How To Study The Bible - Intermediate Level

SOURCE - How to Study the Bible: Intermediate Level - Impact Workshops - YouTube

SERIES

• How To Read The Bible - Beginner Level
• How to Study the Bible - Advanced Level

How To Study The Bible - Intermediate

Differences Between Beginner And Intermediate Levels

BEGINNER

• Reading the Bible

  • Observation

    • 5 W’s
      • Who
      • What
      • Where
      • When
      • Why
    • TACT
      • Terms
      • Adjectives / Adverbs
      • Connectives
      • Tenses of Verbs

  • Application

    • SPECTRUM
      • Sin to avoid
      • Promise to hold on to
      • Example to follow
      • Command to obey
      • Truth to know
      • Room for repentance
      • Upside to embrace
      • Moment of Thanksgiving

• Focus on what you DO know or understand

• Develop and eye for Observations and Applications

INTERMEDIATE

• Studying the Bible

• Can now focus on passages that

  • don’t make sense
  • or you don’t understand
  • find / obtain answers to questions

• Adds Additional Steps to

  • Observation
  • Application

Context

• Do this every time you start a new book of the Bible
• Overall big picture
  • Author
  • Date
  • Theme
    • Overall message
  • Purpose
    • Know the audience the author was writing to
    • What was the author’s intentions or motivations where
    • Why did this author write to this audience?
  • Background
  • Study Bibles or Commentaries Can Help With This
    • Bible Intros can be found online
      • Blue Letter Bible
      • BibleHub
    • Historical
    • Cultural
    • Political

Observation

• 5 W’s

• TACT

• REPPPZ

  • Repetition of words (author’s focus)
    • Some are within a chapter
    • Some are within the entire book
    • May find between different / multiple books
  • Emphasized Themes
    • main ideas are being focused on
    • can be very broad
  • Picture
    • imagine yourself in the passage
      • see
      • hear
      • smell
      • feel
  • Perspective
    • look at the perspective of the various characters mentioned in the passage
  • Pattern
    • repeated events
  • Zoom in / out
    • Zoom in / out of different books to find
      • similarities
      • differences

• Can also apply SPECTRUM in the Observation step of the Intermediate Level

Interpretation

• What does it mean?

• Observe and interpret what is actually there

  • don’t add / subtract what isn’t there
  • be technical

• Read literally (unless it’s clearly a metaphor)

• What to do if you don’t know the meaning?

  • read the passage in multiple translations
    • NIV, NLT, NASB, ESV, NKJV, KJV, AMPC
  • read the passage in context
    • look for clues
  • use resources
    • study bibles
    • commentaries
      • Matthew Henry
      • GROUND RULES ON COMMENTARIES
        • read the passage yourself first
        • Pray
          • ask for Wisdom
          • ask for greater Understanding
        • read at least 2 different translations for different perspectives
        • THEN consult the Study Bible / Commentaries

Application

• SPECTRUM

Visualization

• What does this look like if I were to apply it to my life?

• this makes the passage practical for real life

  • can be applied immediately or sometime during the day

How To Know When You’re Done

• thoroughly read through 1 chapter
• made observations, interpretations, and applications
• can recall at least 1 visualization for the day
• did research if you didn’t the meaning to something you read or wanted to learn more

Tips

• BE PATIENT
  • don’t expect to this level of study every day
  • Pray for wisdom on how to build endurance
• Find out what works for you
  • find your own reading rhythm
• “Read in Bulk” to get a broader perspective
  • Observe Theme
  • Read entire book
• Try not to look at the clock
• Add to your knowledge
• Combine your growing knowledge with love (1 Cor 8:1)