Warning About SPECULATING In Sermons

There is a lot more speculation in sermons now than I used to hear when I was first converted. A good example was a Bible lesson I heard recently at a gathering of young Christians. The Bible teacher presented quite a number of his speculations as actual Bible teaching. That can become a dangerous practice.

One such speculation was made about the “three days” we read about in Gen 22:4. It is very possible Isaac in Gen 22 is a type of Christ, but I think the only thing we know for sure is that the sacrificed ram in Gen 22:13 is a type of Christ (John 1:29, etc., Gen 22:8). To say that since Abraham arrived in close proximity to his destination on the “third day” (Gen 22:4), that there is a parallel to Jesus being dead for three days, because Isaac was “as good as dead” for three days – seems like a mighty stretch to me. First of all, Isaac was not as good as dead for three days; he didn’t even eventually die at the site. And second, it could be a complete coincidence that Abraham arrived on the third day. Does this mean every time we read about the “third day” in the Old Testament (32 times), that there is an intended parallel to Christ in the grave being made?

I remember studying with a Seventh Day Adventist in Huntsville in the late 1980s, and we were discussing the issue of seventh day or first day, and the guy asked me how many churches were written to in Revelation chapters 2-3?, as if that count (seven) proved the seventh day Sabbath was still binding. That illustrates how this kind of poor reasoning (based upon speculation and/or coincidence) can lead to all kinds of problems.

Is it possible the increase in speculation being done by gospel preachers these days is an indication they and their listeners are becoming bored by just learning what is actually found in the Biblical texts? We certainly hope not.

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