How Do I Study the Bible? - part 1

Someone sent me this question after watching one of my video blogs.  I will not be able to answer it in one blog but will take a couple of them to answer it.

One area we need to begin with is to determine, what is out goal in Bible Study.  Our goal in Bible study should be to determine what message the author was conveying to his original audience.  This keeps me from saying things like, “Well this passage means _______________ to me.”  The meaning does not change from one person to another.  Then, once we know the meaning of the passage we must ask the question of ourselves, “How should this information affect my life?”

The three main steps of inductive Bible study are observation, interpretation, and application.

In this short article I will only discuss observation and only a brief overview of the subject. 

As one observes a passage they must question the passage.  Here are a few ideas, but in no way are these exhaustive.

Who – Who is speaking?  To whom is it being spoken?  About who is it being said?

Where – Where is the author?  Where is it taking place?  Where is the letter going?

When – When was this taking place?  When will it take place?  When did the author live?  When is this in relation to the rest of the Bible?  Who is acting?  Upon whom is the action taking place?

What – What is taking place?  What are we being asked to do?  What is to be obeyed?

Hendricks in his book “Living By the Book”  challenges us to look for things that are emphasized, repeated, related, alike, unlike, or true to life pg. 166.  If you would like an in depth study on hermeneutics, how to study the scripture, I would encourage you to get this book and go through it with someone.

We must also realize that this is not an instant process.  We must read over a passage many times patiently looking at the structure and then thinking about the message that the author is striving to relay to us.  I personally use an eight color highlighting pencil in my personal devotions which I use to mark my Bible. 

The following chart shows what I use the colors for:

Red	Names or descriptions of God; LORD, Lord , Rock
Yellow	General highlight  or  challenge
Orange	Commands: Thou shall….; Gal. 5:1 Stand Fast…
Dark Blue	Geographic locations: Jerusalem, Samaria, Egypt
Light Blue	Prophecy or promises:
Pink	OT quotations in the NT
Green	Passages dealing with Salvation or God’s promise of salvation.
Brown	Translation/ manuscript issues – usually in the notes of the margin as well.
Regular pen circle	I circle major conjunctions ie. But in Gen. 6:8 or Gal. 5:18; or Therefore in Rom. 12:1 or Eph. 4:1

These things only scratch the surface as far as observation, but for many it will give you a great place to start as you embark upon learning the Word of God.  In future posts I will discuss interpretation and application.