To understand
the Scriptures, we should look for spiritual truth,
and not just at the literal message.
The Apostle Paul says:
"While we look not at the things which are seen,
but at the things
which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal,
but the things
which are not seen are eternal."
(2Cor. 4:18).
We also should compare scriptures
with scriptures and rightly divide the Word of God,
to see spiritual truth:
"Which things
also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth,
but which the
Holy Spirit teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual."
(1Cor. 2:13).
The error that many make is taking
a verse(s) out of context and making their own interpretations.
What some have done, is to take a verse
here and a verse there,
and still another verse from another part
of the bible,
and twist its meaning to suit their own
doctrine.
Peter says:
"Knowing
this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation.
For the prophecy
came not at any time by the will of man,
but holy men
of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit."
(2Pet. 1:20).
We should not
take any verse out of its context and interpret that verse (s) by itself.
By doing this, we are making our interpretation
to suit our own line of thinking.
Instead, we should:
1. Read the previous and following
verses
and know the subject of the text which
the verse is involved with.
This helps us to understand the verse
within the context.
2. Let the bible verses reveal
its meaning to you
by comparing it with other verses
that speak of the same subject.
Doing this confirms and enhances its meaning.
3. There should be no verse
(s) or subject in the scripture
that we avoid because it contradicts our
understanding of scripture.
4. Avoid the error of taking what
is written in the Bible only literally
and missing the spiritual message.
Many say we must take
the Bible literally
but God is a Spirit and Jesus came to
reveal the spiritual things of God to us.
(1 Co. 2:10-13).
Surely there are
literal and historical accounts and we can learn from them,
but we do not apply it to us literally,
especially the Old Testament.
Jesus taught by numbers and by parables, the hidden things
(mysteries)
of the spiritual realm. The larger
the number does not necessarily mean it is greater or better.
Numbers are used to convey quantities,
but more importantly they convey spiritual messages.
For example, the number 2 is a number
of witness and testimony.
The number 11 is larger than the number
2, but the number 11 is associated with doubting.
The Scripture uses the 4 basic functions
of mathematics.
(1) addition: Gathering in
the Feeding of the 5,000.
(2) subtraction: The Parable
of the Unjust Steward (Luk. 16:1-13).
(3) division: The explanation
of the number 5 by Jesus (Luk. 12:51-53).
(4) Multiplication: The Parable
of the Unforgiven Servant (Mat. 18:21-35).
The numbers 5 and 2 together
are associated with the Christian.
These two numbers together
are a picture of a Christian who is living
a life of separation (5)
and testimony (2) for the Lord.
Five is the number
of separation
Luke 12:51-53:
“Suppose
ye that I am come to give peace on earth?
I tell you, nay; but rather a division:
For from henceforth there shall
be five in one house divided, three against two,
and two against three.
The father shall be
divided against the son, and the son against the father;
the mother against the daughter, and the
daughter against the mother;
the mother-in-law against the daughter-in-law,
and the daughter-in-law against the mother-in-law.”
(Luk. 12:51-53).
Five
in one house; Three against two = five; two against three = five.
The number 2 is the number of witness and testifying.
Jesus chose the disciples by 2 and sent
them out by 2.
Those who despised Moses' law died under
2 or 3 witnesses
(Heb. 10:28; see also Mat. 18:16;
2Co. 13:1; 1Ti. 5:19).
When these two
number, 5 and 2, are together,
the number 5 is always before the number
2.
If you are not living a separated life
from the world’s ways,
you have no testimony for the Lord.
1. Are not 5 sparrows sold
for 2 farthings,
and not one of them is forgotten before
God? (Luk. 12:6).
2. In the Parable of the Talent,
the one who produced 5 and 2 talents represents
the Christian.
The one who hid the talent is cast
into outer darkness
for he represents the unbeliever.
3. Here in the feeding of
the 5,000, Jesus uses 5 loaves and 2 fishes,
for this incident represents the believers.
The 4,000 were fed with 7 loaves and few
(?) fishes.
An uncertain number of fishes for the
4,000 represents the doubters.
4. In the Parable of the Unjust
Steward,
the numbers 5 and 2 are there also but
it is hidden.
This is because he was not a faithful steward.
He had no separated life and so no testimony.
Thus the saying of Jesus “the sons (unbelievers)
of this age are in their generation wiser
than the sons (Christians) of light.”
To get the 5 and 2, you must subtract
50 from the 100 measures of oil
and 80 from the 100 measures of wheat.
Again the 5 before the 2.
The number
50 and 5 has a similar connotation.
Five is the number of separation for the
individual,
thus a new beginning in his life and 50
is the number of Pentecost,
the beginning of the Christian Church.
Seven is the
number of dispensation.
A dispensation has a rule or principle
of its own.
We have 7 notes in the musical scale,
7 colors in the rainbow, 7 rays in a prismatic light, etc.
The critical days of certain illness is
7, 14 and 21 days.
In
the Bible when God worked with a group of people in a certain way,
it is called a dispensation.
It comes from the Greek work
oikonomia,
which means administration of a household
or the stewardship of God.
We are all in God’s economy or dispensation
and God works in different times,
in different ways.
A large part of the
Old Testament was in the dispensation of the Law,
and the New Testament is in the dispensation
of Grace.
The number 14 indicates two dispensation, the first of the law and
the second of grace.
Two is the number of witness and testimony,
14 is two seven’s.
In Mat. 1:17
we have the testimony of the generation of Israel, from Abraham to Christ,
which is grouped into 14 generations.
In 2Cor. 12:2; we have the
Apostle Paul’s testimony of his visions and revelations of the Lord.
It was about a man he knew in Christ 14
years before.
And in Gal 2:1, 9
Paul is finally accepted by the Christians,
who were previously doubtful of his sincerity.
I have
no doubt that the Apostle Paul wrote the book of Hebrews;
for with Hebrews it makes a total of
14 epistles
(Phil. 3:6).
He speaks of his bonds (Heb. 10:33)
and of Timothy (Heb. 13:23).
Paul is a Hebrew of the Hebrews
(Phil. 3:5);
a Pharisee who knew all about the law of
Moses.
Paul
is the Apostle of Grace and Faith.
Paul leaves his trade
mark in all his epistles including the epistles to the Hebrews.
He ends it with “Grace be with you all”
or
“the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you all.”
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