This month has been full of great insights on Bible study as the team has shared insights and favorite tools for Bible study. Today, I’m sharing how I approach a new passage when preparing to write or teach a Bible study, working from the outside in.
Have you ever tried spotting a far-off bird with high-magnification binoculars? Binoculars can reveal great detail, but it can be surprisingly difficult to get even a stationary bird into view. If you don’t get oriented to the view in front of you first, you can find yourself looking at a mess of branches, leaves, and sky without any feathers in sight. When my children join me on a bird walk, I encourage them to first get a good look at the bird with the naked eye before lifting their binoculars. Where is it sitting? What branches or landmarks might help you find it once you’re zoomed in close? Once we’re oriented to the big picture, we can more effectively use our up-close tools.
When I begin studying a Bible passage in preparation to teach or write, I approach it a bit like I approach bird watching. After reading through the passage initially, I back up and take a wide-angle view of the context before I zoom in on the details.
Working From the Outside In
As I approach Bible study from the outside in, I think of three concentric circles. First I begin with the panorama, the wide angle view that gathers Biblical and historical context. Then, I move in closer, to the passage itself, observing specific details. Finally, moving further in, I prayerfully contemplate what the Lord is showing me in the present. How do these words shed light and truth on my understanding of God, myself, or my community?
1. The Panorama: Taking in the Big Picture
The first circle is the panorama, the big picture with lots of context. Keeping in mind the Bible’s overarching story of redemption, I also begin learning about the historical and Biblical background for my passage and the book of the Bible in which it’s found.
What do I know about the author and about his original audience? Am I reading a Psalm of worship written by King David, or an account of creation recorded by Moses? Were these words written to the Nation of Israel during a time of rebellion, or to a church wrestling with legalism? What else was going on at the time?
I often use the ESV Introductions to review basic details about the author, time, and place, and I consider the applicable genre of Scripture. As part of the big picture context, I also try to read as much as I can of the surrounding Scripture. What had the author been addressing just prior to this passage?
As I study, I always keep a running list of questions. They may guide my study now or be a topic to delve further into later.
2. The Passage: Delving into Details
The second circle is the passage itself. Reading it once again for overall meaning and theme, I then begin looking more closely at the words.
Do you like to write as you read? It can be helpful to print out a copy of the verses to begin circling, underlining, and drawling arrows between words that relate to one another. What words are repeated, emphasized, or draw your attention?
Bible Hub and Blue Letter Bible are good resources for looking up the original Hebrew or Greek words for further study, and Lisa introduced us to E-Sword in her post this month. Bible Hub is also helpful for looking up other related verses, listed as cross-references in the parallel versions view. These might be Old Testament quotations or citations, or verses with similar phrasing.
As I pray for understanding and read through the passage another time, I pick out a key verse. If I had to pick one, which most embodies the meaning in this passage?
3. The Present: Responding with Praise and Prayer
And now, having gathered information and perspective from both outside of the text and from the passage itself, it’s time to pray again and quiet my heart to both receive and respond to the Word.
Ask the Lord what He would have you take away from your time with these verses.
“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” James 1:5
There are so many ways we may respond to a passage of Scripture. It may be a quiet reading aloud, written journaling, or a hymn of praise. There may be conviction and confession, or a new sense of gratitude. You may be led to approach the Lord in faith with prayers for grace or healing.
Here is a printable with a few questions to guide your Bible Study From the Outside In.
As you receive His Word, be reminded that the Lord is good. May God bless your study.
Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
Psalm 100:3-5
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