The method of Bible study which I employ every day in my personal study and in the daily Bible study posts posted at alittleperspective.com, is unique. But in fact, all I do is study the text of the Scripture itself, letting Scripture’s own teaching tools which are embedded within the text, teach me. In this series I will go through three passages of Scripture, showing step by step how the teaching tools embedded within Scripture, teach. By the time we are done, anyone will be able to use the same method to unlock any text of Scripture for themselves.
To begin, review the teaching tools of scripture. We will go through Gen 1-3, Psa 1, and Mat 5-7 to illustrate how to study the text of the Scriptures using its own teaching tools.
The first teaching tool is the plain meaning of the text. When I begin to study a new section of Scripture, I copy the text of the Scripture into my Bible study notes. I remove headings, footnotes, and any supplemental study notes which the publishers have included in the Bible, which were added by man. I even remove paragraph divisions (we will learn why soon). We are learning to study the Bible letting the Scripture itself teach us by its teaching tools, and often the notes of man added to the text are a distraction, and can even hinder what the Scripture is trying to say, so I remove them. When the text is copied, I read it. If a light bulb has gone on for me, just in reading the text, I note what I have learned in my notes.
The second teaching tool is learning from the narrative, a step beyond learning from the plain meaning of the text. Whereas the plain meaning considers individual words and verses, the narrative considers the entire section of Scripture that I have read that day. In a way, I am asking myself, and the Holy Spirit, what is the moral of the story?
| Genesis chapter 1 | My notes |
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1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day. 6 Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” … 26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds … |
PLAIN MEANING vs. 5. The days of Creation each had a morning, and evening, in six consecutive days. The plain reading of the text does not support a creative process which took eons of time. NARRATIVE vs. 26-31. God is the Creator of all that is, including me. The world did not evolve from the primordial ooze. His creation was designed with wisdom aforethought. And man is the capstone of His creation, made in His own image. That means I was designed with wisdom aforethought, to reflect the nature of my Creator in my life! |
| Psalm 1 | My notes |
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1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; |
PLAIN MEANING vs. 2. The blessing is on the man who delights in and meditates in the law of God, i.e., the first five books of the Old Testament. NARRATIVE vs. 6. I have been told that the law of God is obsolete, but Psa 1 is not telling me that. Rather, the man who delights in and does God’s law is called blessed and righteous. |
| Matthew chapter 5 | My notes |
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… 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. 17 Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. 19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. … 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” |
PLAIN MEANING vs. 19. Jesus censures anyone who breaks even the least commandment, and who teach other men to break commandments. He does not sound as if He means for the law to be considered obsolete. NARRATIVE vs. 43 ff. Jesus is teaching what it means to keep the commandments, mentioning murder, adultery, swearing falsely, and other commandments of the law. His standards are much higher than mere outward obedience, but He is requiring obedience to the spirit of the law from the heart! |
So far we have not departed very far from traditional Bible study. But now we are going to take the next step into deeper waters, with the important tool of patterns and repetition, and comparison and contrast.
study the bible using the teaching tools of scripture, part two (repetition, pattern, breaks in pattern, comparison and contrast) 2015 jul 26
study the bible using the teaching tools, part three (original hebrew) 2015 aug 02
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