"thus says the LORD of hosts: Behold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like rotten figs that cannot be eaten, they are so bad. 18 And I will pursue them with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence; and I will deliver them to trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth—to be a curse, an astonishment, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them"
I know it is a strange title and a fairly obscure text in a well known Old Testament book. But I want to draw out a few important factors when it comes to reading the Old Testament. Whenever we look into the Old Testament we have to be careful in how we interpret the verses we are reading. Some of the verses are simply not to us. That is why I quoted the above text. No Christian is reading that and under great sorrow because God has just declared His war on them and their family. Just a basic reading of that text in the context will give us an understanding that it is not to Joe Smith from Wisconsin for example. And I am sure that we will not be finding this written on the bible case or wall photo in somebody's house.
Now that is not to say that there are not basic principles to pull out of the above text. Every single text in Gods word has something to teach us. Yes every single one. The question we should be asking our self first is this, was this text written to me? The basic principle is called the grammatical, historical method of interpretation (Hermeneutics).I just want to give you enough information that it will wet your appetite for your bible reading.
You see I picked this verse because it is just a few verses away from one of the most used verses in the local Christian book store and more then likely in your home and it says this,
Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."
You see the problem in reading this verse is the very same reason I didn't freak out after reading Jer. 29:17-18. Even though we find these verses in complete contrast to one another. It still does not apply to us. Why? Because this was too those people at that time. Think about it, God's chosen nation is in captivity and under heavy persecution. About to be carried away. And our wonderful God calls to them in there moments of most need and says that he will be there with them. They dont understand what is happening but God does and this will work out for there good. It is a wonderful verse for them. Now can we pull out a principle? Yes we can, God is kind, God disciplines, yet in love. God will not leave us. Some wonderful principles can be found but the verse is simply not for us in this day. We can find other verses that talk about God's grace, His kindness, His unfailing presence. But just not here. If we are going to quote this verse as a verse for us then how is it we can skip over the more negative text. Some may say, well its because they were God's children and we are God's children so therefore it is all the same. Well I can think of more then a few verses of God writing to His people in the Old Testament we would be good in hoping that time has passed.
So why write this blog? Other then show some biblical knowledge and offend people who have that as there life verse? Why, well simple...
To the believer,
1)We are commanded by God to rightly divide God's word (2 Timothy 2:15)
2)Not get our self in despair over a verse misused and not working.
3)Draw a improper conclusion about God because of a misinterpreted verse.
4)Trust in God by using his promises that you can lean on and count on.
To the unbeliever,
1)Help you understand your position apart from God and your inability to quote any promise in the bible for your purpose.
2)Understanding your inability to reject Gods word simply because of some obscure text taken out of context.
For example we hear the straw man arguments that we cannot eat pork or shellfish. We cannot cut our beards, etc etc etc. There is simply biblical illiteracy here. Besides the fact the Old Testament has now been replaced with the New Testament. We must read it rightly to ensure we are applying text to our life that should be applied. We should be studying those Old Testament verses as they would have been understood to the reader. So that a lost world can be given a reason for there misrepresentation of Gods word. Last but not least we should be counting God's promises as precious to us as we dive into His word for His glory.
Here is a good resource on the subject...