THE BIBLE IN OUR HANDS (25)

“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: Systematically reading the bible is a very good approach to bible reading since it helps in getting the message in a chronological order.

We have seen a couple of fact as we began investigating into the law of systematic reading and interpretation. Let’s backtrack to Luke 24:25-27 as we begin to look closely into Jesus’ sequence of reading, it reads, “Then he said unto them, O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered this things and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:25-27). Recall, the word “expounded” means to interpret. Look at Jesus’ sequence of interpretation:

• Moses
• All the Prophets

Notice, verse 27 did not say, “…beginning at all the prophets, then Moses, he expounded…” He began first at Moses, then all the prophets. When he says here, “beginning at Moses”, he was not referring to Moses as a person. It is not in reference to his personality. The term “beginning at Moses” is referring to the writings of Moses, and not the person of Moses. And that writings obviously is his first five books (Genesis to Deuteronomy). So, Genesis to Deuteronomy could be referred to as Moses in the sense that Moses is the author or Moses did the documentation of the first five books. In essence, “beginning at Moses (that is, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) and all the prophets (that is, Joshua down to Malachi), he interpreted to them…” Jesus interpreted to them systematically, because he must have read the bible systematically. He began at Moses and all the prophets, not all the prophets then Moses, Jesus was systematic in interpretation. In Jesus’ reading of the bible, Jesus began his reading from the beginning through to Malachi. For Jesus to begin at Moses then all the prophets, it shows you that there is a necessity to first read the first five books of the bible before delving into all the prophets (Joshua to Malachi). If you remove the first five books of the bible, then the prophets have no basis for their prophecy. Meaning, the context of Joshua to Malachi will be the writings of Moses or the Law of Moses. Moses’ writing therefore, will be the foundation of doctrine. Hallelujah!   

INSTRUCTION: Follow through.

PRAYER: I declare that deep clarity is made available as I study through, in Jesus Name, Amen.

QUOTE: Jesus was systematic in interpretation because he was systematic in reading.

DAILY BIBLE READING: MORNING: LUKE CHAPTER 24; EVENING: JOHN CHAPTER 5