Going Deep in the Bible. What is the Bible? Two possible answers: – Words of man about God? or – Word of God.

Going Deep in the Bible

What is the Bible?

• Two possible answers:– Words of man about God? or– Word of God

Word of God

• Revelation• Authority• Truth• Wisdom & Guidance• Comfort & Hope• Correction

What’s in the Bible?

GenesisExodus

LeviticusNumbers

Deuteronomy

Joshua, JudgesRuth, Esther

1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings

1 & 2 ChroniclesEzra, Nehemiah

JobPsalms

ProverbsEcclesiastes

Song of Songs

IsaiahJeremiah

(& Lamentations)EzekielDaniel

Hosea, JoelAmos, ObadiahJonah, Micah

Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah,

Haggai, Zechariah,

Malachi

MatthewMarkLukeJohn

--Acts

Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians

GalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 & 2 Thess

1 & 2 Timothy Philemon, Titus

HebrewsJames

1 & 2 PeterJude

1-3 John--

Revelation

Getting to know the Bible

• It takes time– Little and often

• Find a good reading plan– youversion.com– audio Bibles– Daily reading notes

Richly Interconnected

• You can’t make sense of the NT without the OT– OT is quoted 485 times in NT– As many, if not more allusions– “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven

opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” John 1:51

• Cross-references and study Bibles– esvbible.org

Bible Intertextuality

Richly Interconnected

• You can’t make sense of the OT without the NT– And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets,

he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. Luke 24:27

– Jesus is the central character of the whole Bible

Richly Interconnected

• Many stories are told more than once– Jesus’ birth in Matthew & Luke– Paul’s conversion three times in Acts– Resurrection in all four gospels and 1 Cor 15

• Repeated words and phrases– “Grace and peace”– Do not be afraid

Psalm 1

• Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

Meditation

• Devoting time to going deep in a passage– Read it carefully, several times– Read it in multiple versions– Memorise it– Print it out, make your own notes

Gaining Understanding

• Can we understand it by ourselves?– Roman Catholics: Bible and church– Evangelicals: Bible and studying– Charismatics: Bible and the Holy Spirit

Translations

• Literal / Formal Equivalence– e.g. ESV, KJV

• Dynamic Equivalence– e.g. NIV

• Paraphrase– e.g. NLT, Message

Translation Difficulties

• Idioms and euphemisms (e.g. Gen 4:1)– Now Adam knew Eve his wife (ESV)– Adam made love to his wife Eve, (NIV)– Adam slept with Eve his wife (MSG) – Now Adam had sexual relations with his wife, Eve.

(NLT)

Translation Difficulties

• Original words or modern equivalents (Col 1:2)– “To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at

Colossae:” ESV– “To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful

brothers and sisters in Christ:” NIV

Study Aids

• Concordance• Expositions• Commentaries• Original Language Tools

Concordances

• Find all places where a word is used• Study Bibles• Online search– biblegateway.com– esvbible.org

• Bible Software– www.logos.com– www.e-sword.net

Expositions

• Explain and apply the Bible verse by verse• Phil Moore “Straight to the Heart”• Tom Wright “For Everyone…”• Sermon Series

Commentaries

• Explain the original meaning in detail– Leave the application to the reader– Can be quite academic

• Often come in series– Bible Speaks Today– Pillar Commentaries– New International Commentary– Zondervan Exegetical Commentary– NIV Application Commentary

Original Language Tools

• Greek and Hebrew word definitions• Interlinear Bibles• Bible software• ESV Greek Tools• biblewebapp.com

Summary

• Make it your life’s ambition to know the book– It is key to knowing God

• Get a grip on the big picture– Start to see the interconnections

• Choose shorter sections to go deep into– Meditate on it– Make use of the resources available to you