Are we suppose to understand everything in the Bible?

Are we suppose to understand everything in the Bible?

The assumption behind your question is that we are not suppose to understand everything in the Bible. This begs another question…did God give us His Word knowing that we would not be able to understand all of it?

I think not. He gave us His Holy Spirit to teach and guide us into the great truths of the Bible (John 16:13). Also, God tells us that “all” of the Bible is “profitable”, for doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction (2 Timothy 3:16). Therefore, since “all” of the Bible is “profitable”, it is all understandable, too.

Thus, the question becomes, “Why can’t I understand every verse in the Bible?” The answer is that the “spiritual” realities of God’s revelation in the Bible must be “spiritually” discerned. Therefore, first of all, the reader must be born of the Spirit and be spiritually discerning (John 3:3; 1 Corinthians 2:14-16). If the reader is not a Christian, then he or she cannot understand what the Bible says. Also, the Christian reader is to study the Scriptures correctly so as to rightly divide the Word of Truth and compare spiritual things with spiritual things, i.e. compare Scriptures with other Scriptures (2 Timothy 2:15; 1 Corinthians 2:13).

When the process of Spirit-led Bible study occurs, the Bible student should be able to arrive at the meaning of any given Scripture. Of course, the complications and distractions of tradition, bias, and false teaching must be dealt with in order to clear the way for proper interpretation of Scripture. For example, using Revelation 10:1, we see the apostle John describing the coming of a “mighty angel” in the context of the “Trumpet Judgments”. To discover the identity of the mighty angel, you can employ the use of observation, correction, and then interpretation.

We observe that this is “another” angel , similar to the previous angels of Revelation (Revelation 5:1, 7:1, 8:2, 9:1).

And, as we correlate Revelation 10:1 to Revelation 5:1-7, we discover that God, the Father is “Him Who sat on the throne”, “a strong angel” is the one speaking, and Jesus is seen as “a Lamb as though it had been slain” Who “took the scroll out of the right hand of Him Who sat on the throne.”

Therefore, we can interpret the “mighty angel” as not being Jesus.

This process can be applied to any and all Scripture. Just because there are multiple opinions about a passage of Scripture doesn’t mean that there are multiple interpretations. Because in reality, there is only one true meaning of any given Scripture (2 Peter 1:20-21). So, with your assurance of salvation in tact, go forth as a diligent student of God’s Word, knowing that the Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth!