How to Study the Bible Well

Bible study can be daunting. There are so many different ways to do it. I want to take the overwhelm out of Bible study and keep it simple. On this episode, we’re going to spend a few minutes talking about how to study the Bible well. I’m going to give you some:

• tips for reading, 
• resources to consider, and 
• methods that have been helpful as I seek to study God’s word well. 

We'll also establish three questions we'll seek to answer in each episode as we study through a biblical text together. 

Whether you're a seasoned Bible reader or someone who's hoping to get back into the habit of daily Bible reading, these simple guidelines will offer a solid foundation for reading and studying the Bible well. 

Transcript

Welcome to episode 2!

In the last episode, I gave you a personal introduction, the inspiration behind this podcast, and what you can expect in our time together. If you haven’t already listened, I encourage you to go back and start there. 

On this episode, we’re going to spend a few minutes talking about how to study the Bible well. I’m going to give you some tips for reading, resources to consider, and methods that have been helpful as I seek to study God’s word well. 

There are a lot of great books out there on how to read and study God’s word. I looked up the topic on Pinterest the other day and scrolled through page after page of blog posts and articles. You’ll likely find lots of different ideas and methods. All of it can honestly feel a bit overwhelming sometimes. 

So I thought I’d start by telling you about my personal experiences with Bible study: 

I started as a teenager picking up the Bible and reading one chapter a day. And that was maybe 5 days a week, but more often a couple of days here or there in a pretty sporadic pattern. I often felt confused. I didn’t really retain a lot of the information I read. Once in a while something stuck with me, but I was mostly familiarizing myself with what was actually there.

Though I didn’t make any groundbreaking theological progress in this stage of life, I actually think this first step of opening my bible and reading was incredibly valuable and important to helping me understand the Bible. We are often encouraged not to make time with the Lord something to check off a to-do list, and while I wholeheartedly agree that quiet times should not come shrouded in some legalistic cape, I would actually argue that making daily bible reading a check on our list ins’t a terrible thing to do.

Here’s why:

1. there is a real resistance to reading God’s word. It’s not something that comes naturally to most people. Have you ever sat down with a cup of coffee and scrolled through your phone while you Bible sat right next to you, thinking the whole time, I’m going to read something soon? Or maybe you’ve gotten to the end of a long day and thought, Oh junk, I forgot to read my Bible again. I mean, it happens to all of us.

I credit my husband with saying that we don’t have to be intentional about watching Netflix. In our house,  at the end of the day when we want to wind down, we flip on a show. We don’t have to write it in our planner or discuss the plan for the week beforehand. It’s so easy. But that’s not the case with our Bibles.

We have to be intentional about opening up God’s word. We have to have a plan, a time, a goal, and yes, even a box to check off on our to do list. 

Because the truth is, the resistance to opening God’s word that we sometimes feel is very real. We have an enemy, and the Bible is our weapon against him. Ephesians lists the word of God as the sword of the spirit when it describes the armor of God. Notice it’s our only tool of offense listed. Scripture is what Jesus uses to ward off the temptation of Satan. Satan HATES God’s word. He hate’s when you open it. And so he’ll subtly do whatever he can to keep it closed. 

1. When we get in God’s word, we actually start to realize what’s in God’s word.

 It sounds overly simple, but it’s sadly uncommon for people to actually know what’s in the Bible anymore. People read verses in very topical settings, pulled out of context and used to support a message without knowing what book it’s from, who the author is, what genre it is, or what the meaning for the original listeners might have been. 

 The Bible is a compilation of 66 books all inspired by the holy spirit. But it was also written by many different authors over a few thousand years. It includes many different types of genres and different audiences throughout history. 

Starting with reading get’s us familiarized with the rhythm, sounds, language, repetition, reoccurring themes, and content of the Bible. \

1. When we read God’s word, even without great theological depth, we also realize what’s NOT in the Bible, which perhaps is just as important as realize what’s IN the Bible. So many proverbial sayings are credited as scripture but actually aren’t. It’s important to distinguish between what culture has passed down and what scripture actually teaches. 

My next step of growth in Bible study was to read a chronological Bible. I would highly recommend this step if you haven’t yet done this. It was the first time I read the Bible all the way through. I think I was in my early 20s at that point. It was so eye opening to understanding the reality that the Bible isn’t complied in order. Um, like I didn’t know that. It helped me place the history of the Old Testament, especially. Reading chronologically also helped me piece together how books related. For instance, how 1 and 2 Samuel, and 1 and 2 Kings, along with Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Solomon and Ecclesiastes worked beautifully together to tell the story of David and Solomon through different genre and perspective. 

My next step in developing in my Bible study came from discovering valuable outside resources. I started reading some theologians that opened my eyes wide to the beauty in scripture that I hadn’t seen before. Some of these were C.S. Lewis, and Tim Keller in the early years and this is a practice I’ve continued throughout the last 10 years or so. There are so many incredible resources for illuminating our understanding of scripture. I love Jen Wilkin and Nancy Guthrie especially for women’s related Bible study. And I’m currently reading both Delighting in the Trinity by Michael Reeeves and the Goldsworthy Trilogy by Graeme Goldsworthy, that are both sufficiently blowing my mind and being doused with highlighter.  Along with books, podcasts are an incredible resource. My favorite is Knowing Faith, followed closely currently by Help Me Teach the Bible. But you can also find sermons by great pastors, past and present, which is an incredible resources. I’ve listened to my fair share of R.C. Sproul, and John Piper sermons through podcasts.

I’m telling you my specific resources because, if I’m honest, there have been seasons where I had no idea where to turn for truly helpful, solid encouragement in scripture. I found these names from resources other gave me, podcasts I listened to, even from my husband introducing me to them. And just a note on resourcing names on a podcast. We have a tendency as humans to gear toward fandom where we join behind a teacher in unmovable loyalty. But I’ve found that there are no Bible teachers I agree with 100% of the time. Keeping open hands to glean what’s important and let go of what’s not is so important to gaining helpful resources without aligning ourselves in allegiance with any one camp only to be eventually disappointed.

Currently I’m in a season of exploring different mediums for Bible reading. By that I mean, I’m changing how I read the Bible on a daily basis. For example, I’m currently reading through the pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible.  Some days I read from my regular ESV Bible straight through the content, other days I read one chapter of my ESV study Bible and soak in the commentary, and other days I let the audio version play on my Bible app and listen for longer stints of time than I might be able to sit and read. This has been helpful for gaining the birds-eye view of the content as well as having an opportunity to dive down and really pick apart certain chapters or verses for deeper study. 

It’s also helpful for keeping things fresh and interesting. If you’re going to read your bible every day which is my sincere hope for you, it’s going to get old. Just being honest. You’re going to get into a rut. And so changing up how we read God’s word can be really helpful in keeping us engaged in scripture. 

This is one example of my own personal progression of Biblical literacy that has happened quite organically over time. Your story of growing familiar with the Bible likely looks different. I hope you’ll take some time to think through the progression you’ve followed in knowing your Bible. This can be a helpful exercise in understanding where we can continue growing but also to take account of the ways God has grown us to this point, which serves as both encouragement and deep motivation to continue. 

Maybe you’re in that initial faze of simply opening the Bible and making reading a habit. Maybe you’re discovering how the historical narrative of the Bible fits together. Maybe you’re soaking in supplemental resources that help illuminate the word. Or maybe, like the majority of Americans out there, you haven’t really picked up your Bible in a while but you’re looking for a fresh start. 

Here’s the good news. It doesn’t matter where you are – if you’re a seasoned or struggling Bible reader. 

I’m going to give you a few basic tools that you can apply to whatever scripture you’re reading to help you grow your confidence in bible study. 

These are the same tools we’ll use together on this podcast as we study through specific sections of scripture. 

Now, I’ll start by saying, none of these ideas are unique to me. They’re ideas I’ve learned from other great Bible teachers who have helped form and guide my own Bible study. 

 First, and pretty basic here, you have to have a Bible. This step is simple, but sometimes choosing a translation can be intimidating. There are some very helpful Bible translation comparison charts out there that show how each translation falls on a spectrum from very literal to very…not. I’ll try to link this resource in the show notes for you. I personally love to read the ESV translation which is pretty far on the word-for-word side of the chart, which means it’s more of a literal translation than other versions. I grew up reading almost exclusively the NIV. 

It’s also very helpful to have a good study Bible. Again, I love and would recommend my ESV study Bible for the commentary as well the introductions to each book and the articles of difficult issues in Christianity and doctrinal beliefs. All of this is included in this study Bible. Choosing a study Bible will be a great aid as you seek to understand your Bible better. 

It can also be helpful to have a good concordance, like a Strongs concordance on hand to look up words. A concordance will take a word in Hebrew or Greek and help give deeper meaning to the definition as well as give other contexts where you can find the same word with the same intended meaning in scripture. But I will be honest and say, while I have a huge Strongs concordance, I usually utilize an online tool like Blue Letter Bible to reference certain words. It has the same information as my Strong’s concordance without the big giant book part. 

Another helpful practice to try for bible study is to print our a copy of the book or chapter you are studying, you can do this by looking up the text and translation your prefer on the internet and printing from there. This is very helpful for laying out the text in front of you and having room to take notes and mark things you might not normally want to put into those super thin pages in your Bible. I have printed books of the Bible that are so marked up they look absolutely crazy, but I love being able to take notes that way. 

OK, so you have the text and translation. You’ve found an online source like the Blue Letter Bible to look up words for further clarity and definition and even find some commentary. Maybe you have a study Bible as a further resources. Now, there’s nothing left to do but to read. 

And we’re going to start that here, on the podcast, next week! I’m going to keep our starting point a surprise until them, bet you can’t guess what book we’ll be studying together! It’s an obscure one! That’s the only hint I’ll give you. 

As we read, we can keep in mind a few important details to think through. First, start a book at the beginning and read it as a whole entity. As a general rule, it’s best to avoid jumping around scripture from place to place or doing that whole flip it open and stick your pointer finger on a passage to see where to read. This is what get’s us confused and often way out of context as we study scripture. 

Instead, start with a book. Any book will do. I think starting with Matthew, for instance, it’s a great place. Matthew talks about Jesus. He’s pretty straight forward. He has a lot of richness and depth related back to the Old Testament so there’s plenty to study. And he records incredible teachings by Jesus. 

This is, by the way, the number 2 obstacle for people reading their Bibles. They don’t know where to start. If that’s you, any Gospel – Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John is a great starting point. You’ll get an overview of Jesus’s life and ministry as well as his teachings. 

When you pick out your book, or if you’re already reading in a book as you listen to this podcast, or as we start studying our book together next week, there are a couple of things you need to establish:

1. Who is the author of this book? 
   1. For example, John wasn’t written by John the Baptist, but by the apostle John – sometimes that can get confusing.
   2. Genesis was written by Moses, not Abraham or even Adam. 
   3. David didn’t write all the Psalms. 
   4. Paul wrote over half of the new testament. 

Identifying the author will help ground the book, relate it to  other books, and the more you read from a specific author, the more you will identify their writing style and goals in writing. 

1. What genre is this book?
    
   1. This is where the English major in me comes out! The Bible has many different genres. Is this an historical account? A prophetic book? Wisdom literature like Proverbs? Poetry? An epistle or letter, like Paul’s letters to the churches.]
   2. Identifying the genre is very important to help us interpret the words we read. For instance, You would read and understand a history textbook differently than you would read and understand a book of poetry.  
2. When is the timeline of this book?
    
   1. Where does this book fall in the timeline of scripture, but not just scripture, where does it fall in the timeline of world history.
   2. I’m embarrassed to admit that I was already into adulthood when I actually understood that all the stories I grew up hearing from the time of Jesus’s birth and life were the same time as Julius Caesar and the Roman empire. For some reason my Bible class and my History class were very compartmentalized in my head. This is not how history works, though. Placing our Biblical book within the context of biblical history and world history is super helpful for understanding what the listeners might have been experiencing. Which leads me to the next thing:
3. Who is the intended audience?
    
   1. Who was this book written to? Was it the Israelite nation? A group of newly formed Christian churches scattered in the dispersion? Was it to Jewish or Gentile believers? And for that matter, was it for nonbelievers or believers?
   2. It’s so important to understand who the intended audience was because we must read the text in light of how they would have received it, not in light of what it means to us in our modern society. Understanding the original audience and who the words were intended for help us stay true to their intended purpose. Then, after we understand the original audience, we can often take the leap of applying the same sentiment to our own lives within the right context. 

All of these questions will establish the context of your book or passage of scripture. This step may take a little research. Or it might be as simple as reading the introduction to the book in your study Bible. But don’t skip this part, it will help us as we seek to understand our daily readings with more clarity and depth. 

As we read, understanding the basics of the context, we can keep three questions at the forefront  of our minds. 

1. we want to ask, what does this scripture tell us about God.
    
   1. It’s taken me a long time to learn this one as well – YOU aren’t the main character of the Bible. Neither am I. Neither is David, Paul, or Moses for that matter. God is. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are the main characters in every single story of the Bible. 
   2. We want to ask, what did this mean to the original listeners. 
   3. What was the intended purpose of this prophecy to it’s Israelite listeners?
   4. How was this letter from Paul received in the church? 
2. And finally we want to ask, how will this change how I view myself and God. 
   1. When we save the application for last, we give the text a chance to actually lead  us to the most practical conclusion of application rather than asserting our own takeaways into scriptures, scripture leads the path toward spiritual refinement. 

We’ll ask these questions together as we read through the text on this podcast. Hopefully as we familiarize ourselves with asking these three questions as well as setting the context of the text it will come as second nature as we continue to study God’s word.

Finally, studying God’s word is amplified when we study it intentionally. Each week we’ll focus on finding 2 important things in our passage. 

First we’ll try to find the story line. This is identifying how this passage fits within the great story of God’s redemption of his people through the person of Jesus. The amazing thing about the Bible is that even though it is separate books written over thousands of years by different people, it is tied together with very specific reoccurring themes that help us tie scripture together into one magnificent story. We’ll look for clues to connect out passage to the storyline of the Bible. 

Second, we’ll try to find out way to the cross.  Would you believe me if I said every part of the Bible points us to Jesus? Even the Old Testament that might seem dry and foreign is pointing us toward a Savior. Because we live on this side of history, knowing the story of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, we have the joy of looking at all of scripture through the light of Jesus. Like a dark corner, Jesus is the beam of light that illuminates parts of the Bible that were once unclear. We’ll study each text in the beam of the light of Jesus and discover how the text points us to a perfect savior. 

I can hardly wait to dive into scripture with you. It’s a privilege to open God’s word and learn. I’m confident we’re going to learn together, grow together, and fall more deeply in love with God together.