Depth

I must confess that I love a good double entendre, which is a word or sentence with a surface meaning and then a deeper meaning. The deeper meaning is most often naughty. But I especially enjoy the accidental ones which can be found written in newspaper headlines and were unintended at press time. I looked online for some examples and found the following: “Red Tape Holds Up New Bridge”, “New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group”, and “Hospitals are Sued by Seven Foot Doctors” (found at Alphadictionary.com).

My husband and I recently discovered another funny example. While he called his grandfather “Pop Pop”, his kids and nephews called their great grandfather “Pop Pop Pop”. I laughed and laughed because in addition to the obvious, I mistakenly thought this was a reference to GI issues.

I have always enjoyed any figurative language style that allows (and requires) the reader or listener to look below the surface for understanding. This includes idioms (It’s raining cats and dogs), or puns (The guy who had his whole left side cut off is all right now found at LaffGaff.com). Also analogies (Life is like a box of chocolates from Forrest Gump), and metaphors (You are the salt of the world from Matthew 5:13). All require depth to look below the surface of verbal and written language , which can then lead to a buried treasure of humor, insight, and knowledge.

The Bible is full of metaphors, analogies, and parables, which are considered a type of analogy (Wikipedia.com). If you have read any portion of the Bible, it would appear that God enjoys employing the use of figurative language as well. I have wondered why on many occasions. Wouldn’t our lives be a lot easier if He just came outright and said what we needed to hear? Perhaps the process of seeking and searching for spiritual understanding is necessary. The Bible frequently tells the reader to “seek Me with your whole heart” (Jeremiah 29:13), “seek first the Kingdom of God” (Matthew 6:33), “seek and you will find” (Matthew 7:7), and “seek the Lord your God and you will find Him” (Deuteronomy 4:29).

I think the Scriptures can be likened to 3 D illusion pictures (AKA Magic eye pictures or Stereograms). At first glance it looks like any other picture of random colors, maybe even average or boring. But upon directed and diligent looking below the surface, suddenly the picture takes on a shape and a depth which you wouldn’t have noticed from a cursory glance. An experience you had to seek in order to find.

When it comes to understanding the Bible I am no expert but according to my research, Scripture is full of examples that require literal but also figurative interpretation. To understand it’s message, you have to look at the surface meaning or the deeper meaning, and sometimes both. It also helps to understand context, and take into account history around the information as Scripture was written thousands of years ago. Imagine if someone from that time read one of our emails or texts. They would require much research to understand our message given our culture, our slang, and our acronyms.

One fascinating example of deeper meaning from Scripture that I have recently stumbled across is Chuck Missler’s article, “The Gospel in Genesis: A Hidden Message”. The article discusses the list of genealogy from Adam through Noah in Genesis 5. The Bible lists the names from father to son to delineate the lineage of ancestors on the surface (kind of boring stuff). But looking below the surface to the meaning of each name listed in order records a sentence describing the gospel story (the good news of Jesus as the Messiah). The message says: “Man (is) appointed mortal sorrow; (but) The Blessed God shall come down teaching (that) His death shall bring the despairing rest”. Wow! This uncovers a master plan of redemption from the very beginning! But don’t take my word for it, I encourage you to read for yourself at KHouse.org.

I hope from this example that you begin to see the wealth and depth of knowledge hidden in the Bible waiting to be discovered. The Bible contains much wisdom, is a guide for upright living, and tells the story of Jesus’ sacrifice to give us a future and a hope. I pray that I have inspired you to look deeper into the Scriptures to seek and find the good news which is the gospel of Jesus Christ.