Knowable Word

Helping ordinary people learn to study the Bible

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Why We Study the Bible

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Why should we study the Bible?  Couldn’t we just listen to God’s voice inside us?  Even if we ought to use the Bible, shouldn’t we just read it, expecting the meaning to become apparent?  Doesn’t all this “Bible study” stuff get in the way, slow us down, quench the Spirit?

Let me give some reasons why it’s important that we learn how to study the Bible:

1.  Knowing Jesus is eternal life

Jesus said it himself in John 17:3.  He wants what’s best for us, and what’s best for us is for us to know him.  He prayed accordingly the night before he was killed.

2.  The whole Bible is about Jesus

Jesus said it in Luke 24:44-47.  Phillip realized it early on (John 1:45).  Peter declared it much later (1 Peter 1:10-11).

3.  The Bible was written that we might know Jesus and have eternal life

Romans 15:4, John 20:30-31, 1 Peter 1:11-12, Rev 1:1.  It’s an old book, but it was written with you and me in mind!  It wasn’t written to us, but it was written for us.

4.  God thinks it’s noble when we examine the Bible to know Jesus better

Paul explained the main point of the Bible in Acts 17:3.  Some Thessalonians rejected this message (Acts 17:6-7), but the Bereans eagerly searched it out in the text of the Bible (Acts 17:10-11).

5.  It takes hard work to understand the Bible

Some parts are hard to understand, and those who are untaught or unstable will distort them (2 Peter 3:16).  We must be taught well and given a stable foundation if we are to understand the Bible and know Jesus.  Granted, many parts of the Bible are abundantly clear (John 14:6, Acts 4:11-12), yet they, too, are commonly twisted.

6.  We need God’s Spirit to understand the Bible

Our sin and rebellion against God infects everything about us, even our thinking.  No amount of hard work and no foolproof method will guarantee that we interpret the Bible rightly.  Countless universities have courses taught by learned professionals who miss the whole point (see #1-3 above).

But when we trust in the Jesus revealed in the Bible, we receive God’s Spirit, who helps us to know Jesus better (1 Cor 2:6-16).  Those who believe have access to the very mind of Christ because they have his Spirit.

On this blog, we want to help you know Jesus.  We do that by helping you learn to study the Bible.  Let’s keep working to master the methods, but above all, let’s keep our focus on Jesus as we do so.

How’d You Do That? (7/16/12)

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In yesterday’s post, we fleshed out Solomon’s first purpose for writing Proverbs.  In so doing, we examined an important component of biblical poetry: parallelism.

We saw the importance of observing Genre here and here.  Now that we’ve noticed that we’re dealing with poetry, we can appreciate the implications.

English poetry and Hebrew poetry have some similarities and some differences.  Knowing them up front enables us to read the Bible rightly.

Similarities
  1. Uses lots of imagery
  2. Attempts to evoke feelings
Differences
  1. English poetry is (often) driven by meter and rhyme
  2. Hebrew poetry is primarily driven by parallelism

English poetry sounds…poetic.  It has a bounce, a rhythm.  For example:

When beggars die, there are no comets seen;
The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes. (Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, II.2.30)

Hebrew poetry generally doesn’t have the “bounce.”

To know wisdom and instruction,
To understand words of insight (Prov 1:2, ESV).

Bible translators often format the text differently to signal poetry (lots of white space, parallel lines indented together, etc.).  Because of the lack of meter and rhyme, however, translators often disagree whether certain Bible passages are prose or poetry.  Just look at the book of Ecclesiastes in a few different versions, and you’ll see that there is little consensus on whether some sections are prose or poetry.

What’s the point?

When you read poetry in the Bible, remember not to isolate individual lines.  Instead, we ought to read parallel lines together, for it’s in their parallelism that we get the poet’s intentions.  Also, expect lots of figurative and emotive language.  The poet wants to communicate a point, but he wants to do so beautifully.

How’d You Do That? (7/4/12)

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In yesterday’s post, I tried to demonstrate an important principle for how to study the Bible: correlation.  Correlation is the process of linking different passages together to understand what the Bible has to say about a topic or idea.

When it comes to correlation, it can be pretty easy to make a number of errors:

  1. Cross-referencing too soon: Sometimes when we read a passage, we immediately jump to all the other passages that come to mind.  As we jump from place to place in the Bible, we can feel like we’ve had a good Bible study.  The danger, however, is that we can jump so much that we failed to understand any of the specific passages in their context!  Numerous cults use this technique to justify their teaching, while making it seem biblical.
  2. Isolating a text from the whole Bible: Sometimes we can get so focused on one passage that we develop an imbalanced understanding of a certain topic.  Without connecting this passages to other passages, we might over-focus on one side of an issue to the exclusion of the complete biblical perspective on it.  I find it really easy to commit this error when I’m having a disagreement with someone, and I want to over-emphasize my perspective.
  3. Connecting passages unhelpfully: Sometimes we can connect different passages for no other reason than that they use the same word.  When we do this, we miss the fact that different authors might use the same words in different ways.  We read a certain meaning into various texts rather than drawing meaning out of them.  We often commit this error if we search for a single word in a Bible search engine, and then assume that every verse that turns up must apply to the particular question I’d like to answer.

How do we correlate various Bible texts accurately?

  1. Make sure you understand the passage at hand in its context.  That means identifying the author’s main point before you jump to any other texts.
  2. Once you’ve identified the main point, then look for other passages that speak to the same main point (which may include using the same words, but it also might not).
  3. As you look at other passages, make sure you understand the main points of each of them in their own contexts.
  4. Allow each passage to nuance your understanding of the idea.
  5. Make changes in your life to obey what you have learned from God’s Knowable Word!

Sometimes the Point is Clear

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Some Biblical authors are very clear about why they wrote their books.  When you study these books, don’t feel the need to be particularly profound.  If you don’t get to the stated point, you’re probably missing something.

  1. Proverbs – to know wisdom, to understand words of insight, to receive instruction, to give prudence, to understand a proverb (Prov 1:1-6).
  2. Luke – to give an orderly account, that we might have certainty concerning the things we have been taught (Luke 1:1-4).
  3. John – so you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, and have life in his name (John 20:30-31).
  4. 1 John – so you may know you have life (1 John 5:13).
  5. Jude – to encourage us to contend for the faith (Jude 3).
  6. Revelation – to reveal Jesus Christ and show his servants the things that must soon take place (Rev 1:1).

Please feel free to comment if I missed any.

Why We Should Care Who the Audience Is

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In yesterday’s post we considered who the primary audience of Proverbs was.  Why bother?

The main reason is because, although the Bible was written for us (1 Cor 10:11), it was not written to us.  Every book of the Bible was written by a particular person, for a particular group of people, in a particular situation.  We put ourselves in danger of misunderstanding the text if we don’t first understand these historical circumstances.  We must put ourselves in their shoes.

Imagine if I showed you a letter in which I wrote the sentence “You’re making me go crazy.”  How would you read that line if you knew I had written the letter to my child?  To my employee?  My neighbor?  My wife?  My pet snake?  A customer service rep at a store from which I made a significant purchase?

At the office where I work, we maintain a quote board for just this purpose: to catalogue the random statements which, removed from any context, become hilarious.  We have entries on the board like:

  • “Did you forget the pot this morning?”
  • “If you’re gonna die, it’s nice to do it at home.”
  • “I’m going to do number two tomorrow, but it’s going to take me a while, because I haven’t done it in awhile.”
  • “The longer I live, the more I don’t want to.”
  • “I keep trying to say funny things to get on the quote board.”

When it comes to studying the Bible, let’s keep the original audience in mind.  Otherwise, we can miss the point.  For example:

  • Genesis (as a book) was prepared for a nation of people who had just come out of centuries of enslavement and were trying to figure out their identity.  It was not primarily written to people who were examining the origin(s) of all things.
  • Daniel was written to Jewish exiles in Babylon and Persia to help them understand how God could possibly still be in control.  Daniel’s predictions were largely intended to prepare these people, and their converts, for the coming Messiah (King of the Jews).  It worked, since some from that region knew what to look for at just the right time (Matt 2:1-2).
  • Revelation (and it’s rich symbols) was not primarily about 21st century events.  The book would have made sense to believers in churches scattered across Turkey in the 1st century AD (Rev 1:4).  We ought to read it accordingly.

Whenever you approach a book of the Bible, make sure you find out who the original audience was (as much as is possible) and do your best to put yourself in their shoes.

Videos of Talks from DiscipleMakers Refresh Conference

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This past weekend, DiscipleMakers hosted Refresh: A Conference for Alumni and Friends.  The theme was “Broken Dreams to Restored Hope: The Gospel in the Psalms.”  Videos are available of all the main session talks.

Session 1: Broken Dreams (Psalm 88) – Rhys John (highlight)

Session 2: Broken People (Psalm 42) – Dave Royes (highlight)

Session 3: Restored People (Psalm 32) – Peter Krol

Session 4: Restored Hope (Psalm 103) – Mark Fodale

How’d You Do That? (6/17/12)

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We just finished examining a bit of Solomon’s biography and credentials for authoring the book of Proverbs.  We saw that God’s wisdom, God’s promise, and great wealth qualified him for this task.

How did I come up with these principles?

The main idea here is that the narrative books of the Bible often give us key information to help us interpret the didactic (teaching) books.  We learn about Solomon’s story from the books that chronicle his life.  As I studied those sections, I began to draw connections to the Proverbs.  Especially helpful was 1 Kings 3:1-15, where Solomon asks for wisdom, and 1 Kings 4:20-34, where Solomon demonstrates his wisdom.

We can follow this same procedure for other parts of the Bible.

  • When reading Paul’s letters, first check out the biographical information on Paul in the book of Acts.  The most helpful parts are the sections where he ministers in the cities he later wrote letters to.  For example, study Acts 16:11-40 for background on the book of Philippians, Acts 17:1-9 for background on 1 & 2 Thessalonians, and Acts 18:1-18 for background on 1 & 2 Corinthians.
  • Consider Acts 14:8-23 and Acts 16:1-3 for information to help you interpret 1 & 2 Timothy.
  • Certain Psalms are connected with events in David’s life.  Psalm 3:1-8 makes sense after you understand 2 Samuel 15:1-37, and Psalm 51:1-19 should be read in connection with 2 Samuel 11:1-12:25.

I’m sure you get the idea.  When you study books of the Bible, first try to understand the author’s life situation and character.  The Bible itself can help you do this.

What Star Wars Taught Me About Bible Study

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It’s a little known fact that I’m a Star Wars geek.  I’ve been watching The Clone Wars cartoon with my children (which is fantastic), and we just finished Season 3.  I think it’s a good time for a Star Wars post.

Star Wars (both in the films and the cartoons) makes abundant use of a fun literary device called the “type scene.”  The Bible uses the same device, so Star Wars can help us understand it.

If you and I are discussing the Star Wars films, and I say, “I love that scene where the evil Sith lord cuts off the good guy’s appendage,” you would be right to ask, “Which one: Episode 2, where Dooku chops off Anakin’s arm, or Episode 5, where Darth Vader slices Luke’s hand off?”

For more examples, see if you can name which Star Wars movies have the following scenes:

  • Sith asks Jedi to join with him and overthrow his evil master.  Together, they could rule the galaxy.
  • A dismembered C3PO makes all kinds of corny jokes.
  • The young, attractive politician attracts the unconventional warrior.
  • A chase through an asteroid field.
  • The young but skilled pilot wins the battle by blowing up the giant space station.

Such vague descriptions could describe numerous “type scenes” that keep repeating in the Star Wars movies.  With each repetition of the scene, a creator connects two different characters or scenarios without having to say “this one is just like that one.”

Let me give some examples of this technique in the Bible.

  1. The man of God leaves the land of promise due to some sort of famine or distress.  In a foreign land, his wife masquerades as his sister but gets kidnapped.  You may have read these stories in Genesis 12:10-20, 20:1-18, and Gen 26:6-11.  What’s the point?  Abraham faced similar temptation all through his life, and Isaac struggled with it just like his dad did.
  2. God rescues his people from Egyptian captivity, and brings them through the Sea and wilderness.  Of course this happens in the book of Exodus, but the prophets use the same language to describe the Exile (for example, see Isaiah 10:24-25).  Jesus went through it, too (Matthew 2:14-15, 3:13-17, 4:1-2).  What’s the point?  Jesus endured all that Israel endured, as their representative.
  3. God’s ambassador heals a lame man by the city gate, and the Jewish officials get riled up about it.  Jesus does it in John 5:1-17, and Peter & John do it in Acts 3:1-4:22.  What’s the point?  Jesus’ disciples truly act in His name, with his full authority and power (Matthew 28:18-20).

Star Wars shows us how useful type scenes can be.  The Bible does it even better, though.

One more tip: pay attention whenever a Star Wars character says, “I have a bad feeling about this.”  It demonstrates another great literary device: repetition.  I’ll save that one for another day.

How’d You Do That? (6/8/12)

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In our last Proverbs post, I looked at what sort of genre proverbs are.  Let me give those comments a context.

When we come to learning how to study the Bible, one of the first steps is to observe the text carefully.  But what should we observe?  I generally consider five categories:

  1. Words
  2. Grammar
  3. Structure
  4. Mood
  5. Genre

You can observe the words themselves, considering repetition, tenses, number (singular or plural), etc.

You can observe the grammar, considering issues such as sentence structure (subjects, verbs, objects, etc.), pronouns, or prepositional phrases.

You can observe the structure, considering things like comparison, contrast, section divisions, or the shape of the text.

You can observe mood, identifying how the author communicated: excited, angry, patient, personal, etc.

Finally, you can observe the genre.  Primarily, you’ll want to notice whether you’re reading prose or poetry.  If I write of red roses, it’s important that you understand the genre.  On the one hand you might find just what you need in a pinch.  On the other hand, you could create too many giggles.  Don’t mix up genres!

In the case of Proverbs, I discussed the wisdom genre of proverbs.  We should not read proverbs like laws, or even like prophecies.  Proverbs are intended to address many fine details of life.  As we go through the text, we’ll see how this fact plays out.  But by way of introduction, I wanted to draw attention to the significance of genre.

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

I observed Proverbs’ genre,

Now you can, too!