[ELIZABETH INRIG]
Our youngest daughter Heather always wanted her hair long. It was blonde with a slight curl, and it wasn’t hard to manage—until it was time to wash it! The easiest way to wash her long hair was to get her to lay her head firmly on my right arm under the tap while I washed and rinsed it—all very gently, of course! Our procedure almost never worked, though, because she’d stiffen her neck, move away from the water, and wouldn’t rest her head on my arm! I’d repeatedly say the phrase “Rest your head!” until the event was over!
Our goal for Heather was for her to hear the three little words “Rest your head,” understand them, and obey them. In the occasional moments she did hear, understand, and rest, she didn’t get soap in her eyes— and she learned to trust me. After all, I only wanted the best for her and her hair! I also hoped she’d learn good personal habits for the rest of her life because she’d paid attention to those three little words!
In a way similar to Heather’s learning the primary guidelines for washing hair, when we learn a proper biblical hermeneutic, it teaches us to read (hear), understand, and obey what the authors of Scripture write. In earlier articles we discussed the essential rules:
- Context is everything (the content establishes context).
- The author’s intention for the first audience’s hearing and understanding determines our understanding of a passage (paying attention to genre, structure, and guidelines).
- Words matter: all eight parts of English speech should be observed, understood, explained, and applied.
- The meaning of the truths in a given passage applied to the first audience, and that meaning determines the application of those same truths to succeeding audiences.
- The essential truths in Scripture are gleaned to build personal spiritual foundations for Christian Living.
In our present focus, when it comes to knowing the meaning of words in Scripture, words DO matter! Little words matter, familiar words matter, unfamiliar and big words matter as we identify nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, interjections, and conjunctions—they ALL matter. Once we recognize the CONTEXT of the paragraph, we can read what the author says and intends his audience to know. We can consider carefully the normal, literal, and grammatical meaning of the words the way we’d read any book we open: “What, in real life do these words or sentences mean that I can build into my life?”
Real Life Lesson
I experienced this dependence on context and definitions recently in a conversation I had with a friend who asked me if the nation of Israel has lost her right to God’s covenant promises. After all, the reasoning went, because Israel denied the Lord Jesus Christ to be the Messiah and continues to do so even now, God has set her aside, transferring Israel’s promises to the Church.
I suggested that Paul would have been surprised with such a conclusion. He used the word “irrevocable” to describe God’s choice of Israel and the promises He made to Abraham and David. When I read Romans 11:25-32, I found that in verse 26, Paul quoted Isaiah the prophet. In verse 26 Paul says this:
…and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.”
Paul’s quote from Isaiah (indicated in capital letters) is from Isaiah 59:20:
“A Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares the Lord (Is. 59:20).
Then Paul goes on to declare this truth in Romans 11:28, 29:
From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
We learn here that God’s choice stands…His gifts and calling are irrevocable. God promised Israel through Isaiah that a Redeemer will come to them and to all who turn from transgression. Then Paul acknowledges that currently, even though Israel is corporately unbelieving and thus hostile to the born-again people of God, still they are God’s beloved people.
Next Paul explains that this affection of God is not stemming from Israel’s own faithfulness to Him (because they have NOT been faithful), but His considering them “beloved” is based on His own gifting and calling of them on the basis of His own promises to the fathers—the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob! Finally, Paul declares that God’s gifts and calling are irrevocable!
If what God says is what God means, and if what God means, He says—then what God doesn’t say is important! Paul referred to a renewal or refreshment of Israel, and he used the terms “irrevocable” when he spoke of God’s gifting and promises.
I decided to look up the word “irrevocable” and found two definitions: one in the Oxford dictionary and one in Merriam-Webster. Here they are:
The Oxford: adjective
1. An adjective that means “not able to be changed, reversed, or recovered; final.”
Merriam-Webster:
Definition of irrevocable: not possible to revoke: UNALTERABLE, an irrevocable decision.
So, with the definition of “irrevocable” in my head along with some Old Testament passages confirming a future for Israel in the Major Prophets (see Is. 60 to 62; Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 11:17-20; 36:24-28), I went to the New Testament writers. I read what the Lord Jesus said about this issue in the Gospels as well as what Peter preached and what Paul wrote.
I discovered something important and almost unnoticed: each of them used the same little word UNTIL! I read that the nation of Israel will be renewed by God’s mercy but not UNTIL they see Messiah and say, Blessed is He…(in Matthew). Furthermore, this fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel will not occur UNTIL the time comes when they say, “Blessed is He” (Luke) and UNTIL His enemies are made a footstool…(Peter in Acts). Moreover, this remarkable fulfillment will not occur UNTIL the fullness of the Gentiles comes in and the Deliverer removes Jacob’s sin and enters into a New Covenant with His chosen people (Paul in Romans).
Take a look at the verses below, and ponder the clear use of the little word UNTIL in the context of each passage. Then answer my friend’s question and hear the Scripture speak!
- In Matthew 23:37-39, Jesus – on the Mount of Olives, laments over Jerusalem’s unwillingness to come to Him. Quoting Psalm 118:26, Jesus. says: “…from now on you shall not see Me until you say “Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!” Matthew is writing to Jewish readers.
- In Luke 13:32-35, Jesus quotes Ps. 118:26 as He the laments over Jerusalem’s killing of prophets and refusal to come to Him. He responds to some Pharisees, saying “You shall not see me until the time comes when you say, “Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!” Luke, a gentile, is writing to Theophilus and is recounting Jesus’ words that a day would come when Israel would see and acknowledge Jesus as their Messiah and King.
- In Acts 2:34-36, Peter, in his first sermon on the Day of Pentecost, preaches to 3000 Jewish pilgrims and quotes David from Psalm 110:1 and Ezekiel 36:22-38 where Ezekiel prophecies Israel’s Renewal: “…until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet…” In this context Peter is explaining the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on those who believed that day, and he is also explaining that Jesus IS their promised Messiah who will sit at the Father’s right hand UNTIL all His enemies are put under His feet.
- In Romans 11:25-32, Paul confirms that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in; and thus all Israel will be saved…the Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob, and this is My covenant with them when I take away their sins! God will yet keep His promises to Israel to cleanse them and to save them, and Paul refers to the Old Testament to remind the church that God keeps His promises, even if those promises take many years to be completed.
Conclusion
Be sure not to miss the impact of the little word UNTIL. Hear what Jesus, Peter, and Paul are really saying about the the irrevocable promises of God regarding the future of the nation of Israel. When we pay attention to the Bible’s little words as well as all the “big” words, the Spirit of God will teach us His truth. He will protect us from adding to Scripture or implying that God will not keep—or that He will change—the promises He made long ago and recorded in the text of Scripture.
Furthermore, the fact that God keeps His promises to Israel means that He keeps His promises with all of His people throughout time!
When we remember these foundational rules for reading and understanding Scripture, we find that our personal habits for studying Scripture will last a lifetime because words matter in God’s Word. We learn that God has made it possible for us to hear, to understand, and to obey His words! †
- In Hermeneutics, Even Little Words Matter - August 11, 2022
- Reviewing Bible Knowledge: A Schematic Map for Words - April 7, 2022
- Lips that Honor God - January 20, 2022