Fear and Bible Study

I was preparing a devotional for my wife’s devotional list on facing fear when it suddenly occurred to me that the verses I was using could also apply to Bible study. I regularly encounter Christians who are afraid to study the Bible. Their concern is that they will get it wrong, but more especially that they will teach someone else wrong.

It’s not surprising that they get to feeling this way, because we do quite appropriately put a great deal of stress on correctly understanding what the Bible has to say. When you add to that the nice note in James 4:1, “Not many of you should become teachers . . .” and the fear becomes set in concrete.

The questioner generally also asks me how the great scholars, you know, the ones who wrote the notes in their study Bible, manage to figure out what the text means. “I read the text, and then I read the notes,” they say, “and I just can’t see how they got the note out of the text!” I have to tell them that sometimes the note isn’t right either. I have quite a collection of Bibles with study notes, and I can tell you that there are substantial differences in what they say.

But here’s the text from Deuteronomy:

(17) Perhaps you will say in your heart, “These nations are greater than we are, how can we dispossess them?” (18) You must not be afraid of them, but you must surely remember what YHWH your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt, (19) the great testing that your eyes saw, and the signs and the wonders and the strong hand and stretched out arm with which YHWH your God brought you out. YHWH you God will do the same thing to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. — Deuteronomy 7:17-19

Now we’re not talking about facing armies. We’re just talking about understanding scripture. But for some people it seems just as much an insurmountable project. How can you understand God’s word?

But the answer is right there: Remember! Remember what God has done! How does that apply to Bible study? Well, consider Isaiah 55:11–his word will not return empty. God was able to give the word to the prophet in the first place, no small accomplishment considering the distance between infinite God and finite human. He managed to keep it in existence until you had a moment to see it. Maybe he can manage to help you get past your fear and understand it.

The same God who put it there will help you understand. He didn’t say it would be easy. But he did say it would be worth it. If you’re a Christian, somewhere along the line you comprehended John 3:16. Probably you have some understanding of Matthew 22:37-39 (love for God and love for your neighbor). That’s the starting point. God helped you understand that. Remember! If you’re much more advanced than that, perhaps this note is a bit too simple for you. On the other hand you may have some new level of study or understanding that God is calling you to, but you don’t think you can manage. Remember! The same reliable, gracious God is still with you.

(9) So know that YHWH your God is God. He is a reliable God who keeps covenant and grace to those who love him and to those who keep his commands to a thousand generations. — Deuteronomy 7:9