Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. • Psalm 61:2 • WARD BOBUOUNNDD Scaling new heights through simple Bible study Sandy McEachern
“The Bible is the greatest of all books; to study it is the noblest of all pursuits; to understand it, the highest of all goals.” — Charles C. Ryrie
•SOecNtiEon• PLANNING YOUR JOURNEY
UNDERSTANDING THE FACTS The Bible contains the most important words ever written. It has had a greater impact on the world than any (perhaps every) other book ever written. If you are holding a Bible right now, you quite literally have the breath of God in your hand. The Bible is a living book. It speaks to us, and its words readily penetrate into the hidden depths of our heart. It speaks divine truth to kings and paupers alike. It changes lives. God says that long after His physical creation is gone, the Word of God will live and abide forever (see 1 Peter 1:25). General Facts About the BIBLE 1. Each year, 100 Million copies are printed and sold or distributed each year. 2. Historically over 5 Billion copies have been sold or distributed. 3. It is the bestselling book every year. 4. It has been fully translated into 698 languages or dialects. 5. The New Testament has been translated into 1,548 additional languages or dialects. 6. There are 1,350 Bible quotations in the works of Shakespeare. 7. It is arguably the most important primary source for the study of ancient history 8. There are an unprecedented number of Bible manuscripts in existence 9. There is a remarkably brief time gap between historical events and the manuscripts. 10. More than 70 Million people (and counting) have been martyred for their belief that the Bible is God’s Word. 11. God says the Bible will exist forever. And did you know...
...that Christians generally assume the Bible to be... ...the Word of God. ...the primary source material for the life of Jesus Christ. ...the essential basis for understanding the Christian Faith. ...the guidebook for Christian growth. ...the source of divine wisdom for day-to-day life. ...our necessary “Food” (Jer. 15:16) ...our necessary “Water” (Eph. 5:26) ...our necessary “Light” (Psalm 119:105) Yet, though admonished numerous times to read, study and meditate on it, ...these facts are also generally true: • Many Christians do not have a consistent daily quiet time with the Bible. • Even fewer Christians study their Bible in a serious way. • Many Christians do not have a systematic understanding of any part of the Bible. • Many Christians only teaching about the Bible comes from someone else on a Sunday. • Many Christians have a desire to know their Bible better but are unsure about how to go about it. “I never saw a useful Christian “A Bible that is falling apart who was not a student of the usually belongs to someone who isn’t.” — C.H. Spurgeon Bible.” — D. L. Moody 2 | DIG DEEPER
• IDENTIFYING THE PURPOSE • This book is written with the assumption that you may be one of those people who wants to study and know the Bible a little better, but are unsure of how to go about it. A lot of churches and Christian organizations teach us about the Bible and its contents but do not spend much time teaching us how to study it for ourselves. It is very kind when someone gives me a fish. It will feed me for a day or two. But if someone teaches me how to fish, they feed me for a lifetime. That is what this little course of study is meant to do – take you beyond dependence on others and give you some confidence to study the Bible on your own and thereby find blessings for your soul and help as you walk the Christian path. A few brief caveats about what this book is not meant to be. It is not meant to be an exhaustive, in-depth course on how to study the Bible. In many ways it barely begins to address the subject. It is not meant to give the impression that the methodology presented here is the best or only way to study the Bible. It is simply a suggested approach that has proven helpful to the author and others through the years. • SETTING THE GOALS • We could not aim for higher goals than to pursue what Paul prayed for: “...that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding” (Col 1:9). These may sound like synonyms but they aren’t! • Knowledge — the facts of the Bible, answers to the question: \"What\" is the passage teaching me? • Wisdom — how to put our newly acquired knowledge into action wisely, answers to the question; “How” can I effectively put it into practice? • Understanding — discerning the mind of God behind what He says, answers to the question: \"Why\" is God saying this? Gaining a fuller knowledge of why God is saying something will help us get to know \"Who\" He is more deeply. Keeping this in mind will keep us focused on the goal of our Bible study. STUDYING THE BIBLE | 2
If these serve as our three-fold spiritual goals, the following will be some of our practical goals — 1. To show us that we do not have to be solely reliant on someone else to teach us about the Bible – that we can investigate it for ourselves and enjoy the blessing of God’s Spirit opening up the Word of God to us. 2. To help us gain confidence in our ability to understand the Bible for ourselves. 3. To provide personal growth and spiritual strength in our own life. 4. To help us Biblically back up and support the claims we make about our God, our faith and our manner of living. 5. To engage in a discerning way with Bible teaching we might hear in our church or online so that we may clearly pass on Biblical truths and bless- ings to others. 6. To introduce us to the joy of finding wonderful Bible truths on our own, thus giving us real “ownership” of the Bible’s teachings and blessings. 7. To enable us to participate intelligently and helpfully in a conversational Bible study. 8. To prepare us to coherently share Bible truths in slightly more formal settings: leading a Bible study, teaching Sunday School, Camp work, youth work and perhaps even teaching and preaching to an audience. • KNOWING THE DIFFERENCE • The Bible is a wonderful book and blesses us on many levels. One important way is through a daily consistent time of devotional reading. For this experience we come to the Bible looking for it to speak to us on a personal level and address the current concerns and issues of our life. This type of Biblical interaction is essential in a Christian’s life and is a deeply personal and intimate time with God. 2 | DIG DEEPER
The subject matter of this book does not directly address this type of engagement with the Bible. It is concerned with getting to know the Bible in a more systematic way – looking at what a passage means and trying to understand its general thought flow and message. This type of study is what we are trying to help with through the contents of this book. Of course, Bible study like this is not done in a vacuum either. As we study the Bible a little more formally, there will be many wonderful devotional thoughts that will be revealed to us. There will also be many things that challenge us, convict us, and comfort us. But it is important to remind ourselves of the difference between engaging with the Bible devotionally and coming to the Bible to study it in an organized manner. Put the “Bee” Into Your Bible “How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:103) A. Naismith provides this helpful illustration that will help us appreciate the different ways we may interact with our Bibles: “As I looked out into the garden one day, I saw three things. First, I saw a butterfly. The butterfly was beautiful, and it would alight on a flower, and then it would flutter to another flower, and then to another, and only for a second or two it would sit, and then it would move on. It would touch as many lovely blossoms as it could but derived absolutely no benefit from it. Then I watched a little longer out my window, and there came a botanist. And the botanist had a big notebook under his arm and a great big mag- nifying glass. The botanist would lean over a certain flower, and he would look for a long time; then he would write notes in his notebook. He was there for hours writing notes. Then he closed them, stuck them under his arm, tucked his magnifying glass in his pocket, and walked away. The third thing I noticed was a bee, just a little bee. But the bee would light on a flower, and it would sink down deep into the flower and would extract all the nectar and pollen that it could carry. It went in empty every time and came out full (A. Naismith, 1200 Notes, Quotes and Anecdotes [Chicago: Moody, 1962], p. 15.). In response to this illustration, H. P. Barker comments: “Don't be like the butterfly flitting from one Bible study [preacher, devotional, commentary, etc] to another, but failing to personally apply what you learn. Neither are you to be \"Bible botanists\" (even good inductive students), who laboriously observe the Biblical text and derive accurate interpretation but fail to apply these truths. Instead, we need to be Bible \"bees\", using inductive study to go deep into the Scriptures, obtaining its divine nectar, and then allowing God's \"nectar\" to change us. And when we do, like the bee, we will find that we never go away from God's Word empty.” STUDYING THE BIBLE | 2
•STeWctiOon• YPOAUCRKBIANGGS
• WHAT’S REQUIRED OF YOU • There are certain resources that you must bring on this Bible study journey, without which is bound to result in a fruitless endeavour. They are — 1. PASSION: Do we have a passion for Bible study? This is a very important initial question to ask ourselves. People excel at things they are passionate about. They will gladly expend time, effort, and resources to pursue those things and think nothing of it. Our occupation, our education, our sports interests, our relationships, our hobbies and pastimes; these are all things that we instinctively find time and energy for. As a result, over time, we can become very proficient in these things but if Bible study is not one of our passions, our spiritual life will remain stunted and our ability to bless and help others will be minimal. May God help us to develop a passion for His Word. It is the only thing that will enable us to make an eternal difference in our own life and the lives of others. 2. PURPOSE: Committing time to something is one of the primary measurements of assessing what is important to us. Often we become excited as we learn how to do something, but when the moment comes to put it into practice and invest some time (perhaps quite a bit of time), we fade badly in our commitment. As a result, the helpful things we have learned often remain simply theoretical and unapplied because we have recognized that it is going to cost us something. But the truth is, that anything worthwhile in life is going to take time and be costly. If we think it is worth it, we will put in the time and effort. If we do not, we won't. It is as simple as that. The material presented here will be of absolutely no value if you are not prepared to set aside time and actually do some Bible study. This will involve an intentional and disciplined effort on your part, and it will be challenging – particularly as you move past the “getting started” phase and commit to making it a lifelong habit. It will almost surely mean that you will have to remove something else from your day to day timeline and replace it with some time set aside for Bible study. STUDYING THE BIBLE | 2
It will be helpful to set aside a certain and consistent time(s) over the course of your week that you will devote to serious Bible study. It is easy sit down and spend a few hours every week watching a sporting event or pursuing a favourite hobby or pastime. These things are important components of enjoying life, but they are not nearly as essential or beneficial as consistent personal Bible study. May God help us to give the Bible prece- dence in our life and to prove it by giving it the time, attention and effort it deserves. We will be richly rewarded if we do. 3. PRAYER: It is something that almost goes without saying, but when we come to study our Bible, it should always be preceded by prayer for help from the Holy Spirit. Gaining an understanding of the Bible is not a natural enterprise. It is a work of the Spirit of God. He is the author of the Scriptures and one of His ministries is to teach us God’s truth. (John 14:26; 1 John 2:27) 4. PREPARED HEARTS: We cannot do Bible study on our own and if we try, it can lead to pride in our own accomplishments. Spiritual pride is something to be greatly avoided. Knowledge of the Bible can sometimes puff a person up and make them feel superior. This will only lead to sorrow and disappointment. Our task is to humble ourselves and look to the Spirit of God to teach us and change us. A HEART TO HEAR: Proper understanding of spiritual truth is not dependent on a keen intellect but on a tender heart: “But on this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word.’” (Isa 66:2). We don’t as much need physical eyes to read the Bible as we need the spiritual eyes of our heart enlightened to love the Author. The story is told of a poor, blind French girl who obtained a Braille copy of Mark and learned to read it with her fingers. But eventually her fingers became so calloused that she could no longer distinguish letters and words. In desper- ation for the Word, she cut the callouses in an attempt to restore the sense of touch, but sadly the scarring had the opposite effect. Faced with the reality that she must give up her beloved Book, with weeping, she pressed the Braille copy of Mark to her lips, lamenting, “Farewell, farewell, sweet Word of my Heavenly Father!” To her surprise, she discovered that her lips were even more sensitive to touch than her fingers had been! And from that moment on, she \"read\" the Bible with her lips, and doubtless offered praises like the psalmist who cried, “Let my lips utter praise...” (Ps 119:171). —Illustration from www.preceptaustin.org 2 | DIG DEEPER
• ADDITIONAL TOOLS • Here is a short list of helpful tools that will help enrich your study of God’s Word. If you can, be sure to pack these tools in your Bible study bag! • Strong’s Concordance This resource used to be in book form and was quite large. Now the most efficient way to make use of the benefits of Strong’s Concordance is to find a digital and searchable version on a reputable Bible study website. What Strong’s Concordance allows you to do is in- vestigate the meaning of a word in its original language (OT - Hebrew or NT - Greek). Basically, it will give you a some- what expanded definition of virtually every significant word in the Bible and you will also be able to find their root words. Another very valuable aspect of Strong’s is that it allows you James Strong to trace how often and where a word is used in the Scriptures – in English but also in its original Hebrew or Greek form. This is very useful as sometimes words that are translated similarly in English will be different in the original Hebrew or Greek. For example, we might use the English word “love” to cover a number of different ideas about affection, but Biblical Greek has specific words for each of these ideas. It is helpful to be able to see that. • Bible Dictionary Dictionary might not be the best word to describe this resource. These books are more like encyclopedias. They contain entries (in alphabetical order) about a multitude of different Biblical topics and are very useful to investigate the historical or cultural background of topics that catch our interest as we study. E.g. The Pharisees, the Feast of Dedication, the history of Laodicea; the town of Bethlehem. Many of them are available online: Easton’s Bible Dictionary; King James Bible Dictionary and Smith’s Bible Dictionary. But probably the best one – Unger’s Bible Dictionary - is still only available in book form*. It is well worth having and provides an amazing scope of information. * As a side note, I have seen Ungers available in pdf form on some websites but before you use them you should make sure that the copyright is being honoured. STUDYING THE BIBLE | 2
• Bible Atlas This resource is used to examine the geographical features of the lands of Scriptures and to see where places are located. There are a number of useful ones online, but to be honest, I find getting a decent map or some topographical/geographical information online about subjects I am studying to be difficult. The most helpful map resource I have found is Moody's Bible Atlas. It goes far beyond simply maps. You get a full geographical treatment BIBLE of Bible lands and places. It is very helpful and pres- ents a comprehensive picture of the places you are studying. As far as I know it is only available in book form but if you buy the book it gives you access to digital versions of the maps. • A Notebook A notebook is where we physically work through the study process and also where we keep a record if our studies. This process of writing down our thoughts is very important. When our observations are on a page it gives us a different perspective and can help us see themes, topics and ideas more readily. It enables us to see all the components we have been thinking about and piece them together more effectively, helping us come to grips with the details of the passage. Over time it will also be very helpful to have all of your notes in one place. It allows you to go back and refresh your memory about what you had been thinking and conclusions you came to in previous studies. No matter how interesting a study may be in the moment, as time goes by, we can forget some of the details. Write it down and you won’t be disappointed. • A Place This may sound very basic, but it is very helpful to our study habits if we have a particular place to do our study. For some this is not practical but for those who have an office or an area where a table or desk would fit, it will be a big help to have a special place set aside for this task and the resources associated with it. 2 | DIG DEEPER
• Online Bible Study Resources The computer and associated online study sites have revolutionized the ability of a keen Bible student to investigate the Bible. They have opened up Bible study resources that are incredibly helpful and time saving. Things that used to take a long time to research or investigate can now be done almost instantaneously. It is well worth making the effort to become proficient in your use of a good reputable site. You will be amazed at all that is available. I really like Blue Letter Bible (blueletterbible.org). With a few clicks, here are some things you can do on their site: • search throughout the Bible for a word or phrase • search a smaller section of the Bible (John 3 for instance) for a word or phrase • access and display side by side, multiple translations of a verse or passage • have a clickable harmony of all four Gospels embedded into wha- tever Gospel you are reading • access Strong’s Concordance (and other excellent lexicons) and find an extended definition of any Biblical word. • trace the use of a word through the Bible in English, Hebrew and Greek • find multiple Biblical connections for ideas contained in a verse or passage • access many fine commentaries and messages and devotionals in written, audible and video form • access multiple Bible dictionaries, maps and wordmaps • see what Christian hymns or songs were based on a particular verse • find verse-by-verse commentaries on a passage These are a few of the easily accessed features of Blue Letter Bible. Blue Letter Bible also has video tutorials that detail their resources and how to use them. I am sure that other sites contain many of the same excellent resources and also have tutorials. Some other good sites or programs are: E-Sword; Bible Gateway; BibleHub; and GotQuestions.org. STUDYING THE BIBLE | 2
• A VERY IMPORTANT ENCOURAGEMENT • Home or small group Bible studies are a popular activity among Christians these days. They can be excellent if they are taken seriously and next to pointless if the participants don’t put in a serious effort to prepare beforehand. Worse still, when people are unprepared it can lead to unproductive disagreements and arguments. One of the best ways to ensure we keep disciplined in our own Bible study is to become involved in a lively, regular Bible study group where it is expected that we (and everyone else) will participate and contrib- ute effectively. Accountability like this is exceptionally helpful and mo- tivational. If you do not have such a group in your life, I strongly encourage you to seek one out, or consider forming one yourself. It can make an enormous difference to the amount of effort we put into our Bible study. 2 | DIG DEEPER
• THREE KEYS • The Bible is a big book! But having these three keys in hand will help you unlock the truths it contains. What are these keys? Throughout its pages, the Bible addresses several different audiences, covers many different types of topics and also incorporates different types of writing styles. Keeping these three aspects of Bible study in mind, let’s consider each of them separately: Probably the most obvious indication of the Audience different audiences the Bible focuses on is the existence of an Old Testament and a New Testament. In broad terms the Old Testament was written for a Jewish audience while the New Testament was written for the Church. Students of the Bible need to realize that while all of the Bible is applicable to us, not all of it was written to us. Many errors in Bible study come from trying to apply things that are written to the nation of Israel to the Church. We need to be especially careful in this regard when we study the Gospels. They are precious to us as Christians but they describe a time when God was still dealing with His people through the legal requirements and principles of the Old Testament. The book of Acts is another book that we must approach with this in mind as it is a transition book that took the people of God out of Old Testament practices and introduced the Church age to the world. As such there are unusual events and activities recorded in it that we may not experience today in the Church. The purest areas of study for the Church (and it is why we focus on them so much) are the Epistles – letters written especially to the Church. All of the Bible was written FOR us (Rom 15:4) but not all of the Bible was written TO us. We must identify the audience in order to rightly divide the Word of truth (2 Tim 2:15). STUDYING THE BIBLE | 2
Topics Obviously the Bible overflows with different topics. It is a book about life and life is complex. However, with all the ideas and subjects addressed in the Scriptures, it can be overwhel- ming. One little guide that will help us no matter what passage we are looking at is to remember that all of the Scripture deals with the following broad issues in one way or another: • God’s PERSON • God’s PROVISION • God’s PEOPLE • God’s PURPOSES Writing Understandably for a book that was written over Styles the course of 2,000 years, by at least 42 different human instruments, in at least five different countries, the Bible uses a number of different writing styles. The five major styles are: 1. ANECDOTAL NARRATIVE: The recounting of actual events that occurred throughout history. They range from the beginning of earthly creation, events sub- sequent to the inception of time, the history of the nation of Israel, events from the early days of the Church and incidents and details from the lives of various people of God. The stories or narratives contained in the Bible are very interesting to read and of course they are also completely true. While they do have this \"interest value\" (many who are not believers will acknowledge this readily), God has placed these stories in the Bible because they teach us valuable life lessons and it is often much easier to understand those lessons when we see them unfolding in real life. In some cases we learn what to do and in others we learn what not to do. As the old saying goes: \"If you can't be anything else, at least you can be a bad example\". A final and perhaps most valuable aspect of studying the stories of God's Word is that they establish and illustrate God's principles. We see very clearly the value of obeying God's precepts and also the consequences of disobeying them. 2 | DIG DEEPER
2. POETRY AND WISDOM: Ideas and truths concerning practical life and also various philosophical issues presented in figurative language. These writings are found in the book of Job – human suffering; Psalms – the challenges and emotions of life and the pursuit of God; Proverbs – wise sayings regarding life; Song of Solomon – the mysteries of love; and Ecclesiastes – the meaning of life. 3. LIFE AND SAYINGS OF CHRIST: Although this is told in a narrative form, it probably needs to be dealt with separately as it focuses on the human sojourn of Almighty God in human form. It not only contains details of His life but also records His divine utterances, His atoning work on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. 4. DOCTRINAL TRUTH: These are passages that form the foundation for what we believe. Obviously they will have important practical ramifications in our lives too. These books contain not only principles for us as individuals but also for the Church both local and universal. 5. ESCHATOLOGY: These are passages in the Scripture, which deal with things to come. Although many Christians enjoy studies of these things, studying these passages requires a thorough understanding of the rest of the Scriptures as the symbolism and ideas contained within them is drawn from all of the Bible. STUDYING THE BIBLE | 2
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• ONE SUGGESTED METHOD • So, you have picked out a passage from the C4 Bible that you are going to study. Great! What now? I am going to suggest four UP, DOWN, OUT, IN basic steps that you can follow every time you do a study. They will get you off to a good start on your study, establish a solid foundation for understanding pretty much any passage in the Bible and be helpful no matter how in-depth your study is going to be. I’ve used the term C4 because each step has a C word connected with it that will hopefully make it easy to remember. What follows in the next few paragraphs is a general description of each step. Once we have outlined them, we will go back and talk about practical ways to apply each one to our study. STEP ONE: CONDENSE (SUM IT UP) One of the most helpful things you can do when you begin to study a passage is to sum up what it is about. Can you condense what you have just read into a sentence or two? It is actually more challenging than you might think, but it is highly beneficial because it will help you focus in on the central idea of the passage. The Bible is full of weighty ideas but usually there is one concept that is central to fitting together everything that a particular passage is communicating. Finding that idea brings a better clarity to the entire passage. Big Idea: Condensing things also helps us engage with the Can you condense portion as a whole. Working through the various what you have ideas and weighing them in our mind as to how they just read into a are emphasized and presented will help us to get a much better general idea of the entire passage sentence or two? right from the start. Finally, summing up a passage will help you shift smoothly into the next step in your study — break- ing the passage down into its components. STUDYING THE BIBLE | 2
STEP TWO: COMPONENTS (BREAK IT DOWN) The Bible is not a vast run on sentence of confusing ideas, although it can sometimes feel that way. The Scriptures have been carefully constructed by the Spirit of God in a divinely ordered way. They flow from one idea or event to another and once we comprehend how the passage is progressing it is amazing the things that will start to stand out to us. Big Idea: To see how God has constructed the passage, we need to break it down into its components. It is difficult to MAIN TEXT eat an elephant, but it can be done — one bite at a time. That is basically what we do when we come to Examine the parts any passage in the Bible. While it may be daunting as to see thought-flow. a whole, once we start to get it into smaller pieces it becomes not only manageable but remarkable. STEP THREE: CONNECTIONS (EXPAND IT OUT) The Bible was written over the course of about 2,000 years, by many dif- ferent human authors, in different countries and in different styles. Yet in spite of all that diversity it contains a unity that can only be described as supernatural. There are ideas in the first chapter of Genesis that stretch to the last chapter of Revelation. Light from other passages of the Bible often beautifully illuminate the verses we are studying. We are on solid ground with this approach to study as no less an authority than the Lord Jesus Christ often used this technique as He Big Idea: pointed his listeners back to Old Testament passages that illuminated concepts He was talking about. Paul does it too and tells us ex- MAIN TEXT plicitly that the Old Testament account of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt to Canaan is an extended lesson for Christians to study Allow other passages to and apply beneficially to their own Christian shed light on your text. journey. (1 Cor. 10:6, 11) 2 | DIG DEEPER
STEP FOUR: CONSECRATION (TAKE IT IN) The Bible is a living book, and an enormous part of its value is missed by those who study it to simply become more informed about its contents. God gave the Scriptures to us to change us. So, it is probably inappropriate to call this the last step because letting the Holy Spirit apply the Word of God to our life to change us is the over-arching step of all of our Bible study. Big Idea: But in many instances, once we have worked our way through the first three steps of Bible study, we MAIN TEXT are in a good place to think about the lessons God has for us in the passage we have just looked at. Allow God’s These things will bless and change us and also give Word to us material to pass on to others for their blessing change you. as well. You May Have Noticed... Perhaps you’ve seen these three C’s elsewhere without noticing it! Most reputable study Bibles already do the first of these items — Condense, Components and Connections — for you. If you take a look at the following page from a study Bible I use, you will see that they give you an overall summation statement of the passage or book; they break the chapters down into smaller sections and give a title to each one of those as well, and they have a band of connections down the side of each page for you to explore other passages that may have a connection and bearing on the passage. Generations of Bible students have recognized the value of approaching their Bible using these three “simple” but challenging steps. STUDYING THE BIBLE | 2
That said... Most of us have a study Bible that we use. They are an excellent resource. Could I make a suggestion though? When you choose a Bible passage to study, do not immediately go to your study Bible. With minimal effort you can go to a Bible website and print out a plain version of your passage without any of the \"helps\" a study Bible offers. When you do this your thoughts will not be influenced in any way by what your study Bible presents. This is not to suggest that your study Bible will lead you astray, it is simply to allow you to dig out some things on your own. Work and think through the 4Cs using just the plain Bible text on the page and your ownership of what you find in the passage will be that much greater. You'll experience the joy of personally discovering wonderful Bible truths. It will affirm to you that with the help of the Holy Spirit, you can do effective and insightful Bible study. After you've done your own work on the passage, then go to your study Bible and you may well be positively surprised to see how many similar truths and insights you have gleaned. One other suggestion would be to start with shorter passages. Starting with portions that are too big can prove overwhelming and discouraging. Get comfortable with smaller passages and keep working up to those that are a little longer. Story based passages are a little easier to get started on as well. Time for a break... Let’s sit back for a few minutes and “see” how it 2 | DIG DEEPER all works. We’ll apply these four C’s to a passage from the Bible. After this, we’ll provide some simple strategies to further develop your C4 strategy.
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• EXAMPLE #1 • MATTHEW 11:28-30 28 “Come unto Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am [f]gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” CONDENSE: Jesus provides rest from labour and rest for your soul. Rest from something and rest for something. How did we arrive at this conclusion? If we look carefully at the verses, we see that Jesus is central. There are seven pronouns that refer to Him in three verses. But the audience and its needs are also important as they are referred to five times. Rest appears twice and is the outcome of what Jesus can do. So we tried to incorporate those ideas into our summation. And by the time we were done we had identified several key components of the passage. COMPONENTS: Verse 28 – Come and Receive • The Invitation - “Come unto me” • The Invited – You who labour and are heavy laden • The Giver and the Gift – I will give you rest aPno.Sth.eSr eeexaAmpppleen:dJixohfonr2. 2 | DIG DEEPER
Verse 29 – Take and Find • The Command and the Caller – Take my Yoke Upon You and Learn of/from Me • The Character of Caller – I am gentle and lowly in heart • The Discovery – You will find rest for your souls Verse 30 – A New Existence • An Easy Yoke • A Light Burden How did we arrive at this conclusion? Once we have read these verses a number of times, we see that there is a symmetry to their construction. But if we don’t look carefully, it is easy to think that the two main verses are sort of close repetitions of each other, but they are not saying the same thing at all. There is a progression from the first verse to the second verse — • The first verse (v.28) begins with “Come”, an invi- tation. It is up to the listener to determine if they want to respond or not. The state of the listener is described, labouring and burdened down, so it would make sense that they would want to come. If they will come, they will be given something, a gift – rest, most obviously from their difficult labour and heavy burdens. The invitation is to come to a Person – Jesus — and when one comes, He is the one who will give rest. I have underlined some key words that open up these observations. STUDYING THE BIBLE | 2
• The second verse (v.29) begins with “Take”, a command. Now that a person has responded to come, it is time to take the next step. A life of ac- tivity and exertion is not left behind just because we have come to Jesus. Now it is time to use our strength for Him. So we take his yoke and also learn from Him. If we will do this we will not be given rest but we will “find” rest for our souls. • The third verse (v.30) assures us that while this new life will be a life of activity and labour, the yoke that we have taken is easy and the burdens ahead will be light. Let’s make a few additional observations: 1. The first verse seems to be a picture of a labouring and burdened soul coming to the Lord Jesus and receiving rest from Him. 2. Verse two pictures the next stage of the journey where the one who has come to Christ takes on responsibilities for Him (yoke) and learns more from Him. This type of commitment will bring rest to a person’s soul as they continue to mature in their walk. 3. Verse three affirms that a new life with Christ will not be without activity and exertion but the nature of these new responsibilities is totally different from our previous experience without the Lord. 2 | DIG DEEPER
4. There is a comparison of labouring for Christ with that of a draft animal wearing a yoke and turning their strength into something useful and constructive. 5. There is the contrast of the labour and burdens that are a part of life without Christ and the easy yoke and light burden that is characteristic of living with Christ. 6. There is a possible connection with the woman who came into Simon the pharisees’ house in Luke 7. Was she one of the people who heard the Lord Jesus making this wonderful pronouncement? Did she respond? 7. In relation to the previous question, if we put ourselves into the story, how wonderful must it have been to be in the crowd and hear these words from the Lord. 8. A question for us to think about comes up in the second verse. Is the one who has come to Christ to learn “from” Him or “of” Him. These are different ideas and it is worth thinking about them a little bit. Comparing multiple translations, it seems that the answer leans toward “from” but after thinking about it, there is an argument to be made for both. Of course we learn from Christ, but a beautiful part of our journey with Him is learning of or about Him. 9. An application from these verses is based on the two ideas of rest presented here. When we come to Christ there is a wonderful sense of rest from our previous labours and burdens but while many Christians find rest from their sins, many don’t take their new life seriously and never fully take on Christ’s yoke and thus miss out on the rest that comes for our souls that comes from labouring and carrying out His purposes for us. STUDYING THE BIBLE | 2
•FSOecUtioRn• PRESSING ON TO HIGHER GROUND
• PRACTICAL STRATEGIES TO DEVELOP YOUR “C4” SKILLS • You’re doing great! But let’s press on and go higher by thinking about prac- tical ways that we can further develop these “C” strategies. Then you will get a chance to try them out. CONDENSE: SUM IT UP! Review & Practical Steps... 1. READ IT! Understanding a passage begins with reading it! Not once, not twice but multiple times — prayerfully and carefully — focusing your mind to pay close attention to the thoughts expressed. Don’t try and figure out what it means, just concentrate on what it says. Fix your mind on what you are reading and be intentional about noting what is literally on the page. You will find that you can see a lot, just by looking and often by the time you have determined what a passage says, you will also have a very good idea of what it means. As we mentioned previously, it is a great idea to write By the time down things that you observe as you work your way you have through the passage. Not only will a written record of your Bible studies become highly valuable to you over determined the years but writing your observations down will fix what a passage them in your mind and show you that even passages we says, you will think we know well will surprise us with details that we also have a very have missed, even though we have engaged with it many times before. good idea of what it means. The opposite of this approach is a quick read of a Scripture passage and then immediately beginning to expound on its meaning. Is this characteristic of how we do Bible study or prepare for a participatory Bible study? A positive outcome from such an approach is simply not possible. When it comes to proper Bible study, it is not enough to STUDYING THE BIBLE | 2
read a passage once and then to try and express what it means. Your understanding of the passage will be on a surface level at best. Ideas that come out of this approach will be incomplete and sometimes simply wrong. At best your ideas may be Biblically correct, but they will probably not apply directly to the study passage at all. Pre-conceptions about a passage are what lead us to this type of approach. If we have been a Christian for a while, we will have a body of “Bible knowledge” in our mind, through sermons or Sunday School or things we have read. That is a good thing, but the tendency will be to access that general knowledge when we come to a particular passage and then apply those general ideas as to what we think the passage is about. If we haven’t put in the time, we will focus in on those very quickly and while our thoughts may be Biblically correct, they will have little to do with the passage at hand. Here is a good question to keep asking yourself as you draw conclusions about a passage: “Is that really what it says?” One of the most valuable attitudes you can bring to Bible study is humility — to assume that there is much for us to learn no matter how familiar a passage may be. Approach each passage prayerfully and humbly and you will always see and learn something that you never noticed before. IN SUMMATION: Probably the most fundamentally important thing you can do to sum up your study passage is to carefully read it multiple times. Your reading should flow from start to finish, paying attention to what you are reading but at this point not getting bogged down in details or tangents. Once you are done, if you have time read it again. 2. L K FOR KEY WORDS! Another good way to determine what a passage is about is to focus on key words that are in the passage. That may sound simplistic, but how else can we maintain an honest focus on what we are studying? And if a passage uses a certain word don’t use another word – even if it sounds like a worthwhile synonym. Stay as close as you can to what is in the passage. 2 | DIG DEEPER
Sometimes key words are words that are repeated in the passage. Sometimes they occur only once. A good way to determine whether a word is important is to ask yourself whether the passage would be understandable without it. Key words are A good way to words that are vital to a passage and their determine absence would leave the passage confusing and without meaning. whether a word is important is Eventually you should try and sum up what you are to ask yourself reading. Don’t try and put together something whether the fanciful. Most often your title will contain words or passage would be phrases from the passage. If the passage is about understandable without it. Jesus turning water into wine, then say “Jesus Turns Water Into Wine at a Wedding”. You shouldn’t say “Jesus Affirms Weddings”. He is affirming weddings but that is a conclusion and not what the passage directly says. We’ll eventually get to that when we start to make applications. Here is a little phrase a friend shared with me about summing things up. I thought it was helpful. My friend did not know the source, so my apologies to whoever said it first. When it comes to focusing in on what a passage is about: “The main thing is the plain thing and the plain thing is the main thing.” SOME PRACTICE PASSAGES On the next several pages, you will find some exercises to help you develop the skills of summing things up. Flip the book upside down to see my summations for each passage as well as a second focus on what words or idea I think are vital to the passage. See how we compare in our thinking. NOTE: For now, only do the “Condense” section. STUDYING THE BIBLE | 2
Practice #1 - Ephesians 2:4-5 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved). Condense SUM IT UP: VITAL IDEA: Components Connections PRACTICE #1 SUGGESTIONS: Summed Up: 2 | DIG DEEPER God Makes Us Alive By Grace The Vital Idea: Made Alive by God
Practice #2 – Mark 10:17 17 Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? Condense SUM IT UP: VITAL IDEA: Components Connections PRACTICE #2 SUGGESTIONS: Summed Up: A Person Wanting to Inherit Eternal Life The Vital Idea: Inheriting Eternal Life STUDYING THE BIBLE | 2
Practice #3 – John 7:37-38 37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” Condense SUM IT UP: VITAL IDEA: Components Connections PRACTICE #3 SUGGESTION: Summed Up: 2 | DIG DEEPER How the Thirsty Can Receive Abundant Waters The Vital Idea: Come to Me (Jesus) and Drink
Practice #4 - 1 Peter 1:3 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Condense SUM IT UP: VITAL IDEA: Components Connections PRACTICE #4 SUGGESTIONS: Summed Up: A Living Hope From the Father Through Jesus’ Resurrection The Vital Idea: A Living Hope STUDYING THE BIBLE | 2
Practice #5 - Colossians 1:9-11 9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all pa- tience and longsuffering with joyfulness. Condense SUM IT UP: VITAL IDEA: Components Connections PRACTICE #5 SUGGESTIONS: 2 | DIG DEEPER Summed Up: Knowing His Will and Its Outcomes The Vital Idea: Living Out the Knowledge of His Will
Practice #6 – Acts 2:32 – 28 22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know— 23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; 24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. 25 For David says concerning Him: ‘I foresaw the Lord always before my face, For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. 27 For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. 28 You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’ Condense SUM IT UP: VITAL IDEA: Components Turn over for more space... STUDYING THE BIBLE | 2
PRACTICE #6 SUGGESTIONS: Components Summed Up: The Work of Christ and Its Connections Results The Vital Idea: 2 | DIG DEEPER Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus
Practice #7 - Psalm 95:1-7 1 O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. 2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. 3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. 4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also. 5The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. 6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. 7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Condense SUM IT UP: VITAL IDEA: Components Connections PRACTICE #8 SUGGESTIONS: Summed Up: Approaching God for Thanksgiving and Worship The Vital Idea: Coming with Thanksgiving and Worship STUDYING THE BIBLE | 2
Practice #8 – Mark 4:1-9 1 And again He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gath- ered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea. 2 Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching: 3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it. 5 Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. 6 But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. 7 And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8 But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.” 9 And He said to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” Condense SUM IT UP: VITAL IDEA: Components Connections PRACTICE #9 SUGGESTIONS: Summed Up: 2 | DIG DEEPER A Parable About A Sower, His Seed and the Soil The Vital Idea: The seed
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