The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel, Classic Version, 2015Sample

Understanding the Bible's Inexhaustible Treasures

I first encountered Jesus through reading the Bible. Ever since, I have read it practically every day of my life. Even though I have read every passage in the Bible many times, I am constantly seeing and discovering new things. The treasures of the Bible are inexhaustible.

The Bible is full of treasure for you to read and digest, and through which you can encounter God. Yet it is not always an easy book to understand.

One key ingredient to understanding the Bible better is to recognise the language and genre that the writer is using. We need to ask such questions as: ‘What type of literature is this? and ‘What did the writer intend?’

In each of the passages for today we see examples of the different types of imagery and language used in the Bible.

Psalm 75:1-10

1. The justice of God described with powerful metaphors

Something can be ‘true’ without being ‘literal’. In this psalm we see examples of truth expressed in metaphor.

God’s justice is the foundation of our universe. In this psalm we see at least four metaphors about the justice of God.

• Evil and its effects
  The psalmist knew as well as we do that the earth is not held up literally by pillars. He is deliberately using metaphorical language that needs to be read as such. This is the language of poetry and it is every bit as true as ‘literal truth’.

The quaking of the earth (v.3a) and its peoples is a metaphor for the effects of evil. Immorality undermines the stability of earth and society. The Lord proclaims that he graciously upholds his creation: ‘It is I who hold its pillars firm’ (v.3b).

• Power and its problems
  ‘Horns’ (v.4) symbolise power. Again the word is used metaphorically; this is poetic language. God exalts the horn (that is to say, power) of the righteous, and cuts off the horn (the power) of the wicked (v.10).
• Ministry and its might
  The ‘hand of the Lord’ (v.8) is used as a symbol of his might and power. This is anthropomorphic language: words that are used to ascribe human form or attributes to something that is not human.

When we ‘lay on hands’ in ministry – our hands themselves can do little, but they symbolise God’s mighty power working through us.

• Judgment and Jesus
  Likening God’s judgment to ‘a cup’ is another metaphor. ‘God has a cup in his hand, a bowl of wine, full to the brim. He draws from it and pours; it’s drained to the dregs. Earth’s wicked ones drink it all, drink it down to the last bitter drop!’ (v.8, MSG).

On the cross, Jesus bore in his own body the cup of God’s judgment. He spoke about it beforehand (Mark 10:38; Luke 22:42; John 18:11), and took the judgment that we deserve upon himself.

‘We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks, for your Name is near’ (v.1). Thank you so much for your presence and your wonderful deeds. Thank you for your justice. Thank you that one day you will get rid of all evil from this world, and goodness and righteousness will prevail forever.

Acts 13:13-41

2. The resurrection of Jesus attested with the language of history

How can you be sure that you have been forgiven? How can you know that death is not the end? How can you be assured that you will have eternal life?

You can be sure of all this because of the historical facts of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

Luke was writing history. Whereas the psalm for today is poetic, metaphorical, and non-literal, this passage is a different type of literature. At the beginning of his two-volume work (Luke and Acts), Luke says that the evidence of ‘eye-witness’ accounts have been handed down to them. He has carefully investigated everything and written an orderly account ‘so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught’ (Luke 1:3–4).

Today’s passage describes the history of Paul’s travels and reports his speech. Likewise, in his speech, Paul talks about historical facts. He speaks of the death and, in particular, the resurrection of Jesus. He makes four affirmations about the resurrection:

• It was an act of God
  ‘They took him down from the cross and buried him. And then God raised him from death’ (Acts 13:29–30, MSG). What God had promised in the Old Testament, he fulfilled in the New Testament, by ‘raising up Jesus’ (v.33). It had been prophesied in the Old Testament (v.34). ‘He raised Jesus, exactly as described in the second Psalm’ (v.33, MSG).
• It is a fact
  ‘The fact that God raised him from the dead …’ (v.34). The resurrection is not a metaphor. It is not something that is only experienced existentially within our hearts. It is, Paul says, a historical fact. The physical resurrection of Jesus actually happened. Jesus rose bodily from the dead.

‘There is no disputing that – he appeared over and over again many times and places to those who had known him well in the Galilean years, and these same people continue to give witness that he is alive’ (v.31, MSG).

• It is unique
  The resurrection of Jesus was a unique event in history. Paul contrasts Jesus with David, who ‘has been in the grave, dust and ashes, a long time now’ (v.36b, MSG). Others may have been resuscitated (and then later died), but Jesus was resurrected and his body never saw decay. ‘When he raised him from the dead, he did it for good – no going back to that rot and decay for him’ (v.34a, MSG).
• It is good news (v.32)
  This is the good news that Paul preached. The resurrection means that the cross was effective, and forgiveness of sins is possible (v.38). Everyone who believes is justified (v.39). Our past can be dealt with and we can live in a right relationship with God.

The historical fact of the resurrection has huge implications for our lives and for the future. If Jesus died, was buried and then raised by God, it means that one day, those who believe in him and have died, will be raised by God to eternal life (see 1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18).

Thank you, Lord, for the amazing good news of the resurrection. Thank you that I need no longer fear death. Thank you that God raised Jesus from the dead and that he was seen by witnesses. Thank you that we have this message of the forgiveness of sins and that everyone who believes in Jesus is justified. Help me, like David, to serve your purpose in my generation by proclaiming this message to as many people as possible.

1 Kings 6:1-7:22

3. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit prefigured with symbolic typology

Have you ever wondered whether God is really interested in the details of your life? As we read the precise instructions for the building of the temple, we see how carefully God prepared, anticipated and prefigured the far greater temple that is unveiled in the New Testament. As Joyce Meyer writes, ‘He is even more concerned about the particulars of your life. If something matters to you, it matters to Him!’

Typology is about symbolic representation. It is a key part of our understanding of the Old Testament as Christians. Some of the great New Testament truths are anticipated in the Old Testament history of salvation. For example, Adam is described as a type of Christ (Romans 5:14, NASB).

The temple in the Old Testament can be seen as ‘a type’ of the temple in the New Testament (the people of God). In this passage, we have a description of the temple, which Solomon spent seven years building (1 Kings 6:38). It was designed to be the dwelling place for the presence of God on earth: ‘I’ll personally take up my residence’ (v.13, MSG).

Hence, excellence was of the upmost importance because it was the place of God’s presence. God’s name was at stake. They did everything as well as they possibly could. It was ‘dazzling’ (v.22, MSG) and ‘no expense was spared’ (7:9, MSG). If excellence was a high value for them, it should be an even higher value for us now that God’s presence is in us.

The temple in the Old Testament points forward to the people of God. We are God’s house. God lives in us individually. Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). The church today is the holy temple of the Lord in which God lives by his Spirit (Ephesians 2:21–22). This is God’s ‘house’ today.

Lord, thank you for the inexhaustible treasures of the Bible. Help me to understand it better. Help me to interpret it faithfully. Open my eyes to see the wonderful things in your word. Help me to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest the truth of the Bible expressed in all its different languages and images. Above all, help me to see Jesus, crucified and risen from the dead – the one whom the whole Bible is about.

Pippa Adds

Acts 13:38b–39

‘I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.’

We can never be good enough however hard we try. The wonder of the cross is that everything can be totally forgiven.

Notes:

Joyce Meyer, The Everyday Life Bible, (Faithwords, 2013) p.256

Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised, Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. ‘NIV’ is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.

Scripture quotations marked (AMP) taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Scripture marked (MSG) taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.