https://knightstemplarorder.org/traditions/templars-freemasons/
"So Abram went up from
Egypt to the Negev,
he and his wife and all
that belonged to him, and
Lot with him.
Now Abram was
very rich in livestock,
in
silver and in gold
He went on his journeys
from the
Negev as far as Bethel,
to the place where his
tent
had been at the
beginning,
between Bethel and Ai,
to the place of the altar
which he had made there formerly;
and there Abram
called on the Name
of
the LORD"
(Gen 13:1-4).
As strange as it may sound, I believe one of the
biggest obstacles
getting in the way of believers
understanding the Bible is an overemphasis on
the intentions of
the divine Author with little if any
regard for
the human authors' intentions
Gematria, hidden Bible codes, typological and allegorical interpretations are alive and well in our home groups and pulpits,
all in the Name
of insisting that the Bible is God's word.
And all these interpretations are
deemed kosher just
so long as they lead to
Yeshua
The road to exegetical recovery
and to
hearing the voice of God
is to remember that the
human author,
guided by
The Spirit of God,
selected each
and every detail of Abram's story,
and did
so strategically,
carefully,
and with a
much larger
literary purpose in mind
Moses
intentionally portrays Abram's
departure from
Egypt as a prequel to
the Exodus
(compare Gen 13:1-2; Exod 12:35, 37-38)
Remarkably, and quite expectedly, the
details of Abram's return to the
Promised Land
via
Bethel and Ai likewise
become the
war map
Joshua used
for
his conquest
(Gen 12:8; 13:3; Josh 7:2; 8:9, 12, 17; 12:9).
The human authors moved
by
God's Spirit
clearly intended us to see Abram and his life
as a prefiguration of things to come.
We don't need to busy ourselves with seeking after
spiritual meanings hiding
in between or behind the lines of the
text to find Jesus.
We just need to learn to read the Bible as
God's word which has been
fully incarnated
(in-text-ated)
into the rules
of semantics, grammar, syntax, and the
ways that human beings have described their
past ever since the beginning of time
in order
to understand the present and
prepare for the future.
The choice between the
divine and human authors
is not an either/or, but a
both/and!
"It seemed fitting for
me as well,
having investigated
everything
carefully
from the beginning,
to
write it out
for you
in consecutive order,
most
excellent Theophilus;
so that you may know
the
exact truth
about the
things you have
been taught"
(Luke 1:3-4)
"But know this first of all,
that no
prophecy of Scripture
is a matter
of one’s own interpretation,
for no prophecy was ever made
by an ACT of human will,
but men moved by
the
Holy Spirit
spoke from God"
(2 Pet 1:20).