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Five Things to Observe

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You sit down with your Bible, and you’re ready to study it. You pray and open the page to the right spot. Then…what? You see lots of ink and paper. You’ve heard these verses before.

You’d like to go deeper, and you don’t want to let familiarity get in the way. But what exactly can you do? What should you begin to observe?

Derek Bridges (2006), Creative Commons

Derek Bridges (2006), Creative Commons

Here are some ideas to get you started:

  1. WORDS: Pay attention to the words. Count up how many times different words are repeated. Notice how different things are described or labeled.
  2. GRAMMAR: Identify the subject, verb, and object of a sentence. What are the main verbs? Who is doing what, and where and how are they doing it?
  3. STRUCTURE: How does the passage fit together? Break it into paragraphs. Pay attention to transitions.
  4. GENRE: Is this poetry or prose? A letter or a narrative? Who is the author? Who is the original audience?
  5. MOOD: What tone of “voice” is the author writing with? Does the passage inspire action, invoke emotion, or challenge assumptions?

Here’s an exercise for you to consider. Let’s just take one verse: John 3:16.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (ESV).

Use the five categories above to help you get started, and try to write 50 observations on that one verse.

Mention one of your observations in the comments below, and let’s see how many we can come up with!

The Greatest Enemy of Observation is Familiarity

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The first step of our Bible study method is Observation.  Before we’ve even crossed the line of scrimmage, however, familiarity is right there to knock us down.  When we think we know something, we stop paying attention to it.

For example, how many stairs are there in your house?  What color are your father’s eyes?  What is your license plate number?  Name three left-handed people in your acquaintance.

As Sherlock Holmes says to Dr. Watson in “A Scandal in Bohemia,” “You see, but you do not observe.”

Let me give an example.  I recently taught on Genesis 31, the story where Jacob runs away from Laban without telling him.  My initial thought was, “I know what happens.  Why does the story have to take up 55 verses, and how am I going to teach on it?”

So I dug deeper.  I stared at the text and kept reading it over and over.  Things started popping out.

For example, I observed that every other verse in Gen 31:4-16 makes reference to God.  Up until now, Jacob hasn’t really mentioned God a whole lot.

Then I observed that the narrator calls Laban “the Aramean” (Gen 31:20, 24).  That’s funny, because he used to call him Jacob’s “mother’s brother” (for example, see Gen 29:10 where he’s called that 3 times).  So the narrator doesn’t consider Laban family anymore….

Then I observed that Laban calls God to witness their agreement (Gen 31:53), but do you see which god it is?  “The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.”  The true God called Abraham to leave the household (and gods) of his fathers (Gen 12:1).  Jacob knows this, but Laban doesn’t get it.  Jacob swears by the true God, the Fear of his father Isaac (Gen 31:53).

I could go on.  My point is not that any single observation is the silver bullet that unlocks a Bible passage.  Instead, I’m suggesting that the way forward is always to keep observing.  We must be willing to stare at a text until we don’t just see, but we observe.

I’ll give one more big example.  One of the most famous passages in the whole Bible is 1 Corinthians 13:1-13.  It’s the great Love Chapter.  We’re so familiar with it, though, that we generally miss the point.

Read it again, one verse at a time, and ask yourself, “what is he saying here?”  Observe carefully, and I think you’ll see that it’s neither romantic nor encouraging.  It’s actually a stinging rebuke directed toward those who don’t know how to love their neighbor.

Let’s not just see.  Let’s observe.

Observation tip: Look for contrasts

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“The real problem is not why some pious, humble, believing people suffer, but why some do not.” – C.S. Lewis

“Facts are stubborn, but statistics are more pliable.” – Mark Twain

“I don’t think marriage is a civil right, but I think that being able to transfer property is a civil right.” – Barack Obama

The quotes above, regardless of whether you agree with them or not, have this in common: they are all statements of contrast. (We’ve written about other examples of contrasts in an earlier post.) Contrasts are very helpful at emphasizing the difference between two things. That is, each side of a contrast can contain some observation that is useful, but when compared against one another, their differences are highlighted. This is very useful in determining the main point of the speaker/author.

We use contrasts all the time in our daily speech and the Scriptures are chock full of them. One sure-fire way to spot a contrast is to look for the word, “but”. That’s not the only way to find contrasts, but it’s a good starting point. (Did you notice that contrast right there?)

Consider these texts and how the contrasts emphasize the statements:

Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.” (Proverbs 31:28-29 ESV, emphasis mine)

For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. (Romans 4:13-16 ESV, emphasis mine)

“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:16-18 ESV, emphasis mine)

The three examples above are from Proverbs, Romans and the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). All three of those sections of Scripture make frequent use of contrasts. Why not go through a chapter or two of those sections to see how many contrasts you can pick out, and what it tells us about God, men, sin and salvation? It will be well worth your time!

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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Seven Things Not in the Bible, Revisited

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Yesterday, I listed seven things which are commonly believed to be in the Bible but really aren’t.  Now that you’ve had time to stew, I’ll show my work.  Here goes:

1.  Adam and Eve frequently walked and talked with God in the Garden of Eden

Despite what the old hymns say, it’s just not in the Scripture.  All that Genesis 3:8 says is that there was one particular day when Adam and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden.  It may have been a regular habit of his, but we just don’t know for sure.

2.  Jesus walked through walls after his resurrection

Observe John 20:19 carefully.  It never says that Jesus walked through walls.  Sure, the doors were locked.  Sure, Jesus came and stood among them.  But how did he get there?  Was his resurrection body somehow immaterial such that it could pass through solid structures?

Perhaps.  But maybe he came in through the window.  Maybe he picked the lock and walked through the doorway.  Maybe he knocked and knocked until someone opened the door for him.  Maybe he opened up a hole in the roof and had four friends lower him on a pallet.  All these things are possible; we just don’t know.

Since Luke 24:39-43 makes it abundantly clear that Jesus was not a ghost (a “spirit”), I’m personally disinclined to believe the Jesus-walked-through-walls idea.

3.  Christians are commanded to pray before every meal

Mark 6:41 and Luke 24:30 show Jesus “blessing” a meal.  1 Timothy 4:4 suggests that we receive everything with thanks.  But I’m not aware of any command in Scripture to offer up a prayer before eating a meal.  So, next time you’re visiting with unbelieving friends – especially in public or on their turf – don’t make a big deal out of praying!  The Gospel will be offensive enough; don’t put any other stumbling blocks in their way.

4.  Young Daniel was tossed into the lion’s den

He had to be around 90 years old when it happened.  He was carried to Babylon as a teenager in 605 BC (Daniel 1:1), and he was thrown to the lions during the first year of Darius in 539 BC (Daniel 5:31-6:1) – almost 70 years later.  We have one children’s Bible that gets this right; Daniel is an old, old man with the lions.  Most of them get it wrong.

5.  Judah, Jacob’s fourth son, inherited the rights of the firstborn and became chief heir of Jacob’s blessing

Some suggest that since Reuben (Genesis 49:3-4), Simeon, and Levi (Genesis 49:5-7) lost the rights of the firstborn, they must have gone to Judah, the fourth son.  This view is attractive, considering that Jesus descended from Judah.

But the Bible makes it clear that, although Judah, and thus Jesus, was promised the kingship (Genesis 49:10), Joseph inherited the blessing of the firstborn.  That’s why his two sons became their own tribes (double portion of the firstborn – Genesis 48:14-16).  If you have any doubt of this fact, see 1 Chronicles 5:1-2.

Why does it matter?  Because a major theme in Scripture is the preeminence of the younger brother over the rightful older brother.  Jesus is the younger brother who replaced all the older brothers who went before him and screwed things up (especially Adam).  So also, we who are young, weak, and foolish, were rescued by God to shame the strong and the wise (1 Corinthians 1:26-29).

6.  Money is the root of all evil

It’s the love of money that is a root of all kinds of evils (1 Timothy 6:10).

7.  God saved Noah because Noah was the only righteous man on earth

This one drives me nuts when I read children’s Bibles to my kids.  Noah didn’t find favor with God because he was righteous (no-one is righteous, no, not one – Psalm 14:1-3).  He was righteous because he found favor with God (Genesis 6:8-9).  Just like us (Ephesians 2:8-10).

Seven Things You Always Thought Were in the Bible But Really Aren’t

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We can discern common Christian legends by observing the text carefully!  I don’t think you’ll find any of these things in the Bible, but please feel free to comment if I missed something.

  1. Adam and Eve frequently walked and talked with God in the Garden of Eden
  2. Jesus walked through walls after his resurrection
  3. Christians are commanded to pray before every meal
  4. Young Daniel was tossed into the lion’s den
  5. Judah, Jacob’s fourth son, inherited the rights of the firstborn and became chief heir of Jacob’s blessing
  6. Money is the root of all evil
  7. God saved Noah because Noah was the only righteous man on earth

Finding Joy In What Isn’t There

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One of my favorite verses in all the Scriptures is one I didn’t even notice the first half-dozen times I read it.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1 ESV)

Do you see what that short verse is saying?  If so, you’re way ahead of where I was for quite a while.  The first times I read that verse my brain somehow translated it into, “Jesus is cool.”  Actually, most of the time when I read a verse and don’t think about it much, it gets translated as, “Jesus is cool.”  Thankfully, that’s a better statement than what used to enter my head before I was a Christian (which was something like, “Jesus, blah blah blah”), but it’s still not all that helpful.

So how do you go deeper?  How do you learn to appreciate this verse, and all the very rich verses of Scripture for that matter?  It’s what I call, “finding joy in what isn’t there.” It’s simple, really.  I just ask questions about what the text doesn’t say.  For example:

  • What if there were condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus?
  • What if there were no condemnation for those who just followed all the rules, regardless of their relationship with Christ Jesus?
  • What if there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus… unless you are seriously messed up?  (That is, remove the “therefore” and the context of Romans chapter 7.)

Take a few moments and consider the answers to those questions!  The implications would be devastating for us!  As you consider each answer, you ought to erupt with thankfulness and praise to the One who caused Paul to pen Romans 8:1 just as it is written so that we know exactly how God has designed things.

  • There is absolutely, positively ZERO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!  If you are a Christian, you needn’t fear this ever changing.  There is quite literally no way you could be condemned.
  • This joyful life devoid of condemnation is not based on our observance of rules, but rather in the person and work of Christ Jesus.  This also means that if we are not in Christ Jesus, then condemnation remains for our sin.
  • Furthermore, even if we find ourselves in the position of the man in Romans 7 – thoroughly convinced that we are seriously messed up and without hope to change apart from our savior Jesus – then in THAT we find ourselves uncondemned.  In other words, Jesus accepts busted-up people, not those who think they’re doing just fine.

The implications are a LOT more than “Jesus is cool”!

Now it’s your turn.  What “isn’t there” in your favorite verse?