Seven Arrows- Chapter 3

Chapter 3

So far we have dealt with two of the seven arrows in the book.

The first arrow is:

What does the passage say?

Explain.

The second arrow is:

What did the passage mean to its original audience?

Explain

The third arrow is:

What does this passage tell us about God?

Explain.

In this chapter he start by identifying a problem that many people have when they come to read the Bible.

As we have stated before, if we don’t have the right goal in mind, we won’t aim in the right direction.

I want to read a quote from the first page of the chapter.

“I (Donny) am convinced that many folks struggle to understand the Bible because they are trying to unlock what the Bible is teaching with the wrong key. They believe the key to the story is me, when the key is realizing that every story is about God.”

Illustration- Yearbook- looking for pictures of me. I would skip past whole pages dedicated to others to find my picture.

So I would look for my class first. Find my picture. Even though Mom already had those pictures framed and I knew what it would look like, I still wanted to find me.

Then I skipped to the sports pages where I would look for pictures that had me in them. Preferably none with me sitting on the bench or getting blocked in basketball or some other embarrassing photo.

But we all do this. When we pick up any picture that we are in, the first place we look is ourselves. How do we look?

What does the picture say about me?

Dr. Mathis explains in this chapter that mindset is problematic when we come to the Bible.

But at times this is how we go about studying the Bible. We want to know what the Bible says about us.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in Bible studies and heard someone say something to the affect of-

Well what this passage means to me is- And then they somehow apply it in some obscure way to their own life.

But here is the problem with that-

The Bible is not primarily about you or me. The Bible is primarily about God.

I love his quote around page 96-97

“The whole Bible displays the relationship that God establishes with his blessed people. In the legal portions of Scripture, God graciously provides Israel with the Law to govern the relationship he had established in the promise he made to Abraham. He gave the Law so that they could understand that he alone is God, that he is perfect in his character and actions, and that he is gracious to provide a means for this sinful people to commune with him. The Psalms declare the worshipful response of God’s people to his greatness, goodness, and loving-kindness to them. The Proverbs describe God’s wisdom for living in a way that exalts his name. The prophets declare that God fights zealously for the hearts of his people, that God protects his justice by judging them, and that God will restore them after the judgment because he never breaks his promise—not even when his people break theirs. In the New Testament letters, the writers explain what God has done in Christ to fulfill his promises and extend his blessing to the nations. In Revelation, God completes the story by restoring his creation and eliminating Satan, sin, and death from it (96-97).”

The whole Bible cover to cover is the revelation of God. It tells us who he is.

It teaches us about his character.

We should understand this from the first verse of the Bible.

Genesis 1:1 NASB95

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

The subject of that sentence is God, and God is the subject of the rest of holy Scripture.

“Your task is first to read every story to determine what the passage says and what it meant to its original audience. If your answers to those questions do not include something about the triune God, you probably need to aim again. I have poor vision without corrective lenses. If I tried to aim anything without my glasses or contacts, whoever is around me better watch out! If you read the Bible and fail to engage with the question asked in this Arrow, your aim will be off, and your reading of the Bible could hurt you or someone around you(142).”

Our goal when we come to read the Bible should be the desire to know God. This doesn’t mean that we won’t learn things about ourselves.

It does mean that the first purpose is to know and learn who God is in His perfection.

That why he has written the Word of God to begin with, to reveal Himself perfectly.

So with the rest of our time, I want us to do what we have been doing and look at a passage of Scripture and ask this question-

What does this passage say about God?

Now, I’m going to pick an easy one for this time, but I encourage you to go read other passages throughout this week and ask the three questions that we have already discussed.

Lets walk through a psalm together asking this question-

Turn with me to Psalm 33:6-15

This is the first time I’ll be looking through it as well. So just know this is prepared ahead of time.

We are simply going to walk through these 10 verses very quickly and answer the question.

What does this psalm tell us about God?

Walk through answering.

Out of those things we learn, we learn thing that we must do as well, but primarily, the Psalm is telling us who God is.

That is our goal.

This was one of the statements on the pretest you took.

That the Bible is PRIMARILY about God.

This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t apply it or that we can’t also find out about ourselves. We are simply saying. The Bible is primarily about God.

Lets look and find him there.

Encourage them to do that this week.

Take a letter. Or a Gospel. Or a psalm every day and ask this question.

And then praise God for who he is.