Chapter 3 - Bible Principles of Interpretation Arise Out of the Nature and Character of the Godhead Flashcards
PRINCIPLE #1
Before the inception of sin, God’s creatures were governed by the principle that God was supreme, and that His will, being perfect and holy, should be obeyed without hesitation or question.
PRINCIPLE #2
Repeatedly, Jesus stated that the purpose of His coming to earth was to reveal the character of His Father, and to teach the principle of implicit trust and, obedience to the will of the infinite God–”our heavenly Father.” John 4:34; 5:30; 6:3; Matt. 26:39-44; Phil. 2:8; Heb. 5:8.
PRINCIPLE #3
God has made all vital matters pertaining to His work on earth a subject of prophecy. “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets.” Amos 3:7. All texts in the Bible must be interpreted to agree with this fundamental principle. God’s nature causes Him to clearly reveal His will.
PRINCIPLE #4
The perpetuity of the Law of God is established upon the principle that God’s law is the expression of His character. As God’s character is unchangeable, so is His law.
PRINCIPLE #5
As in nature new life springs from the dead, so we obtain new life spiritually now, and literally at the resurrection. Therefore, from God’s holiness arises the principle of life from death caused by sin. This often repeated Bible principle must guide in the interpretation of prophecy. There cannot be a millennium of peace and blessedness on earth to follow as the harvest from a world steeped in sin and iniquity. The doctrine of a desolate “dead” earth and the cleansing of the earth by the fires of the last days alone harmonizes with the principle of new lifE, a new world, emerging from death
PRINCIPLE #6
God wastes nothing in nature, and He has more than one purpose in all that He does. Similarly, we see the principle that nothing is wasted in the Scriptures, and that God has more than one purpose in the experiences of ancient Israel: all that pertained to literal Israel is now useful to the church even the conditional prophecies (such as Eze 38-48) which were not fulfilled in the experiences of literal Israel because of their failure to meet the conditions necessary for their fulfilment.
PRNCIPLE #7
In the prophecies (such as Joel 3; Zech. 14; Ezek. 38, 39; Rev. 16:12-16; 19:11-21) outlining “the final conflict,” God does not waste valuable space in His Word referring to specific nations, for these prophecies relate to the church and her spiritual enemies. “The final conflict” concerns only the two opposing forces of good and evil.
PRINCIPLE #8
In the plan of redemption, Jesus is the visible manifestation of the Deity to man, and because of this the New Testament reveals the principle that the literal interpretations of Scripture are applicable when and where His literal Presence is manifested: (1) in the days of literal Israel, (2) in heaven now, (3) in the eternal kingdom on earth. Wherever Jesus is, there will be found the literal, the real, the tangible.
PRINCIPLE #9
Jesus visibly appeared to man, and ministers among literal things: the Holy Spirit invisibly represents Christ to man, and glorifies Christ (John 16:14) by spiritually interpreting literal things.
PRINCIPLE #10
The principle of the literal wherever Jesus is, and the spiritual now, while the Holy Spirit represents Jesus, gives rise to the principle of the triple application of the Scriptures, whereby the things relating to Israel must be interpreted to be: (1) literal before the cross; (2) spiritual on earth after the cross and the subsequent rejection. of the Jewish nation; (3) literal after the second advent. This triple application establishes the certainty of the Third Angel’s Message.
PRINCIPLE #11
From the principle that the literal things are always grouped around Jesus, and the spiritual things are grouped around the Holy Spirit while He represents Christ, arises the principle that other things in the Scriptures are also grouped together. In the days of literal Israel things were grouped on a literal, national basis: in the times of spiritual Israel things are spiritually grouped together. Jerusalem, which was God’s centre, and Babylon, Satan’s centre, and all that were grouped with them, are brought into the New Testament and applied in a spiritual, world-wide sense.
PRINCIPLE #12
The book of Revelation is a divine example of this principle of things being grouped together, for all the places, proper names and designations are employed symbolically. By this group-principle we know that, as Babylon in Rev. 16 is interpreted spiritually, so the Euphrates and Armageddon, which are grouped with her, must also be interpreted in a spiritual, world-wide sense.
