Several years ago, when I was single, I wrote a letter to a boy I was dating stating that I thought he hung the sun, moon, and stars. If someone was to find that letter 500 years from now, they might interpret it to mean that I worshiped him as a god. Others may conclude I must have been a science teacher and he helped decorate my classroom with decorations of the universe. The reader’s thoughts could be endless especially if he just read that one line. But in reality, I only meant one message when I wrote the letter. I meant that I only had eyes for him. I don’t have those feelings today, but anyone who comes across that letter would be able to read my message from years ago. But to understand it, they would have to know what those words meant to the reader of the day. In the same way, the message of the Bible was written over 2,000 years ago. To understand its message, we have to understand how the message would be understood by the readers of the day.
Each book of the Bible was written by two authors: God, the divine author, and a chosen human author. God uniquely directed the writer. 2 Timothy 3:15 states, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for ever good work.” There are many theories to this process but nowhere in Scripture is the method explained.
The Bible also tells us that its interpretation can only be found through guidance from the Holy Spirit. “No prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (2 Peter 1:20-21). The majority of Bible scholars believe God had little or no input into the Scriptures. But without God’s involvement, what would be the significance of the Bible? But even for believers, interpreting Scripture can be confusing.
One challenging presupposition in looking at Scripture is that most of us have been trained since we were young to discover our own interpretation when it comes to the written word. Maybe you remember in your high school English class when you were studying one of the great works of literature like Shakespeare, the teacher would ask, “What does this poem mean?” Then the teacher would comment favorably on each student’s interpretation even though the interpretations were all different. We’ve become accustom to deciding for ourselves the meaning of written texts. We’ve been encouraged to think for ourselves.
Since we were raised to think for ourselves, it is not surprising that even Christians talk about multiple interpretations of Scripture. Haven’t you heard a Sunday school teacher ask, “What do you think this verse means?” When in reality, it doesn’t matter what we think the Scripture means. The question should be, “What do you think God meant by this verse?” There is only one right interpretation to Scripture and that is what God meant when He wrote it. So, we have to know the author to have the opportunity to understand His Word. To know God, we must spend time in His Word and rely on the Holy Spirit for interpretation of His one true message.