Scripture Interprets Scripture—Case Studies in Context

The first part of this series examined the two aspects of general revelation, creation and conscience, and the first of two aspects of special revelation, the person and work of Christ. The second part of this series covers the final aspect of special revelation, Scripture itself.

Ignoring the Clarity Given to the Picture by Special Revelation

Scripture

Jesus handled Scripture in such a way that its authority is implicitly assumed. In other words, the text was definitive and completely true in everything about which it spoke. And it originated from God who cannot lie. Neither can God be mistaken on anything because he is perfect in wisdom and knowledge. So, in any discussion of what God has done in the past, including creation and the flood, it is completely appropriate to look at what Scripture says about it.

The Bible also has a delightful way of addressing the same things in multiple passages, always consistently, in order to clarify the meaning of the text. This is recognized by two basic principles for studying God’s Word. First, Scripture interprets Scripture. Second, context is king.

In practice, this works by expanding the scope of examination outward, moving in this order: passage, surrounding text, same book, same writer, same testament, entire Bible (Sciacca 1983). This methodology is followed for the three brief examples below. These are not meant to be comprehensive but rather to demonstrate that God’s Word is fully sufficient to communicate what he wants us to know.

Example 1: Genesis 2:2–3 (God’s Work)

PASSAGE: “And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.”

Does this mean that God needs rest?

SURROUNDING TEXT: The statements immediately around this passage point to a definition of rest associated with finishing work on a task rather than needing to recuperate from the expenditure of energy. Genesis 1:31 says that God saw everything he “had made” in the past tense, not current and ongoing. All of it was “very good” reflecting his perfection in all he does. The next verse, Genesis 2:1, reiterates the completion of creation, saying the heavens, earth, and all their host “were finished.” Then, immediately following the passage about God’s rest, Genesis 2:4 gives a structural break between the account just given and the complementary account that is about to follow, again with a past tense about the heavens and the earth, when they “were created.” God rested from a particular task once he completed it because there was nothing more to do on that project. He ceased from his creative work of making new things, while still continuing to sustain what he had made.

SAME BOOK: The two accounts of creation, the one preceding Genesis 2:4 and the one following, are sometimes misrepresented as contradictory rather than complementary. This seems to be done in an effort to cast the creation accounts as something other than actual history, suggesting instead a symbolic gesture or literary technique that offers abstract ideas about spirituality. These fail on close analysis, however, because the details offered in both accounts reveal their complementary nature.

Defining Day

Genesis 2:4 uses the Hebrew term for day in a manner different from its use for the six days of creation in Genesis 1. This particular word is a case where context guides translation. In Genesis 2:4, the word could also be translated as “at the time that” or “when.” Here the word is singular, not plural, and it lacks other descriptive information like “second day” or “evening and morning,” so it is understood in a general time frame sense. In Genesis 1, however, the word is attached to sequential numbers and is characterized as passing through the stages of evening and morning, designating these as literal days.

Another example of the dual use of the Hebrew word for day is found in Numbers 7:1–89 (Sarfati 2015). From verses 12 to 83, day is used in an ordinary, earth-rotational, approximately 24-hour sense, and each day is described with first, second, third, etc. But before and after that section, day is used in the alternate sense of “at the time that” or “when.” No details are superfluous in Scripture! This long and dry passage provides clues for distinguishing between different usages for day in each of the first two chapters of Genesis.

Two Creation Accounts

Because God is perfect and does not make mistakes in what he does or says, we should expect to see a complementary, rather than contradictory, relationship between the two accounts of creation. The account in Genesis 1 focuses broadly on the creation of the universe and all it contains, along with the sequence in which things were made. The account in Genesis 2 concentrates specifically on humans, the first man and the first woman, the original parents of the entire human race. There is no mention of God’s creation of the sun, moon, and stars because the concern in chapter two is with Adam and Eve’s immediate environment in the garden of Eden. When Genesis 2:5 states that no plant “of the field” had yet sprouted or grown because there was no human to work the ground, these details indicate the reference is to cultivated plants within a garden. The same goes for the trees placed in the garden in Genesis 2:9. This is reemphasized when God banished Adam and Eve from the garden in chapter three to keep them away from the tree of life. When Genesis 2:19 speaks of the creation of animals, following Genesis 2:7 where it says God formed Adam from the dust and gave him breath and life, the original Hebrew can be translated that God “had formed” the animals, placing their creation prior to Adam, offering background regarding the animals brought to Adam to receive names.

Jesus’ teaching affirms that there is no contradiction between the accounts because he pulls from both authoritatively to answer a question on marriage (Matthew 19:4–5; Mark 10:6-8) with no hint of inconsistency about using the two accounts together.

SAME WRITER: Moses wrote the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. These five together are called the Law or the Law of Moses. In Exodus 20:8–11, God gave the Ten Commandments to the Israelites after delivering them from slavery in Egypt. He instructed them to rest from work every seventh day and gave the example of what he did at creation, saying “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day.” These are six literal days for creation since the word appears in plural form as days and is modified by a number, six. This is restated again in Exodus 31:12–17. When God gave the Ten Commandments a second time in Deuteronomy 5:15, he changed the reference to his power to another mighty act, saying, “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.”

SAME TESTAMENT: Psalm 95 also combines a remembrance of God’s power in creation with his power to rescue and bring people to a place of rest. First, the psalmist says, “The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!” Then the psalmist adds that those God delivered from Egypt who chose to harden their hearts against him were not permitted to enter the rest he provided Abraham’s descendants in the promised land. The last two verses say, “For forty years I loathed that generation and said, ‘They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways.’ Therefore I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’”

ENTIRE BIBLE: God develops his example of rest even further in the New Testament. In John 5, Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath, the day of rest. But in regard to this, Jesus said, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” God did not rest from all work after six days of making the natural world; he only ceased from his creating work, while continuing in other work. God does not need rest, but he demonstrates and offers it to those who need it. In Matthew 11:28, Jesus says, “Come to me . . . and I will give you rest.”

Hebrews 3 and 4 draw parallels between the rest God offered his people by bringing them out of slavery in Egypt and into the promised land and the rest God extends to anyone who comes to him through Jesus. The writer warns against having an evil, unbelieving heart like those who missed the opportunity to enter the promised land and cautions against being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. In chapter 4, the writer reaches back further in history to God’s setting the example of rest after completing his creation of the natural world, saying, “His works were finished from the foundation of the world. . . . And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” This phrasing requires literal days in order for creation to have been complete just after the founding of the world. Then the writer attributes Psalm 95 to David and notices that although the psalm speaks about the Israelites’ time in the wilderness before entering the promised land, it also pictures another type of rest God offers now. David lived about 400 years after Moses and Joshua, and yet the psalm says, “Today, if you hear [God’s] voice, do not harden your hearts.”

Want Rest?

The writer of Hebrews points out that God’s rest is received through hearing and receiving God’s words. Hebrews 4:2 says, “For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.” Just as God completed his creation work and ceased from it because it was finished, he has also completed another work. This happened when Jesus, in John 19:30, said “It is finished,” as he died on the cross, and now, he is resurrected and seated in heaven, resting from his completed work. Hebrews 1:1–3 says, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” The One who finished the work of creating the natural world, who still upholds the universe by his power, has now finished the work of making purification for sins, and by this completed work, those who place their faith in him may enter into his rest.

So going back to the original passage and question: Does this mean that God needs rest? No. God does not need rest, but he shows us how he alone is able to bring a wondrous work to completion, whether creation or redemption, and invites us to come to him for rest.

Example 2: Romans 8:20–21 (God’s Promise)

PASSAGE: “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.”

How can a good and sovereign God have futility, bondage, and corruption in his creation?

SURROUNDING TEXT: Romans 8:3 says that God sent his Son “in the likeness of sinful flesh” in order to condemn sin. Further back in the text, it says sin originated with Adam and brought death to the world, which spread to all people since all sinned (Romans 5:12–14). The single exception among humanity is Jesus Christ who, though he took on flesh (Romans 8:3; Colossians 1:22; 1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 2:14; 1 John 4:2) was without sin (2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:22; 1 John 3:5). Romans 8:11 and 14–16 adds that God’s Spirit dwells in those who are saved by him, not only bringing life but allowing adoption by God so that he is our Father. Creation waits with God’s children for the freedom and glory God will bring about (Romans 8:21–24).

SAME BOOK: In writing Romans, Paul addresses each aspect of divine revelation. For general revelation, he describes creation as a witness to all people of God’s power and other attributes (Romans 1:19–20) and identifies conscience as an indicator of God’s standard of right and wrong (Romans 2:14–15).

Paul covers special revelation too. He mentions that the Law and the Prophets [the Jewish Scriptures, or Old Testament] bear witness to what God has accomplished in giving righteousness and redemption to those who put their faith in Jesus (Romans 3:21–26) and that the gospel was “promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures” (Romans 1:2). Paul uses Scripture to explain God’s message to his readers, quoting it about 50 times throughout Romans, pulling from Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, 1 Kings, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Habakkuk, and Malachi. In Romans 15:4, Paul says of God’s Word: “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

Dealing with Sin and Death

Much of Romans focuses on the other aspect of special revelation, the person and work of Christ, as well as the work of God’s Spirit who dwells with those who have been adopted as God’s children. Romans 4:25 says Jesus “was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification,” and Romans 5:8–10 states, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” And Romans 8:1–3, 11 gives us the assurance that “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. . . . By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. . . . If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

SAME WRITER: Another one of Paul’s letters, 1 Corinthians, compares Adam and Christ as well as the role of Scripture in revealing God’s plan. Paul says that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and raised on the third day “in accordance with the Scriptures,” a phrase repeated in each of the two verses (1 Corinthians 15:3–4). Then Paul compares Adam, the man of dust who brought death, with Christ, the man who makes alive all who belong to him (1 Corinthians 15:21–22, 45–49). Paul clearly sees death as an intrusion into God’s creation because he calls it “the last enemy to be destroyed” (1 Corinthians 15:26).

Paul noted how Christ’s death and resurrection affected creation. Colossians 1:16–20 says, “All things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. . . . For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” And Ephesians 1:5–10 states that God “predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ. . . . In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, . . . according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”

Introducing Our Creator

In Acts, Luke recorded some of Paul’s appeals for people to turn to God, introducing him as their Creator and Provider. In Acts 14:15–17, Paul and Barnabas explained to a crowd that “we also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. . . . He did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.” And Acts 17:24–31 records a speech Paul made in Athens, saying, “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, . . . gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation . . . on all the face of the earth . . . that they should seek God. . . . He is actually not far from each one of us. . . . He commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

Want to Be Made New?

SAME TESTAMENT: Peter also understood that creation would be restored, based on the work of Christ, and he appealed to Scripture in speaking with his fellow Jews at the temple. In Acts 3:18–21, he said: “What God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.” He reminded his readers in 2 Peter 3:13 that “according to [God’s] promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”

John described this too. In Revelation, he saw a new heaven and earth, absent of suffering and death, where God’s adopted children have rest, and without anything accursed (Revelation 14:13, 21:1–7, 22:3).

ENTIRE BIBLE: The Bible often employs a symmetrical teaching structure. This is found in short passages, but it is also used for the entire span of God’s Word (figure 2). In Genesis 1, God created a perfect world where people lived in harmony and relationship with him. In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve made a conscious choice to rebel against God, dismissing his wishes to pursue their own, with the terrible consequence that all of God’s creation was subjected to suffering and death. At the end of time, however, God has promised to restore his adopted children and creation to its original state of perfection, as described in the final chapters of Revelation.

Isaiah presents the same course of history. In Isaiah 24:4–6, the prophet says, “The earth mourns and withers . . . defiled under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed. . . . A curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt,” in contrast to the coming hope in Isaiah 25:8 that God “will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth.” In other parts of the book (Isaiah 11:1–9, 65:17–25), God says “Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth. . . . Be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create” and describes a restoration of creation’s original conditions with animals having the vegetarian diet he established in Genesis 1:29–30.

So going back to the original passage and question: How can a good and sovereign God have futility, bondage, and corruption in his creation? All that God created was originally without flaw and “very good,” but when humans chose to sin, it brought futility, bondage, corruption, and death into the entire world. In God’s sovereignty, his plan has always been to restore those he has adopted as his children, along with creation itself, to its original state of perfection in harmony with God’s perfect ways.

Example 3: 2 Peter 3:8 (God’s Patience)

PASSAGE: “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”

Does this mean that in biblical usage a day can represent thousands or millions of years?

SURROUNDING TEXT: Immediately leading up to the passage, Peter speaks of people who follow their own sinful desires and says they “deliberately overlook” both creation and the flood. Peter points out that the world was made “by the word of God” and that “by the same word” the world is destined for fiery judgment when God will destroy those who do not give him due reverence. Right after the passage, Peter shifts to explaining why God has not yet brought judgment on evil, citing God’s patience toward people, “Not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” He encourages his readers to diligently live according to God’s ways, to take care to avoid the error of those who twist Scripture (here Peter affirms that Paul’s letters were considered Scripture), and finally, to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

SAME BOOK: Peter clearly took the miraculous events in the Old Testament as literal history, as his Lord and Savior did. In chapter 2, he speaks of Noah and the worldwide flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and Balaam’s donkey who spoke with a human voice. Peter also speaks plainly about the nature of sin. Chapter 1 talks of escaping the corruption in the world caused by sinful desire, and chapter 2 points out that this corruption enslaves those overcome by it, even as they claim it as freedom instead.

SAME WRITER: In his first letter, Peter takes Old Testament history literally, calling God “a faithful Creator” and referring to God’s patience in the days of Noah, when only eight people were protected from the flood (1 Peter 4:19, 3:20). He also pointed out God’s intolerance toward unrepentant sinners but loving care toward those who have been made righteous through Christ, quoting from Psalm 34 (1 Peter 3:11–12): “Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

Dress for the Occasion

SAME TESTAMENT: In the interim of human history while God is exercising patience toward those he has called to come to him, Jesus used a parable of a wedding invitation (Matthew 22:1–14). Those invited responded in different ways. The first group described refused the invitation (verses 3–7). The second group (verses 8–13) were guests who had accepted the invitation, but not all arrived in the manner required by the host. The difference between the accepted and rejected guests was their attire, and Genesis 3:7, 21 (along with Isaiah 64:6, 61:10; Zechariah 3:3–4, 8–9; Revelation 3:5, 18) provides insight into the distinguishing factor. After they sinned, Adam and Eve tried to cover their nakedness with fig leaves, but this was inadequate. Only the covering provided by God was sufficient, and it required the shedding of blood to cover them with animal skins instead. (This is the first reference to animal death in Scripture, and it follows after Adam and Eve sinned.) Our response to God’s invitation requires that we come to him according to his requirements and provision

A Thousand Years

ENTIRE BIBLE: If Peter employed the term “a thousand” as a general way to describe a large amount of something, it would fit alongside many other scriptures where it was used in the same way (Deuteronomy 1:11, 7:9, 32:30; Joshua 23:10; 1 Chronicles 16:15; Job 9:3; Psalm 50:10, 84:10, 90:4, 91:7, 105:8; Ecclesiastes 6:6; Isaiah 7:23, 30:17). Psalm 90:4 specifically uses it with years, stating, “For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.” Clearly, a thousand years is not used to suggest a day could represent a long period of time because it would also have to apply to a three-hour watch in the night. Additionally, Ecclesiastes 6:6 uses “a thousand years twice over” to paint a picture of an extraordinarily long lifetime, one twice as long as the oldest person listed in the Bible, Methuselah, who reached 969 years of age (Genesis 5:27) and other patriarchs like Adam (930 years, Genesis 5:5) and Noah (950 years, Genesis 9:29).

Peter’s simile comparing a day to a thousand years and, going the other direction, a thousand years to a day is just a manner of recognizing that humans experience time in a way that feels incredibly long, especially when we are waiting. Our eternal God, however, exists outside the boundaries of time; he always was, is, and will be, and he does not view time in the same way that we do.

Want Hope for the Future?

The Old Testament is consistent with the New Testament, that all who died would at a future time be resurrected, some to everlasting life and some to everlasting contempt (Deuteronomy 32:39; Job 19:25–27; Isaiah 26:19–21; Daniel 12:2; Malachi 3:16–18). The outcome was based on a person’s relationship with God, so it is important to consider what the Bible teaches about this. Psalm 103:10–14 says, “He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.” And Malachi 3:16–18 states, “Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name. ‘They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.’”

So going back to the original passage and question: Does this mean that in biblical usage a day can represent thousands or millions of years? No. Peter reminds us that as we wait for all to be set right, God is being patient toward people who have yet to come to him. All have received an invitation; each must decide how to respond.

Conclusion

God has revealed himself in four ways. First is creation: people can perceive that everything made and all that sustains their day-to-day lives must have come from a marvelous and powerful Creator. Second is conscience, allowing people to realize that some of what we observe around us—things like sorrow, suffering, and death—are not as they ought to be. This suggests a standard of right and wrong, of good and evil, and hints that it originated from Someone other than us. Third is the person and work of Christ, who as God’s perfect image in human form taught us about who God is and accomplished salvation from sin and death for us when we were helpless to do anything for ourselves. And finally, God reveals himself in Scripture, describing his plan for all of creation throughout the course of history, until things are once again restored and his children can live together with him in harmony, fullness, and perfection.

References

Sarfati, Jonathan. 2015. “Genesis Is History!” Creation 37, no. 2 (April): 50–52, https://creation.com/genesis-is-history.

Sciacca, Fran. 1983. “Unit One: A Look at the Book.” In Getting Equipped: Basic Studies in Living the Christian Life. Colorado Springs Christian School.