Truth Be Told

In this episode we dive into John 11:35 (the, Jesus wept, verse) and the surrounding section as a case study on how to practice good biblical observation and interpretation rather than mixing these two things up.

One of the very first lessons they teach you in Bible college is about the art of biblical interpretation known as Hermeneutics. There are 4 basic steps to practicing good biblical hermeneutics:

-Historical Context

-Literary Context

-Observation

-Interpretation

These last two steps are PARTICULARLY tricky for us. While we might know, intuitively, that observation is different from interpretation, whether we are practicing one or the other is hard to discern.

We naturally bring our inferences, assumptions, biases, and general understanding about the world into the text and forget that these things are part of interpreting the text rather than simply observing the text.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with interpretation by any means. However, when we wrongly believe something we INTERPRET is the same as something we've OBSERVED, we tend to respond in anger when someone else observes or interprets something different than we have.

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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TruthBeToldYouTube

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

In the book of Ezekiel, Israel contends with God's sense of justice asking "why SHOULDN'T the son die for the sins of the Father?" Their idea of fairness, possibly skewed from a position of desiring vengeance on their enemies, expected consequences AND guilt to pass on from father to son.

God demands, in this section, that they correct their ideas of justice to align with His objective standard. When we do Bible study with a mindset that considers the end from the beginning (as God inspired it to be written), we can ask ourselves the question: "How does this portion of Scripture lead the story closer to the fulfillment of Jesus Christ's life and work?"

By asking this question of this section in Ezekiel; by reading the reality of what was coming in the person of Jesus into the text, we understand why God saw it as such an important mentality to correct in His people.

Email: [email protected]

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TruthBeToldYouTube

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

In the book of Romans, like the rest of his writings, Paul draws on several Old Testament sources to make a point. While he seems familiar enough with books like Psalms, Isaiah, Hosea, or Jeremiah to quote them, his USE of singular verses to support his points sometimes leave us more confused than when we STARTED reading his letters.

Of course, Paul isn't the only one who does this! The Gospels, general epistles, and apocalyptic writings all pull out single, Old Testament verses to illustrate or support things that don't always make sense to modern readers.

On Truth Be Told, we spend A LOT of time making sure we get the context right when interpreting a section of scripture. I'm constantly saying things like: read the verses before and after, understand the line of reasoning from the whole chapter, go read the whole BOOK if you have to - ALWAYS read things in context.

So, what do we do with this fact that the New Testament writers feel perfectly comfortable plucking one single verse out of an Old Testament writing and applying it somewhere else we wouldn't expect if this isn't how WE should be studying our Bible?

Do these guys just get a pass because they were important, or is something else going on here?

Email: [email protected]

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TruthBeToldYouTube

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

In the book of Ezekiel, Israel contends with God's sense of justice asking "why SHOULDN'T the son die for the sins of the Father?" Their idea of fairness, possibly skewed from a position of desiring vengeance on their enemies, expected consequences AND guilt to pass on from father to son.

God demands, in this section, that they correct their ideas of justice to align with His objective standard. When we do Bible study with a mindset that considers the end from the beginning (as God inspired it to be written), we can ask ourselves the question: "How does this portion of Scripture lead the story closer to the fulfillment of Jesus Christ's life and work?"

By asking this question of this section in Ezekiel; by reading the reality of what was coming in the person of Jesus into the text, we understand why God saw it as such an important mentality to correct in His people.

Email: [email protected]

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TruthBeToldYouTube

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

The Roman Catholic Church executed Girolamo Savonarola as a heretic in 1498 for refusing to adhere to a Papal Bull condemning his preaching against the city and rulers of Florence. This heretic, however, left behind incredible wisdom that can aid modern Christians in properly esteeming the text of Scripture and removing some of their fears and hang-ups regarding sharing the Gospel message.

In this episode, we explore the story of this, little-known, martyr to learn 3 lessons that he exemplified in his life and preaching.

Email: [email protected]

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TruthBeToldYouTube

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

In the book of Exodus (chapter 12) we read the story of the first Passover kept by Israel signifying their being rescued by God from bondage in Egypt. Most are pretty familiar with the story - God is going to send the death angel, the Israelites have to mark their doors with the blood of a lamb to be spared the plague, and, through their believing loyalty, God leads them to freedom.

What's absolutely crazy about this storied pattern is that, just a few books later (in Joshua 2) we get the story of Rahab protecting the spies that have come to scout out Jericho, as well as their subsequent promise of protection to her, which actually holds nearly ALL of these same story elements.

In analyzing the specific wording of the text, we can see that the biblical authors were trying to draw our attention to something amazing that had happened to Israel, that was also able to be salvific for Gentiles!

Anyone who wants to say that God didn't have the salvation of the whole world in mind from the beginning need only to read these accounts that SO MANY read past, and see what an awesome thing God was signifying.

Email: [email protected]

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TruthBeToldYouTube

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

In the book of Isaiah, there is a Messianic prophecy regarding a lamb led silently to the slaughter that we learn (in Acts 8) was fulfilled perfectly by Jesus in His willingness to go to His death without verbally defending His innocence.

Upon this read through in my study, I asked a simple question that opened this prophecy up a bit more for me. I know THAT sheep and Jesus both were silent in the face of their persecutors/executioners - but WHY are they? In asking why sheep go silently after their masters to their death, we can actually learn something deeper that, I believe, Isaiah intended to portray with his use of this analogy.

Email: [email protected]

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TruthBeToldYouTube

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

Let's get one things straight - God is not a sinner. He is not a transgressor of the Law. However, what this video attempts to show, is that the PURPOSE of the Law of God is an outpouring of His love, not a limitation on it. When we interpret the Law of God as some sort of hindrance on God's love, we're making the same mistake the Pharisees made.

In the same way that working on the Sabbath is unlawful, but Jesus healing on the Sabbath is good and right, God's display of love that we'll review in this week's episode does not ACTUALLY show that God did an evil or sinful thing, it shows that He fulfilled the greater purpose of the Law when it clashed with the keeping of the letter of it.

Deuteronomy 24 issues rules regarding divorce and remarriage for Israel but, later, after God issues His covenant people a certificate of divorce, He desires them back which, according to this portion of the Law, is an abomination.

God's display of love here and His desire for His wayward bride to return would have been shocking and unfathomable to an ancient people so bent on keeping the letter of the Law that they forgot how transcendent the love of God is.

Email: [email protected]

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDUkiQvCEF8Rc4TzjyBMsxg

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly 

In Genesis 13 and 14 we read the story of Abraham. He has left his father's house, put his trust in God, and experienced a fair amount of difficulty (famine, the theft of his wife, plagues, wandering). Finally, God speaks to His chosen servant and explains the promise of land that He is going to bestow upon him. However, God tells Abraham, in very specific terms, to WALK OUT the land and wherever he walks, that will be what God gives to him.

Abraham sets out on his journey but doesn't make it very far before stopping and settling his small tribe at Hebron which is so far South in the land that he hadn't even reached where Jerusalem would be yet! We can't know Abraham's motivation for stopping: perhaps it was a lack of trust that God would deliver more than the small area he traversed, perhaps it was humility believing he didn't deserve more than that, or perhaps it was gratitude thinking "if God even gave me this small portion, it would be enough for my small group."

Whatever the reason for Abraham's stopping, God intended much greater blessings of land for His chosen people and, in a strange turn of events, presents Abraham with some provocation/trials that lead to Abraham's continued survey of the promised land.

Our trials nearly never feel like paths to gain. At best, we might learn a thing or two in the end that we're glad to have learned. However, as is evidenced by this story, sometimes God allows trials in our lives to push us towards greater blessings while, if left to our own devices, we might settle.

Email: [email protected]

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDUkiQvCEF8Rc4TzjyBMsxg

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

So often, this verse is one that is taken out of context because of the comforting words, lovely poetry, and pleasant picture it seems to paint for our lives as God sees them. Taking verses out of context, however, is a dangerous game. When you misapply scripture to yourself or force meanings upon the text, you inevitably have to ask yourself - where does it stop?

Where does it STOP applying to me? What DON'T I want it to mean? When you begin asking these questions, even if you aren't being malicious, you are abandoning interpretation in favor of your subjective opinion and this is the worst way to do Bible study.

In this episode, we're just going through one verse (Jeremiah 29:11) as an example of how using verses out of context can quickly become problematic for our understanding and appreciation of Scripture.

Interestingly, the message that people want to force this section to say (that God loves us, has our best interest in mind, and is not, ultimately, desiring our downfall) is a true biblical message. But if it can be found throughout Scripture, why should we insist upon forcing this verse to say what it actually isn't intending to say?

Email: [email protected]

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDUkiQvCEF8Rc4TzjyBMsxg

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly