Monday, June 23, 2008

Hermeneutics 101

Because I've been talking about Hermeneutics so much lately, I thought I'd give an example of one of my favorite hermeneutical interpretations of the Bible.

"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see." ~Revelation3:15-18

Applying the rules of Hermeneutics to this passage, we consider who this was written to and why. A few things that we should know about the Church at Laodicea:
~They were a rather successful bank center. (They were a a rich city)
~They were very big in the wool industry. (Known for their high quality garments)
~They were well known for the medicinal eye salve they produced
~They had Bad water. They had to pump in their water from Hieropolis, (who had HOT SPRINGS,) and from Collassae, (who had COLD SPRINGS.) Both of whom had VERY STRONG CHURCHES compared to Laodicea's very weak church. By the time the water reached Laodicea, it was luke warm and tasted terrible.

Now let's read the verses again remembering who it was written to and why:
"I know your deeds, that you are neither COLD nor HOT. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are LUKEWARM—neither HOT nor COLD—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, 'I am RICH; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become RICH; and WHITE CLOTHES TO WEAR, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and SALVE TO PUT ON YOUR EYES, so you can see." ~Revelation3:15-18

The "New Timm Translation" might read like this:
"I know your deeds, that you are neither like Collosae nor like Hieropolis. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are like your own lukewarm water—not like Hieropolis' hot water nor like Colloassae's cold water—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, 'We have a great banking industry that has made us rich; We have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. Your banking industry means nothing to me. Your wool clothing means nothing to me. Your eye salve is worthless to me. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see." ~Revelation3:15-18

It's pretty cool how you can understand the Bible when you take the time to find out what the author is trying to tell you, rather than "what the verse means to me."