Word of God – What Does This Mean?

Sunday School: King Josiah

Encore post: King Josiah was unique. He was king at age eight. He loved the Lord and vowed to keep God’s covenant with Judah when he began his reign. Few of his royal ancestors were faithful to God and His law, most of them worshipping the gods of the Canaanites. His grandfather Manesseh was among the worst, sacrificing his own sons on their altars. His father continued the pattern, letting the temple fall into disrepair, placing idols within its walls, encouraging the people to practice the religion of their neighbors.

During these evil years, it appears that the priests removed the scrolls containing the Book of Deuteronomy from the open areas of the temple and hid them in the storerooms nearby. King Josiah ordered the temple renovated and placed the High Priest in charge. As they were cleaning and repairing the building, the priests rediscovered it.

When King Josiah heard the words of this book read, he reacted with great sorrow. He realized that God’s people had wandered far from the Lord and spent the rest of his life destroying the false gods of Canaan and calling God’s people to serve their Lord. Josiah remains an example of how a devout leader can live to serve God and His people.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Pastor Emeritus

Fort Wayne, Indiana

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Rule #7: Respect the Original Languages

Encore Post: The Bible, it’s stories, phrases, poetry and images are so woven into our culture we don’t even notice it. Even more so, it is a part of our worship, prayers and teaching that it is a natural part of our faith. So it is easy to forget that God’s word was not originally spoken and written in English, but in two or three eras of the Hebrew language, Aramaic, and the everyday Greek of the Roman empire. The King James Version was so well done that it had a staying power of nearly 500 years and influences all of our modern translations. Yet even it loses some of the meaning moving across languages, culture and time period. That is why Lutheran pastors have been traditionally taught to read the Hebrew and Greek of the original texts.

One way to see that is to try to translate from English to English. Think of the word “Excellent.” What word would you use in its place if you could not use the word “Excellent?” Does the word you picked mean exactly “excellent?” Not really. Some shades of meaning are lost — like when you see a picture in black-and-white instead of color.

So, when you are trying to understand a passage, consider the original language. If you never learned them, there are tools you can use to get at the original. With the advice of your pastor, select two to four different translations for your study. Pick ones that are somewhat different in approach. When you study, read them together. If they say virtually the same thing, you know the original is not difficult to translate. If they are very different, check the notes of a study Bible or ask your pastor what is going on behind the translations.

Rule #3 | Rule #4 | Rule #5| Rule #6| Blog Post Series

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Rule #2: The Bible is All About Jesus

Encore Post: When you see a good friend reading a book, so taken by it that they shut the whole world out, you ask them, “what’s it all about?” Your friend will sum it up in a few sentences. Of course, there is a lot more detail to the tale, but all of the words, images it creates set the mood and move the plot along. Yet no really good story holds our interest if there is not a single, central story that we care about.

The Bible is the most important book in the world, because it is God telling the story. This story is more than an enjoyable yarn. It is the story about how God saved us and how he will make the creation new again. Theologians call that Salvation History. So, if someone asks, “What is the Bible all about?” The best answer is “It is all about Jesus.” Jesus himself tells us this. (John 5:39)

Knowing that the Bible is all about Jesus helps us to understand its message and the place of each verse in that message. On the surface, the Bible is a small library of sixty-six books with different messages. They can seem disconnected and at odds from time to time. By this rule, we come to see the Bible has one story with a beginning, middle, climax and end, all tied to what Jesus did and will do to save us. It helps us to see that we are actually a part of this story. Unlike good fiction, this story is real news, not fake news. It is actually has a two-part message for us — which we’ll take up in the next post.

So, by knowing that the Bible is all about Jesus, or said in more formal language, all theology is Christology, we can unlock the treasures of the Holy Scriptures. The Bible is not all about how to live a happy life in this world, although it can help us with that. It is not about predicting the future, like some giant puzzle or math problem. It is not the key to success and riches, or even about what we should do to be good people. In fact, it is not so much about what we do, but what God has done: In Christ, he made the world, sorrowed over its sin, set out to save the world, was made man in the womb of the Virgin Mary, lived a perfect life in our place, suffered, died, rose again, ascended into heaven and one day will return to raise us from the dead to live with God forever. As you read the Bible, then, ask yourself: what does this have to do with Jesus? You’ll be surprised how much it helps to hear what God is saying to you in his word.

Rule #1| Rule #3 | Rule #4 | Rule #5 | Blog Post Series

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Rule #1 for Reading the Bible

Encore Post: For most Christians, the first rule for understanding the Bible seems obvious. The Bible is God’s Word. Yet believing that God speaks to us in his own words and is the author of the Bible affects the way we look at the Scriptures, how we approach it, what we expect from it and the assumptions that we make about what it says.

Because the Bible is God’s message to us, we believe that it is not fiction, a myth made up by people to explain the world, or something that it just very well written words to inspire us or make us feel good — like a great movie, a catchy song, or an absorbing novel written by our favorite author. After they make us feel good and escape the world for awhile, nothing changes and life goes on. The Word of God, however, comes with the power of God to change our lives, brought to us by God’s own Holy Spirit. (see Romans 1:16-17, 2 Peter 1:16-21) It creates faith in hearts which do not believe and strengthens faith where it exists.

So, the clear teachings of the Bible are the final authority on everything it speaks about. When it says that all people are evil, not good, at heart, we believe that, even though our mind and culture tells us everyone is basically good. When it tells us God made the world in six days, we believe that, too, even if the world’s myth tells us the universe has always existed and developed over millions of years into what we now see. When the Bible tells us both that God decided to save us before he made the world, but if we reject him, we can loose our faith, we believe that too, even though it doesn’t make sense to us.

So, this rule is that we assume that what the Bible teaches is true and use those things which are perfectly clear in it to understand things that are not so clear.

Rule #2| Rule #3 | Rule #4 | Rule #5 | Blog Post Series

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Sabbath as the Day of Salvation

I have been thinking about the Sabbath and how the Israelites are to remember how the Lord brought them up from the land of Egypt, the land of death, by his mighty arm .

What a wonderful thing to think about every Sabbath, every week, to never forget what the Lord has done, saving them from slavery and death. But we know the story all too well. They did forget. They didn’t listen to the Lord’s word. They despised it especially when the prophets were sent to call them to repentance. And eventually because of their disobedience and faithlessness they were exiled, and the temple was destroyed.

While we were not there in Egypt with the Israelites at the time of the Passover, we too have been brought from the land of death. It is through the work of Christ. The act of the Lord on behalf of Israel pointed forward to the greater act of salvation, Christ’s saving the world from sin by his death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead. The Lord Christ went into the land of the dead and was victorious over sin and death for you and me. That is something to get excited about and hear on a weekly basis. We need it because there is plenty of things that take our time. There is always plenty of “work” to do. But on the Sabbath, the Lord’s Day we get to be fed and nourished with the Word of God, where we hear again the wonderful news of Jesus Christ and what He has done for us and for our salvation. Not only that but we get fed with Christ’s own body and blood for the forgiveness of sins and the strengthening of our faith. So don’t miss out. Come and remember what the Lord has done for you in bringing from death into life.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter Lutheran Church, La Grange, MO