. Why can’t God make it easier?
If you’ve ever thought this way, take heart. Every reason I listed above is an encouragement to study hard or a motivator to praise God.
Want to grow in the Word? Consider incorporating these suggestions into your life to grow in your understanding of the Bible:
My prayer for all reading this article is that they’d be encouraged to dedicate themselves to the study of God’s Word so they would encounter the living Christ and find life in Him (John 5:39–40).
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