Theological Musings

have a frustration. It’s something that I am guilty of myself, so I am not just pointing fingers at others. But lately, I’m becoming more and more sensitive to it.

It’s the issue of “proof-texting”. That is, pulling a verse of Scripture out as a defense of something without consideration to the context surrounding it.

Now, some have argued in the past that this method of interpretation is not inconsistent with how the writers of the New Testament quoted writers of the Old Testament. It would appear from time to time that, indeed, the writers of the New Testament do play fast and loose with the Old Testament.

For example, in Matthew 1:23, Matthew quotes Isaiah 7:14 about a virgin bearing a son. Ironically, Matthew states that Mary’s pregnancy is a fulfillment of the Isaiah prophecy, even while the following two points are true:

• Isaiah records a prophecy given to a certain person at a certain time about a certain event, seemingly unrelated to the birth of Jesus centuries later
• Isaiah’s prophecy says that the baby will be named “Immanuel”, meaning “God with us”, yet Joseph was instructed (in what Matthew says is the fulfillment) to name the baby “Jesus”, which means “God saves”.

But the point of this post is not to question Matthew’s use of Isaiah. The point is to question our modern usage of some Scripture verses.

Let me throw one out that has bothered me for a long time.

How many times have you heard criticism of a leader squelched with the phrase, “Don’t touch the Lord’s anointed”? Depending on what circles you run in, you may have heard that one a lot. I sure have.

Recently in our cover-to-cover reading of the Bible during our homeschool morning routine, we came across that phrase in 1 Chronicles 16:22. This is later echoed in the parallel passage in Psalm 105:15.

But I was amazed to find out that David was not referring to God’s people questioning their leaders. Let’s look at this phrase in context (1 Chronicles 16:19-22, NASB):

When [the Israelites] were only a few in number,
Very few, and strangers in [the Promised Land],
And they wandered about from nation to nation,
And from one kingdom to another people,
He permitted no man to oppress them,
And He reproved kings for their sakes, saying,
“Do not touch My anointed ones,
And do My prophets no harm.”

Notice who he’s talking about. He’s talking about the whole nation of Israel when he says “my anointed ones”. And he’s rebuking ungodly kings who sought to do them harm by saying, “Don’t touch them!”

What a difference context makes.

There are other passages that I would like to set the record straight on, but I will leave it at this for now. Maybe I’ll turn it into a series. Who knows? But rest assured that I am learning to watch my own use of Scripture and making sure I’m not wresting verses out of their context to support my point.

Until next time,

steve