Daniel 5:12
12 This man Daniel, whom the king called Belteshazzar, was found to have a keen mind and knowledge and understanding, and also the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles and solve difficult problems. Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means."
Scholars are constantly trying to interpret the Bible. The Bible is used as a “how to” book in a lot of arenas. In other areas it’s touted as a pseudo-historical document. The stories listed in the Bible from the creation of the universe to the crucifixion of Jesus are used in our society as metaphors for life as if the Bible were a self help pamphlet. They are sometimes written off as a way that an ancient and uneducated people explained natural phenomenon, such as lightning, earthquakes, and thunder. This way of reading the Bible simply isn’t accurate.
The Bible is the living Word of God. All scripture is written for understanding, for knowledge, and for growth. (2 Timothy 3:16) How is it that some people can read the Bible and see Jesus and others read it and see history? Well, because the Bible is both. It is historical, the people and battles that are written about in the Bible really did happen, but that’s not where the story stops. Educated society would have us all believe that the Bible is simply a religious document that gives an account of the historical background of the nation of Israel, but that is only half true. The Holy Spirit wants us to know more. He wants us to read through the history, through the battle, and through the genealogy, and straight to the heart of Jesus.
Over the past 2500 or so years, not much has changed between society, God’s people, and how they differ in an understanding of His word. When Daniel was daring to be himself, God had a message for all of society. He used His hand and wrote on a wall in Belshazzar’s palace. Just like today they wanted to know what it meant so Belshazzar called all of his super-smart educated people in to read it and interpret it for him. The problem was that they couldn’t understand what the writing meant. Finally Belshazzar’s queen suggested Daniel, knowing that he’d interpreted things before and that he was a man filled with the Spirit. They called him in and he read the writing. Daniel gave an accurate interpretation of what God had written.
Sometimes I get upset when I hear a “scholar” interpret the Bible. It’s insulting to hear the Discovery or History Channel “explain” how the Red Sea was parted. It’s offensive to hear them say that it really wasn’t a sea, but just a marsh that happened to dry up one day. It frustrates me when people view the Bible as a self-help guide book for life or a mere historical text. It angers me when I go to church and hear a pastor use secular books to validate what the Bible said, as if to say that God’s word is true because some ‘expert’ says so right here in his book. The truth is that the Bible is history past and future. The Bible is Jesus. He’s a story teller, a healer, a physician, a friend, a prophet, a savior, and God. We’ve been given a great gift in the Holy Spirit, who helps us learn and understand the Truth. It’s easy to read and interpret the writing on the wall through the eyes of the scribe!
Don't get upset when a scholar tests out different theories. Humans have two sides...spiritual and scientific. It's how we're made, and we strive to reconcile the two halves into one whole picture of our beliefs. And the quest for knowledge is good! It's part of the design. Learn more, make things better, keep chugging ahead. Even half baked scientific theories can lead to big discoveries.
ReplyDeleteThere is room in the world, in the plan, in the grand scheme of it all for spirituality AND science. Don't let it anger you if people lean one way or the other from time to time. Sometimes, it's just very hard for people to make the two halves of themselves meet.
the old man says
ReplyDeleteMan is constantly trying to prove or disprove things in this life. He thinks he does this scientifically. God has to prove nothing. He created it all including science. His Word is Truth- THE PROOF
Science is man's way of searching for the truth that already exists. He actually proves nothing.
Science is man's way of understanding and learning about the world that God gave us. While a handful use the wonderfully inquisitive brains we've been given to try and point the neener neener ha ha finger, most scientists are just trying to decode the mysteries. It's the study, the physical and concrete study, of the world around us, of the universe God gave us. And it's all done so with God's blessing. He gave us these minds. He gave us little secrets for us to use and learn from. There is cancer, and there is a flower deep in the jungle that will fix it. With no science, we wouldn't have tried to find it happened. However, at the base, with no massively incredible forethought, that flower wouldn't even exist. We're just learning and bettering ourselves through the study of the world He gave.
ReplyDeleteAnd that's exactly what He wants us to do! If not, Moses would have also gotten a list of all the cures for all the diseases. He would have gotten a summation of molecules and atoms. He would have gotten a description of all the planets and stars in this vast universe. If God did not want us to seek for ourselves, He would have just told us.
But He didn't. And He didn't because it's the journey that's important. It's the accidental findings along the way that are critical. That cancer curing flower...if we were just told flat out it would cure cancer, boom. That's all we'd use it for. Instead, we had to find it and test for ourselves. Along the way to finding that, we collected thousands of samples of other flowers and plants and discovered that they could treat high blood pressure, diabetes, male patterned baldness, etc. It's the journey, and the info we'll accidentally find along the way that will drive us ahead.
We are made in His image. His head already knows all these things. Ours do not. He wants us to figure it all out, to use it, to tap into the billions of aspects of His wonderful universe that we haven't yet even begun to see. That is science, and it most definitely IS part of the design!