The drawback to the written word is that it can be interpreted many different ways.
When my wife, Wendy, texts me, I often read a certain tone into the text. Before you judge me, you do it to. If we’ve been having some sort of argument, I will likely read a bit more attitude into the text. If I think we’re happy and everything is going great, I might miss the seriousness of the message.
My own view about the sender will determine how I interpret the message.
Because God’s Word is exclusively in written form, we can inadvertently impose our view of God onto the text.
The first time I recognized that I had done this was when someone pointed out to me Genesis 3:24 to me.
“After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.”
In all my years of reading this passage, I always read that verse as a verse of judgment. Adam & Eve blew it, God kicked them out, and He put a giant sword up to ensure they never came back. Somehow, I had missed the phrase, “to guard the way to the tree of life.”
It wasn’t until that moment that I realized God put an angel there, not to punish them, but to prevent them from partaking in the tree of life in their fallen condition. God didn’t want them to live eternally separated from Him, so He blocked their access back to the tree.
Growing up in the deep south and hearing my share of hell fire sermons, I had imposed my own idea of God onto that passage. I had read it as a passage of judgement, when in reality it was a message of mercy.
I had to recognize that I had imposed my own view onto a passage I had read dozens, maybe hundreds, of times.
My hope and prayer these days is that I will see God as He truly is rather than imposing my own view onto His Word.
What places have you found yourself imposing your own view onto Scripture?