Welcome to Day 1579 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Bible Study – Possible Interpretations – Meditation MondayWelcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! Wisdom is the final frontier in gaining true knowledge. Our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, seek out discernment and insights, and boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. Hello, my friend; this is Gramps; thanks for coming along on our journey to increase Wisdom and Create a Living Legacy Today is Day 1579 of our Trek, and it is time for Meditation Monday. Taking time to relax, refocus, and reprioritize our lives is crucial in order to create a living legacy. For you, it may just be time alone for quiet reflection. You may utilize structured meditation practices. In my life, Meditation includes reading and reflecting on God’s Word and in prayer. It is a time to renew my mind, refocus on what is most important, and making sure that I am nurturing my soul, mind, and body. As you come along with me on our trek each Meditation Monday, it is my hope and prayer that you, too, will experience a time for reflection and renewing of your mind.

We are continuing our series this week on Meditation Monday as we focus on Mastering Bible Study through a series of brief insights from Hebrew Scholar, Dr. Michael S. Heiser. Our current insights are focusing on accurately interpreting the Bible. Today let us meditate on:

Bible Study – Possible Interpretations· Insight Sixty-One: It’s Okay When Bible Study Produces More than One Possible Interpretation

Most people do not like movies that seem to end ambiguously intentionally. Love it or hate it, we want closure. We don’t feel empowered by a director who lets me decide what their film meant. That just leaves us wondering why his or her mind was so clouded. Note to the director: the way to convince us you’re brilliant isn’t to show us that you’re incapable of precise thinking when it matters the most.

I’ve known people that approach Bible study the same way. They simply can’t tolerate the idea that there might genuinely be more than one interpretive option for a passage. The notion that alternatives exist disturbs them. The fact that those alternatives might be equally viable makes them break out in a cold sweat (or a rage, based on experience). I’ve never said it out loud, but I’ve thought it: ‘Please put your Strong’s Concordance down and calmly walk away from that verse.’

This sort of over-reaction telegraphs an emotional need for certainty. The thought that one’s tradition, pastor, or parents might have been incorrect about something in the Bible produces a sense of vulnerability. That’s unnecessary and, frankly, well beyond how God looks at the goals of Bible study.

Bible study shouldn’t be fear-based. God does not expect omniscience on the part of Bible students. He expects effort, humility, and a spirit of obedience to his will. Even if we don’t (and we cannot) know with certainty what the Bible teaches in every passage, we can still apply what we’re able to grasp (or think we’ve grasped) to our lives. Scripture is quite clear on fundamental virtues and vices, what pleases God and what offends him.

Another way to look at this has to do with the nature of Scripture. However small, resistance to uncertainty implies that there’s nothing in Scripture that could realistically transcend our intellectual ability to comprehend with certainty. It’s hard to consider that as anything but arrogance. As a long-time student of the Bible, I can tell you that the more I see in Scripture, the more I realize I don’t see. A Bible that’s been all figured out would lose its intrigue—and importance. Thankfully, that isn’t something we need to worry about.

· Insight Sixty-Two: Pay Attention to How Biblical Writers Interpret Other Biblical Writers

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