“All Scripture is … useful” (2 Timothy 3:16). That’s an audacious claim. Many individual Bible passages are encouraging and inspiring and seem very useful. But would we say that about all of Scripture?

When I read the Scriptures, much of it seems confusing, frustrating, and strange.

So how does Paul get away with saying that all Scripture is useful?

For example, how about this verse: “Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk” (Exodus 23:19)?

That doesn’t sound very useful.

Well, the Bible starts to be more useful when we realize that although it was written for us, it was not written to us. The Scriptures, even the historical books, were written to ancient people in ancient cultures who were experiencing unique questions and challenges in their day. So biblical authors, directed and carried by the Holy Spirit, responded to their problems with God’s answers.

In other words, before we allow the Bible to speak to us today, we need to see how and why it spoke to its original audience. What were their problems? How did the biblical authors apply God’s character and truth to their situations?

Once we have established what the Scriptures meant to the ancient authors, we can leap into our time and see what God is saying to us today.

So what was Moses saying to the ancient Israelites when he told them not to cook a young goat in its mother’s milk? Most likely, Moses was teaching God’s people that although they were required to sacrifice animals (not just for food but also as a part of their worship), they were to do so with compassion and care for God’s creation.

Although we are not required to perform such animal sacrifices today, we can see the importance and value of showing compassion and care for God’s creation, even as we use some animals for food.

So that’s how we are supposed to read the whole Bible. First we do our best to understand what it means in its original context, and then we apply the larger principle to our lives today. When we do those two things, all Scripture is … useful.