“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.” – Isaiah 60:1-5
LIGHT FOR NOW: You can be creative in other disciplines or professions, but with the bible, your creativity is not needed.
We have seen that in Paul’s use of the term “rightly dividing” in 2Timothy 2:15 which was translated from the Greek word “orthotomeo”, two comparisons come to mind. The first is that the earlier writers used this word for those into mining. In mining, you are not doing anything to create a mineral; rather what you are simply doing is extracting what is already available. Secondly, it has to do with cutting a line straight; being very careful and precise in your use of measurement. Since Paul was a tent maker, it could thus be said that his professional discipline influenced his choice of words. So, the interpreters or translators of this word allude to something: Paul used the word “orthotomeo” as the direct opposite of innovation.
In essence, when preaching, one cannot innovate what is not included in the texts; your role is to bring out what is already there. You can’t afford to be creative with bible texts. Bible interpretation does not need your creativity, you are to extract. Your creativity is important in other fields but not with the bible; you are not to innovate into bible text. An innovation is when thoughts are already in your mind, and then you look for scriptures to back it up. That certainly is the mother of error. “Orthotomeo” is therefore an excavation not an innovation; you are to cut through it; you are not to add to it or subtract from it. You are not to read your minds to it, you are to let the intent of the author to be communicated to your mind and find expression in your interpretation. This means that your interpretation of the scriptures must align with the authors’ intent and interpretation. This further explains the fact that the preacher or minister of the gospel has a duty to be diligent, to toil, to labour, to work hand in hand in order to see exactly what the scriptures say and teach the very same. If you miss out of the authors’ intent and interpretation of a bible text, you will be preaching your own intent and interpretation which is an innovation to bible text and thus, an abuse to bible interpretation. Hallelujah!
INSTRUCTION: Never apply your own creativity to the bible.
PRAYER: I stay with the word of truth and rightly divide the same in my interpretation of it, in Jesus Name. Amen.
QUOTE: In bible interpretation, out of the authors’ intent is preaching your own intent.
DAILY BIBLE READING: MORNING: EPHESIANS CHAPTER 3; EVENING: EPHESIANS CHAPTER 4
LIGHT FROM THE WORD 