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Reading the Bible is like no
other experience in your life. The Bible is a living book. It will meet you
fresh each time you pick it up. God has designed it for us. It has many
aspects. They range from commanding authority, to an expression of His love
for us.
Let's start with a few ground rules
for effective Bible study:
1) Accept the Holy Bible as being God's Word, and having His authority.
2) Be willing to be changed by the Bible as you read it for understanding.
3) Interpret the experiences in your life according to the Scripture, rather
than interpret the Scripture according to your life experiences.
4) Understand that your knowledge and understanding of the Bible are not
complete and will grow as you apply yourself to its study. Be willing to
admit that there are differences of opinion regarding some passages, and do
not condemn other viewpoints unless clearly led to. But lovingly correct when
a position or opinion is in clear opposition to the Bible's teachings.
5) Look first to what God is saying to you, for your own application. Act on
it. Each Christian has the right and responsibility to know and interpret the
Scripture for themselves.
The Bible is its own best study guide. As you study the Bible look for
patterns and themes. Start out by seeking a true understanding of the
commitment that God has made to us through His Son. This is illustrated
throughout the Scripture. Then look for His personal commitment to you, and
then look for the opportunities for response, service, and maturing growth He
has given us.
How many of you remember receiving your first love letter? You probably
opened it immediately when you received it. You then sought a quiet place
allowing some privacy and carefully read it. You looked for all of the
meaning that you could find, you then re-read it and picked out those parts
that were the most special to you. In a few minutes you could probably quote
the letter word for word!
Just think how easy Bible study would be if we approached it in the same way.
Look for the immediate opportunity to read God's word. Seek a quiet private
place to read, a place where you won't be disturbed. Read the text more than
one time. Pick out the parts that speak personally to your heart and memorize
them.
Let's look for a few minutes at how we learn from the Bible. Most of us
attend a church. Many of us attend classes, or small group discussion type
Bible studies. These are all very good and important things to do. However
the point of our discussion today is personal Bible study. Next we will look
at some tools to use in Bible study.
We will see that the basic learning tools that we use to understand anything
are useful here as well. How many of you remember the following poem from
elementary school.
I keep six honest serving men
(They taught me all I knew)
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who
When we study a Bible passage the six servants above will help us understand
it.
The Three Steps of Bible Study:
Step One: Observation
1) Who - Who is the author of the book? To whom is he writing? Who are the
major and minor characters?
2) Where - Where do the events occur? Are there any references to towns,
cities, and provinces? If so look them up in a Bible atlas or on a map. Many
Bibles contain historical maps just for this purpose. If you are reading a
letter, where do the recipients of the letter live?
3) When - Are there any references to time, day, month, or year? Are there
references to the timing of other events happening in relation to this event?
4) What - What actions or events are taking place? What words or ideas are
repeated or are central to the passage. What is the mood (joyous or somber,
soft or stern, intense or peaceful, instructional or informational)?
5) Why - Does the passage offer any reasons, explanations, statements of
purpose? Why did the Holy Spirit move the author to write these words?
6) How - How is the passage written? Is it a letter, speech, poem, parable?
Does it use figures of speech (similes, metaphors)? How is it organized
(around people, ideas, geography)?
Use the questions above to probe the passage that you are studying. Write
down your answers. You will remember the passage and its meaning better if
your write down your observations as you study the passage. Pretend that you
are studying for your driver’s license exam, or for another test that is
important to you.
Use you powers of observation to pick up the details of place and person and
you will have a good idea as to what the passage says. Now you will want to
know what the passage says to you.
Step Two: Interpretation
To understand what the Bible is saying to you today, you will often need to
interpret the verses you are studying. Here is another important place to
remember that the Bible is its own best commentary. Remember that
interpretation must be faithful to what the author, not the reader wants to
say. The principle is that Scripture interprets Scripture.
Find out about the historical context of the book you are studying. Because
the Bible was written in a place and time unfamiliar to us, we must work a
little harder to understand it. However as we learn about the people and
places in the context of the passage it will become both more real and
understandable to us. Try to understand the problems of the people in the
passage. Look for clues in the passage itself as well as in a Bible
dictionary and/or almanac.
Read related passages of Scripture so that you know the people in the
passages as persons rather than names (see also character studies later in
this chapter).
Second, identify the type of literature that you are reading. Biblical
authors use a variety of literary forms, (see below).
Discourse; an extended logical discussion of a subject. Many New Testament
epistles and some of the longer sermons of Jesus fall into this category.
Prose narrative; the author describes and recreates sense of biblical history
which are theologically significant.
Genesis, Joshua, and the Gospels are examples.
Poetry; uses figurative language and parallelism and is emotional in nature.
(Psalms)
Proverbs; wise sayings which illustrate practical principles for living.
Should not be confused with commands or
promises. (Proverbs and elsewhere)
Parables; Jesus used them more than anyone else in Scripture. A parable
explains a spiritual truth using a story or
analogy.
Prophetic literature; books by the four major (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and
Daniel) and twelve minor (Hosea, Joel,
and Amos through Malachi) prophets. These are spokesmen for God who announce
curses and blessings associated with God's covenant with Israel and future
events for all who believe in God, (and for some who don't!)
Apocalyptic literature; these passages use heavy amounts of symbolism. Daniel
and Revelation are examples.
Identify the type of literature that the Bible passage you are reading
contains. This will help in your understanding.
Thirdly, get an overview of the book. Parts of the book take on a fuller
meaning in the light of the whole book. Different books are arranged in
different ways. Try to understand the broad thrust that God is trying to make
in the book.
Begin by reading quickly through the book. Next look for major sections. Now
look for subsections.
At each step look for connections between sections.
Fourthly Study the book passage by passage. Remember that the original Bible
did not have chapters, paragraphs, or verses, or even punctuation! The
present organization of the Scripture is useful for finding specific text
etc., but remember not to limit reading to a specific verse, paragraph, or
chapter if further reading would help your understanding.
Find the subject of each passage. What does the passage say about the subject?
What is the context of the passage? Notice the atmosphere or mood of the
passage.
Fifthly, Compare your interpretation with a good Bible commentary. The
commentary will give you additional insights into the passage and its
meaning. However try to understand the passage on your own before you consult
a commentary.
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