I’m not the first person to call a literal approach to the Bible, a “desert island” approach. Stuck on an island alone, you have only a Bible. Except for a plain reading, you have nothing to tell you what it means. You could only take a literal approach. You would read a dispensational reading, which is a literal or grammatical-historical reading.
Literal does not mean ignoring poetic language or figures of speech. If after watching you eat, I said to you, “you’re a hog,” I wouldn’t mean that you were a literal hog. That is a metaphor. I am comparing you to a hog. The use of metaphors and other such figures of speech does not require a different interpretation than a literal one.
Rightly Dividing
Context
The literal interpretation sees dispensations. That is clear in the desert island reading of the Bible. This is a reason why literal interpretation stipulates division. Paul calls it “rightly dividing” (2 Tim 2:15). Parts necessitate a division of a whole. To make up the whole, each part fits into it.
Properly understood, parts of the Bible fit into the whole cohesive story of the Bible. Those parts conform to their “context.” You won’t get the parts right if you don’t understand the context. Right understanding of words requires context. Words have a root meaning, but their full meaning demands context.
Literary, Grammatical, Historical, or Syntactical
Context does convey division. One context differs from another. It might be either a literary or historical context or both. The same word in one context will very often mean something different in a different one. Reading a literal interpretation requires right dividing, which requires understanding words in their context.
One must also consider the grammatical or syntactical reading of a word within that context, which we call usage. In a similar context, we see words used in similar ways. We know the meaning of a word by the way biblical authors use it. Very often, we also witness the same or similar wording around a word that informs its meaning.
Divisions in the Bible
How do divisions appear in the Bible? Divisions appear in the Bible like they would a telling of history or within the narrative of a true story. At its very start, God creates everything. No other time compares to that time. God’s creation of man then separates the first five days from what follows. A little later, when man sins, everything changes. Before sin, man is innocent; afterwards, he’s not. This alters everything, including and most of all man’s relationship with God.
A child for Adam and Eve separates a new age. Cain’s murder of Abel marks another. Noah’s flood changes life and history in a most extraordinary way. The Tower of Babel brings something entirely new, incomparable to the former time. God’s call of and the obedience of Abraham launches another age. The deliverance from Egypt, the Exodus, divides one era from another. So does Moses receiving God’s law on Mt. Sinai.
The Conquest of the Promised Land marks something entirely different. Reign of Hebrew Kings brought significant change. Assyria dispersed ten northern tribes into near oblivion. The forces of Babylon destroyed Solomon’s Temple and deported Israel into captivity.
Malachi ended God’s revelation to and through the prophets. Emmanuel was born. The church started. Jesus died, arose, ascended into heaven, and poured out the Holy Spirit from heaven, who indwelt believers. The New Testament was complete. The Lord will return.
Discontinuity and Continuity
Discontinuity
Every division brings a new, different normal. Scripture is replete with discontinuity. I’m representing the Bible as a reader. With a literal reading, distinct breaks occur in the narrative. The above list is not complete, but it also does not represent the major divisions of biblical history. Certain divisions are more important or vital than others to the extent that they rise to a greater level of dissection between one period and another.
A primary division occurs between the Old and New Testaments. You see the comings of Jesus, first and second, and what’s in between, the church. Before that, Israel takes a prominent place. Much in the Bible points to a future kingdom, beginning with the Messiah.
Continuity
The central figure of scripture, the One and Only God, holy and immutable, however, brings continuity. One God wrote one Bible that is one story. Many major themes cross over or through the points of distinction. God provides one way of salvation all the way through. Nothing contradicts.
Characters in the Bible speak of the story of the Bible. They acknowledge continuity and discontinuity. A few prime examples really mark this reality. One, godly believers recognize Jesus as fulfilling Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah. Two, the disciples or apostles expected a real future kingdom earth inaugurated by the promised King. The resurrection meant Jesus could mark a new era as Savior and much later distinguish another as Judge and King.
If you just picked up a Bible with suitable reading comprehension, it all fits together in one cohesive message with a literal meaning. You don’t need allegorization or spiritualization to make everything harmonize. Everything harmonizes with a literal reading. You don’t have to read anything into the text so that it won’t contradict something else.
More to Come
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