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The Use of
Cross-References It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.—Proverbs 25:2. David Rice To discern the mind of God, we compare “spiritual things with spiritual” —that is, one Scripture with another (1 Corinthians 2:13). Cross-references are an excellent way to do this. Cross-references are most often found as notes to the Scriptures listed in an interior margin in many editions of the Scriptures, or sometimes in footnotes at the bottom of a page. Thompson’s Chain Reference Bible has an abundance of these (as does Treasury of Scripture Knowledge), but most often those given in a regular edition of the King James, or other versions, are enough to be helpful.
The cross-references mentioned in this article refer
to standard notes in a Cambridge edition of the King James Bible. We will
treat three examples where cross-references help to understand the sense of a
passage. Matthew 24:29 This is a climactic verse in our Lord’s great prophecy: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.” To take these expressions literally leads to absurd conclusions. For all this which is described to occur literally would ruin the earth and destroy life altogether; yet the prophecy in verse 32, compared to Luke 21:31, tells us that these things portend the establishment of the blessed “kingdom of God”—which would be inconsistent with a destroyed earth (see Daniel 2:44). A cross-reference from Matthew 24:29 lists three helpful texts: Isaiah 13:10, Ezekiel 32:7, and Revelation 6:12. From these we learn that the kind of expressions found in Matthew 24:29 is prophetic language which describes the fall of a government and all the turmoil associated with that. For example, the fall of the city and empire of Babylon, to Cyrus the Persian, was predicted in these terms by Isaiah: “The stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine ... I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of [Jehovah] of hosts” (Isaiah 13:10,13). All of this happened long ago. The armies of Cyrus took the city in 539 B.C., evidently without any literal calamities to the universe or the planet. The symbology is that the powers of political and spiritual control are shaken, cease to function, are no longer sources of light, information and direction, and they are changed. The symbols are used in a similar way in the two remaining references, which describe judgments against Pharaoh of Egypt (Ezekiel 32:7, 8) and against Christendom during the French Revolution (Revelation 6:12). In the latter passage, verse 14 adds: “And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.” During the Napoleonic Wars following the French Revolution, the mountains (kingdoms) and islands (republics) of Christendom were “moved” in the traumatic turmoil of continental war in Europe. The even greater upheavals incident to Armageddon will disrupt the powers of earth even more decidedly: “And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found” (Revelation 16:20).
This kind of prophetic writing is frequent in the
prophets. When we compare Scripture with Scripture, and become familiar with the
metaphors and imagery they use, it relieves us of supposing a violent physical
cataclysm will engulf the planet. The metaphors used refer to powers, systems,
both political and religious, and the judgment of God against them. Romans 8:15 “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” What does Paul mean, “the spirit of bondage again to fear”? The context of chapters seven and eight shows that Paul refers to the bondage of the Jews to the Law Covenant. This connection is strengthened when we observe some of the cross-references to this text, in particular, Galatians 4:5 and Hebrews 2:15. The Galatians text is cross-referenced to “adoption,” in the expression “we have received the Spirit of adoption.” Galatians 4:4,5 says “God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” The word “adoption” here is perhaps not the best choice of word, for it makes us think of a child brought into something other than his natural family. Whereas in Galatians 4:1-5, it is apparent from the context that the analogy used by Paul is about a natural son trained under tutors, as though he were a servant, who upon his maturity is received into the privileges of his heritage. The word “adoption” in these texts is from the Greek huiothesia, which Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words gives as “from huios, a son, and thesis, a placing.” It could be used of placing one as a son who was not natural to the family. But in Galatians the context speaks of one natural to the family, who after training in his youth, enters upon the status and benefits of his position. Paul applies it to Jews, who as God’s people were trained and tutored under the Law. They differed “nothing from a servant” until the time of Christ, when the high blessings and privileges of the heavenly calling were offered. Having entered upon these, they were “no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (Galatians 4:7). Paul’s point is that they were relieved of the old service to the Law, and blessed with all the privileges and prospects we have in Christ. Being free from the Law, those Paul wrote to in Romans should not again turn back to the “spirit of bondage ... to fear” which were pervasive under the Law. No, let that training and service recede into the background. It was merely a “schoolmaster” to bring them to Christ. Under the Law there was bondage because they were obligated to a code of regulations, and fear because transgressions under the Law brought judgment—and the judgment for sin ultimately is death. Hebrews 2:14,15 speaks of this also: Jesus became flesh to “deliver them [the seed of Abraham under the Law] who through fear of death [the penalty for transgression] were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Here appear fear and bondage, as in Romans 8:15. From these effects of the Law, the Jews had redemption in Christ.
Hebrews 2:14 says Jesus was able to “destroy him that had the power of death,
that is, the devil.” This word “destroy” is from the Greek katargeo,
which means to render powerless. “Devil” means accuser. Probably in context,
Paul means to say that by Jesus’ death on the cross he was able to render
powerless the accusing, condemning power of the Law against Jews, for they could
come into freedom through Christ. In this sense Christ “took it [the Law] out of
the way, nailing it to his cross” (Colossians 2:14). Respecting the accuser,
note John 5:45, “there is one that accuseth you, even Moses [who gave the Law].”
John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). This is the text so often used by advocates of the Trinity. The text does not speak of three parties, so it carries no sufficient testimony about a doctrine of three parties. But it is sometimes taken to equate Jesus and God, which is part of the false doctrine of the Trinity. Here again, a cross-reference is helpful. The phrase “was with God” is referenced to 1 John 1:2, “The life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father ...” In this text Jesus was “with the Father.” In John 1:1, Jesus was “with God.” It is clear by this comparison that “God” in this case is “the Father.” Indeed, in the opening chapter of every epistle of Paul, save one, God is equated with “our Father” or “the Father.” And no trinitarian claims that Jesus is the Father. For this reason, perceptive trinitarians do not claim support for their doctrine from John 1:1. John 1:18, in the better manuscripts, distinguishes the unseen God, our heavenly Father, from an only begotten god, our Lord Jesus. Thus in this context, the apostle John does refer to Jesus as a mighty being, theos, a god. This augments the oft expressed thought that the indefinite article is implied at the end of John 1:1, “and the Word was a god,” a mighty being. Others understand the phrase to mean Jesus was like God in essence, in character. In either case, they are distinct beings, and our Savior Jesus, the Son of God, is subordinate to, and respectful of, “his God and Father” (Revelation 1:6, NASB). |