How to look into the Bible Part 3

 How to Look into the Bible

How to look into the Bible 

11. Where was it first mentioned?

When studying around a particular topic
in the Bible, you can get more benefits if
you can trace where it was first
mentioned. In studying Holiness, for
instance, we will realize that the first thing
called holy or revealed to be holy was a
place in the wilderness (Exodus 3:5) and
it was holy simply because God called it
holy. Such would be a useful foundation
when we later study the New Testament
and realize that believers are called
saints (holy people) not primarily
because of what they did but because
God chose to separate them for Himself.
12. Was attention given to it?
Sometimes some matters do not
necessarily get much attention from the
writers of the scriptures. Hence we do not
bother much on such. For example, the
The Bible did not focus on how and where a
Christian marriage should be conducted,
rather it teaches more explicitly how a Christian couple should live. Hence, we
must devote much attention to such.
Have you heard of Baptism for the dead?
We do not need to spend much attention
on such for it didn’t get much attention
from the scripture.
13. The elements of literature
Being a literary work, the Bible contains
many elements of literature from
parables to figures of speech and other
literary devices. Parables are meant to
teach a simple truth, hence, we do not
start looking for the implications of
individuals or objects mentioned in the
parable, instead we look at the basic
message that is being brought home. In
the parable of the lost coin, we do not
say God is a woman and her house is
Heaven while the coins would now mean
someone got lost in heaven. If we do this,
we will have successfully created a
message built on emotions and errors.
Instead, we must see that the center message was that there was joy when
the lost coin was found, so, there was joy
when a sinner repents.
Apart from parables, the Bible contains
figures of speech. Some of these are;
Simile: Using “as” or “like” to compare
two things e.g. 1 Peter 1:24 - all flesh is
as grass...
Metaphor: Direct comparison e.g
Matthew 5:13 - you are the salt of the
world...
Personification: Giving human attributes
to nonliving things.
Metonymy: Using a word to replace
another word with a broader meaning.
Synecdoche: Using a part to represent a
complete term, or a complete term to
represent a whole. Philippians 3:19 -
”Their god is their stomach” Hyperbole: 2 Sam 1:23 – “They were
swifter than eagles, they were stronger
than lions.”
Irony
Oxymoron: 1 Corinthians 1:25 -
“for the
the foolishness of God is wiser than the
wisdom of men”
Paradox, e.t.c.
However, more figures of speech are
also used. This will give the reader a
consciousness that some words do not
have the face value they seem to carry.
14. Ask questions prayerfully.
You can also raise a few questions while
reading your Bible. Questions like the
ones listed below will help you get more
insight from the Bible:
Who is speaking in this passage?
Who is being addressed? What is the message?
Are there lessons to learn here?
Are there instructions for me to follow?
How can I apply such instructions?
Are there prayers to pray from what I
have learned?
15. Stay with the simple explanations you
have.
Sometimes, we think things must be
difficult if they must be correct. However,
the truth about God's word is that from
this world's point of view, the entire
the gospel itself sounds foolish because it
appears too simple. Therefore, I want to
encourage you not to give yourself to
what men call "mysteries" or "deep
rhema", which are high-sounding
nonsense. The word of God is so plain
that even our young ones can read and
understand the basic truth in it. 

Do well to check the previous parts on how to Look into the Bible.