Literal-Surface Meanings and Deep Spiritual Meanings of Scripture
Look at the idea that a sentence of a Bible text has its surface structure, which is its literal verbatim words in some order, and there is also the jist meaning of that sentence.
Jist is said to mean: "the central meaning or theme of a speech or literary work......the substance or essence of a speech or text."
The linguistics of Descartes, especially the work in 1662 of Arnauld and Nicole in Le Logique ou L'Art Penseur (The Art of Thinking, 1662), made a distinction between the literal verbatim words of a sentence and the gist meaning of that sentence. Modern linguists have called the gist meaning of a sentence its "deep structure," an interesting concept when applied to scripture.
The Bible says that: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:" II Timothy 3: 26 And, "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." II Peter 1: 21
And also the Bible says ""All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:" Matthew 13: 34 And "I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets." Hosea 12: 10
Christ in his ministry often showed that the Old Testament has deeper meanings than the surface meanings of its texts. For example, He told His disciples that the Old Testament contained many prophecies about His own life that they had not understood. For example, in Luke 24: 27, "Beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." "He opened their understanding that they might comprehend the Scriptures." Luke 24:45
Christ revealed that some stories in the Old Testament have deeper meanings about his own life, even when the deeper meanings were not not in the literal or surface meanings of the texts, For example, the story of the manna is symbolic of Jesus as the bread of life: "Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven." John 6:32 "For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giventh life unto ther world." John 6: 33
The statements of John 6: 32-33 in their surface or literal meanings are about bread. But the deeper spiritual meanings are the same in John 6: 32-33 as what Christ said in John 10: 10, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly," and in Luke 9: 54, "For the son of man is not come to destroy men's lives but to save them. "
Another story with a deeper spiritual meaning than the literal surface meaning is about Christ as the brass serpent: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up." John 3:14. The literal temple building in Jerusalem is seen to have a deeper spiritual meaning in John 2: 19-22. "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? 21. But he spake of the temple of his body.
22. When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.
The Jews were fixated on that which is literal, on the surface meanings of what is said. Those claiming to be Christians who now uphold "all Israel," by which they mean all Old Covenant Israel, now in Talmudic Judaism, likewise are fixated on the surface and literal meanings of scripture.
As a kind of dialectic opposition to the Origen-Augustine
over-allegorization of scripture, dispensationalism or Zionist Christianity went to the opposite
extreme and called for something like a consistent literalism in
interpreting scripture.
"Not one instance exists of a 'spiritual' or figurative fulfilment of
prophecy... Jerusalem is always Jerusalem, Israel is always Israel, Zion is always Zion... Prophecies may never be spiritualised, but are always
literal." C.I. Scofield, Scofield Bible Correspondence Course (Chicago,
Moody Bible Institute, 1907), pp. 45-46.
"To be sure, literal/historical/grammatical interpretation is not the sole
possession or practice of dispensationalists, but the consistent use of it
in all areas of biblical interpretation is." Charles C. Ryrie,
Dispensationalism (Chicago, Moody Press, 1995), page 40.
Paul also opens up the deeper spiritual meanings of the Old Testament, and of New Testament statements on doctrine. He asks us to obey the spirit of the law, not just the letter. "We should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter." Romans 7:6 "The letter kills, but the spirit gives life." II Corinthians 3:6. "Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." I Corinthians 10: 11
"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. I Corinthians 2: 12-14
Paul in Colossians 2: 13-17 opens up the spiritual meanings of the literal Old Covenant rituals and sacrifices. "And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14. Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; 15. And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. 16. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: 17. Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." In Colossians 2: 16-17 Paul only mentions meat, drink, holy days, sabbath days and he new moon, but what he says can be applied to all the rituals and literal-physical things of the Old Covenant, including the literal temple building, circumcision and animal sacrifice for man's sins.
Part of the Bible is written in parables and metaphors. Applying the concept of the surface structure of a sentence - its literal verbatim words - and the deep structure of that sentence - its jist meaning - to the Bible being partly in the language of metaphor we see that for metaphoric Biblical texts the surface structure of the sentences have a different meaning than does the deep structure or jist meaning. For example, look at the surface structure and deep structure or just meaning of the locusts of Revelation 9: 1-11. Verse 7 says " And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle...." Hal Lindsey in his book Apocalypse Code of 1997 suggests they are Cobra helicopters of the Viet-Nam war era. Lindsey is acknowledging that the locusts are metaphoric, but he is speculating on their jist meaning, and is following the surface structure to some extent of the text rather than interpreting the text by other scripture. The jist meaning of the locust or locust-scorpions is found in Joel 1: 4 where they are metaphoric for destructive false doctrines and practices.
In Ezekiel 2: 3-7 the rebellious children of Israel (Ezekiel 2: 3) are called scorpions. In verse 6 God tells Ezekiel not to be afraid of their words, indicating the scorpions speak or write false doctrines. Then in Luke 10: 19 Christ says "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall by any means hurt you."
Christ gives those who belong to him some spiritual power over the scorpions so that they cannot hurt his chosen ones by their words or deeds. But he also gives us power to tread on serpents. Serpents are found in Revelation 9 also, in Revelation 9: 19 in describing the huge number of the army of horsemen of Revelation 9: 14-19. Serpents are found in Matthew 23: 33, where Christ is taking to the scribes and Pharisees and says to them "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?" Serpents are the leaders of the locust-scorpions, and the serpents can be said to be the false prophets, the religious leaders. The locust-scorpions are their more numerous followers, who may not pretend to be on moral high ground like the religious leaders.
And the Bible is not written like just any book created by men. It is written by men inspired by the Holy Spirit to write particular surface structure sentences and particular gist meanings. There are many surface structure verses in scripture, but fewer deep structure jist meanings.
This means that some literal verbatim verses have the same jist meanings or deep structure, and understanding this and bringing it out is a kind of connecting of the dots in scripture. And within many literal verbatim Bible texts are common jist meanings although each literal verse often provides some new information not in the other verses.
In scripture the same or very similar gist meanings appear with somewhat different surface structure, that is, with different literal verbatim words of sentences. In other words, verses of scripture which have different literal verbatim words have the same gist meanings.
Take the metaphor in Luke 13: 18-21 - the leavening of the kingdom of God - over time and the statement in II Thessalonians 2:3-4.which talks about a falling away to occur before the Lord appears again, and then it goes into the man of sin and a metaphor about him sitting in the temple of God.
Part of the same gist meaning is in both texts, but also each text adds something that is not in the other text. Luke 13: 21 adds that the leavening occurs over time until the whole is leavened. II Thessalonians 2: 3-4 adds the information about the revealing of a man of sin and his sitting in the temple of God.
Both texts require other scriptures to provide an accurate gist meaning for each text. To arrive at an accurate gist meaning of Luke 13: 18-21 the reader needs to know what leavening is in scripture. This is provided in Matthew 16: 6, -12 and in I Corinthians 5: 7-8.
Isaiah 28: 13 does not advise us to focus on Bible texts in isolation one from another in their surface or literal meanings. "But the word of the LORD was unto them 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."
To more fully understand the deeper and spiritual meanings of scripture, several texts should be added together - and often related scripture can be used to more fully understand the deeper meanings of any one text. Connecting scriptures previously kept in isolated compartments is a key to opening up the deeper meanings.
For the metaphor. for example, of the man of sin sitting in the temple of God, the gist meaning includes the knowledge given in Acts 7: 48, I Corinthians 3: 16-17 and I Corinthians 6: 19 that God does not dwell in temples and that believers are the temple of God..
But the central gist meaning of Luke 13: 21 and II Thessalonians 2:3-4 is that prophecy tells us that there is to be a departure from sound doctrine.
A method of interpreting scripture which emphasizes the literal verbatim surface structure of scripture can come up with quite different interpretations than a method which acknowledges that surface structure but also considers the gist meanings of this text in view of the gist meanings of other relevant scriptures to modify that gist meaning.
Romans 11: 26 is a key but highly debated text, which has a surface structure - its literal or exact words - which dispensationalism holds up as proof of its theory that God has two peoples, Old Covenant Israel and the Capital C Church. But applying the surface and gist meanings of relevant scriptures to Romans 11: 26 brings into question that dispensationalist gist meaning derived from the literal verbatim words of the verse. Other texts in Romans - Romans 2: 28-29 and Romans 9: 6-8 - and other verses in Romans 11, such as 11: 17-20 do not support the gist meaning in Romans 11: 26 that all Old Covenant Israel are to be saved at some point in the future, but that Paul is suddenly writing about Israel as everyone who is of the elect of God.
Arriving at accurate gist meanings of scripture often requires a knowledge of other scriptures, and knowing how to apply that knowledge of other scriptures requires help by the Holy Spirit of God.
Look at the idea that a sentence of a Bible text has its surface structure, which is its literal verbatim words in some order, and there is also the jist meaning of that sentence.
Jist is said to mean: "the central meaning or theme of a speech or literary work......the substance or essence of a speech or text."
The linguistics of Descartes, especially the work in 1662 of Arnauld and Nicole in Le Logique ou L'Art Penseur (The Art of Thinking, 1662), made a distinction between the literal verbatim words of a sentence and the gist meaning of that sentence. Modern linguists have called the gist meaning of a sentence its "deep structure," an interesting concept when applied to scripture.
The Bible says that: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:" II Timothy 3: 26 And, "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." II Peter 1: 21
And also the Bible says ""All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:" Matthew 13: 34 And "I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets." Hosea 12: 10
Christ in his ministry often showed that the Old Testament has deeper meanings than the surface meanings of its texts. For example, He told His disciples that the Old Testament contained many prophecies about His own life that they had not understood. For example, in Luke 24: 27, "Beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." "He opened their understanding that they might comprehend the Scriptures." Luke 24:45
Christ revealed that some stories in the Old Testament have deeper meanings about his own life, even when the deeper meanings were not not in the literal or surface meanings of the texts, For example, the story of the manna is symbolic of Jesus as the bread of life: "Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven." John 6:32 "For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giventh life unto ther world." John 6: 33
The statements of John 6: 32-33 in their surface or literal meanings are about bread. But the deeper spiritual meanings are the same in John 6: 32-33 as what Christ said in John 10: 10, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly," and in Luke 9: 54, "For the son of man is not come to destroy men's lives but to save them. "
Another story with a deeper spiritual meaning than the literal surface meaning is about Christ as the brass serpent: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up." John 3:14. The literal temple building in Jerusalem is seen to have a deeper spiritual meaning in John 2: 19-22. "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? 21. But he spake of the temple of his body.
22. When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.
The Jews were fixated on that which is literal, on the surface meanings of what is said. Those claiming to be Christians who now uphold "all Israel," by which they mean all Old Covenant Israel, now in Talmudic Judaism, likewise are fixated on the surface and literal meanings of scripture.
As a kind of dialectic opposition to the Origen-Augustine
over-allegorization of scripture, dispensationalism or Zionist Christianity went to the opposite
extreme and called for something like a consistent literalism in
interpreting scripture.
"Not one instance exists of a 'spiritual' or figurative fulfilment of
prophecy... Jerusalem is always Jerusalem, Israel is always Israel, Zion is always Zion... Prophecies may never be spiritualised, but are always
literal." C.I. Scofield, Scofield Bible Correspondence Course (Chicago,
Moody Bible Institute, 1907), pp. 45-46.
"To be sure, literal/historical/grammatical interpretation is not the sole
possession or practice of dispensationalists, but the consistent use of it
in all areas of biblical interpretation is." Charles C. Ryrie,
Dispensationalism (Chicago, Moody Press, 1995), page 40.
Paul also opens up the deeper spiritual meanings of the Old Testament, and of New Testament statements on doctrine. He asks us to obey the spirit of the law, not just the letter. "We should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter." Romans 7:6 "The letter kills, but the spirit gives life." II Corinthians 3:6. "Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." I Corinthians 10: 11
"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. I Corinthians 2: 12-14
Paul in Colossians 2: 13-17 opens up the spiritual meanings of the literal Old Covenant rituals and sacrifices. "And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14. Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; 15. And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. 16. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: 17. Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." In Colossians 2: 16-17 Paul only mentions meat, drink, holy days, sabbath days and he new moon, but what he says can be applied to all the rituals and literal-physical things of the Old Covenant, including the literal temple building, circumcision and animal sacrifice for man's sins.
Part of the Bible is written in parables and metaphors. Applying the concept of the surface structure of a sentence - its literal verbatim words - and the deep structure of that sentence - its jist meaning - to the Bible being partly in the language of metaphor we see that for metaphoric Biblical texts the surface structure of the sentences have a different meaning than does the deep structure or jist meaning. For example, look at the surface structure and deep structure or just meaning of the locusts of Revelation 9: 1-11. Verse 7 says " And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle...." Hal Lindsey in his book Apocalypse Code of 1997 suggests they are Cobra helicopters of the Viet-Nam war era. Lindsey is acknowledging that the locusts are metaphoric, but he is speculating on their jist meaning, and is following the surface structure to some extent of the text rather than interpreting the text by other scripture. The jist meaning of the locust or locust-scorpions is found in Joel 1: 4 where they are metaphoric for destructive false doctrines and practices.
In Ezekiel 2: 3-7 the rebellious children of Israel (Ezekiel 2: 3) are called scorpions. In verse 6 God tells Ezekiel not to be afraid of their words, indicating the scorpions speak or write false doctrines. Then in Luke 10: 19 Christ says "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall by any means hurt you."
Christ gives those who belong to him some spiritual power over the scorpions so that they cannot hurt his chosen ones by their words or deeds. But he also gives us power to tread on serpents. Serpents are found in Revelation 9 also, in Revelation 9: 19 in describing the huge number of the army of horsemen of Revelation 9: 14-19. Serpents are found in Matthew 23: 33, where Christ is taking to the scribes and Pharisees and says to them "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?" Serpents are the leaders of the locust-scorpions, and the serpents can be said to be the false prophets, the religious leaders. The locust-scorpions are their more numerous followers, who may not pretend to be on moral high ground like the religious leaders.
And the Bible is not written like just any book created by men. It is written by men inspired by the Holy Spirit to write particular surface structure sentences and particular gist meanings. There are many surface structure verses in scripture, but fewer deep structure jist meanings.
This means that some literal verbatim verses have the same jist meanings or deep structure, and understanding this and bringing it out is a kind of connecting of the dots in scripture. And within many literal verbatim Bible texts are common jist meanings although each literal verse often provides some new information not in the other verses.
In scripture the same or very similar gist meanings appear with somewhat different surface structure, that is, with different literal verbatim words of sentences. In other words, verses of scripture which have different literal verbatim words have the same gist meanings.
Take the metaphor in Luke 13: 18-21 - the leavening of the kingdom of God - over time and the statement in II Thessalonians 2:3-4.which talks about a falling away to occur before the Lord appears again, and then it goes into the man of sin and a metaphor about him sitting in the temple of God.
Part of the same gist meaning is in both texts, but also each text adds something that is not in the other text. Luke 13: 21 adds that the leavening occurs over time until the whole is leavened. II Thessalonians 2: 3-4 adds the information about the revealing of a man of sin and his sitting in the temple of God.
Both texts require other scriptures to provide an accurate gist meaning for each text. To arrive at an accurate gist meaning of Luke 13: 18-21 the reader needs to know what leavening is in scripture. This is provided in Matthew 16: 6, -12 and in I Corinthians 5: 7-8.
Isaiah 28: 13 does not advise us to focus on Bible texts in isolation one from another in their surface or literal meanings. "But the word of the LORD was unto them 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."
To more fully understand the deeper and spiritual meanings of scripture, several texts should be added together - and often related scripture can be used to more fully understand the deeper meanings of any one text. Connecting scriptures previously kept in isolated compartments is a key to opening up the deeper meanings.
For the metaphor. for example, of the man of sin sitting in the temple of God, the gist meaning includes the knowledge given in Acts 7: 48, I Corinthians 3: 16-17 and I Corinthians 6: 19 that God does not dwell in temples and that believers are the temple of God..
But the central gist meaning of Luke 13: 21 and II Thessalonians 2:3-4 is that prophecy tells us that there is to be a departure from sound doctrine.
A method of interpreting scripture which emphasizes the literal verbatim surface structure of scripture can come up with quite different interpretations than a method which acknowledges that surface structure but also considers the gist meanings of this text in view of the gist meanings of other relevant scriptures to modify that gist meaning.
Romans 11: 26 is a key but highly debated text, which has a surface structure - its literal or exact words - which dispensationalism holds up as proof of its theory that God has two peoples, Old Covenant Israel and the Capital C Church. But applying the surface and gist meanings of relevant scriptures to Romans 11: 26 brings into question that dispensationalist gist meaning derived from the literal verbatim words of the verse. Other texts in Romans - Romans 2: 28-29 and Romans 9: 6-8 - and other verses in Romans 11, such as 11: 17-20 do not support the gist meaning in Romans 11: 26 that all Old Covenant Israel are to be saved at some point in the future, but that Paul is suddenly writing about Israel as everyone who is of the elect of God.
Arriving at accurate gist meanings of scripture often requires a knowledge of other scriptures, and knowing how to apply that knowledge of other scriptures requires help by the Holy Spirit of God.
