One day amidst the agony and the ecstasy of studying the holy Scriptures I discovered a principle of interpretation that is embarrassingly simple and dreadfully demanding: If the Bible says something you do not like you can be pretty sure it is the Word of God.

It is easy to read commentaries that only please our "itching ears" (2 Tim. 4:3). I once literally burned a book that was offensive to my prejudices, but I now see that in doing so I only revealed my fear of the truth.

I was something like old King Ahab whose story is in 1 Kings 22, who summoned King Jehoshaphat of Judah to join him in a battle against Ramoth-Gilead. Jehoshaphat felt that the prophets of God should be consulted, and Ahab agreed. All 400 of "his" prophets spoke the pleasing Word of God: "Go into battle for the lord will give Ramoth-Gilead into the King's hand." Yet Jehoshaphat knew of one honest and courageous prophet of God who was willing to speak the Word of God even when it was not pleasing.

What follows in the story is an attempt by the in-house prophets to pressure Micaiah into speaking only a pleasing Word of God. After a mocking word, parroting the false prophets, Micaiah tells the terrible truth about Ahab's fate in the impending battle. Ahab found the Word of God so displeasing that he had Micaiah arrested. As the day of battle ended the prophet's word proved true, for King Ahab was mortally wounded and his army demoralized. The king of Israel learned too late that If the prophet says something you do not like you can be pretty sure it is the Word of God.

When King Jehoiakim of Judah heard the Word of God from a scroll written by the prophet 3eremiah, he found it so offensive that he threw it into the fire (Jer. 36).

Our Lord Jesus, anticipating the way the establishment in Jerusalem would reject him, cried out in agony, "0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you!" (Mt. 23:37). Even though he was the very Word of God enfleshed in person among them, "the way, the truth, the life" (Jn. 14:6), his Word was unpleasing to their ears.

Stephen was killed for the same reason his master was crucified. They closed their ears to him because the truth he spoke was too painful for them, calling for a transformation of life (Acts 7:57).

A church leader, Roy Lee Honeycutt, has given this painful verdict: "Even in our churches there may be cowardly persons who fear the truth, lazy persons who are satisfied with half the truth, and arrogant persons who believe they know all the truth." Again I propose this principle of interpretation: If the Bible says something you do not like you can be pretty sure it is the Word of God.

The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews describes the piercing, penetrating Word of God as a surgeon's scalpel. It lances our spiritual infections and punctures our petty sectarian biases. He writes, "The Word of God is alive and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Heb. 4:12). 

Unless we are prepared to listen to the irritating and agitating Word of God, whether from a preacher, a waitress, or a mechanic, we will never be ready to fully appreciate and enjoy the comforting Word of God. The surgical Word of God is "inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness." (2 Tim. 3:16). — 16 E. Platte St., Colorado Springs, CO.