Sometimes when I have chosen a specific text on which to preach, I do not always grasp the significance of it at first reading. Not only do I not preach always from “easy” texts, I intentionally try to preach from all the texts, particularly from the NT. I have a Bible on my desk where I bracket on Monday morning the text which I exposed on Sunday. I’ve done it since 2008; one Bible was for my preaching time in Paris, KY and one I have used since I moved here to Swartz Creek.
Sometimes in our studies, we need to do an in-depth study of specific words. The words which the inspired writers used where words which the Holy Spirit chose. Listen to Paul’s message in this regard from 1 Corinthians 2:9-13:
“just as it is written, ‘Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him.’ For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.”
It seems to me that the process of inspiration taught in the Bible means that the Spirit penetrated the mind of the writer and used his own background, experiences, and vocabulary in order to reveal the precise message the Holy Spirit wanted to convey. While Jesus spoke Aramaic in His earthly ministry, when Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John recorded that message in the Greek language, the word/s they used were from their own background, but chosen by the Holy Spirit.
To give one example of the importance of a word, we direct you to Luke 20:41-44. In this text, Jesus expands on the text from Psalm 110:1 relative to Who the “Lord” is in the text. The Hebrew text uses two words for “Lord:” the first word is “Jehovah” (Yaweh) while the second word is “Adonai.” The “Adonai” was understood to be the Son of David, the Messiah. In the Greek of the NT, both words are the same (Kurios). The question was, how could David refer to his son as “Adonai?” The only way that could be true was for the “Son of David” to be divine, to be the “Son of God.”
Sometimes our own Bible study needs to go more in-depth in how words and phrases are used in the Word of God. Enjoy going deep! Relative to word studies, I would recommend either Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words or Mounce’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words. Mounce’s is more recent, but there are times when Vine’s is more biblically accurate.
Paul Holland
