Dr. Couch, I read in Proverbs 22:16 that you will come to poverty if you
give a gift to a wealthy person. I have a brother who is wealthy and I
intend to give him a birthday gift soon, but here is the larger
question. Is a passage like this symbolic or does it have another
meaning? As a layman must I ask a "scholar" what it means? How do I get
the meaning and how do I know someone else’s interpretation is right?
Or, do I simply depend on the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit does not give us contextual or grammatical answers. We
have to dig for that, but He does aid us in comprehending the spiritual
meaning of Scripture. The Bible is full of reminders that we have to
study the Word of God in order to know the Word of God! The Bereans
searched the Word of God for answers (Acts 17:11); Paul told Timothy to
study the Scriptures (2 Tim. 2:15), and he added that we need teachers
to help us understand the Bible: "The things which you have heard from
me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who
will be able to teach others also" (2:2).
Teachers are guides, and commentaries and theologies are but teachers on
paper. While there are no perfect teachers it does not take a rocket
scientist to figure out which ones to listen to. (1) Do they hold the
Scriptures as inspired? (2) Are they in an Evangelical, dispensational,
and premillennial camp? (This means they interpret Scripture
consistently from Genesis to Revelation and are not in the mindless
allegorical frame of mind.) (3) Are they somewhat well trained? (4) Do
they study the Word themselves in order to arm their hearts and minds
with the Scriptures? (5) Do they know the biblical languages? (6) Have
they attended some of the most Godly institutions for their training?
(7) Are they into the "excitement" camp and are yellers and screamers?
(This means they are into "delivery" and not into substance!)
Avoid those who have nutty and way-out views on the Bible. Listen to
those who walk in a solid manner, and who come from that broad main
stream of Evangelicalism of the past. My book on Classical Evangelical
Hermeneutics is being used in many schools across the country and covers
most of the guidelines that will help you understand the Word of God.
Thanks for asking.
Dr. Mal Couch
