| Observation [∞]
▸ ± Joh 14:26 But the Comforter, [which is] the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
The Holy Spirit cannot remind you of things that you do not know. The first part of Bible study is to read the Bible.
Quick reading [∞]
Discussion
Quick reading is not the same as pretend reading. If you read so quickly you don't know what you read then you are just pretending to read. The purpose of quick reading is to get scripture in your head. If it is there, the Holy Spirit can remind you of it. If it is not there, then there is nothing he can use.
- The Holy Spirit does not generally give a person knowledge. We must study to obtain it. [1] Your flesh may tire of studying much [2] but it is a delight to the soul. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Jesus taught his disciples of the cross in many ways [9] . These were the same ways that the prophets taught of the cross. [10] He taught them in a way which they would forget. They did not understand the prophets, so they did not understand Jesus. They did not have a context to understand his teaching because the very concept of bodily resurrection was foreign to them.
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- ↑ ▸ ± 2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
- ↑ ▸ ± Ec 12:12 And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books [there is] no end; and much study [is] a weariness of the flesh. [{study: or, reading }]
- ↑ ▸ ± Ps 1:2 But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
- ↑ ▸ ± Ps 40:8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law [is] within my heart. [{within … : Heb. in the midst of my bowels }
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- ↑ ▸ ± Ps 119:70 Their heart is as fat as grease; [but] I delight in thy law.
- ↑ ▸ ± Ps 119:77 Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live: for thy law [is] my delight.
- ↑ ▸ ± Ps 119:174 I have longed for thy salvation, O LORD; and thy law [is] my delight.
- ↑ ▸ ± Ro 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
- ↑ ▸ ± Mt 16:21 From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
- ↑ ▸ ± Heb 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets.
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Slow reading [∞]
Discussion
| Take notes
If something catches your eye, perhaps it is something God wants you to see. As you see many details, you may wish to come back to some of them.
- Learn to distinguish between legitimate questions and mere curiosity. A legitimate question concerns solving the riddles and mysteries of the Bible making the invisible God known. They lead to deeper study.
Mere curiosity leads to idle disputes; purposeless debates containing less and less focus.
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| Look for patterns
There are patterns which help with interpretation and those which help with doctrine. Numbers help with interpretation:
Two things together represent the same thing from two sides. Example: "God created the heavens and the earth." [1] here is one creation with two parts. "Milk and honey" [2] represent the blessings of God in the spirit and flesh. "Soul and Spirit" [3] : 'Soul also means 'waxing pale' as if it is dying. The Spirit gives life.
The first account of Genesis is written in a literary pattern of ABCDABCDA. This helps discern the pericope of the passage. It also forms a doctrinal pattern with the ten commandments. Ten times "God said" in a way which is later mirrored by the tablets of the law. The first set of ten are the commandments which displayed God's nature as creator,
the second display his nature to a rebellious mankind.
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- ↑ ▸ ± Ge 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
- ↑ ▸ ± Ex 3:8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
- ↑ ▸ ± Heb 4:12 For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
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| Fractal expansion
A doctrinal idea is seeded in the alphabet, then is recapitulated in various ways. Example: Aleph א means 'God spoke and created the heavens and the earth. The first word of the Bible, bereshith translated 'In the beginning' also means 'created bara ברא six shith שית.' The first chapter of the Bible tells how he created in six days. Each day is like a Table of Contents entry pointing to a larger portion of scripture, which says that God is the creator.
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| Repetition
God said he would make man in his "image and likeness". Then he made man in his image. Then he made male and female. [1] This is not mere poetic repetition, but an indicator of a riddle. Christ was made in the image of God. [2] His bride was made to be 'like' him. Together they are the "image and likeness". The narrative through Gen 5 tells how the bride is made to be like Christ through the cross.
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- ↑ ▸ ± Ge 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
- ↑ ▸ ± Heb 1:3 Who being the brightness of [his] glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
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Backwards reading [∞]
Discussion
| Studies show that when you read, if you are proficient, you don't look at the details of the word. Mnay ppleoe cna rdae tihs. Proofreaders will often read a text backwards. This allows them to see the individual words by themselves; not being distracted by the context.
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Interlinear reading [∞]
Discussion
Even if you don't know Hebrew, try to follow along in your interlinear Bible.
- You may notice that 'word' and 'lamb' are the same Hebrew word amar אמר.
You may wonder if when John said, "Behold! The Lamb of God..." [1] some heard him say "Behold! The Word of God!..." [2]
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- ↑ ▸ ± Joh 1:36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!
- ↑ ▸ ± Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
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Avoid commentaries [∞]
Discussion
Do you wish to hear what men think or what God intended? [1]
- How does one avoid placing tradition over the word of God if the commentaries are prominent in study? [2]
When we get into Bible study, the major content will be observations from scripture. When you run across my opinions, ask for validation so that you may determine if it is true. The point of study is to know God, not to follow Bob.
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- ↑ ▸ ± Ro 3:4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.
- ↑ ▸ ± Mt 15:9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching [for] doctrines the commandments of men.
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