Why Are Some Passages Difficult?
by Bryan Gibson
Click here for the First Four Articles on "Can We Understanding the Bible"
As another article indicated, while some passages in the Bible are easy to understand, a few others are much harder. Reference was made to 2 Peter 3:16, where the apostle Peter writes the following about the epistles of Paul: “…in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.” Notice first, that this passage says "hard to understand," not impossible. Secondly, there is no indication given that because these passages are hard to understand that we are each allowed to have “our own interpretations.” The passage condemns those who would “twist” (or distort) the true meaning of these passages. As we “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord” (2 Pet. 3:18), the hard passages become much easier for us to understand (see also Hebrews 5:11-14).
Be particularly wary of teachers who start with the meat and not the milk. Their goal is usually to confuse and make you dependent on them and not the bible. Good bible teachers encourage independent study and a questioning of what they teach. They are overjoyed when someone takes issue with them because this demonstrates that they have convinced their students to think independently. Disagreements can be worked out; complacency cannot.
Now let's address our question: why would God want to make some passages hard to understand? Why not make it where all can understand with the least amount of effort? Consider carefully the fact that the bible was written with its current content with the intent to make certain separations. Among them:
It takes diligent study to understand some passages (2 Tim. 2:15). According to Proverbs 2:1-5, proper understanding is reserved for those who want it very badly and are willing to put in the time and effort to obtain it. You cannot have knowledge of the bible from what someone else tells you; you must study it first hand for yourself. This is true even if they are perfectly sincere and truthful and have an excellent knowledge of the bible. They can help much; but ultimately, the responsibility is yours.
One other point about difficult passages that might be surprising. There are some questions about things in the Bible that we will never be able to answer. These are not things that are related to God’s will to us. In all cases they are incidental to the main message, and their revelation might even be detrimental to that message. For example, Paul talks about a "thorn in the flesh" in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. Many inquire and often discuss just what this “thorn in the flesh” was. As far as we know, there is no way to tell, but we can understand exactly what God’s will is for us as given in this passage without knowing this detail. And it is quite possible that if we knew what his thorn in the flesh was we would put such an emphasis on that particular malady that it would cause us to fail to see that he is not limiting the application to any one sickness, heartache, setback or problem that we might have in this world. Sometimes it is better for us when God says "no" to our requests for more information, regardless of what the request might be for.
Another good example is in the difference of opinion that Paul and Barnabas had as described toward the end of Acts 15. It never says which of them was right and which was wrong -- or if perhaps even both of them were wrong. These were two good men who had a difference of opinion and they found a way to resolve their differences and be about the Lord's work. This is a great example for us; sometimes it just does not matter who is right and who is wrong when it comes to matters of opinion. The Holy Spirit through Luke did not consider it to be a necessary detail to write down. When the bible is silent on a subject, it is silent for a reason. In this case we are better off not knowing whether Paul or Barnabas was right. And so it is often in the disputes that we may hear of today between Christians. First, people of integrity are going to at times disagree over matters of judgment. If it was true of Paul and Barnabas it can be true of any two honorable and well-meaning Christians. Second, why is it our business who was right and who was wrong? Unless, of course, we are involved in helping resolve the matter. But otherwise we need to leave it well enough alone and follow Luke's example. (We do not want to leave this subject without assuring the reader that Paul, Barnabas and John Mark appear to work together in love and unity once they resolved this disagreement ... see Col. 4:10; 2 Tim. 4:11; Philemon 2:4.)
As another example, we may not know the specific meaning of many of the symbols in the Book of Revelation, but a reading of it produces a very good understanding of the overall conflict that is unfolding and to whom that God is going to assure the victory. We can be confident from the following that we have great blessings by reading and hearing the words in the book of revelation -- Revelation 1:3: "Blessed is he that reads, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written therein: for the time is at hand." The understanding that we get from reading it (even the first time) will give us this blessing. And each time we study it after that, the blessing will be multiplied. It is not totally essential that we know what ever symbol means to receive this blessing. In fact, you can be sure that anyone who says they know definitively what each and every symbol means specifically is attempting to lead you astray. Since there is no way to know for sure, those who claim to know must also be claiming some special revelation from God. Our major objective in study should be to understand the will of God (Ephesians 5:17), and if we strive for that, these other details will be added to us in due time. We urge anyone who has not read the book of Revelation to read it without concern for the exact meaning of every figure, and verify what we are saying here.
What are the conditions of salvation given by Jesus?
Click here for other articles on "Can We Understanding the Bible"
As another article indicated, while some passages in the Bible are easy to understand, a few others are much harder. Reference was made to 2 Peter 3:16, where the apostle Peter writes the following about the epistles of Paul: “…in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.” Notice first, that this passage says "hard to understand," not impossible. Secondly, there is no indication given that because these passages are hard to understand that we are each allowed to have “our own interpretations.” The passage condemns those who would “twist” (or distort) the true meaning of these passages. As we “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord” (2 Pet. 3:18), the hard passages become much easier for us to understand (see also Hebrews 5:11-14).
Be particularly wary of teachers who start with the meat and not the milk. Their goal is usually to confuse and make you dependent on them and not the bible. Good bible teachers encourage independent study and a questioning of what they teach. They are overjoyed when someone takes issue with them because this demonstrates that they have convinced their students to think independently. Disagreements can be worked out; complacency cannot.
Now let's address our question: why would God want to make some passages hard to understand? Why not make it where all can understand with the least amount of effort? Consider carefully the fact that the bible was written with its current content with the intent to make certain separations. Among them:
- To separate those who love the truth from those who do not; 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12: "And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of his mouth, and bring to naught by the manifestation of his coming; (even he), whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God sends them a working of error, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
- To separate those with humble hearts from those with proud hearts; Matthew 11:25: "At that season Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and understanding, and didst reveal them unto babes: ..." [Note that Jesus is using the term "wise and understanding" accomodatively ... they were far from it.]
- To separate those with honest intentions from those who would distort God's words: 2 Pet. 3:16: "... as also in all (his) epistles, speaking in them of these things; wherein are some things hard to be understood, which the ignorant and unsteadfast wrest, as (they do) also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
It takes diligent study to understand some passages (2 Tim. 2:15). According to Proverbs 2:1-5, proper understanding is reserved for those who want it very badly and are willing to put in the time and effort to obtain it. You cannot have knowledge of the bible from what someone else tells you; you must study it first hand for yourself. This is true even if they are perfectly sincere and truthful and have an excellent knowledge of the bible. They can help much; but ultimately, the responsibility is yours.
One other point about difficult passages that might be surprising. There are some questions about things in the Bible that we will never be able to answer. These are not things that are related to God’s will to us. In all cases they are incidental to the main message, and their revelation might even be detrimental to that message. For example, Paul talks about a "thorn in the flesh" in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. Many inquire and often discuss just what this “thorn in the flesh” was. As far as we know, there is no way to tell, but we can understand exactly what God’s will is for us as given in this passage without knowing this detail. And it is quite possible that if we knew what his thorn in the flesh was we would put such an emphasis on that particular malady that it would cause us to fail to see that he is not limiting the application to any one sickness, heartache, setback or problem that we might have in this world. Sometimes it is better for us when God says "no" to our requests for more information, regardless of what the request might be for.
Another good example is in the difference of opinion that Paul and Barnabas had as described toward the end of Acts 15. It never says which of them was right and which was wrong -- or if perhaps even both of them were wrong. These were two good men who had a difference of opinion and they found a way to resolve their differences and be about the Lord's work. This is a great example for us; sometimes it just does not matter who is right and who is wrong when it comes to matters of opinion. The Holy Spirit through Luke did not consider it to be a necessary detail to write down. When the bible is silent on a subject, it is silent for a reason. In this case we are better off not knowing whether Paul or Barnabas was right. And so it is often in the disputes that we may hear of today between Christians. First, people of integrity are going to at times disagree over matters of judgment. If it was true of Paul and Barnabas it can be true of any two honorable and well-meaning Christians. Second, why is it our business who was right and who was wrong? Unless, of course, we are involved in helping resolve the matter. But otherwise we need to leave it well enough alone and follow Luke's example. (We do not want to leave this subject without assuring the reader that Paul, Barnabas and John Mark appear to work together in love and unity once they resolved this disagreement ... see Col. 4:10; 2 Tim. 4:11; Philemon 2:4.)
As another example, we may not know the specific meaning of many of the symbols in the Book of Revelation, but a reading of it produces a very good understanding of the overall conflict that is unfolding and to whom that God is going to assure the victory. We can be confident from the following that we have great blessings by reading and hearing the words in the book of revelation -- Revelation 1:3: "Blessed is he that reads, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written therein: for the time is at hand." The understanding that we get from reading it (even the first time) will give us this blessing. And each time we study it after that, the blessing will be multiplied. It is not totally essential that we know what ever symbol means to receive this blessing. In fact, you can be sure that anyone who says they know definitively what each and every symbol means specifically is attempting to lead you astray. Since there is no way to know for sure, those who claim to know must also be claiming some special revelation from God. Our major objective in study should be to understand the will of God (Ephesians 5:17), and if we strive for that, these other details will be added to us in due time. We urge anyone who has not read the book of Revelation to read it without concern for the exact meaning of every figure, and verify what we are saying here.
What are the conditions of salvation given by Jesus?
Click here for other articles on "Can We Understanding the Bible"