9 Are You Reading The Bible Wrong? Part 1

Welcome to talking about the Bible with Reverend Bob. Would I want to talk to you a little bit about how we read the Bible? Most of the time in modern Christianity, we are not reading the Bible properly, but I mean by that is we usually look up a topic or a theme and we read individual versus without reading the book of the Bible. As a whole, all the books of the Bible, talk about the individual book that we're studying. I want to talk to you about how to study. An individual book, for example, John or Mark or Samuel Genesis. First of all, you need to understand that the Bible wasn't written in Verses. That was something that was added many, many, many, many centuries later. And sometimes the way the Bible is divided up and verses and chapters are in maybe not the way I would recommend they be divided up.

When we look at the Bible, we start off by looking at the book as a whole. See the author of the book. Let's use the Book of Genesis. Sat down to write. An entire book. And he didn't think about the individual versus he was writing a whole. And as we understand the whole, we understand better the verses. If the author of Genesis were to sit down, he would have to make preparations to make a scroll in the Old Testament days. That squirrel would be usually made of a casket under some kind of animal skin. It would take time to be treated and writing a book with an expensive proposition lot different than what we had today. You know, I can sit down here in word. I can type of way, I can go back and copy and paste and change. Run spell, check run, grammar, check, but in ancient times sitting down to write a book, was a very arduous and also very scientific kind of task. It was, it was high technology of that day. So an author would plan carefully, everything in his book and that's why when we look at the book as a whole, we need to understand that every part of it is critical because he wouldn't have put it in. If he hadn't been inspired to put it into every part is critical. The writer would have put a lot of planning in it. It would have been a lot of preparations. And then only the best books would have copies have been made cuz you didn't you're a hit. Press print to print more copies of the book, this whole process with had to be gone over again to make copies and copies and in the New Testament time. Yes, they were using paper and writing books and codexes as we called him. But in Old Testament times are riding squirrels, but even in the New Testament, I'm writing was a very scientific. Very technical tasks in this professional scribe that we all all see. Throughout the New Testament that actually wrote the words of Paul often times address of copies were something that were difficult to make. And a copyist also is another profession. So, let's look at the book as a whole.

For this study that we're going to do. We're going to look at a book that maybe were not so familiar with to see how we're going to use the tools that I'm about to talk about. So, let's use the Book of Ruth. For example.

Proper study of Ruth with begin with two things. A Bible and a notebook and pencil. And how you start off by reading Ruth, is you sit down and you do not look at the verses. I wish I could get Bibles without versus some of your Bible programs. You can turn off the versus verse numbers and just read it as a whole text read. The story of Ruth from beginning to end.

And then read it again. And then read it again. Reading it several times quickly. Like you would read a normal novel that you might experience. Getting to Know It. After you've finished reading it, there are some things you need to write down and identify. The first is what kind of material is this book?

Some of the famous theologians who have put together the form of Bible study that I'm talking about inductive Bible, study has invited the different kind of materials in the Bible into category, biographical historical chronological, geographical and ideological, and you need to identify what you're reading. What kind of book it is because that affects how you're going to read the book later. Are you going to read the individual versus and themes to understand them and to interpret them? A biographical book is a book that would follow a individuals life, especially getting into personal aspects of their life. The book of Samuel 1st and 2nd Samuel. What's an example of biographical book? There's actually three biography in the two books. One of Samuel 1 a David and want to stall. And then there's other smaller biographical notes on characters in the midst of that work, but it is moved by helping us understand what's going on by a graphically in these people's lives historical books and more invested in the actual event themselves. We don't get a lot of detail about the character. Will you get a lot of details about the, the events when I think of historical book, I think of a book, like, Exodus where we are moving from, from a little biography in the beginning, we learn about Moses, but then it's going into the various struggles between pharaoh and Moses and the different plagues. A coronavirus equal book is a book that's telling us about a. Of time. It's not focusing on any particular person as it is telling us about how things were in the days that this book was written. I think a judge is a chronological book, A book that is telling us about. And in those days, everyone did what was right in their own eyes and it kind of goes to a chronological events that tell us that move the story along. Geographical books are ones that are driven by locations. That the book of Acts is an example where it starts off with a in the first chapter talking about, you'll be my Witnesses in Judea and Samaria, and to the ultimate Parts also other parts of the world.

As the story goes through, we see the gospel start in Jerusalem, and eventually goes through. As we follow Paul's, various missionary Journeys, as he carries the all the way to when it ends. With Paul in Rome ideological books are books that are talking about a certain topic or idea. We see these specially in the New Testament letters where the authors are writing about problems in the church and our teaching theology. Now, when we've identified, which one of those books with one of those categories each book is the next thing we're going to put on our piece of paper. So we got Ruth and we're going to put what? One of these things it is and I can tell you, And then the next thing is we write a book report. Very simple, very short just like you did back in school. A book report. You're going to identify the major characters in the book, The Plot, the climax of the book and the resolution. This is how I start off my study and I put it in a notebook. And then we're going to go into other features of the Bible study as we go later on, but I want you two to take what? I've given you now. And come up with pick your book hour. If you want to go with me and do Ruth. Do Ruth decide. What general materials, is it? Biological historical chronological geographical audiological and then write a couple of paragraph book report which tells the major characters, the plot of the book, the climax in the book and the resolution how it is. When next week will be going on to the next stage of Bible study. This process is long and it's not something you do in the. In our this is something that, you know, you don't do four month, maybe slowly understanding the book as a whole because he I believe that the book is a hole. Was written by an author, divinely inspired by God. And that every aspect of it needs to be understood in its wholeness and completeness, so that we can properly interpret the word of God for our lives. Taking individual versus can create problems, grab verse and you say, was that sent this in the Bible and you try to apply it without understanding the rest of the contacts? You can get into some heresies. Yes, in the Bible, is his eat drink and be merry for tomorrow. We may die, but that's not a a guidance for life. If you read that the book, you realize that those words are being spoken by characters who are not godly.

So I hope you'll come with me on this journey on how to read the Bible. And in the next episode. We will talk about creating divisions and and understanding the the structure of the book.