5 Tips to Remember the Next Time you Read the Bible!
How we read the Bible during our meditations will form our framework to understand/interpret Scripture. You will inevitably apply that framework when you share from the Word.
Reading the Bible is unavoidable. We read off of the screen at church every week. But ‘reading’ the Bible in a deeper sense to feed our spiritual man is different. I am talking about how we ought to really read the Bible. We don’t then just read but we consume or meditate upon the truth delivered by the Scriptures. Such ‘readings’ are indispensable for our daily Christian walk. How we read the Bible during our meditations will form our framework to understand/interpret Scripture. You will inevitably apply that framework when you share from the Word. Here are just 5 tips (of the many out there) to help you.
1. “So what does this passage mean to you?”
Resist the urge to make a passage about you. Let Scripture speak for itself. If I try to make the passage ‘mean something’ to me, then the same charity gets extended to someone else. Before long, five people will have five meanings from the same text. Asking ‘what does the text speak to you’ can be different. Mark 12:30-31 could speak to one (convict) about his lack of love for God while another can be convicted about his recent altercation with his neighbour without ever reducing the meaning to individual whims.
2. Context, context, context.
Between the 13th and 16thcenturies, commentators structured the Bible to have chapters and verses to enable Scripture referencing in their commentaries. Since then, the book meant for reading became a book for referencing. There is a reason why verses are in the place you find them and not somewhere else. Why didn’t Paul tell Timothy to welcome back Onesimus? Because his letter to Philemon was meant for Philemon and not for Timothy. It is for the same reason that Paul doesn’t mention how elders should be appointed in his letter to Philemon but only to Titus. Read the preceding and succeeding text to get a grip on the passage. Scripture is given for doctrine, reproof, correction, and for instruction in righteousness. If taking someone’s speech out of context to suit one’s purposes can be disrespectful and, dare I say, deceitful do we dare attempt that with God’s Word?
3. Written to them, but for us
The letters, the commands to the Israelites, the prophecies of the Old Testament prophets and all other books are written to the author’s immediate audience. It addresses them. It is written to them. But the principles, the lessons learned, the revelation about God’s nature etc. can be meant for us. Caution and discernment must be exercised in such attempts. This discernment tells us which commands apply to us and which don’t. Otherwise we may end up avoiding eating anything lacking a split hoof or rumination. We don't want that now do we :)
4. Descriptive vs prescriptive
Some passages are never meant for us to imitate, follow or obey. Why? Because they are just a description of what happened. Then there are passages prescribing what our actions should be. Failure to identify this distinction can cause us to think that we can pray Psalms 137:9 over our enemies.
5. Identify the genre
The Epistles aren’t written like poems and Psalms isn’t written like the Gospels. Observing the genre and learning about the style of writing can elevate our understanding of Scripture to enjoy its beauty and sophistication to much greater heights. God used people as diverse as a King and a fisherman to write the Scriptures. Reading the entire Bible as if they are written for a 21st century English reader makes for a bland reading of the Scriptures and it is anything but deserving of such bland reading.
So, the next time you pick up the Bible to seriously read and meditate, these five pointers will aid you to treat the Scriptures with the reverence and seriousness it demands. I've often found that heretics and shallow theology peddlers (word of faith and prosperity gospel) commit their errors because the basics outlined above are missing. These five aren't an exhaustive list but it should serve to help you start off.
Comments ()