Context is Really Everything

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

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Most of us read the Bible, hopefully on a daily basis. It is literally God’s Word to YOU and ME. In it, He not only explains why He does certain things, but He provides information on just how much He loves humanity and what He’s done to prove it. Moreover, He has provided peeks into the future (whether it’s the future past, from the perspective of a prophet who lived long ago), or into the future from our perspective now.

One other thing I’ve always realized since I first attended Bible college in the late 1970s is that context is really just about everything. What I mean by that is the historical-grammatical context related to God’s Word. Of course, context is important in any type of communication today, whether written or spoken. Without understanding the context of the author or speaker, it is very easy to get lost and imagine something else is being stated rather than what is actually meant by the original person.

While many people read His Word, we need to become much better at allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture and that is only done by becoming more and more familiar with what God reveals to us in His Word. There is certainly a context to that, built into reading and gaining knowledge from His Word. So there is a context within God’s Word that we need to understand.

But there is also a context that is outside of God’s Word (history, customs, etc.), that also informs it regarding His meaning in His Word. This can only be more fully understood when Christians take the time to study the historical context and cultural context of the times in which the Bible was written, as well as the vernacular utilized by those who wrote books of the Bible. I address this in one of the first books I wrote, Interpreting the Bible Literally: Is Not as Confusing as It Sounds. To be sure, the context of the Old Testament may be far different from the context of the New Testament.

Without understanding actual context, it is really difficult, if not impossible to fully comprehend God’s meaning from His Word. A simple case in point (as I’ve mentioned before), is related to the controversial subject of the Rapture. Arguments are made today that the PreTrib Rapture belief is a “recent” creation and therefore has no real basis in Scripture. Ergo, the PreTrib Rapture stance is a false doctrine and heretical. (I’m not trying to stoke any fires here, just trying to point out a good example of how missing the historical context can mean arriving to incorrect conclusions.)

It is being shown repeatedly (with newly found evidence as more and more ancient scrolls are uncovered and/or translated from the Qumran caves), that during the first and second centuries, early church fathers then (some of whom were disciples of some of the original twelve apostles), wrote about the end of the age (the one we are living in now). These men, almost without exception, taught a seven-year Tribulation, the arrival of the Antichrist, the physical second coming of our Lord at the end of the Tribulation and they also taught that the Church would be removed from this earth before the Tribulation started.

I have many books in my library of the scrolls and manuscripts that have been translated into English highlighting these things. Some of those men readily acknowledge that what they taught, they learned from the apostle they were disciples of and simply carried the apostolic message forward.

The sticking point for many comes in because these beliefs seem to have disappeared from the Church in the third century until well after the Middle Ages. They point to this absence as “proof” that the PreTrib Rapture is a created doctrine by people like Darby and Scofield. In actuality, we need to again look at historical context to see if it sheds any light on the subject at all.

As I’ve noted before, during the third century, the Roman Catholic Church began its rise to power and ultimately became married to the state as the state’s official religion. I’m sure Satan worked very hard to make that happen. Because of Roman Catholicism, persecution against average Christians essentially stopped, but so did other things. However, the Roman Catholic Church started a campaign of persecution against those who disagreed with the doctrines of Roman Catholicism!

The Roman Catholic Church has always emphasized an allegorical approach to prophetic discourse in Scripture. They see prophecy through the lens of allegory or metaphor so that it means something else rather than having a literal meaning (in its most plain and ordinary sense). Everything espoused by the early church fathers based on the teaching of the original twelve apostles, is essentially ignored, when it comes to prophetic discourse in Scripture.

However, if we did not have those early church father writings, we would not have external contextual evidence that the general belief in a PreTrib Rapture, etc., actually existed and was taught. We would only Scripture and while I believe emphatically that the PreTrib Rapture is clearly taught in Scripture, others believe just as emphatically that it is not. This same thing can be said about once saved, always saved or another doctrine referred to as Lordship salvation. People come down on different aspects of Scripture as their proof text to support their beliefs. We all do this. What many do not do is go to context, either context within Scripture or historical context outside of Scripture. It is amazing how often we do this. We’re all guilty to a certain degree.

But consider the first century Christians and the context of their lives then. What were those Christians dealing with on a daily basis that made the kind of living we take for granted next to impossible to live? Persecution. The first century Christians had to deal with trials, tribulations and major persecution that we Christians in America never have to deal with at all! Imagine you live in the first century and your major goal each day was to preach Jesus to the lost and stay alive while doing so! Sometimes I wonder if we had to deal with that type of persecution, how many things would become far less important, wouldn’t they?

The Roman Empire was not kind to Christians. In fact, it is very clear, not only from Scripture, but from the actual historical context, that once Jesus was put to death on a cross, persecution began in earnest against those of “the Way” (Christians). Certainly there was a honeymoon period. Throughout Acts, we see spates of persecution, arrests of believers and even stonings. Let’s not forget Saul who became Paul. The persecution began with the Jewish leaders but eventually the Romans took over.

Christians during that time were hounded, thrown in jail (dungeons), and/or stoned to death for blasphemy. It got so bad that Christians were literally “dispersed” and went to other areas of the world and even outside the Roman Empire to stay alive. This worked out for God’s glory because the Gospel went out and spread among the lost in those new areas.

In the meantime though, do you think Christians who were either experiencing all of that persecution (or trying to flee from it), had the time to relax and just enjoy life like you and I do today (in spite of the problems we face)?  Do you think so-called “mega” churches existed then or gatherings in massive arenas? The only gatherings in arenas then were under Roman rule where Christians were thrown to the lions…

Things got so bad that rather than take the chance of worshiping where they might be seen, they ultimately gathered in Roman catacombs, where the dead were buried, which kept out both Romans and orthodox Jews (their two primary persecutors). This was mainly under Emperor Nero (AD37 to AD68), when it became very dangerous for Christians to show their faces in public as Christians. They also began to use the sign of the fish to help other Christians find underground or out of the way gathering places. Yet, today, the government says, “close the churches because of the pandemic” and Christians respond, “Okay.”

Do you think Christians of the first century had the time to enjoy festivals, picnics and other fun things that – again – we take for granted today? Do you think they put “bumper” stickers on their carts or horses to broadcast their Christianity? Do you think they had large gatherings at homes where they could openly celebrate the Lord in worship services?

Do you think being a Christian during the first/second centuries was easy? There was probably a short period of time when it was “okay” to be a Christian, but for the most part, Christians then lived with constant fear and pressure that at any moment they might be found out, yet they wanted to remain faithful to Jesus. If we read the New Testament carefully, we see that some believers pulled back and kept their Christianity quiet when things heated up, so they wouldn’t stand out.

Goodness, imagine openly celebrating Christmas or the Resurrection then! If you’re focus is on staying alive while evangelizing the lost, you don’t have much time for anything else. I’d like to see the average American Christian stand up under that pressure. I’m not sure I could do it either, by the way, though hopefully I’d adapt to it for His glory.

Everything Christians did when gathering for worship then was done on the QT, for the most part. They tried not to draw attention to themselves and they certainly did not want the Jewish, then Roman authorities to notice them. We can see a glimpse of this in Acts 12, where Peter is imprisoned. He escaped with the help of an angel and ended up at “…the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying” (Acts 12:12). He knocks on the door and it is answered by a young girl, who cannot believe her eyes. She leaves him there and goes to tell those in the house. They don’t believe her, but the knocking on the door continued. They opened the door and were “astonished” (v16). Notice the next verse, which says, “But motioning to them with his hand to keep silent, he declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison (v17).

Why did he motion them to keep silent? Because he did not want to draw attention to himself because of his escape. Notice also those people were hidden inside the house praying. They were afraid. I can only imagine how they felt and how frustrated some of them must have been. But now, seeing Peter, was a true answer to prayer. Peter told them to let James the rest know and Peter left them. One day, I’ll have to write an article on how we do church today compared to the first/second century Christians…

Please also note a passage from 2 Thessalonians 1, where Paul writes about the tremendous amount of patience that the believers there exhibited amidst all the “persecutions and tribulations” they endured (v4). He doesn’t simply mention that in passing either, but goes on to elaborate that their faith and perseverance in Christ would reward them while those who reject Jesus will suffer the opposite. Paul finishes with the actual benefits to be received by true believers from Jesus Himself (vv5-7).

Today’s Christian need to stop and consider how difficult life was for the average Christian during the first and second centuries. We Christians in America have no real understanding of that because we are simply not physically persecuted like they were then. We might be politically persecuted (oh, woe is us!), but Christians are not accosted on the street for being Christians, neither are we gathered, lined up and executed for our faith as Christians are today in Nigeria and now in Syria by Islamic jihadists who are attempting to bring in the final Islamic Caliphate.

Christians would have a better understanding of Scripture if we better understood the historical-grammatical context of it. The Bible was not written in a vacuum. It was written within contexts of societies, customs and verbiage that was in vogue during the times it was penned. We do ourselves a tremendous disservice by not understanding the actual context – inside and outside – of the Bible.

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

Source: https://studygrowknowblog.com/2024/12/12/context-is-really-everything/