ReadHisWord.com

The Bible is the greatest book in the universe. Much more than merely a Christian book of morals and stories, the Bible is the actual speaking of God to man. But how did the Word of our God, recorded so long ago, reach us in written form today? The Bible has taken an incredible journey—from God's mouth to our hands. To grasp the magnitude and preciousness of this journey, we will look into the three major steps of the process by which God's word has reached us: transmission, translation, and interpretation. In the first step, transmission, God communicated His word to man by speaking to man so that it could be recorded and preserved in written form. In the second step of the journey, translation, the Bible was made available to all men in the languages common people could understand. Thousands willingly risked and even gave up their lives to translate the Word for all to read. Finally, in the step of interpretation, as the culmination of the first two steps, God used faithful men to extract the profound and hidden truths in the Word through the proper interpretation of the Bible. These three steps, comprising the Bible's epic journey, have brought forth the transmitted, properly translated, and properly interpreted Recovery Version of the Bible. Now the Bible is unlocked and more accessible than ever before. Today, by God's mercy, we stand at an unprecedented point in the glorious journey of the Bible.

Our God is a speaking God (Heb. 1:1-2). He has given us a great treasure—His speaking, recorded in physical form as the Holy Bible. Through His speaking, God has manifested Himself to humanity. Such a manifestation of Himself is the revelation of the very being and purpose of God. What God spoke, man recorded, thus preserving God's speaking for all men. The transmission of the Holy Bible is the process by which man obtained, preserved, and passed on God's speaking through time.

From God

To further understand the transmission of the Bible, we need to examine the Bible's source and essence and the means by which God conveyed His speaking to us. Second Timothy 3:16a tells us that "all Scripture is God-breathed." That the Bible is the very breath of God proves that the source of the Bible is none other than God Himself. Not only is the source of the Bible God, but the very essence, the constituent, of the Word is also God as the Spirit. In John 6:63 Jesus said, "The words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life." God is Spirit, hence the Word is the embodiment of God as the Spirit; when you touch the Word, you touch God as the Spirit. God's breathing was also the means by which He conveyed His word to man (2 Tim. 3:16). As a book, the Bible stands alone; its source, essence, and how it was conveyed to man set it apart from all works that draw their source from human authors.

To Man

While the Bible is God's own speaking, God used man to record what He spoke to them. Second Peter 1:21 declares that "men spoke from God while being borne by the Holy Spirit." Although it was men who physically recorded the words contained in the Bible, man's will, desire, and wish, with his thought and exposition, were not the source from which God's speaking arose.¹ The source of the Bible is God, by whose Holy Spirit men were borne to speak out God's will, desire, and wish.² Therefore, while the source of the Bible is God, man was the means by which God recorded and preserved His word. Man is also the intended recipient of God's Word.

The Languages of the Bible

Because God "desires all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:4), the Bible was written in languages understood and spoken by people. The Bible is one book. However, because the tumultuous history of the Jews, the people to whom God entrusted the recording of the Bible, it was written in three languages—Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Hebrew was the original language of God's chosen people, Israel. God arranged that the first Hebrew, Abraham, would leave Babylon, give up the Babylonian language, and acquire a new language, the language of Canaan, which eventually developed into Hebrew. The Old Testament's first recipients were Abraham's descendents, the Israelites, who spoke Hebrew. While parts of the Old Testament were being written, Israel was in captivity in the lands of Aramaic speaking people; thus, a few portions in the Old Testament are recorded in Aramaic. These portions are related or are directly addressed to the captors of the Jews.³

During the Roman Empire, when the New Testament was written, the Jews spoke Aramaic among themselves.⁴ While there are a few Aramaic words recorded in the New Testament, it was in Greek—rich, concise, and expressive—that the majority of the New Testament was originally recorded. Greek was not only the best language for recording and conveying the richness of the Bible from a linguistic point of view but also the lingua franca (universal language) of the Roman Empire, which at that time encompassed most of the known world. Because the New Testament was recorded in Greek, the revelation contained in the Scriptures was widely spread throughout the Mediterranean world and beyond. The Bible's being recorded and preserved in human languages shows that what God conveyed in the Bible was meant for man to understand and enjoy.

Media

Unlike today, during the time the Bible was written, writing materials were costly and not easily obtainable. Generally speaking, the most durable, cost-efficient, and accessible materials were chosen to record and reproduce the text of the Bible. In the ancient world the media that met these requirements progressed from stone to clay tablets, papyrus, leather, parchment, and eventually paper.

If the Bible had not been recorded upon suitable media that could be preserved and disseminated with relative ease, the revelation of the person and purpose of God would have been available and beneficial only to the people and time during which it was recorded. However, because God desires that man have access to His Word, the Bible was recorded on the most suitable and durable materials available. Today, the revelation contained in the Bible is readily accessible to man.

Canonization

Man's recognition that what was written down and recorded by God-inspired men was in fact God's own speaking is called canonization. The word canon has two basic meanings in relation to the Scripture: (1) the list of books accepted as being the Holy Scripture, and (2) a rule or standard. The Bible is the rule or standard against which all Christian beliefs and practices are measured.⁵

It is important to understand that regardless of whether or not man recognizes the divine speaking as the speaking of God, it is still the Word of God. It neither requires nor benefits from man's acknowledgement of it. Historically, however, from man's standpoint, the last part of the Bible's transmission was its recognition by men as the Word of God. The Bible's canonization over time attests to its authenticity as God's Word. One author describes the process of canonization by saying:

There is no need to declare a tree by its name. It only needs to grow up gradually, to bloom, and to bear fruit; spontaneously men will recognize what kind of tree it is. In the same way, whether or not the books of the Bible were from God is best answered by the test of time. The values and authority of the books spontaneously manifest themselves.⁶

The Translators' Sacrifice

It is no small matter that today we can read the Bible in a language we understand. Although the Word of God had been completely transmitted and recorded for hundreds of years, at times, almost no one could read it. According to 1 Timothy 2:4, God "desires all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth." However, for all men to receive salvation and come to the full knowledge of the truth man had to be able to apprehend the salvation that is offered to him and understand the truth God desires him to come to the full knowledge of. All men speak many different languages. Therefore, in order to reach all men, it was necessary for the Bible to be translated into languages accessible to every man. The work of providing all men with a translation of the Holy Word is the goal of translation.

The work of translating the Bible into languages that all men could understand was not an endeavor without opposition and sacrifice. As men began to translate the Bible into vernacular (common) languages, such as German, French, and English, fierce resistance arose from the Roman Catholic Church. Because much of what the Church taught and practiced was not mentioned or even forbidden in the Bible, giving the common people access to the pure Word of God would have meant a sure end to the system of the clergy with all of the benefits to those who were in its ranks. Working directly with secular (non-religious) sovereigns and nations, the Catholic church systematically slaughtered thousands of believers who disagreed with its doctrines and practices. Instead of taking man's speaking, these believers endeavored to either translate or read the Word of God in languages they could understand. To translate the Bible into the vernacular languages of the day was to risk one's life. Nevertheless, adversity and opposition could not deter those who sought to make God's word available to all. Testifying of the resolve that he and his fellow reformers shared, Martin Luther wrote, "The body they may kill; God's truth abideth still..."⁷ It was words like these, and the words of the Book these men so diligently translated, that would sustain them in their work in their most trying and even final hours. Today, as the benefactors of their labor and sacrifice, we do well to treasure, read, and assimilate the product of all their work.

Literacy

Because faithful men labored and risked their lives, the truth of the Bible was made available to all men. However, the common man needed to have the ability to read. Furthermore, in order to spread vernacular translations of the Bible, there was a need for a technology that could produce millions of copies of the Bible. During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, these needs were met.

Prior to the fourteenth century, literacy was rare and often limited to the clergy. But the new culture of the Italian Renaissance at that time promoted literacy as a social endeavor rather than a skill limited to the clergy. By the beginning of the fifteenth century, the clergy's monopoly on literacy was being decisively overthrown. The ability to read and write was highly esteemed and regarded with immense importance. Reading became a matter of personal enrichment. As a result, the demand for books soared. One scholar noted that "the rise in literacy created a virtually insatiable appetite for reading material," yet the supply of books lagged far behind.⁸

The Mass Publication Revolution

Before the invention of the printing press, book production was labor intensive, costly, and highly inefficient. Trained scribes painstakingly copied text and illustrations by hand. Because of the rise in literacy and the correspondingly high demand for books, entreprenuers began to search for a way to improve the inefficient process of book making and to reduce the cost. Five men would join in the frantic race to find a way to mass produce books, but it was Johannes Gutenberg who was the first to break through with a new technology, movable metal type. Having completed his colossal invention, the first modern printing press, he proceeded to print a book—The Book. In 1456, Guttenburg produced the first printed Bible.⁹

It is impossible to quantify the effect the printing press has had upon humanity. One historian relates, "Now copies of books could be reproduced more rapidly, more cheaply, and with a higher degree of accuracy than had ever been possible previously."¹⁰ Of particular importance is the profound effect that printing had on the journey of the Bible. Without the printing press the translated Bible would not have been as widely available to all men. Gutenberg's invention paved the way for the work of those who translated the Bible into vernacular languages to flourish.

William Tyndale, to whom we owe the first printed English Bible,¹¹ was greatly used by the Lord to make His pure word accessible and understandable to ordinary men. For many centuries, governments and religion severely limited the layperson's access to the Bible by confining translations to languages requiring scholarly study. Yet Tyndale was driven by the belief that "the root cause of much confusion in people's minds [in Biblical matters] was ignorance of the Scripture. If this ignorance could be corrected, the eyes of all would be opened and the truth made clearly known."¹² Armed with such a conviction, he devoted his life to properly translating and widely distributing the Bible in the language of the common man. Despite the repeated confiscation and destruction of his work and constant threat to his life, he remained faithful to his service in the face of immense opposition, even until his death as a martyr.

An inspired and prolific translator, William Tyndale faithfully rendered the original Greek text into the first complete printed New Testament in English, the 1526 Worms New Testament, of which two copies still exist.¹³ He was the first to translate anything from Hebrew, a language virtually unknown in England at the time, into English when he published the Pentateuch in 1530.¹⁴ Ironically, though Tyndale spent much of his life working amid relentless persecution from the King of England, the highly regarded King James Bible, published only eighty years after his version was printed, borrowed from his work almost word for word.¹⁵

William Tyndale's effect on the English language is immeasurable, even to the extent that some claim, "Without Tyndale, no Shakespeare."¹⁶ Tyndale's masterful work demonstrates his greatly admired talent in balancing accuracy and clarity, the latter affording him great variety of expression. His unique ability as a translator came from his technical skills of fluent and accurate Greek, Hebrew, Latin, German, and four other languages, and from his complete understanding of the complex art of rhetoric.¹⁷ His unadorned poetic style in structuring the English translation can be seen in many widely recognized phrases, such as: "let there be light" (Gen. 1:3), "my brother's keeper" (Gen. 4:9), "the salt of the earth" (Matt. 5:13), "give us this day our daily bread" (Matt. 6:11 King James Version), "for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found" (Luke 15:32 King James Version), and "the powers that be" (Rom. 13:1 King James Version).

Tyndale was born in Gloucestershire, England circa 1494 (the exact date of his birth is not known) into a prosperous, well-connected family. He studied at the University of Oxford, obtaining his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1512 and his Masters in 1515, which permitted him for the first time to read theology. He was appalled that this official study did not include studying the Scripture.¹⁸ He later attended Cambridge University, where he may have gained his competency in Greek. For a short period he was a tutor to a Gloucestershire family, where at the dinner table he would engage local church officials in lively discourse over what were often conflicting views of Biblical truths. He was even summoned before the diocese on a charge of heresy, which was dropped. John Fox, in his Book of Martyrs, describes one debate during which Tyndale announced to a clergyman that he meant to translate the Bible into English so that even a farmer could know more of the Scriptures than the clergyman himself.¹⁹

Since Tyndale could not carry out his desire to translate the Word in England without episcopal license, he went to London where he unsuccessfully appealed to the Bishop of London, Cuthbert Tunstall, to support his work. Since it was difficult, if not impossible, to independently translate the Bible in England, as King Henry VIII was a Catholic "Defender of the Faith," he sailed for contintental Europe and began translating the New Testament into English in early 1524. By August 1525, the work was practically complete and prepared for printing in Cologne, Germany. The local government, alerted to the progress, forbade the printing, causing Tyndale to gather his work before it was seized and flee up the Rhine to Worms. The first complete printed New Testament in English appeared in February 1526, and copies began to reach England one month later.²⁰

For the first time, the whole New Testament, faithfully translated from the Greek (rather than from the erroneous Catholic Latin version), could be read by anyone. This alarmed the English authorities, and Bishop Tunstall himself sent out a prohibition of the book, labeling it a "pestiferous and most pernicious poison."²¹ He began gathering all the copies he could find for public burnings and buying large quantities of the books in Europe before they reached England. Tyndale used much of the money he received from these bulk orders to then revise and print updated versions. Though the Church authorities tried to prevent the spread of Tyndale's Testaments, they did not succeed. There is evidence that in many parts of England, groups of people met to read and hear the Word.²²

William Tyndale spent the next few years working freely in Antwerp, but in the spring of 1535 a young Englishman befriended him and then treacherously betrayed him for money. Tyndale was kidnapped and imprisoned in the fortress of Vilvorde, just north of Brussels. He was tried for heresy before seventeen commissioners and chose to defend himself, not by legal manuvering but from the Scriptures. He wrote his defense in a book entitled Sola fides justificat apud Deum, "faith alone justifies before God."²³ Eventually he was condemned to death, and after sixteen months in prison, was "brought forth to the place of execution...tied to the stake, strangled by the hangman, and afterwards consumed with fire, at the town of Vilvorde, 1536; crying at the stake with a fervent zeal, and a loud voice, 'Lord, open the king of England's eyes!'"²⁴

Surely Tyndale would have rejoiced to know that his prayer was heard: within months of his martyrdom, a complete English Bible, two-thirds of it his work, and licensed by King Henry VIII himself, was circulating in Britain.²⁵

Bible transmission transferred God's breath from its intangible reality into written text readable and knowable by man. Translation involved the entire process of translating the written manuscripts from their ancient tongues into the modern languages we now speak. The capstone of the entire process of receiving and unlocking the Bible, however, is the extracting of the intended meaning from the contents. It is not sufficient that the Bible is translated into our language; for us to comprehend the text, we need adequate interpretation so that we understand what we are reading.

The Lord's word is food to us (Matt. 4:4), yet for it to nourish us we need the Word to be opened to us, bringing us into proper understanding. Therefore, the Psalmist delighted not only in the Lord's word (119:16), but also in the "opening of [the] word," which "gives light, / Imparting understanding to the simple" (v.130). Proper spiritual interpretation opens the Word so that we can perceive its proper meaning.

The science of interpretation, known as hermeneutics, has historically involved precise attention to the grammar and logic, as well as psychological and historical contexts of the Bible. The objective of hermeneutics is to develop an interpretational key, a governing principle which stands apart from individual passages, to present the central message of the Bible. Interpreting the Bible guided by a hermeneutic key is necessary, particularly in rendering challenging passages, in resolving apparent discrepancies, and in assembling the central message of the Bible developed through various passages. Throughout history interpreters of the Bible have developed different hermeneutic keys, touching on various aspects of God's interactions with and activities related to man. The highest and best hermeneutic should ultimately reveal not only what God does but who God is according to His intrinsic being. The master key to unlocking the full meaning in the Bible is the central line of God's economy, which reflects the intrinsic being of the Triune God: God is Triune to dispense Himself into our being as our life, life supply, and everything to produce and constitute us as His corporate expression.

A Key to Understanding: Tools of Interpretation

A major deficiency of written text is its inability to fully convey the tone or sense of dialogue as clearly as an animate speaker could. For this reason, even in the Old Testament when the Scriptures were read aloud, the reading was accompanied by "interpreting and giving the sense" so that the people "understood the reading" (Neh. 8:8). Translation by itself is in one sense a very elementary form of interpretation, but is as if we were left with a transcript of a discussion without a clear sense of the speaker's tone, inflection, pacing, volume, even gestures and movements. Such paraverbal and nonverbal elements of speech are regarded by communications studies to account for a staggering ninety percent of what is understood and perceived.²⁶ From this we can begin to understand the necessity not only for an accurate translation but for an accompanying interpretation to fully communicate the sense of a passage.

The hermeneutic study of Scripture is not a casual process of interpretation but the establishment of a solid and "complex set of rules for finding and expressing the true sense of the inspired writers."²⁷ While formalizing and standardizing a basis for interpretation cannot eliminate discrepancies among different interpretations, it can expose a host of illogical, irrelevant, or otherwise improper interpretations. An external framework for evaluating passages in a work as complex and rich as the Bible, which contain the writings of over forty authors in an array of literary genres, draws out a central line in the Scriptures as a context for assembling the intended meaning of the Word.

The object of hermeneutics is to capture the sincere and full sense of each passage of the Bible. Indices examined for hermeneutic study are (1) the language of the text—presupposing a knowledge of the original languages of the sacred texts and examining their grammar and logic, (2) the context of the text—the relation of a particular passage to its surrounding verses and the overall context of its book, (3) the psychology of the writer and the historical context, and (4) the items of truth discussed by the particular passage, e.g. justification, sanctification, salvation, etc., according to their full definition and development through Scripture. Therefore, the tools aiding hermeneutical study include word studies, lexicons, and commentaries.

Then, based on these textual elements, hermeneutics will tend to expound a passage along particular lines of meaning: (1) literal, (2) moral, (3) allegorical, or (4) anagogical (prophetic). Another prevailing hermeneutic principle is parallelism, i.e., interpreting the Scriptures by means of the Scriptures based on the belief of the unity of Scripture. All of these principles suggest that there is a view that underlies the text of the Scriptures, stands apart from individual passages, and unifies the message of the Bible. The body of these principles applied to one's reading of the Word supply the hermeneutic key by which you interpret and understand the Bible.

Historical Progression of Interpretation

Through two thousand years of church history we can see a spectrum of interpretations that guided the understanding and teaching of prominent Bible teachers. There are several interpretational keys which have greatly advanced our understanding of the Scriptures:

• Law & Gospel: Martin Luther, long heralded as the "father of the Reformation," applied the distinction between the law and the gospel as the governing principle in his understanding and teaching of the entire Bible. In fact, Luther summarized the entire Old Testament as being the law, representing God's demands upon man and exposing his inability to fulfill these demands, and the New Testament as the gospel, being a book full of the glad tidings of God's promises through Christ, particularly to justify man by faith. Luther clearly stated that "[t]here is no book in the Bible in which both are not found. God has always placed side by side both law and promise."²⁸ Luther encouraged others to read the Bible based on this principle: "Therefore, hold to this distinction, and no matter what books you have before you, be they of the Old or of the New Testament, read them with a discrimination [of law and gospel]"²⁹
• Covenants: Reformed theology, grounded in the teachings of John Calvin, interprets the Bible based on two covenants—the so-called covenant of works and the covenant of grace, which advocates an extreme view of predestination. While there are passages which seem to support Calvin's covenant theology, this particular interpretation needs proper balancing and the understanding of the richness of the divine truth.
• Sanctification: John Wesley's interpretation of the Bible introduced the teaching of the eradication of sin through instantaneous and gradual sanctification. Thus, man is both justified by faith and also sanctified by faith.
• Dispensations: John Nelson Darby, a leader of the Plymouth Brethren, greatly advanced the understanding of dispensations whereby God deals with man in different ways in different ages according to His purpose in that particular age. The Brethren understood the "cutting straight of the word" (2 Tim. 2:15) to be the dividing of the Bible into its various dispensations of innocence, conscience, human government, promise, law, grace, and kingdom.

All these interpretational keys have Scriptural basis, and for the most part, have advanced our understanding of the Bible. The simultaneous existence of multiple valid interpretational guides—not to mention many conflicting ones as well—suggests that an interpretation's basis in Scripture and its logical soundness are not sufficient in rendering a fully satisfactory hermeneutic key. An interpretation of Scripture, while generally applied to the entire text, may be 100 percent correct, but its scope may only pertain to 10 percent of the revelation in the Bible. Therefore, the progression of interpretation leads us to search for an ultimate interpretational key to the Scripture that not only does not invalidate other sound interpretational keys but also is entirely supported by the text of the Scripture and encompasses the Bible's full revelation.

Other interpretations of the Bible may account for God as the Righteous Judge, as the Creator, or as our Heavenly Father. But no previous interpretational key offers an explanation to God's being Triune.³⁰ Why is He specifically the Father, Son, and Spirit? The economy of God explains this and is therefore the master key to understanding the central revelation of the Bible: God's dispensing Himself—with the Father as the source, in the Son as the course, and as the Spirit as the flow—into man for His corporate expression for eternity.

Preface to the New Testament Recovery Version

Throughout the centuries, translations of the Bible have steadily improved. In general, each new translation inherits from previous ones and opens the way for later ones. While a new translation derives help from its predecessors, it should go further. The Recovery Version³¹ of the Holy Bible, following the precedent set by the major authoritative English versions and taking these versions as reference, not only incorporates lessons learned from an examination of others' practices but also attempts to avoid biases and inaccurate judgments. This version, frequently guided by other versions, attempts to provide the best utterance for the revelation in the divine Word, that it may be expressed in the English language with the greatest accuracy.

Translating the Bible depends not only on an adequate comprehension of the original language but also on a proper understanding of the divine revelation in the holy Word. Throughout the centuries the understanding of the divine revelation possessed by the saints has always been based upon the light they received, and this understanding has progressed steadily. The consummation of this understanding forms the basis of this translation and its footnotes. Hence, this translation and the accompanying footnotes could be called the "crystallization" of the understanding of the divine revelation which the saints everywhere have attained to in the past two thousand years. It is our hope that the Recovery Version will carry on the heritage that it has received and will pave the way for future generations.

As with any translation of the Bible, the determination of the original text, based upon the available manuscripts, forms the basis for the text of the Recovery Version of the Holy Bible. The translation of the Old Testament is based on the current scholarly text of the Hebrew Scriptures, Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS; revised 1990 edition). The New Testament follows, for the most part, the Nestle-Aland Greek text as found in Novum Testamentum Graece (26th edition). However, in determining the original form of any verse, the translators of the Recovery Version gave careful consideration to the larger context of chapter and book and to similar portions of the Old and New Testaments. The most recently discovered manuscripts or the manuscripts of oldest date are not necessarily the most accurate or reliable; hence, the determination of the text for this version was based largely upon the principle stated above. Departures from these editions are generally indicated in the footnotes.

The Recovery Version embodies extensive research into the meaning of the original text and attempts to express this meaning with English that is to the point, easy to understand, and readable. In those places where it is difficult to express the exact meaning of the original Hebrew and Greek, explanatory footnotes have been supplied.

The subject provided at the beginning of each book and the outline of each book take the historical facts as their base and express the spiritual meaning in each book. The footnotes stress the revelation of the truth, the spiritual light, and the supply of life more than history, geography, and persons. The cross references lead not only to other verses with the same expressions and facts but also to other matters related to the spiritual revelation in the divine Word.

Endnotes:

¹ 2 Pet. 1:21, note 2, The New Testament Recovery Version, 2^nd ed. (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1991).
² 2 Pet. 1:21, note 2, The New Testament Recovery Version, 2^nd ed. (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1991).
³ Witness Lee, On Knowing the Bible (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1990), 28.
⁴ Witness Lee, On Knowing the Bible (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1990), 27.
⁵ F.F. Bruce, The Canon of Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 17-18.
⁶ Witness Lee, On Knowing the Bible (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1990), 34.
⁷ "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God," #886 in Hymns (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1980).
⁸ Alister McGrath, In the Beginning: The Story of the King James Bible and How It Changed a Nation, a Language, and a Culture (New York: Anchor Books, Random House, 2002), 8,14.
⁹ Alister McGrath, In the Beginning: The Story of the King James Bible and How It Changed a Nation, a Language, and a Culture (New York: Anchor Books, Random House, 2002), 9-15.
¹⁰ Bruce Metzger, The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration, 3^rd enlg. ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992), 95.
¹¹ F.F. Bruce, History of the Bible in English, 3^rd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1978), 28.
¹² F.F. Bruce, History of the Bible in English, 3^rd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1978), 28-29.
¹³ F.F. Bruce, History of the Bible in English, 3^rd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1978), 31.
¹⁴ David Daniell, The Bible in English (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003), 147-148.
¹⁵ David Daniell, William Tyndale: A Biography (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994), 2.
¹⁶ David Daniell, The Bible in English (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003), 158.
¹⁷ David Daniell, The Bible in English (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003), 133.
¹⁸ David Daniell, The Bible in English (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003), 140.
¹⁹ F.F. Bruce, History of the Bible in English, 3^rd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1978), 28-29.
²⁰ F.F. Bruce, History of the Bible in English, 3^rd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1978), 30-31.
²¹ Alfred W. Pollard, Records of the English Bible: The Documents Relating to the Translation and Publication of the Bible in English, 1525-1611 (London: Oxford University Press, 1911), 109.
²² David Daniell, The Bible in English (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003), 144-146.
²³ David Daniell, The Bible in English (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003), 154-155.
²⁴ John Fox, Fox's Book of Martyrs, ed. William Byron Forbrush (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1978), 184.
²⁵ David Daniell, The Bible in English (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003), 157.
²⁶ A. Mehrabian and M. Weiner, "Decoding of Inconsistent Communication," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 6, no. 1 (May 1967): 109-114.
A. Mehrabian and S. Ferris, "Inference of Attitudes from Nonverbal Communication in Two Channels," Journal of Consulting Psychology 31, no. 3 (June 1967): 248-252.
²⁷ The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 7, 1^st ed., s.v. "Hermeneutics," http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/.
²⁸ Bucher, Rev. Dr. Richard, ed., "Sermon for the Third Sunday in Advent, Matthew 11:2-10," in The Sermons of Martin Luther (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1983), 1:100, http://www.trinitylutheranms.org/MartinLuther/SermonsPage.html.
²⁹ Bucher, Rev. Dr. Richard, ed., "Sermon for the Third Sunday in Advent, Matthew 11:2-10," in The Sermons of Martin Luther (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1983), 1:100, http://www.trinitylutheranms.org/MartinLuther/SermonsPage.html.
³⁰ Kerry S. Robichaux, "A Prolegomenon to a Hermeneutic of the Bible According to the Intrinsic Being of God," Affirmation and Critique 4, no. 3 (July 1999): 12-14.
³¹ Witness Lee and the [Living Stream Ministry] Editorial Section, "A Brief Explanation," The New Testament Recovery Version (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1991). Used by permission.

Note: All Bible verses quoted or cited in the text are from the Holy Bible Recovery Version, published by Living Stream Ministry, unless otherwise noted.

God has given Himself to us in the Bible. The Bible is God's breath, the essence of His person (2 Tim. 3:16), God's speaking out through men borne by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:21), God's speaking in the prophets and in the Son (Heb. 1:1-2), and the Holy Spirit's revelation (John 16:13).

The Bible is the foundation of Western civilization—morally, politically, literarily. Even the secular world recognizes the Bible as the most influential book in the world. It is the highest in its record of the origin of man, human history, and prophecies and in its wisdom, profoundness, ethics, and morality. While these qualities are compelling enough reasons to read the Bible, they cannot compare with the amazing fact that God Himself is embodied and expressed in His Word. But God does not want His words to remain confined in a book. John 15:7 speaks of the Lord's words abiding in us, and Colossians 3:16 charges us to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly. God's destination is our inward being, and He gets there through His Word. By reading the Bible with our spirit, we can activate everything that the Bible is and make it a part of us, enabling us to touch God and allowing Him to enter into us.

Once in us, the Lord's word is living and operative (Heb. 4:12); every reality of God that the Bible reveals comes alive in our daily experience. When we read the Bible in a consistent and living way, the Bible becomes a subjective and practical part of our daily living. It imparts a revelation of God's person and economy to us, filling us with life, truth, and light. Our spiritual life depends on the nourishment we receive from the supply of life in the Word. By contacting the Lord through our reading of the Bible, we are washed, filled in spirit, and infused with faith. Furthermore, as we receive more of the Word, the Lord Himself increases within us, and we mature to become full-grown (Col. 1:28), fully-equipped men of God (2 Tim. 3:17).

John 1:1 declares, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." This verse indicates that God and the Word are not separate but one.¹ Christ is the living Word of God (John 1:14), and the Bible is the written Word of God. Although Christ is not physically with us, He is the Spirit, embodied and expressed in the written Word of God.

The Word is God.... It is the embodiment of God Himself. This does not mean that we consider the words in black and white as the living God. What we mean is that the words in black and white contain God Himself.²

The Word is the definition, explanation, and expression of God; hence, the Word is God defined, explained, and expressed. God is mysterious. He needs the Word to express Him....This Word is actually God Himself, not God hidden, concealed, and mysterious, but God defined, explained, and expressed.³

The Bible is God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16). His Word is His speaking, and His speaking is the breathing out of Himself. When we touch the breath of God in the Bible, we touch the spirit of the Bible, which is nothing less than God Himself (John 6:63). We not only touch God by reading the Bible, but because the Word is God, when we get the Bible into us by receiving it with our spirit, we get God into us.

God's Word is God's breathing out (2 Tim. 3:16)....To God it is a matter of breathing out; to us it is a matter of breathing in. Through God's breathing out and our breathing in, God's word enters into us and becomes our life and life supply...full of spiritual breath.⁴

As Christians, our greatest joy, or shall we say, our greatest blessing, is to be able to contact God and taste Him daily through the word of His breath.⁵

We must read the Bible to know God's revelation to man. In addition to revealing God's person to us, the Bible also reveals God's plan to accomplish His heart's desire. God's heart's desire is expressed in His economy, which is His plan to dispense Himself as life into us so that we can become His expression. The center of this plan is Christ, and the goal of this plan is the church. The Old Testament contains types, shadows, and figures that show us God's economy. All these types, shadows, and figures are fulfilled and realized in the New Testament.⁶ When we read the Bible, we not only see more of this revelation, but this revelation becomes a part of us, a controlling vision that guides our entire Christian life. Reading the Bible brings us into God's economy.

The Bible, composed of two testaments, the Old Testament and the New Testament, is the complete written divine revelation of God to man. The major revelation in the entire Bible is the unique divine economy of the Triune God (Eph. 1:10; 3:9; 1 Tim. 1:4b). The centrality and universality of this divine economy is the all-inclusive and unsearchably rich Christ...The goal of the divine economy is the church as the Body, the fullness, the expression of Christ (Eph. 1:22b-23; 3:8-11)...The accomplishing of the divine economy is revealed in the Bible progressively in many steps...⁷

By reading the Bible, we come to know the truth. The Lord Jesus said that God's word is truth (John 17:17). Truth brings us the knowledge of all the realities in the universe, particularly the reality of Christ and the church, and reveals God in His person and economy. First Timothy 2:4 speaks of coming to the full knowledge of the truth. By this verse we see that there is an aspect of progression in fully knowing the truth. The Bible always has more to speak to us concerning the truth. Therefore, we must regularly read the Word so that we can be filled more and more with truth and revelation.

Truth brings us revelation and knowledge of all the realities in the universe, such as the reality of God, the reality of man, the reality of the universe, the reality of the things of the present age, the coming age, and the eternal age, and in particular, the reality of the Christ appointed by God and the church chosen by Him....The Lord Jesus indicates that God's word in the Bible is truth; it reveals the reality of God Himself and of His economy for us to obtain.⁸

The Bible is also life; when we read it with our spirit, we get life. The Lord said, "The words I have spoken to you are spirit and are life" (John 6:63). Life is God Himself coming to be our life. By our reading the Bible, which is the embodiment of God, He comes into us as life. The more this divine life grows within us, the more we become His expression. Hence, we need to read the Bible so that we may continually receive God as life into us that we may express Him to fulfill His heart's desire.

The Bible is a book of life. This life is nothing less than the living Person of Christ.⁹

Life is God coming to be our life that we may be regenerated, grow, be transformed, and be conformed into the image of Christ, who expresses God, that we may become the expression of God....Since the words [of the Bible] contain life, they are able to supply life, and this life is God Himself. This proves that the main content of the Bible is not only truth but also life.¹⁰

Now that we understand more of what the Bible is, we can see that it is a book we can actually realize and experience. The Bible is a book of divine revelation, truth, and life. What other book is filled with life—life that we can obtain and enjoy? The Bible is unique among all books in that it is experiential. By God's mercy, we have a very tangible book that opens the way to all spiritual experience. By reading the Bible in a habitual and proper way, we can enter into the depths of this reality. Read further to see the experiential characteristics of the Bible.

In Our Initial Experiences of God

In our initial experience of God, the Bible testifies concerning the Lord Jesus, makes us wise unto salvation, and causes us to be regenerated.

It is these [the Scriptures] that testify concerning Me [Christ]. (John 5:39)

The sacred writings, which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. (2 Tim. 3:15)

Having been regenerated not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, through the living and abiding word of God. (1 Pet. 1:23)

Some came to know the Lord and received Him just by reading John 14:6, which says, "I am the way and the reality and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me." This kind of salvation experience attests to the power of the Bible as the embodiment of God to make a person "wise unto salvation" and to regenerate a person with the divine life it contains.

Being Our Food

We must read the Bible because our spiritual life depends on it. As with all life, if our spiritual life does not receive nourishment, it will weaken and wither. The Bible is our spiritual food. It is both our spiritual milk and bread of life. We must daily nourish our spiritual life by reading the Word.

As newborn babes, long for the guileless milk of the word in order that by it you may grow unto salvation. (1 Pet. 2:2)

Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God. (Matt. 4:4)

Just as our physical life needs nourishment, so also our spiritual life needs nourishment. The nourishment of our spiritual life can only be supplied by the word of the Bible. In order to be living and strong before God, we cannot depend on bread alone, but on every word, that is, the word of the Bible, that proceeds out through the mouth of God. We must take the word of God as food and eat it (Jer. 15:16)...Otherwise, our spiritual life cannot grow.¹¹

Many verses speak of the Bible being our food and of ones who took in the Word as their sustenance:

Your words were found and I ate them, / And Your word became to me / The gladness and joy of my heart. (Jer. 15:16)

I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my apportioned food. (Job 23:12)

In the same way that our physical food becomes a part of us metabolically, our taking in the Bible as food produces a change in our constitution. The more we eat God's Word, the more we are filled and constituted with Him.

Just as the food we eat and digest nourishes us from within, metabolically changing and transforming us, so the Word of God transforms us by inwardly teaching, reproving, correcting, and instructing us.¹²

According to the entire revelation in the Holy Bible, God's words are good for us to eat, and we need to eat them (Psa. 119:103; Matt. 4:4; Heb. 5:12-14; 1 Pet. 2:2-3). God's word is the divine supply as food to nourish us. Through the word as our food, God dispenses His riches into our inner being to nourish us that we may be constituted with His element. This is a crucial aspect of God's economy. When we eat God's words, His word becomes our heart's gladness and joy.¹³

If we don't eat physical food our bodies will grow weaker until we eventually die. In the same way, when we neglect the Word, we feel spiritually weak, dry, and dead. But this unhealthy situation can be reversed when we return to take in the proper nourishment. When we eat the Word, we are revived, supplied, and strengthened spiritually.

Giving Us Light

Psalm 119:105 says, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." Verse 130 goes on to say, "The opening of Your words gives light." Thus, our reading of the Word produces a result:

When God's word is opened or unfolded to us, it gives us light, shining inwardly over our heart and our spirit to impart wisdom and revelation to us.¹⁴

When God's word says, 'God is light,' it carries God as light in it.¹⁵

Many times we have the experience that when we spend time in the Word, we receive the shining of God as light in our being, making us clear and full of light and revelation.

Watering and Refreshing Us

When we live apart from the Lord and His Word, or when the dust of the old and common things settles on us as we go about our daily activities at work or in school, we feel dry and stale. But because the Word is living and new, when we read it we are watered, refreshed, and invigorated.

Let my teaching drop like the rain; / Let my speech distill like the dew, / Like raindrops upon tender grass, / And like abundant showers upon herbage. (Deut. 32:2)

God has sent forth His Word to water His people...¹⁶

Enabling God's Instant Speaking

Without God's written word, it would be difficult for us to have His instant word. The Greek word for Word used in John 1:1 is logos, which denotes the constant word, the eternal and unchanging word of God. This constant word is necessary in order for us to have the rhema, the Greek word for words used in John 6:63 denoting the instant and present spoken word.¹⁷ While the logos word is outside of us, when we receive it into our being it becomes the rhema word within us; this word is spirit and life. Often we experience the word that we read before moving within us as the Spirit, speaking to us, teaching us, reproving us, and correcting us. This speaking is the instant word of the indwelling Christ, the rhema word, which issues from our receiving the logos word. We need to let the constant word of God inhabit us richly (Col. 3:16) so that the Lord's instant word can also abide in us (John 15:7). The more we have God's instant speaking, the more we enjoy His presence, see His revelation, and have His leading.

God's speaking to man today is based upon what He has already spoken in the past. God rarely speaks things which He has not already spoken in the Bible....If a person does not know what God has spoken in the past, it is difficult for him to receive His revelation in the present because he lacks the basis for God's speaking. Moreover, if God wants to speak something to others through us, He will also do it on the basis of what He has spoken in the past. If we do not know what God has said in the past, He cannot speak through us to others, and we are useless in the eyes of God. This is why we need to let the word of God dwell in us richly. By letting His word dwell in us richly, we know His past ways and hear His present speaking.¹⁸

To live the Christian life we need to read the Bible. We cannot survive without the provisions in the Word. Moreover, through reading the Word, all of our spiritual problems—our real problems—are solved. The Bible is the answer to our questions. How do I enjoy the Lord? How do I escape the world? How do I live the proper life? So many questions about our daily life and experiences as a Christian are cleared up just by reading the Word every day. We may not receive outward, instant answers to these questions, but inwardly, over time, we receive more and more of God as the Answer. Simply by reading in a proper way, the Bible fully supplies us to live both the Christian life and our human life. Read further to see the marvelous consequences of getting into the Word daily.

Filled in Spirit

At times we may feel spiritually empty and dry, unsure of how to satisfy the discontent within. But according to the Word, we can be those filled in spirit. By reading the Bible we are filled in spirit, satisfied to the point of overflowing. What a joyful condition is expressed in the following verses! Filled in spirit, speaking the truth, singing with grace in our hearts—these are all results of getting into the Word.

And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissoluteness, but be filled in spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and psalming with your heart to the Lord. (Eph. 5:18-19)

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God. (Col. 3:16)

Infused with Faith

Faith is the substantiation of things not seen (Heb. 11:1). As physical beings, we may have difficulty with the unseen spiritual things and even question the existence of God. When we read the Bible, we are infused with faith as our believing element. If we are discouraged by doubts and feelings of unbelief, we should turn to the Word. The more we read, the more we believe.

So faith comes out of hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. (Rom. 10:17)

This only I wish to learn from you, Did you receive the Spirit out of the works of law or out of the hearing of faith? (Gal. 3:2)

Nourished and Supplied

The Bible is our food to sustain our spiritual life. When we eat a hearty spiritual meal by getting into the Word, we are nourished and supplied with the riches of Christ as our food and life-supply. We then have the strength to continue on in our Christian life.

If you lay these things before the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, being nourished with the words of the faith and of the good teaching which you have closely followed. (1 Tim. 4:6)

But He answered and said, It is written, "Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God." (Matt. 4:4)

...When we contact the Word in spirit, we are actually contacting the Lord Himself as the living bread. When we receive the Word in spirit, we are receiving Christ Himself as the abundant supply of life. Now, day by day, we are participating in this wonderful, resurrected Christ as our food, life, and life-supply.¹⁹

Cleansed and Washed

According to Ephesians 5:26, there is water in the Bible that washes us. This washing is not the washing of the blood, which cleanses our sins, but the washing of the water of life that washes away the blemishes of our old man.²⁰ Through reading the Word, our old nature is cleansed and purified, and we are made new. We need to stay in this washing process by consistently reading the Word.

That He might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word. (Eph. 5:26)

Partaking of the Divine Nature and Escaping the Corruption in the World

The divine life contained in the Word includes as a virtue the energy and strength that enable us to escape the corruption in the world. By escaping the corruption in the world, we are able to partake of the divine nature of God and thus enjoy all the riches of what the Triune God is.

Through which He has granted to us precious and exceedingly great promises that through these you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption which is in the world by lust. (2 Pet. 1:4)

Having escaped corruption and thus removed the barriers to the growth of the divine life in us, we are freed to become partakers of the divine nature and to enjoy its riches to the fullest extent in its development by the virtue of God unto His glory.²¹

Soul and Spirit Divided

Our spirit is deep within our soul.²² At times it is very difficult to discern between the two because our mind may be very loud, full of doubts and wonderings. The Word has the power to divide our spirit from our soul, releasing our spirit so that we may enter into the full enjoyment of God, and strengthening our capacity to discern our spirit from our fallen thoughts, intentions, and emotions.

For the word of God is living and operative and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Heb. 4:12)

The Enemy Defeated and Slain

In Matthew 4 Satan tempted the Lord Jesus in the wilderness. The Lord, a sinless and perfect man, defeated Satan by quoting the Bible to him. The Word is a sword, a weapon, with which we can defeat the enemy's attacks and temptations. As with any weapon, we need to know how to use the Bible and practice using it by daily prayerful reading and study so that we may be fully equipped in all situations.

And receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God, By means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit and watching unto this in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints. (Eph. 6:17)

Christ as the Spirit and the word furnishes us with a sword as an offensive weapon to defeat and slay the enemy...The sword, the Spirit, and the word are one. When the constant word in the Bible becomes the instant word, that word is the Spirit as the sword that kills the enemy.²³

Endnotes

¹ John 1:1, note 3, The New Testament Recovery Version, 2^nd ed. (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1991).
² Witness Lee, The Full Knowledge of the Word of God (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1987), 16.
³ Witness Lee, The Conclusion of the New Testament, messages 21-33 (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1985), 235-238.
⁴ Witness Lee, The Full Knowledge of the Word of God (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1987), 15.
⁵ Witness Lee, Truth Lessons (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1985), Level 1, 1:2.
⁶ Gen. 1:1, note 1, Holy Bible Recovery Version (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 2003).
⁷ Gen. 1:1, note 1, Holy Bible Recovery Version (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 2003).
⁸ Witness Lee, Life Lessons, 2^nd ed. (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1987), 1:30-31.
⁹ Witness Lee, Life-Study of Matthew (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1998), 1:1.
¹⁰ Witness Lee, Life Lessons, 2^nd ed. (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1987), 1:30-31.
¹¹ Witness Lee, Truth Lessons (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1985), Level 1, 1:6.
¹² Witness Lee, Life-Study of Second Timothy (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1998), 54.
¹³ Jer. 15:16, note 1, Holy Bible Recovery Version (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 2003).
¹⁴ Psa. 119:130, note 1, Holy Bible Recovery Version (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 2003).
¹⁵ John 17:17, note 3, The New Testament Recovery Version, 2^nd ed. (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1991).
¹⁶ Isa. 55:11, note 2, Holy Bible Recovery Version (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 2003).
¹⁷ John 6:63, note 3, The New Testament Recovery Version, 2^nd ed. (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1991).
¹⁸ Watchman Nee, Reading the Bible, vol. 9 of New Believer's Series (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1997), 1-2.
¹⁹ Witness Lee, Life-Study of John (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1998) 2:201.
²⁰ Eph. 5:26, note 3, The New Testament Recovery Version, 2^nd ed. (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1991).
²¹ 2 Pet. 1:4, note 5, The New Testament Recovery Version, 2^nd ed. (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1991).
²² Heb. 4:12, note 2, The New Testament Recovery Version, 2^nd ed. (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1991).
²³ Eph 6:17, notes 3-4, The New Testament Recovery Version, 2^nd ed. (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1991).

Note: All Bible verses quoted or cited in the text are from the Holy Bible Recovery Version, published by Living Stream Ministry, unless otherwise noted.

We have received two inseparable inheritances from God—His Word and His Spirit. The Word reveals God to us so that we can know Him, and the Spirit transmits God to us so that we can possess Him. The Spirit without the Word is intangible, while the Word without the Spirit is mere letter. It is God's Word that makes the Spirit substantial, and it is His Spirit who makes the Word vital. The Bible makes known to us the things of the Spirit, and the Spirit makes real to us the things in the Bible. Ultimately, the Word of God and the Spirit of God are one.

Second Timothy 3:16 says, "All Scripture is God-breathed," clearly indicating that God's Word is His Spirit exhaled. Thus, the logical way for us to take in His Word is to breathe in the Spirit who is incorporated in the breathed-out Word. Since the Word is embodied in the Spirit and the Spirit is received through the Word, the most basic and important thing in our reading of the Bible is to exercise our regenerated spirit to contact the Spirit in the Word.¹

John 6 says that the Lord's words are spirit. The basic principle is the same: Since the Lord's words are spirit, we have to read them in spirit. In other words, we can only touch spiritual things with the spirit... The very nature of the Bible is spirit. For this reason, everyone who reads this book must approach it with his spirit; it must be read with his spirit.²

This indicates that we need to receive the word of God by means of all prayer and petition. We need to pray to receive the word of God.³

The essential way to read the Bible is not by this or that method with this or that tool but with prayer. Prayer is the exercise of our spirit, and when we pray properly we are in spirit and we touch the divine Spirit. Since the same Spirit who dwells in us is also contained in the Scriptures, whenever we read the Word with a prayerful spirit, we enjoy the riches, receive the enlightenment, and appropriate the power in the living Word of God. If we read in such a way, the Bible will cease to be a book merely of history, ethics, doctrines, or prophecies but will be to us a source of spiritual supply.

Moreover, both the Word and the Spirit are Christ Himself. He is the eternal Word (John 1:1, 14) and is called the Word of God (Rev. 19:13), and in resurrection He became a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45, 2 Cor. 3:6). Christ is therefore the reality of the Word and the person of the Spirit. Each time we open the Bible we must be conscious that we are approaching Him—that we are not only reading His Word but also communing with Him as the Word. The Lord Jesus once reproved the Jews for their searching the Scriptures without coming to Him that they might have life (John 5:39-40). His message was clear: studying the Bible without drawing near to Him can be a lifeless and empty pursuit. The knowledge of the Word alone, however precious, should never replace the enjoyment of Christ as life.

Although we read the Word of God primarily for the nourishment of our being and not the gratification of our intellect, we need to apply our renewed mental faculty—a mind under the rule of the Spirit—to understand the Scriptures. Throughout the past centuries, the divine revelations in the Bible, like hidden treasures, were seen only by those who toiled in the study of the Word book by book, passage by passage, verse by verse, even word by word. Standing on the shoulders of past expositors of the Scriptures, they received the Spirit of wisdom and revelation who enlightened the eyes of their heart and enabled them to interpret the mysteries of God, Christ, the Spirit, life, the believers, the church, the kingdom, and the New Jerusalem. Following their example, we as believers should read the Word regularly and thoroughly with understanding so that we fulfill the desire of our Savior God to come to the full knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4). We ought to first familiarize ourselves with the Bible by committing its contents to memory, and then learn these contents fully in their breadth and depth.

Thus, the way to read the Bible, or more importantly, the way for us to benefit from reading the Bible, is to adhere to the following:

• Exercise our spirit in prayer when we come to the Word to receive the Spirit.
• Fill our heart with love towards the Lord who is the Word and who spoke the Word.
• Use our mind to grasp the facts, the meanings, the interpretations, and the significances of the Word, with the help of outlines and footnotes.
• Be ready to heed the Spirit's speaking and obey the truths in the Word.
• Read consistently and regularly, a fixed portion on a daily basis.

One undeniable fact in studying God's Word is that the kind of person we are determines the kind of Bible we have in our hands... Our study of the Bible...is poor because our very person is wrong; our thoughts have not subjected themselves to God... The most important thing about the Bible is that God's Spirit is released through this book... Therefore, the basic and most crucial requirement of all in reading the Bible is to be able to release one's spirit to touch the spirit of the Bible. We have to strike the spirit of the Bible with our own spirit before we can understand the Bible... If our spirit is not released and we are cut off from the spirit of the authors of the Bible, we will never understand God's Word; the Bible will be a dead book to us.⁴

There are at least two things that we should do when we come to the Bible. First, our thoughts must be identified with the thoughts of the Bible. Second, our spirit must be identified with the spirit of the Bible... As our thoughts enter the Bible's thoughts and our mentality becomes one with the mentality behind God's inspiration, we will understand what the Bible says.⁵

We should have two separate periods of time for reading the Bible. One time should be in the morning, during which we should meditate on the Word, praising and praying as we read. The goal of this period of reading is to receive spiritual food and to strengthen our spirit. The other time of reading the Word can be at any time of day and is for understanding and learning more about God's Word. It is best to have two Bibles, one for each time. The Bible for the first time should have no notes so we can be freshly inspired by the Word and gain new insight, but the second Bible can be annotated with our markings and notes as we study the Bible in a detailed way.⁶

Saints in the past have benefited from having these two kinds of times in the Word. George Müller described his experience of meditating on the Word:

When thus I have been for a while making confession, or intercession, or supplication, or have given thanks, I go on to the next words or verse, turning all, as I go on, into prayer for myself or others, as the word may lead to it, but still continually keeping before me that food for my own soul is the object of my meditation. The result of this is that there is always a good deal of confession, thanksgiving, supplication, or intercessions mingled with my meditation, and that my inner man almost invariably is even sensibly nourished and strengthened...Now what is the food for the inner man? Not prayer, but the word of God; and here again, not the simple reading of the word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as water runs through a pipe, but considering what we read, pondering over it, and applying it to our hearts.⁷

The next section, "Studying the Word" discusses the second kind of Bible reading.

We must exercise our mentality to study and understand the Bible, but even in studying the Word, we must realize that the Word and the Spirit are one. To understand only the letter of the Bible is not our goal; rather, every time we read we must endeavor to touch and receive the Spirit in the Word.

Reading with Understanding and Wisdom

Even our ascertaining of the facts in the Bible requires prayerful reading and study. Hence, our spirit should be the dominant part of our being. We do not need to extensively prepare ourselves or make a long production out of reading the Word. Sometimes a short prayer asking the Lord to wash us so that we can come to Him in His Word to receive Him is sufficient to usher us into genuine contact with Him through the Word.

We should read the Bible with understanding and wisdom. Understanding has to do with apprehending the letter of the Bible with our mind. This is a critical prerequisite to receiving revelation from the Word. The amount of speaking and revelation we can receive from the Lord is commensurate to the diligence we employ to comprehend the letter of the Bible. Getting acquainted with the facts in the Bible is like accruing capital for our future experiences of the divine life.

In reading the Bible, we must first use the understanding of our mind to comprehend its text, which was written in human language, and to know its meaning.⁸

The Full Knowledge of the Word of God lists some practical guidelines for understanding the Bible:

• Understanding the Word of God literally
• Going beyond the letter, historical events, and persons and things to explore and to receive the revelation of life
• Taking care of the context
• Expounding God's Word with God's Word
• Learning from the saints of the past
• Pray-reading the Word to eat, drink, and breathe in the spirit and life in the Word⁹

Reading the Bible with wisdom involves apprehending the truth in the Bible with our spirit. This wisdom is not our natural wisdom but the wisdom we obtain through prayer. It is deeper and higher than the understanding in our mind.

...we receive [revelation] by the spirit of wisdom and revelation... The spirit here is the mingled spirit, the divine Spirit mingled with the human spirit...Basically, the way to receive revelation is by the mingled spirit, that is, by the divine Spirit indwelling the human spirit. This mingled spirit is called the spirit of wisdom. This is for our understanding. If we have a revelation, we need the wisdom to interpret and understand it.¹⁰

Being Properly Equipped to Understand the Text

Our reading of the Bible should be comprehensive and thorough; thus, we must be consistent in our reading. We need a schedule.

Every Christian should have a definite plan of studying the Bible. If you can set aside half an hour a day, develop a plan to study the Bible for half an hour a day. If you can afford an hour each day, develop a plan that includes an hour of study. Whatever time you can afford, make a plan that will fit your schedule. The worst way to read is by "inspiration," that is, casual, unplanned reading that begins at whatever page one feels, at times reading voraciously for ten days and at other times not reading anything for ten days. This is the wrong way. We should not adopt this "inspirational" method. Everyone should have a definite plan of reading. In reading the Bible, we need to be restricted and disciplined.¹¹

To understand the text, we also must be able to properly interpret the types, shadows, and figures in the Bible, particularly in the Old Testament. We should learn to use reference tools to define words and explain grammatical structures, and we should have some knowledge of the Bible's original languages, Greek and Hebrew. In each of these matters, the Recovery Version is a most useful version of the Bible.

Getting the Most out of the Recovery Version

The Recovery Version not only is a faithful translation from the original languages but also incorporates a number of useful and comprehensive study tools for our deeper understanding of the Word. As a study Bible, the Recovery Version is a concentration of lexicons, word-studies, and commentaries arranged in a precise and easily navigated format. The outlines, footnotes, and cross-references in this version steer us in the proper direction toward the relevant and crucial points of each section of the Word according to the overarching revelation of God's economy. Maximizing the usefulness of these tools will greatly assist our study and understanding of the Word, helping us to go deeper and deeper into the divine revelation.

Outlines
The outlines give us an overall view of a book and help us understand its placement in the Bible and in the context of God's economy. The outlines section the text around its crucial points; these sections together provide a complete view of the entire book. Reading the text without a sense of its sections is like reading a paragraph without punctuation—the meaning can be easily lost in the details. Seeing the big picture of each book lays the foundation to see the revelation in the entire Bible. Therefore, it is helpful to read the outlines through before reading each book. Then we can refresh ourselves with the sub-points in the outline and their place in the bigger picture of the book each time we read. The progression of thought in the outlines helps focus our attention and aids our retention of the contents of each book.

...in reading the Recovery Version you must learn of the outline. The outline is the first crucial item... You must have a full understanding of [each book's] contents and every crucial point should have been impressed into your understanding... We need to progress from the single items of the truth to knowing the outline of a section or of a chapter. From this we need to see the outline or the bird's-eye view of an entire book. Finally, from the outline of a book we must have a bird's-eye view of the entire sixty-six books of the Bible. When you reach this point, a good foundation will have been laid with all the basic principles to govern, direct, and to rule your interpretation of any word, any verse, any chapter, or any book of the Bible.¹²

Footnotes
The footnotes often elaborate on the intrinsic significance of portions in the Word to bring us into the practical reality of God's economy as revealed to us in the Bible. The notes build us up in the truth and open the Word to us, giving us a way to delve deeper into the Word.

The first purpose of the notes is to present to you the truth, and the second purpose is to minister to you the life supply... The third purpose of the notes is to help us to solve the common and hard problems...in the Bible...If you have a problem you can refer to the notes for help. The fourth purpose of the Recovery Version with the notes is to open up the books of the Bible.¹³

...I picked up the burden to write the expository notes for the Recovery Version to open up each book of the New Testament to the seeking saints... I want to dig further and I am still digging, but I do not believe that I can dig that much. Therefore, I leave this further digging matter to you.¹⁴

Cross-References
The cross-references help us to apply the principle of interpreting the Bible with the Bible. Instead of merely pointing to every occurrence in the Bible that a particular word is used, the cross-references connect different passages that relate the same spiritual truths and divine revelations, further illuminating the marvelous fact that through so many and diverse writers across time and space, the Bible conveys the unique message of God's economy.

In addition to the Recovery Version, Life-Study of the Bible is an invaluable reference to further open the Word to us, drawing out the critical points of revelation according to God's economy, and bringing us into a deeper realization and experience of the Bible.

The principle upon which the Recovery Version and Life-Study of the Bible were composed was to offer believers a way to open up the revelation of truth and experience of life contained in the Bible. A common reason believers give for not actively reading the Bible is that they do understand it. Therefore, the reading of the Bible must be accompanied by the proper "opener" to unlock the meaning in the Bible (Acts 8:31). Once the Word is opened to us, there is a way for us to dig further into it to receive fresh revelation and insight.

Many have a copy of the Bible, but the Bible has been closed and nearly never opened. Now the Lord has given us a key, an opener... I believe that those of you who have read the Life-study messages can testify honestly that these messages with the notes of the Recovery Version have opened up a certain chapter or a certain book of the Bible to you. This is not to replace the Bible, but to bring people into the Bible.¹⁵

The basic truths have been presented to us, and much life nourishment has been put into print, especially with the Life-study Messages. Also, the obstacles have nearly all been removed. We now have a clear way for our study, and every book is open to us. In mining, the hardest thing is to open the mine. Once the mine has been opened and the treasure is exposed, it is easy for someone to dig out the treasures. I have left only this one matter of further digging to you. I believe the Lord will continue this digging work either through you or through some others. After a period of time I believe that many of you will be "good diggers." The intention and goal of our publishing of the Life-study Messages is to open up the mine for you to go in and dig.¹⁶

Whenever you pick up the Bible or the Life-study of any book of the Bible, you must read them in this way. You must pick up the single, crucial points and have an outline of a certain chapter or a certain section. Then you must progress to have an outline of the entire book. After finishing a book you should not go ahead. You must go back to make an outline of this book. Try to do this.¹⁷

It is a glorious fact that God has become accessible and communicable to us as the Spirit embodied in the Word, but this fact remains objective to us if we do not exercise our spirit to contact the Spirit in the Word.

Therefore, in reading the Bible, after we have understood the meaning of the text by our understanding and have apprehended the truth of the text with our wisdom, we should use our spirit by prayer to receive the truths in the Scripture into the deepest part of our being, that is, our spirit. In other words, after we understand the text and receive the truth therein, we still must exercise our spirit to turn what we have understood and realized into prayer that it may be assimilated in our spirit, becoming our life supply and the basis of our spiritual experience.¹⁸

When the Word comes to us and is contacted by us, we receive the Spirit. This means that when the Word reaches us and we touch it, the Word becomes the Spirit in our experience. Thus, the Word first comes to us and then it becomes the Spirit in us. The Word becoming the Spirit in our experience can be illustrated by the lighting of a match. The head of a match is a ball made of phosphorus. When we strike a match in a proper way, the phosphorus bursts into flame. Is the flame different from the phosphorus? No, it is simply the explosion of the phosphorus. In like manner, the Spirit is the "explosion" of the Word.¹⁹

Read further to see how we can exercise our spirit to receive the Spirit in the Word.

Praying and Petitioning

According to the Bible, we need to pray in order to receive the Word of God. By exercising our spirit through prayer, we touch the Spirit in the Bible to receive it through our reading.

And receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God, By means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit and watching unto this in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints. (Eph. 6:17-18)

The way to transfer Christ as the Word into the Spirit is to open our heart, open our spirit, and exercise our spirit to pray.²⁰

Speaking and Singing

By speaking and singing the Word, we can be filled in spirit. God is flowing and filling, and by getting into the Bible daily, we can enjoy this flow.

Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissoluteness, but be filled in spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and psalming with your heart to the Lord. (Eph. 5:17-19)

Teaching and Admonishing

The apostle Paul charged the Colossian believers to let the word of Christ dwell in them richly. The way to let the Lord's word dwell in us richly is by teaching, admonishing, and singing.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God. (Col. 3:16)

Keeping and Obeying

Only by our reading and experiencing the truth can it become a part of us. As we dig into the truth in the Word, we are not only unveiled to see it but also equipped to keep it.

Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make an abode with him. (John 14:23)

But whoever keeps His word, truly in this one the love of God has been perfected. In this we know that we are in Him. (1 John 2:5)

Mixing the Word with Faith

For indeed we have had the good news announced to us, even as they also; but the word heard did not profit them, not being mixed together with faith in those who heard. (Heb. 4:2)

Online Recovery Version of the Bible
Online, searchable, full text of the Holy Bible Recovery Version and the footnotes for the New Testament. Also included: Quick Tour, Maps & Charts, and much more.

Online Life-Study of the Bible
The most consequential and comprehensive Bible commentary ever completed. An essential reading companion to the Recovery Version of the Bible. Full text of selected volumes of the Old Testament and New Testament Life-study messages.

Bible Outlines
Outlines, subjects, and background information (taken from the Recovery Version of the Holy Bible) for each of the sixty-six books in the Bible.

Endnotes

¹ Watchman Nee, The Breaking of the Outer Man and the Release of the Spirit (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1997), 59-60.
² Watchman Nee, How to Study the Bible (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1999), 9.
³ Eph. 6:18, note 1, The New Testament Recovery Version, 2^nd ed. (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1991).
⁴ Watchman Nee, The Breaking of the Outer Man and the Release of the Spirit (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1997), 57-60.
⁵ Watchman Nee, The Breaking of the Outer Man and the Release of the Spirit (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1997), 58.
⁶ Watchman Nee, Reading the Bible, vol. 9 of New Believer's Series (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1997), 7-8.
⁷ Watchman Nee, Reading the Bible, vol. 9 of New Believer's Series (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1997), 9-10.
⁸ Witness Lee, Life Lessons, 2^nd ed. (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1987), 1:38.
⁹ Witness Lee, The Full Knowledge of the Word of God (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1987), 19, 29.
¹⁰ Witness Lee, The Triune God's Revelation and His Move (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1995), 23.
¹¹ Watchman Nee, Reading the Bible, vol. 9 of New Believers Series (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1997), 12-13.
¹² Witness Lee, The Way to Carry Out the Vision, vol. 3 of Elders' Training, 2^nd ed. (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1994), 16.
¹³ Witness Lee, The Way to Carry Out the Vision, vol. 3 of Elders' Training, 2^nd ed. (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1994), 91-92.
¹⁴ Witness Lee, The Way to Carry Out the Vision, vol. 3 of Elders' Training, 2^nd ed. (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1994), 93.
¹⁵ Witness Lee, The Way to Carry Out the Vision, vol. 3 of Elders' Training, 2^nd ed. (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1994), 104.
¹⁶ Witness Lee, The Way to Carry Out the Vision, vol. 3 of Elders' Training, 2^nd ed. (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1994), 93.
¹⁷ Witness Lee, The Way to Carry Out the Vision, vol. 3 of Elders' Training, 2^nd ed. (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1994), 17.
¹⁸ Witness Lee, Life Lessons, 2^nd ed. (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1987), 1:39.
¹⁹ Witness Lee, Life-Study of Philippians (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 2000), 3:439-440.
²⁰ Witness Lee, Enjoying Christ as the Word and the Spirit through Prayer (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 2002), 12.

Note: All Bible verses quoted or cited in the text are from the Holy Bible Recovery Version, published by Living Stream Ministry, unless otherwise noted.