http://www.forthefathersministry.org
 A chiasm (ky'-az-um) represents a writing style that –
once understood – clarifies, emphasizes and reveals
deeper meaning in the Scriptures than is revealed in
just a surface reading of these same verses. A chiasm is
a literary style that some call the “chiastic (ky'-az-tic)
approach” and others call the “chiastic structure.”
Many who have read the Bible have never heard of
this, yet it was identified over two hundred years ago.
Once you understand how the chiastic structure
works, it can dramatically enhance your understanding
of those verses in the New and Old Testament where
chiasms appear.
 A. 68. Visitation.
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B. 69. Salvation.
C. 70. Prophets.
D. 71. Enemies.
E. 72. The Covenant.
E. 73. The Oath.
D. 74, 75. Enemies.
C. 76. Prophet.
B. 77. Salvation.
A. 78, 79. Visitation.
This presentation attempts to add to the general
understanding of the chiastic approach, namely
that the center point of a chiasm can often be
applied for a better understanding of
scripture. It is my hope that each of us will come
to a new level of understanding with regard to
Bible study. We can study how to recognize these
chiastic patterns for ourselves so that as we read
other books of the Bible, the Lord can speak to us
in a new way. Oh the joy of discovering God's
word for today!
 In order to discover the structure of a particular
passage it is necessary that we begin to read the
portion of Scripture very carefully, and note the
subject. We mark it A.
 We read on until the subject changes, and we note and
indent it thus B.
 When we come to the next change we may find either
a third subject, in which case we must further indent it
and mark it C., or, we shall find the first subject again
and we would mark it A. If it is a repetition of the
second subject, then we know that it is going to be an
Introversion, and must mark it B. and place it under
the B.
 Let us take, as a working example, "The Prophecy of
Zacharias," in Luke 1:68-79; this being a passage of
Scripture complete in itself, and not a human or
arbitrary division.
Zechariah’s Prophecy (Luke 1-68-79)
And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,
68
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people
69
and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David,
70
as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
71
that we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us;
72
to show the mercy promised to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant,
73
the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
74
that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
might serve him without fear,
75
in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
76
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77
to give knowledge of salvation to his people
in the forgiveness of their sins,
78
because of the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
79
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
80 And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public
appearance to Israel.
The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (Lk 1:67–80). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
67
Verse
Introversion
 We read verse 68 with the

object of finding and noting
its subjects:—"Blessed be the
Lord God of Israel; for he hath
visited and redeemed his
people." Here, the subject
may be either "Visited" or
"Redeemed." So we give the
place of honor to the former
of these two words, and write
it down, thus:—
 A. 68. Visitation.
A. 68. Visitation.
Verse
Introversion
 We then read the next

verse, "And hath raised up
a horn of salvation for us in
the house of his servant
David." Here there can be
no doubt that the subject is
Salvation. This we must
mark "B," and set it down,
indented, thus:
 B. 69. Salvation.

A. 68. Visitation.
B. 69. Salvation
.
Verse
Introversion
So far all is clear. But we know not, as
yet, what the subject of the third
member is to be. If it is Visitation we
must set it down under "A" and mark it
with an italic "A." Then we read slowly
on:—"As he spoke by the mouth of his
holy prophets, which have been since the
world began." It is manifest that we have,
as yet, no repetition of either of the
subjects in "A" or "B." If it had been that
of "A," it would be a Simple or Repeated
Alternation. If it had been that of "B," we
should know that it was going to be an
Introversion. But, it is a fresh subject,
which is clearly, "Prophets." So we must
mark it "C," and write it down, indenting
it still more, thus:
 C. 70. Prophets.
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A. 68. Visitation.
B. 69. Salvation.
C. 70. Prophets.
Verse
Introversion
 Even now, there is nothing to tell us
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what the Structure is going to be. So
far as we can see, it may be an
Extended Alternation by the
repetition of "A," "B," and "C"; or it
may be an Introversion to be marked
"C," "B," and "A." So we must read
on:—"That we should be saved from
our enemies, and from the hand of
all that hate us." Here, we still have
no Repetition: but we find a new
subject, which is clearly "Enemies."
So we must mark it "D," and write
down (still further indenting it)
thus:
 D. 71. Enemies.
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A. 68. Visitation.
B. 69. Salvation.
C. 70. Prophets.
D. 71. Enemies.
Verse
Introversion
 If the subject is a Repetition of

any of the above subjects, we
know that we are going to have
an Alternation of some kind, or
an Introversion. So we must still
read on:—"To perform the mercy
promised to our fathers, and to
remember his holy covenant."
Here, there can be no doubt that
we have again a new subject, and
that it must be Covenant. So we
put it down, as before, and still
further indent it, thus:
 E. 72. The Covenant.
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A. 68. Visitation.
B. 69. Salvation.
C. 70. Prophets.
D. 71. Enemies.
E. 72. The Covenant.
Verse
Introversion
 So we must still read on, closely
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scanning every word, in order to get
the clue. We find it in the next verse
(v 73):—"The oath which he swore to
our father Abraham." Here, at
length, we get one of our subjects
repeated, as we were bound to do
before long. It is the subject of "E,"
where the word "Covenant" is
repeated in the synonymous word
"Oath," thus indicating the sureness
and certainty of the Covenant. We
must mark this "E," and write it
down under the "E," thus:
 E. 73. The Oath.
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A. 68. Visitation.
B. 69. Salvation.
C. 70. Prophets.
D. 71. Enemies.
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E. 72. The Covenant.
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E. 73. The Oath.
Verse
Introversion
that we, being
delivered from the hand
of our enemies, might
serve him without fear,
 75 in holiness and
righteousness before
him all our days
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 74
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A. 68. Visitation.
B. 69. Salvation.
C. 70. Prophets.
D. 71. Enemies.
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E. 72. The Covenant.
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E. 73. The Oath.
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D. 74, 75. Enemies.
Verse
Introversion
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76
And you, child, will
be called the prophet of
the Most High; for you
will go before the Lord to
prepare his ways,
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A. 68. Visitation.
B. 69. Salvation.
C. 70. Prophets.
D. 71. Enemies.
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E. 72. The Covenant.
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E. 73. The Oath.
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D. 74, 75. Enemies.
C. 76. Prophet.
Verse
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77
to give knowledge of
salvation to his people in
the forgiveness of their
sins, for you will go
before the Lord to
prepare his ways,
Introversion
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A. 68. Visitation.
B. 69. Salvation.
C. 70. Prophets.
D. 71. Enemies.
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E. 72. The Covenant.
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E. 73. The Oath.
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D. 74, 75. Enemies.
C. 76. Prophet.
B. 77. Salvation.
Verse
78
because of the tender
mercy of our God, whereby
the sunrise shall visit us
from on high
 79
to give light to those
who sit in darkness and in
the shadow of death, to
guide our feet into the way
of peace.” for you will go
before the Lord to prepare
his ways,

Introversion

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A. 68. Visitation.
B. 69. Salvation.
C. 70. Prophets.
D. 71. Enemies.
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E. 72. The Covenant.
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E. 73. The Oath.

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D. 74, 75. Enemies.
C. 76. Prophet.
B. 77. Salvation.
A. 78, 79. Visitation.
 A. 68. Visitation.
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B. 69. Salvation.
C. 70. Prophets.
D. 71. Enemies.
E. 72. The Covenant.
E. 73. The Oath.
D. 74, 75. Enemies.
C. 76. Prophet.
B. 77. Salvation.
A. 78, 79. Visitation.
 Here the center point of scripture is not what it would seem
on the surface. One would think that it is Zechariah’s
prophecy of his son being born a prophet and one who
would prepare the way for the Lord.
 We can see by the chiastic structure that God is revealing
much more. One must remember that God’s plan for the
ages is the center point of all scripture and we see it here.
 God is keeping His covenant not only from the time of
Abraham, but from Genesis 3.15, where He promises a
redeemer.
 God’s son redeeming and judging is the center point of
the Bible, and this is a wonderful verse highlighting this
promise.
 Proverbs2 2 My son, if you receive my words and
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treasure up my commandments with you,
2 making your ear attentive to wisdom and
inclining your heart to understanding;
3 yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice
for understanding,
4 if you seek it like silver and search for it as for
hidden treasures,
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and
find the knowledge of God.
 Daniel 12.4 But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the
book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro,
and knowledge shall increase.”
 The Bible tells us that knowledge will increase in the end
times and this includes Biblical knowledge. Throughout
the Bible there is a pattern where God progressively reveals
more of His plan for the ages.
 Using this chiastic style in writing is a Jewish tradition, but
many Jewish traditions have been lost as the Protestant and
Catholic faiths persecuted and separated from the Jewish
people even though Paul warned us of this error.
 Biblical Wisdom is a body of knowledge, (the Bible),
and experience, (Life); that demonstrates the ability to
comprehend accurately with a deep understanding, all
of God’s word; empowering one to act with care and
thought for the future with the capacity for faith and
forgiveness by grace and mercy.
 To receive Biblical wisdom James tells us in James 1.5 If
any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives
generously to all without reproach, and it will be given
him.
 The Resurrection of Christ
1Corinthians 15.1
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the
gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which
you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you
hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you
believed in vain.
 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I
also received: that Christ died for our sins in
accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried,
that he was raised on the third day in accordance with
the Scriptures,
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 Romans 4.22 That is why his faith was “counted to
him as righteousness.” 23 But the words “it was counted
to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for
ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him
who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was
delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our
justification.
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 Romans 5.1 Therefore, since we have been justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ.
 Romans14.11 for it is written, As I live, says the Lord,
every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall
confess to God.”12 So then each of us will give an
account of himself to God.
 Go to the website http://www.forthefathersministry.org
 and you will find in the Bible Study section a six page
booklet on receiving Christ as your Lord and Savior. It
is my prayer that if have you not done so you will make
that decision soon.