How To Study The Bible
Vern Peterman · Mar 24, 2002
How to Study Bible (2001-02), No. 25
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://www.hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/48262241384167

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

in the fourth quarter, once we get done, is say, OK, here's a text where people have come up with all kinds of interpretations. You know that God only intended one of them. Which one is the right one? And so we'll be kind of taking a look at some of those different passages in order to discern what did God have in mind when he had this written? Because that's ultimately where we want to end up, isn't it? How many of you have been to a Bible study where people just kind of show up and they read it and they'll ask people, what do you think? You've been to those? Yeah! And you come out like, woo! Did I learn anything? You know?

Because it's just sort of personal impressions. That's definitely not what we're aiming for. We want to not have personal impressions. We want to be impressed with what God said. You see the difference? And so this isn't subjective, we want to get down to what's the objective truth here. So that's what this is aiming at, we're not just into being Greek intellectuals, okay?

Okay, so that's point one. Next, well let me hand this out here, otherwise you're going to be wondering what I'm talking about. Here we go. Thank you. Okay. The Greek alphabet, you will notice some similarities with English because, in fact, our language derived a lot of things from Greek. And one of the things that we've noticed as we've gone along in this and perhaps even in the Revelation series is that there are a lot of things in our language that come directly out of the Greek. The words and the sounds and in some cases you notice the letters here are direct correlation. Some of them, however, are a bit different.

And so one of the things I want to focus on here is basically these are the columns that count. If you can say these, if you can recognize those symbols, And then this is a guide to how you pronounce it. People will say this is alpha, where you don't say father, right? So it's alpha. A little mispronunciation is not going to hurt anybody. But at least if we say something, we'll know what we're saying instead of huh, OK? So this is helpful. But the bottom line is, look at these columns. If you look at the capital letters, it's a plus.

The truth is that capital letters are not used that often in the Greek language. We go and capitalize the beginning of every sentence. They don't do that in Greek. That's one thing. It just cuts down on the use of capitals. Our use of capitals in English is much more prominent. Here's another instance. We would capitalize like God, or even you'll see in the Bibles, it would be His and He for Christ or God. They don't do that in the Greek. They're just capitals are occasionally used at the beginning of a paragraph, not the beginning of a sentence. And so the capitals are a nice plus. They're not a necessary item.

If you have to kind of look that up once in a while, that's OK. So that's fine. So those are the things to focus on, just looking at your chart there. In the previous one I had, I had funny little ditties, and some of them were halfway gross. But anyway. If those are helpful, fine. If not, then you've got this.

Now, see a lot of them, like this, that looks kind of like our lowercase a. That looks kind of like a b. So that's all right. But this one here, that's a gamma. So there's some things where it deviates. This is the delta, the equivalent of a d. This epsilon, kind of like a lowercase e, a little bit. OK? So as you go down this, a lot of them will be similar.

There will be some that will be a little strange. This theta, for example, a little different. Kappa, just basically like our letter K. What's that? A shrunken K. Yeah, it's a shrunken K. It's a K with a short stem on the top. And then there's some you have to watch because you can easily get a little confused.

Here, for example, is this what looks like a U with a little tail at the leading end. This is a Mu. And then this looks like a V. That's the one that probably is most confusing. It's Nu. It makes the sound N. So there's some of those that are a little bit strange. And then here's another one. This looks like a W at the bottom. It's Omega. And that has an O sound. Just a long O. But you've heard it before.

Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega. the first letter and the last letter. So that's why he's also said in Revelation because if there are people to whom Greek was not real, real familiar, they'd get it anyway because he's the first and the last, the beginning and the end.

So those are the things to focus on. And I wouldn't worry about the other columns there. And what I'd suggest is you just kind of begin warming up with this thing this week and the next, so the two weeks from now, when we start into this, it'll begin to make some kind of sense instead of being, oh no, it's all Greek to me, you know? You don't want that. Okay.

Next thing, you've got on the flip side of where the alphabet is, there's a generalization of Greek tenses. Now, I want to go through this because we've talked about these different tenses, but I think it's valuable in this In the Greek language, the tenses are used in some cases a little differently from the English. It has a little different meaning.

Here's what I'm talking about. This chart that you have on your hand out there. The first one is... Let me get that so it shows up a little better here. There we go. The first one is present tense. And it's like our usage, except that the default understanding in the Greek is it's not just right now, this instant, but it's right now, continuous, is the natural usage in the Greek language. Right now, continuing.

One of the things, for example, last August we talked about was the qualifications for elders. It gives these different qualifications, and in each case, must right now continue to be. All the qualifications are given in that sense. Well, right now they are, but you need to see a sense of are they continuing in that right now condition.

The next thing down is what's called the imperfect. It's in the past, it's in past time, but it doesn't have a sense of continuing on. I was washing the car. You don't have a sense that that's still going on, do you? If something was going on, you don't have a sense that it's continuing on or necessarily completed. I was washing the car when the phone rang. That would be a use of the imperfect tense.

Next one is the future tense that is either an event or a process is happening in the future. We say Christ will come again, a single event in the future. This line here with the P represents that's the present. So there can be a future event or a future process.

The next one is the aorist, and we don't have quite that in the English. There isn't an exact equivalent, but the idea is it's either a past point process, or it can be similar to this imperfect, but it doesn't imply necessarily automatically that things continue into the future, necessarily. Here's a for instance. We said the imperfect was, I was washing the car. The heiress says, I washed the car. but you don't know whether that was yesterday or two months ago. The next one is the perfect tense.

And this is one that's really valuable, especially when you're looking at things having to do with salvation or the position of the believer. And here's why. Because it's a completed past action with continuing results into the future. First John chapter 3 verse 1 is a case of, here's the perfect tense, and it says, Behold what manner or quality, what quality of love the Father that hath given is in the perfect tense. He did give it and it has continuing results into the future.

Isn't that neat? So it's not just He's given it and that's done. No. It's the perfect tense, which means, behold what manner of love the Father has given in the past that right now and on into the future has given unto us. See that? So that's an example of the perfect tense. The last one is the pluperfect, completed action with abiding results. And here's what it means.

It's initiated in the past, with the results in the past, but not necessarily continuing on into the future. And an instance where that might show up is, for example, we were dead in our sins, but something changed. See that? Our being dead in our sins was continuous, but it ended in time past because we're now believers. See that?

So each of these tenses means something as we go into Continue using, looking at these Greek study tools. It's valuable. You might want to just kind of keep this as a reference just to have a sense of what's this pointing to? What's this directing me to?

OK? All right. With that, now we'll shift to the next subject. Anybody confused yet? OK. All right. You have on your printout something that looks like this. Okay. Galatians 1, 6 through 9. And guess what? We're not going to go to every word this morning, especially having used up 15 minutes already, right? So that's the good news. What I wanted to focus on was this.

There are a couple of places in here where a word shows up. And in the English, there fails to be a differentiation. that in the Greek the differentiation is clear. And just knowing this one difference between the two words can help you understand a lot of passages better. And so we're going to take a look, rather than going deeply into one passage, we're going to take a look at a lot of passages this morning, just seeing examples of how that understanding helps. Here's what I mean. You come into this and it says, I marvel that you are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ into another gospel, which is not another." Ah, look at this. Another, another, but are they the same word? They're different words, aren't they? They're not the same. In the English, we translate it another, but this one is 2087. This one here is 243. You see that on your copy? It prints out a little funny, but that's what it's supposed to be, 2-4-3.

Now, let's take a look at what's the distinction here. The distinction is this. There are two Greek words which are often translated another, but which have a distinct point of opposition. One is alos, another of the same kind, and heteros, another of a different kind.

Now, do we have in English this allos? Do we have a usage for that? Yes. Allotropes, which is a kind of molecularly similar, but that they are all the same compound. It's just a different range. They're of the same kind. They're of the same kind, slight variations. But in general, they're of the same kind. We also have another word, allopathic medicine, dealing with it uniformly. Here's one that is a little more commonly used, because allos is more used in technical words, right?

Like he was mentioning. Heteros. We have the word that's in common usage in the last couple of decades because of the homosexual movement. Heterosexual, right? We make the distinction. What's that? Another of a different kind, as opposed to homosexual, where they don't use allos, but they use homo. There's one, one sex. Or heteros, another of a different kind, okay? So you see the distinction there? They're both another. They both in our English translations are commonly, not always, translated another, but they mean something quite different.

See that? Now, here's how it's going to help us. Let's go back to this Galatians passage we just looked at. I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another." Another of the same kind or another of a different kind? Another of a different kind of gospel.

Do you see that? Then when he says, which is not another, another of the same kind. He is emphasizing it. He's saying, I marvel that you are so soon removed from Him that called you unto the grace of Christ unto another gospel of a different kind. which is not another of the same kind." Do you see that? Now we understand what he's talking about a lot better, and we're not having to say, okay, what does it mean by using another twice, and it's kind of strange. Why is he repeating it? He is being emphatic.

A different gospel, it is not the same gospel, it is definitely not a gospel of the same kind. You see the message he's making? Much more emphatic than it comes out in English. Much more. Now, let's take a look at the difference that means in other passages. Well, a clear overhead won't be any good. Let's start with Matthew.

After coming into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell to the ground and worshipped him, then opening their treasures... This is the wise men, right? Or the Magi? Then opening their treasure, they presented to him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the Magi left for their own country by another way."

Which another is it? Well, it's interesting. It's interesting. The word there is actually another of the same kind. It's another route, but it gets you to the same place. Okay? Interesting, okay? So, it's interesting as you go through these passages, and just that one little insight, all of a sudden, aha! Now I see what they're saying. Let's look at another one. John 14.

I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper. that He may be with you forever, that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.

Which another is that? It's Alos, and it's another of the same kind. You're going to get another Helper, but He'll be the same kind of Helper as I am. Which also tells you something else. If Christ is deity, the Holy Spirit is deity. So here's an indication that comes up. Again, the English doesn't tell you that little extra piece of information, but understanding what was originally written gives you another set of insights, doesn't it? This is another helper, and he's a different helper, but he is another of the same kind, the same quality. Now, let's take a look at an additional one. Here's from the book of Luke, chapter 9.

When the days were approaching for his ascension, he was determined to go to Jerusalem, and he sent messengers on ahead of him, and they went and entered the village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for him. But they did not receive him because he was traveling toward Jerusalem." Okay, who didn't receive him? The Samaritans. And where? In his village, right? Okay, so this specific village of the Samaritans did not receive him. Okay? That's the italicized words here. Because he was traveling towards Jerusalem. Now what's the problem with traveling towards Jerusalem? Why is that a difficulty? There were Samaritans, he was Jewish.

And see, you remember Jesus in John 4. He's sitting down with the woman at the well. And the woman at the well says, Our fathers, the Samaritan fathers, worship on this mountain. And what they were doing is sitting down at the well. She was pointing up to Mount Gerizim, where the Samaritans had their own temple. Jesus was going to Jerusalem, where they had the Jewish temple. You're traveling to Jerusalem.

That means you're not agreeing with us. We don't want you to stay here in this village. When his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them? Kind of like Elijah, right? Whoa! Just lick them and just take them off, right? Easy enough, there's a little village, Lord, I'll be able to just burn those guys out quick. But he turned and rebuked them, okay? No! And said, You do not know what kind of spirit you are of, for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them.

And they went to another village." Now, which another is this? This is another village of a different kind. Okay? So, they didn't just go to another one. Just, okay, there's another, and then there's another, then there's another. they went to another village of a different kind, one that wouldn't reject them.

But if you read an English translation, it doesn't go on and explain that so that you would understand that. But once you understand just that distinction in the Greek words, now all of a sudden as you're reading this, just another village of a different kind, okay, that's all I need to know. How do you know if just looking at this they didn't just go to another village and have the same problem? You know, because looking at the Greek, you know it's another village of a different kind, not like the one they just came out of. Okay? Yeah, probably so.

In other words, it would be right nearby. Apparently, some were willing to receive them and some not. And Jesus had traveled through Samaria, some we know from John 4. So it may have been, this is one where His message was received. Yeah. It's possible that there were pockets of Canaanites still left. Yeah, other different groups, you know, we think of Israel as being uniform, and even Samaria was not uniform. And that's a good point. There's still different backgrounds. Even as Jesus was in Galilee, remember the demoniac? The demons were sent out of him into the pigs. What are pigs doing in Israel? Okay?

Not just one, but a whole herd of them. So there's different groups of people, and that's another good point. You get people of different mindsets, so that's a possibility. But the point here being that understanding that this word is another of a different kind explains why you don't get a further explanation of how that village received them. Because you know from that word another, heteros, that they weren't like the ones that just rejected Jesus.

Alright, let's take a look at another passage. Same passage in Luke, just continuing on to the next one. And as they were going along the road, someone said to him, I will follow you wherever you go. And Jesus said to him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. And he said to another, Follow me.

But he said, who said? Another, right? Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father. And he said to him, allow the dead to bury their own dead, but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God. Another also said, I will follow you, Lord, but first permit me to say goodbye to those at home.

Okay. Which kind of another are we talking about? Ah, okay. This one just flat out said, I will follow you wherever you go. Okay? I apparently did. Because the next two and others are anothers of a different kind. And notice, they're different from this guy that just flat out said, I'm going to follow you. These others came up with excuses. Now, let's look at this verse 59 and 60.

The dead bury their own dead. That sounds kind of hard-hearted, doesn't it? Here's the problem with it and why Jesus said it. The Jewish tradition, not scripture, but the Jewish tradition was you bury your father as was done with Jesus. They go and wrap him and put the spices on there and wrap him up in these grave claws and lay him there and you have to mourn and stick around for a year because a year later, on the anniversary of the death, you take the bones, the flesh having rotted off, and you put them in a box called an ossuary. And so the bottom line is, you're out of commission for a year.

And that was Jewish tradition. It was not commanded in Scripture. So it was one of the ways where they added to Scripture in their tradition. It became a common excuse, and it's my understanding it is still used over in Israel and the Palestinian areas.

If somebody doesn't want to do something, you ask them, their expression will be, let me go bury my father. Okay? It's basically a put-off. Okay? So that's the thing. And so with that expression, that's why he said, he said to another, and the person reading Greek who understood it at that time, when he said to another, you know right off before he says anything that this is another of a different kind. He's not like the first guy that said, I'll follow you wherever you go, starting right now. You see that? Let's look at the next one. Another said, I will follow You, Lord.

First, permit me to say goodbye to those at home. Guess what? You don't just go home and say goodbye in the Jewish culture. It's a big, long process and they've got traditions and procedures. This is drawn out. It's another excuse. You're never going to see this guy. It's just a way of saying, let me go bury my father. So that's why those are another of a different kind. Both of them. See that? Just that one difference helps you understand that passage a whole lot better than just saying the English word another. There's more. Let's take a look at some additional passages. Acts 17, 5-8.

But the Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the marketplace, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar. And attacking the house of Jason, they were seeking to bring them out to the people. When they did not find them, they began dragging Jason and some brethren before the city authorities, shouting, These men who have upset the world have come here also. And Jason has welcomed them. And they all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus. They stirred up the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things."

Another king, and I don't know if you've figured out my color code yet, the green ones are another of a different kind. He is not just another king, like, okay, you've got one king and here's another one. He is another king of a different kind. You see that? So he's not just, okay, here's a different one, or here's another one. but he is definitely of a different sort." Here is another king of a different sort. See the distinction?

2 Corinthians 11, 3 and 4. But I fear lest, by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might bear with him." Again, if you figure out my color code, you notice the first another is blue, another of the same kind.

The next two are another of a different kind. And some translations just go ahead and translate that different gospel, different spirit. But that's the key thing to look at here. Now why is the first one another of the same kind? Because they're infringing on his copyright. In other words, the appearance is that it looks the same. But in reality, you go farther along with this, it's a different spirit and a different gospel. There's something else to notice.

What did he first give as the example? The serpent and Eve? The serpent said three things to Eve. The first one was a question, which in itself was not bad. The next two statements were outright falsehoods. another of the same kind, different kind, different kind.

See the pattern there? That make sense? Okay? So just this one distinction here gives amazing insight that would otherwise be lost if all we're looking at is the English. Okay, let's look at... This is another spirit of a different kind. Received another gospel of a different kind. Ah, yes. Yes, yes.

You'll notice I quoted the King James Version here just because it uses another, and other translations have just gone to translating it different. But the truth is, to get the full sense of what the Greek is conveying, if you can insert another of the same kind, another of a different kind, that's going to give you the best sense of what it's saying. Another is not wrong, it's just perhaps not enough differentiation. And just to translate it different is perhaps a little brief too, because it definitely has the sense of another of a different kind.

So that's the full sense of it. Yeah? Yes. Yes. Yeah, that's right. Now, it's translator's choice, but I'm just saying at certain points, especially where it's just translated another, the understanding of the difference makes a big difference. OK. All right. Let's take a look at another passage here. Hebrews 7, another of the same kind. Yes, Hebrews 7, 11-15.

Now if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood or on the basis of it the people received the law, what further need was there for another priest to rise according to the order of Melchizedek and not be designated according to the order of Aaron? For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also. For the one concerning whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe from which no one has officiated at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning the priests.

And this is clear still if another priest arises according to the likeness of Melchizedek." And each of those anothers is another of a different kind. Another of a different kind. What further need was there for another priest of a different kind to arise according to the order of Melchizedek?

Yeah. Yeah, this doesn't agree too terribly well with them. Of course, they have a tough time proving they're all Jewish, right? That's not the only problem they have, though. Okay. And then this, for one concerning whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, another tribe of a different kind. The tribe of priests was the tribe of Levi, correct?

So to have Jesus who was from the tribe of Judah, which incidentally when this was written was verifiable. You could go to the records in Jerusalem and look up who was born when at that point in time was available. If somebody wanted to contest this, they easily could, and nobody did, that we have any record of. But he would belong to another tribe, because that was the tribe of Judah, which, as you mention in here, there's no biblical record of anybody from the tribe of Judah having authorization to be a priest.

That tells you we're under a different system. Christ is a priest, but he's not under the order of the Mosaic Law and under the tribe of Levi. Different priesthood. So again, you have this communication, another of a different kind, another of a different kind, another of a different kind, three times in this one passage. Are you tired of these passages? I think we've got maybe one or two more here.

Mark 16.12, the quickie. After that, he appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking along their way to the country. What's the context? What's this? This is post-resurrection and Jesus is walking with two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Correct.

Okay. And He appeared in a different form. It would be possible to translate that another form, but what we know from what we've been looking at here this morning, He appeared in a form that was another of a different kind. Another form of a different kind. That's the full sense there.

Luke 19.29, And while he was praying, the appearance of his face became different, became another face of a different kind, and his clothing became white and gleaming.

Romans 7.23, and we'll finish with this, But I see a different law in the members of my body, a law that is another of a different kind. Waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members."

See that? So just that one differentiation, and as you see the word another or different, you can ask that question. Which one is this? What's the message here? And just like we've been seeing this morning in these numerous passages we've been going through, just that one differentiation gives you insight into a number of passages and a better understanding of what those people understood when they were reading this that doesn't instantly come out in a lot of our English translations. You'll get a much better understanding of the full picture of what's being communicated just with that one distinction. And this is an example of where looking at those kinds of distinctions can provide huge improvement in the richness we get from the original text.

Pardon me. Okay, let's pray. Lord, we do thank you. You have given great richness in your word and we thank you for that. Thank you that you have indeed given us a nature, Lord, of a different kind. And we thank you for all that you've done and accomplished in that. We just pray you continue to teach us, Lord, as the days of this week go by. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.