Nehemiah 8:5-8

⁵ “And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. ⁶ And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground. ⁷ Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. ⁸ They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.”

2^nd Timothy 2:15

“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.”

One of the obvious truths about the Believer and Your Bible is that you need to know how to “rightly handle” or rightly interpret it! The old axiom is true that; “The Bible says what it means and it means what is says” but, there are some parts of this ancient document that needs some level of thinking and knowledge of the times in which it was written to come to fully – and accurately – understand what it actually means.

The science of interpreting a written document is called “hermeneutics.” It is named for Hermes the messenger of the gods in Greek mythology. It is well named since when you labor to interpret the Bible you are literally reading “a message from God.”

There have been hundreds of books and scholarly articles on the best means by which to do this work. I had two or three different classes over the years on this subject. I recent looked again at some of my books and some recent articles to refresh my thinking. But, as is often the case, I do not find them very helpful. While I got all of the education I could possibly afford, I have found that much of it was aimed more at an academic level rather than being able to present Biblical theology to its intended audience: everyday Christians in a local Church!

So, thinking through all that I have learned on this subject over the past 30+ years of ministry; I have boiled it down to 5 Basic Rules that I believe you will find to be helpful. At least, I hope to do so! As I often do, I formed the outline of the sermon by asking myself some key questions. The points you will hear on Sunday – as the Lord allows – are the answers to these questions.

The questions are:

First, Who is actually the Author of the Old and New Testaments; and, do we have some form of practical access to the Author and, if we do have access to Him, how does that work in our day-to-day lives?

Second, since God gave us the Bible through the vehicle of human language, how does that fact factor in to the process of interpreting the Bible?

Third, every study I have ever seen on the laws of hermeneutics talks about “context, context, context!” Exactly how does one determine the context of a written document and are there pitfalls to avoid in applying this rule?

Fourth, since it is true that there are NO contradictions (or any other form of error) in the Holy Scriptures, how does this truth impact the way in which we rightly divide the Bible?

Finally, can the Words of God mean different things to different people? Even if you are able to rightly discern what a passage meant to the original audience; how can you know what that passage means to you, personally, 2,000 to 6,000 years after it was written?

Let’s face a monumental truth: the Bible is useless to us if we do not read it; rightly understand it; and apply it to our life!

The goal of my life and ministry in general, and this sermon in particular, is to help you make it the most useful thing in your life! I hope to see you Sunday with your Bible in your hand, a smile on your face, and your family and friends by your side.