My dad's quote will never get old to me. "You will never know what the Bible means until you know what it says." Understanding it is foundational to know how to approach studying the Bible. You have to know what it actually says!!! I know I keep harping on this but it is sooo crucial! I want us to be grounded in the Word and more loyal to it than to any Bible teacher of any age. I want us to be so loyal to it that we are willing to dismiss and let go of teaching that does not conform to the words in its pages. Now, no preacher will get it right 100% of the time and we shouldn't flush the entirety of their teaching because we find a mistake here or there. If they, generally speaking, are clear, solid, and Biblically grounded teachers who preach the Word of God and hold it up over every other man's (including their own) opinion, then they will be worth listening to. Fill your minds with Biblical truth and grow in your understanding of how to seek it out and find it and you will have answers for so many of your unbelieving acquaintances for the big (and small) questions of life. You will be able to make sense of life in God's world when all they see is chaos.
In this installment, I'll begin walking you through how to figure out what a particular passage is about. We will be using the 6 questions again and there will be other pieces of information that we will be looking for that will help us with this.
What we will need:
- Holy Spirit
- Prayer
- Our Bibles
- Pen and paper
(Optional: Colored pencils, highlighters, different colored pens - Microns work really well for this!)
The first thing we do when we begin to study a passage is to ask Holy Spirit for help. Again, He wrote it and He's the expert on it.
Next, we need to know where this passage falls in the greater context of the chapter, book, and section of the Bible it's in. There are excellent resources to help with this (I recommend The Bible Project.). These verses are not found in isolation. They are in a particular chapter in a particular book that was written to a particular people group at a particular time to deal with a particular event or situation. They are part of the overall narrative of Scripture. Do we have a big picture understanding of the Bible? (Not something we can get into here, but reach out to me if you would like further resources and I can help direct you.)
Another thing to take into consideration is the type of literature we're dealing with. Are we dealing with a story? A conversation? A historical event? Prophecy? A proverb? A song to be sung or prayed? A list of commands? A section of theological teaching? Answering what type of literature we're dealing with will greatly aid in our ability to correctly interpret what we're reading. (Again, The Bible Project has mini series dealing with these various types in visual and easy to understand videos.)
Once we understand the immediate (chapter & book) and greater context (section of the Bible and type of literature), we can start on our journey to understand the text itself. A great way to figure out the context is to, if possible, read the whole book it's in, in one sitting (depending on the length of the book and the amount of time your have, this may be more or less feasible). Read the book multiple times and in multiple translations. This will help you find the flow of thought that your particular passage is found in. Knowing the context will help guard you from pulling the verses out of it and misinterpreting them. So many verses are pulled out of context all the time and used to support unbiblical, man-made doctrines! Also, the immediate context can help you understand the specific context you're working with. If the specific verses don't seem clear to you, back up and read a few verses before and after (or the whole chapter/book!).
Once you've asked Holy Spirit for help, have read the verses in their context multiple times, you'll be ready to tackle the next part of this series - finding key words/ideas! Read part 6 next.
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