Bible Interpretation, Student Workbook, SW05

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B I B L E I N T E R P R E T A T I O N

raise your voice for understanding, [4] if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, [5] then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. 1 Kings 3.9 - Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people? Ps. 25.4-5 - Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. [5] Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long. Ps. 119.34 - Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart. Prov. 3.6 - In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Luke 11.13 - If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! James 1.5 - If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. This is in fact the reason why the Lord spoke in parables. For those who had no intention of seeking the will and mind of the Lord, the parable was a kind of end game, a word which neither moved nor spurred on to further investigation. For those who were in fact hungry for the truth, the parable was a invitation to explore the meaning of the Lord, and to dig deeper into the work of God. For those who are unwilling to explore, the word of imagery is a word that frustrates and closes down insight, as noted in the NT citation of Psalm 78 in the teaching of the Lord Jesus: Matt. 13.13 - This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Matt. 13.34-35 - All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. [35] This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.” Prov. 8.17 - I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.

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