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More Reasons to Read the Entire Bible Quickly

September 21, 2016 By Peter Krol

For a few years, I’ve promoted the idea of reading the entire Bible as quickly as possible. I’ve made it my annual practice beginning on New Year’s Day for 6 years now, and it shows no sign of slowing.

What do I get out of the practice?

  1. It helps me grasp the overall story of the Bible.
  2. It reminds me the Bible is a work of literature.
  3. It gets me through the difficult parts more easily.
  4. It heightens my anticipation for Christ.

Now I have some more reasons to offer you, courtesy of Jordan Standridge:

  1. It caused me to understand that I exist for the purpose of glorifying God.
  2. It caused me to believe in the absolute sovereignty of God.
  3. It caused me to see that the sovereign God of Scripture was sovereign over my personal life as well.
  4. It was clear that God called His people to stick out from the world.
  5. It showed me that I am totally depraved.
  6. It showed me that people need God.

Standridge writes of his experience reading the entire Bible quickly in an article at The Cripplegate. Check it out!

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Filed Under: Check it Out Tagged With: Bible reading, Jordan Standridge

Study the Bible to Get Massive Treasure

September 19, 2016 By Ryan Higginbottom

If we’re honest, sometimes we don’t want to study the Bible. We know we should feel differently, but it’s the truth. At times we simply lack the motivation.

What are we supposed to do with that?

Petr Kratochvil, public domain

Petr Kratochvil, public domain

We All Want Treasure

Humans are treasure-seekers. Though we seek different treasure in different ways, we’re all on the hunt for meaning, significance, and happiness. And we can’t help but give our time to this pursuit.

We want to be respected and admired, so we put in long hours at work. We tweak our presentation over the weekend and answer email at the soccer game. We need people to know we’re on top of our game.

We want to belong, so we find people of similar interests. We stay up late for fantasy football, get up early for CrossFit, or zealously track our favorite celebrity on social media.

We want to be comfortable, so we agonize over the perfect house, neighborhood, and job. We research our decisions three times over so nothing is left to chance.

We’ve all done this. We latch onto something of great value, and in the pursuit of it we become single-minded, focused, and consumed. We target our love like a hawk tracks a field mouse.

God is Our Treasure

The Bible reveals that we were made for God. Despite our attempts to find value and pleasure elsewhere, he is the top prize in the universe.

This is why the “one thing” David wants is to gaze upon God’s beauty and inquire in his temple (Psalm 27:4). This is why Paul lost everything for the sake of Christ and considered it garbage so that he could “gain Christ” (Phil. 3:8).

God gives us good gifts, so the lesser riches we seek are not inherently bad. But they are nothing compared to God. Jesus came “that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). He is our great treasure.

How Do We Get This Treasure?

Anyone that is brought to God is brought by Jesus. A supernatural, spiritual work must take place inside us.

This transformation reorients our hearts. When we confess our pathetic treasure-seeking in light of the glory of God, he changes and purifies our desires.

Though Christians have experienced this once-for-all change, we still drift and search after other fulfillment. We still need reminders about what is most valuable, what is most fulfilling, and what is the best use of our time and resources. (See Matthew 6:19–21.)

Of course, God gives us this instruction in the Bible. This is where God warns us, encourages us, gives us hope, and convinces us of his unending love. In short, we find God, our supreme treasure, in the Bible.

You Do Not Lack Motivation

Sometimes I avoid the Bible because I forget what I’ll find there. The Bible isn’t just rules, stories, parables, and prophesies. In his word we encounter God himself.

In the Bible I see how to obey God, how to trust him, and how to love him. I learn that Jesus gave up his life for me and that the same power that raised him from the dead is working within me.

I read that my life is not to be protected or guarded at all cost. Rather, I find true life—that is, treasure—when I lose my life for others out of love for God.

Because we all want treasure we don’t need to produce motivation to study the Bible. We need to channel our natural desire and point it toward the most precious prize in the world, God himself.

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Filed Under: Method Tagged With: Bible, Bible Study, Excuses, Treasure

Free OIA Summary Booklet

September 16, 2016 By Peter Krol

OIA Bible study is a wonderful tool. With this tool, anyone can get to know the Lord Jesus by learning to study his word.

Perhaps you’ve worked through our series of posts walking you through the full process of observation, interpretation, and application. Perhaps you’ve read the book Knowable Word, which gives clearer examples and practice exercises in a manageable package. These resources have helped you to learn the OIA process, but you’d like something more.

What you could really use is a shorter booklet that merely summarizes the key principles. You don’t need all the drama or the fluff; there’s no need to pierce your ear with an awl just to prove how committed you are (Ex 21:5-6). You, like the Apostle Peter facing Ananias and Sapphira, just want the facts (Acts 5:7-9). You might use such a booklet as a reference guide to help you practice OIA, as it reminds you of the main concepts and the steps. You don’t want to have to go back to the complete book every time you have a specific question. And you don’t want to have to sift through page after page on this website to get a speedy answer or reminder. So what is there for you?

Yesterday, I would have sadly turned you away, like a bridegroom at the door of his wedding feast (Matt 25:10-12). But not today. Today, I am happy to welcome ye who are weary and heavy laden. May you find some rest for your soul.

Basic Bible Study SkillsWe’ve had a project in the hopper for many months, and I’m delighted to finally release it for general consumption. We have a short booklet outlining basic Bible study skills, and we’ve uploaded it for you to use at no cost.

You could keep this booklet on your desk as a handy reference. Or you could print it out for your study group or church book table. The booklet focuses only on the principles; it gives almost no illustrations or practice exercises. The point is simply to have all the concepts in a short reference guide.

Without further ado, you can find the booklet here:

Basic Bible Study Skills Booklet

  • For printing and passing out
    • print two-sided with short-edge flip, then fold the stack of pages in half
  • PDF for digital reading
  • EPUB download for digital reading
  • Kindle download for digital reading

I’ve also put these links up on the blog’s resources page, so you can find them easily in the future. Happy studying!

Many, many thanks to my colleagues who made this project come alive:

  • Jenny Carrington took the original blog material and edited it into concise form.
  • Dan Miller did the booklet design and typesetting.
  • Ryan Higginbottom scrutinized the project to make sure it was something we could cheerfully offer to our readers.
  • Caleb Olshefsky did the last-minute troubleshooting to ensure we could deliver usable formats to our readers.
Thanks for visiting Knowable Word! If you like this article, you might be interested in receiving regular updates from us. You can sign up for our email list (enter your address in the box on the upper right of this page), follow us on Facebook or Twitter, or subscribe to our RSS feed. 
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Filed Under: Check it Out Tagged With: Download, Print, Resources, Study Guides

More KW Articles in Spanish

September 14, 2016 By Peter Krol

screen-shot-2016-09-11-at-5-26-58-pm

A few more articles from this blog have been translated and posted in Spanish. Thanks to Armando Valdez for taking on this work!

I created a new page that links to all the articles on Armando’s Spanish site. I’ll keep that page updated as he posts more. You can navigate to that page right from the bottom of the Resources page if you ever want to check back for more.

Check it out!

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Exodus 1: Though This World, With Devils Filled, Should Threaten to Undo Us

September 9, 2016 By Peter Krol

If I am correct that the main point of Exodus is to ask, and then answer, the question, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice?” (Ex 5:2)—we should expect chapter 1 to somehow set up this main idea. And in fact, it does so, by establishing the characters and creating the conditions under which the question must be posed.

Observation of Exodus 1

Of course, there are many, many observations to be made. For the sake of space, my list will have to be selective. But in these sample Bible studies, I plan to mention what appears to be most important.

Significant repeated words in ESV: Egypt (7 times), Israel (7x), people (7x), all (6x), midwives (6x), live/lives (5x), Hebrews (4x), multiply (4x), sons (3x).

  • This passage has much to say about the “people” and their experience in Egypt.
  • And the “people” are closely connected to the “sons.” They are called “sons of Israel” in Ex 1:1, but “people of Israel” in Ex 1:7 (though a quick look at an original language reference tool will reveal that the identical Hebrew phrase is used in both verses).
  • The passage ends with multiple attacks on the “sons” of Israel. God blesses the midwives with “families,” which presumably include sons.
  • In addition, the thread of “multiplication” carries through every paragraph.

Names and titles:

  • The most repeated words (see above) are specific names of the two primary nations.
  • The opening line highlights the names of characters: “These are the names of the sons of Israel…”
  • The narrator goes out of his way to name the two Hebrew midwives in Ex 1:15 – Shiphrah and Puah.
  • But he never bothers to name the hostile king. He’s referred to only as “king of Egypt” (4x) or “Pharaoh” (3x).

Grammar/Structure:

  • Paragraph 1 (Ex 1:1-7): Joseph, his brothers, and all his generation died in Egypt. But death could not prevent them from multiplying.
    • The language of these verses remind us of Genesis (sons of Israel, 70 persons, generation), especially Genesis 1: fruitful, increased greatly, multiplied, land was filled with them.
  • Paragraph 2 (Ex 1:8-10): A new king over Egypt wants to deal shrewdly in order to prevent further multiplication, and to keep the people of Israel in one place.
    • The language of these verses remind us of the Tower of Babel (Gen 11:1-9): unnamed figures hostile to God, “come, let us,” prevent multiplication and scattering.
  • Paragraph 3 (Ex 1:11-14): Shrewd dealing #1: Afflict them with heavy burdens. But they keep multiplying (Ex 1:12).
  • Paragraph 4 (Ex 1:15-21): Shrewd dealing #2: Murder the sons. But they keep multiplying (Ex 1:20), and the midwives get families (Ex 1:21).
  • Paragraph 5 (Ex 1:22): Shrewd dealing #3: Drown the sons.
    • This final dealing leaves us with a lingering question: Will they keep multiplying?
Crossett Library (2011), Creative Commons

Crossett Library (2011), Creative Commons

Interpretation of Exodus 1

A few possible questions:

  1. Why are the names such an important part of the chapter?
  2. Why does it matter so much that the sons of Israel keep multiplying?
  3. Why does the king of Egypt want to prevent them from multiplying?
  4. Are the midwives lying to Pharaoh, and is it okay for us to lie to evil dictators?
  5. Will the king of Egypt succeed in his shrewd dealing?
  6. So what should God’s people expect as they live in God’s world and trust in God’s promises to the saints of old?

Answers (numbers correspond to the preceding questions):

  1. The new king of Egypt didn’t know Joseph (Ex 1:8). If we read Genesis—and this chapter seriously suggests we should read Genesis to understand what’s going on here—we can know Joseph. And God knows Joseph. And his father Jacob, and Isaac, Abraham, Noah, and Adam. God knows, and God remembers. But the king of Egypt? He’s nobody. He’s a no-name. We can’t remember him (scholars still debate over which Pharaoh this was). He can’t take God’s place or stand in God’s way.
  2. God’s people will complete God’s original mission to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it (Gen 1:28). If death can’t stop them (Ex 1:1-7), a devilish king of Egypt certainly won’t have any better success (Ex 1:8-22).
  3. Ex 1:8-10 portray him like one of the Babelites from Gen 11:1-9. He wants to take God’s place. He wants to have power over life and death, creation and recreation, justice and injustice. He wants the knowledge of good and evil (the authority to make his own decisions). He will work against God’s stated purposes, and keep these people in his land, in so far as it suits him if war breaks out.
  4. I have an opinion here. But, honestly, the question is so far removed from the author’s intention that it’s not worth as much time as we usually spend on it. Suffice it to say that one who deals shrewdly against God’s purposes will have shrewd dealings done against him. Such divine irony carries through the book of Exodus.
  5. You’ll have to keep reading Exodus, but (SPOILER ALERT) no. Pharaoh’s 3 shrewd dealings turn against him, as the Lord afflicts him with heavy burdens (Ex 7-10), murders his sons (Ex 11-13), and drowns his sons (Ex 14-15).
  6. There exist forces hostile to God’s promises and plans. But they will not succeed. Death cannot win. And devils (such as Pharaoh) run rampant and must rise up against us. Only in the context of such hostility will we truly find out who the LORD is, and why we should obey his voice!

Train of thought:

  • We pick up right where Genesis left off. Everyone dies, but God’s plans for fruitful multiplication prevail.
  • A new devil arises to claim God’s place.
    • He makes 3 attempts to bring an end to God’s plans for fruitful multiplication.
    • We’re waiting to discover what follows the decree to drown the sons

Main Point: The sons of God have many enemies, but none can prevent God’s promises from being fulfilled.

Connection to Christ: The Son of God himself had many enemies. None could prevent him from winning many brothers. If they had known what they were doing, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory (1 Cor 2:8). Their own tactics (persecution and murder) have turned against them to bring about the Lord’s greatest triumph.

Application of Exodus 1

Here is my application. You’re a different person in a different context, so you may have to come up with your own. And if yours look very different from mine, that’s okay!

Inward: When I face trials of many kinds, do I allow them to shake my confidence in the Lord?

  • Head: Don’t be surprised when hostile forces (the world, the flesh, or the devil) work against my attempts to honor the Lord. Expect this to happen.
  • Heart: Fear the Lord God more than I fear any this-worldly powers.
  • Hands: Memorize Scripture, remind myself of the truth, and keep living the Christian life. Don’t stop doing what I know to do as a Christian, just because it becomes hard to do them.

Outward: When others face trials of many kinds, encourage them not to lose confidence in the Lord.

  • Head: Encourage my children and others I disciple to expect many trials. Help them learn to interpret these trials as having no power against God’s promises.
  • Heart: Train others to fear the Lord more than they fear this-worldly powers.
  • Hands: Keep preaching the gospel and making more disciples. It’s worth it to fight for traditional marriage, religious freedom, and the uniqueness of Christ. Political nations will rise and fall, but none can stop the gospel’s advance to all tribes and peoples

Click here to see what I’m doing with this sample Bible study and why I’m doing it.

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Filed Under: Exodus, Sample Bible Studies Tagged With: Devil, Enemies, Exodus, Multiplication, Pharaoh, Promises

Two Things Not to Say When Leading Bible Study

September 7, 2016 By Peter Krol

Erik Raymond writes of “A Couple Phrases I Wish Preachers Would Stop Saying So Often.” And though Raymond directs his comments at pastors, Bible study leaders would be wise to listen in:

In recent years I’ve noticed an uptick in a couple of phrases from preachers and teachers. I don’t want to go so far as to mark them as homiletical cuss words, but I do want to draw a circle around them and ask why we are saying them so much. These two phrases are “I think” and “I feel.”

Let me explain. Suppose someone is preaching through Colossians and they come to chapter 3. They then read the following words aloud:

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” (Col. 3:1–2)

Then they say, “I think what Paul is saying here is that we need to be seeking the things above.” After a pause, he goes on to say, “I feel like this is especially hard for us today because of all of our temptations for distractions.” Later he says, “I feel like too many of us, myself included, are really susceptible to this. I think it can really hinder our walk with Christ.”

Now what’s wrong with this phrasing? On one level, nothing. He is not saying anything wrong. But, at the same time, he is not saying it like he could. If he is not completely declawing the passage he is at least filing down its nails. He is saying it in a less authoritative and offensive way. And while he may still be bouncing the ball to his congregation for application it is a bit of a deflated ball, or at least not as pumped up as it could be.

To see how Raymond would revise such comments to sharpen their claws, you’ll have to read the full article. Check it out!

However, I will make one disclaimer. When we are not (or cannot be) certain about the meaning of a passage, “I think” would be a perfectly reasonable thing to say. Or if we move off the main point into the sub-sub-sub-points of the passage, we should also avoid confident bluster and bravado. Remember, the main points are the ones worth fighting for. And they are the points whose claws must never be pared.

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Filed Under: Check it Out Tagged With: Confidence, Erik Raymond, Leadership

Exodus Overview: Who is the LORD, That I Should Obey His Voice?

September 2, 2016 By Peter Krol

We’ve considered the principles of Bible study in great detail. Now it’s time to put them into practice through a series of sample Bible studies in the book of Exodus. We begin with a book oveview.

While you could find many of the following points by reading a decent commentary or study Bible, you’ll have more fun—and the key points will have greater staying power in your life—if you glean them by simply reading and re-reading the book many times. To prepare this overview, I’ve consulted a few helpful sources. But I’ve spent most of my time reading Exodus 8 times in the last 3 months. I hope to read it 12 more times before the end of the year. Perhaps the repetition will lead me to change my mind at a few points.

Author

The New Testament regularly quotes or references the book of Exodus and attributes it to Moses (Mark 7:10, 12:26; Luke 20:37; John 6:32, 7:19; Rom 9:15; 2 Cor 3:13-15; Heb 7:14, 8:5, 9:19). We shall do the same.

Audience

After reading Exodus a few times, it becomes clear that the book focuses on the rescue and establishment of the people of Israel as a new nation before God. The book ends with the people at Mount Sinai, ready to move on to the land of promise. In addition, Exodus fits squarely within the flow of Exodus-through-Numbers. The book was clearly written to the Hebrews on their way to Canaan. It’s not clear, however, whether the book was “finished” for the first generation who came out of Egypt, or for the following generation. Numbers was clearly not finished until the second generation, since it reports the rebellion and death of the first generation. So Moses may have written Exodus a few decades earlier (possibly with Leviticus), for the first generation, or along with Numbers, for the second generation.

Occasion

Either way, the book of Exodus serves as a charter for this new nation. What does it mean to be not only a new sovereign state but the specially chosen people of God? When God remembers his covenant promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, what will that mean for these frightened and fearful former slaves? And how do they know God won’t eventually abandon them?

Genre

Most of the book presents itself as historical narrative. The events that take place here will shape the nation for generations to come (such as, Ex 12:1-6). Yet this narrative has frequent sub-genres: speech, dialogue, miracle story, and law code.

About a third of the way through, we get a long poem (Ex 15:1-21). Perhaps this attention-grabbing shift signals a climax of some sort…?

Themes

Steve Day (2008), Creative Commons

Steve Day (2008), Creative Commons

Reading Exodus, you can’t miss the theme of rescue from slavery. The first part of the book (chapters 1-15) tells the story of the greatest rescue in Old Testament history. And that rescue casts a long shadow even on the laws that follow (for example, Ex 22:21).

And while we might think of Exodus as being primarily about the exodus from Egypt, that event covers less than half the book. We also see a significant chunk of laws (chapters 20-23) and tabernacle instructions/construction (chapters 25-31 and 35-40). So our summary of themes must do justice to all these major sections:

  • rescue from slavery
  • guidelines for living as God’s people
  • patterns for constructing God’s dwelling place

Interestingly, each of these three themes goes nowhere without the intercession of a mediator. God delivers the people through the hand of Moses. God issues his laws through Moses’ representation. And God passes his building instructions through the same human lips. If you happen to miss this idea early, you can no longer ignore it when the tabernacle instructions are repeated twice, in their entirety: Once in dialogue to Moses, and again as Moses’ underlings carry those instructions out.

Purpose Statements

Another thing to look for in a book overview is explicit statements of purpose from the author. In Exodus, such purpose statements abound, often placed on the lips of God.

To the Hebrews: “I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians” (Ex 6:7).

Concerning the Egyptians: “The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them” (Ex 7:5).

To Pharaoh: “But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth” (Ex 9:16).

From Jethro, priest of Midian: “Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people” (Ex 18:11).

Regarding the tabernacle: “I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God” (Ex 29:45-46).

Beginning to end, Exodus portrays a God who wants all people and communities to know who he is and what he has done. This God wants an awareness that goes even beyond humans. He wants to take down rival deities as well. “For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD” (Ex 12:12).

Structure

The shifts in theme and genre are the literary clues we need to find the book’s structure.

  1. Narratives of deliverance – Ex 1-15
  2. Narratives of provision and preparation – Ex 16-18
  3. Legal instructions – Ex 19-24
  4. Construction instructions – Ex 25-40

Of course, that last section is shockingly interrupted with the Hebrew’s grievous sin with the golden calf (chapters 32-34). This incident suggests a larger shape for the second half of the book, as follows:

1. Covenant made – Ex 19-24

2. Tabernacle instructions – Ex 25-31

1′ Covenant broken and repaired – Ex 32-34

2′ Tabernacle constructed – Ex 35-40

Bringing these pieces together, we get the following big picture:

  1. Delivering from the house of slavery – Ex 1-15
  2. Preparing the house of Israel – Ex 16-18
  3. Constructing the house of God – Ex 19-40

Main Point

Connecting all the threads of occasion, genre, themes, purpose statements, and structure, we can state the main point of the book of Exodus in a single question:

“Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice?” –Pharaoh, king of Egypt (Ex 5:2).

Exodus unequivocally answers Pharaoh’s question in three parts: Who is Yahweh [in English Bibles, “LORD” in all caps], and why should you obey? He is the God who 1) demolishes the house of slavery, 2) prepares to rebuild, and 3) builds his house in the midst of his people.

Now we’re ready to dive into the details. This main point will guide us as we work our way through the book.


Click here to see what I’m doing with this sample Bible study and why I’m doing it.

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Filed Under: Exodus, Sample Bible Studies Tagged With: Book Overviews, Exodus, Overview

One Very Good Reason to Read Your Bible

August 31, 2016 By Peter Krol

Tim Challies writes of “One Very Good Reason to Read Your Bible.” And he’s absolutely right. This is about the best reason I can think of.

One of the great dangers in the Christian life is living first for self. One of the associated dangers, then, is seeing personal devotion as a practice that goes no further than my own mind, my own heart. But nothing could be farther from the truth. Your intimacy with God, your knowledge of God, your time with God, works its way outward to everyone around you. The good you can do them every day is the good of spending time with God.

Challies expands on how your daily Bible reading will benefit your spouse, your children, your neighbors, and your fellow church members. If you think you are not smart enough, or you are too busy—or if you ever struggle with finding the Bible too boring or Bible study too complicated—please lift your eyes off yourself and consider the good God would have you do for those around you. There is too much to lose if you don’t read your Bible.

Challies’s article is excellent and worth full consideration. Check it out!

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Filed Under: Check it Out Tagged With: Bible reading, Love, Tim Challies

Bible Study Is Not Complicated

August 26, 2016 By Ryan Higginbottom

construction

anonymous (2008), public domain

Building a house is complicated. In addition to land and permits, you’ll need experienced workers, lots of tools, and blueprints.

Bible study, on the other hand, is not complicated. We need to think clearly here, because if studying the Bible seems involved and intimidating, we’ll never do it.

You Don’t Need Tons of Resources

Faithful, biblical resources are wonderful, and I thank God for them. But very few of them are essential.

You don’t need fifteen commentaries. You don’t need a study Bible, and you certainly don’t need three. You don’t need a Bible atlas, Bible dictionary, or concordance. You don’t need a million cross-references.

Don’t worry about the Greek. Don’t sweat the Hebrew. The church fathers need not enter the picture.

There’s no need for high-powered software. You don’t need a dedicated notebook, fancy pens, or special highlighters.

In order to study the Bible, you need blissfully few items: a Bible, a pen, and a blank sheet of paper (or some worksheets). That’s it.

Studying the Bible is as straightforward as taking a walk. Lace up your shoes, step out the door, and go.

You Don’t Need a Convoluted Process

There are scores of books available on interpreting the Bible, some of which are great. And you don’t need any of them.

Studying the Bible is simple; you can sit down and do it right now. The method we advocate uses three steps: observation, interpretation, and application. (We refer to this as the OIA method.)

As Peter has written, we didn’t invent OIA. In fact, we believe this is the best way to approach the Bible because it is at the heart of all communication. Here’s a brief illustration.

Imagine you’re driving on an unfamiliar highway. When you observe the highway sign with your exit number, you interpret this to mean that your destination is approaching. You apply this understanding by using your turn signal, changing lanes, and driving onto the exit.

Bible study can be boiled down to asking three questions. When observing, we ask, “What?” Among other things, we take note of repeated words, names, grammar, and the structure of the passage.

When interpreting, we ask, “Why?” We question our observations. Why did God promise to go with Moses (Ex. 3:12)? Why does Aaron perform the signs given to Moses (Ex. 4:30)? We try to answer these questions from the Bible and understand the author’s main point.

Finally, when applying, we ask, “So what?” From the main point of the passage, we seek the implications for us and the people we can influence. Good application should change the way we think, act, and love.

Getting Started

As you develop as a Bible student, you’ll probably want to consult some of the resources I mentioned above. God has given these to his church, and they can be tremendous aids for understanding and growth.

But starting with the Bible is easy. Pray for God’s help and wisdom. Find a quiet place, carve out 20 minutes, and dig in.

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Filed Under: Method Tagged With: Bible, Bible Study, Excuses

Knowable Word Article Now in Spanish

August 24, 2016 By Peter Krol

Armando Valdez has taken Ryan’s recent article, “The Bible is Not Boring,” and translated it into Spanish for his blog Evangelio Segun Jesuchristo. If you know any folks or churches who would benefit from material about Bible study translated into Spanish, please share it around. We’ll also let you know if Armando gets more resources translated and posted.

Check it out!

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Filed Under: Check it Out Tagged With: Spanish

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Learn to Study the Bible

Learn to Lead Bible Studies

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  • Sample Bible Studies
    Overlooked Details of the Red Sea Crossing

    These details show God's hands-on involvement in the deliverance of his peo...

  • Method
    Summary of the OIA Method

    I've argued that everyone has a Bible study method, whether conscious or un...

  • Exodus
    What Should We Make of the Massive Repetition of Tabernacle Details in Exodus?

    I used to lead a small group Bible study in my home. And when I proposed we...

  • Check it Out
    Your Buying Guide for Bible Study Resources: Updated for 2025

    If you're in the market for gifts to encourage Bible study, here are our to...

  • Sample Bible Studies
    Why Elihu is So Mysterious

    At a recent pastor's conference on the book of Job, a leader asked the atte...

  • Sample Bible Studies
    Context Matters: The Parable of the Talents

    Perhaps you've heard that your talents are a gift from God, and that he wan...

  • Sample Bible Studies
    Context Matters: You Have Heard That it was Said…But I Say to You

    Perhaps you’ve heard about Jesus' disagreement with the Old Testament. The...

  • Check it Out
    Leading Small Groups with Teenagers

    If you work with a youth group or have opportunity to lead small groups of...

  • Proverbs
    Proverbs 8 and Jesus

    Last week, I drew these four "credentials" for wisdom from Proverbs 8:22-31...

  • Method
    Details of the OIA Method

    The phrase "Bible study" can mean different things to different people.  So...

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