Unserstandest Thou What Thou Readest? 2

By Tosin Lawal

Devotional Reading: And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? Acts 8:30 KJV

Yesterday, we learnt about the Ethiopian Eunuch who couldn’t understand the passage of the scriptures not until the Holy Spirit sent help to him in the person of Philip the evangelist. We learnt that the correct understanding of God’s written word, the Bible, begins with the help of the Holy Spirit.

The understanding that God’s Spirit brings causes transformation to a man’s life. Hence, a person must deliberately seek the help of the Holy Spirit in understanding the Bible even though it’s a book that needs to be engaged with reasoning (the mind). The second lesson God wants you to learn from our opening text is that the Holy Spirit will often engage your mind in understanding God’s written word.

The Holy Spirit sending Philip to help the Ethiopian eunuch understand the scriptures implies that there is a right way to interpret and understand the message of the Bible. The Eunuch was confused as to whether the writer of Isaiah 53(the portion of the scriptures he was reading at the moment) was talking about himself or another person. He could have misinterpreted what he read.

The Holy Bible is God’s written word, written for a specific purpose. The Bible has a central message and theme. In 2 Timothy 2:15KJV, Paul told Timothy his dear son in the Lord that “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” His statement implies that there is a right way to divide, explain and interpret the word of truth. It involves study and diligence. If a person does not divide and interpret God’s word the right way, such a person will often misinterpret God’s word and be disillusioned that he has gotten the right insight from reading God’s word.

From the explanation of Philip, we realized that the portion of the scriptures that the eunuch was reading is all about Jesus Christ our Lord and his redemptive plan for humanity. For God’s word says “Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. Acts 8:35KJV” That preaching of Jesus led to the eunuch being saved from his sins and being baptized. Hallelujah.

Dearly beloved, God wants you to understand that reading and understanding his written word (the Holy Bible) begins with reading contextually as the Holy Spirit helps you understand. To read in context means understanding the circumstances and conditions by which a particular portion of the Bible you are reading is surrounded. It means to understand the parts of a discourse that surrounds a word or passage and can throw light on its meaning. The Bible, though, is God’s message contains the record of words and voices of different persons.

For instance, In the Bible, God (and or Jesus) spoke, the devil spoke, angels spoke, men spoke, and even animals spoke. It takes reading and studying contextually to understand which one is God and not God. The lack of ability to decipher which one is God or not is the beginning of confusion for a man.

Reading and studying the Bible without bearing context in mind is one of the reasons why many people don’t have the right understanding of the personality of God. It is one reason why many don’t yet understand the plan and purpose of God for humanity which includes themselves. Anyone who doesn’t read the Bible with the context in mind can never understand God’s written word.

Friend, a wise prayer you should continually pray to God is that he will help you pay attention to context as you read and study his word so it can be easy for you to receive the help of the Holy Spirit in understanding God’s word. May the blessings of God never elude you each time you read or study God’s word in Jesus’ name. Blessings.

Prayer and Confession
Open the eyes of my heart Lord and help me contemplate the wonderful truth in your word. Help me to be diligent in my study of your word.

Further readings: Acts 8:26-40, 2 Timothy 2:15.
Reading Proverbs: Proverbs 16-20