The bible is very rich with wonderful language, and plenty of metaphor is used and other beautiful wordings.
To understand the verses well, for so many places, it's needed to be reading through fully -- the entire book, from the beginning -- with a listening attitude.
That way, when you arrive at a verse, you'll be reading naturally, and listening (which makes all of the difference!) and find it far easier to correctly understand the verse as it's meant to be understood.
Also, it's very helpful to have a good accurate modern translation like the NIV or the even more word for word ESV (that has a wonderful way of keeping the beauty of the wordings).
But the main thing: listening and reading through naturally, from the beginning of a book. Just like you'd need to do with any book to understand well.
For many Christians, they never have, and a world full of better understanding and wonderful meaning is awaiting them -- for any that have ears to hear.
Well said. The Bible is an amazing book because of who inspired it. Even the Genesis account reveals things that no human at that time could possibly have known. e.g. how could Moses know that the earth was “formless and waste” and covered with water, going on to describe in simple detail the process of preparing the earth for habitation. The appearance of dry land and creating a breathable atmosphere with a perfect mixture of gases.
The earliest “living” things mentioned are vegetation, but bacteria and microbes were most certainly included because these would have been needed to break down the soil and encourage the growth of all vegetation.
Genesis describes the creation of sentient creatures, the first to appear in the oceans and later on land. There was even a division between the domestic and wild animals.
The Genesis account does not preclude the “days” as being very long periods of time, rather than just 24 hour days. This would harmonise with what science knows about the age of the earth and also the extinction of the dinosaurs which were long gone by the time of God’s last creation....man......the only creature made in his image, and given the assignment of caretakers, landscape gardeners and zookeepers.
The flood is very obviously literal and the reasons and necessity for it were all stated quite clearly. There is evidence for a global flood, but science will simply give it another explanation.
When the Bible is stating something metaphorically, it is usually obvious and the literal events are self explanatory, but as you said, it is important to read and understand the Bible as a whole because it is one story from start to finish. The details can only be appreciated and understood in context.
I agree that a good translation is also beneficial to help us to understand what the original languages taught. Read along with a good concordance and an interlinear translation also enhances our understanding.
