How to Study the Bible
Selected Scriptures
And I want to talk with you really in a continuation of what we did this morning, on how to study the Bible. And again I just want to go back to what I said a minute ago, in order to praise the Lord in His Word we have to know what it says, really vital to praise Him in truth as well as in spirit, to honor Him in truth as well as with our feelings and our emotions. And in order to do that we have to know the Word of God.
This morning we touched on the fact that there are some requirements for those who would glean from the Word what God would have us to know. The Bible is not an open Book to just anybody, it is an open Book only to those who come fulfilling certain basic requirements. And we talked about the who of Bible study, who can really understand the Bible. And we suggested to you six principles really, a five and then a sixth which was prayer. A person must be born again, must be diligent in his study, have a great desire, must deal with sin in his life so that there's manifest holiness, and the filling of the Spirit of God who really is our teacher. And as you've examined your life if you understand those priorities and are willing to commit yourself to those priorities and bathe all of those in prayer, then you're the person who can understand the Bible, you're the person to whom God will open the pages of His Book and give you the truth.
Now I agree that even the unregenerate man may understand the a little bit about the history in the Bible, he may understand a few of the words in the Bible but he'll never have a Biblical knowledge in the sense that it works out in his living. He may get some head knowledge by reading and understanding and studying to a certain degree, but it'll never be the real kind of knowledge that the Bible talks about because it never works out in his life. And so what we're talking about is the fact that unless you fit the qualifications the Bible never comes alive in your living, and so consequently in the Hebrew mind you never really perceive it at all, you never really understand it until it takes place in your life on a day to day basis.
Now, given the who of Bible study let's look at the how tonight. And it's so hard to know where to begin with this incomparable Book. I don't know if you've ever really thought about the magnificence of the Bible and what a privilege we have in studying it but I hope for tonight at least you'll be able to focus in on some of the tremendous things that await you in the Scripture as you break it open.
I read some time ago an architects view of the Bible and I wanted to share it with you just as a beginning. "The Bible is like a magnificent palace constructed of precious oriental stone, comprising sixty‑six stately chambers. Each one of these rooms is different from its fellows and is perfect in its individual beauty while together they form an edifice incomparable majestic glorious and sublime. In the Book of Genesis we enter the vestibule where we are immediately introduced to the records of the mighty works of God in creation. This vestibule gives access to the law courts, passing through which we come to the picture gallery of the historical books. Here we find hung on the wall scenes of battles, heroic deeds and portraits of valiant men of God. Beyond the picture gallery we find the philosophers chamber, the Book of Job, passing through which we enter the music room, the Book of Psalms, and here we linger thrilled by the grandest harmonies that ever fell on human ears. And then we come to the business office, the Book of Proverbs, in the very center of which stands the motto, righteousness exalteth a nation but sin is a reproach to any people. Leaving the business office we pass into the research department, Ecclesiastes. Then into the conservatory, the Song of Solomon where greet us the fragrant aroma of choicest fruits and flowers and the sweetest singing of birds. When we reach the observatory where the prophets with their powerful telescopes are looking for ‑the appearing of the Bright and Morning Star, prior to the dawning of the Son of righteousness. Crossing the courtyard we come to the audience chamber of the King, the gospels where we find four life like portraits of the King Himself revealing the perfections of His infinite beauty. And next we enter the workroom of the Holy Spirit, the Book of Acts, and beyond the correspondence room, the epistles where we see Paul and Peter and James and John and Jude, busy at their tables under the personal direction of the Spirit of Truth. And finally we enter the throne room, the Book of Revelation, and there we are enraptured by the mighty volume of adoration and praise addressed to the enthroned King which fills the vast chamber. While in the adjacent galleries and judgment hall there are portrayed solemn scenes of doom and wondrous scenes of glory associated with the coming manifestation of the King of kings and the Lord of lords." A quick trip through the Scripture. Oh, the majesty of this Book, from the creation to the culmination. How it behooves us to be diligent in our study.
How do we go about it? Number one, how do we really understand the Bible? Point one, read the Bible. Simple enough, read the Bible. This is where Bible study begins, with reading, and frankly a lot of people never quite get to this point. They ah, they nibble, they never really read it. They read a lot about it maybe and books here and there but they don't really read the Bible, and there is no substitute for reading the Scripture. We must be totally committed to reading it, that's where it all begins. And my suggestion to people is that you try to read through the Bible once a year. First of all we'll, we'll use the Old Testament as ... I'm referring there to the Old Testament, you start with the Old Testament, try to read through it once a year. There are thirty‑nine books and if you read about twenty minutes a day, :give or take a few depending on how rapidly you read, you can usually get through the Old Testament in one year.
I remember in seminary Doctor Feinberg who was a great mentor of mine and a wonderful man of God who knew so much about the Old Testament it used to just baffle the students, see. One of the students would try to trap him sometime and say to him uhm, Doctor Feinberg, what's in First Kings chapter 7 verse 34? Just pulling one out of the air. Held sort of mumble it in his mind in Hebrew, translate it and tell us what was there. He said to me one day, he said, I try to read a book a day just to keep up on things I said, what kind of a book? Any book, a book on art, a book on history, a book on somebody's life, any book. One a day so that I can stay up with things. I said to him one day, I said, with all of your reading a book a day and all of your study of the Hebrew and writing commentaries and teaching a full load of classes, do you have time to read the Bible? And he says, I read th Bible ‑ I read through the Bible four times a year, and 1'. have for I don't know how many years. That's where it all begins people and there's no substitute for reading the Bible. Start with the Old Testament and just read it through.
Now the Hebrew language is a very simple language, it doesn't have the, the lofty concepts of Greek, of, of Greek thinking, it isn't a theoretical language, it isn't a. conceptual language, it isn't a philosophical language with a lot of abstraction. It's a very simple, very concrete language. In fact as a student in seminary I found the study of Hebrew infinitely easier than the study of Greek. It is just not a complex language for the most part and it relates things in very concrete and simple terms. And so you can read through the flow and the narrative of the Old Testament for the most part ah, just at one sitting, just progressing through and each year going back through again and again in the Old Testament and, and begin to build a comprehension as you read. And I would suggest that as you read the Bible you, you mark in the margin a notation where you don't understand what it's