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Welcome to your newsletter. We'd like to give a special hello to our new subscribers and to all of our faithful readers. In this issue we've chosen to emphasize the Bible along with some basic suggestions for enjoying and understanding it, and we'll also tell you how to get a free Kindle App for your computer, tablet or smartphone!
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Enjoy Your Bible and understand it too!
by Peter Wade
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To many people, the Bible is an old-fashioned book that’s fine for little old ladies and funerals but of limited or no value in their daily life. How wrong they are!
The Bible can be an exciting book and more up-to-date than tomorrow's newspaper. I want to explore with you this verse from Jeremiah 15:16, “Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart” (NKJV).
So, we can enjoy the Bible as a book that delights us, for if one person found God’s words enjoyable, then all people can. E.W. Bullinger, in the Introduction to his 1907 book How to Enjoy the Bible, wrote, “The root of all the evils which abound in the spiritual sphere at the present day lies in the fact that the Word and the words of God are not fed upon, as they ought to be.
"If we ask the question, Why is this the case? the answer is, The Bible is not enjoyed because the Bible is not understood. The methods and rules by which alone such an understanding may be gained are not known or followed; hence the Bible is a neglected book.”
Later in the introduction he writes: “Like Ezra of old [Nehemiah 8: 5], our desire is to ‘OPEN THE BOOK’ and let it speak for itself, with the full conviction that if this can be done it can speak more loudly, and more effectively for itself, than any man can speak on its behalf.” (You can get a free copy of Bullinger’s extensive book in PDF format.)
The story behind Jeremiah’s enthusiastic statement (15:16) “Your words were found, and I ate them...” was the discovery during the reign of King Josiah of a scroll containing all or extracts from the first five books of the Old Testament (called the Pentateuch or Torah).
The Bible often speaks of the believer being fed by the Word of God. For example, in Psalm 19:10 the words are said to be “sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.” Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4; Luke 4:4).
It was God’s decision that He would use words to let humans know He exists and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him, as Hebrews 11: 6 puts it. To eat the Word is to take it in and assimilate it.
Unlike the unpleasant castor oil that my mother gave me every time I did not feel well, God’s Word is food that produces joy and rejoicing, and therefore wise people devour it with great delight. “When your words showed up, I ate them — swallowed them whole. What a feast!” (Message Bible).
Now that you've had the appetizer, why not enjoy the full course? You could be reading ENJOY YOUR BIBLE and understand it too! in a matter of minutes. In this marvelous eBook [Not available in paperback.] Peter Wade leads you through the first simple steps to understanding what the Bible is saying:
> Read what is written in an essentially literal translation.
> Mark your Bible to aid your memory. Chapters, verses, history, narrative, letters.
> Look for repetitions, contrasts, comparison.
> Take note of the little words that have big impact, such as prepositions.
> Accept the integrity of God’s Word.
All that and more in 14 powerful chapters with many examples, the wisdom of a lifetime of Bible teaching.
Our eBooks are in the popular Kindle format. If you don't have a Kindle, you can download a free Kindle App for your computer, tablet or smart phone. (Please, contact us if you have the ePub format.)
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Right Division
by E.W. Bullinger
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We believe God when He says that the Visions shown to Isaiah were “concerning Judah and Jerusalem” (Isa. 1:1). True, they were written for us; and “for our learning ” (Rom. 15:4); but they are not addressed to us, or written concerning us, but “concerning Judah and Jerusalem.”
It would be an act of dishonesty, therefore, for us thus to appropriate, by interpreting of ourselves, that which was spoken of Israel.
In like manner, if we take, as some do, the words of the Epistle to the Ephesians as though they were written to or concerning the Gentiles (or the unconverted world), then we not only rob the Church of God of its most precious heritage, but we teach the ”Universal Fatherhood of God” instead of His Fatherhood of only those who are His children in Christ Jesus.
It will thus be seen that unless we rightly divide the subject-matter of the Word of truth we shall not get the truth, but shall get error instead.
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