Both prophecies and history require the interpretation of the Holy Spirit. There is a third kind of interpretation— interpretation by synthesis. God assigns a special place for this kind of interpretation for His minister of the word. Consider how Peter served as a minister of God’s word at Pentecost. On the day of Pentecost something wonderful happened: The Holy Spirit was poured out and the gifts came. On that day many people spoke in tongues; they spoke the languages of many people. On that day the one hundred twenty received what the Israelites had never received. Previously, the Holy Spirit would come upon one person. One or two or at the most a group of prophets would receive God’s Spirit upon them. But on that day all one hundred twenty men and women received the outpouring of God’s Spirit; they were filled as if they were drunk with new wine. This was unprecedented in the history of Israel. At that time God clearly put the key in Peter’s hand. Among the eleven apostles, Peter clearly took the lead. He seized the opportunity to testify for the Lord, standing up to tell the Jews what had happened to them. Peter not only explained to the people what was happening that day; he also testified to them and exhorted them to receive the same thing. Peter was preaching. At Pentecost he was a minister of the word. He did not base his speaking on one passage but on three. He combined three passages together and received light through this synthesis. This was not an analysis but a synthesis. Three passages were put together. God not only explained this phenomenon to him, but three passages of the Scripture were put together to show the Jews what was really happening to them. Today, God’s servants also see things by putting together various passages of the Scripture. Such a practice is in the principle of Peter’s ministry at Pentecost.
On the day of Pentecost Peter put together and spoke from three passages—Joel 2, Psalm 16, and Psalm 110. His ministry of the word at Pentecost consisted of a synthesis of these three parts of the Scripture. The Holy Spirit combined the three passages together and interpreted the meaning behind them to him. This is interpretation by synthesis. With such a synthesized interpretation, men receive light from these passages. A minister of the word does not necessarily function through only one passage of the Scripture. Many times, the interpretation comes from a combination of passages. This principle of combination is even more common with the ministry of the word today. We need to put together many passages to find the meaning behind them.
For example, four things were used as objects of worship in the Old Testament: the golden calf, the bronze serpent, Gideon’s ephod, and Micah’s molten image (1 Kings 12:28-33; 2 Kings 18:4; Judg. 8:27; 18:14-31). If you want to give a message on various kinds of worship apart from God, you can combine these passages and speak something concerning them. Many subjects need to be studied synthetically.
Peter did a work of synthesis on the day of Pentecost. He spoke from Joel 2 on the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, from Psalm 16 on the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and from Psalm 110 on the ascension of the Lord. He put these three things together. The Lord Jesus has resurrected. After His resurrection, He did not remain on the earth; He ascended to the heavens. The result of this ascension is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The Lord’s ascension follows His resurrection. Death could not hold Him; He ascended to the Father and is waiting for His enemy to become His footstool. Today the Father has glorified Him, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is the proof of His glorification. While Peter was serving as a minister of God’s word that day, the Holy Spirit interpreted these three passages of the Scripture to him. With the interpretation of these three passages, he had a strong foundation for his speaking. The ministry of the word requires the Holy Spirit’s interpretation of God’s Word to us. We, in turn, have to take this interpreted word as the basis of our speaking ministry.
In Acts we find other examples of such synthesized teaching. For example, in chapter three, Peter’s message was short, consisting of only a few sentences, yet he combined Deuteronomy with Genesis. In chapter seven Stephen’s word, without a doubt, was a ministry of the word. It was, in fact, a very distinctive ministry of the word. His word was powerful, and there were few explanations in his message. He simply related to his audience the history in the Old Testament period by period, from Abraham’s calling in Genesis 12 to Moses’ time in Egypt to the Israelites’ rebellion against God. He went from Genesis to Exodus to Deuteronomy and then quoted the words of Amos and Isaiah. He went on and on without much explanation. That speech enraged those who heard it, and they stoned him to death. This shows us that his ministry of the word was a very special one. There was no explanation; he merely related the history part by part. Such a message was pressed out of Stephen’s spirit. Those who listened to it could not stand it. This synthesis was very powerful. In chapter thirteen Paul’s word was in this same principle. While he preached in Pisidian Antioch, he quoted from 1 Samuel 13, Psalm 89, Psalm 2, Isaiah 55, Psalm 16, and Habakkuk. This was a synthesis. Based on this synthesis, Paul came to a conclusion and challenged the audience to accept Jesus of Nazareth as their Savior.
As the New Testament ministers read God’s Old Testament word, they received three different kinds of interpretation from the Holy Spirit. The first was the interpretation of prophecy, the second was the interpretation of history, and the third was the interpretation of a combination of various passages. The Holy Spirit gave interpretations to all three kinds of words. We should pay special attention to words that are a combination of various passages. The book of Hebrews contains many words of this kind, and so do the books of Romans and Galatians. When the Holy Spirit instructed the apostles to speak on a certain topic, He selected many verses from the Old Testament and led them to speak what they ought to speak. We should realize that the same principle governs the ministers of the word today. Just as Peter, Paul, Matthew, and all the other apostles fulfilled their ministry by speaking according to the Old Testament, words with which the Holy Spirit had instructed them, we fulfill our ministry by speaking according to both the Old and New Testaments, as the Holy Spirit has also instructed us. The apostles did not speak carelessly; they were under the direction of the Holy Spirit. They spoke what God wanted them to speak based on the Spirit’s interpretation of God’s previous speakings. Today the ministers of the word must follow the same principle. Our basis should be the words of the New Testament and the Old Testament, words which the Spirit instructs us to speak and which He has interpreted for us. We should speak what God wants us to speak today based on these words. This is what it means to have the ministry of the word.