12 rules bible study

The Plain Truth
August, 1964


TWELVE RULES for Bible Study


Why is the Bible the most misunderstood book in all history? The
most twisted, distorted, maligned, misrepresented and lied-about
book there is? Because people refuse to believe it means exactly
what it says! Apply these simple basic rules and you will begin
to really understand the plain truth of God's Word!

by David Jon Hill


WHAT are we? Were we put on earth for a PURPOSE? And WHAT is that
purpose? WHY are human lives empty, discontented, unhappy? How
may human life become HAPPY, FILLED with interest, ABUNDANT,
successful, prosperous? WHAT is the real cause of wars, and THE
WAY to world peace?
WHAT lies on after death -- what is THE WAY to a happy,
abundant, ETERNAL life? No book ever written, except the Holy
Bible, REVEALS THE ANSWERS to these fundamental questions of
life!
Yet, why do we find such confusion -- such disagreement as
to what it says? WHY don't the hundreds of differing church
denominations and sects AGREE on what their acknowledged textbook
SAYS? WHY do so many individuals, capable of understanding almost
any OTHER book, say: "I just CAN'T understand the BIBLE"?

Study for Yourself

You yourself need to understand HOW to get the most out of
God's Word.
You need to KNOW that GOD DOES EXIST -- and you need to KNOW
that THE BIBLE IS GOD'S INSPIRED WORD! If you are in any doubt
about these two basic points, write immediately for our free
booklets, "Does God Exist" and "Proof of The Bible." Before even
beginning to seriously STUDY the Bible, you must realize that
your Creator is the Divine author of it!
In Bible study, as well as with anything else, there is a
RIGHT and a WRONG WAY to accomplish. There are certain rules
which, if followed, will give you a more thorough understanding
of God's Word -- leave you with fewer questions, begin to help
you think and act as God does because you understand what He says
in His Word.
The following rules are not necessarily in order -- they are
certainly not ALL the rules of Bible study -- but they are BASIC
and IMPORTANT and will help you gain the Truth from God's Word.

Pray for Guidance

FIRST, before you even open the Bible, you must ask God in
PRAYER to open your mind to His Word in the study that you intend
to make. David was a man after God's own heart -- he studied that
portion of God's Word which was available to him in his day. He
meditated, thought about and considered God's laws and His ways.
He was close to God in every way and yet many times throughout
the Psalms we read how David ASKED God to GUIDE him in his study,
to OPEN his mind, to REVEAL His Truth.
TEACH ME, O Lord, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep
it unto the end. GIVE ME understanding, and I shall keep thy law;
yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart. MAKE ME TO GO in the
path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight. INCLINE MY
HEART unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness ... STABLISH
THY WORD unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear ... Behold,
I have longed after thy precepts: QUICKEN ME in thy
righteousness" (Ps. 119:33-40).
Without sincerely and believingly asking GOD'S DIRECTION in
your Bible study -- without seeking GOD'S Kingdom and His
righteousness first (Matt. 6:33) -- Bible study of itself would
be futile. Just as you can worship God in vain (Mark 7:7), so you
can study His Word in vain! Many wise and intelligent men have
made a life study of God's Word in its original languages, and
profited nothing from it!
Men like Moffatt, who TRANSLATED THE ENTIRE BIBLE from
Genesis to Revelation -- certainly HE studied God's Word, but he
did not get the Message, he did not understand the Gospel -- even
in the introduction to his translation he explains how he feels
the Old Testament is a compilation of Jewish literature! Adam
Clarke wrote six volumes of commentary on NEARLY EVERY VERSE IN
THE BIBLE -- yet not by any stretch of the imagination could he
be construed to have understood God's Plan.
The study and work that men of this intelligence have
contributed CAN be HELPFUL TO US. But not because of any special
intelligence that we may have -- only because we have asked God
to open our minds and give us HIS understanding of His Word.

Formal Education Not Necessary

Don't use the excuse that you have not had enough education,
or that you are NOT INTELLIGENT ENOUGH to really study God's
Word. God tells us plainly that it is not the wise, the mighty or
the noble that He is calling to an understanding of His word now
-- read I Corinthians 1:25-27.
Take for granted that you do not know OF YOURSELF how to
understand the Plan of God -- that's why you must ASK Him to make
it plain!
If all that was needed to understand God's Word were BRAINS,
then a vast number of the people of the world would have a
thorough understanding of God's Word! God says, "... they are
wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge" (Jer.
4:22). As long as you know HOW TO READ, you get down on your
knees and sincerely ask God to guide you in a study of His Word.
He will open your mind to understand things that the most
intelligent minds of mankind have not been able to understand.
PRAYER will open to you an understanding of God's Word that
Einstein did not have. PRAYER will open your mind to understand
God's Word in a way that the graduates of Harvard and Yale,
Oxford and Cambridge, the great universities of Europe and Asia,
are not able to understand.
PRAYER -- your contact with God -- is important in the
beginning of your study of His Word. Without this contact with
God, you may spend endless hours of studying His Word like a
Pharisee.
The time spent in memorization of how many verses there are
in the Bible will be of NO AVAIL at the return of Jesus Christ!
ONLY THAT PART OF HIS WORD WHICH YOU HAVE MADE A PART OF YOUR
VERY CHARACTER WILL BE OF ANY ACCOUNT TO YOU!
HEART-FELT PRAYER for God's guidance in your own personal
Bible study will insure success!

Attitude Must Be for Self-Correction

This SECOND rule really goes hand-in-hand with the first.
Before you rise from your knees in prayer, you should fully
recognize in your own mind and heart that your PURPOSE for this
Bible study is not just to gain academic knowledge, not only to
prove or disprove a certain doctrine or fact -- but to get you
closer to the stature of the fullness of the very character of
Jesus Christ. The only way this can be done is for the CARNAL YOU
TO BE CORRECTED!
God's Word is written directly to each of us as an
individual -- it is personal, direct -- and as far as our
achieving salvation is concerned has nothing to do with anybody
else on the face of the earth!
Therefore your attitude should be the same as Jeremiah's. In
fact, since you're going to be STUDYING the Bible, turn to
Jeremiah 10:23 and read two verses there meaningfully and as part
of your prayer! "O Lord, I know that the way of man is NOT IN
HIMSELF: it is NOT IN MAN that walketh to direct his steps. O
Lord, CORRECT ME, but with JUDGMENT; not in thine anger, lest
thou bring me to nothing."
Don't just go through this mechanically, really mean it!
Don't just do this because this article SAYS to do it, but
because YOU WANT CORRECTION FROM YOUR CREATOR!
How? For your attitude to be proper in your approach to
God's Word, turn to one other scripture. This passage will aid
you in understanding what your approach should be -- in educating
your attitude to be right before you begin. "Thus saith the Lord,
The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is
the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my
rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those
things have been, saith the Lord: but TO THIS MAN WILL I LOOK,
even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and TREMBLETH
AT MY WORD ... Hear the word of the Lord, YE THAT TREMBLE AT HIS
WORD!" (Isa. 66:1-2, 5.)
This Bible that you are studying is the very MIND AND
THOUGHTS OF YOUR CREATOR-GOD! It is not to be argued about. It is
not meant to be a club to chastise OTHER people with! In other
words, if you are a husband, DO NOT use Ephesians 5:22 as a
weapon against your wife -- or, if you are a wife, DO NOT use
Ephesians 5:25 as a weapon against your husband! But each of you
as husband or wife apply TO YOURSELF AND YOURSELF ONLY that
scripture which refers to YOU!

Prove All Things

This THIRD rule is in a way an extension of the proper
attitude of rule number two. Your approach to God's Word should
be COMPLETELY POSITIVE! The example given by the Bereans in Acts
17:11 -- "These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in
that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and
SEARCHED THE SCRIPTURES DAILY, whether those things WERE SO" --
this was a POSITIVE attitude! The Bereans were not searching the
Scriptures to prove Paul was WRONG! They were NOT negative,
angry, bitter.
So if you have heard something about the Bible that you do
not fully understand, your approach in your own personal Bible
study should be to prove that it IS so.
The common MISunderstanding of I Thessalonians 5:21 which
says, "Prove all things," is that this PROOF must entail a deep
research into the Hebrew or Greek backgrounds, and into
encyclopedias and historical references, lexicons and musty
historical records. This is erroneous. If your research takes you
into references of this sort, and you are endeavoring to PROVE
POSITIVELY God's Truth, this is perfectly all right -- but it is
NOT ALWAYS NECESSARY.
This word "PROVE," is POSITIVE. That is the one main point
of this particular law of Bible study. But the word itself means,
TO PUT TO THE TEST. There are PROVING grounds on which the modern
automobiles manufactured in Detroit are TESTED. In the parable
Jesus Christ uses regarding the wedding supper, there is a
reference to a man who had just bought five yoke of oxen. The
excuse he gave for not coming to the supper was that he wanted to
PROVE these oxen (Luke 14:19). This is the SAME GREEK WORD as
used in I Thessalonians 5:21. Yet this man did not mean that he
was going to go to his local library and look up in some
dictionary a description of oxen to find out for sure WHETHER
THEY WERE OXEN -- it meant he wanted to be excused from the
wedding supper so that he might take the oxen out to the field,
yoke them up, hook a plow behind them and find out whether they
would be able to do what oxen are supposed to be able to do! This
is basically what God means in I Thessalonians 5:21.
For example, God commands us in the book of Malachi to prove
Him in tithing. What He wants us to DO is not to technically
search lexicons to find out Greek and Hebrew derivations, but --
just as the principle is throughout the entire Bible -- to DO
WHAT HE SAYS TO DO. "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse,
that there may be meat in mine house, and PROVE ME (TEST ME) now
herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the
windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall
not be room enough to receive it" (Mal. 3:10). This is a POSITIVE
GOING FORWARD, a finding out of what God DOES say, not a search
for ERROR or DISproof.

Bible Never Contradicts Itself

If you have difficulty in understanding any particular
scripture -- if it SEEMS to say something different from another
scripture, you may just need to study further. Always remember
beyond any shadow of a doubt the principle of rule FOUR: that GOD
NEVER CONTRADICTS HIMSELF. Therefore, either your understanding
of the particular scripture or the translation that you are
reading is incorrect or misunderstood.
Malachi 3:6 -- "For I am the Lord, I CHANGE NOT; therefore
ye sons of Jacob are not consumed" -- MEANS what it says. Hebrews
13:8 -- "Jesus Christ THE SAME yesterday, and to day, and for
ever" -- MEANS what it says.
The very SOURCE of truth is God's Word (John 17:17) -- and
unless your approach to it, your study of it is from this point
of view you will never gain any understanding from it.
Let's notice an APPARENT contradiction appearing in Proverbs
26:4, 5 -- verse four reads "ANSWER NOT a fool ACCORDING to his
folly." Yet, the very next verse tells us, "ANSWER a fool
ACCORDING to his folly."
Actually, these two verses are not contradictory -- BUT
COMPLEMENTARY! The use of either verse -- that is, its principle
applied to a particular use -- depends on the SET OF
CIRCUMSTANCES. Both these verses contain gems of wisdom that each
one of us needs to learn to properly apply in answering other
people's questions.
The LAST PART OF EACH VERSE holds the KEY which unlocks the
meaning of these verses -- and shows them to be PRACTICAL, USABLE
and wise PRINCIPLES.
Verse four reads, "Answer not a fool according to his folly,
LEST THOU ALSO BE LIKE UNTO HIM." The last part of the verse
holds the KEY: don't degrade yourself by descending to HIS LEVEL
in an ARGUMENT! Don't harangue -- don't bite back -- don't try to
"ARGUE BACK" with someone who is obviously trying to stir
contention.
The perfect example of this is found in Luke 20:1-8. Here
Christ was teaching in the temple. The Pharisees came to Him with
these words: "Tell us, BY WHAT AUTHORITY doest thou these things?
or WHO is he that gave thee this authority?"
Quite obviously, they weren't interested in learning
anything -- they weren't coming as humble individuals hungering
after new knowledge. THEY WERE THERE TO ARGUE WITH CHRIST!
Notice, how Christ handled the situation.
"And he answered and said unto them, I will also ASK YOU ONE
thing; AND ANSWER ME: The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or
of men?
"And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say,
From heaven; he will say, Why then believed ye him not?
"But and if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us:
for they be persuaded that John was a prophet.
"And they answered, that they could not tell whence it was.
"And Jesus said unto them, NEITHER TELL I YOU by what
authority I do these things" (Luke 20:3-8).
Christ answered their question with a QUESTION! To answer
their question directly would have only resulted in a verbal
battle. An argument would have ensued. Christ avoided strife by
NOT ANSWERING THEM ACCORDING TO THEIR FOLLY.
Now, understand verse five in Proverbs 26. Again, the last
part of the verse holds the KEY: "Answer a fool according to his
folly, LEST HE BE WISE IN HIS OWN CONCEIT."
In this case -- if you don't answer his question -- if you
don't accept his challenge -- he is going to THINK HIMSELF to be
wise!
The Apostle Paul had this problem. FALSE APOSTLES in Corinth
were claiming THEY WERE the TRUE APOSTLES of Christ. The
CONGREGATION was being LED ASTRAY!
Now was not the time for silence -- or clever questions! Now
was the time to SMASH the contentions -- to ANSWER these false
apostles!
Notice II Corinthians 11:23 -- and how he answered these
FOOLISH men.
"Are they ministers of Christ? (I SPEAK AS A FOOL) I am
more; in labours MORE ABUNDANT, in stripes above measure, in
prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.
"Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one
and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness."
Paul showed the people HE was their true minister! He
ANSWERED and DEBUNKED the claims of these other men.
There is no contradiction! But rather much wisdom in these
two verses. Wisdom we need to APPLY IN OUR DAILY LIVES!

What DOES the Bible Say?

This FIFTH rule of Bible study often solves many problems. Many
times our misunderstanding comes from the CONFUSION THAT THIS
WORLD CAUSES -- from a misinterpretation, a direct TWISTING of a
scripture to conform to the doctrines of demons promulgated by
Satan's ministers.
"Woe unto them that CALL evil good, and good evil; that PUT
darkness for light, and light for darkness; that PUT bitter for
sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are WISE IN THEIR
OWN EYES, and prudent in THEIR OWN sight"! (Isa. 5:20-23.) Many
who CLAIM to be representatives of God, the INTERPRETERS of His
Word, TWIST and WREST that Word to their own destruction and the
destruction of their hearers.
So always remember to ask yourself -- AND, ANSWER -- the
question: "What DOES the BIBLE say?"
John 3:6 is a good example of this. "That which is born of
the flesh IS flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit IS
spirit." This is a very clear scripture, explaining that flesh is
flesh and Spirit is spirit! That's what the Bible says! But
that's not what PEOPLE SAY the Bible says!
Sometimes you may have to refer to a reference work (which
we will cover under a separate rule) for scriptures such as I
John 5:7.
Or perhaps a note in the MARGIN of your Bible will help you
understand a scripture that SEEMS to contradict what you know to
be the truth. Take the example of Luke 17:20-21 -- "The kingdom
of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo
here! or, lo there! for, behold, THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS WITHIN
YOU." Here, the Bible DOES say, "The kingdom of God is WITHIN
you." But here it is only the King James TRANSLATION which says
this -- not necessarily God's exact Word. So, since it is not
clear in the KING JAMES Translation, other aids are necessary to
find out what it does say.
This leads automatically to the next rule of Bible study,
rule number SIX.

Check the Context

Context means, con -- WITH, text -- TEXT. In order to check
the context you merely read the TEXTS WHICH COME WITH the text
that is in question. You read the texts BEFORE and the TEXTS
AFTER. In this example of Luke 17:21, you need to also ask
yourself a number of questions regarding the context. The text
that is with (CON) Luke 17:21, is Luke 17:20! This verse JUST
BEFORE answers the question regarding Verse 21, but in order to
ANSWER that question you must ASK yourself the question, "WHO?"
In other words you must ask yourself, if "the Kingdom of God
is WITHIN you" -- WHO is the YOU that the Bible is referring to?
In this case verse 20 explains that it is the PHARISEES! Now you
KNOW that certainly Jesus Christ wasn't saying that the Kingdom
of God is inside of PHARISEES! Therefore, the con (WITH) text
helps you to see that there must be a MISTRANSLATION in this
particular verse.
And sure enough, when you check the margin of your Bible you
will find that the word "within" should be translated "among" --
referring to Jesus Himself as a Representative of God's Kingdom
who was at that time "among" the Pharisees!
In order to understand any scripture thoroughly, in its
context, you need to ask yourself -- and answer for yourself --
all the following questions: WHAT? WHEN? WHERE? WHY? WHO? HOW?
When you have answered these questions regarding any particular
text, and you have read all of the accompanying texts, WITH the
text in question, YOU WILL HAVE GOD'S ANSWER TO THE PROBLEM.
Many people misunderstand Mark 7:19 -- thinking that in this
place unclean meats were cleansed by Christ -- simply because
they do not read the context. In this case the context is the
ENTIRE CHAPTER. You must go back from verse 19, until you begin
to find the subject about which verse 19 is talking. That subject
has to do with whether or not to wash your hands ceremonially
before you eat, and has nothing to do with whether the food you
eat is clean or unclean according to the laws of Leviticus 11 and
Deuteronomy 14.
There are even LIES written in the Bible and you have to be
careful that you ask yourself EXACTLY what the Bible says in the
ENTIRETY of the context of any one statement. THE BIBLE SAYS, "Ye
shall NOT surely die" (Gen. 3:4). This is a BIBLICAL statement!
But in order to find out whether it's true or not you have to
find out WHO said it. In this particular case the same verse
explains that Satan the Devil said it, but in order to find out
whether it is true or not (because sometimes even Satan tells the
truth) you have to go back in the CONTEXT until you come to
Genesis 2:17 where the Creator-God is quoted as saying, "THOU
SHALT SURELY DIE!" -- then you know what the BIBLE, IN ITS
ENTIRETY AND IN ITS TRUTH, DOES SAY!

You Can Understand!

The Bible is the instruction book of the One who created
you. It is His instruction TO YOU, explaining clearly and plainly
how you can have a happy, filled-with-interest, abundant and
successful life! God's Word reveals the purpose for your being!
It explains the REASON for human suffering. It explains WHEN and
WHY and HOW GOD IS going to intervene to relieve that suffering!
It therefore ought to be the one book everyone should understand!
But why has it been so grievously misunderstood? Because almost
no one, it seems, has been willing to apply the twelve rules of
Bible study.
In last month's PLAIN TRUTH, the first six of the twelve
simple, basic rules of Bible study were explained thoroughly. If
you are a new reader and missed this first article because you
were not on The PLAIN TRUTH mailing list last month, just write
and ask for the August issue of The PLAIN TRUTH -- it will be
sent to you just as freely as you received this issue.

The First Six Rules

To summarize, briefly, before going on to the seventh rule
of Bible study, here are the first six rules: ONE -- Pray for
guidance. Two -- Be willing to accept correction. THREE -- Prove
all things. FOUR -- Realize the Bible never contradicts itself.
FIVE -- Be sure to read the Bible exactly as it is written. SIX
-- Check the context carefully -- that is, read all the
scriptures around any particular verse in question.
This brings us to rule number seven.

Get All the Scriptures

No one scripture can OF ITSELF, taken OUT OF CONTEXT, be
used to establish the Truth. "Knowing this first, that no
prophecy of the scripture is of any PRIVATE interpretation" (II
Pet. 1:20).
God has put His Bible together in a very unusual manner. He
has written it so that men could study it intricately in its
original languages, poring over its pages for their entire
lifetime -- AND YET NEVER COME TO A KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH. Many
people have memorized great sections of the Bible and yet not
come to realize what those sections mean. You must take the whole
Bible in its entire context, getting ALL OF THE SCRIPTURES in
that Bible ON ANY ONE SUBJECT BEFORE you can come to the
knowledge of that particular subject from God's point of view.
"Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to
understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and
drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept
upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and
there a little ...."
That is how the converted mind is to study the Bible. Yet,
when the unconverted study God's Word a little here and a little
there they are STILL NOT ABLE TO UNDERSTAND the Message of God's
Truth because they do not have His Holy Spirit guiding them. That
Holy Spirit -- the very mind and understanding of God -- is the
power that inspired those words in the first place, and WITHOUT
THAT SPIRIT TO INSPIRE THE UNDERSTANDING, THE DOOR TO THE WORD OF
GOD REMAINS SHUT! (The Holy Spirit is given ONLY to those who
OBEY God -- Acts 5:32.) Continuing from Isaiah: "... But the word
of the Lord WAS unto them {those who DISOBEY} precept upon
precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line;
here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall
backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken" (Isa. 28:9-10,
13).
Oftentimes people think that the Bible is CONTRADICTING
itself when actually all it is doing is SUPPLEMENTING itself. A
good example of this is found in Matthew 27:37 as compared to
Luke 23:38. Here Matthew and Luke APPEAR to contradict one
another in their statements as to what was written on the sign
affixed to the stake upon which Jesus Christ was crucified.
Now while you're going through this article, just take time
to GET YOUR BIBLE and USE this example to PROVE that getting ALL
of the scriptures on any one subject WILL give you God's
understanding on it. In order to find out WHAT was written on
that sign, WHO wrote it, and HOW MANY languages it was written
in, you will need to put at least four scriptures together, not
just two. So turn first to Matthew 27:37, and WRITE DOWN what the
Bible says was written on that sign. Then, GO RIGHT ON to Mark
l5:26 and write beneath what you have written what MARK says was
written on that sign. Then do the same with Luke 23:38 and also
John 19:19. Put them all together and you will see what was
written on that sign.
If ONE of these scriptures were left out you would not know
that it was PILATE who did the writing. If TWO of these
scriptures were left out you would not know that the writing was
originally done in THREE LANGUAGES. These four bits of
information, each from a different author, supply us with a
complete record of what was written there originally. No one
scripture contradicts the other -- each only serves to complement
and round out the information of the other.

Let the Bible Interpret the Bible

So many people write in to The WORLD TOMORROW and comment
how much they enjoy MR. ARMSTRONG'S INTERPRETATION of the Bible.
Over and over again you will hear Mr. Armstrong explain to the
radio audience that it is NOT HIS INTERPRETATION that is being
heard over The WORLD TOMORROW, BUT ONLY PLAIN BIBLE TRUTH!
In your edition of the King James Bible the book of
Revelation will probably be entitled, "The Revelation of ST. JOHN
THE DIVINE." This is an excellent example of MAN'S
INTERPRETATION. Now in order for you to understand WHAT the book
of Revelation IS -- WHOSE revelation it is, TO WHOM it was
written and WHAT it is about -- all you have to do is read the
first few verses of THE BOOK ITSELF! In fact the very first words
of the very first verse DIRECTLY CONTRADICT MAN'S INTERPRETATION
of the Bible with the plain Bible statement that this book is,
THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST!" (Rev. 1:1.)
Romans 3:4 is a good clear principle to live by in this
EIGHTH rule of Bible study -- "... let GOD be true, but every man
a liar."
This book of Revelation has long been an enigma to the
people of the world -- GOD SAYS it is a book of REVELATION. THE
WORLD SAYS it is a book of HIDDEN MYSTERY. PEOPLE have come up
with many weird interpretations for the book of Revelation -- yet
the book of Revelation is VIVID in its own clear description and
needs no interpretation! Continue in Revelation 1:
As you read in verse 12 that John saw seven GOLDEN
CANDLESTICKS, you don't have to WONDER what these seven golden
candlesticks are -- all you have to do is READ ON until you come,
in the CONTEXT, to verse 20 and that verse tells you plainly that
the seven candlesticks ARE the seven churches. In verse 16 it
states that John saw SEVEN STARS in the hand of the Son of man.
There is no need to go into great, eloquent illustrations of what
the seven stars are, because again verse 20 reveals the plain
Bible truth -- no interpretation necessary -- that the seven
stars ARE the angels of the seven churches. And so it goes
through the rest of the Bible.
All you have to do is be patient and search God's Word and
you will come up with God's clear answers to the muddled
questions of mankind.

Don't Put Vague Scriptures First

Perhaps a better general statement of this NINTH RULE of
Bible study would be: NEVER ESTABLISH A DOCTRINE BY A VAGUE OR
DIFFICULT-TO-BE-UNDERSTOOD SCRIPTURE.
Too many people ASSUME that the vision which Peter had
regarding the unclean beasts lowered to him on a sheet affirms
that God "cleansed" unclean meat. Because they TAKE OUT OF
CONTEXT a verse, unclean of itself, that says, "What God hath
cleansed, that call not thou common" (Acts 10:15). However, all
they need to do is read on TWO MORE VERSES and verse 17 very
plainly says that PETER HIMSELF DOUBTED what the vision meant
when he saw it -- he didn't jump to any conclusions, but
vague-scripture quoters are eager to! Further reading in the same
chapter will explain what Peter finally came to understand about
the vision -- read verse 28: "God hath showed me {by means of
this vision} that I SHOULD NOT CALL ANY MAN COMMON OR UNCLEAN."
Don't overlook TENTH rule.

Use Several Translations

In Matthew 27:46 Jesus Christ, while hanging on the stake
before He died, used the ARAMAIC translation of the first verse
of Psalm 22. Even though the original Word of God was inspired in
the Hebrew or the Greek, God has allowed it to be translated into
nearly every language spoken by mankind. If we were going to be
particular about which language we used or which translation,
then we would all have to learn Hebrew and Greek and study the
Bible in its original languages.
The King James Version was written 353 years ago. In the
time since, the English language has undergone many changes.
Sometimes those texts which are vague and unclear in the King
James can be cleared up very easily by just reading a MORE MODERN
TRANSLATION, such as the Moffatt or the Revised Standard Version.
There is one thing to note about the King James translation
and that is regarding italics. This word ITALIC is written in
italics. Words that look like this in your King James Version are
NOT in the original languages but are SUPPLIED by the
translators. So everywhere in the King James Version where you
notice words in italics they are supplied to help you understand
the meaning of the sentence. However, since the translators were
carnally minded, they did not always supply the words correctly.
So some of these words in italics are incorrect and do not help
but rather hinder your understanding.
On the other hand, NOT ALL OF THE WORDS WHICH ARE SUPPLIED
by the translators are in italics. Take I John 5:7 for instance,
where the reference to three who bear witness in heaven is a
completely erroneous reference inserted by a monk-copyist in the
Middle Ages. The fact is this particular verse appears only in
the King James Version and is in NONE of the other translations
of the Bible.
Often these difficulties will be cleared up by merely
reading another translation and comparing it to the King James.
Any questions arising after a thorough reading through several
translations of any one verse will be few, and can be handled by
studying further in Bible helps.
If there are WORDS that you have difficulty in
understanding, remember not only to look them up in an English
dictionary such as Webster's, but if possible in A BIBLE
DICTIONARY OR IN STRONG'S CONCORDANCE so that you can see what
the meaning of the word in the original is. Sometimes people will
look up a word in a modern dictionary and find a definition that
is not at all the SENSE of the word as used in the King James
Version. Take for example the word "conversation" in I Peter 3.
Conversation to us today means talking between two people. A
modern dictionary will give this definition. However, in the time
of King James this particular word meant THE ENTIRE CONDUCT of a
person and that is the meaning in the BIBLE usage of this word.
In order to understand it then, you need to understand the
meaning of the ORIGINAL word, and not just the meaning in a
modern dictionary.
But this leads to our ELEVENTH rule.

Don't Establish Doctrine With "Bible Helps"

"Clarke's Commentary" and the commentary by Jamieson,
Fausset and Brown are good reference works -- as is Halley's
"Pocket Bible Handbook". Sometimes in the back of Bibles there
will be sections called "Bible Helps." Even the marginal
references in your Bible, which SOMETIMES prove to be very
helpful, are often misleading. These "helps" often turn out to be
the insidious instruction of Satan himself and they may lead you
astray.
Therefore, all of these Bible helps should be used ONLY to
establish historical or grammatical facts related to the Bible
and MUST NOT be used TO ESTABLISH DOCTRINE OR TO INTERPRET THE
MEANING OF THE BIBLE ITSELF. The chain reference in my Bible in
the center of the two columns at Revelation 1:10 says, "I was in
the Spirit on the Lord's day ..." and by the Lord's day there is
a little "z". In the column by the "z" there are two scriptural
references -- one to Acts 20:7 and the other to I Corinthians
16:2 which both refer to the FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK but have
nothing to do with the Lord's day which is explained in the rest
of the book of Revelation.
Yet to find out what the BIBLE says about what day Jesus
Christ is Lord of, read Mark 2:27-28! "And he said unto them, the
sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: therefore
THE SON OF MAN IS LORD ALSO OF THE SABBATH."
So, with Bible helps you must remember to use them only for
technical facts and not for interpretative facts. And now, rule
TWELVE:

Mark Your Bible!

Perhaps you have thought the Bible should not be marked. But
realize that what is HOLY about the Bible is not the paper, ink
and leather out of which it is made, but the WORDS OF TRUTH the
SPIRITUAL FACTS! Any PHYSICAL tool you can employ -- such as
marking with a pen or colored pencils -- to help you remember and
apply the spiritual truths in your life, is right with God! He
expects you to USE His written Word to worship HIM -- not
physical paper ant ink! Sometimes we hold back from marking the
Bible and think that we'll do it later -- especially when we're
listening to a point that we need to remember about a particular
scripture -- but we never seem to get around to it. It's always
so difficult to get out the pencil and ruler, and have our hands
clean. So I have found over years of experience that the best way
to mark the Bible is to JUST MARK IT!
When you find out for instance that the word "conversation"
in I Peter 3:1 ought to be "conduct," the thing you need to do is
to IMMEDIATELY WRITE DOWN "conduct" in the margin and draw a
little line and circle the word "conversation" in the verse. This
way you will always remember.

Use These Rules

Apply these twelve rules diligently, and your Bible study
will be both interesting and rewarding.
And if you are not already one of the nearly SEVENTY
THOUSAND students of the "Ambassador College Bible Correspondence
Course" -- WRITE in for it NOW! Don't put it off! This course is
designed to help you study YOUR BIBLE. It employs all of these
twelve rules of Bible study -- it can help YOU REALLY UNDERSTAND
YOUR BIBLE as you never have before.
This course is entirely free of any cost to you -- just
write to Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong, Box 111, Pasadena, California
91109 -- and request it! You'll always be glad you did!

Correction

A CORRECTION

In a recent issue of The Good News I mentioned that often I have said to the public, on the air or in The Plain Truth, "Don't believe what I say because I say it, but look into your own Bible and believe what you see there."
But then I said in this article that I do not say that to our own members. I think some may have gotten the idea I said members should not read the Bible or even read over what I have said to better understand by seeing it all in context for themselves.
Apparently some got the idea I said nonmembers must believe only what THEY SEE FOR THEMSELVES in the Bible, but that members must NOT read the Bible or believe it, but believe ONLY WHAT I say or write. Of course I did not mean that.
What I did mean is that members should have checked up in the Bible and assured themselves what God's Church teaches is true BEFORE being baptized and coming into the Church. What I meant was that members should not disbelieve everything we teach and read the Bible for the purpose of trying to prove that we teach falsely.
I suppose the reason that came to mind is that we did have, a few years ago, a group of self-professed "intellectuals" who started a "doctrinal committee," when their sole PURPOSE was to HARM God's Church by trying to MISUSE the Bible and misinterpret it to try to convince others that the Church taught falsely — when in fact, this is the ONLY church on earth that DOES have the TRUTH!
Bible study encouraged
Let me make it crystal CLEAR! I encourage nonmembers to SEE the truth for themselves in their own Bibles. But, after one becomes a MEMBER, he is supposed to know we have the truth. He has checked up — he has seen it in his own Bible. Therefore I do NOT encourage members to QUESTION all over again what we preach.
I most certainly have always encouraged all members to read and study the Bible continually — to increase their own knowledge and understanding — but NOT to deliberately try to DISAGREE with the Church and study for the PURPOSE of disagreeing and causing dissension and division in the Church.
But, in continuous Bible study to ADD to one's store of biblical knowledge, if one comes across a knowledge of something new to the Church — something not proclaimed or preached in the Church, he may go to his local pastor with it, or he may contact headquarters at Pasadena or he may bring it personally to me.
If it is either contrary to Church doctrine or something in ADDITION to Church doctrine, he MAY NOT spread it to other lay members. IF his new understanding is correct and biblical, it will be brought to me personally, even though he takes it first to his local minister or one in Pastoral Administration at Pasadena. And God has always seen to it that my mind is open and able to see NEW TRUTH, or to admit ERROR if PROVED and then correct it.
I know many will say Herbert Armstrong is human and subject to being prejudiced or closed-minded. I am human all right, but the living CHRIST has chosen me and MADE ME HIS APOSTLE. He is the DIVINE Head of this Church. Do you not think HE, the ALMIGHTY Christ, has power to see that my mind will be opened to either new truth or to correct error? Otherwise YOU QUESTION JESUS CHRIST!
Church is a spiritual organism
REMEMBER, this Church may be made up of mortal humans, of which YOU are one and I am one. But this Church of God is a SPIRITUAL ORGANISM — not a humanly organized and purely humanly led and influenced operation of MAN, started BY man, run by man!
I'm afraid that is the point many of us have not realized. I shall write a separate article on that subject.
Those of us IN God's Church are HUMAN. But God has called each one of us or else we should never have been accepted into this holy fellowship. Our call has come from GOD! The HOLY SPIRIT of God has actually entered into each of us, or else we do not belong in this Church. It is a SPIRITUAL ORGANISM, not a human organization, though it is well ORGANIZED on GOD'S PATTERN and not as other purely human organizations.
Now, do you not, then, understand that the living CHRIST has PUT HIS POWER, by the Holy Spirit, into His own chosen apostle, so that He is able to open His apostle's mind to either new truth — as He has done repeatedly for 52 years — OR to recognize and purge out ERROR? Does CHRIST have that power — or do you question His power? It is not my human goodness — for that is nothing to brag about. I am talking about the LIVING JESUS' power and ability!
You must study the Bible
SO UNDERSTAND. I certainly did not mean to say those in the Church must not study the Bible. Indeed everyone MUST! What I did mean is, if ever you think you see in your Bible that what I, or the Church, teach is in error — or if you see a biblical TRUTH the Church does NOT preach, then YOU MUST NOT MENTION THAT TO ANY OTHER MEMBER, OR TO ANYONE EXCEPT YOUR LOCAL PASTOR, OR WRITE TO THE PASADENA OFFICE OR DIRECT TO ME.
Jesus Christ, through His POWER of the Holy Spirit, is guiding and ruling and heading this Church. It is ENERGIZED by a POWER that is MILLIONS OF TIMES GREATER THAN A HYDROGEN BOMB — yet this supreme POWER of God's Holy Spirit is NOT SEEN — therefore the world knows NOTHING OF IT!
by Herbert W. Armstrong Good News June/July 1979