Thanks so much for joining this study. I’m beginning a series of short lessons that I’m entitling: Bible Bytes. Whether you are a life-long student of God’s Word, or just beginning your pursuit, I will seek to offer insights to help your understanding of the greatest book of all time. Essentially, the aim is to provide “byte-size” study tips and insights to enhance productive Bible study and learning.
Today’s byte is in regard to understanding what is sometimes referred to as the layers of Scripture. This concept is nothing new, but it is a concept that is incredibly helpful in understanding the Scripture and avoiding misunderstanding.
Let me start by giving a simple illustration. Yesterday, in my daily Bible reading, I read about the wager that Sampson made with his friends concerning the solving of his riddle (see Judges 14). If I didn’t understand the layers of Scripture, then I might have concluded that the moral of the story is that we ought not to bet and that if we do, bad things will happen. Well, to some degree that may be true, but that’s not the point at all. The bigger picture is that God was using Sampson against the Philistines who were enemies of His people. Understanding the layers of Scripture helps us understand this point and can help us almost every time we open the Bible!
Let me explain the concept…
Layer 1: Understanding God’s Overall Plan
That plan, in brief, is for a loving God to redeem, or to save mankind, from their sins through the blood of Jesus His Son. Each book, and really every Bible story, contributes to this plan in some way. We could in a sense use John 3:16 to represent this overarching aim, or big picture, that God has revealed in His Word. A loving God has made the salvation of mankind possible through the blood of His Son. That’s what the Bible is about. That’s a concise summary God’s plan.
Ok, why is that so important? Because everything that we read and study in the Bible is going to fit within that plan. If it doesn’t fit, we’ve misunderstood something. The great themes of the Bible, as well as all of the Bible stories and teachings, in some way contribute to God’s plan. And it all harmonizes (Ps. 119:160: “The sum of your word is truth…”). In understanding this simple concept, we immediately have a solid baseline, or framework, in which we can understand the rest of Scripture. We can see how other “lesser” themes and passages fit into this plan.
Layer 2: An Understanding of Major Themes in the Bible
Let me give you two major examples (though there are many others).
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- The purpose of the nation of Israel in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament we see that Israel, the descendants of Jacob, were God’s chosen people through which the Savior, Jesus Christ, would be brought into the world. (Don’t be confused by the word Israel. Israel was what God renamed Jacob.) So this is directly tied to the overall purpose of God and His plan to redeem or rescue mankind from sin. Understanding this sheds great light upon one’s understanding of the entire Old Testament and the New Testament as well. Not understanding it will likely cause a rippling effect of misunderstandings.
- A somewhat parallel illustration is the church we read about in the New Testament. The church is spiritual Israel. It makes up God’s special people today (see 1 Pt. 2:5, 9). Salvation is in the church that Jesus established (see Eph. 5:23; Mt. 16:18). When we grasp the fundamental teaching in the New Testament about the church, then we are in a better place to see how it fits into the overall scope of God’s plan to save man, and also how other passages relate to the church.
- Of course, there are many other major themes in the Bible. The better we understand them and how other smaller components fit into them, the better and more accurately we will understand the Bible. All of these themes contribute in some way to God’s overarching plan to save mankind, and should be seen in that light.
Layer 3: Understanding the Individual Stories and Narratives of the Scripture
Many people begin by trying to draw conclusions from an individual story or isolated text found in the Bible, and sometimes it doesn’t work out so well for them because they don’t see the big picture. It’s kind of like not seeing the forest because of the tree right in front of us. When we see the bigger picture(s) the smaller picture is well illuminated. The important thing is that it helps us see what God wants us to see.
This is just like what we mentioned in regard to Sampson. We really need to see these individuals and these narratives as puzzle pieces within the overall plan of God.
Let me give you another very quick example. The Bible story (or, stories) about Joseph consists of more than showing that Joseph was a hero for being so faithful to God in difficult circumstances. Not to take anything away from Joseph, but God is the real hero of the story. God is the hero because He used Joseph so powerfully to preserve the nation from which the Savior would come. Do you see how this fits into the bigger narrative or picture of the Old Testament and God’s overall plan?
When you are doing Bible reading and Bible study, make sure you see the bigger picture. Think about how it fits into God’s plan. It will give you a different and more accurate picture of what God intends for you to take from the Scripture.
I hope that this Bible Byte will be a blessing to your Bible study and understanding. Join us next time.
Daren Schroeder
