Living by the Book/Living by the Book Workbook Set (14 page)

Others give up on the biblical text and turn instead to secondary sources. The moment they think they are in over their heads, they make a mad dash for a commentary to find out what some other significant saint has to say about the passage. In the process, they ruin the experience. In my judgment, people who do that quit too soon. They are usually right on the verge of pay dirt when they go to secondary sources. There’s nothing wrong with the use of secondary sources—after you have drenched your mind with what the biblical text says.

When I was in college I ran track. I ran low hurdles, which makes sense since I’m built close to the ground. In those days a man named Gil Dodds was the world’s indoor mile champion. He used to come over to the school a lot, and we built a close friendship.

I’ll never forget the first time I met him. We were standing on the track when he tapped me and said, “C’mon, Howie. Let’s go around.” So I took off. I found myself several paces in front of him, which puzzled me. I thought,
If you’re supposed to be the world’s indoor mile champion, why don’t you run a little faster?

What I didn’t realize was that he was planning to go around again. I was running as fast as I could. But when I finally got around the track he tapped me again and yelled, “C’mon, Howie. Only three more to go.”

I thought,
Good night, I’m going to die right here!

You see, there’s a vast difference between running sprints and running cross-country. To do the latter you need to develop the kicker, the second wind. You’ve got to prepare for the long haul. So it is with patient Bible reading. You have to develop some stamina, some staying power to hang on with a text until you start to make some progress. Let me suggest a few things to help.

I find that there’s a rhythm to life, and for many of us the cycle takes about a month to six weeks. We can stick with something for about that long, but then we need a change of pace.

In Bible study, five weeks with a book is usually enough time to make some significant headway. In five weeks you can read the book through several times. You can also observe its structure, identify the key terms, investigate the central characters, do some background work with secondary sources, and decide on some practical ways to apply the truths of the book to your life. I’ll discuss all of these tasks in later chapters.

The point is that in a month’s time, you can begin to take ownership of a book of the Bible. One book may not seem like much, but it’s probably one more than you currently understand. And in a year’s time, you can have twelve books under your belt; in five-and-a-half years, you’ll have all sixty-six. Can you believe that you could be less than six years away from having a firsthand grasp of the entire collection of the Bible?

Any book will fit into a five-or six-week study plan, but a few suggestions to get you started are Nehemiah, Jonah, the gospel by Mark, 1 Corinthians, Philippians, James, or 1 Peter. Nehemiah, Jonah, and Mark are “user-friendly” narratives, with plot and characterization. The four other books mentioned are letters to Christians that are short and practical. You won’t have much trouble figuring out what the writers are trying to say.

A month may seem like a long time to spend with a single book, but it’s really not that much time. And since there is so much to see in any passage (remember we identified no less than thirty observations from Acts 1:8 alone), you have to settle for limited objectives.

One strategy is to use a zoom lens for your approach. Start with a wide angle. Back off and get the big picture by reading the book in its entirety. See if you can detect a flow in the material, a progression of events or ideas. Then zoom in on something that seems prominent. If you use the month-long approach, spend a week or so on that one event or idea.

For instance, in Genesis, the first eleven chapters sweep through the creation of the universe, the Flood, and the confusion of tongues at Babel. Then the next thirty-nine chapters cover just four generations, led by four men—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. That’s the big picture of Genesis. But some events worth zooming in on are the creation narrative (chapters 1–2), the
Flood (chapters 6–10), the sacrifice of Isaac (chapter 22), and Jacob’s prophecy concerning his sons (chapter 49).

Once you spend some time on one of these smaller events, you can zoom in even more and study one particular feature in detail. For example, in the creation account, God establishes marriage (2:18–25). This is a passage worth intensive study because the principles established here carry throughout the Scriptures. Jesus refers to this passage (Matthew 19:4–6), as does Paul (Ephesians 5:31). Its presence here also forces you to ask, What place does marriage have in Genesis?

After you’ve zoomed in to study a particular event or concept or word, make sure you zoom back out to recall the big picture. Remember, you don’t want to end up with a lot of disconnected fragments but rather with a unified whole in which all the details fit in with the overall message of the book.

As we’re seeing, there is more than one way to study Scripture. The more strategies you use, the more insight you will gain. And the way to hang in there for the long haul of Bible study is to vary your approach, just as runners vary their pace. In subsequent chapters we’ll talk about some different techniques you can use with different kinds of material.

The keys to reading the Bible patiently are: Be patient with the text, and be patient with yourself. I’ve suggested some ways to be patient with the text to give it a chance to reveal its message.

Perhaps a more difficult principle, especially for the inexperienced Bible student, is to be patient with yourself. Often a person will attend a church service or a conference where he hears a speaker deliver an incredible exposition of the Word. In response, he becomes a real eager beaver who can’t wait to get into the text. He’s so motivated to discover truths for himself that he can’t see straight. And that’s wonderful.

But what he forgets is that the speaker has been studying the Scriptures diligently for years. There’s no way that a novice can start out at that level.
Remember my “race” with Gil Dodds. I started out like a flash of lightning. But the champion knew what it took to go the distance. I didn’t.

So as you dive into the Word for yourself, relax and enjoy the experience. God’s truth is there, and you’ll find it if you just give yourself time.

M
y sons will tell you that I’m not much of a fisherman. I love to fish, but I don’t catch very much. Our family used to take vacations in Colorado, and we’d go to a little pond where there were trout about half the size of a canoe. But do you think I could hook one of those babies?

I tried every gimmick the tackle shops had to sell. No luck. Those fish would come right up to the shore, and I dangled the hook right in front of their noses. But all in all, I caught very little.

The frustrating thing was, just down the shoreline were always a couple of old duffers with two or three rigs, and they couldn’t reel the fish in fast enough. We’d be talking to them while they were pulling one in, and meanwhile one of their other lines would be dancing with a strike.

What was their secret? Not only did they know the pond and not only did they know trout, they knew what bait to use.

They illustrate the fourth strategy of first-rate Bible reading:

Selective Bible reading involves using the right bait when you troll the
Scriptures. Here are six “lures” that you can use with any text, six questions to ask any passage of Scripture.

Who are the people in the text? That’s a pretty simple question to answer. Just read the text. But once you’ve identified who is in the passage, I suggest you look for two things.

First, what is said about the person or people? For example, Joshua 2:1 introduces Rahab, but it identifies her as “a harlot whose name was Rahab.” And from then on she is known as “Rahab the harlot.” How would you like that hung around your neck? She never shows up again in the account without that full title.

Or how about Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. Do you know anyone with a famous brother or sister, or a famous parent? Every time he’s introduced, it’s, “This is Andrew. You know, Peter’s brother.” It’s as if he has no identity of his own. That was Andrew’s predicament. But whenever anything is said about a person, make a note of it.

And be sure to consult other passages to learn everything you can about the person. For example, the preface to Psalm 88 tells us that the psalm is a “Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.” (By the way, those prefatory notes are considered part of the biblical text.) Who in the world was Heman the Ezrahite? The psalm doesn’t tell you. You have to go back to the historical books to find out who this man was. When you do, you can begin to piece together a fascinating portrait that explains why Psalm 88 is so dark and disturbing.

Or take Hebrews 11. It lists more than a dozen figures from the Old Testament. But unless you go back and study what was said about them there, you’ll never appreciate what Hebrews contributes to their stories.

A second thing to look for is, what does the person say? Take Peter on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1–8). There he is, enjoying one of the most incredible experiences ever committed to a human being. What does he say? “Lord, it is good for us to be here.” (That must be the understatement of the first century.) “Let’s build three tabernacles—three lean-tos—and stay up here and perpetuate the conference.” You see, Peter was the kind of guy whose motto was: Don’t just stand there—say something.

You may wonder, why does God clutter the biblical text with this sort of stuff? Why so many inane, off-the-wall comments and details? The reason is because He wants you to see the process people went through in order to come to the conclusions they came to.

A second question to ask is, what is happening in this text? What are the events? In what order? What happens to the characters? Or, if it’s a passage that argues a point: What is the argument? What is the point? What is the writer trying to communicate?

Another What? question is, what’s wrong with this picture? There are a number of these in the Old Testament. For example, King Saul makes war against the Amalekites in 1 Samuel 15. He wipes them out, captures their king, plunders their spoils, and prepares to praise God with sacrifices. But what’s wrong with this picture? Samuel puts his finger on the problem (15:19): “Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord?” Saul had obeyed, but not completely. And in God’s economy, partial obedience is disobedience.

This gives you the location. Where is the narrative taking place? Where are the people in the story? Where are they coming from? Where are they going? Where is the writer? Where were the original readers of this text?

The question Where? is one reason to have a set of maps or an atlas whenever you study the Bible. That’s why at the end of many Bibles you’ll find several maps to show you where the biblical events took place.

Are you studying a journey? Then trace it on a map. Are you studying 1 Corinthians? Then find Corinth on a map. Are you in Acts 8 with Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch? Then find out about the road south from Jerusalem to Gaza and what sort of country the official was traveling through.

I taught a class once in which there was a woman who had several advanced degrees. Right in the middle of one of the sessions she put up her hand and asked, “Dr. Hendricks, what part of South America is this taking place in?” We were studying the gospel by Mark.

Here was an obviously intelligent, informed individual. But I had over
looked the fact that she had no idea of New Testament geography. She’s not alone. This has become an incredible blind spot in our culture. When you read about places in the Bible, don’t assume anything; you’ll seldom be disappointed. Most people don’t have a clue as to where biblical events took place.

This is the question of time. When did the events in the text take place? When did they occur in relation to other events in Scripture? When was the writer writing?

In short, always determine what time it is. For example, in Mark 1:35, we read, “And in the early morning, while it was still dark, [Jesus] arose and went out and departed to a lonely place, and was praying there.” It’s easy enough to tell when this happened: “in the early morning.” But what morning? It was the morning after the busiest day recorded in the life of our Lord. There are only fifty-two of them in the gospels. That particular day was jam-packed with miracles, teaching, and healing.

May I say it reverently? Jesus had every reason to sleep in that morning. He even could have used the excuse, “I was about your business, Father.” But so high on His priority list was His relationship with the infinite God that He got up a great while before daylight and went to a solitary place and prayed. Now if Jesus Christ, who had unbroken fellowship and communion with the Father, needed to pray, what must my need be? What must your need be?