Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth
Study to show yourself approved unto Elohiym, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth. TIMOTHEUS SHENIY (2 TIMOTHY) 2:15 את CEPHER
Paul, as he is wont to do, the Ruach speaking through him, delivers to Timothy timeless and precious advice, advice that everyone, of all eras, should adhere to. The Father has preserved His Word throughout the ages so that we as His children may get to know him, to know the account of our creation and the stories of our forefathers. He reveals Himself to us through his Word, and as the apostle John declares, His Word was made flesh and tabernacled among us. It is of critical importance for the believer, especially today, to be studying His Word, for innumerable reasons, but maybe primarily to ensure no man deceives us (Matthew 24:4).
How should we be studying His Word?
This is a question we all must ask ourselves, and pray ceaselessly about. I have expounded upon ways we can study below, but our relationship with the Father and His Son is a personal one, we each must work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.
We study by reading scripture
First and foremost by reading His Word, daily, and in totality. We should pick up Scripture and start at Genesis 1 and read all the way through til Revelation 22. There is not a single verse that lacks importance to us, none that are skippable, none that do not apply to us today. The Torah of Mosheh (first 5 books of Scripture) is as applicable to us in 2023 as it was to Yashar'el all those thousands of years ago. The prophets all deliver words of Truth, revealing Yahuah's plan for us, as we know He does nothing without first revealing his secrets unto the prophets (Amos 3:7).
We cannot rely on others to read His Word for us, and distill it down through their own filter, for as the prophet Jeremiah tells us "cursed is the man who trusts in man" (Jeremiah 17:5). We must "work out our own salvation" as the apostle Paul tells us, meaning our salvation is our responsibility alone, we will die for our own sins and no one else's (2 Chronicles 25:4). The mystery of our salvation, of our history, of our future is told to us through the entirety of His Word. We all need to be meditating in his word day and night (Psalm 1) and praying ceaselessly (1 Timothy 5:17) that we can deepen our relationship with the Father, that we may be His flock that hears His voice and follows Him (John 10:27).
We study by meditating in His Word
BLESSED is the man that walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the Torah of Yahuah; and in his Torah he meditates day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he does shall prosper. TEHILLIYM (PSALMS) 1:1-3 את CEPHER
As we read through His Word we will inevitably encounter verses that at first are difficult to understand. When we reach these verses we need to first seek wisdom and understanding from Yahuah, for we know He gives wisdom to all that ask (James 1:5), before we reach for an interpretation from men. We are very far removed from the authors who were inspired by the Ruach Ha'Qodesh to pen His Words, and we often lack the context of their society. Concepts that were familiar to them are unfamiliar to us, like animal husbandry and tending for flocks, processing wheat by hand using a threshing floor, slaughtering animals for our meat, and many others that for most of us today we lack intimate knowledge of. These concepts, however, are very important to grasp as many of Yahusha's parables and Yahuah's lessons delivered to us reference them.
We know the time has long come that the Father is seeking people to worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23), and as such we must constantly be seeking the spirit and truth of His Word. Asking ourselves as we read "what is the Spirit of this matter?", praying to the Father for wisdom that we may understand His Word and instructions in light of our current circumstances. What was physical truth for ancient Yasher'el may be spiritual truth for us. As Psalm 1 instructs, we must be meditating in His word day and night so that he may reveal the meaning of His word to us where our own knowledge falls short. Ask and you shall receive (Matthew 7:8) and seek first His kingdom, and He has promised to grant us that which we need.
We study by allowing Scripture to define Scripture
It is absolutely critical that we do not seek to define words and topics by our modern, or secular definitions, and instead allow His word to define His word. The Qodesh Scriptures are a complete work, there is nothing we must seek outside of them in order to complete the picture they paint. There are some concepts of ancient societies that we must familiarize ourselves with like I mentioned above, but we must interpret the Scriptures using the Scriptures.
What do I mean by this? Well, a great example is the meaning of the word "love". What does love mean to you? That's a question. What does society say love means? That is another question. Most importantly, what does Scripture say love means? When Yahusha tells us the two greatest (not only) commandments are to love Yahuah with our our heart, soul and mind and to love our neighbor as ourselves, what exactly does he mean by that? Should we take the world's definition of "love" and apply it to our Messiah's words? Did the society in the 1st century have the same definition of love? Would he, being the Word made flesh, define the commandments by society's definitions, or by His Father's?
How do the Scriptures define love? Well, John tells us quite plainly what love means.
By this we know that we love the children of Elohiym, when we love Elohiym, and guard his commandments. For this is the love of Elohiym, that we guard his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. YOCHANON RI'SHON (1 JOHN) 5:2-3 את CEPHER
This is not a Renewed Covenant revelation - Yahuah himself told us how to love Him.
And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and guard my commandments. SHEMOTH (EXODUS) 20:6 את CEPHER
And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and guard my commandments. DEVARIYM (DEUTERONOMY) 5:10 את CEPHER
Know therefore that Yahuah Elohayka, he is Elohiym, the faithful El, which guards his covenant and mercy with them that love him and guard his commandments to a thousand generations; DEVARIYM (DEUTERONOMY) 7:9 את CEPHER
And I prayed unto Yahuah Elohai, and made my confession, and said, O Adonai, the great and dreadful El, guarding the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that guard his commandments; DANIY'EL (DANIEL) 9:4 את CEPHER
And said, I beseech you, O Yahuah Elohai of heaven, the great and terrible El, that guards the covenant and shows mercy for them that love him and guard his commandments: EZRA V'NECHEMYAHU (NEHEMIAH) 1:5 את CEPHER
Messiah Yahusha, when he came in the flesh, confirmed his Father's words
If ye love me, guard my commandments. YOCHANON (JOHN) 14:15 את CEPHER
He that has my commandments, and guards them, he it is that loves me: and he that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. YOCHANON (JOHN) 14:21 את CEPHER
Yahusha answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will guard my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loves me not guards not my words: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me. YOCHANON (JOHN) 14:23-24 את CEPHER
This is far from a complete list of what Scripture says about what love means. For instance Paul is quite clear what it means to love your neighbor.
Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loves another has fulfilled the Torah. For this, You shall not break wedlock, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, You shall not lust; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ROMAIYM (ROMANS) 13:8-9 את CEPHER
Paul is telling us that by keeping these commandments we love our neighbors. The entire Torah, or Yahuah's instructions, reveal to us how to love, both Yah and man. It is not enough to just love in words, our love is made manifest by our actions, as John makes clear.
My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. YOCHANON RI'SHON (1 JOHN) 3:18 את CEPHER
Scriptural love is a bit different than worldly love, is it not? How much more so with other concepts like faith, righteousness, truth, patience?
We study by using technology to the Glory of Yahuah
I'm not going to lie, I've become incredibly disgruntled with technology as of late. The promise of the internet was to bring people together and share knowledge, however over the last decade or so it has morphed into a cesspool of division and propaganda. We're being pumped with lies and fear, addiction and anger, flooded with lusts of the flesh, which we know war against the ruach. However, we can use some of the tools to glorify Him and further Yah's Kingdom, as well as deepen our relationship with Him.
Tools such as e-sword, BibleGateway.com, and the Cepher app all provide the ability to quickly search His Word. Studies that may have taken weeks, months, or even years in the past can know be conducted quite quickly - as briefly evidenced by my example of Scriptural love above. For instance, what does the Word say about "righteousness"?
Above is the Cepher app, and with it we are able to search out certain topics and see a compendium of verses dealing with the subject at hand. We can quickly go through the Torah and Prophets, as well as the Messianic writings and glean insights and gather information so that we are armed with the Word. What more potent of a method to rightly divide the word is there than the ability to instantly search it?
E-sword is also an excellent tool, allowing us to search not just one translation, but many at a time, comparing how different Scriptures have translated verses.
Above is a search of the word "faith" across all the Scriptures I currently have downloaded in the app. There are many more editions available, as well. How incredible to have the capability to study His Word this way, where before you would have to have numerous books strewn about? Praise Yahuah that he has allowed knowledge to increase and has given man the capability to search his Word in this manner. We should relish the opportunity to delve into the Scriptures like this.
We study by referencing the Greek and Hebrew Texts
While it's true that no original Scripture manuscript exists, we do have very old copies written in Hebrew and Greek that our modern Scriptures are translated from. Often, the underlying Greek or Hebrew reveals something deeper, or purer, than the translated text does. Also, it may potentially highlight some less-than-accurate verses, or the lying pen of the scribe that Jeremiah warns us of. One example, of many, is chapter 4 verse 9 in the book of Hebrews. This reads in the KJV
There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
However, when looking at the underlying Greek of this verse, we can see the word for "rest" there is "sabbatismos" (G4520)
Interesting, is it not? How different would modern Christianity be if this verse read as the Greek seems to indicate.
There remains therefore a Shabbath for the people of Elohiym. IVRIYM (HEBREWS) 4:9 את CEPHER
Modern doctrine would have us believe that at the very least the 7th day Sabbath has been superseded by a 1st day Sabbath, and also that the Messiah is our rest therefore we need no physical rest. Now, I agree that Yahusha is our rest, he gives us rest from sin and from fear, however as this verse in Hebrews actually seems to indicate, as well as our Messiah's words in Matthew 5 - that not a single letter will pass from the Torah (or Law as it's commonly translated) and that anyone who breaks even the least of the commandments will be least in the Kingdom of Heaven - there remains a Sabbath keeping for believers. It is, after all, the fourth of the ten commandments written with the Yah's own finger, and we can see that Scripture indicates that keeping his commandments is how we love him.
Messiah tells us repeatedly to let no man deceive us - that includes the translators of our Scriptures. We must be diligent and pray, petitioning the Ruach to lead us into all Truth, and use the tools at our disposals to rightly divide His Word.
For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my Torah
All Scripture is given by the Ruach Elohiym, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: TIMOTHEUS SHENIY (2 TIMOTHY) 3:16 את CEPHER
All of His Word is beautiful, a gift that drops like rain to water us a plants that are to bear fruit. We are truly blessed to have a Father that has given us His Word, both in Scripture and in flesh that by it we may know Him and be saved.
I pray this article has blessed you, and may Yahuah give you shalom.