Hafokh ba: Turn it

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing those from whom you learned, and that from childhood you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. – 2 Timothy 3:14-17 HCSB

There is a Hebrew phrase concerning the Scriptures that goes “Hafokh ba, v’hafokh ba k’kula ba.” It could be translated “turn it, and turn it because everything is in it” as though the Word of God were a garden to be tilled, the soil carefully mixed in an effort to discover its full potential. Indeed the Word does feed our souls much as the soil can feed our bodies. Didn’t the Master say “Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God”?[1]

In turning the soil, we try to get as much air, water and organic material throughout the precious matrix to maximize our potential harvest. Similarly, the Scriptures must be carefully applied to each other in order to get the best possible understanding. This type of internal commentary is the best possible way to get our souls to flourish.

You see, the Scriptures are already so intricately interlocked that to take any one of them out of context is to practically nullify their effect. There are over 60 major prophecies with more than 270 ramifications concerning the Messiah alone in the Old Testament.

I have personally found at least 266 direct quotations of the OT in 18 of the 27 books of the NT and there are literally thousands of allusions. Therefore, more than 10 per cent of the New Testament text is made up of citations or direct allusions to the Old Testament. Thus the emphatic statement in today’s passage, “ALL Scripture is inspired and profitable.”

Humans, with their sinful natures and natural inclination to lean toward their desires are very weak commentators at best. The greatest scholars among us are no match for the Holy Spirit inspired authors of the Scriptures. The best commentary on the Scriptures that you can buy is the Word of God itself. The light must come from the text itself. The Scriptures alone can explain the Scriptures.

Jesus used this method Himself on the road to Emmaus.[2] He clearly used the Torah (the books of Law), the Nevi’im (the prophets) and the Ketuvim (the writings) to stake His claim to our hearts.[3] And He categorically stated that those who refused to listen to Moshe (Moses) would not listen to Him.[4]

Listen to Charles Stanley, James MacDonald, D.L. Moody, Spurgeon, Jamieson, Fausset and Brown. Just make sure you keep turning the Word, looking to it as your source of life.


[1] Matthew 4:4
[2] Luke 24:27
[3] Luke 24:44-46
[4] John 5:46-47