ELIZABETH INRIG
In the past few articles, we have emphasized the importance of knowing God’s Word—not only to fill our heads but to fill our hearts as well. In His Word, He has shown us His person, character, plans, promises, and HIs loving purposes. Most of all, He points us to His Son. We have also considered the importance of taking time in Scripture to learn, meditate, memorize and obey what it says for our spiritual growth. David in the Old Testament and Peter and Paul in the New remind us in Psalm 150, 1 Peter 2:1-3, and 2 Timothy 3:10-17 that Scripture is essential for growing in God.
Paul reminded Timothy to continue in truths he had learned (in Timothy’s case, truths he had learned from childhood) and to regard them as “sacred writings” that he holds in his hands (2 Tim. 3:16). We need these verses in our hearts today just as much as Timothy needed them in the first century. Furthermore, Paul warned Timothy that “in the last days difficult times will come”, and Timothy would need Scripture in his life so could be equipped for every good work.
Why Paragraphs?
In order to help us understand and remember the things we have learned, there are five categories into which we can organize the details of Scripture. Learning to look for these categories as we read will help us see what God has written for our good and His glory, one paragraph at a time.
But, you may ask, why should we look one paragraph at a time as we study the Book?
In all literature—the Bible included—paragraphs, not verses, are the basic units of thought. Translations organized into verses mark the underlying paragraphs by using bold ink to indicate the verse number that begins each paragraph. Therefore, as you read, look for the paragraphs; the best way to SEE details is to do it as the Scripture was written: in paragraphs!
Now you may have another question: Why is it important to see what it says before we try to explain what a passage means?
The answer is the same for Scripture as it is in our daily life: We cannot explain what have not seen or observed. Seeing the details or descriptions is essential for us in order to make connections within the paragraph. The better we understand what you see, the better prepared we will be to explain what it means.
Because observation is so important in order to understand the context of any passage, we will learn to look for five categories of information to guide us in our reading.
These categories can help us see what God the Holy Spirit has moved the chosen authors to write. As you read each inspired paragraph, you can see who the first audience is. You can determine when they lived, where they lived, and in what nation they lived. You will also be able to see under what ruling power they lived, and you can determine what genre best describes the book of the Bible from which you are reading. Understanding these details will make the truths about God (theology) contained in the passage come alive and capture your heart. As Scripture unfolds its riches to you, it will drive your will to please the Lord Jesus Christ.
Just a warning, however: we cannot observe in a hurry; each paragraph begs time so that we will be clear about the details. Here we go!!
Category One: Biographical Details
Why should we know and study the characters of the Bible?
God’s story of man began with a man and woman—a family. This fact means we should meet the people and know the names God has included in His book. Knowing the people and what is said about them is an important first step.
As you read, write the names of the people you encounter. Record the details the author may include about each one within the paragraph you are studying.
Into the historical, physical world, God placed human beings who are created in His image, sovereignly overseeing where each would live and graciously naming and revealing to each person God’s specific purpose and plan for their ancestral lines, confirming eternal and unconditional promises.
He told His first children after they sinned that the “seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head”! Importantly, the primary sin of Adam and Eve was unbelief in the holy character of God and the Word He had spoken and given. The primary solution to their sin is God’s giving His Son as blood payment that satisfies the Father’s requirement for sin; He is “propitiated” with Christ’s work—past, present, and future.
Category Two: Historical Details (including nations and political powers)
No one knows the date of God’s creation, but we can know that Abraham lived around 2150 BC, or about 2,000 years before Christ. Biblical authors make a point of stating historical details in their writings. We find that the Bible does not contradict secular historical details. (For example, Luke, the physician-researcher, carefully notes in Luke 1:5 that it was in the days of Herod, king of Judea that Zecharias the priest lived.) Other paragraphs may include other historical clues so we know when in time the account we are studying occurred.
God begins history in Genesis and moves through the rest of the books as we learn of His creating man, choosing Israel, making covenants, sending His Son, and assuring a safe future for believers and judgment for non-believers. He will end history after the Day of the Lord, the Millennial Kingdom, and the final judgment of the Great White Throne occur. At that time, the Lord Jesus creates a new eternal heaven and new eternal earth.
Scripture records historical details implicitly and explicitly. History is Scripture’s primary context.
Category Three: Geographical Details
People often ask us: “Where are you from?”
Throughout Scripture the authors seem to know that location is a very important detail. They include names of towns, cities, mountains, rivers, valleys, and seas so all will understand that places are important in the Bible. In fact, Dr. John Beck*, a skilled Christian scholar and educator, believes that Biblical locations almost always shape our understanding of an event, and geography is not just trivia. In fact, geography is an essential element of God’s communication to show us how critical and meaningful it is in the Scriptures.
God chooses and includes specific places from the earliest description of the Garden of Eden to towns, cities, countries, lands, oceans, lakes and rivers, and riverlets to establish the physical context in which people lived and functioned. Scripture often identifies some lands as being inhabited by those who do not honor God and others as the home of those that recognize His glory. For example, Adam and Eve had a perfect Garden, but ironically they did not believe God’s Word.
Paul, when he preached to the men of Athens from Mars Hill, told them it was God that determined the boundaries of their habitation (Acts 17:26). This fact means that using maps to help us know where biblical places are makes the accounts even more real and understandable. We realize how significant geography is when we visit a place we have previously only read about; all of a sudden the connections between events is clearer!
Category Four: Literary Details
Why do we need to know what kind of literature each Biblical book is?
Whenever we read a newspaper, we distinctively know the difference between a news report, an editorial opinion, and an advice column. Similarly, when reading the Bible, we read narrative, poetry and epistles differently from each other. Knowing the genre of the book in the Bible we are studying will aid us in properly observing and explaining the text. Different authors’ writings exhibit a common set of literary features and are called genres. To accurately observe the genre, recognize the features as listed below:
Historical narrative: the Bible is a book containing true life stories that together compose God’s meta-story. These narratives are known as prose. (The Law of Moses, for example, is given in the context of Israel’s story. This historical fact informs us of the purpose and function of the law.)
Poetry: Hebrew parallelism shapes the genre of poetry and includes evocative and imagery-laden language as well as wisdom. David in the Psalms and Solomon in Proverbs are examples of writers of biblical poetry.
Prophecy: Prophets spoke God’s Word to the people for immediate, near future, and distant future fulfillment. The major and minor prophets of the Old Testament are prime examples of the writers of this genre.
The gospels: four authors—three Jewish and one Gentile—tell us of the Life, Word, and Teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ, each from a different vantage point.
Epistles: Letters written by apostles to specific churches or individuals for a specific purpose are called epistles.
Apocalyptic: the word “apocalypse” means revelation, disclosure, or unveiling of unseen future spiritual realities and earthly events. It is a form of literature found in Daniel, in the prophets like Ezekiel, and in The Revelation. Apocalyptic literature uses artistic and figurative language to describe the last things on earth.
Category Five: Theological Details
Why do we need to know the truth about God?
The term “theology” means “truth about God”. The Bible, therefore, is the 66-book volume of God-revealed truths given progressively over time to godly authors. We would know nothing of the person, plan, and purposes of the One True God had He not given us Scripture.
In the same way that we observe the previous four categories in each paragraph, we will make note of things said in each paragraph of God—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—based on truthful details in Scripture. The Bible speaks eternal truth about God!
Our task is to take time to observe the text one paragraph at a time. God will open our eyes to SEE His truth.
Conclusion
Finally, as we begin studying paragraphs of Scripture using the five categories above to discover the details God deemed important for us know in order to know Him, we need to remember: Words matter, and context is everything.
Always consider these points:
- Know the book’s author, and find his purpose for writing it. His purpose will either be implied or stated overtly in the book itself.
- Ask yourself: how would the first audience have understood the author’s intent? Remember that the first audience’s understanding of the author’s text determines the primary meaning of the book. The text has only one meaning, but there may be many applications of that one meaning.
- Pay attention to the style of each author’s writing. Notice the grammar such as verb tenses, prepositions, indicatives (statements of reality and truth), imperatives (commands), direct or indirect meanings, and literary devices.
- Finally, watch for implications of truth and applications of those truths for life.
God’s Word yields unspeakable treasures when we pay attention to the details of its words. It is living, and its secrets are revealed as we submit to the Author of the Word and allow Him to teach us.
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account (Heb. 4:12–13).
*The Baker Book of Bible Charts, Maps and Time Lines with Dr. John Beck.
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