Hermeneutics: Advanced Interpretation

Romans 11
33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

Biblical hermeneutics is the study of the principles of interpretation concerning the books of the Bible. Here is the complete discussion of this subject, including the book "Biblical Hermeneutics," by Milton Terry:

http://www.preteristarchive.com/Books/1883_terry_biblical-hermeneutics.html.

I bought Terry's book a couple of years ago.  It is evidently a 19th Century and classic.  It contains lots of advanced, complicated, no doubt learned, no doubt sensible theology. To my surprise, I could understand it, and I kind of enjoyed it. And while I found it full of theology, it was seemingly devoid of the gospel message, devoid of the saving grace of Jesus Christ. In the end, I not find it to be particularly edifying.

Maybe this is the first rule of hermeneutics: sound, learned, sensible theological interpretation may not be edifying, or, particularly useful....

So, What's To Become Of The Hebrews?

Romans 11
15 For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?

I do not want to forget this passage. It is one of the keys to understanding the whole Bible, i.e., God's plan for all of us, Christians and Jews.

In the end, or at the end, the Hebrews will have life.

The Whole Passage From Romans 11
13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:
14 if by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them.
15 For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?
16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.

The Salvation Of The Jews (Part 3 of 3)

A word about the  Jewish remnant and one of my favorite Bible passages .   I am intrigued by, but don't really understand, the idea of Jesus preaching to the spirits in prison in the days of Noah.  Here is the passage:

1 Peter 3
18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

Based on the previous two blog posts, it appears that the fate of the spirits in prison may be interpreted in two ways. On the one hand, if we look to Romans 11:26, the spirits in prison will be finally saved when the fullness of the gentiles comes in. On the other hand, if we look to Romans 11:5, the spirits may not be included as part of the Jewish remnant and will, in the end, shall cast into a furnace of fire, where there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

But all of this is God's business, which I may not need to concern myself with.  And, my conclusion is as with my previous post:

Romans 11
33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

The Salvation Of The Jews (Part 2 of 3)

Romans 11
5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

This passage is about the Jewish remnant that is elect for salvation. So, here's a question. How is this passage reconciled to the following passage, later in the chapter, which I wrote about yesterday?

More From Romans 11
26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

Some questions. Are all Jews to be save? Or is only a remnant of Jews to be saved? I thought I really had this issue figured out yesterday. I guess not.

Here are some comforting words of explanation, again from the same chapter, on difficult subjects likek the salvation of the Jews:

Romans 11
33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

And finally, words to live by:

Romans 11
20 .... Be not highminded, but fear...

The Salvation Of The Jews (Part 1 of 3)

Romans 11
25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

Here, Paul tells gentile Christians that God's covenants with Israel will not be fulfilled, until, the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

I forgot, with all the news and comotion about Israel, the Jews and the Palestinians, just how explicit God's New Testament plan for the Jews is.

More From Romans 11
26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

I remember reading that this passage makes Jews in Israel uncomfortable....