What is the Bible?

 Acts 8:26-40 tells of when Philip spoke to an Ethiopian man of great authority about the Bible. This man was sitting in his chariot, reading the Scripture, a passage from Isaiah and Philip asked him, “Understandest thou what thou readest?” The man gives an interesting reply. If I was sitting on a park bench, and as stranger came up to me and asked me if I understood what I was reading, I’d probably wouldn’t have replied as the Ethiopian did — unless, I was really struggling to grasp what I was reading and desperate to know what it meant. So he said, “How can I, except some man should guide me?”  I remember, as a young boy, sitting in my room, trying to start to read the Bible for the first time. It’s a big book, and I had no clue where to begin. I knew in my Bible, the red letters meant Jesus was speaking, but that was a long way from the beginning of the book. Do you start at the beginning or with the New Testament? I knew the preacher would preach from various texts of Scripture and I tried to follow along. He read the Bible before the service, but also read in various passages, so is that how you also read it and if so, where do you start and how do you know where to start? And if you can start with John’s gospel, as recommended, how do I know what is going on since it’s toward the end of the book? What kind of book is this? It may be common knowledge, but it’s not knowledge that a person is born with. With that in mind, maybe you are in the same boat, and have some questions about the Bible.

 The Bible is a book. Yes, a spiritual book that needs to be understood spiritually (1 Corinthians 2:6-16) with the Holy Spirit. But a book nonetheless. The Ethiopian was not an unintelligent man. As far as education and learning, it is likely the Ethiopian was far more intelligent that Philip. You don’t put a dummy in charge of your treasure (Acts 8:27) if you want to keep it very long. It wasn’t a lack of intelligence but a lack of spiritual understanding. You need to read it prayerfully, with the dependence upon the Holy Spirit. But also, don’t make it overly complicated. Seminaries only get paid if people enroll. Book publishers only get paid if people buy the book giving deep insight into stratagems of study and reading. Websites need the clicks on why the Bible is so complicated, so the best way to do that is make a person feel like they need someone or some system to understand the Bible. Here’s God’s system. Pray, read, and go to church. Repeat. Certainly, there are some good resources on reading the Bible and they will be a great help to you. But that’s covered under the “going to church” part. Ask your pastor for some trusted resources or some helps. He cares for your soul, whereas Crossway and The Gospel Coalition do not, since you are their market, not the people the Holy Spirit has given charge over. But don’t think you must have those resources first before you can read the Bible and profit.  Any book you read, where you are unfamiliar with the people, the setting, the culture, will make you feel like you a little lost. War and Peace starts out written in French. Then, it goes to a party, talking about fictional characters, as if you are supposed to know who they are. It’s a little disorienting. But by and by, if you stick with it, you’ll figure out who is who. If you stick with the Bible and keep reading, you’ll get more and more comfortable with what’s going on. Not only will you know who Jeroboam is, you’ll know the Jeroboam type. So, not to be glib, but it’s a pretty simple formula. Pray, read, and go to church. It’s a spiritual book, but it is a book.