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Introduction
1. When it comes to understanding the Word of God the Holy Spirit is the teacher (1 Corinthians c2 v10-12). To start with, the things of God are like an indistinct shadow that reading/studying and understanding the Bible will make sharper as time progresses. There is no set way of understanding the Bible but various aspects of the following suggestions can be used. They are in addition to help received through Bible discussion and teaching meetings. Some methods come more easily and bring greater joy to you than others and we all have different spiritual measures and gifts (Romans c12v6-8). These notes have various contributors. Perhaps some, or maybe all, of the following will help to further develop your understanding of: the Godhead, Their ways and plans, with our peace, joy and other blessings, and what God wants us individually, and with others, to do. The Bible is written for us.
Attitude
2. This is very important as God the Holy Spirit wishes to teach you spiritual things. At each reading or study time it is important to start with thanksgiving and prayer. Suggestions are that you ask God to speak to you so that: more truth can be revealed for your growth, strengthening, joy, becoming more like the Lord and further prepare you for the exercise of your gift(s). Also believe what you read, as the Bible is completely inspired of God (2 Timothy c3v16). It is very important, as well, to take account of the context as verses taken out of context are a pretext. Further it is the application of truth, not just the acquiring of it, that develops your faith in God and can make you free. Without dependence on God you will receive less from your reading or studying than would otherwise be the case.
Reading or Telescopic View
3. If you read the Bible in a “hit and miss” fashion you will probably “miss” more than you “hit”. So it is best to read regularly through the whole Bible which will give you a complete view. There are calendars to help which, if you want to read through the Bible in one year, would consist of reading three chapters or sections a day from different parts of the Bible.
Studying or Microscopic View
4. To obtain an overview of a section or book read a complete small book or part of a large one at one sitting. The church letters would have been read at one sitting. This is important to assist you to understand the context of the book and can be decisive to a right understanding of some of its part(s).
5. Read it through about 6 or 7 times. The more you read it the more new thoughts will come.
6. Memorize a verse during a day(s). Perhaps write it on paper/card to carry it with you.
7. If something strikes you write it down. A good Bible teacher wished he had written down what he had learned in his youth because he did not always remember it in later years. If you make rough notes to start with perhaps keeping one sheet of paper for a chapter. To save re-writing your notes at a later time allow around a half of an A4 sheet of paper for an ‘average’ verse, which also leaves room for future thoughts. You may develop/receive thoughts during the day or night and so you may like to record them in a notebook and then transfer them to your notes. See item 14 also. The context of the verse/passage/Bible will help you determine the correctness of some thoughts.
8. To improve concentration:
8.1 Consider when would be the best time for you to read or study. An idea is that you may like to read at the beginning of the day, when time can be scarce, and study more in some evenings or at the weekends when you are freer. Maybe you are not a morning person and are better reading and studying late at night. Perhaps you can use some lunch, or other, times for reading.
8.2 Look for certain things e.g. what is said about God, the Lord, a character or topic.
8.3 If a word(s) occur often, maybe record each one on a separate sheet, as each repeated word could be a separate topic or theme. Check the references with a concordance or a computer.
8.4 Read other translations, like commentaries, just to see what they have to say. We use the Authorised Version but some suggested other translations are: the Revised Version, Mr Darby’s “New Translation”, and possibly the best of the modern versions is the New King James’ Version. This is considered better than the New International Version that sadly has some definite doctrinal error e.g. Micah c5v2 {“origins” – as the Lord Jesus Christ is God He never had an origin.}. Many modern translations are paraphrases, i.e. a restatement, at times cut down, of what people think is the sense of the passage, which does not accurately translate God’s word. If we can’t say “God said …” where are we?
9. Perhaps read books about the background of those who received the book/letter, the writer, date and style etc. Write down some of what you learn from books and teaching. If you have read various books you may find it useful to note at the beginning of your notes what books you have read.
10. Seek to grasp the book, each section/chapter, the verses and, where necessary, individual words. Note the cross references to other places in the Bible and help that they may add to book/section/verse.
11. In a passage there are: the interpretation i.e. what it means, the application i.e. how it applies in my life, and sometimes typical teaching e.g. Christ being typified or illustrated in the OT. In the OT the NT is hidden and in the NT the OT is revealed e.g. the principles of Sarah and Hagar (Galatians c4v21-31). Progressive understanding is individual and others can help you in it.
12. After the above read commentaries and perhaps record helpful comments. Cut articles out of magazines and put them in your file (see item 14). It is very easy to just to turn to commentaries with-out reading the Word of God. This can be done because of the sincere desire to gain more knowledge than you would do without them. God wishes to teach you (Colossians c1v27) and so seek help to understand a verse/subject on your own first before using commentaries. Also it is good to read more than one commentary so that you see different aspects. Not all commentaries agree on every passage.
13. Bible Dictionaries that have been recommended are: New and Concise Bible Dictionary and Unger’s Bible Dictionary.
14. If you re-write your notes it could well be a slog and time consuming but you may, or may not, receive further light as you do so. If you do keep hand written notes, and perhaps take notes at meetings, make sure that they are tidily kept in appropriately marked files. This will make them easier to find at some future date and so save you time. Some prefer to record their notes on computer as it is very flexible for adding to, can be easily printed and is always legible! The On-Line Bible or the Power Bible CD (which I find easier to use) or using www.e-sword.net are helps that you can copy into the word processing. Computer packages also have: search facilities, subject topics with various references, some commentaries, different translations, and, generally, you can trace Hebrew and Greek word definitions more quickly on a computer than with a concordance.
15. Do not spend too long on a book. God has given us all His word for our learning. After the initial reading perhaps take 1 to 2 weeks to study each chapter. If you do not understand a verse do not spend a long time, even weeks, trying to understand it. Understanding the Bible is a progressive thing and you may receive the answer later through teaching, conversation or returning to the book at some future time. Enjoy what you know and don’t worry a lot about what you don’t know.
16. You may like looking at the Hebrew and Greek words. This may suit your personality but as someone has said, “It is better to gain the sense of a verse than the tense of it.” Knowing about Hebrew and Greek words can add to the understanding and delight of Bible but it can make you very dry and technical. A very deep knowledge of Hebrew/Greek will not make you more spiritual but Bible teachers will generally want to look more at the original languages. If you do not understand a verse then looking at the Hebrew or Greek words may help. These languages are only a tool to understand further about God and His truth and are not an end in themselves. Dictionaries and lexicons, that go deeper into meanings than concordances, can assist you understand words better. Recommendations are: a concordance preferably by Mr Strong, or Mr Young; the Expository Dictionary by Mr Vine, a Greek/English interlinear with Strong’s numbers under each word, Mr Wigram’s “Word Study Concordance” (which tells you all the references of a particular Greek word irrespective of their English translation), the “Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament” by Mr Thayer and a “Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament” by Mr Gesenius.
17. If you tend to make notes either in the margins of your Bible or on loose leaf pages then it is recommended that you invest in a good quality wide margin and/or loose leaf Bible. Otherwise you may end up with notes on the same passage in different Bibles. If you make notes in your Bible and God has gifted you both for teaching and for preaching then it may be a good idea to buy two Bibles and use one for each gift.
18. After looking at a passage in detail read it through once more so as not to lose the context.
19. Perhaps someone may find some or all of this advice too much. Therefore it is recommended that you start with a small book and progress to larger ones. Increasing in the knowledge of God, His ways, blessings and will is a long term matter. Regular reading/study will, with time, increase knowledge, discernment and hopefully rejoicing and character as well as helping you in your work for God. Concentrate on building your character in a way that pleases God, and let Him take care of your reputation.
20. Perhaps you find that the Holy Spirit is bringing verses to mind when you are engaged in other things. If possible set aside those other things and turn to the Scriptures as it could be that the Holy Spirit is seeking to teach you something in His time.
21. There are various websites that give helpful teaching and the following are recommended:
- http://www.preciousseed.org
- http://www.assemblytestimony.org
- http://www.truthandtidings.com
- http://www.believersmagazine.com
The first two websites also issue magazines free of charge but they depend on the freewill offerings of the Lord’s people for financial support.
Studying a Subject
22. When studying a character or subject either within a book or across the Scriptures a concordance or a computer search facility is necessary and a chain reference book e.g. Nave’s Topical Bible (also on computer) is helpful. As you are seeking to know the main points of the character or subject it is not always necessary to note every reference. If there are a number of references repeating the same point only write one reference and perhaps note two/three others as support. A chain reference book can help you weed out unimportant references.
23. The subject or character will probably sub-divide or develop in various ways and so as you progress it is best to make various headings under which you record the references. If you look somewhat at Greek/Hebrew words you could find that one English word is translated by different Greek/Hebrew words and vice versa. As you cannot determine how much you will learn about a reference it would probably be best to record all the references on a different sheet of paper to those of your comments.
24. There is the principle of first mention. When a person or subject is first recorded in the Bible then the circumstances surrounding that record will very likely characterise that character or subject all through the Bible.
25. Again the context of each reference is very important and will help to determine what some verse(s) will mean. E.g. the “flesh” can mean our physical body or our sinful nature. Obviously you will also find that one verse has a bearing on another.
26. You will notice that some things are similar but different, e.g. the gospel of God (telling us Who is its source) and the gospel of His Son (showing Who is its Centre). As God the Holy Spirit is the master of language He deliberately chose various words to convey what He wanted us to know.
27. Ensure that the final version is filed in an orderly manner for easier reference in the future.
At the End of Reading/Studying
28. At least at the end of each reading or study time it is important take some time to worship, praise, give thanksgiving and pray. Suggestions are: giving God thanks for the Lord Jesus Christ, various characters, victories, deeds and warnings that you learned, pray for help to fill your life with and keep you from things that God’s Word reveals, confess your sins, further seek God’s will and pray. If you cannot remember a verse you have just read then look at it so as to quote it correctly. (When it expresses your heart’s feelings it is good to quote the Bible in worship and prayer but quoting it to sound good to believers, or to yourself, is not worship or prayer.) These actions will help to make God’s things live more in your spirit. Also ask for further light on what you have not understood and God can answer you but not always when you think He should. Enjoy what you know and do not let what you do not know burden you. Do not be content just to have an increased Bible knowledge but pray for: help to be an overcomer, a greater love for and further help to think about God and His things, the leading of the Spirit and God’s wisdom for opportunities to: encourage and help believers, speak to lost souls about salvation and do good works. (Also while gift and studying can bring you to the platform, it is prayer that brings God’s power more into effect. So if you are studying for a meeting it is good to spend at least two minutes in every hour of study to worship, praise, give thanks and pray.)
29. Regular reading and/or studying is profitable at any stage of life. However it will benefit you most if, as part of God’s will, you make time for it when you are young or young in the faith. Ask God to help you to make the time.