“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Josh 1:9).

Does a correct understanding of Leviticus 19:29 mean that modern Christians should wear only 100% cotton, or does a correct application of Matthew 14:29 indicate that our walk in faith today means that we should step out onto a body of water? Of course both of these questions are rhetorical for the purpose of leading into my post.

After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Josh 1:1-9, ESV).[1]

In their book Grasping God’s Word: A Hands-On Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible, Scott Duval and Daniel Hays liken the process of understanding and interpreting the Bible to embarking on a journey. The first step in the voyage is to carefully and thoroughly read the material so that through a thorough examination of the passage, we can discern what it meant to the biblical audience and what it meant in the passage’s biblical context. However, the authors caution that we encounter issues when we attempt to directly apply this meaning to ourselves, because differences in language, environment, culture, and time, distance us from the biblical audience. These distinctions create a wall, or in their illustration a river, that divides us from the text and frequently inhibits our understanding of the text’s meaning, and subsequently, the biblical writer’s intent. According to the authors, the interpretive journey works on the premise that the Bible is a record of God’s revelation of Himself and His will to humanity. “Keep in mind that our goal is to grasp the meaning of the text God has intended. We do not create meaning out of a text; rather, we seek to find the meaning that is already there.”[2]

Duval and Hays introduce what they call the “Interpretive Journey,” which is a creative and useful method to conceptualize the process of interpretation and application. The five steps in the Interpretive Journey are:

1. Grasp the text in their town. What did the text mean to the original audience?

2. Measure the width of the river to cross. What are the differences between the biblical audience and us?

3. Cross the principlizing bridge. What is the theological principle in this text?

4. Consult the biblical map. How does our theological principle fit with the rest of the Bible?

5. Grasp the text in our town. How should individual Christians today live out the theological principle? 

Duval and Hays, 46.

The framework presents helpful way to visualize the work of hermeneutics, showing how to give attention to things, and their significance, that may not just jump out on their own. I find the authors’ approach balanced and practical, avoiding the extremes of being too simplified or too technical. I find it flexible enough to be just as useful to a seminary student as it would be to the everyday believer. Though the specifics of a particular passage may be applicable to the particular situation of the biblical audience alone, the theological principles revealed in that text are applicable to all of God’s people at all times and cultures throughout history. 

The following is an example of the interpretative journey, which Duval and Hays present, using Joshua 1:1-9: 

Step 1: What did the text mean to the biblical audience?

The Lord commanded Joshua, the new leader of Israel, to draw strength and courage from God’s empowering presence, to be obedient to the law of Moses, and to meditate on the law so that he would be successful in the conquest of the Promised Land.

Step 2: What are the differences between the biblical audience and us?

We are not leaders of the nation Israel (although some of us may be leaders in the church). We are not embarking on the conquest of Canaan, the Promised Land. We are not under the old covenant of law.

Step 3: What is the theological principle in this text?

To be effective in serving God and successful in the task to which he has called us, we must draw strength and courage from his presence. We must also be obedient to God’s Word, meditating on it constantly.

Step 4: How does our theological principle fit with the rest of the Bible?

The rest of the Bible consistently affirms that God’s people can draw strength and courage from his presence. In the New Testament believers experience God’s presence through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit rather than through his presence in the tabernacle. Likewise, throughout both the Old Testament and the New Testament God’s people are exhorted to pay close, obedient attention to his Word.

Step 5: How should individual Christians today live out the theological principles?

There are numerous possible applications. Here are a few suggested ones:

• Spend more time meditating on God’s Word by listening to Christian music as you ride in your car.

• If God calls you to a new, scary ministry, such as teaching fourth-grade Sunday school, then be strengthened and encouraged by his empowering presence. Be obedient, keeping a focus on the Scriptures.

• If you are in a church leadership position, realize that successful Christian leadership requires strength and courage that flows from the presence of God.[3]

A wrinkled old man in the mountains of Ethiopia sips coffee and peers through weathered, ancient bifocals at his worn Amharic Bible to read once again the story of David and Goliath. A middle-aged woman is bouncing along on a bus in Buenos Aires, reading and reflecting on Psalm 1. A young Korean executive, on his way home to Seoul from a business trip in Singapore, flies above the clouds at 35,000 feet, reading and pondering the words of the apostle Paul in Romans 5. And in a dorm room in San Diego, California, a young college student polishes off another Mountain Dew and then looks back down at her laptop computer to finish reading Mark’s account of how Jesus miraculously calmed a raging storm on the Sea of Galilee.[4]

While unconscious of their interpretive method, many Christians today, according to the authors, “nonetheless frequently employ an intuitive or feels-right approach to interpretation.”[5] Any attempt to interpret and to apply the Bible involves trying to cross the river, which oftentimes results in one of two extremes: either making a direct application or taking a spiritualizing approach to the meaning that bears little to no resemblance to the biblical context. If all else fails, the other common response is to throw up one’s hands and just move on to the next passage. In addition to prayer, and in conjunction with the Holy Spirit guidance, might I suggest, instead, developing a consistent interpretive approach, which should eliminate the habit of skipping over texts and surfing through the Bible looking for passages that might apply to a particular situation or seemingly answer a particular question. While for each passage there will most often be only a few (and often only one) theological principles relevant for all Christians today, the authors note, there will similarly most often be numerous applicational possibilities.[6]

[1] Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced are in the English Standard Version.

[2] J. Scott Duval and J. Daniel Hays, Grasping God’s Word: A Hands-On Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible, Third Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2019), 41.

[3] Ibid., 47.

[4] Ibid., 39.

[5] Ibid., 40.

[6] Ibid., 46.

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