Bible Study
1. The Need to Study the Bible
What is the Bible & Why Should We Study it?
The Bible is the greatest and most important book ever written. God Himself speaks to man through the pages of the Bible, because it is the INSPIRED WORD OF GOD … We read in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 ” All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works”.
The Greek word translated into English as “inspiration of God” is θεόπνευστος theopneustos (the-op’-nef-stos) [Strong’s Greek Concordance G2315], which literally means “divinely breathed in”. So, God has literally breathed His Spirit into His written word.
So, the Bible is a book of DIVINE INSTRUCTION. It offers us …
- Comfort in sorrow,
- Guidance in perplexity,
- Advice for our problems,
- Rebuke for our sins, and
- Daily inspiration for our every need.
The Bible is an entire library of 66 books (39 in the Old Testament, and 27 in the New Testament) covering the whole range of literature, including history, poetry, drama, biography, prophecy, philosophy, science, and inspirational reading.
It has been translated from the original languages of Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek into more than 4000 languages, and continues to be the most printed book of all time. The Bible has made a positive influence on countless lives of people around the globe; giving hope and inspiration in the lives of individuals from all walks of life and all nationalities.
2 Timothy 2:15
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Romans 10:17
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
2. How to Study the Bible
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3. Approaching The Study of Bible Prophecy
There are 3 things required to study the Bible …
- Translation
- Inspiration
- Interpretation
TRANSLATION
Firstly, we need an accurate, faithful translation in our native language (I assume that to be English in this study). There are 3 types of transaltions …
FORMAL EQUIVALENCE (transliteration)
This is A WORD FOR WORD translation, as literal a translation as is possible, taking account of sentence structure between the donor and receptor languages.
DYNAMIC EQUIVALENCE
Rather than being a “word fo word” approach, this purports to be a THOUGHT FOR THOUGHT aproach.
PARAPHRASE
This is a
INSPIRATION
INTERPRETATION
4. The Spirit of Prophecy
Revelation 19:9-10
And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
… ” … WORSHIP GOD: FOR THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS IS THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY.“
The testimony is the RECORD, REPORT, EVIDENCE and the Spirit of prophecy is the EPITOME, the ESSENCE of what PROPHECY IS ALL ABOUT. It’s all about the RECORD and EVIDENCE of JESUS CHRIST. The Bible is a book of prophecy from start to finish – it is a RECORD of the FOREKNOWLEDGE OF GOD – THE END DECLARED FROM THE BEGINNING (Isaiah 46:9-10) – and it’s important that we recognise that as fact. God’s foreknowledge means that we can have complete confidence in Him and His declared plan because He is in ULTIMATE SOVEREIGN CONTROL of THE DESTINY OF ALL THINGS.
The RECORD of JESUS CHRIST is the central theme of ALL PROPHECY. All things will eventually come under the power and authority of JESUS CHRIST. We read …
Matthew 28:18
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. He went on to command His disciples to go forth baptising in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
There are at least 365 prophetic statements (one for each day of the year) in the Bible that directly relate to Christ …
The promise of a Saviour from the garden of Eden, His incarnation, upbringing, his miraculous ministry, his treatment by the rejectors, his trial, death, resurrection, ascension, heavenly priesthood in the Church, his return, his millennial reign, his triumph over satan and his minions, his glorification and so on …
No matter WHO we are, WHAT we believe or don’t believe, no matter what we think … we are ALL FULFILLING GOD’S PROPHETIC PLAN in one shape or another. In the last analysis there are only TWO WAYS we will fulfill God’s prophetic plan and WHICH CATEGORY WE FALL INTO will be revealed at the resurrection …
Daniel 12:2
Some to EVERLASTING LIFE and some to SHAME AND EVERLASTING CONTEMPT. The thing that determines which side of prophecy we arrive at is whether we choose to FOLLOW CHRIST or REJECT CHRIST. There are no half-way houses – no intermediate states. We either fulfill the POSITIVE or we fulfill the NEGATIVE. Regardless of whether we believe or not, we WILL FULFIL ONE OR THE OTHER. This is the promise of God, and He CANNOT LIE (Titus 1:2)
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