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Hellbound trash often ask how to interpret the Bible, especially the more difficult passages. They seem to proceed from the position that you need someone to explain Scripture to you, typically a feel-good "pastor" of liberal churchianity or, even worse, the dress-wearing Archbishop Pfluffer. You don't. Whenever you don't understand a passage from the Bible, or two passages seem to conflict, you seek clarification from another passage from the Bible on the same or a similar topic, with the ultimate goal of reading the entirety of God's Word as a consistent whole. This principle is called "Scripture interprets Scripture."
Let me give some examples. In Genesis 22:2, God commands Abraham:
And he said, Take now thy son, thine only [son] Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
Those of a sick-ular mindset will complain that Isaac was not Abraham's only son because Ishmael had already been born. Do they honestly think that God wouldn't know that? To resolve the apparent contradiction, let us turn back a chapter to Genesis 21:12:
And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
That is, Isaac was the only son who would fulfill the promises made to Abraham, so there is no contradiction.
Let's try another one. Consider the two verses about the same event:
II Sam. 24:1: And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.
I Chron. 21:1: And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
So who induced David to number Israel? Was it God or Satan? The answer is found in Job 1:7-12:
And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that [there is] none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath [is] in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
In short, God allowed Satan to mess with Job on a bet. So it was with David and the forbidden census, and again, there is no contradiction.
Finally, let us consider the following often misinterpreted Scripture verse:
Gal 3:28: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Hippy-dippy liberal "Christians" like to cite this verse to "prove" the trendy P.C. notion that all people should be treated alike or that the Bible forbids slavery. If we let Scripture interpret Scripture, we see that that interpretation is wrong for two reasons. First, the rest of the Bible clearly and repeatedly approves of slavery. Second, that reading of the verse, if taken to its logical conclusion, would force us to concede that since there is neither male nor female, we should abandon the Biblically ordained roles of husbands and wives and even allow homers the special privilege of getting "married" as though they were normal people, despite what the Bible says about the homer deathstyle choice.
Let me give some examples. In Genesis 22:2, God commands Abraham:
And he said, Take now thy son, thine only [son] Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
Those of a sick-ular mindset will complain that Isaac was not Abraham's only son because Ishmael had already been born. Do they honestly think that God wouldn't know that? To resolve the apparent contradiction, let us turn back a chapter to Genesis 21:12:
And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
That is, Isaac was the only son who would fulfill the promises made to Abraham, so there is no contradiction.
Let's try another one. Consider the two verses about the same event:
II Sam. 24:1: And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.
I Chron. 21:1: And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
So who induced David to number Israel? Was it God or Satan? The answer is found in Job 1:7-12:
And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that [there is] none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath [is] in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
In short, God allowed Satan to mess with Job on a bet. So it was with David and the forbidden census, and again, there is no contradiction.
Finally, let us consider the following often misinterpreted Scripture verse:
Gal 3:28: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Hippy-dippy liberal "Christians" like to cite this verse to "prove" the trendy P.C. notion that all people should be treated alike or that the Bible forbids slavery. If we let Scripture interpret Scripture, we see that that interpretation is wrong for two reasons. First, the rest of the Bible clearly and repeatedly approves of slavery. Second, that reading of the verse, if taken to its logical conclusion, would force us to concede that since there is neither male nor female, we should abandon the Biblically ordained roles of husbands and wives and even allow homers the special privilege of getting "married" as though they were normal people, despite what the Bible says about the homer deathstyle choice.
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