1. Going Deep in the Bible

2. What is the Bible? Two possible answers: Words of man about God? or
Word of God

3. Word of God Revelation Authority Truth Wisdom & Guidance
Comfort & Hope
Correction
Revelation not speculation. Authority not advice. True not full of mistakes.

4. Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
What’s in the Bible?
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Joshua, Judges
Ruth, Esther
1 & 2 Samuel,
1 & 2 Kings
1 & 2 Chronicles
Ezra, Nehemiah
Job
Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song of Songs
Isaiah
Jeremiah
(& Lamentations)
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hebrews
James
1 & 2 Peter
Jude
1-3 John --
Revelation
Hosea, Joel
Amos, Obadiah
Jonah, Micah
Nahum, Habakkuk,
Zephaniah,
Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
Matthew Mark
Luke
John --
Acts
Romans,
1 & 2 Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
1 & 2 Thess 1 & 2 Timothy
Philemon, Titus

5. Getting to know the Bible
It takes time
Little and often
Find a good reading plan
youversion.com
audio Bibles
Daily reading notes

6. Richly Interconnected
You can’t make sense of the NT without the OT
OT is quoted 485 times in NT
As many, if not more allusions
“Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” John 1:51
Cross-references and study Bibles
esvbible.org

7. Bible Intertextuality

8. Richly Interconnected
You can’t make sense of the OT without the NT
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. Luke 24:27
Jesus is the central character of the whole Bible

9. Richly Interconnected
Many stories are told more than once
Jesus’ birth in Matthew & Luke
Paul’s conversion three times in Acts
Resurrection in all four gospels and 1 Cor 15
Repeated words and phrases
“Grace and peace”
Do not be afraid

10. Psalm 1
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

11. Meditation Devoting time to going deep in a passage
Read it carefully, several times
Read it in multiple versions
Memorise it
Print it out, make your own notes

12. Gaining Understanding
Can we understand it by ourselves?
Roman Catholics: Bible and church
Evangelicals: Bible and studying
Charismatics: Bible and the Holy Spirit

13. Psa 36:5 Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
Php 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.

14. Translations Literal / Formal Equivalence Dynamic Equivalence
e.g. ESV, KJV
Dynamic Equivalence
e.g. NIV
Paraphrase
e.g. NLT, Message

15. Translation Difficulties
Idioms and euphemisms (e.g. Gen 4:1)
Now Adam knew Eve his wife (ESV)
Adam made love to his wife Eve, (NIV)
Adam slept with Eve his wife (MSG)
Now Adam had sexual relations with his wife, Eve. (NLT)
Another example is Jer 4:4 – circumcise your hearts

16. Translation Difficulties
Original words or modern equivalents (Col 1:2)
“To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae:” ESV
“To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ:” NIV

17. Study Aids Concordance Expositions Commentaries
Original Language Tools

18. Concordances Find all places where a word is used Study Bibles
Online search
biblegateway.com
esvbible.org
Bible Software

19. Expositions Explain and apply the Bible verse by verse
Phil Moore “Straight to the Heart”
Tom Wright “For Everyone…”
Sermon Series

20. Commentaries Explain the original meaning in detail
Leave the application to the reader
Can be quite academic
Often come in series
Bible Speaks Today
Pillar Commentaries
New International Commentary
Zondervan Exegetical Commentary
NIV Application Commentary

21. Original Language Tools
Greek and Hebrew word definitions
Interlinear Bibles
Bible software
ESV Greek Tools
biblewebapp.com

22. Summary Make it your life’s ambition to know the book
It is key to knowing God
Get a grip on the big picture
Start to see the interconnections
Choose shorter sections to go deep into
Meditate on it
Make use of the resources available to you