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How to study the Scriptures

Our approach to Bible study differs from person to person, depending on the age of the studier and what level of biblical background he/she may already have. Yet there are some features that are necessary to almost all those who want to learn the Scriptures.

The Gospel of Luke

For those who have little or no Bible background, a good place to start would be to read at least one of the four gospels in order to learn the basics of the life of Christ and His mission. I suggest the Gospel of Luke, which reflected Paul’s emphasis on equal rights and God’s impartiality.

Matthew was written for a Jewish audience. Mark was written for a Roman audience and was essentially Peter’s gospel. John is the most theological and is most often recommended first, because it teaches Hebrew concepts to a Greek audience.

Any of the gospels would be good for a beginner, but I think Luke is preferable. If a newcomer has the time and the desire to learn, it would be ideal to read all four gospels first. For greater understanding, read my commentary on Luke with your Bible open.

https://godskingdom.org/studies/books/dr-luke-healing-the-breaches-the-complete-set/

Bible Stories: Genesis and Exodus

After the gospels, I suggest reading the book of Genesis, which takes the reader back to the beginning and gives the early history of the main biblical characters. Whereas the gospels tell the story of Jesus, the book of Genesis begins the story of the world as a whole. Knowing world history puts Jesus into proper context and gives us a greater understanding of His mission—why He came, how He came, and what He accomplished.

Those who were raised in the church probably learned most of these stories as children. This is one of the most valuable services that the church has provided. I myself had an excellent upbringing in a Christian mission elementary school. Though many of their teachings were somewhat flawed, I did learn the Bible stories, and this laid the foundations of teaching that would be needed in years to come.

One must be familiar with the stories in the Bible in order to derive a deeper understanding of their meaning at a later time. Genesis is the “Book of Beginnings,” giving the origins (roots) of the Kingdom of God, the purpose of man’s creation, how sin brought chaos and the need for redemption.

The book of Genesis also shows the origin of the people of Israel before they were organized into a nation at Mount Sinai.

The book of Exodus then shows how Israel was redeemed from Egypt and were organized into the first manifestation of the Kingdom of God through the Old Covenant. It reveals what God actually expected of them—how they were to live righteously in a covenant relationship with God. His law was the expression of His nature, or character, and the Israelites were to emulate Him and adopt the way of life in Kingdom culture.

While Exodus gives us the law in the context of the Old Covenant, it does not plainly address the later need for the New Covenant, other than to show us the failure of Israel to fulfill its oath of citizenship. Whereas the book of Genesis sets forth God’s vow/intent through the Abrahamic covenant, the book of Exodus sets forth a very different covenant that was based on man’s vow to God.

As time progressed, these became known as the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. The New Covenant was set forth through Abraham and therefore came first; the Old Covenant was set forth through Moses a few centuries later. This can be confusing the first-time reader until he has had time to study some of the New Testament epistles (Galatians in particular).

Bible History

Much of the Old Testament is concerned with history, giving an account of the history of Israel. Though Israel was established as a nation under Moses, it lacked a king for many centuries. Hence it was not a Kingdom until Saul was crowned king over Israel in 1 Samuel 12. The united Kingdom of Israel had three kings in succession—Saul, David, and Solomon—each reigning for 40 years. After Solomon died, the kingdom was divided. The kingdom of Judah with Jerusalem as its capital, was located in the south; the kingdom of Israel with Samaria as its capital was located in the north.

One of most important historical facts to learn is that when the kingdom was divided, the meaning of the term Israel became more restricted. Whereas it formerly referred to all of the 12 tribes (states), after the division, Israel referred to just 10 tribes. Judah, on the other hand, consisted of two tribes: Judah and Benjamin.

During the Divided Kingdom era, both nations violated the covenant with God, and so God raised up the prophets to call the nations to repent. In their writings, they consistently speak of Judah and Israel as distinct nations, each having its own kings. The people of Judah were called Yehudi, or Judahites, shortened later (in English) to Jews. Hence, Jews and Israelites were not the same people when reading the books of the prophets.

This historical fact is usually ignored by the churches today. Although most preachers know about the Divided Kingdom, they usually treat the Jews as if they were Israelites—especially when reading the writings of the prophets. The fact is that Judah and Israel each had different callings and were given different prophecies. To ignore those differences is to misapply prophecy, and for this reason, it is important to know the basics of biblical history.

Learning the distinction between Judah and Israel was, in fact, the point where my own view of Bible prophecy began to diverge from the church’s teaching that I had learned in my early life. At first, I did not realize how significant this was, but as I studied further, I began to see how this truth forced me to alter my thinking in many areas—especially in regard to Bible prophecy. When I shared this with my father, going through Isaiah and Jeremiah’s references, he immediately grasped what I was saying. With an astonished look on his face, he said, “I knew this, but I didn’t know this.” In other words, he knew about the Divided Kingdom, but yet he had believed the contradictory view that the Jews were Israel. As a Bible College graduate, ordained pastor, and missionary, my father had not understood what he already knew.

Hence, this changed his life and mine, and it was not long before we often found ourselves barred from church fellowship. This situation, however, only forced us to study the Scriptures more and more. I spent the next decade (the 1970’s) studying for an average of 3-4 hours every evening. I discovered many other things that the church had not taught correctly. Nonetheless, having already learned what the church believed, I could better understand why those teachings needed to be altered in order to align with the truth.

The Law

Having learned the Bible stories and biblical history to some extent, God next opened my eyes to the revelation of God’s law. It started out with law theory, that is, the idea that the law of God had not been abrogated by Jesus’ death on the cross (Matthew 5:17-20; Romans 3:31). The Law is the revelation of the nature of God, which remains constant and is the glue that holds all things together and prevents utter chaos.

Eventually (1978), I felt the need to study the laws themselves. This was a lengthy study, but this profoundly reshaped my Biblical viewpoint. I came to see that the order in which God had taught me the Scriptures was, in many ways, a universal pattern that others could follow. For this reason, I recommend that after learning some basic biblical history, one ought to go back to the law itself and study it carefully.

For guidance in such a study, see:

https://godskingdom.org/studies/books/the-ten-commandments/

For greater in-depth teaching, see my commentary on the book of Deuteronomy:

https://godskingdom.org/studies/books/deuteronomy-the-second-law-the-complete-set/

The law shaped the teachings of the Apostle Paul and the other apostles as well. In fact, one cannot truly understand the New Testament without understanding the law. The apostles often quoted from the Old Testament to substantiate their teachings. They also quote the prophets, who applied the law to the national life of Judah and Israel.

The Covenants

Studying the law, however, must be done with the revelation of the Holy Spirit and in light of the changes made by the establishment of the New Covenant. If one studies the law with an Old Covenant mindset, one will have a distorted view of the law. Each covenant points to a way in which we interpret and apply the law. For instance, the Old Covenant demands animal sacrifices to atone for sin; the New Covenant also demands a sacrifice, but it is Jesus Himself, “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). The principle of sacrifice remains, but the form has changed.

Again, the promise under the Old Covenant was the land of Canaan, “The Promised Land,” whereas under the New Covenant the promise is the redemption of our body. The earthly Jerusalem is the capital of the Old Covenant Kingdom (Galatians 5:25), while the heavenly Jerusalem is the capital of the New Covenant Kingdom. Understanding the difference between the two covenants shapes most of our understanding of prophecy today.

Our understanding of salvation itself is shaped by our understanding of the two covenants. The Old Covenant is based on man’s vow to God (Exodus 19:8); the New Covenant is based on God’s vow (promise) to man. Hence, God made a promise to Abraham, and we know that whoever makes a vow/promise is the one responsible to keep it.

If we attach our salvation to our vow to follow God—and then we fail through sin—we then feel the need to “get saved” all over again. Why? Because we think our salvation is based on man’s will and man’s promise to God, which (we soon discover) is impossible to fulfill.

Hence, in my own study of Scripture, the crowning revelation has been the distinction between the two covenants. All other studies provided the background that opened my eyes to what I believe is the final great revelation that is seen in the law, the prophets, the psalms, and in the New Testament.