The Key that Unlocks the Bible
November 22nd, 2010 by Mark C.
Written by Pastor Steve Taylor
(Originally posted on the website of Lakeshore Bible Church.)Â 
“I can’t understand the Bible!†is a common complaint voiced by many who open its pages. Yes, it is hard to understand IF you don’t have the key that unlocks its mysteries. You are about to have in your hand the crucial but much-neglected key that Jesus offers to unlock the mysteries of the Bible:
The “scholars†of the day found the simple parables of Jesus offensive. His disciples were also perplexed by his use of these simple stories and asked for his reasoning in using them. His answer has profound significance. He states that those who are willing to hear his simple stories are given “the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven (or kingdom of God, as is used in Mark and Luke). Everyone who refuses to hear and accept this basic truth is condemned to repeat the prophecy of Isaiah of hearing but never hearing; seeing but never perceiving.Herein, then, lies the secret to understanding the Bible: TO UNDERSTAND WHAT JESUS MEANT BY THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS THE KEY WHICH UNLOCKS ALL OF THE BIBLE. All who ignore this key truth are doomed to fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy of hearing but not understanding; seeing but not perceiving. To be ignorant of the truth about the Kingdom of God is to literally work against God in understanding the Bible. It’s like turning out the lights in the house on the darkest night and trying to find one’s way around.Â
Coming to terms with what Jesus meant regarding the Kingdom of God is a big topic – a subject all in itself. In fact, it is a lifelong quest. But all we need do is begin by grappling with the basic question of what Jesus meant when he spoke of the Kingdom of God. By starting with this question we are well ahead of those who seek to study the Bible in ignorance of it. We find ourselves studying the Bible with the assistance of God’s Spirit whereas all others are literally working against God’s Spirit in understanding.
Let me challenge you to begin with key Kingdom passages, such as Matthew 13 (quoted above). There are many kingdom parables in this chapter which give us insight into what Jesus meant concerning the Kingdom of God. From there do a word study of “kingdom of God/kingdom of heaven†and carefully consider what you read. Write down your thoughts and understandings. And from there begin to re-read the entire Bible in the light of your new understandings.
Hi,
could this article be perhaps somewhat “oversimplified” and/or stating a rather subjectively coloured “kingdom” perspective which may not represent a more objective truth?
Seems to me this pastor/preacher got a few major things wrong …
For example, he might perhaps have been closer to truth IF he had said “To ignore the truth … is to … work against God”, but to claim that “to be ignorant ….” is “to literally work against God …” is – in my opinion – a rather ignorant (at best) or “unreasonable, offensive” statement. Perhaps that preacher never encountered people who are ignorant of certain biblical truth because they have never been taught???
Also, could it be that this preacher may himself have a wrong understanding, a wrong concept and wrong idea about the kingdom of God and what he calls the kingdom passages? How good would such a position be for unlocking the understanding for the rest of the Bible?
When I read his comment about the “scholars” of the day finding the simple parables of Jesus offensive, it reveals quite a bit about his knowledge of the Scriptures … it apparently has not dawned on him that Jesus’ parables are by no means “simple”! sure, many trained preachers today think that those parables are “simple”, and – sure enough – that’s pretty much why many of their interpretations of Jesus’ parables are actually incorrect because – for example – they do not recognize how a parable as a figure of speech is meant to only emphasize one certain point and not all kinds of details.
Well … perhaps I am bit “allergic” against folks who overemphasize “kingdom” as if that was not the miracle pill for understanding the Bible, or the one and only topic worth understanding, or whatever … in almost 4 decades of studying the Scriptures and being in contact with various Christian circles, I have seen a few such “topic movements” come and go, which supposedly were the key to understanding the Scriptures. Unfortunately, what was propounded as the key as in itself a wrong understanding of the topic (“spiritual gifts”, “baptism”, “kingdom”, “athletes of the spirit”, “sabbath”, etc etc )
If you would like to read more from Steve:
http://kingdomdreamer.wordpress.com/
The context of his statement was referring to those who ignore the truth:
All who ignore this key truth are doomed to fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy of hearing but not understanding; seeing but not perceiving. To be ignorant of the truth about the Kingdom of God is to literally work against God in understanding the Bible.
Thus in this context he is talking about those who are “willfully ignorant” not those who have never been taught.
Could it? If one were to do what he challenges in the last paragraph, I think the answers are plain. In addition to Matthew 13, there are so many crystal clear passages in both the Old and New Testaments that define the Kingdom of God, that if one were to read them without any preconceived ideas, the simple message of the Bible becomes obvious. And then with that as a foundation, many other passages become clearer when examined in light of the clear, simple message of the Kingdom of God.
Mark C.,
I did what the author challenges in his past paragraph about 15 years ago, and even did some word studies on the term “kingdom” in a group almost 20 years ago …
BUT, it was not that particular word study on the term “kingdom” that was the key to unlock the Bible …just as it had not been any word study on any other term used in the Scriptures. Actually, what “word studies” provide can be quite misleading, seeing that often different contexts are not taken into sufficient consideration.
I have seen many “kingdom – movement” folks trying to establish from that their scope of the Bible (which is pretty much what this pastor promotes, when he speaks about a particular topic – kingdom of God – being the key to unlock the understanding of the whole Bible), when in truth a true understanding is arrived at from the exact opposite approach — gaining an overall scope of the Bible, and on the basis of such overall scope one can unlock a true understanding of certain particulars (various topics that are part of the whole)
One can look at and study in details a “wall” or a “window” or a”roof” … and yet, one will only gain a true understanding of each and how it relates to other parts, after one has a scope of the building as a whole of which these particulars are only a part.
Wolfgang,
I completely agree with you that “word studies” of that type do not give an accurate scope of the Scriptures. But examining various Scriptures that use parallel phrases and terms is one way to see the overarching themes that are developed.
Since the Kingdom of God was the primary subject about which Jesus spoke, it stands to reason that a beginning point would be to understand Jesus’ definition of the Kingdom of God (not just of the word ‘kingdom’), which is built on the massive evidence from the Hebrew Scriptures. THEN doing a search for the phrases “Kingdom of God” and “Kingdom of Heaven” and carefully considering what one reads will provide a solid foundation for understanding the entire Bible.
The overall scope you speak of can only be seen by examining the Scriptural evidence that is straightforward and simple. Unfortunately the simple truths of the Bible have long been overshadowed by traditional doctrines which cause people to not question what they have been taught.
We’ve been over the understanding of the Kingdom in many threads before, and in order to embrace the views you hold, I believe one would have to ignore the many clear Scriptures (particularly those that I outlined on my web site). I will leave it up to readers to examine them and come to their own conclusions.