Knowable Word - Bible study help

Emphasizing What the Bible Emphasizes

May 22, 2023 By Ryan Higginbottom

About a decade ago, I knew a couple that had a very strong, specific view on creation. They read piles of books and articles, and almost every conversation with them circled back to this topic. For them, the trustworthiness of other authors and Bible teachers was always passed through the grid of agreement on this one doctrine.

This issue was a single, steel track that ran through their relationships. Regrettably, I began to avoid conversations with them because every interaction ended the same way.

Though it may be with a different issue, you may know people like this. It’s possible that you may be a person like this!

The Issue of the Moment

When one doctrine or application or book of the Bible dominates someone’s thoughts and conversations, it is not necessarily a bad thing. From my experience, these are often legitimate spiritual matters, and it may be that God is at work changing a person’s mind and heart.

As humans, we are often creatures of the moment, and what we are learning or struggling with or rejoicing over can become our center of spiritual gravity. All other issues fall into orbit.

A few years ago I began studying Lamentations and thinking deeply about lament. This affected me profoundly, and God taught me much through it. This was a reorienting lesson, and I brought it into many conversations. Looking back, I’m guessing my friends and family were eager for me to get past the just-learning-about-it phase.

When our issue of the moment begins to dominate our thoughts and conversations—to the exclusion of other healthy, worthy topics—what is missing is balance and proportion.

The Bible’s Emphases

As we mature as Christians, we should learn to distinguish between an emphasis and an exclusive emphasis. God wants us to learn about lament, and he also wants us to practice lament—but this is not a good summary of the Bible or our lives as Christians. This is not what we should focus on to the exclusion of all else.

There are at least three commitments that will keep us from losing sight of the big picture of the Bible.

Connect every passage to the Bible’s big story. Regardless of how powerful and affecting a portion of the Bible is, we should work hard to put it in the context of the whole Bible. Rehearsing the main story of the Bible regularly is a safeguard to a single-issue obsession.

Talk about the Bible with your friends. Good friends will offer encouragement and correction as needed. Dialog with our friends about what God is teaching us will give opportunities for pushback—both in terms of content and emphasis.

Regularly exposure yourself to lots of the Bible. If our Bible intake is limited to what we are studying deeply, we may end up imbalanced in our emphases. If you are a part of a good church, this can include the weekly preaching and other Bible-focused classes. Reading and listening to the Bible (in addition to studying it) will remind us of what God emphasizes in his word.

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The Power of Implicational Questions

May 19, 2023 By Peter Krol

Last week, I introduced three types of interpretive questions and their various uses. Of those three types, I find that implicational (or “so what”) questions tend to be the neglected second cousins of the bunch. Because people often don’t know what to do with them, they fail to give them a try.

Perhaps you’d like to see what power longs to be unharnessed by them.

Easy to Ask, Difficult to Answer

When I teach Bible study skills, people sometimes have difficulty coming up with implicational questions, but that’s usually because they’re thinking too hard about it. They believe their questions ought to be awe-inspiring and profound.

When it comes down to it, implicational questions ought to be the easiest to ask, because they all sound almost exactly the same.

So what are the implications of [state the observation]?
So what are we to understand from [observation]?
So what should we conclude about [observation]?

But though they’re easy to ask, implicational questions can be some of the most difficult to answer. They require us to learn how to think and draw inferences. They require us to reason from one proposition to another. They expect us to get into the shoes of the original audience and hear the text the way those people would have heard it.

Because of the ease of asking but difficulty of answering, we often forget to even bother asking them. Most of our interpretive questions fall into the rational category, and we camp out in exploring the passage’s “why.” And please don’t get me wrong: The “why” is the heart of interpretation, so we ought to camp out there.

But the implicational questions provide that crucial bridge from interpretation into the beginnings of application. So if you find yourself having interpreted the text, but you’re still confused about how to apply it, perhaps you ought to try some implicational questions. Utilize their power to advance your study.

An Example from Proverbs

I was recently studying the theme of truth or guidance in the body of the book of Proverbs (Proverbs 10-31), and I came across the following gem:

Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence,
but a false witness utters deceit.
Proverbs 12:17

If I want a thorough picture of Proverbs’ teaching on the topic of truth, I must grapple with this verse. But doesn’t it sound elementary? As though it’s not doing anything but defining terms?

To speak the truth means you give honest evidence.
To be a false witness means you utter deceit.

Does the Bible really need to tell us this? Isn’t it like saying good people do good things? Or lazy people do lazy things? Isn’t that self-evident? Why did God even need to say it?

The more I thought about the verse, the more I realized my rational questions were getting me nowhere.

Why is this here?
Why does it contrast truth with a false witness?
Why does a truth-speaker give honest evidence?
Why does a false witness utter deceit?

These questions all had the same basic, elementary answer, which is that a person’s actions derive from that person’s habits or nature. But this point is rather obvious and could have been made in any number of ways. Why make that point in this way on this particular topic of truth-speaking in court?

When I finally tried out some implicational questions, however, I started getting somewhere.

So what are we to conclude from a truth-speaker’s giving honest evidence?
So what is implied by the fact that a false witness utters deceit?
So how should these self-evident truisms shape my perception of the world or people around me?

Such questions are easy to ask but difficult to answer. I had to slow down and consider them extensively. And as I did, the more I realized that saying “a false witness utters deceit” was somewhat like saying “boys will be boys.” Or better yet: “haters gonna hate.”

Yes, we understand intuitively that a persons actions derive from that person’s nature. And our world is filled with people who say that their word is their bond, but who keep acting in deceitful and underhanded ways. Actions truly speak louder than words.

So when a person utters deceit, it is appropriate to grow wary of them and begin to perceive them as “a false witness.” And when a person consistently gives honest evidence, it is only natural for them to acquire a reputation as a “truth-speaker.”

So considering the implications of the verse helped me to understand that it may be here, at least in part, to teach us that our words will always catch up with us. I may be able to deceive some people some of the time, but I’ll never be able to deceive all the people all the time. My deceit will catch up with me, and people will take notice. Or alternatively, my integrity will catch up with me, and people will take notice.

When I’m faced with a situation where I might be tempted to lie sinfully, I ought to consider not only the present consequences but also future ones. What I say right now will affect my reputation going forward. It will affect whether or not people can trust me. Can I live with that, in light of the choice presently facing me?

Bridge to Application

I’m sure you can see I’ve now transitioned into application. I still have only principles and general ideas. But it shouldn’t be too hard to take those principles, remember Jesus, and get specific.

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Getting Together to Read (Not Study) the Bible

May 17, 2023 By Peter Krol

T.M. Suffield has a rather novel idea. Well, it seems novel to us, though the church before us had done it for centuries. Let’s meet together to read the Bible. A lot of it.

Paul commanded Timothy not to neglect the public reading of Scripture (1 Tim 4:13), and yet many evangelical Protestant churches read barely more than a few verses during their worship services. Sadly, to get a large dose of public Bible reading, you often have to go to a liberal or Roman Catholic church.

But Suffield has begun hosting gatherings in both his church and his home to simply read Scripture together. At a recent gathering, they read the entire book of 2 Timothy.

Suffield offers compelling reasons for such a practice, including:

Hearing Scripture read in context.
Following the thread of an author’s argument.
Hearing the structure.
Experiencing Scripture the way generations of believers have engaged with it for centuries.

This is worth your and my further consideration. How can we organize our local believing communities around extended public reading of Scripture together?

Check it out!

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Different Uses for Different Questions

May 12, 2023 By Peter Krol

When we observe a text, we collect all the raw materials for interpretation. And that which drives interpretation forward is the asking of questions. To interpret well, we must be intensely curious and investigate our observations as fully as possible.

But the asking of questions ought not be a complete free-for-all. Different kinds of questions have different uses. Let’s take advantage of those differences.

Spinning Cyclones

The OIA method of Bible study is not intended to be strictly linear. It’s not as though you follow a list of 12 steps from number 1 through to number 12, such that you end up with a clear and relevant set of answers from your text.

No, the method is much more like a funnel or cyclone. The sort of funnel or cyclone you get when you drain a sink filled with water. It spins round and round until the substance all makes it through the access point.

In a similar way, observation and interpretation ought to cycle round and round, back and forth, until you’ve mastered the text to the point of grasping the author’s main point. So good observation will naturally raise questions you’ll want to explore. And those questions generally ought to be answered by further observation. Such observation raises more questions, which require deeper observation. And on and on, back and forth—or more precisely: round and round, in tighter and tighter circles—until you have zeroed in on the big idea. The chief message. The main point.

Crossing Bridges

With that said, I find it helpful to recognize the role our interpretive questions can play to help us cross bridges between observation and interpretation, and between interpretation and application. Keep in mind that this is not a straight-line process, but more of a cyclone. Yet your questions still help you to constantly cross those bridges from one aspect of your study to the next, in ever tighter spirals as you get close to the main point.

How do different types of questions help you to cross those O-to-I and I-to-A bridges?

In his seminal work Methodical Bible Study, Robert Traina puts interpretative questions into three categories: definitive, rational, and implicational. In my book Knowable Word, I sought to simplify his schema into the three categories of “what,” “why,” and “so what” questions.

Definitive or “what” questions build a bridge from observation to interpretation.
Rational or “why” questions make up the primary work of interpretation proper.
Implicational or “so what” questions build a bridge from interpretation to application.

How the Bridges Work

The most important thing to remember about all interpretive questions is that the questions should be about your observations. They are not random questions, nor are they merely intuitive insights. You don’t come up with your questions by staring at the ceiling, nor by going off on a mountaintop and thinking really hard.

You don’t have to be particularly insightful to ask great questions. You only have to be intensely curious about what you observe.

Here’s a simple example from the brief episode in Luke 18:15-17. I observe a clear contrast between the disciples’ rebuke of the children or parents, and Jesus’ call to invite them (“…they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to him…”). Now with that simple observation, I can utilize different kinds of questions to different ends.

“What exactly is being contrasted here?”
- This definitive or “what” question helps me to define the contrast. Is Luke contrasting only the words or also the attitudes? Is the rebuke/call directed at the infants, the parents, or both? Is the rebuke/call directed to the bringing of the infants, or to the desire for Jesus to touch them (Luke 18:15)?
- By defining precisely what Luke is contrasting, I’m able to move from observation into interpretation proper.
“Why does Luke contrast these things?”
- This rational or “why” question helps me to interpret the observation. Having seen and defined what it says (the contrast), I can now explore what it means. Why it’s here. What role it plays in Luke’s message.
“So what should we conclude from this contrast?”
- This implicational or “so what” question helps me to move toward application. It doesn’t do all the work of application for me, but it yields some initial ideas or principles that will help me get more concrete and specific later.
- By recognizing the observation’s implications, I’m well suited to discern how the text would have landed with the original audience—getting me one step closer to the author’s main point.

Different Uses

Let your questions work for you. If you are observing lots of great stuff and you’re not sure what to do with it, try some definitive questions to make sure you’ve got the right information. If you’re struggling with what it all means, you can’t go wrong with more rational questions; just keep asking “why?” And if you can perceive the message but you struggle with application, ask some implicational questions to ensure you’ve figured out how the message of the text should have impacted the original audience.

The right question at the right time might be just what you need to get you unstuck and moving forward.

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The Truth about Spirit-Led Bible Study

May 10, 2023 By Peter Krol

I’ve sometimes heard people oppose rigorous Bible study skills with being “Spirit-led,” as though academic reflection might get in the way of what the Sprit of God wishes to do in our lives. Faithlife recently published a piece I wrote to explain that rigorous Bible study skills are right in line with the work of God’s Holy Spirit.

The Spirit of God inspired the Scriptures. He illuminates the Scriptures. And he gives his people wisdom to know God through Christ in the Scriptures. By developing good habits and skills, we partner with this same Spirit to attain to the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Check it out!

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Studying the Bible is not Code Breaking

May 8, 2023 By Ryan Higginbottom

The Bible is not a secret code.

Written Plainly

Some Christians act like the Bible is written in a mysterious language, accessible only to a select few. Bible study is left to the brilliant, the professionals who can teach the rest of us.

I remember a time when some people were convinced that the key to understanding the Bible was in the numbers. Biblical numerology would unlock the real meaning of the text and make everything clear. Now, I’m rather fond of mathematics, but this never added up.

You may have run across similar approaches to the Bible. If you look at just the right map, do just the right word study, count the letters in Greek and Hebrew, then you’ll know the truth. Then you’ll be on the inside.

Friends, the Bible is knowable. It is understandable. We need no advanced degrees or initiation rites to grasp the message of God’s word.

God Wants to be Known

The point of a code is to pass a message in such a way that if the wrong people see the message, it will look like gibberish. Only the tiny few intended targets will be able to transform the text into something understandable.

When we treat the Bible as code we make God out to be someone who is hiding, who does not want to be known, who is shielding his real identity from the world.

But this is NOT what God is like!

God wants to be known; he wants to be worshipped and understood. If in no other way, this is clear through the incarnation of Jesus.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. (John 1:14–18)

Jesus came to make the Father known. God does not hide who he is from the people he wants to know him.

The Bible is Deep

This does not mean that the Bible is trivial or obvious. While we can grasp the most important truths of the Scriptures with simple reading, the Bible repays diligent, faithful study. The more we spend time with God’s word, the more we understand and delight in God himself.

The Bible is a pool shallow enough to provide refreshment and keep us from drowning. But it is also so deep that we will never reach the bottom.

The Easy Way Out

Paradoxically, treating the Bible as a code might, for some people, be the search for an easy path. After all, for people that can break a code, everything is made plain. For those without the key, there is no way of understanding. We might as well throw up our arms.

God calls us to the slow, gradual, longterm renewing of our minds and hearts by his word. This is not the task of a computer and an algorithm, it is the joyful work of a life.

How to Approach the Bible

We read and study the Bible to know God and walk with him. We are not looking for secret knowledge or a golden ticket. Rather we labor to learn and remember what is clear, work to understand what is less clear, and apply all of it through the help of the Spirit. And, because we forget so easily, we read and reread.

How do we understand the Bible? We approach it the way we take in any other communication: we observe what it says, interpret its meaning, and apply it in our lives.

Understanding and transformation are available to all in God’s word. Won’t you give yourself to it?

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Soaring Farther Than a Flying Ring

May 5, 2023 By Peter Krol

Nearly seven years ago, I found myself enchanted by Champ Thornton’s Radical Book for Kids, and I couldn’t wait for my kids to grow into it. I even asked for more of it. So when Thornton published his follow-up, The Really Radical Book for Kids, I had to check it out. I’m grateful to New Growth Press for providing a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book follows a similar format to its precursor, with 41 brief chapters on a wide variety of topics. The chapter that most interested me with respect to Bible study are:

Chapter 3: Exploring Proverbs
Chapters 14-15: Exploring Genesis
Chapter 16: Snakes, Dragons, and the Bible
Chapter 19: Humor in the Bible
Chapter 21: Battles of the Bible
Chapter 27: Exploring Romans
Chapter 28: Reading the Bible in 3D
Chapter 31: Exploring Mark
Chapter 33: Two More Battles of the Bible
Chapter 34: The Story of Jesus

One of the great strengths of this book is that it seeks to instill hunger for the scriptures. For example, on page 137, in a chapter overviewing the book of Romans, Thornton says straight out, “You can use the circle chart on the next page to get the big picture of the whole letter of Romans. Check it out, then go read Romans in your Bible.” He provides just enough information to help teens grasp the Scripture, and then he sends them on their way to chow down!

Along the way are some fun facts or goofy ideas, showing teens that God’s world is an amazing place to live. For example, chapter 29 offers a few metaphors for using the Bible to view the world: two circles showing the distinction between creature and creator, and a triangle with three corners showing three possible perspectives on any question. And then for fun, Thornton provides directions for making a magic flying ring out of a piece of paper—a flying ring that will go farther than most paper airplanes!

I must note that the final chapter, on the true meaning of Easter, is one of the simplest and best explanations of the resurrection I have seen in a work for young people. It is pure gold.

I confess that this book wasn’t quite as enthralling as the original Radical Book was, but perhaps that’s just because it’s no longer as novel an approach. But with that said, the book is jam-packed with rich, biblical teaching and reflection on the world. I am delighted to pass this on to my teenagers to provoke both consideration and conversation.

I’m happy to recommend it to you. Find it at Amazon or Westminster. And if you don’t have the original yet, Westminster has a special deal on both volumes.

Disclaimer: Amazon and Westminster links are affiliate links, providing a small commission to this blog at no extra cost to yourself. Thank you for helping us to make hard decisions (chapter 4) and continue reviewing great Bible study resources.

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Proclaiming the Gospel from Old Testament Narrative

May 3, 2023 By Peter Krol

Some friends of mine recently pointed me to this article from Steve Mathewson on preaching the gospel from Judges. Mathewson wrestled through an old debate about whether we ought to teach OT narratives as foreshadowings of Christ or as examples to follow or avoid. And in the end, Mathewson cogently demonstrates that we shouldn’t have to decide between those options.

After wrestling through a philosophical framework for reading the OT, Mathewson gives a few examples from texts about Ehud and Barak.

I agree with many of Mathewson’s conclusions. One thing I would add to his reflection is that, before we even attempt to connect the text to Christ or to application, we must first grasp the author’s main point for the original audience. Mathewson essentially does this in his examples, but he doesn’t state outright that he is doing so. But much trouble would be resolved if didn’t race immediately from the text to the cross, or from the text to today. Taking the time to consider the full meaning for the original audience is the very practice that will enable us to grasp its teaching about Christ and its true implications for people today.

And though Mathewson frames his article around preaching, his framework applies just as much to personal or small group Bible study.

Check it out!

HT: Mark Fodale, Andy Cimbala

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How Jesus Overcame His Enemies

April 28, 2023 By Peter Krol

I’ve been writing on the theme of strife in Proverbs. It’s wise to avoid it whenever possible. But when that’s not possible, we must recognize its complexities. This enables us to overcome our enemies by dying, because “when a man’s ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him” (Prov 16:7).

For Real?

But is that for real? Is it possible to achieve peace? Is it possible to please the Lord?

Well, it’s not a magic formula, such that if you plug in certain inputs you are guaranteed an immediate output of peace. Often that peace is a long time in coming, and it comes through much sweat and pain.

‌But the Lord can do it.

‌And If you wish to have peace with your enemies, you’ll never get there by shouting, defending, attacking, or taking revenge. You can’t earn true peace by winning the argument. And you can’t win true peace by letting the enemy steamroll you. Such peace is only God’s to grant when a person’s ways please him.

‌So the big question is: What does it take to please him? What must God’s people do in order for God to grant them victory over their enemies?

‌Look at Christ

The best thing we can do is look at our Lord Jesus Christ to see how he did it, because, make no mistake: He certainly triumphed over his enemies.

He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
Colossians 2:15

‌Jesus conquered all the demonic spiritual powers who declared war on him. He put them to shame and triumphed over them.

‌But what was his tactic? How did he do it? The two verses immediately prior to this explain it.

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
Colossians 2:13-14

‌We were Jesus’ enemies. We were dead in our sins. And if you pledge your allegiance to him, it shows that he made you alive by forgiving all your trespasses. Every vile thought, and every rebellious word we spoke—all of it was forgiven, having been nailed to the cross along with Jesus.

‌And his death was his greatest triumph.

‌1 Corinthians says that if the demonic powers of the world knew what was happening, they never would have crucified him (1 Cor 2:8),‌ because they thought they were cutting off his work once and for all.

‌But in reality, his death was his victory. The cross was his throne.

‌So Jesus makes the spiritually dead come to life, and he defeats the supernatural powers by giving his life so we could be forgiven. This. This is what empowers our obedience to God’s call of wisdom, because the call of wisdom is a call to come and die with Jesus.

‌Not to defend your rights or set the record straight. Not to win the argument or get your way. But to die to your self-interest for the good of others. These are the Bible’s marching orders for God’s people when they are surrounded by enemies.

‌Because in dying, we transmit life. By pursuing peace, we win the war. By laying down our arms, we disarm those who attack us.

‌This is the only way we could ever waive our rights, ask questions when we want to explain ourselves, persuade with truth, when it would feel better to just win, or confess to our own wrongdoing, when the other person’s wrongdoing seems so much bigger and clearer.

‌The Christian’s Fight

‌So in the end, Christians see their enemies the way the Lord Jesus saw us: Not as vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, but as needy sinners awaiting redemption. That shift in perspective will empower you to do something they’d never expect.

If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.
Proverbs 25:21-22

‌If you try to win the fight, you will lose. But if you are willing to die to your own interests, if you waive your rights, ask questions instead of making demands, speak compelling truth, make authentic confession whenever appropriate, and in all things seek only to please the Lord—

You will overcome your enemies, and the Lord will reward you for it.

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Applying the Old Testament in Africa

April 26, 2023 By Peter Krol

I appreciate seeing how Christian brethren around the world seek to apply the Bible in their own context. While the interpretation of the Bible is rooted in the author’s intention for his original audience, application of the Bible can and should be as varied and diverse as are the people laboring to apply it.

And there is much we can learn from watching those in other culture apply the Scripture to the particular issues they face. For example, this piece from Africa wrestles with proper application of the Old Testament to contemporary African issues such as circumcision and polygamy.

Polygamy was not God’s plan for humanity. The fact that God made concessions to the polygamous practices of Abraham, Jacob, and David does not mean that he approved their sexual choices. Abraham and Jacob were still influenced by their cultures as they were learning God’s principles for family. David used polygamy to form alliances. Unfortunately, some Christians in Africa have used the example of Abraham to justify polygamy. God honoured Abraham’s faith; he nowhere condoned Abraham’s polygamy.

Check it out!

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