Bro. R. Spurgeon                                                     1-21-1995
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HERMENEUTICS

I. Bible Interpretation -- the NEED

   A. Examples of Bible Interpretation
       1. Acts 8:26-31
       2. Nehemiah 8:1-8

   B. Importance of Bible Interpretation
       1. It is essential for understanding and teaching the Bible properly

Steps in Bible Study
                                       step 3
                                      .------------------
                    step 2            |   APPLICATION
                   .------------------'   'How does it
 step 1            |                       apply to me?' 
.------------------' INTERPRETATION
|                    'What does it mean?'
| OBSERVATION
| 'What does it say?

       2. It is essential as a step beyond OBSERVATION.
            II Timothy 2:15

Observation
1. Discovery
2. Depicting
3. Exploring
Interpretation
1. Digesting
2. Deciding
3. Explaining

       3. It is essential for applying the Bible properly.

[...]

VIII. Bible Interpretation--Spanning the Testament Gap

  Use of the Old Testament in the New Testament.

  There are 250 to 300 O.T. quotations in the N.T.

  23 out of 27 N.T. Books quote O.T. 

  Philemon; I, II & III John 

  Matthew; Acts; Romans and Hebrews contain several dozen quotes of O.T. 

  Psalm 110:1 --> 6 times in N.T.

"The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." (Psalm 110:1)

  More than 10% of the N.T. is made up of the O.T.

  Progressive Revelation

   A. Variations in Wording:
       1. Grammatical Variations
            --Isaiah 54:13 & John 6:45
"And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children." (Isaiah 54:13)
"It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me." (John 6:45)
            --Psalm 118:26 & Luke 19:38
"Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD." (Psalm 118:26)
"Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest." (Luke 19:38)

       2. Omitting Certain Portions
            --Isaiah 6:9-10 & Mark 4:12
"(9)And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. (10)Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed." (Isaiah 6:9-10)
"That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them." (Mark 4:12)

        3. Giving Partial Quotations
            --Isaiah 61:2 & Luke 4:18-19
"To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;" (Isaiah 61:2).
"(18)The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, (19)To preach the acceptable year of the Lord." (Luke 4:18-19)
            --Zechariah 9:9 & Matthew 21:5
"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass." (Zechariah 9:9)
"Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass." (Matthew 21:5)

        4. Using Synonyms
            --Isaiah 40:3 ("highway") & Matthew 3:3 ("paths")
"The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God." (Isaiah 40:3)
"For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." (Matthew 3:3)
            --Psalm 40:6 & Hebrews 10:5
"Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required." (Psalm 40:6)
"Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:" (Hebrews 10:5).

        5. New Aspects of Truth
            --Deuteronomy 5:16 & Ephesians 6:2-3
"Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee." (Deuteronomy 5:16)
"(2)Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) (3)That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth." (Ephesians 6:2-3)

   B. Purposes of Quotations:

        1. To Point to an O.T. Prediction
            --Matthew 1:2-23 & Isaiah 7:14
"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14)

        2. To Explain a Point in the O.T.
            --Acts 2:16-21 & Joel 2:28-32
"(16)But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; (17)And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: (18)And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: (19)And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: (20)The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: (21)And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Acts 2:16-21)
"(28)And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: (29)And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. (30)And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. (31)The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. (32)And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call." (Joel 2:28-32)

        3. To Support a N.T. Point
            --Mark 10:8 & Genesis 2:24
"And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh." (Mark 10:8)
"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." (Genesis 2:24)
            --Romans 1:17 & Habakkuk 2:4
"For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." (Romans 1:17)
"Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith." (Habakkuk 2:4)

        4. To Illustrate a N.T. Truth
            --I Corinthians 1:18-19 & Isaiah 29:14
"(18)For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. (19)For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent." (I Corinthians 1:18-19)
"Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid." (Isaiah 29:14)

        5. To Summarize an O.T. Concept
            --Isaiah 11:1 & Matthew 2:23
"And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:" (Isaiah 11:1).
"And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene." (Matthew 2:23)

        6. To Draw Parallel
            --Romans 8:36 & Psalm 44:22
"As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." (Romans 8:36)
"Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter." (Psalm 44:22)

        7. To Relate an O.T. Situation to Christ
            --Hosea 11:1 & Matthew 2:15
"When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt." (Hosea 11:1)
"And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son." (Matthew 2:15)
            --Jeremiah 31:15 & Matthew 2:16-19
"Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not." (Jeremiah 31:15)
"(16)Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men. (17)Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, (18)In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not. (19)But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt," (Matthew 2:16-19).