Rightly Handling the Word of Truth in Its Internal Variance of Texture & Taste
Your words were found, and I ate them,
And your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart,
For I am called by your name,
O Lord, God of hosts.
(Jeremiah 15:16)
There is a Scripturally warranted analogy between the word of God and food. The following essay will investigate this curious culinary comparison, beginning with its Biblical grounding and focusing especially upon its relation to the presence and importance of variety within Scripture. Once this variety has been established, the analogy will be turned upon two modes of interaction with the Scriptures, namely exegesis and theology, and then two modes of devotional practice, namely private reading and public teaching. In all of this the central purpose will be to spur the believer on towards an enjoyment and appreciation of the written revelation of our Lord.
The Word as Food
Scripture itself evidences that a comparison between food and the word of God is appropriate and can be used as a heuristic tool. Of course, not every tool needs to have explicit reference in the Bible in order to be useful; but there is great assurance in knowing that the analogy we will employ has been frequented by hands surer and steadier than our own. And so, we find the following:
- Ezekiel 3:3: and Revelation 10:9-10 depict the Lord’s words as a scroll to be eaten by the prophets and apostles.
- Psalm 119:103 finds the psalmist singing How sweet are your words to my mouth. Sweeter than honey to my taste!
- 1 Corinthians 3:2, 1 Peter 2:2, and Hebrews 5:11-14 all draw lines of connection between food and teaching or instruction in truth.
- Isaiah 55:1-3 and Jeremiah 3:15 possess an identical, though more implicit link as the above three passages.
These shall suffice as a preliminary justification for investigating the comparison between the Bible and food. Having acquired this initial warrant of inquiry, the natural question arises: if the Bible is food, what kind of food is it?
Exegesis
The reader of God’s word will quickly realize that, if the Bible is food, then it is a very many different kinds of food. What, for example, do Genesis 17, Job 15, Psalms 2, and 1 Corinthians 7 have in common? The first is a narrative about a covenant family, the second is an extended discussion of the problem of evil as applied to a specific righteous man, the third is a worship declaration concerning politics and who really rules the earth, and the fourth is a series of principles and commands relating to the pursuit of marriage. Even a brief grab-bag of chapters demonstrates clearly that Scriptural passages and books are as different as chickens, cabbages, and russet potatoes. Yet over the whole feast the Lord declares: All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correcting, and for training in righteousness. So that the man of God may be perfect– fully equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
Thus we discover that the distinctions among passages in terms of genre, style, tone, human authorship, historical context, composition, arrangement, and all internal particularities of content are not an accident or an inconvenience, but the product of a deep and divine intentionality designed for growth and development. If all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable to the end of the follower of Christ being made ready for every good work, then this profitability extends all the way down into the details. Exegesis is simply the natural and unforced recognition of this fact. It is the careful consideration of a passage, anchored upon the knowledge that what is being handled is the very word of truth itself.
Theology
If Scripture is the food in a restaurant, theology is the menu. It arranges and presents the contents and principles of Scripture in a way that helps the reader see the big picture without having to sample every dish. These menus can be arranged in different ways; their efficacy and value always being determined by the degree to which they are a fair and accurate reflection of the dishes themselves.
Systematic theology is a menu arranged by topic. Gathering insights and inferences from all over Scripture, it orders them under headings such as the study of God, the study of mankind, the study of salvation, the study of Christ, the study of the church, etc. The value of such a menu lies in the fact that all believers possess a framework for interpretation upon which they rely when coming before the word of God. When functioning properly, systematic theology formalizes this framework and assures that its structure is faithful to what the Lord has revealed.
Biblical theology is a menu arranged by appetizers, main dish, and desserts. It tracks the ways in which God develops his story of redemption over the course of the Bible. Following themes like covenants, sacrifices, blessings and curses, promised saviors, exiles and homelands, etc. it highlights that the Lord has placed every dish in its proper place to fulfill all things in Christ. The value of this menu lies in the fact that it safeguards the believer from mistaking an appetizer for the main dish (e.g., mistaking the sheep slain on the Levitical altar for the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world) and bolsters the reader’s intuition and understanding of the overall plot and pace of God’s book. When functioning properly, biblical theology displays the completeness of Scripture as a narrative with beginning, middle, and end.
The reality concerning both of these menus is that they are pointers to the food. Theology is drawn from the Bible, and it leads us back to the Bible with a renewed joy and hunger to taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8).
History
Historical theology is the humble recognition that we are not the first persons to have entered this restaurant. Just as it would be foolish for a man, upon arriving in a foreign country, to meddle with the recipes and foods of the locals, it would be thoughtless for the modern believer to bandy novel insights into the Scriptures without taking heed to what the followers of Jesus in the past have said or done. After all, the church is the people group indigenous to God’s word throughout history. For two thousand years faithful saints have immersed themselves in the Bible, seeking to “entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also (2 Timothy 2:2), the doctrines of the faith. Knowing that the Lord has established the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of truth” (1 Timothy 3:15), we give careful thought to make sure that we are running the same race as those who came before, sharing with them a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf (Hebrews 6:19-20).
Reading & Listening
What are the consequences of these truths for personal devotion?
The first is one of attitude. Not only are we not the first persons to have entered this restaurant, but we are also not rich and sophisticated food critics who have come to dine judgement upon the meal before us. On the contrary, we come to God’s restaurant as sick and starving prisoners, newly set free from a world of poison and rot, hungering and thirsting for real food. It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4)
Thus did our Lord, hungry and thirsty in the desert, declare that we are to live by a consistent and complete intake of the Scriptures. Consistent, because the food necessary for the sustenance and thriving of the body must be consumed and digested regularly. Complete, because he said that man shall live by every word that comes from the mouth of God and so prescribed unto us the entirety of written revelation. When we read or listen to the Bible, we are not reading or listening to acquire knowledge for knowledge’s sake. Rather, we are coming before the word to behold our King, his kingdom, and ourselves in truth, desiring deeply to be transformed.
In adopting this attitude oriented towards transformation, we also acknowledge that genuine spiritual progression is necessarily accompanied by the constant practice of discerning between good and evil, as well as an increase in the very testable matter of brotherly love– for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil (Hebrews 5:13-14, see also 1 Corinthians 3:1-3). Such an attitude towards Scripture does not leave us at our desks but sends us out into the church and the world with mind and heart ringing: My food is to do the will of him who sent me. (John 4:34)
The second consequence relates to patience. If the variety in the Bible is analogous to that which exists among foods, then an important principle emerges. Not every part of Scripture will build the believer up towards godliness in the same way. Just as spinach, garlic, and turnips all impose distinct flavors and feelings upon the tongue, so do Genesis 3:14-15 (God’s curse on the serpent and promise of an offspring of the woman who will bruise his head), Deuteronomy 20:10-18 (the commands for warfare against the Amorites and the Canaanites), and James 4:13-17 (a pastoral rebuke concerning boasting about tomorrow) introduce varying tastes and textures upon the palette of the believer. The reader of the Bible will see that this variety is not a nuisance, but a deep and exciting invitation to discover the fibers and contours of God’s character and will on each inspired page.
We would find a man amusingly confused if he ate one dish and so thought himself to have gained familiarity with the whole culinary world; we would consider him dangerously misled if he assumed that he could eat only the kinds of food that he liked anyway and not risk becoming ill. These commonsense truths must be extended to the Scriptures as well. God is the one who has set the diet, and it includes all sorts of details and events and arguments which require digging, sitting in, exploring with tools, and coming back to again and again. There will be many chapters that are hard to chew on, and some that are even harder to swallow. Indeed, over certain things Jesus will answer what is that to you? Follow me! (John 21:21-22). This is not a valid excuse for giving up on a passage, but it is essential to concede that God does not owe us an explanation on every matter under the sun. There will also be seasons when we have the spiritual or emotional flu, and the food on our plates will seem to have lost all but a distant echo of its once remembered flavor. In such times we must continue eating, trusting that what is being consumed is nourishing the body even if it is not delighting the tongue. Through many meals, the Lord will make himself known as the one in whose presence there is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11), as well as he who is near to the brokenhearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit (Psalm 34:18-19).
Two consequences: the attitude of the starving man, and patience.
Preaching
What are the consequences of these truths for the pulpit?
The first is one of approach. A shepherd who lives by the word as the varied nourishment for his soul will keep before his heart and mind the high calling of his office. He has been given the happy and honorable post of a waiter in the very restaurant of the Lord himself– to bring before the flock the various dishes of Scripture, that is his task. Able to teach (2 Timothy 2:24) means able to draw younger sons and daughters of the King before a rich and varied assortment of food, allowing them to taste and see things that they would not otherwise notice. The prayer of Christ, sanctify them in the truth, your word is truth (John 17:17) rings constantly in the preacher’s ears as he carefully considers the details of the passage before him, knowing that in the wise and loving presentation of them his sheep will slowly develop an understanding and hunger for what God is saying.
This responsibility requires not only a presentation of various doctrines, but also the explication of the specific passages from which those doctrines arise. When the logical conclusions of Scripture are consistently preached in the absence of a grounding upon particular texts, the inhabitants of the pews are left increasingly with the disheartening impression that the doctrines of the faith are applicable to their lives in only a hazy sort of way, and that the brazen details of the Bible do not have much to offer. Biblical particularity is the glorious bridge that connects timeless truths with each Tuesday afternoon. When it is left habitually uncrossed, the result is an undernourished parish which may possess a vast awareness of Christian belief, yet to whom the variety and beauty of the Scriptures remain quite foreign.
So, the approach must be particular– but this does not mean that a preacher will necessarily lay out every minutia of one chapter and stay exclusively tied to a single passage. On the contrary every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old (Matthew 13:52). It simply means that the lines he draws from passage to passage will be lines that are drawn by the Scriptures themselves, and he will anchor them to the specifics, thus introducing his sheep to the warm homeland from which their general truths come.
The second consequence concerns portion sizes. This style of preaching which delves into the particulars cannot declare the whole counsel of God in one sermon. It is also true that everything a man should eat cannot be consumed in one sitting. Considering the analogy between food and Scripture allows the preacher to select a few good foods– a slice of meatloaf, some mushrooms, and a few green beans– and prayerfully set them before his congregation. Next week he will bring something else. Hopefully, as the people of God begin to see and savor the goodness of the word, meals on Sunday morning will not be enough: a hunger for truth and righteousness will expand and enliven existing avenues of discipleship; the living word will catch in their hearts and they will devote themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers (Acts 2:42).
This matter of portion sizes applies also to the presentation of the gospel. There has in our time emerged an increasing reference to the principle that every sermon must come back to the gospel, and that every message must point to Christ. This principle is manifestly sound– for the gospel is present in all the Bible, and all things do point to Christ. However, its application in modern times has often inadvertently undermined the manner in which God himself has chosen to write his book. The Bible places the appetizers before the main dish for a reason, and so the preacher must not be overly hasty in ploughing through the Old Testament shadows of Christ in order to arrive at their fulfillment, lest in doing so he risk losing the very satisfaction of getting there. Before we can fully fall in love with Jesus as the true and better Moses, we must meet Moses. Before we can most deeply delight in Christ as the root and descendant of David, we must get acquainted with David. We appreciate, in other words, that it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins (Hebrews 10:4) precisely by seeing that the blood of bulls and goats does not in fact take away the iniquities of sinful Israel. As the preacher familiarizes his congregation with the throbbing notes of longing and anticipation in the story of redemption as God has written it, the desires and intuitions of the people will naturally tend to see God as holy, and Christ as all in all.
Of course, it is not denied that the gospel must be preached, and Christ must be explicitly confessed in church. There will be plenty of opportunity to do this– for the Bible is full to the brim with the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6). Even in the weeks when the passage in question does not directly present the conclusory notes of the gospel, the liturgy declares the substance and hope of salvation. Amidst confession of sin, assurance of pardon, recital of the creeds, and invitation to the table, the preacher can confidently select a few particular morsels from the Lord’s storehouse and feed his sheep with a hearty, specific meal.
While the preacher is called to present himself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15), we are called to seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts (Malachi 2:7). Our pastors and teachers are stewards of God’s varied grace, declaring the very oracles of God (1 Peter 4:10-11), and they will be judged with greater strictness (James 3:1). In our love and support and submission to them (1 Peter 5:5), they are freed to fulfill their high calling and unashamedly sing:
I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation;
Behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord.
I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and faithfulness from the great congregation.
(Psalm 40:9-10)
Two consequences: the approach of the specified message, and portion sizes.
Exhortation
The Bible is not porridge stuffed with multivitamins, theoretically containing everything we need but bland and indistinguishable in its parts from the whole. Some passages are bitter (Job 10:1-3, Matthew 2:18), some sweet (Psalm 63:3, Matthew 2:10), some savory (Judges 3:31, John 2:15-17) — all of them together making up a healthy diet for true life. And this is eternal life, that they know you. (John 17:3)
The Bible is strawberries, pomegranates, onions, parsley– milk and honey. A great banquet culminating in roasted lamb served with bread and wine, slain for a people redeemed and forgiven.
In this wartime restaurant called the church, built and staffed by the greatest Chef to ever live and die and live again, he has appointed waiters (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers) to develop our palettes for the taste and texture of godliness. [T]o equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-12) Some foods strengthen our bones (Job 13:15), some our eyes (Romans 12:1-5, Ephesians 1:18-21), some our muscles (Luke 9:51-53)– certain dishes allow us to run away quickly when faced with temptation (Genesis 39:8-15, Proverbs 6:10-11), others give us the endurance to wait in patience for our Father when every fiber in our bodies desires to flee (Habakkuk 2:1-2, Psalm 27:14). What a joy that every part of Scripture is not the same!
Let us eat on. This feast is set before us that we might persevere till the end.
Laurens Craen, Still life with imaginary view, 1645. Wikimedia Commons.
