What NOT To Do When Studying Your Bible

Did you hear about the man who practiced bibliomancy? The story goes that he was really struggling, so he decides to open his Bible to random page, drop his finger on a verse with the intention of doing whatever it says.

The verse his finger landed on was Matthew 27:5, which says “then Judas hanged himself”. Naturally, he thought, “well, this can’t be right”, so he tried again, but this time, his finger landed on Luke 10:37 “Jesus told him ‘go and do likewise’”.

Again the man thought, “Third time’s a charm” so he did it one last time and landed on John 13:37, “Whatever you are about to do, do it quickly.”

Morbid humor, but some truth to it. You’d be amazed at how many Christians go seeking answers in the Bible this way. Bibliomancy is the practice of divination by means of a book, which quite frankly is what you are doing when you randomly open your Bible to a random passage for direction.

There’s another practice that I think is even more harmful than bibliomancy, and it’s when those of us in church leadership primarily open our Bibles to teach others more than we study it to better know the God of the Bible.

As pastors, our calling requires us to constantly reach for the Bible, either to preach a sermon, offer counseling, answer a theological question, or officiate at an event. Along with the Bible, we each have dozens of additional Biblical resources like commentaries, Bible studies, concordances, books by other Christian authors, and many more to help us understand a particular topic.

But let me ask us this question (and please be honest with yourself in answering this). When was the last time you opened your Bible, not to teach or preach, but simply to know Jesus more and enjoy some quiet time with Him?

I don’t mean just reading the Bible; I mean, you take a pen and paper, or laptop (or whatever you write on), and dig through a particular Bible passage to study it so you can grow in your knowledge and your LOVE for the Lord Jesus?

If I am being honest, studying-to-teach-rather-than-studying-to-grow has occurred more times in my ministry as a pastor than I care to admit, partly because the busyness of ministry puts a constant pressure on me to produce content to minister to others (whether I’m feeling like it or not).

So, in this post, I am not going to try and guilt-trip you into opening your Bibles, rather, I want to invite you to develop a habit of enjoying your Bible study time for your own benefit and spiritual growth by giving you some very practical tools for how to study your Bible.

STUDY YOUR BIBLE LIKE THE FBI STUDIES ITS CURRENCY

The FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) has an interesting approach to distinguishing between real dollar bills and counterfeits. It is rumored that they spend hours upon hours studying all the intricacies of the real thing. They pay great attention to every detail; from the signature of the treasurer to the plate serial number, to the Federal Reserve Seal, to the series date, and even the weight and feel of each note. They do this so that when they come across a fake, the real thing is so clear in their mind that they can easily and quickly discern the difference.

Can you imagine how radically different our families, our churches, our communities, and our nations would look if Christians, like the FBI, dedicated their minds and time to studying the ONE Book that has in it EVERYTHING you need to thrive in this life both in times of peace and prosperity and in times of darkness and war? The one book that is “…God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

We need not imagine this. We can actually do something about it today because quite frankly, the best way to get a ‘new wor’d from God is to OPEN the word of God!

So, allow me to give you three simple yet life-changing reasons why Bible studying should be a regular routine in the life of every person who bears the name of Christ and claims to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Then at the end, I will help clarify the difference between Bible reading and Bible studying and give you three practical steps you can take this week to begin studying your Bible.

So, here we go – three reasons why we should study the Bible.

REASON #1: TO GROW CLOSER IN YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST

The most important reason we study the scriptures is so that we can know Jesus more. Jesus Himself asserted this to the religious leaders in His day when He said in John 5:39 that “These are the very Scriptures that testify about me,...”

In that account, Jesus had returned to Jerusalem for the various feast days. While there, He heals a man who had been crippled for nearly 40 years. But because this miracle took place on the Sabbath, the local religious leaders – completely ignoring the fact that a supernatural occurrence just took place, were deeply angry at Jesus for breaking their rules! In response, Jesus offers them an important life lesson that is applicable to us today.

He points out that miracles, healings, testimonies, and most importantly, the scriptures ALL POINT TO HIM!

Did you get that?

• When Jesus allows for a miracle to happen and you watch in wonder on YouTube or in person, the LORD’s intention in it is to point you to and draw you closer to Jesus.

• When you hear a pastor or evangelist preach the Gospel is a captivating way and people fall to their knees in repentance, that move of the Holy Spirit is designed to pull your affections toward Jesus (not the speaker).

• When you read or study the Bible and the Holy Spirit unveils a scriptural truth that you didn’t formerly understand, the LORD’s intention is to point you to and draw you closer to Jesus.

All of scripture was written to point you in one way or another to Jesus Christ (John 5:39).

I like the way one pastor, Tommy Nelson expressed this idea. He encourages us to interpret all of scripture, both the Old and New Testament with the Savior, Jesus Christ in view.

• In the Old Testament: We see the Anticipation (of Jesus)

• In the Gospels: We see the Manifestation (of Jesus)

• In the book of Acts: We see the Proclamation (of Jesus)

• In the Epistles: We see the Explanation (of Jesus)

• And in the book of Revelation: We see the Consummation of Jesus’ kingdom.

IT IS ALL ABOUT JESUS! For this reason, one of the most important daily acts you can perform as a Christian is to study the scriptures because in it, you will get to know intimately the lover of your soul, Jesus Christ!

REASON #2: TO DEFEND AGAINST SATAN’S ATTACKS AND TEMPTATIONS

The devil is always looking for an “opportune” time to attack or tempt you into sin. An opportune time refers to moments in your spiritual walk when you are weak or weary.

Consider when the devil tempted and attacked Jesus. The two instances we know of occurred in the desert during His 40 day fast (Matthew 4:1-11) and the night of His arrest (Matthew 26:36-75).

What do those two events have in common?

In the desert, the devil tempted Jesus when He was physically weak (after not eating for 40 days) and in Gethsemane, the devil attacked Jesus a few hours before His arrest when He was in a state of emotional and spiritual distress. Jesus Himself says in Matthew 26:38, “…My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.”

Make no mistake about this, the garden was a maximum “opportune” time when the devil would have continually whispered lies to Jesus about giving up on His mission. In fact, in Matthew 16:23, Jesus literally had to rebuke Peter (for allowing Satan to speak through him) when he tried to suggest that Jesus should not go to Jerusalem to be arrested.

My point is this, Satan will often tempt us in moments of physical and emotional weariness, and he will often attack us in moments of when our spiritual guard is down (or spiritual pride is up). He will tempt you with sin to distract you from your destiny when you are weak, or He will attack you when you are walking closer to God’s destiny in your life. He is always on the lookout for an opportune time!

Your surest weapon against Him in those moments is the WORD OF GOD. It is the same weapon Jesus used to fight off the enemy in the desert when He responded on three occasions, “It is written…”, “It is written…”, “It is written…” (Matthew 4:1-11). I find it interesting that Jesus didn’t try to cast out the devil nor did He bust out speaking in tongues to rebuke the enemy, rather, He withstood the enemy’s attacks and fended Him off by speaking to him the living and active powerful double-edged “sword of the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12).

Simply stated, studying your Bible is the sharpest and most powerful tool you can use to fend off the enemy’s attacks and temptations. When you study the word and know the LORD of the word, you can simply speak HIS words back into those “opportune” moments when the devil tries to come after you!

REASON #3: TO DEFEND YOUR FAITH AND TEACH OTHERS

False teachers have always existed and will continue to exist till the day Jesus returns. In fact, Biblical eschatology (study of the end times) tells us that there is an ultimate false teacher that will arrive on the world scene in our future to deceive even the elect (Matthew 24:24).

Make no mistake about it, those false teachers are already here and many of them are in our pulpits on Sunday mornings. They have big platforms, and their false messages are being spread by millions on social media.

You, my friends in Christ need to be well equipped with God’s word so that you don’t become one of the deceived elect! The only way that this will happen is if you become a student of God’s word by studying your Bible.

Your standard should be as high as that of the Bereans in the New Testament of whom Acts 17:11 says, “Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”

These Christians had the best theologian Christianity has ever seen teaching them weekly, yet they loved Jesus enough to open their Bible during His sermon to confirm if what He was saying matched up with the scriptures. Is that what you do when you listen to sermons on YouTube, on WhatsApp, or on Facebook? Before you SHARE videos or audio files with the whole world, do you actually open your Bible to confirm if what they are saying matches up with the Bible?

Please go back and read that paragraph AGAIN!

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us not be lazy! Let us be students of God’s word like the Bereans, for we have a responsibility to not only grow in the knowledge of our LORD through His word, but to also pass on to the next generation the message of truth according to the scriptures.

So, with all that said, how do you actually study the Bible?

First, let me clarify THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BIBLE READING AND BIBLE STUDYING

Both are good and important, but you will find that the latter (studying) is certainly more enriching to your walk with the LORD.

Bible reading is a good practice, whether you read it out loud, silently, or listen to it. It is however comparable to raking leaves or grass in your backyard. This process is certainly beneficial, and it makes your backyard look clean and in order. Bible study, however, is comparable to digging in a treasure field. Digging requires more work and more effort, but it will also result in finding precious stones. That’s what happens when you take the time to study God’s word, you end up with diamonds of truth that will strengthen your spirit and soul!

SETTING YOURSELF UP FOR A WIN: Before you get started though, here are some preparatory steps so as to get the most out of your Bible studying.

• Prayerfully decide in advance what book or chapter of the Bible you want to read. If you’re not sure which book or chapter to start with, try following the schedule of our 52-week Bible reading plan. This format will allow you to make your way through the entire bible in manageable chunks.

• Choose in advance a location where you will study the scriptures. Make sure this location will be free of all distractions. You may find it helpful to turn off your phone or shut down social media, TV so that you are not constantly distracted.

• Along these same lines, choose a set time for how long you will study. You can’t meditate on the scriptures when you have to rush off to work or to class in five minutes. If you are on a tight schedule, set your phone alarm for however long you would like to spend studying so you are not looking at the time every 5 minutes.

• Once you’re ready with your pen, paper, and Bible, spend a few minutes praying and asking God to teach you His truth during your study. Ask your gracious Father in heaven to help you understand what the chapter or passage you’re studying meant when it was first spoken or written to its original audience. Then, ask Him to reveal to you what He would have you do today, this week, as a result of the word you just read.

• Take as many notes as you need during your study, and when you’re done, close in prayer and thank God for His truth.

HOW TO ACTUALLY STUDY YOUR BIBLE (3 SIMPLE STEPS)

Now that you are set up, let’s get started. Here are three simple steps that will help you find diamond nuggets of spiritual truth when you study your Bible.

STEP 1: OBSERVATION (WHAT DOES IT SAY?)

When you study the Bible, you are an active investigator. You are not making any conclusions during this stage nor are you “claiming” what you just read as God’s personal promise. You are simply collecting the facts by taking notes of what you observed. Part of the information you are collecting includes what, when, where, who, and how. You want to identify key people, location, events, dates, and titles. Make notes of things like:

• Who is speaking or writing?

• To whom is the writer speaking or writing to?

• Where is this taking place?

• What happened and how? Is the book or chapter in response to historical events?

• Are there repetitive words? Contrasts/Opposite ideas? Conditional statements? (If you…. Then, I will…)

• What don’t you understand? What questions continually bother you about the passage? Write it all down.

Concerning repetition and patterns, there is a helpful website that can make the studying process even more fun for you, it’s called https://tagcrowd.com. On this site, you can type in or copy and paste a chunk of scripture into it and it will rearrange your words in what’s called a “word cloud” by giving greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source. This will give you a sense of what the author of the passage wanted emphasized in his writings.

Don’t overthink step one, remember, you are simply observing and taking notes.

STEP 2: INTERPRETATION (WHAT DOES IT MEAN?)

This is the part where you ask questions about the “surrounding” of the passage. Some simple questions to ask of the passage include:

• What happened in the chapter and verses before this passage I’m reading? And what happens in the chapter and verses after. This will give you a proper context of the passage.

• If you are studying an entire book of the Bible, ask, what are the circumstances surrounding the people receiving this book? Are they in a time of peace or time of war? Are they in their homeland or under captivity?

It is important to understand that interpretations must be done in the context of the passage. Far too often people try to interpret a verse by itself in isolation without looking at the context itself.

Another helpful principle for interpreting is that a passage always means what it says except where otherwise stated. Take the plain meaning of the passage at face value and don’t over-spiritualize every passage. If the passage doesn’t make sense literally, then you can view it as a figure of speech. For example, in Matthew 18:9, Jesus says, “And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.” Well, Jesus does not mean for you to literally take a knife and perform eye surgery on yourself. There is nothing in His life, ministry, and teaching that suggest that mutilating yourself is the path to godliness, so we can easily view this as a figure speech.

Along these same lines, make sure to allow the Bible to interpret the Bible. If there is something unclear, consider if the teaching or principle is repeated or mentioned elsewhere in the scriptures. As a rule, you should use the New Testament to help interpret the Old Testament because the New is a fulfilment of the Old.

By the way, it is at this stage that commentaries, dictionaries, concordances, along with Hebrew or Greek interlinear Bibles will come in handy. If you don’t have any of these, don’t panic. God is not trying NOT hide His revelation from you. Most of the time, the context (what happened before and what happens after) will give you a proper understanding of the passage.

If you are interested, there are two websites online that have both the Greek-English translation of the New Testament and the Hebrew-English translation of the Old Testament.

• https://www.scripture4all.org/OnlineInterlinear/Greek_Index.htm

• https://www.scripture4all.org/OnlineInterlinear/Hebrew_Index.htm

Lastly, always take a God-centered approach for interpreting your passage. In other words, view the passage you are reading first and foremost in terms of what it reveals about God, about His dealings with humanity, nations, and practically, mankind. This is what is known as theological interpretation, and it can make a world of difference in your study.

STEP 3: APPLICATION (HOW SHOULD I RESPOND?)

This is the part where you finally get to ask and answer the infamous question, “What does this passage mean to me?” You have done the hard work of studying the passage, now it’s time for the passage to study YOU. So, here are some practical take-away questions you should interact with during this step of your study (based on what you have observed and interpreted from the passage).

• What is something I learned about God—His character, His plan, His priorities, His promises, His desires, His ways?

• What is something I learned about myself? My heart? My neighbors? The world?

• What is the “fallen condition” on display in this passage? What aspect of human sin or brokenness is most evident?

• How does the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus affect my understanding of this passage?

• How do I need to change my thinking or living based on what I’ve learned?

• How should I be praying in light of this passage? For myself? For my family? My nation? Israel? The world?

• Is there an encouragement or promise here that I need to meditate on?

• What implications does this passage have for the way I engage my non-Christian friends?

• How does this passage apply to my brothers and sisters in Christ? How does it speak to our life together as a church?

When you have done all this, the next step is perhaps the most important part – GO OUT AND LIVE IT EACH DAY!

It is not enough for you to simply know more about God’s word, it must impact the way you live your life Sunday to Saturday. Besides, when you live out practically everything you learned, it further authenticates your message when you teach it to others.

If I might be bold enough to say this, the world doesn’t need more conferences, Bible workshops, or Holy Ghost Revival Meetings. What the world most desperately needs today and what will win millions of lost people to faith in Christ is Christians who have studied the living word of God and are living it out daily in the presence of their neighbors! That, my friends, is how we win the world to Christ, and that is why Bible study is of utmost importance in the life of every follower of Jesus Christ!

So, as you begin studying the Bible this week, may God “…grant you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. May the eyes of your heart be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” (Ephesians 1:17-19).

Amen.