Understanding The Bible

I would like to make some observations here about the Old Testament.

My first comment is that it was a very, very long time ago when the text was written so there is obviously going to be some confusion about the content of such ancient writings. People, who are born in this day and age are not used to such language, ideas, ideals, goings on, and beliefs as they had back in the time when Moses was doing his good work for God. Our entire thinking is different from what was used back in those days and its obvious to us as we try to understand the content of the Bible and its meaning.

The lands of the world were different as well. The world was considered a small place because the “world” was considered to be that land as spoken about the time of the First Testament. God was only dealing with a few cultures at that time, today there are many cultures all around the planet and we today are struggling to help and understand them all. It is not an easy task. The people of the First Testament were simple thinking and superstitious to some extent. I imagine that they were surprised by Gods power and his want to help them in their daily life. They would have wondered “Why us?”, “Why does God want to help us and not the others?” They would have had many questions, some about faith, some about who and what was God, some about where did God come from? If God were to show himself today the world would be very confused and definitely amazed, many of our plans for the world would be deleted immediately and the worlds churches would be full to overflowing.

Today we are dealing with many people of many different ethnic backgrounds. With over six billion people covering the Earthy lands there are many ideas, thoughts and opinions floating around as we all try to find a way for us all to live in harmony. Add to that the huge advances in communications that we have come to and you can understand that there is bound to be a lot of confusion on many different issues, religion being only one of them.

I think that when we read the First Testament we need to use a fair amount of imagination and we need to really think about the people who lived at that time. We need to think of their desires, we need to wonder what drove then to do the things that they did. A good example is when Moses came down from Mount Sinai and his people were worshiping a golden calf. You may ask yourself why would they do this after they had previously dealt with God. These were simple people who wanted the best for themselves and if worshiping a golden calf would get then what they wanted then they probably thought – well so be it and they danced about and worshiped the golden calf. The text written in the Bible was written by people who lived back then, so they are using the language that they were used to, they thought in that same language, they used logic and common sense that was equal to the primitive language that they used. These are some of the main reasons that people today who were taught modern languages blended with modern thinking struggle often to understand the written text of the Bible.

Many attempts have been tried to make the modern Bible easier to understand, but still some confusion still is evident. So we need to still be very open to the content of the Bible and be willing to try and learn.

The more your read the First Testament the more you realise that these stubborn people are not much different to people today. We seem to be more intellectually intelligent but we seem to have the same stubbornness as they did back then. Time has passed, people have progressed, but many attitudes haven’t changed and our want for ourselves is much the same. We think of ourselves in the, Here And Now, and not what may happen in the future or what could happen after our Earthly body dies. The Bible is trying to show us that their is more to life than what we see and hear on Earth, so we need to be more open-minded about what we really want for ourselves.

Why do you think God gave the people the Ten Commandments?
Because the people needed direction, they were obviously lost and needed help. God saw that mankind needed rules to live by, rules that would be in our best interest. Rules to guide us to living wholesome and healthy lives. God had many rules for the people of old times and he was trying to get the people to follow the rules in a way that they understood. The rituals were something that they understood, and they feared punishment greatly. Its amazing that the people didn’t stop complaining to Moses when they saw Gods great power working for them, but I know people today who would have reacted the exact same way in the same situation. If you are honest with yourself and think about it as well you will admit to having met people like this as well.

The people who God was working with in the early days were the people of Israel.
At this stage they were a lost and scared people, they were far from the place that they had called home, lost in what to do and asking and needing desperate help from God and Moses. These were hard times. There were no shops to go visiting. No comforts that we have today. It would be easy for you to sit in a chair and scorn the First Testament while relaxing in your apartment above the city in cozy comfort, you would be so far from the “reality” of the First Testament that you would find it hard to “connect with the book” for its real meaning and worthiness. That explains why some religious movies have an affect on viewers, its because they can relate to what they see and hear. The viewers may not be there but they can still relate to what is happening to some degree.

I find it amazing that people can let them selves willingly be dazzled by Sci-Fi, super technical, movies patched from beginning to end with special effects and then complain that they have trouble understanding the Bible and its meaning to people. Maybe its the modern entertainment that is taking our minds far away from using our own imaginations and slowing our thinking processes that’s the problem. Today our minds are shown so many bells & whistles, light and sound that we may actually be having trouble focusing on what reality is.

Our mind believes what it takes in and to much of modern entertainment may cause problems with our thinking patterns.
If you doubt this then take a break of about two months from television, movies and all forms of modern digital entertainment. Can you do it? I have met many people who believe that they cannot stop watching television for one night, they get panicky at the thought. What about you? Its only two months of your life, you would enjoy it because it will be two months were you get to meet an important person – you!

There are many available religious movies in these modern times.
You could fill the gap with these movies, religious books, magazines and Bible studies, going to church on Sundays and taking an active part in the church activities. I am sure that you will gain a better understanding of the Bible and its content by taking off two months of your normal life and making an all out effort to learn.

If you have doubts about your life as it is then this will be your opportunity to explore this well loved faith and try to really understand what God and the Bible are all about.
When you go to church ask any questions that are bothering you. You can reason that if Gods Word is the Truth then the answers will be there, someone will be able to help you.

All the best from
James Martin Sandbrook.
Tuesday, ‎9 ‎March ‎2004, ‏‎2:50:06 PM.