How To Study The Bible (Part 1)

"Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful."  Joshua 1:8

The only "Bible Study Method" I've actually found in the actual Bible involves these three Bible Study Steps:

1.  Read the Bible.
2.  Meditate on the Bible.
3.  Do what the Bible says.

This seems to me to be the way the Bible itself says to "study it."

This "fits" the Bible Study Method I learned in church from Howard Hendricks's "Bible Study Methods" course.  I believe it is the "inductive Bible Study method" involving:

"Observation, Interpretation, and Application." 

This is what I learned.

OBSERVATION

First you simply "observe," a book, chapter, verse, etc., asking yourself the simple question,

"What do I see?"

• Who
• What
• When
• Where
• Why

That's it.  An overview.

Next, having observed everything you can, you move to the next level:

INTERPRETATION 

You ask yourself the question,

"What does it mean?"

Here you focus on:

• content,
• context,
• comparison,
• culture,
• commentaries, and
• concordances. 

The idea is that the better your observation is, the better your interpretation will be.  And the better your interpretation the more accurate your application, which is the third step I learned.

APPLICATION

In application, you ask the question, "What does it mean to me?"

• Is there an example to follow?
• A sin to avoid?
• A promise to claim?
• A prayer to pray?
• A condition to meet?
• A command to obey?
• A verse to memorize?
• An error to correct?
• A challenge to face?

It seems like a lot to know, and it took a while to get through the course.  Its "biblical" and "logical."  In other words, it fits what I see the Bible itself says about it's own study.

But I wanted to know how people in Bible days studied the word.  Of course they didn't each have several copies in several versions on their book shelves like we do, with numerous commentaries, concordances, notes, etc.  They didn't have the internet.  Yet beyond all of this, I want to read scripture as effectively as I can.  So I've thought about how to study the Bible, according to the Bible, and these are my conclusions. (click HERE to read them.)