Why study the Bible?
Studying the Bible is always a great idea. For Christians, those who claim allegiance to God and His Son and Savior, Jesus Christ, how do you know what this means for your day-to-day life if you don’t study the guide book the Lord left for us?
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15 KJV
One of the synonyms I’ve heard used for BIBLE is “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.” Yes, we’re all leaving this early life at some point. Death has no victors, only victims. It just makes sense to prepare for that day now. The choices we make today and what we choose to believe prepare us for what our eternal tomorrow will be.
How do I study the Bible?
Each time I study scripture, I like to start by understanding the answers to the following questions:
- Where are we in history?
- What just happened?
- Who’s talking or writing?
- Where are they on Earth?
- What are they talking or writing about?
- Why are they speaking or writing?
Where are we in history?
The Bible covers human history from around 4000 BC (Before Christ) to 100 AD, which is the Latin phrase Anno Domini, which means in the year of our Lord. Knowing where on this timeline the events took place is important. Is it during the creation? Is it Old Testament or New Testament? Are we in the period of the Prophets or the Kings? These are the types of questions I like to answer before digging into the verses I’m studying.
As you read the through the Bible, over time you’ll understand the timeline. To get this understanding faster, you may want to try reading through the Bible with a chronological or time-ordered reading plan where you read through the Bible in the order of when things happened.
I searched online and found this site that gives a visual overview of the historical timeline covered by the Bible – Online Bible Timeline.
What just happened?
Once you have a general sense of where in the Bible your verses are placed, you can read the verses or chapter before to get the detail of what’s happening in the story you’re reading.
Who’s speaking or writing?
Next you want to understand who’s talking? Is it God, Jesus, Moses, or one of the Apostles? Sometimes you have stories that were written by a third-party like the Gospel of Luke which was written by the Greek physician Luke. His book recounts what he saw, heard, and experienced of Jesus. Sometimes he’s talking
Who are they speaking or writing to?
Who is the story about? Wh