5 Times to Use Your Cross-References

Last week I wrote about how cross-references often cause us to flap our wings without achieving liftoff. They certainly keep us busy, but often at the cost of missing the point of the text at hand. This week I’d like to explain some pertinent and helpful uses for cross-references.

In writing this list, I want to clarify that cross-references are sometimes a necessary part of Bible study. In many cases, failing to check the cross-references may leave you with poor interpretation. However, keep in mind that cross-referencing is not always a necessary part of Bible study. If you leave your passage behind like a solitary child in a grocery store, you should always have good reason to do so. And typically the only compelling reason for such behavior is if you’ll be right back after grabbing an emergency item from the car or service desk.

So in what situations are cross-references appropriate?

1. When your passage is quoted by or alluded to by another passage.

The Holy Spirit did not leave us without direction on how to read the Scriptures. Each instance of divinely inspired interpretation of another passage should be for us as a tent-peg firmly driven into the temple. A clear example: Matthew 1:22 shows that Isaiah 7:14 is about something bigger than the prophet’s own wife and child (Isaiah 8:1-4). A less clear, but no less compelling, example: In Acts 7:25, Stephen definitively reveals Moses’ intentions in killing the Egyptian (Ex 2:11-12). This fact should do away with our common condemnation of Moses as a young, brash, and insecure young man foolishly committing an impulsive murder.

2. When your passage quotes or alludes to another passage.

This point is same as the first but in reverse. When your passage has a clear quote or allusion, don’t skim lazily past it. Look it up and study it in context! Connect that chain.

Simon Lutz (2013), Creative Commons

For example, too many people propagate the notion that Jesus told parables to confuse people, all because they read the words quoted from Isaiah 6 (Matt 13:14-15, Mark 4:12) without exploring their context. Isaiah’s larger point has to do with idolatry blinding the eyes of those who persistently cling to it. As G.K. Beale marvelously put it, we become what we worship. Jesus came not to speak confusion, but to speak with utmost clarity—a clarity that would open many blind eyes, while simultaneously driving committed idolaters deeper into their idolatry.

Allusions can be difficult to pick up on unless we continue devouring large portions of Scripture in our reading, getting more familiar over time with the language and ideas. Recently I was studying Psalm 106 with a small group, and we were struck by how much Psalm 106:20 sounds like Romans 1:23. They are so close that it can’t be mere coincidence. Thus our study of Psalm 106 in context gave us deeper understanding of the point Paul appropriates for his purposes in Romans 1.

3. When an earlier passage holds crucial context.

I’m studying Mark 15:1-20, where Jesus is called King of the Jews but not treated in a kingly manner. I must go back to Mark 10:32-34 to see that things are playing out exactly as this king intended.

Or I’m studying Joshua 24, and there appears a sudden reference to Joseph’s bones. I must go back to Exodus 13:19 and Genesis 50:25 for context.

4. When a later passage offers a crucial explanation.

Over the last 2 months, I’ve read Exodus 6 times to prepare for preaching through the book. As I read, I’ve tried to make sense of the tabernacle sections in Ex 25-31 and Ex 35-39.

One question I had was why the order of instructions (Ex 25-31) differs from the order of production (Ex 35-39). And while I don’t have a great answer yet, pursuing that question led to another one: Why are the census tax (Ex 30:11-16) and priestly ordination service (Ex 29:1-46) the only sets of instructions not repeated in the production chapters? Especially when the production chapters repeat the phrase that Moses did all the things exactly as the LORD had commanded him (Ex 39:1, 5, 7, etc.)?

As for the census tax, this brought my attention to the incident where David takes a census but doesn’t collect the tax (2 Sam 24, 1 Chr 21). Suddenly, another mystery unlocks for me: why David’s census was so egregious in God’s sight.¹ And why the resulting plague is stopped when David purchases the land later used to build the temple. It’s all connected to Moses’ census tax to support the building of the tabernacle.

As for the priestly ordination service, I didn’t get an answer until I kept reading into Leviticus. The service does take place, word for word, in Leviticus 8. According to the structure of Exodus, I would expect it between Exodus 40:3 and Exodus 40:34. But Moses pulls it out of there and delays it until after the instructions for sacrifices (Lev 1-7). Again, I don’t have a crystal clear answer about why Moses did this, but the later text (Lev 8) highlights for me how important those instructions will be when I come to teach them in Ex 29. They are important enough to warrant a delay before we see them fulfilled.

5. When another passage illumines otherwise unknown historical or cultural background.

For example, our generation has no idea what it means to cut an animal in half and pass between the pieces. So no Bible study of Genesis 15 can be complete without first referring to Jeremiah 34:18-20 to clue us in.

As with most tools, the blessings or curses come not from the tool itself but from how we use it. I could use a blow dryer on an extension cord to defrost my windshield; but why would I want to? Likewise, let’s make great use of cross-references.

¹My colleague Mark Fodale made this point in a talk years ago, and I’m now appreciating the depth of his insight.

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