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1.
Background
The
Books of the Kings are about the past. It is history, a word
which to us is almost synonymous with irrelevant. Henry Ford
said, "History is bunk." Carl
Sandburg said, "History is a bucket of ashes." (Richard
Nelson, First and Second Kings, Interpretation) Why
study long forgotten and obscure kings and battles? How does
this make any difference to our Christian lives? How do we read
a book like this in Scriptures which we take to be authoritative?
P. T. Forsyth pointed out that
there are at least three ways of reading Scripture. We must:
(1) read them in their historical
setting to understand what was being said to the original hearers
and readers of the text;
(2) read them in the light of
the whole Scriptures and the salvation history plan of God as revealed
finally in Christ;
(3) read them in the light of
the Holy Spirit as He applies them to us in our particular setting.
Each
is valid, but (2) is central, and (3) must never contradict what
we can know by ways (1) and (2). To focus on (3) alone often
results in reading snatches of Scripture that give us a message
or thought for the day, which ends up being subjective and utilitarian. |
