Author Dr. James. A McBean. D.Th., MCC

Copyright © 2008 Library of Congress Washington.D.C.20559

Publisher: Revival Tract Ministries, Inc

E very doctrine of the scriptures is under attacks. Good and sincere people are preaching and teaching things that are damaging to the scriptures and to the faith, due to the fact of misunderstanding. In the book of Acts chapter one, “The former treatise have I made. O Theoph-I-Lus” One preacher, who has not gone to Bible school, misinterprets the verse. The word “former,” was mistakenly used for farmer. The “Former treatise” Was seen as machetes, forks, shovels, and plows. The preacher made these fatal mistakes, because he does not know the difference between the two English words. “Former, and farmer” There are some other words. “Pillar and Pillow” Then we have (similar names) in the scriptures. We have some six different Mary, and about four different Judas, different Johns, and different James. We have conflicting verses, which stand out. If pastors and Christians workers cannot explain difficult verses, they will never be able to defend the faith that they were called to defend.

In the book: (Manners And Custom Of The Bible) By James M. Freeman. Preface. “Though the Bible is adapted to all nations, it is in many respects an oriental book. It represents the modes of thought and the peculiar customs of a people who, in their habits, widely differ with us. One who lived among them for many years has graphically said: “Modes, custom, usages, all that you can set down to the score of the national, the social, or the convention, are precisely as different with yours as the east is different from the west. They sit when you stand; they lie when you sit; they do to the head what you do to the feet; they use fire when you use water; you shave the beard, they shave the head;”

Failures to understand the customs of the people to whom the Bible was written, will provide ground for you and me to misunderstand the Bible. You and I will never understand the Bible until we understand Israel, and all that are concerning them. Misunderstanding and lack of knowledge is the death of humanity

Because these discrepancies, there has to be a rule, a Rosetta Stone, an alphabet in how to be sure what we are reading in the scriptures are right and correct. All the false teachers and those who hated the Bible have taken advantage of these discrepancies down through the ages.

In the book. (Knowing Scripture) Written by. R.C. Sprout. Publisher. Inter Varsity Press. Downers Grove Illinois 60515. Page 42. “If we examine the history of the Jewish people in the Old Testament, we see that one of the most severe and abiding threats to Israel was the threat of the false prophets or false teachers. More often than by the hand of the Philistines or the Assyrians, Israel fell to the seductive power of the lying teachers.” “The New Testament bears witness to the same problem in the primitive Christian Church. The false prophets were as if the hireling shepherd who was concerned more for their own wages than the welfare of the sheep.

They thought nothing of misleading the people; leading them into error or to evil. Not all false prophets speak falsely out of malice; many do so out of ignorance. From the malicious and the ignorant we should flee.” The sincere false prophets who love the lord, but do not know what his lord teaches, and cannot decipher his master letters, but are shouting commands to the sheep ignorantly, is worse than all, the malicious false prophets. The sincere fool with a big mouth and no knowledge behind it, is a danger to himself and to others. People can sense the animosity in the malicious false prophets, and refuse to take them seriously base on that. However, people are held captive by the sincerity of the ignorant prophets

Always Look Who The Bible Is Talking To

It is not a good Judgment for Christians to claim the promises in the scriptures, which was not given to Christians. Something was said to certain people, something was said to the whole nation of Israel, and something was said to the church; always look to see whom the thing was said to, before you start claiming it. In The United States, we saw woman calling themselves bishops. But, we saw where a bishop must have one wife, so how you as a woman claiming the title as bishop, how does a woman going to have a wife?

Having A Basic Understanding Of Greek.

The New Testament of our Bible was written in Greek. If you have no Understanding of Greek, you will make many mistakes when trying to interpreting the Bible. For example: What Does It Mean To Love? The English word and the Greek word for love have different connotation. The English word love is talking about a warm attachment, a strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties and an assurance of affection. There are a few Greek words for love, but two of the most used are (Agapao.) and (Phileo.)Phileo is talking about a doing, how I treat you in-spite of how I feel about you, by this I can love my enemies, or feed my enemies, or love my wife, or husband because phileo is not talking about how I feel about you, it is not talking about a warm attachment. It is talking about how I treat you in spite of how I feel about you. I can take care of a patient that curse me out and even call me nigger, just because it makes him feel better, to abuses somebody. When the scriptures told me to love my neighbors it did not use the word, (Agapao,) only when it asks me to love God, that the word Agapao was used, or when it told me that God loves me that the word Agapao was used. The word (phileo,) enables me to say I love, because it is not talking about feeling of warm attachment, it is talking about the treatment I handed down to you. You and I cannot tell people we love them, but the way we interacted with them is sending another message. Our actions, our attitudes and our spirit betrayed us.

God told Ezekiel to eat man's dung before Israel. People, who read things in the Bible, then name it and claim it, better exercise common sense. It is not everything we saw in the scriptures belong to all people and to every man. Some things were for the people it was spoken to. We can learn a few lessons from it. However, it was not written to us. This verse shows me the obedient of the prophet. This prophet has to know God personally to follow with a request likes that.

Ezekiel Was Told To Eat Man’s Dung

Eze 4:12 And you shall eat it as barley cakes, and you shall bake it with dung of the excrement of man, in their sight. Eze 4:13 And Jehovah said, Even so shall the sons of Israel eat their defiled bread among the nations, where I will drive them. Eze 4:14 Then I said, Ah Lord Jehovah! Behold, my soul has not been defiled. For from my youth up, even until now, I have not eaten of that which dies of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither did there come any unclean flesh into my mouth. Eze 4:15 Then He said to me, Lo, I have given you cow's dung for man's dung, and you shall prepare your bread with it.

A Certain Prophet Was Told To Get Somebody To Hit Him.

1Ki 20:35 And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his neighbor, By the Word of Jehovah, please strike me! In addition, the man refused to strike him. 1Ki 20:36 and he said to him, because you have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah, behold, as soon as you have departed from me, a lion shall kill you. In addition, as soon as he had departed from him, a lion found him and killed him.

Jeremiah Was Told Not To Marry A Wife

Jer 16:1 The word of the LORD came also unto me, saying, Jer 16:2 Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place. I do not believe that this was for all God’s people. However, the obedience of the prophet was remarkable. It is good to know God’s voice. Because many people have been fooled into listening to a voice that are not the voice of God.

Hosea Was Told To Marry A Prostitute

Hosea 1:2 The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.

What You Need To Understand

Even before we open the Bible, we need to understand something about its language. The language the Bible was originally written in, and the language it is transplanted into. You will need to understand the Idioms of the language, which the bible was originally written in. And, you need to understand the Idioms of the language it is transplanted into, and above all, you need to understand the parable, and the hyperbole. Hyperbole means a deliberate exaggeration, not meant to be taken literally.

The Hermeneutics

In the book. (Knowing Scripture) Written by. R.C. Sproul. Publisher. Inter Varsity Press. Downers Grove Illinois 60515. Page 45.

“Hermeneutics The Science Of Interpretation.” The purpose of hermeneutics is to establish guidelines and rules for interpretation. A well-developed science can become technical and complex. Any written document is subject to misinterpretation and thus we have developed rules to safeguard us from such misunderstanding. We will restrict our present study to the most important and basic rules and guidelines.”

The book. (Hermeneutics) Written by Henry. Virkler. Publisher. Baker Book hose Co. Grand Rapid, Michigan 49516. Page 16. “In its technical meaning, hermeneutics is often defined as the science and art of biblical interpretation. Hermeneutics is considered a science because it has rules and these rules can be classified into an orderly system. “Hermeneutics is the mathematics of the Bible. Anywhere in the world you go, ten fours always equal 40 Also, four tens also equal 40 Hermeneutics are the universal exegesis. The exegesis means to explain what Scripture says. The word comes from the Greek word meaning, “to guide out of.” These provided the foundational concept of Bible interpretation.

The Hyperbole

Hyperbole means a deliberate exaggeration, not meant to be taken literally. People use hyperbole in the interaction with one another, every minute of the day. In our writing and in everything we do and say. I do not know how we overlook them in the Bible. To understand the Bible, we must be able to know what part of speech is being used. For example: regular Psalm might contain a prophecy, a parable, a proverb or a hyperbole. The reader must be able to notice it before they can even begin to decipher what is being said.

1 Cor. 4:15 (KJV) For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.

For example: I Cor 4:15 Speak about ten thousand instructors. However, it is believed that ten thousand people were not living at Corinth at the time of the Apostle Paul, much more ten thousand instructors. But, you and I have to understand the language or the part of speech that is being used here.

The Time Gap Or Time It Was Written

We must bear in mind that in every generation, words change and take on a different meaning. I asked one woman what she remembers about me when I was growing up. She replies, “You were always gay.” I was not upset because the time of the conversation among us, the word “Gay” means a person that is happy. Ten years after the conversation, the word “Gay” took on a different meaning. We must find out what the word means during the time when the apostles or prophets wrote them. What it means when the apostle wrote them is its true meaning. Not necessarily what it means today.

The Cultural Gap

Custom also changes from one generation to the next. We need to find out if the passage or chapter that we are reading has a custom background! And does it still applicable in our time?

The Historical Gap

The Bible recorded history. It recorded what good men say, as well as what evil men say, true or false. It is up to us to examine the history and know if it is correct. The Bible records what Job's friends say, but later on God rebukes them for what they say to the job. Everything that these men say to Job, look and sound good, but that was the philosophy of the East at the time.

The Parable

“Parables” Are discrete saying. To decode a parable, one has to come of age. One has to be paying close attention. I remember flirting with a woman at the hospital. There was a basket of fruit on the table besides her. I looked at the basket of fruits, and say to her, “It's that you?” A big smile came upon her face. She gave me one of the apples, as soon as I bit into it I said, “It this you that I am eating?” The flirting continued in code until a little woman caught on and shouted out, “You are flirting with her! God! You are really flirting” The woman replied for the first time and said. “He is not only flirting, but he is doing it very effectively.”

I was surprised that the apostles did not understand the parables of our lord. In fact, he also asked them. “If you do not understand this parable, how are you going to understand all parables?” To understand a parable you must be paying attention.

The Proverbs

A proverb is a wise saying. For example, “Do not shoot your way out, when you can walk out” All this is saying is to look for the best, easiest, and simplest way to deal with a situation. Violence must be the last resort. If the enemies will let you walk out in peace, it makes no sense trying to shoot your way out.

Symbols, Types, And Shadows

ECC 11:1 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt finds it after many days. ECC 11:2 Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth. Rev 17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. Isa 58:7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? All the sacrifices that were being done In the Old Testament were only shadows and type of what Christ would do in his coming. These no longer applicable since our Lord already made the one supreme sacrifice. The book of Revelation, Daniel, and Ezekiel is full of symbolism, if a believer does not understand the laws of symbolism he or she will never know how to interpret the things going on in this book.

The reason why Joseph was able to interpret the dreams he had in Egypt, is because he understands symbolic languages. If a servant of God does not understand these few rules that I mention, he or she will never be able to scratch the surface of the scriptures, and these are only but A few I mention, there are many, many more.

Understanding Bible So-Call Contradictions

The new wave of attacks that Christians are facing today, are Bible 1discrepancy. Often in universities, Christian students came under attack from their antagonistic professors. These Christians fall helpless to these waves of attacks. One book of the bible stated that the children of Israel spent four hundred years in Egypt; another book said it was four hundred and thirty years. One book said that the sermon was on the mountain, another book said it was on the plain. The feeding of the multitudes also seems to give different accounts. One book says: Five Loaves, feed five thousand. Another book says: Seven Loaves, feed Seven Thousand? How many horses and chariots did King Salomon have? If a pastor cannot answer these, and give explanations, he she could looses all their young people that went off to university. In order to undermine the faith of the faithful, a base is needed, and these are what haters of the bible use as their launching pad to attacks the mind of the faithful. Once they get the young people to mistrust the bible, defeating them is easy from here on. They came home from colleagues, hating Israel, hating Jews, and hating godly parents.

The Christian’s Faith Can be Undermined5

2 Tim. 2:18 (KJV)Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.

1 Tim. 1:19 (KJV) Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck

2 Peter 3:16 (KJV)As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

Four Hundred Years

Genesis 15:13 (NKJV)And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

Acts 7:6 (NKJV)And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years.

Gen 15:13 (NKJV)Said that the people of Israel will be in Egypt for four hundred years. Acts 7:6 also confirmed this. But in Exodus 12:40-41 and Galatians 3:17. It says it was four hundred and thirty years. Which one is Correct?

Four Hundred and Thirty Years

Exodus 12:40-41(NKJV)Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. [41] And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.

Galatians 3:17 And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. (Galatians 3:17)

When the President of the United States gave the word that the slaves were to be set free the slave owners wanted the slaves to serve for seven more years for them to learn to live on their own. The book mentions that the slaves were freed by the President signing the bill, but did not obtain their freedom until years after. The apprentice idea comes from England: The learning of a trade through apprenticeship, in which a young person was placed with and formally bound to a master, has roots way back in medieval times. By the 16th century it was generally accepted as a means of providing technical training to boys and a very few girls in a wide range of occupations.

“The Statute of Apprentices of 1563, sometimes called the Statute of Artificers, made apprenticeship compulsory for anyone who wished to enter a trade. It remained on the statute book until 1814. In that long period, no man could, in theory, set up as a master or as a workman till he had served his seven years' apprenticeship.

From the time that God stood before Moses in the burning bushes, and commanded him to go and deliver Israel from Pharaoh’s bondage, in the mind of God, Israel was free from that moment, and could have walk out of Egypt. The Elders of Israel did not welcome Moses’ message, and they stood in the way of the people’s deliverance. It was many years after, when Pharaoh doubled their work and saw they were going to die, that the elders of Israel meet with Moses. They were the ones that caused the delay. The difference between 400 years and the 430 is this. Had they walked out of egypt the same time Moses turned up the time gap would be different.

How Many Times Did Jesus Feed The People?

How many times did our lord feed people? Many people point out that the two accounts are different, because St Mark said it was five loaves; he used to feed the people. While St Matthew said it was seven, but, St Mark shows that Jesus fed people twice (Matthew 15: 34, St Mark 8:19-20 NKJV).

Five Loaves, Five Thousand

Mark 6:40-44 (NKJV)And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties. [41] And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all. [42] And they did all eat, and were filled. [43] And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes. [44] And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.

Seven Loaves, Seven Thousand?

Matthew 15:34-38 (NKLV)And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, seven, and a few little fishes. [35] And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. [36] And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. [37] And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full. [38] And they that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children.

The explanation of the two texts

When I break the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve. [20] And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven (Mark 8:19-20).

On The Mountain or In the Plain

Critics have come down on the Bible stating that it gives two different accounts of the same event. For example: In St Matthew 5:1-3, and in St Luke 6:17-21, our Lord was no different than some preachers today who preached the same sermons many different places. I must have preached the “King Is Coming” in about sixty different places.

Matt 5:1-3 (NKJV) And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a 7mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. 2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: 3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Luke 6:17-21 (NKJV) And he came down with them, and stood in the 8plain, and the company of his disciples, and a great multitude of people out of all Judaea and Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases; [18] And they that were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed. [19] And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all. [20] And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. [21] Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.