Better Bible Study #8

Tonight Will Be Our Final Night of Looking at Tips and Tricks for Better Bible Study

This Has Not Been an Exhaustive Study

But Just a Few Things That I Believe are Important and Somewhat Simple for Each of Us to Add to Our Bible Study

Tonight We are Going to Look at a Few Tips

The Bible is 100% Divine and 100% Human

The Bible Presents Itself in Many Places as God’s Words

2 Timothy 3:16 (NASB)

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;

Scripture Referred to the Entirety of the OT…

But Also tothe New Testament Books and Letters that Had Already Been Written

Paul Refers to Luke’s Gospel Account as Scripture in Luke 10:7

Peter Refers to Paul’s Writings as Scripture in 2 Peter 3:16

Paul Says All Scripture is “God-Breathed”

It’s Ultimate Source is God

2 Peter 1:20–21 (NASB)

But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

The Scriptures Come From Men Who Were Moved or Carried Along By the Holy Spirit

God is the Originator of the Scriptures

We See Prophets Like Jerimiah (in Jeremiah 1:4) Saying:

Jeremiah 1:4 (NASB)

Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,

God Would Speak and They Would Record His Words

When the NT Writers Quoted Fromt OT, They Frequently Attributed Those Writings to the Holy Spirit

Hebrews 3:7 (NASB)

Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, “Today if you hear His voice,

The Bible, Both OT and NT Were and Still are Considered 100% Divine Writings

But, at the Same Time, the Bible Doesn’t Claim to Be a Book that Came ONLY From God

It May Sounds Like an Obvious Point to Make, But it’s an Important One to Grasp:

The Bible was Written By Humans

Hebrews 1:1 (NASB)

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,

God Spoke In/By the Human Prophets

The Verse We Read Earlier From Peter Says

2 Peter 1:21 (NASB)

for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

God Moved Men to Speak

The Bible is Not Only 100% Divine, But it is 100% Human as Well

It Contains No Mistakes, But it Does Contain Diversity

If the Bible Fell Straight From Heaven On Golden Tablets, We Wouldn’t Expect So Much Diversity

But All the Diversity Makes Sense When You Learn that Dozens of Inspired Men Over Hundreds of Years Wrote it

They Spoke Different Languages

They Wrote in Different Styles

They Brought Different Experiences into Their Writings

They Presented Different Perspectives

They Emphasized Different Facts

Some Wrote Personal Letters to Address Real Life Situations

Some Wrote Poems and Prayers in Response to Real Events They Had Experienced

Some Books Were Compiled into Their Final Form By Editors

They Experienced Real Cultural and Historical Impacts

Recognizing that the Bible is a Book Written By Humans Does Not Make it Any Less Divine

It’s Not 98% Divine With a Few Human Errors Scattered Throughout

It’s Not 98% Human With a Few Divine Ideas Here and There

It’s 100% Divine and 100% Human

It was Written By Humans Who Were Moved By the Holy Spirit

Why is it Important For Us to Recognize This?

Because it Allows Us to Ask More Questions, Discover More Answers, and Understand the Bible Better

We Can Learn More Because We Recognize the Human Author Plays a Major Role in the Content of the Books

They Wrote Certain Things in Certain Ways Because of Their Ethnicity, Background, Culture, Historical and Geographical Setting

Without Recognizing that the Bible is a Human Book, it Doesn’t Make Sense as to Why There are 4 Different Accounts of Jesus’ Ministry

If the Bible is ONLY a Divine Book, Then Why Would He Write 4 Accounts of Jesus’ Ministry that Differ in So Many Ways?

It Makes Perfect Sense as to Why There are 4 Different Gospel Accounts…

When You Consider that 4 Different Men Wrote About Jesus’ Ministry From 4 Different Points of View

Each Gospel Account is Different, But Each Account is Perfect

The Bible is 100% Divine and 100% Human

Get to Know a Book Before Reading/Studying it

Bible Study is More Than Simply Studying the Chapters and Verses Within a Book

In Order to Fully Understand What a Book of the Bible is Saying…

You Need to Understand What the Book is All About

It Helps to Do Some Introductory Study Before Getting into the Text

I Would Highly Recommend Reading the Introduction to a Book of the Bible in a Good Commentary

Or Watching a Introductory Video (Bible Project)

Or Getting a Study Bible

I Love My ESV Study Bible By Crossway

(Show Pictures of Introduction to 1 Corinthians)

Having Some Kind of Introductory Material Helps So Much in Being Able to Understand the Book

This Alone Has Helped Me Tremendously in Understanding the Bible Better

And it Doesn’t Have to Be Super Hard or Time-Consuming

Get a Study Bible or Good Commentary With Introductory Remarks

Or Find a 5-10 Minute Video (Bible Project)

You’ll Be Amazed How Much it Will Improve Your Bible Study

And How Much More Interesting the Bible Will Become

Ignore Chapter and Verse Divisions

The Chapter and Verse Divisions We Find in Our Bibles are Not Inspired

In Some Ways, They are Helpful

They Make it Easy to Quickly Reference Specific Parts of the Bible

But They Can Also Cause Serious Damage

Many of the Books of the Bible Already Have Natural Structure to Them

Matthew Doesn’t Have 28 Chapters

It is Divided into 5 Natural Sections

Matthew Structured the Book Around 5 Major Discourses of Jesus

Each Section Ends With “When Jesus had Finished”

Matthew 7:28 (NASB)

When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching;

Matthew 11:1 (NASB)

When Jesus had finished giving instructions to His twelve disciples, He departed from there to teach and preach in their cities.

Matthew 13:53 (NASB)

When Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there.

Matthew 19:1 (NASB)

When Jesus had finished these words, He departed from Galilee and came into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan;

Matthew 26:1 (NASB)

When Jesus had finished all these words, He said to His disciples,

Chapter Divisions Can Distract Us From the More Natural Divisions That Were Intended By the Author

They Can Also Causes Us to Miss the Author’s Flow of Though

It’s to Read a Chapter and Then Stop Where the Chapter Stops

But That Can So Often Cause Us to Miss the Author’s Point They are Trying to Make

There are Many Examples, But I’ll Give Just One

In 1 Corinthians 8-10, Paul is Discussing the Topic of Eating Meat that’s Been Offered to Idols

His Overall Point is that We Shouldn’t Do Things that Cause Our Siblings to Sin

Notice How He Ends Chapter 10

1 Corinthians 10:31–33 (NASB)

Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God; just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit but the profit of the many, so that they may be saved.

The Chapter Ends With Paul Telling the Corinthians that He Tries Not to Cause Others to Stumble

That He Looks Out For the Bettermend of Others, Not Just Himself

That He Tries to Please All People so That They May Be Saved

But the Chapter Division Cut Off His Final Words in This Section

1 Corinthians 11:1 (NASB)

Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.

Paul Was Telling Them that They Ought to Live By That Same Standard

Why?

Because That is the Same Standard that Jesus Lived By

Another Problem with Chapter and Verse Divisions is that:

It Makes it Easy For Us to Grab Random Scriptures and Use Them for Our Own Purposes, Instead of Their Original Purposes

We’ve Been Doing a Whole Series On Sunday Nights About Twisted Scriptures

We’ve Seen How Much a Single Verse Used Out of Context Can Alter Our Understanding of the Bible

Chapter and Verse Divisions Can Be Helpful

But it’s Best to Try and Ignore Them

Instead, Follow the Author’s Flow of Thought When Studying a Text

Pay Attention to Font Styles

Most Bible Translations Will Occasionally Change the Font Style to Give Us Clues About the Original Text

Sometimes You’ll Run Across Words that are in Italics

When You See Words in Italics, it Means Those Words Weren’t Found in the Original Text

So the Translators Had to Make a Choice

They Could Translate the Text More Precisely and Leave the Words Out

But Then the Text Would Be Harder to Read and Understand in English

Or They Could Add Words to the Text to Make it Easier to Read in English

And They Do That By Adding the Words in Italics

This is to Show the Reader that Words Have Been Added that Aren’t in the Original Text

Let’s Look at an Example From the Text in Matthew We Looked at Sunday

Matthew 8:10–11 (NASB)

Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven;

A Precise Translation of Verse 10 Would Say, “Now When Jesus Heard, He Marveled…”

But in English, that Sounds a Little Weird

So They Added “This” to Make it a Little Bit Easier to Read and Comprehend

Then in Verse 11, the Precise Translation Would Be, “and Recline With Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob…”

But the Translators Added “at the Table”

Why?

Because the Word for “Recline” is Often Referring to Reclining at a Table to Eat

The Average Person Wouldn’t Know That…

So the Translators Added Some Words to Help Us Better Understand the Verse

The NASB that I Often Use Has its Own Font Changes that Give Us Information

It Will Occasionally Begin a Verse with a Bold Verse Number or Letter to Indicate the Beginning of a New Paragraph

And it Will Use All Capital Letters to Indicate When the Authors are Quoting From Other Scriptures

Matthew 7:23 (NASB)

“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

The Translators are Showing Us that Jesus is Quoting From Psalm 6:8

Another Trick Used By Translators that Involves the Usage of Capital Letters is When the Divine Name Occurs in the Text

Psalm 110:1 (NASB)

The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”

The First Word “LORD” is Written in All Capital Letters

But the Second “Lord” Isn’t

This is the Translators’ Way of Revealing to Us Where the Divine Name of God (YHWH) Occurs in the Hebrew

A Precise Translation Would Be, “YHWH Says to My Master”

It’s Important to Pay Attention to the Font Styles and Corresponding Footnotes in Your Bible

They Will Give You Interesting Clues About the Original Text

Context is King

This is Probably the Greatest Tip That I Could Ever Give For Better Bible Study

It is Absolutely Crucial to Study the Bible in its Context

That Isn’t Just Reading the Verse Before and After a Verse

Think About How the Scripture Contributes to the Overall Flow of the Book

Understanding the Introductory Information Can Help You Study in Context

It’s Important to Know Who is Writing

Who They are Writing to

What Type of Writing is it?

Is it a Letter Written to a Church to Rebuke, Correct, or Teach Them? (Like Many of Paul’s Letters)

Is it a Historical Book? (Like Samuel, Kings, Acts)

Is it a Poetic Book? (Like Job, Psalms)

Is the Author Speaking Literally or Figuratively?

What is the Historical and Cultural Context of the Writing?

It’s Important For Us to Understand the Literary, Historical, and Cultural Contexts…

Because Only Then Can We Rightly Interpret What the Authors Were Saying

It’s Easy For Us to Read a Verse or Passage and Assume the Author is Speaking Directly to Us in Our Historical and Cultural Context

They Aren’t

The Bible was Written For Us But Not To Us

The Bible Was Written to a People Who Lived at Least 2,000 Years Ago and On the Other Side of the World

We Have to Do Our Best to Understand How the Text Would Have Applied to Them…

Then We Can Rightly Apply it to Ourselves

The 2 Best Questions to Ask When Studying a Passage is:

What Did the Original Author Mean When He Wrote This?

How Would This Have Been Understood By the Original Audience Given Their Cultural and Historical Context?

If We Want to Rightly Apply the Bible to Our Own Context…

We Have to First Try to Understand it in its Original Context

One Last Thing About Context is:

Context Determines the Meanings of Words

It’s Easy to Look Up the Word “Run” in a Dictionary

Run = to move at a speed faster than a walk, never having both or all the feet on the ground at the same time.

We All Know What “Run” Means

But What if We Heard it in Sentences Like:

“My Thoughts are Running Wild in My Head”

“The Team Scored Another Run”

“I Have a Run in My Sweater”

“The River Runs South”

“Are You Going to Run for Office?”

If I Was Learning English and Wanted to Know What the Word “Run” Means, a Dictionary Would Only Get Me So Far

In Order to Truly Understand What “Run” Means…

I Will Have to Understand the Context in Which “Run” is Being Used

Many Words in Hebrew and Greek Can Also Take On Different Meanings Depending On Their Context

The Word For “Grace” Can Refer to “Giving Thanks”, “Kindness”, “a Gift”

The Word For “Spirit” can Refer to “Breath”, “Wind”, “a Person’s Character”, or “the Invisible Part of Humans that Exists After Death”

Words Mean What the Author Intends For Them to Mean

Context is King When Trying to Interpret What a Word Means