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practica!, usable and wise princi–
pies.
Verse four reads: "Answer not a
fool according to his folly,
lest thou
a/so be like unto him."
The last part
of the verse holds the key: Don' t
degrade yourself by descending to his
leve! in an argument! Don't haran–
gue-don' t bite back, don't try to
"argue back"-with someone who is
obviously trying to stir contention.
Verse 5 reads: "Answer a fool
according to his folly,
/est he be wise
in his own conceit."
In tbis case, if
you don't answer his question-if
you don't accept his challenge-he is
going to think himself to be wise!
Time and circumstances are· both
crucial to understanding these twin
proverbs. Remember: "To every
thing there is a season, and a time to
every purpose under the heaven ... a
time to keep silence, and a time to
speak" (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 7).
Both time and circumstances
would indicate to the wise man when
to apply Proverbs 26:4 and when to.
apply Proverbs 26:5. Sometimes Je–
sus, in tbe Gospel accounts, answered
His adversaries ana sometimes He
did not.
There is no contradiction! But
rather much wisdom in these two
verses. Wisdom we need to apply in
our daily lives.
What Does the Bible Say?
Many times our misunderstanding
comes from the confusion that this
world causes- from misinterpreta–
tion, a direct twisting of a scripture
to conform to false doctrines.
"Woe unto them that call evil
good, and good evil; that put dark–
ness for light, and light for darkness;
that put bitter for sweet, and sweet
for bitter! Woe unto them that are
wise in their own eyes, and prudent in
their own sight" (Isaiab 5:20-23).
Many who claim to be representa–
tives of God, the interpreters of His
Word, twist and wrest that Word to
their own destruction and the de–
struction of their hearers.
So always
remem~er
to ask your–
self-and, answer- the question:
"What does the Bible say?"
John 3:6 is a good example of this.
"That which is born of the flesh
IS
flesh; and that whicb is born of the
February 1980
Spirit
IS
spirit." This is a very clear
scripture, explaining that flesh is
flesh and spirit is spirit. That's what
the Bible says.
Sometimes you may have to refer
to a reference wbrk (which we will
cover under a separate rule) for
scriptures sueh as
l
John 5:7.
Or perhaps a note in the margin
of your Bible or anotber translation
will help you understand a scripture
that seems to contradict what you
know to be the truth. Take the
example of Luke 17:20-21: "The
kingdom of God cometh not with
observation: Neither shall they say,
Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold,
the kingdom of God is within
you."
Oftentimes people think
that the Bible is
contradicting itself when
actually all it is doing is
supplementing itself
' '
Here, the Bible does say, "The King–
domofGod is
withinyou."
But hereitis
the King James
translation
which says
this- not necessarily God's exact
Word. So, since it is not clear in the
King James translation, other aids are
necessary to find out what it does say.
This leads automatically to anoth–
er important rule of Bible study.
Check the Context
Context means,
con-with,
text–
text .
In order to check the context,
you merely read the texts which
come with the text that is in question.
You read the texts before and the
texts after. In this example of Luke
17:21, you need to also ask yourself a
number of questions regarding the
context. The text that is with (con)
Luke 17:21, is Luke 17:20. This verse
just before answers the question
regarding verse 21 , but in order to
answer that question you must ask
yourself the question, "Who?"
In other words, you must ask your-
self: if "the Kingdom of God is
within
you"-who
is the "you" that
the Bible is referring to? In this case
verse 20 explains that it is the Phari–
sees! Certainly you know that Jesus
Christ wasn't saying that the King–
dom of God is inside of Pharisees!
Therefore, the con (with) text helps
you see that there must be a mis–
translation in this particular verse.
And sure enough, when you check
the margin of your Bible, you will
find that the word "within" should be
better translated "among"-refer–
ring to Jesus Himself as a representa–
tive of God's Kingdom who was at
that time "among" the Pharisees!
(Further information on this subject
may be obtained by writing for
Just
What Do You Mean- "Kingdom of
God"?)
In order to understand any scrip–
ture thoroughly, in its context, you
need to ask yourself-and answer for
yourself-all the following questions:
What? When? Where? Why? Who?
How? When you have answered
these questions regarding any partic–
ular text, and you have read all of the
accompanying texts, with the text in
question, you will have God's answer
to the problem.
Believe it or not, there are even
lies
written in the,Bible, and you have to
be careful that you ask yourself
exactly what the Bible says in the
entirety of the context of any one
statement. The Bible says, "Ye shall
not surely die" (Genesis 3:4). This is
a biblical statement! But in order to
find out whether it's true or not you
have to find out who said it. In this
particular case, the same verse
explains that Satan the devil said it,
but in order to find out whether it is
true or not (because sometimes even
Satan tells the truth), you have to go
back in the context until you come to
Genesis 2:17 where the Creator God
is quoted as saying, "Thou
shalt
surely die." Then you know what the
Bible, in its .entirety and in its truth,
does say!
One particular
hindrance
in
checking the context is the very pres–
ence of chapters and verses. While
this system of division ·is certainly
helpful in finding bíblica) passages, it
can be misleading. Take the division
between Matthew 16:28 and 17:1,
31