Whom Shall He Make to Understand Doctrine

WHOM SHALL HE MAKE TO UNDERSTAND DOCTRINE?

(THIS IS A TUTORIAL)

September 7, 2010

The title came from where Isaiah asked; "Whom shall he teach knowledge? And whom shall he make to understand doctrine; "Them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.”  He emphasized that Bible learning was through Bible study, and continued with: ”For precept must be upon precept, for precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little:" Isaiah 28:12-13

Biblical precepts are statements of truth that God move upon the Apostles, and prophets, to pen on parchment, then bound into a book that we call the “THE HOLY BIBLE,” then they passed it on to us. 

Webster defines a precept as “A command or principal intended especially as a general rule of action, an order issued by legally constituted authority to a subordinate.”

What that means to us is the prophets and Apostles received their messages from God, then they passed it on to their peers by word of mouth. Then as God willed, they penned it down in the form of text and it became Holy Scripture.

The first line mentioned by Isaiah is the letter and the letter is what we see when opening our King James Bible.  Even though the letter serves as a window through which is seen the deep things of GOD, it is a doctrine in its own right.

Doctrine that is viewed through the letter, of our KJV, is a doctrine of depth.  

Now the underlying precept is seen through the eyes of our understanding as Paul taught; he wrote; "The eyes of your understanding being enlightened that ye may know..." Ephesians 1:18

I like to compare the eyes of our understanding to the eyes of the blind; after hearing someone describe a certain object or an event, they say, “I see.” 

When a Bible scholar reads the letter it depends on how well they are versed in the Scripture, as to what they will see through the eyes of their understanding.  Please forgive the crude way that I am about to present the difference between the letter and the doctrine that lies beneath the letter.

But I like to compare the written Word (the letter) to the entrance into the Mammoth Cave.  Yea, through the entrance of the shaft we descend into the depth of the cave.  The letter is represented in the cave’s mouth or entrance, while the lower hidden passages represent the depth of the Scripture.  In case you don’t see doctrine of depth you haven’t studied or read enough of the WORD.  After entering, the cave you descend into a network of under lying passages that branch out into several directions.  Let the cave entrance be the letter while the under lying passages portrays the doctrine found beneath the entrance or the letter.

The letter and the underlying hidden message can't be better explained than JESUS’ answer to Philip after he ask, “Show us the FATHER.”

JESUS’ reply was; "He that has seen me has seen the Father.”
John 14:8  (Now, everything that is visible to the natural eye is the letter.)

Though JESUS was GOD inwardly; He was a man and therefore that qualified Him as being the letter, for all things seen by the natural eye is considered to be the letter, biblically speaking.

Another helpful hint came from where Isaiah stated that the Scriptures are found scattered throughout the Bible. He wrote: “For precept must be upon precept, for precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line, Here a little and there a little:" Isaiah 28:-13

The essence of what the prophet said was; When composing a doctrine you’ll find it “Here a little and there a little; which is to say you will find it scattered throughout your blessed Holy Bible.

Never try to read a single passage of scripture and think that you understand its context.  Moses said to let every word be established from the mouths of two or three witnesses.  That goes well in Bible study therefore take is seriously.

It is common knowledge, to the well-read, that all Scripture testify of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, either directly or indirectly JESUS shined brilliant light on the subject.  He Said “Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.”    Hebrews 10:7

JESUS’ statement assured us that the Holy Bible is all about Him and none other.  He is the WORD of GOD, John said of Him:  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  John 1:1

“The carnal mind is enmity against God: and is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.”  Romans 8:7  That means that the carnal man is sensual and that his mind is stayed on things of the flesh and not the things of GOD.  Carnal minded men do not see the underlying messages of God much less understand them. In fact the natural man “Receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”   1 Corinthians 2:14 

If you have a desire to study and understand the deeper sayings of GOD, Here is wisdom: Some remember Brother Bob Jones of Toledo Ohio.   In one of his sermons he said that after you have become well-read and have a desire to put together a doctrine, start with the passage(s) that you thoroughly understand, then add other scripture to them.

I took that saying to heart.  Therefore, I say, if you have a desire to be a doctrinal teacher, you become that teacher, by reading God’s Word unrelentingly. By that I mean read the bible through until you have read it no less than three times and do that in rapid succession.  After reading the Word as prescribed, I believe you will begin to recall scriptures that will come together as a doctrine.

May our GOD be glorified in the sayings. Amen!