holy eavesdrop
I was standing near the kitchen with my grandmother when she opened her wallet, and a handful of tiny folded notes fell out. As I helped her gather them up, she giggled and showed me one. They were little love notes that my grandfather had written her over the years. It was just about the most endearing thing ever. He wrote them, she kept them, and I got a small glimpse into their love story.
Imagine coming across a letter that your grandfather wrote to your grandmother, postmarked 1941. While reading the words, it would be natural to take their context into account. We’d remember that there was a war happening when he wrote her that letter. That they had a recent pandemic. That he was hoping to go to med school and that her heart was just mending after tremendous grief. All of this would let you read the letter with empathy and understanding.
Let’s go one step further and imagine that letter was left to us in their will. We’d know that there was something in that particular communication that was important for them to impart. It wasn’t written to us, but it was given as a gift for us. Instinctively we would read the letter and first understand what your grandfather was saying to your grandmother. Then we would find the truths that were meant for us when they passed the note our way.
For instance, his simple “How are you feeling?” could read as a flat inquiry into her health. But knowing that she had recently recovered from a severe case of TB would change the interpretation. He wasn’t making conversation.
So what meaning would we, two generations removed, take from that short phrase “how are you feeling?” To start, we would cherish that he loved her by asking about how she was. We would know that he cared about her health as a future physician and as one who loved her deeply. We would see that he was a man who asked direct questions not to make conversation but because he was invested in the answer.
This posture of an eavesdrop also applies to the Bible. John Walton, author, and professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College and Graduate School, notes that Genesis (and the entire Bible) is not written TO us, but it is written FOR us[i]. Just as my grandfathers’ letter wasn’t written TO me, but was passed on FOR me. When we read the Bible, we naturally assume that God is communicating to us. As hard as it may be to realize, it is not written to us; the Old Testament was written to the ancient Israelite, the New Testament was written to the first-century Christian.
Hearing that the Bible is not written to modern-day Christians can be a little off-putting. You may be wondering why we should even read it! Don’t get too discouraged, because as Walton pointed out, the Bible is written FOR us. God has painstakingly preserved His word for thousands of years, passing down scrolls through His faithful servants to you. You can hold His holy words in your hands. And when you open up that book, the truths inside each story, letter, poem, and advice will apply to you. Yes, the Bible is written FOR you and FOR me.
It wasn’t written TO us, though. This distinction can make a big difference in how we read the Bible because it will change our posture. We get the privilege of a holy eavesdrop. We are leaning over ancient Israelites and first-century Christians’ shoulders as God tells His people His story.
By taking an eavesdropper position, we don’t force the Bible to bend to our current-day understanding. Sometimes we are so focused on what we can get from the Bible that we rush past what the words first meant to their first listeners. Confusion and misinterpretation soon follow. So as we work through some Bible together, we’re going to always start by remembering who the Bible was written to. And we’ll always be grateful that we are people it was written for.
Notes
[i] Walton, John. “What Genesis Can and Cannot Say to Modern Science.” Lecture, April 4, 2016.
