Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered. Luke 11:52
In 2004 I posted an article titled The Key of Knowledge which used this same scripture for an opening quote. The ‘lawyers’ are the legalists or literalists. And there we focused on the idea that Literalism was how The Key of Knowledge is withheld from believers. At that time we wrote as follows.
Literalism Is The Problem
A great number of bible scholars and teachers tell us that the proper way to understand the bible is through consistent literal interpretation. This is expressed as The Law of Literal Interpretation. This law says:
Always interpret scripture literally wherever possible.
"If the literal sense makes sense, seek no other sense."
Now what’s most unusual about this is that there is never any scriptural justification offered for adopting this principle. You will find many reasons offered, and all of them sound logical, but no bible verses. It’s not so much what they are telling us to do, but what this law is telling us not to do? It’s telling us not to seek; seek no other sense. That is not to seek any further than the literal meaning of scripture. But what does the bible say? It says just the opposite. It tells us to seek, long, hard and diligently. We must seek after wisdom with a passion.
Other problems with literalism.
Now I would like to focus on another part of that verse which says: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered. What exactly is the Lord speaking of in saying ye entered not in. They entered not into what?
A quick glance at similar verse from Matthew easily clears this up for us. It is speaking of entering into The Kingdom Of God.
Matthew 23:13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
So how does this happen? We can see from the discussion in John 3 that entering the Kingdom is a matter of being led by the Holy Spirit.
John 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
If you hold to the law of literal interpretation, it will stop you from seeking deeper meanings in God’s word. And what does it take to seek these deeper meanings? In first Corinthians 2, we see that it requires the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 2:11-14
11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
And in Genesis 40 we are told that interpretations belong to God.
Genesis 40:8 And they said unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you.
Literalism will tell you not to use the Key of Knowledge, which is to seek for it. It’s this same key that can open your way into the Kingdom of God!
Consider that the bible gives one of the names of God as The Lord Our Righteousness.
Jeremiah 23:5-6
5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
To seek the Kingdom is to seek the King
Now look at Matthew 6:33.
Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
What all this means is that to seek the Kingdom of God is to seek his righteousness. And since Jesus is our righteousness, you can conclude that to seek the Kingdom is to seek the King or to seek the Lord.
Since Literalism will keep you from seeking the Lord, then it will keep you from entering into the Kingdom Of God and being led by the Spirit of the Lord.
Selah.
The Holy versus the Profane.
We hear a lot of talk in certain circles about keeping God’s Law or as some say, Keeping Torah. Unfortunately this is usually accompanied by a literal understanding of Torah, or Literalism. To some legalists, keeping Torah means making a big issue of not eating pork. The notion is that the gentile church is profaning themselves by eating ‘swine’s flesh’.
A literal understanding of Torah is that it means The Law of Moses. There we read that the swine is unclean.
And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcase. Deuteronomy 14:8
To go beyond the literal meaning of this you can check out what it says in Ezekiel 44.
And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. Ezekiel 44:23
There the Lord makes it clear that the terms clean and unclean are types of what is holy and unholy, or profane.
What the Lord is doing here it to contrast Holy and Profane with Clean or Unclean. Seeking The Kingdom and it’s righteousness can also be contrasted with self justification and self righteousness, which are filthy rags in the sight of the Lord, unclean and speaking of sin. Leprosy speaks of sin, and is used as a type of sin. The leper is considered unclean.
And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean. Leviticus 13:45
Eating ‘Swine’s Flesh’
I found it hard to accept that some people were making a big issue of eating pork. Can they be serious? Was it such a big deal to have a piece of bacon or a Bob Evans bratwurst? After all, didn’t Jesus say in Matthew 15:
Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. Matthew 15:11
Then the Lord showed me that I had profaned myself by eating ‘swine’s flesh’. But it was not from having a ham sandwich. First of all, eating can mean consuming or partaking of, or enjoying something. And swine’s flesh can mean anything unholy. Watching certain kinds of movies or reading certain kinds of books fit the bill perfectly. I had just recently read a ‘political action thriller’ novel that was filled with violence and brutality. Now you can justify this to your self by calling it harmless entertainment, but when you are enjoying something unholy, you are becoming unholy! So the legalists can keep kosher and still be partaking of swine’s flesh.
Selah
An End Time Application
Here’s another example of swine used to mean unholy.
Mark 5:9-13
9 And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.
10 And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country.
11 Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding.
12 And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.
13 And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.
Something in this story does not add up. These unclean spirits seek some place to dwell.
When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Matthew 12:43
If the unclean spirits seek a home to dwell in once they are cast out, why would they enter into the swine and immediately cause the destruction of their new home? This kind of puzzling feature is one of the things the Lord puts into the bible to cause the curious to seek for deeper meaning. Here is one the Lord showed me.
In this story of the devils entering the swine the number of swine, 2000, becomes an important clue. The 2000 speaks of the 2000 years of the so called church age, and gives it an end time context. What God may be saying here is at the end of the 2000 years, he will allow the heathen, represented by the unclean swine, to become thoroughly demonized leading to their destruction in the tribulation. This is analogous to the ‘gross darkness’ coming on the people spoken of in Isaiah.
Isaiah 60:2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
Revelation 16:10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
For the legalist, the death of the swine would be the end of the story. They would never seek the Lord for greater understanding, and remain in darkness [clueless] themselves.
2 Corinthians 6:17-18
17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
Selah