The Direct Statement Principle
This is the principle by which God says what He means, and means what He says.
The Direct Statement Principle is very important because of the attempts to spiritualize Scriptures, or to make them mean something they don't mean. How easy it is to do just that.
Sometimes we get books that have in them some peculiar interpretations, and they make you stand back in awe and wonder, and you wonder what kind of a mind the writer has. Here is an interesting one:
A man explained what the Scriptures said when God made man in His image. He said that God made a white man. I think a red man was the first man made. Adam means "red man of the earth". He was made from the dust of the earth. I have known some people who looked like the earth, but they didn't look white. Here is another way of making the Bible say what it does not say: Philo did not desire to believe that Cain killed Abel. By a magic and marvelous change, he changed "him" to "himself", and he made it read that Cain committed suicide; thus, the man gave his message:
ALL SIN IS SELF-DESTRUCTIVE. So when you read GENESIS 4, remember that God is trying to say that sin is self-destruction!" Do you not see the need, therefore, for a principle of interpretation?
Another one is about the four rivers in Genesis in connection with Eden. These four rivers are not rivers, but they are Prudence, Self- Control, Courage, and Justice. That is what they mean. Don't let anyone tell you that rivers are rivers!!!!
Then we have Jerome's wisdom in giving us the explanation of the parable of the sower. It says, "... Some thirty-fold, some sixty-fold, and some hundred-fold." He has a marvelous meaning. He says thirty-fold has reference to marriage; sixty-fold has reference to widows, and the hundred-fold expresses the crown of virginity. That is why we have a law of direct statement. God says what He means, and He means what He says. When He says rivers, He means rivers.
Now, we will take a few from Mary Patterson Smith Baker Eddy. She says ANGELS are God's thoughts passing to men; spiritual intuitions, pure and perfect. If you have ever had a spiritual intuition, you have had an angel. Here is something interesting for the ladies. The term "bridegroom" means spiritual understanding (she had enough to know). She says that children are life, truth, and love's spiritual thoughts and representatives. She says that death is an illusion; for there is no death; it is the unreal and untrue, the opposite of good, God, or life. That is death. It even is a beginning, mortality, that which does not last forever. The River Gihon means the rights of women acknowledged, morally, civilly, and socially.
Then we have one brother who is a little worried about the floating axe-head of Elisha. He made it to mean Christian baptism. Can you figure that out? That is the way he explains it. It is because of such interpretation that we need the law of direct statement. God says what He means and means what He says. ZION is a hill on which Jerusalem was built, and that is what Zion means; it doesn't mean heaven. It means this hill on which Jerusalem was built. "We're marching to Zion"-I love to sing it, but the truth is that this hymn is for the Jews who came back from Babylon to sing. Jerusalem is a city, not heaven. The New Jerusalem is not Heaven; it is a city that comes down out of Heaven from God to be placed on this earth. It is literally a city. Mat 5:35- Jerusalem means the city, as such.
The Christian Scientists say that a child is just a thought. Your mother had a thought and named it Bill, Mary, Jane or John, and that is all you are. One has to admit that Mary Baker Eddy is a thought, and oh, what a thought! A woman really bore a Son, and His Name was called Jesus, "He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord shall give Him the throne of His
Father David, and He shall rule over the house of Jacob." A great number of people say that when Christ is ruling on the throne, He is ruling in the heart of man. Thank you! I didn't know that the throne of David is in my heart, and if He is in my heart, then He isn't in yours, for He has only one throne. It means the throne of David, and that was in the city of Jerusalem; so, that is what it means. These people who say that the throne of David is spiritual don't say anything about the house of Jacob. That is too much for them. God says what He means, and He means what He says.
I Cor 15:3 says that "Christ died". Mrs. Eddy says that Christ did not die, but He did die! Mrs. Eddy says that actual death didn't take place, but that Christ fainted, and they took Him down from the cross, and when He was placed in the tomb it was cool; and, thus, He revived. The Word of God means what it says, when it says that Christ actually died. It was a judicial and sacrificial death. I Cor 15:4 says "that he arose again". Some say that He had a spiritual resurrection. What is meant by a spiritual resurrection?
I do not know; they don't know either. What kind of a resurrection is a spiritual resurrection? Do they mean that the spirit of Christ was dead and in the tomb, and that they put those soldiers around the tomb to prevent the coming forth of His spirit? What they mean we do not know, and we care less, even if they could tell us. God didn't come into the world to save my soul only, but He came to save all of me: body, soul-and spirit. Joel 2:23-This Scripture means RAIN. It doesn't mean the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the latter days. God says what He means and means what He says. The latter rains are now falling in Israel.
Some people think the Bible is a box of wonders. They think all you can get out of it are peculiar things. Our Authorized Bible was translated in 1611. This was the 46th year of Shakespeare's life. What does that have to do with the Bible? Does it mean that the Bible was written as a source from which to get peculiar things?
A very good Bible student turned to the 46th Psalm and ascertained that the 46th word is "shake", and the 46th word from the end is "spear", so he says that this is proof that the inspiration of the Bible is evident.
You know the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm took place. The World War I Armistice was signed! It was signed on the 11th day of the 11th month, at the 11th hour; and it was not extraordinary for the Bible student to turn to the 11th Book of the Bible, the 11th chapter, and the 11th verse and read how the Kaiser would be captivated- I Ki 11:11.
We realize there may be errors in translation, or errors in printing. Many Bibles were written by hand, and the hand was not always complete and perfect. You may make a mistake in writing. We have today a precise proofreading that hardly detects all the errors of the printer. You have never had a Bible in your hands that doesn't have an error in printing. You have heard of the country where they wanted to produce a Bible without an error, and in order to do that they put pages in public places and asked the people to report if they found any errors. They left those pages on exhibition for a long time, and when they concluded that every error was omitted, they found when they opened the first page, the error, "Holy Bible".
If you are interested in old books or Bibles, you will find a lot of peculiar Bibles. We have what is called the "Bug Bible", where "bug" was printed for the word "terror" in Psalm 91:5. We have the "placemakers Bible", where the word "placemakers" was printed for "peacemakers" in Matthew 5:9. We have the "Adulterous Bible", where in the seventh commandment, the word "not" is omitted. There is the "He Bible", for "He" was printed instead of "she" in Ruth 3: 15. The word "idle" was printed for the "idol" in Zechariah 11:17; therefore, we have the "Idle Bible." The word "murderers" was printed for "murmurers", causing us to have the "Murderers Bible". "Princes" was changed to "printers" in Psalm 119:161, giving us the "Printers Bible". In Luke 14:26 we have the word "wife" used instead of "life", thus we have the "Wife-Hater Bible". We have the "Vinegar Bible", because "vinegar" was printed instead of "vineyard" in Luke 20. There are these mistakes in printing. No one can blame God for that. God says what He means, and means what He says.
We need to remember what words have changed their meaning in the last 300 years since the King James Version has been printed.
| Genesis 1: 11 | Grass means all growing plants. |
| Ruth 4:4 | Advertise meant notified. |
| Esther 4: 14 | Enlargement use to mean set free. |
| I Samuel 17:22 | Let meant to hold back-now it means the opposite: to let go. |
| Psalm 4: 1 | Enlarge used to mean set free. |
| Matthew 6:25 | Thought meant anxious care or worry. |
| Luke 1:63 | Table then means tablet now. |
| Luke 3:23 | Means Jesus began His ministry. |
| Luke 11:48 | Allow use to mean praise. |
| Acts 21:15 | Took up our carriages meant when they prepared to travel; in the year 1611 carriages meant packages or baggage. |
| Philippians 3:20 | Conversation meant citizenship. |
| I Thessalonians 4:15 | Prevent, at one time, meant go before. |
| II Thessalonians 1:10 | Admire meant to wonder. |
| II Thessalonians 4:15 | Prevent-to go before. |
| Revelation 17:6 | Admiration meant to wonder. |
The word "nephew" 300 years ago meant any distant relative.
PUNCTUATIONS: We must know that the translators made many mistakes in punctuation. Punctuation in the Bible is man-made; for example:
Luke 13:24 - this, of course, led to the uncertainty of salvation.
ITALICS: The portions of the Bible which are in italics are supplied by man; these are not found in the original. Psalm 22 is nearly ruined by italics, as is Psalm 27:9, 13. The same can be said of Galatians 3:24. In I John 2:2, leave the words, "the sin of" out.
INFERENCE IN THE WORD: While God says what He means and means what He says, there is an exception to this principle. There is such a thing as truth taught by the inference in the Word.
For instance, Matthew 5:13-The Lord is speaking concerning the disciples, telling them that they are the "salt of the earth". He is telling His disciples that they should be the means of stopping corruption in the world. We learn from this very verse, by inference, that in Palestine it was possible to secure salt without savor.John 1:46-This gives us, by inference, that the Nazarenes were not held in very high esteem.II Timothy 3:8-While nothing was said in Exodus about the names of the magicians who withstood Moses, by inference we understand they were named Jannes and Jambres.
It does not say in Genesis 12 that Lot went with Abraham into Egypt, but in Chapter 13, although the statement is not made, it is inferred that Lot went down to Egypt.
When the blind man was healed by the Lord at Bethsaida, he said, "I see men as trees, walking" (Mark 8:24). This infers that he had not been born blind, for he had seen trees before.Matthew 9:6-The Lord tells the sick of the palsy, "Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thine house." This leads us to believe that the oriental bed was not a great four-poster bed like we have today.
With these necessary explanations we come back to the PRINCIPLE OF DIRECT STATEMENT and say that God says what He means and means what He says. Let us remember, too, that when we come to the Word of God, we must consider the fact that the Bible is an Eastern or Oriental Book, not written by an Occidental, but by an Oriental. There are many differences between this Book and others we may possess. Hebrew poetry is unlike American poetry. The Book of Job is poetry, but you won't find any rhyme at the end of the lines. In Hebrew the thoughts ebb and flow. So remember, now, when you come to the Word of God, that God says what He means and means what He says. STUDY YOUR TEXT AND NEVER SPIRITUALIZE SCRIPTURE UNLESS YOU TELL PEOPLE PLAINLY WHAT YOU ARE DOING. BE FAIR AND HONEST.
FIGURES OF SPEECH: While we do not believe in spiritualizing the Scriptures to too great an extent, we must know, however, those passages that have to do with figures of speech. We use them unknowingly. We use them every day and do not recognize them. If someone said to you that such and such is a hyperbole, or a metaphor, you would wonder what you had said to cause him to ask you such a question. A figure of speech relates to the form in which the words are used. Did you ever hear of a person "cutting a figure"? This means one is dressed "unusually" or "out of fashion."
What is a figure of speech? A figure of speech is a word, or group of words, used out of the ordinary sense, or put out of usual order in a sentence; or a sentence thrown into a peculiar form; or expressing a thing in an unusual manner. A figure of speech is a departure from the natural and fixed laws of grammar, a legitimate departure from law, not arising from ignorance or accident, but arising from design. It is for the purpose of emphasis. Therefore, figures of speech in the Bible cannot be ignored. We must study them for correct interpretation, distinguishing between the thought of the writer and the form in which it is clothed.
A figure of speech may not be true to fact, but it is true to feeling, and truer to truth. We may say, "The ground needs rain." That is a plain, cold statement of fact. But if we say, "The ground is thirsty", we at once use a figure of speech, not so true to fact, but truer to reality and to feeling. We say, "The crop suffers", "a hard heart", "an iron will" ... these are all figures of speech. "Put the kettle on and get it boiling"-did you ever say that? We don't mean that the kettle boils, but that what is in the kettle boils. Did you ever light the fire? You light the kindling and fire the fuel. Did you ever split the kindling? You split the wood into kindling.
We use figures of speech over and over again. We do it unconsciously. When we come to the Word of God, we can't see them at all. We are deaf, dumb, and blind when it comes to the Book. We need to know figures of speech. There are more than 200 (approximately 218) figures of speech in the English language. We must recognize these figures of speech in Scripture with prayerful interpretation.
When should we take a passage of Scripture literally, or figuratively? One person has said that the only rule we have to lay down for determining when words are used literally, or figuratively, is the old oft-repeated principle that words should be understood in their literal sense unless such literal interpretation involves a manifest contradiction or absurdity. Take JEREMIAH 1:18, "For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land." This couldn't be literal, could it? MATTHEW 8:22: "Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead." This cannot be taken literally, either; they are both figures of speech.
THE METAPHOR: Stating one thing and meaning another is called a metaphor. Look at the Scriptures noted below:
| Matthew 5: 13, 8:22 | Psalm 18:2 |
| John 2:18-22 | Isaiah 40:6 |
| Galatians 2:9 | Jeremiah 2:13 |
THE SIMILE: That part of speech which resembles or likens one thing to another is known as the simile. Look at
| Isaiah 1:8, 55:10, 11 | Romans 12:4, 5 |
| Jeremiah 23:29 | I Corinthians 12:12 |
| Matthew 7:24-27 | II Timothy 2:3 |
THE METONYMY: When one noun is substituted for another noun; when cause is substituted for effect; or, when something is substituted for attributes or attainments, we have a metonymy. "This cup is my blood;" "This is my body".
In this noun substitution you find that sometimes God, or Christ, or the Holy Spirit will be put in for the work they do. Look at the following: Ephesians 4:20-"ye have not so learned Christ" ... Christ is put for the thing taught. Luke 2:27-"And he came by the Spirit into the temple."
Sometimes children are replaced by their parents, or off-springs: Genesis 49: 7-"Simeon and Levi"-"I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel." The same man; and God's Message here is to divide them in Jacob, or among the descendants of Jacob.
"Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated"-This is not concerning these men, but it is concerning the offsprings of Jacob and Esau.
"I will enlarge Jacob"-This does not mean physical enlargement, but it means that God will give Jacob offspring, in the sense that his children shall outnumber the other sons of Noah.
Have you ever read Shakespeare or Moses? What have we here? - Metonymy, of course, for it means, "Have you read what Shakespeare and Moses have written?"
| Matthew 3 :5, 6 | This is speaking of the people of Jerusalem and Judea. |
| Luke 24:27 | This means that the Lord began to write by Moses. |
| John 3:16 | This means that God loves the people of the world. |
| Acts 15:21 | This is not speaking of Moses, but of the law given to Moses. |
| Acts 16:31 | The word "house" means household. |
| Exodus 7:19 | God merely uses a figure of speech. |
| Exodus 21:20, 21 | "He is his money"-If his servant should die, the master would lose the servant's time. |
| Deuteronomy 6:5 | This means that we should love the Lord with our entire
being. |
| Deuteronomy 10:9 | Moses meant that the sacrifices given by the other tribes would become Levi's; and thus, Levi would have no other possession. |
| Ezekiel 7:27 | We sometimes have the things signified used for the sign. |
| Matthew 16:15-19)
John 20:23) Jeremiah 1:10) |
Many times actions are said to be performed when they have only been permitted, or even foretold. |
| Romans 14:5 | An action is sometimes said to have been accomplished when all that is meant by it is that an occasion was given; spoken of many kings of Israel who followed in the ways of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. |
| Luke 14:26 )
Genesis 5:24 ) |
Sometimes a statement is made as complete, when the thought is only comparative. |
| Genesis 42:38 )
Romans 3:30 ) Galatians 2:9 ) |
Sometimes that which is in addition to the subject is mentioned, but the subject is meant. |
| Matthew 2:11 )
Matthew 25:10) |
Sometimes the thing contained is used for the container. This means the place where the marriage was to be. |
| I Chronicles 7:32 | Sometimes time is put for the things which are done, or have happened. This shows they knew the things which were occurring. |
| Esther 1:13 )
II Timothy 3:1 ) |
Means evil day. |
| I Corinthians 1:21)
Genesis 18:16) Genesis 20:10) Luke 24:4) |
Sometimes things are spoken of according to appearance; opinions which are formed respect them, or the claim is made for them. With all of our scientific knowledge, we continue to say that the sun rises and sets. Angels are spoken of as men, because they were in the form of men; it was the appearance, not the fact. |
| Romans 10:17 )
Jeremiah 2:33 ) |
Sometimes the action, faith, or feeling stimulated or caused by anything may be employed instead of the thing which causes such action, faith, or feeling. This shows us it is apparent that the hearing is used when the Gospel is heard. |
| Zechariah 10:11 )
Genesis 14:22,23) Psalm 46:9) |
Sometimes a sign is used for the things signified. "Until Shiloh come"-"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah"-This means until the power to rule passes away. |
THE SYNECDOCHE: This is similar to the metonymy in character. It is a figure of speech by which a part is used for the whole, or a whole is used for a part. Under this figure, Lazarus is used for the spirit of Lazarus. The angels carried him to Abraham's bosom, and yet the body of the poor man was lying at the gate of the rich man. JOHN 19:42-"There laid they Jesus". They laid the body there. Mary came and told the apostles that they had taken away her Lord.
She really thought they had taken away the body-that is all.
Sometimes you will find that time is used for a part of time. The word "forever" is sometimes used for a limited time. LEVITICUS 25:46-Whatever construction may be used on this passage, they have long ceased to take bondsmen from the strangers round about them.
| Genesis 19:29 | Sometimes the plural is used for the singular. |
| Judges 12:7 | Lot only dwelt in one city, city of Sodom. |
| Isaiah 1:3 | Sometimes the singular is used for the plural. |
| Deuteronomy 7:20 | All oxen and asses are meant-not just one. God didn't mean He would send only one hornet (that would have been all right; one was all God needed.) |
| I Corinthians 14:19 | Sometimes a definite number is used for an
indefinite number. |
THE PERSONIFICATION: This is a figure of speech whereby inanimate things, objects of nature, and even abstract ideas are personified, viewed as if endowed with life, and spoken of as masculine or feminine. Numbers 16:32; Psalm 114:3, 4; Habakkuk 3:10.
THE ANTI-PERSONIFICATION: This is a figure of speech whereby persons are represented by inanimate things. II Samuel 16:9.
THE APOSTROPHE: This comes from a Greek word which means "to turn" and denotes the turning, or a speaking away from his immediate hearers and addressing an absent or imaginary person or thing. Psalm 114:57; Isaiah 51:6; 54:1-5; II Samuel 18:33; I Corinthians 15:55 = "O Death".
THE HYPERBOLE: This is a rhetorical figure which consists of exaggeration or magnifying an object beyond reality It is an over statement, or the use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis. Psalm 6:6; John 21:25; Judges 7:12; II Samuel 1:23; Joel 2:18; Amos 9:14; Psalm 22:6.
Some of the figures of speech are found in the Word of God. Some are not so important, and others are very important. We need to study the figures of speech commonly used.
Comparison is where one thing is compared to another. Psalm 84:10 shows where a day in God's court is compared to a thousand elsewhere.
Contrast is where two things are designedly set in opposition, where false balances are compared to just weights. Proverbs 11:1.
There are other peculiar methods of conveying truth, such as fables, which are brief stories or tales introducing individuals of the brute creation, of animate and inanimate nature, as if possessed with reason and speech. The oldest fable in the world is that of Jotham in Judges 9:7-20. Another one similar to it is the fable of Jehoash in II Kings 14:9.
A further method of conveying truth is by the riddle, which is designed to puzzle and perplex the hearer. The most celebrated riddle is Samson's in Judges 14:14.
The parable is another method. This is the idea of placing one thing beside another for the purpose of comparison. A parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. It is essentially a comparison or simile.
THE ALLEGORY is usually defined as an extended metaphor. Look at Galatians 4:24. Another prominent thing (part of speech) is the type, or symbol. We will study these later. There is a difference between the two. Adam is a type of Christ. The offering of Isaac is a type of Christ. The Rainbow is the symbol of a covenant, and circumcision is the symbol of the Abrahamic Covenant. Bread and wine symbolize the Body and Blood of our Savior. You can never study English enough. Study all the English you can, along with other languages.
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