How to Study the Bible: OBSERVATION. What does the Bible say?
Do you lack confidence that you can understand the Bible by yourself? Do you fear you aren’t smart enough, or that you require specialized training to discern what the Bible says? I assure you this isn’t true. You can know the joy of discovering the rich treasures of the Bible. It begins with observation: seeing what the text actually says.
Can you ask questions? Of course you can. The key to studying the Bible is asking questions. Who wrote the section I am reading? Who is being spoken to? What is this about, what is the subject? What does the writer want the readers to know? What does the writer want them to do? When did this event happen? When will what is being spoken about happen? Where did or will this happen? Where are people going? Where have they been? Why is that being said? Why will that happen? Why did they do that? How did they do that? How can they do it? Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? Ask those kinds of questions of the passage you are studying and soon you will begin to see what the text says. Let’s consider an example from Luke:
All the tax collectors and sinners were approaching to listen to Him. 2 And the Pharisees and scribes were complaining, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them!" (Luke 15:1-2 CSB)
These two verses suggest several questions. Why were tax collectors and sinners attracted to Jesus? What did Jesus have to say that tax collectors and sinners would want to hear? Why did the Pharisees and scribes think it was wrong for Jesus to welcome sinners and eat them with them? Where did this happen? What does this reveal about Jesus? What does this tell us about Pharisees and scribes? No doubt you could think of other questions, but you get the idea.
Of course you then want to try to find answers to your questions. Tax collectors and sinners were attracted to Jesus because he didn’t look down on them, condemn them, and avoid them like the Pharisees and scribes did. Jesus offered tax collectors and sinners words of hope. The Pharisees and scribes believed they would be contaminated by tax collectors and sinners if they associated with them. It happened somewhere in Palestine while Jesus was traveling on his way to Jerusalem to be crucified. This reveals that Jesus loves people others reject. It also shows that the Pharisees and scribes were judgmental, unloving, and ignorant of the Lord’s desire to save sinners (cf. Luke 5:32).
Each time you study a passage bombard it with questions. It doesn’t matter if you can answer each question every time. Just keep asking questions and then attempt to answer them. Occasionally you will have a question you cannot answer without some outside help like a good study Bible, a Bible dictionary, a Bible map, a concordance, and a commentary. Next week, Lord willing, I will give you my top suggestions. Bro. Craig