The Apostle Paul exhorted Timothy to “show himself approved unto God...rightly dividing the word of truth.” The Greek word translated “rightly dividing” signifies literally “cutting a straight line,” and appears to be a metaphor based on road making. Paul’s exhortation was that Timothy should follow the straight and undeviating line of truth in his exposition of the Scriptures, and there is a suggestion that any other method of exposition would meet with God’s disapproval, even though the ultimate object was the furtherance of the Gospel. In short, the end does not justify the means; the preaching of the Truth must be based on the manifest teaching of Scripture, and must not be sullied by the uncritical citation of Scripture texts wrested from their contexts on the pretext that the language of such texts fits one’s purpose, and seems to support the point one is trying to make.
For example, an examination of the interpretations placed on the word “Tarshish” suggests that many modern students need reminding of Paul’s words about “rightly dividing the word of truth.”
Most readers of The Testimony will agree that “the merchants of Tarshish” in Ezekiel 38:13 represent modern Britain. It does not follow from this, however, that “Tarshish” always means Britain; yet this fallacious assumption appears to lie behind many interpretations. The statement in Psalms 48:7 that God “breaks the ships of Tarshish with an east wind” is frequently declared to mean that the British Navy will be singled out for destruction by Divine agency when God’s judgments are in the earth. This identification of “the ships of Tarshish” with the British Fleet is manifestly influenced by the aforesaid interpretation of Ezekiel 38:13.
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Author: P. H. Adams
Keywords: Tarshish, Tartessos, England, Phoenicians, Phoenicia, Britain, British Isles, Spain, silver, gold, sea trading, sea merchants, Mediterranean coastlands, coastland, Mediterranean, merchant, merchant ships, gold of Ophir, young lions, young cubs, British colonies
Bible reference(s): Genesis 10:4, 1 Kings 10:22, 1 Kings 22:48, 1 Chronicles 1:7, 2 Chronicles 9:21, 2 Chronicles 20:36, 2 Chronicles 20:37, Esther 1:14, Job 22:24, Job 28:16, Psalm 45:9, Psalms 48:7, Psalms 72:10, Isaiah 2:16, Isa 13:11, Isaiah 23:1, Isaiah 23:6, Isaiah 23:10, Isaiah 23:14, Isaiah 60:9, Isaiah 66:19, Jeremiah 10:9, Ezekiel 27:12, Ezekiel 27:25, Ezekiel 27:27, Ezekiel 38:13, Jonah 1:3, Jonah 4:2
Source: “Tarshish,” The Testimony, Vol. 15, No. 177, September 1945, pp. 175-7.
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