The Book of Jashar

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I'm going to take a minor reference to make a larger point about how we study the Bible. In 2 Samuel 1:18, a reference is made to the Book of Jashar, and this isn't the first mention of extra-Biblical sources of history. When we see citations such as this, it does us good to remember just what the Bible is, and more importantly, what it ISN'T. 

To begin, the Bible IS the inspired word of God. In its 66 books, we have everything we need to know to be Christians. In other words, there is nothing required of us to receive salvation that isn't clearly spelled out in the Bible. What the Bible ISN'T is the full and complete record of the history of the entire world, and nowhere in it does it purport that it is. The Bible tells us what we need to know, but makes no claim of being all we know or all there is.

So what? One common method of Bible study suggests that we should just read the Bible and allow the Holy Spirit to work in us and explain what we need to know when we need to know it. While I don't necessarily find fault with this, I think it can be a limiting experience, and if the true ramifications of this practice were extended to their logical conclusions, we'd run into some obstacles we might not like, such as:

1. Throw away any study Bible, since the notes aren't  part of the Bible, but someone's opinion.

2. Throw away any books on Christianity, since they're not the Bible.

3. You should probably walk out of all sermons, since that's a human stating what the Bible says instead of the Holy Spirit.

4. Martin Luther is not God, so we should no longer refer to his writings. For that matter, NO theologian is God, so sayonara to anything by Francis of Assisi, the Venerable Bede, St. Augustine or anyone else.

5. We should probably close our school, since the teachers aren't God

6. Any meeting, conclave or gathering where someone tells us what the Bible says should probably be off-limits.

Clearly, these are ridiculous suggestions, but that's what happens when the idea that the Bible is ALL we need is extended to meaning that the Bible is all we use. By rejecting any other source than the Holy Spirit, we eliminate the possibility that the Holy Spirit has OTHER AVENUES to work with. In other words, we end up telling the Holy Spirit how to work, which is not something I recommend highly. There are countless learned men and women who have insights into God's word that will resonate with us in different ways, and to suggest that we jettison them for a narrow, almost Phariseeic notion of Bible study is the height of folly. Psalm 111:10 (I'm mentioning it now because we won't read it until September 20th) states it clearly and simply:

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom

My emphasis is on the "beginning"--we're expected to expand our knowledge, making sure that as we do this, we do it to glorify the Lord and spread his Word.

My whole point is that we're short-sighted fools if we don't take advantage of the brilliance and commentary that those smarter than us can share as we try to comprehend God. There is a built-in paradox to Bible study in that the more we learn of the Bible, the more we can forget the simple message of salvation and get lost in the details, but that very real possibility doesn't mean we should refuse to augment our study with other material--THAT'S where we can use the help of the Holy Spirit to guide and lead us and separate the valuable from the worthless or detrimental.

Scott