2018 Shuv Show: "Well, I think it means . . . ", Christene Jackman

Shuv Show
“Well, I think it means . . . “
Christene Jackman ©2018
The Danger of Basing our interpretation of Scripture on our modern experience and understanding and feelings not based on fact.

EXCERPT: " Welcome to the Shuv Show. I’m your host, Christene Jackman.
Frequently, when I observe or participate in discussing Scripture, I hear this common statement, “Well, I think it means….” Often the interpretation that follows is not backed by evidence from Scripture but rather based through the lens of modern day—how this current world and its culture would see it.

But remember, the Bible was not written in 2018. The culture was not Western, Anglo Saxon—it was Near Eastern, Semitic—though, around the First Century--certainly Greek Hellenism was an invasive error resisted by the true believers of the God of Israel. So in light of the fact that the Bible was not written today, one cannot look at a Scriptural passage, lift the head, eyes to the left, searching the mind to recall a recent experience, say, “I think it means _____ (fill in the blank).” Your answer will be suspect.

Take for example, the phrase from Nehemiah 8:10, “The Joy of the LORD is your strength.”
One day, I asked the LORD: What does that phrase really mean, “the Joy of the LORD?” What did it mean to the speaker that day? What did it mean to the people listening in the crowd? How’s does the Holy Spirit, Ruach HaKodesh, intend it to be understood . . . "