Knowable Word

Helping ordinary people learn to study the Bible

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What to Observe: Four More Tips

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We’ve seen five things you can observe when you study a Bible passage: words, grammar, structure, genre, and mood.  Here is a final hodgepodge of things to observe.

  1. Repeated Words.  I can’t repeat it enough.  Pay attention to stuff that repeats.  This is one of the simplest observations you can make.  Get a Bible that you don’t mind writing in, and highlight repeated words with the same color.  The author’s big ideas will jump right off the page.  For example, Genesis 14 repeats the word “king” more than 20 times.  It’s even built into one of the character’s names (Melchizedek means “king of righteousness”).  The author wants us to think about what a true king looks like!
  2. Comparison and Contrast.  A passage often shows how two or more things are similar (comparison) or different (contrast).  Picking up on that connection can help.  For example, Gen 24, Gen 29, Exod 2, and John 4 all describe interactions between a man and a woman at a well of water.  What is similar and different in each account?
  3. Characters.  Pay special attention to how each character is named in a passage.  Authors will communicate important stuff just by using certain names.  For example, Genesis 21, which has a lot to say about Ishmael, never mentions his name.  He’s always “the son of Hagar” or “the son of the slave woman.”  Why do you think that is?
  4. Connectors.  Words like “therefore,” “in those days,” or “in the same way” draw significant connections between sentences, paragraphs, or chapters.  Notice the connections so you can work to figure out why they’re there.  For example, Genesis 15:1 begins with “after these things.”  How might it affect your understanding of this chapter, if you think about how Abram might be feeling immediately after the events of chapter 14?

What else can we observe?

How to Read this Blog

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Since I’m writing this blog to help ordinary people learn to study the Bible, it makes sense (at least to me) to help you learn how to read this blog profitably.

Different people learn in different ways.  So I’ve taken a few different approaches to communicate our ideas.

Learner #1: Just the Facts

Some people learn best by hearing the main ideas first.  Once they understand the principle, then it helps to see them illustrated.  This is the more intuitive thinker.  If you are this person, you likely would prefer to look up an address on Google Maps rather than having someone give you their own set of directions to their house.

If this describes you, you might benefit by clicking on “Method” under “Categories” in the sidebar.  In the “Method” posts, I start with the principles before implementing them.  I also presented the principles in a (somewhat) orderly manner.

Learner #2: Show Me the Money!

Some people learn best by seeing something done.  Once they see it in practice, and can experience the payoff directly, they’re more interested in going back to understand the principles behind the practice.  This is the more step-by-step thinker.  If you are this person, you likely would prefer to have someone describe the tried and true route to their house rather than needing to figure it out yourself.

If this describes you, you might benefit by clicking on “Bible Study” under “Categories” in the sidebar.  In the “Bible Study” posts, I aim simply to demonstrate good Bible study of specific passages.

If you’d like more help with the principles, you can click on “How’d You Do That?” under “Categories” in the sidebar.  In these posts, I explain the principles behind a few specific “Bible Study” posts.  The “How’d You Do That?” posts link to the posts they explain to enable you to read the two posts in conjunction.

Learner #3: Give Me More

Some people will be interested in help with specific parts of Scripture, or in seeing more and more examples.  If this describes you, just type the name of a book of the Bible into the search bar.  That will bring up a list of all posts on passages from that book.

Learner #4: Prove to Me You’re Not a Weirdo

Some people want to make sure I’m not the only person in the world saying the things I’m saying.  That’s not a bad desire, in light of how common it is for teachers to lead others astray with “innovative” or “superior” ideas.

That’s why, from time to time, I point out examples on the internet of other Bible teachers who demonstrate important Bible Study principles.  You can find these posts in the “Check it Out” category.

Please let me know if you have any suggestions on further ways I can help you grow in your study of God’s Knowable Word!  I’d also love to hear which type of posts you’ve found most helpful.

How’d You Do That? (9/16/12)

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From time to time we like to “show our work” and explain what principles drive our Bible study.

In Sunday’s post, we examined Proverbs 1:10, ESV (“My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent”) and saw how the Bible commands us to reject easy money.  Here’s how we got there.

Observation

By observing the grammar of the verse, we noticed that the main sentence is a command: “Do not consent.”  Also, we observed the words: the thing we ought not consent to is enticement from sinners.

Interpretation

In my study, I started with a question: what is the enticement from sinners that we ought not consent to?  Is it just anything, or does Solomon have something specific in mind?

Answering that question led me to observe the whole section (Prov 1:10-19) in its context.  This examination led me to observe the final verse (Prov 1:19), which makes clear that the chief enticement Solomon has in mind is toward “unjust gain.”

What is “unjust gain”?  Acquiring money or possessions through any unlawful means.  Since most of the section describes a gang recruiting someone to violence against another person, it would appear that Solomon considers “unjust” any means of gaining money that will hurt other people.

Thus, my conclusion of the main idea: “the pursuit of a quick buck, at the cost of serving others, will always keep us from being wise.”

Application

From here, we merely had to consider what it looks like in our generation to gain more money at the cost of serving others.

The chief heart application is that we allow ourselves to be sucked into money-making schemes (like going into more credit card debt, getting a new car like the neighbor’s, or spending too much time at the office).

By way of head application, we must know which things will tempt us, and we must choose in advance to watch out for them.

For hands application, we should make different choices when the temptation comes.  We should reject easy money.

See here for an explanation of these three types of application.

 

My hope in walking through this process is that you will be able to duplicate it in your own study of the Bible!

What to Observe: Genre

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Professor and Poet Marilyn Hacker once said, “Poetry seems to have been eliminated as a literary genre, and installed instead, as a kind of spiritual aerobic exercise – nobody need read it, but anybody can do it.”  She lamented the loss of poetry’s unique place and rigorous standards in popular writing.  The implications of her perspective impact our Bible study, because sometimes it can be easy to miss the significance of a text’s genre.

In answer to the question “how do I observe a Bible passage?” or “where do I begin when I sit down to study the Bible?” we’ve discussed numerous items to consider: words, grammar, and structure.  Today we come to a fourth item: genre.

Genre is easy to miss because it’s not something that is likely to change substantially from verse to verse.  Once you observe a book’s genre, you’re likely to come across only minor deviations from time to time.  The important thing is that we remain on the lookout.

Let’s use our study of Luke 2:1-24 as an example.

The main observation to make is straigtforward: the genre of this text, as with most of Luke, is historical narrative.  The author reports on events that actually happened (see Luke 1:1-4 for his intentions), but he does so by telling a story.  He doesn’t issue a medical report or a media sound byte.  He’s done his research, interviewing witnesses and collecting relevant documents, but he presents the facts in the shape of a narrative of the key events that verify the truthfulness of what has been taught about Jesus.

What are the implications of this observation?

  1. It really happened.  Luke 2:1-24 speaks of governors, shepherds, and angels.  A baby is born to a virgin.  These things are neither fable nor fairy tale.  They were researched, verified, and presented as historical fact.
  2. The story has an agenda.  Although factually trustworthy, it would be naive to conclude that the text was written in a coldly objective way.  The author still has an agenda.  He includes certain details, and excludes others, for a reason.  The purpose of the story is to tell a story, not to report on every little thing that might forestall potential questions.  How many shepherds were there?  Did the angels have wings?  Were they floating in the sky?  Was Jesus born in a stable or a cave?  We don’t know.  Such specifics were not part of Luke’s agenda.

One more thing: observe that the genre changes briefly in Luke 2:14, where we get a brief switch to poetry.

We know Luke 2:14 is poetry because:

  • the angels were praising God (likely singing)
  • the quote consists of two parallel lines (the chief component of Jewish poetry)

Why is this observation significant?  Because we ought to change our expectations.  “Glory to God in the highest” does not mean that God exists physically at a higher altitude than everyone else.  Something more poetic, more figurative, is intended.

How Many People Study the Bible?

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LifeWay Research just posted statistics about how many Christians claim to study the Bible on their own outside of church meetings.  Here’s what they found:

  • 19% read the Bible every day
  • 26% read it a few times per week
  • 14% read it once per week
  • 22% read it at least once per month
  • 18% read it rarely or never

Which category are you in?

Interestingly, they found that the following six things were found to be connected to one’s likelihood to read the Bible more often:

  1. Confessing wrongdoings to God and asking forgiveness.
  2. Believing in Jesus Christ as the only way to heaven, and persevering in this belief over time.
  3. Making a decision to obey or follow God with an awareness that choosing to do so might be costly.
  4. Praying for the spiritual status of people they know are not professing Christians.
  5. Reading a book about increasing their spiritual growth.
  6. Having been discipled or mentored one-on-one by a more spiritually mature Christian.

You can check out the full article here.

Also, for your viewing pleasure, here’s a new Spoken Word video from Zondervan about the Rock Solid Bible.  The artist speaks about the power and sufficiency of God’s Knowable Word.  As I haven’t read the study Bible being advertised, I’m not necessarily recommending it.  But the video is very well done.

Six Reasons Why We Don’t Study the Bible

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In his excellent (and free!) ebook on Bible study, Denis Haack lists six reasons why many people never learn how to study the Bible:

  1. I don’t know how.
  2. Bible study is boring.
  3. I prefer to use Bible study guides.
  4. I’m not smart enough; never was much of a student.
  5. I can become discerning by reading books.
  6. I don’t have time.

Please don’t let these reasons become excuses for you to miss out on receiving God’s Knowable Word!

Why OIA is the Best Bible Study Method

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A few days ago, I outlined the OIA method of Bible study that we follow.  In short, it stands for Observation, Interpreation, and Application.

I’ve already made one audacious claim: that everyone has a Bible study method.  Today I’d like to make another: that OIA is the best method one can use to study the Bible.  Let me support this claim with three reasons.

1.  It works for any person anywhere of any age

It can be taught to PhDs and other “professionals” and get quite complex and profound.  It can be taught to 3 year olds just learning to talk.  Anyone in between can use this method to great profit, understanding the main ideas of what God has communicated and becoming more like Christ as a result.

2.  It’s the way God designed all communication to work

OIA is nothing new or innovative.  It is simply an attempt to outline the steps by which any human being communicates with another human being (observing what was communicated, interpreting the meaning, and responding appropriately).  God made communication to work this way, so of course the Bible works the same way.

Let me illustrate.  If I met you on the street, you might observe me walk up to you, smile, and stick out my hand.  You would interpret that I mean you no harm and simply want to greet you.  You would apply the gesture by reaching out your own hand, taking my hand with yours, and saying “hello” or some similar sentiment.  Communication has now taken place.

Let’s say I ask you a question.  You might observe the raised inflection at the end of my sentence (the question mark), a resultant silence, and raised eyebrows on my face.  You would interpret these signs to mean that I want you to answer the question.  You would apply the interaction by answering the question, frowning in thought, holding up a finger to request more time, or running away in terror.

We simply cannot escape OIA.  We do it all the time.  We should employ it when we study God’s Knowable Word.

3.  It’s how Jesus interpreted the Bible

Jesus is the Lord (Phil 2:11) and the author of Scripture (1 Peter 1:11).  We should learn from him how to read Scripture.

Look at Matthew 21:42-44 as an example.  Notice how Jesus observes the Old Testament text in verse 42, interprets it in verse 44, and applies it in verse 43 (implying that his listeners should believe the truth and make some changes in their lives).

Jesus often references Scripture, giving us a window into his understanding of it, but he rarely is as clear as in Matt 21:42-44.  Usually, he assumes or implies the Interpretation, and states the Observation and Application explicitly (for example, see Matt 13:10-17 or Mark 12:35-37).  One place where he Observes and Interprets but doesn’t explicitly Apply is Luke 4:17-21.

In suggesting that OIA is the best method to use, I’m not saying that there’s an easy one-size-fits-all way of plugging every text through an equation.  I’m merely saying that we have a valuable and clear way by which we can understand what God is communicating in his Word.  Our study of the Bible is not arbitrary.

Summary of the OIA Method

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"Open Bible" by Ryk Neethling (2011), shared under a Creative Commons Attribution License

Ryk Neethling (2011), Creative Commons

I’ve argued that everyone has a Bible study method, whether conscious or unconscious.  So here’s mine.

The acronym OIA summarizes the method:

  1. Observation – what does it say?
  2. Interpretation – what does it mean?
  3. Application – how do I need to change?

You can restate these three steps as what? why? and so what?  Or again, as what did the original author say?  What did that mean to the original audience?  And what does it mean in our context?

Knowable Word did not invent this method.  It’s an old, old method.  Seminaries call it the “historical-grammatical method of Bible interpretation,” but that title can be big and scary to most people.  Some more popular treatments call it the “inductive Bible study method,” but I think that’s an unfortunate misuse of the wonderful term “inductive” from the realm of logic.  So I prefer to call it simply “OIA.”

The wonder of the OIA method is that it allows the text to speak to us, rather than reading our own meaning into the text.  The beauty of the OIA method is that it can be taught at seminary and get very, very deep, or it can be taught to the youngest children, enabling them as well to know the Lord in his Word.

I’ve explained the method in more detail in other posts, but for this summary, note what happens if we miss any part of it.

If we neglect good observation of what the text says, we have no true foundation upon which to know Christ.  We have great intentions, but in all the wrong directions.  We’re the people who failed to observe which weekend was the daylight savings time switch, and we show up to church an hour off from everyone else.  An example of poor observation of Scripture is found in Luke 24:25-27.

If we neglect good interpretation of what the text means, we might not know whether what we believe or do is biblical or not.  We might be honoring the Lord, or we might not be.  We won’t be certain until we meet him face to face.  A good example of poor interpretation of Scripture is found in Mark 12:24.

If we neglect good application of how we ought to change, we are like foolish builders founding a home upon sand.  We are to be pitied.  We give lip service to Christ, but our hearts are far from him (Matthew 15:8-9).  God wants to make us more like Jesus (Rom 8:29), and he won’t rest until his Word accomplishes that purpose (Isaiah 55:10-11).

For much more detail on the OIA method see my How to Study the Bible series of posts.

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