Sermonette – Blotted Out           8 February 2020      Cave Springs, AR

By Tim Martens

According the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the word “exegesis” is “an explanation or critical interpretation of a text.”  Essentially, this is where you look at each word in the text and draw meaning from that word.  Then you put the words together to determine what the passage of text actually means. 

The term “exegesis” is contrasted with the term “eisegeses.”

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines eisegesis as “the interpretation of a text (as of the Bible) by reading into it one's own ideas.”

So, exegesis is where you dig into the Scriptures to find out what those scriptures actually say.  Using exegesis is a search for the truth. 

In contrast, eisegesis is where you search the Bible to figure out how you can find a way to support what you already believe – a conclusion in search of support.  Our conclusion or belief might be right or it might be wrong, but the more sure way to find the truth is to seek out what the Scriptures actually say (exegesis), and then follow the truth. 

Digging through the Scriptures does take some effort, but it is essential. 

Isaiah 28:9-11      NKJV

9 “Whom will he teach knowledge?

And whom will he make to understand the message?

Those just weaned from milk?

Those just drawn from the breasts?

10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept,

Line upon line, line upon line,

Here a little, there a little.”

 

Today I want to take a small passage from the Bible and enlarge our understanding of it.  And then we can better see the meaning of other scriptures. 

3 John v13     NKJV

I had many things to write, but I do not wish to write to you with pen and ink;

 

Notice that the Apostle John closes the Book of 3rd John by referring to pen and ink. 

By looking at Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, we can derive meaning from the original language in which John wrote the verse.

3 John v13      KJV

I had G2192 many things G4183 to write, G1125 but G235 I will G2309 not G3756 with G1223 ink G3188 and G2532 pen G2563 write G1125 unto thee: G4671

The word “ink” is Strong’s G3188.  The root of the word “ink” is actually the Greek word “melan” which means “black.”

The ink of the first century when the apostle John was writing was a mixture of soot or lampblack.

When I was a boy on the farm, the electricity from the regional power cooperative would go out from time to time because of a windstorm or an ice storm.  Our household would be in the dark, so my parents got out the old table lamps that used kerosene or lamp oil.  If you have ever used a kerosene table lamp, the glass chimney of the lamp will collect soot or carbon if the wick of the lamp is not trimmed properly. 

Even today we keep several oil lamps in our home in the event of a power outage.  And we have used those lamps from time to time. 

In the first century the black soot was mixed with a rubbery gum.  A rubbery gum was used as an adhesive to make the “ink” stick to the paper.

So the “ink” of the first century in the time of the apostles was a mixture of black soot and an adhesive. 

The word “pen” that is used in 3 John v13 is Strong’s G2563.   

This pen was not a ball-point pen that we are familiar with today.  Rather, the pen of the first century was more like the modern fountain pen that uses a little metal point. 

The first century pen was made by making a diagonal cut on a hard reed.  The hard reed with a sharp point was used a writing device or pen.  From time to time the sharpened point of the hard reed pen would become dull and required sharpening.  The writer could sharpen the tip of his reed pen using a piece of volcanic stone called pumice stone.  Pumice stone can still be purchased today to as an abrasive – this soft, porous stone is often used to rub callouses from skin. 

The black ink was a mixture of lampblack and adhesive.  The ink was sold as a dry mixture and then mixed with water to just the right consistency immediately before using.  When the ink dried on the paper, it was only on the surface of the papyrus – stuck onto the surface of the paper by the adhesive.

If the writer made a mistake, then the first century writer could take a wet rag or wet sponge and remove the erroneous writing. 

When I was in college I purchased a special type of paper that would allow me to erase typed mistakes.  However, after erasing my mistakes, then I had to perfectly line up the paper in my manual typewriter to put in the correct word or the correct spelling. 

Later, I had an electric typewriter – an IBM Selectric.  This was a fancy typewriter that would have a black-ink ribbon.  It also had a special white ribbon that would allow the typist to back up and “white out” the erroneous text by typing over the black ink with the white-ink ribbon. This would make the black typing disappear and I could type over the space with the correct word. 

Today we have word processors that allow us to correct mistakes on the computer screen when we are writing.  We even have spell-checkers and grammar checkers to aid us in our writing. A misspelled word is automatically underlined in the color red.  A grammatical error may be automatically underlined in blue.

In 1787 the United States founders created the Constitution with pen and ink.  Now we have transcribed the original text into computerized fonts.  The Constitution has been amended 27 times.  When we read a copy of the Constitution the amended version still contains the original text with dotted lines drawn through the deleted or amended portions.  The whole text is still there – with both the original deleted portions and the current amended version. The same thing is true with proposed laws considered by Congress or by various state legislatures.  The proposed deletions have horizontal lines drawn through those words.  The proposed additions are added in italics to make it easy to read the entire context.  Nothing is blotted out – we can see the original and the additions and deletions. 

The Apostle John only had the technology of his day:  Fresh-mixed ink and a reed pen.

So, why does this information about ink and pen matter in the greater context of the Bible?

Understanding how pen and ink were used in the Bible helps us to realize what the writer was thinking when certain passages were written.

Exodus 32:32

32 Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.”

The writer of Exodus – Moses – used the term “blot me out of Your book…”  This is what a writer would do to erase a mistake – he would use a wet sponge and remove the mistaken text.  Moses asked to be blotted out or removed to atone for the sins of the people of Israel when they worshipped the golden calf.  However, God did not blot out Moses from the book of life.  Instead, when we read on in Exodus 32, we find that God allowed people to suffer for their own sins. 

The Apostle John also referred to “blotting out” in Revelation 3.

Revelation 3:5

5 He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.

So, it is possible for people who were once converted to lose their salvation – to be removed from the Book of Life.

As we approach the Passover season, it is our job individually to ask God to blot out the sins from our life – to remove our faults and shortcomings. 

We ask God for help as we repent to change our ways – to turn and do better.  It is our challenge to become overcomers. 

In the alternative, we should know that it is possible that our names could be blotted out of the Book of Life just as the ancient writers would take a wet sponge and blot out the words that shouldn’t be there – as if those words had never been written.  We can be thankful that blotting out a person’s life does not occur unless that person fails to repent and change their direction.

That small phrase – pen and ink – is used only three times in the Bible.  Yet, using the methodology of exegesis we can lift meaning from even the smallest scriptures to give us understanding that is profitable for salvation.

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