>>4775425 pb
Unfortunately your advice is the single most reason why there is no determining truth among theologians. They all believe what they THINK the literal means. The Bible is a book of mystery:
Eph 3:9 And to make all [men] see what [is] the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
Jesus taught his disciples about the cross from the OT. It was not plain liberalism or they would have seen it before. It was prophetic riddle hidden within the literal-historical.
The mystery always speaks of Christ; Every chapter.. every verse.
Within Ge 38; Judah and Tamar, is a wonderful picture of Christ in great detail. Jonah contains a hidden story of the Holy Ghost being sent by the Son. Ruth tells the story of three in heaven and three on earth who testify. The genealogy of Jesus in Matthew gives his titles as Usurping Second Son, Only Begotten Son, Unbegotten Only Son, and Forsaken Son.
The key to reading the Bible is the old riddle "Why did the chicken cross the road?' People think they know the answer because they read it literally "To get to the other side." But the real answer is "To get to the other side" . You ask the question when you see a chicken carcass in the road, and the answer is he wanted to get to heaven. It is a riddle.
When Satan tempted Jesus to turn rocks into bread he was reading the ancient prophecy literally. But Jesus knew that he himself was the stone, and he would become the bread.
When tempted to jump off the high place, Satan read the old prophecy literally. Jesus knew he has already descended from heaven itself, how much higher could he have jumped from?
Literalism produces a dead Christianity. The OT all speaks of Christ in verifiable and reproducible prophetic riddle hidden within the literal-historic pages.