Servant School – Bible Study Prep - Inductive
Servant
School
May
5, 2022
Introduction
Welcome to our Bible Study Preparation Class.
Whether you are someone who hopes to teach the Bible in front of church,
lead a small group Bible Study, or who just wants to know their Bible better,
it is my prayer that this class will help you to sharpen your skills at
studying your Bible as well as growing in how to communicate what you’ve
learned.
Each week we will start with a few minutes looking at…
Why Study the Bible?
It is reliable
About one hundred and fifty years ago, scholars began to raise questions
about the Bible’s validity.
At a time parallel to Darwin’s publishing his
“Origin of the Species” which laid out the beginning ideas of evolution,
scholars in the universities of Germany began to question the Bible in authorship,
and the accounts of the historicity of individuals, Biblical places, and
miracles.
It’s understandable that to a secular mind, the Bible can seem like a
collection of fantastical, mythical stories.
This kind of thinking would eventually make its way into liberal
seminaries, and many pastors got trained over the last hundred years thinking
that the Bible was just a collection of myths.
Let me tell you that for those who are paying attention to archaeology,
these ideas are getting less and less acceptable.
Every year archaeologists are finding that the people and places mentioned
in the Bible are in fact real, historical truth.
For example,
It used to be taught that Pontius Pilate was not a real historical person.
Schools used to teach this because his name wasn’t found in any records.
Then in the early 1960’s, excavation at the ancient city of Caesarea on the
coast of Israel made a discovery.
As they were digging out the large outdoor amphitheater at Caesarea, they
turned over a stone that had been used as a seat, and came across the name of
Pontius Pilate, dating back to the time of Christ.
Today, this stone is known as the “Pilate” stone, and there is a replica of
it at Caesarea, while the real stone is in the Israel museum.
The liberal scholars used to scoff at the idea that there was a real
Israeli leader named Joshua conquered the land of Canaan.
One of the major battles that was recorded in the book of Joshua was a
battle that secured the northern part of the country, which had been led by the
King of Hazor. Joshua records,
(Joshua 11:10–11
NKJV) —10 Joshua turned back at that time and took Hazor,
and struck its king with the sword; for Hazor was formerly the head of
all those kingdoms. 11 And they struck all the people who were
in it with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them.
There was none left breathing. Then he burned Hazor with fire.
Even more interesting, Joshua records that Hazor was the only city in the
north that Joshua had burned with fire (Josh 11:13).
(Joshua
11:13 NKJV) But as for the cities that stood on their
mounds, Israel burned none of them, except Hazor only, which Joshua
burned.
Quite an interesting little tidbit, but for a long time it was totally
unsubstantiated. There were no cities
dating back to Joshua’s time that were burned with fire. For the skeptic, just another proof that the
Bible was fictional.
Until they excavated Hazor.
Today if you visit Israel and get to see the excavation at Hazor, you can
see in the ruins that the stones that have been darkened by fire, dating back
to Joshua’s time, showing that the city was indeed burned to the ground before
being rebuilt.
There are hundreds of these kinds of stories that show us the historicity
of the Bible.
The more they dig, the more we realize that the Bible is reliable.
If you are interested in these kinds of things, an easy way to learn more
is to go to the new YouTube channel titled “Expedition Bible”. We’ve known
about Joel Kraemer’s work for years through the videos he produced about
Mormonism. He eventually moved to
Israel, got his masters in archaeology, and is now putting out weekly videos on
the archaeology of the Holy Land.
(You can watch the first couple of videos he’s produced here – )
I hope this will encourage you in your study of the Bible. It is reliable.
Tonight’s main topic is …
Inductive Bible Study
Next week we will be talking about various ways that people will interpret
the Bible. This is called
“hermeneutics”.
But for the sake of giving you some practical homework this week, I want to
kind of skip ahead and lay out the framework that we use in studying the Bible.
We call our method “Inductive Bible Study”.
“Inductive” means that we draw the message from the actual text itself.
For those of you raised in a Bible Teaching church, this may sound obvious,
but after next week’s class you’ll understand a little more that not all Bible
teachers draw their message from the text.
But that’s next week.
Observation – Interpretation – Application
There have been various names given to Inductive Bible Study.
When I was in college, we called it “Look-Hook-Took”.
But that’s always been a little hard to remember what it actually
means, so we’ll stick with “Observation-Interpretation-Application”, or
… O-I-A.
There is another popular type of Bible Study you will hear from time to
time, and that’s what we call a “Topical Study”.
You’ll often hear one of us use this method for a holiday, or when one of
us fills in for Caleb in the middle of his ongoing Bible Book study.
A Topical Study is when a teacher takes a single topic,
and builds his message around what that “topic” is all about.
We aren’t going to be talking about “Topical Studies” in our class, we are
going to be focusing on how to study and teach a specific Bible passage.
There are three parts to an inductive Bible Study
1. Observation
Hopefully as you are studying a passage, you will start by simply reading
the passage several times.
I remember Pastor Chuck once saying that he didn’t feel he could teach a
passage until he had read it 50 times.
It’s okay if you read the passage three or four times.
As you are reading your passage, you want to jot down your “observations”.
These might be words you don’t understand, questions about the passage that
you or others might ask, or things that seem to be key to what the passage is
all about.
Here’s a sample of things you might be looking at in the passage (things
you “observe”)
Who: are the main characters?
What: are the main events? ideas? doctrines? is the grammar?
When: was it written? did it take place? will it happen?
Where: was it written? did it take place? will it happen?
Why: was it written? does the author include this?
How: is it done?
explained? compared?
The idea is not to answer all the above questions, but to be looking for
things that are interesting to point out, things that might lead to an
“application”, or things that might need to be explained to your listeners.
These are areas you grow in as you teach.
For me, I learned what kinds of things to look for when people would talk
to me after the message and ask me some of these questions.
More than once I was caught off guard and had to say that I didn’t know the
answer because I didn’t think about asking the question.
Yet having people ask you questions helps you learn what you need to be
studying as you prepare.
2. Interpretation
Maybe this sounds obvious, but the “interpretation” step is all about
taking those “observations” and explaining them.
Remember that exercise we did last week where one of you looked at a
picture and tried to get the others to draw the picture to look like the one
you were looking at?
That’s what “interpretation” is all about.
It’s answering the questions people have, but
answering them in a way that helps them to understand what you understand, to
see what you see.
We see an example of this in the Scripture.
This story takes place after the people had begun to return from
captivity in Babylon. The people were
gathered in Jerusalem to hear God’s word from Ezra the scribe.
(Nehemiah 8:1–8
NKJV) —1 Now all the people gathered together as
one man in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate; and they
told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel. 2 So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men and
women and all who could hear with understanding on the first day of the
seventh month.
Note that the gathering was aimed at those who could hear with
“understanding”. The goal of teaching
God’s word is “understanding”.
We’ll skip down to verse 8 …
3 Then he read from it in the open square that was in front of
the Water Gate from morning until midday, before the men and women and those
who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to
the Book of the Law. 4 So Ezra the scribe stood on a
platform of wood which they had made for the purpose; and beside him, at his
right hand, stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Urijah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah; and
at his left hand Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbadana,
Zechariah, and Meshullam.
There are thousands gathers. This
list of men were standing all around Ezra and
repeating what Ezra was saying.
5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was
standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people
stood up. 6 And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. Then all the
people answered, “Amen, Amen!” while lifting up their
hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. 7 Also Jeshua,
Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah,
Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, helped the
people to understand the Law; and the people stood in their place.
8 So they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they
gave the sense, and helped them to understand
the reading.
Ezra and the fellows with him “gave the sense” in order
to help the people understand what the Scriptures meant.
This is the goal of “interpretation”. We want people to understand what God’s Word
is saying.
When it comes to interpretation, it’s important to understand that the
meaning isn’t “what it means to me”. The
Scripture means what God intends it to mean.
Sometimes we can get together with our friends to study the Scriptures, and
that’s a good thing. But when we get together, it’s not right to sit in a
circle and ask everyone “what does it mean to you?”
Don’t get me wrong. It’s great for
people to share ideas and ask questions.
But the meaning of Scripture isn’t up to what I think it means. It has a specific, real meaning. I may not always understand what that meaning
is, but that’s why we study and prepare.
(2
Peter 1:20–21 NKJV) —20 knowing this first, that no prophecy
of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy
never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were
moved by the Holy Spirit.
3. Application
This is how the word, phrase, or passage can apply to your life.
As you are making your “observations”, keep in mind that not every
observation has an “application”.
There will be plenty of things that you point out in a passage that you
simply need to explain or interpret.
But in every Bible Study, there always ought to be something that we ought
to put into practice in our lives.
That’s our goal in Scripture, not just to be knowing what it means, but how
it affects our lives.
James wrote,
(James 1:22–25
NKJV) —22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving
yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the
word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what
kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks
into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but
a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
The blessing comes by not just hearing God’s Word, but
doing it.
Jesus said,
(Matthew 7:24–27
NKJV) —24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I
will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and
beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 “But
everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a
foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain
descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it
fell. And great was its fall.”
Two men built their houses before the storm hit.
Only one house survived.
Both had “heard” the sayings of Jesus.
Only one actually did what Jesus said.
That’s how we survive the storms of life, by learning to
apply God’s Word to our lives.
When it comes to application of Scripture, it is a wonderful thing to have
people share in small groups about how the Scripture applies to them. Application does not mean the same thing as
interpretation. Scripture may only have
one interpretation, but many applications.
Once we understand what the Scripture means, we will find many ways to
put it into practice in our own lives.
If you were to look at my notes when I teach, you will see throughout my
notes a section of text in red that says “Lesson”. That’s generally my “application” for the
word or passage. If you look at my
PowerPoints when I teach, I will use a red text box to show you how we apply
this point to our lives.
A good rule for teachers is to think about how you want to phrase your
“application”.
Can you say it in three words or less?
Be concise. Make it easier for those
who are going to take notes.
This doesn’t come easy. It takes
time to think about how to phrase your application.
Let’s try putting an application into words, into a simple phrase.
Let’s say your passage was,
(Matthew 5:16 NKJV) Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Which would be a better way to phrase your “lesson”? If you were taking notes, which would you
prefer the teacher to use?
1. Do lots of good works so people can see Jesus working
inside your life.
2. Works show Jesus.
I know I’d prefer the latter.
In our zoom discussion, we will put some of this into practice by taking a
few verses out of John 2, making observations, interpretations, and
applications.
Well that’s about it for this lesson.
Observation, Interpretation, and Application
A teacher points things out in the text.
A teacher explains what he’s pointing out.
A teacher helps you learn how to apply the passage to your life.
These are the keys to what we call “Inductive Bible Study”.
I hope that helps.
In Class
Play Video
Jake – how did your class go on Sunday???
Any comments from tonight’s teaching video?
Questions?
Did you read “What makes a sermon deep”?
Any thoughts? Reflections? Was it
helpful?
The importance of taking enough time with the text to “chew” on it and
meditate on it.
Talking about the text with others.
Study well but know when to put down the books.
Share your pericopes from John 2
2:1-12
2:13-22
2:23-25
Let’s take a peek at how this kind of Bible Study
can look.
Last week you had an assignment to read John 2, notice the paragraph
divisions, and write a short title or “pericope” for each paragraph.
Let’s look at how O-I-A might look
(John 2:1 NKJV) On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the
mother of Jesus was there.
:1 the mother of Jesus was there
(in my notes I will have the phrase or word that I
want to make an observation about typed out and
underlined – this is my “observation” about which I will make some
comments. Next comes “interpretation”)
There are some things to learn about Mary here.
She acts like someone related to the bride or groom.
Joseph may be dead. He is never
mentioned during the ministry of Jesus.
At His death, Jesus asked John to care for Mary (John 19:26-27)
(John 19:26–27
NKJV) —26 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved
standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” 27 Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that
hour that disciple took her to his own home.
One church tradition has Mary dying in the city of Ephesus, which is where
John is when he’s writing this gospel.
John isn’t someone with a bone to pick with Mary. He cares about her. He knows her very well. He’s giving us an eyewitness account of a special
event.
(I had other things to say about Mary later in the study, but for now, those
were the things I chose to talk about.
Where did I get these things we might label as
“interpretation”? Some of the ideas came
from commentaries – books by guys smarter than me. Some of them came from my own study and
remembering Bible passages. We’ll talk more about resources you can use in
another lesson)
(Note: There will not
be an “application” for this “observation”.
Not every observation has an application. But every observation should have an
“interpretation”, an explanation)
Later in the chapter, Jesus is in Jerusalem where He goes into the Temple
and overturns the tables of the money changers and sellers of doves. Then John records…
(John 2:17 NKJV) Then His
disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten
Me up.”
:17 Zeal for Your house
Jesus had been telling those selling doves that they shouldn’t make God’s
House a place of merchandise, and then the disciples remembered this phrase.
The phrase they remembered was from Scripture:
(Psalm 69:9 NKJV) Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, And the
reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.
zeal – zelos – excitement of mind, fervor of spirit
from zeo – to boil with heat, be hot.
We could say that Jesus was “on fire” for God.
Lesson
Passion brings change
What kind of passion do you have for the things of God? How do you measure your passion for God?
Some people measure their passion for God by how high they lift their hands
or how loud they sing in church.
Others measure passion by how many people are speaking in
tongues or how loud the prayers or the “amens” are in church.
Please don’t misunderstand me – I think it’s great to lift
your hands in worship. I love it when
you as a church are singing loudly. I
think the gift of tongues is a wonderful gift.
Your pastor speaks in tongues.
But these things are not the correct measure of our
passion for God. This is not what it
means to be “on fire”.
Jesus’ passion for the things of God was seen in the things He did.
Jesus saw something that was not right, and He did something about it.
His disciples heard what He said and saw what He did.
It’s not how high you jump when you meet the Lord, but how far you walk
with Him.
If you are truly passionate about the things of God, then as God asks you
to do a little house cleaning, you’ll respond by doing it quickly.
So in this verse, I made two observations.
I pointed out that John and the disciples remembered this verse from Psalm
69. That was an explanation.
I also explained a little about what “zeal” means.
It means “passion”.
And I gave an “application” – Passion isn’t measured by how loud you sing,
but the kinds of things you do, the changes you make.
Homework
1. This week for homework, I’d like you to read John 3 several times.
I’d like you to identify the paragraphs and write a short pericope for each
paragraph, as well as a pericope for the entire chapter.
I’d like you to practice O-I-A
Make one observation and explain it (without an application)
Make a second observation, explain it, and apply it.
2. Listen on Sunday morning – identify an example of O-I-A