Bible Application Is Easy, Right?
Bible application is the easy part of following Jesus, right? Just read the Bible, and do what it says to do. And while that’s true, it gets a bit complicated when we realize that we live thousands of years away from when these verses were written. What does it mean for us today? This is the third level of PaRDeS. It’s not as easy as it seems, and I’ll prove it to you in less than 10 minutes.
Every pulpit in every church this Sunday will practice the art of “d’rash,” also called “midrash.” It’s all about taking a portion of Scripture or multiple Scriptures and applying them to our lives today. We can’t see this as just a good idea; it’s a command of God. When Jesus answered the question: “What is the Greatest Commandment?” He quoted from Deuteronomy 6. These words are called the “shema” – the Hebrew word for “hear.” But this word means a lot more than that. Shema means “hear and do.” It’s not enough to hear or read God’s Word. We have to put it into action. But when we do it the wrong way, we can really make some terrible mistakes.
Just Weights and Measures
Here’s a great example. The Torah teaches that the Israelites should have accurate measuring devices to use when conducting business.
You must not have in your house different measuring containers, a large and a small one. You must have an accurate and correct stone weight and an accurate and correct measuring container, so that your life may be extended in the land the LORD your God is about to give you. For anyone who acts dishonestly in these ways is abhorrent to the LORD your God. (Deuteronomy 25:14-16 NET)
The “p’shat” meaning of this is really clear. When an Israelite conducted business such as measuring out grain or oil, they couldn’t use different version of weights that played in their favor. This is clearly forbidden by God and resulted in punishment. Simple enough.
While there isn’t any hint or “remez” to another passage of Scripture, there is a hint toward a larger idea. God expected Israel to act with integrity in whatever their business activities. Limiting this to just the literal meaning of the verse misses the whole point.
But what’s the application to us today? We don’t live with these types of weights and measures. We aren’t ancient Israel. How does this apply to us? It’s pretty obvious. As God’s people, we are to conduct all of our activities with honor and integrity. The “d’rash” on this is to take time to look at our own lives and see what needs to be adjusted.
Render to Caesar
Here’s another example. A Torah teacher asked Jesus if the Jewish people should pay taxes to Caesar or not. This was a trap. If Jesus answered “yes,” He’d lose favor with the Jewish people. If He said “no,” He’d be accused of treason against Rome. Jesus is brilliant, here. He asks them to take out a Roman coin and tell who’s image is on it. When they answer, “Caesar’s,” Jesus says:
“Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Mark 12:17 NET)
The “p’shat” meaning is pay your taxes.,“Caesar’s image is on the coin, so the coin belongs to him. Give it to him.” But Jesus is also using a powerful “remez” when He says, “Give to God the things that are God’s.” He’s reminding these religious leaders what the Torah says in Genesis:
God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27 NET)
When Applying the Bible Gets Hard
The problems start happening when we ignore the first rule of bible application: applying the Bible to our lives can’t contradict the direct meaning of the passage being applied. We talked about one of these in a previous episode. Lots of Christians have the idea that, because Jesus fulfilled the Law, we don’t have to concern ourselves with it. That application can’t be true, because Jesus says in these very verses that not a single pen stroke of the Torah will pass away until all has been completed. Our application can’t ignore the simple meaning of the text.
But it’s even harder than this. And not because the Bible is difficult to apply to our lives. It’s hard because we’d rather stop with hearing, and ignore the doing. Applying the Bible forces us to change. And we don’t like that at all.
