• Remember we are reading the Bible, the Word
of God. Therefore,
– What we are reading is inspired by God. It
was breathed out by God.
• Remember we are reading the Bible, the Word
of God. Therefore,
– What we are reading is inspired by God. It
was breathed out by God.
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 complete, thoroughly equipped for
every good work.
• Every word is inspired. This is verbal
inspiration. (Verbal means pertaining to
words.)
– Verbal inspiration means that whatever the
means of inspiration (dictation, vision,
research...), the end result was that the very
words God desired to be used to express His
truth were the ones that made it to the
page.
• Every word is inspired. This is verbal
inspiration. (Verbal means pertaining to
words.)
– Verbal inspiration means that whatever the
means of inspiration (dictation, vision,
research...), the end result was that the very
words God desired to be used to express His
truth were the ones that made it to the
page.
• Every word is inspired. This is verbal
inspiration. (Verbal means pertaining to
words.)
– Verbal inspiration means that whatever the
means of inspiration (dictation, vision,
research...), the end result was that the very
words God desired to be used to express His
truth were the ones that made it to the
page.
• Every word is inspired. This is verbal
inspiration. (Verbal means pertaining to
words.)
– Verbal inspiration means that whatever the
means of inspiration (dictation, vision,
research...), the end result was that the very
words God desired to be used to express His
truth were the ones that made it to the
page.
1 Corinthians 2:13 These things we also speak,
not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but
which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing
spiritual things with spiritual.
• Inspiration makes the Bible inerrant and
infallible.
– Inerrant means that in the original
autographs, there are no mistakes.
– Infallible means that if you follow it, it will
not lead you astray.
• Inspiration makes the Bible inerrant and
infallible.
– Inerrant means that in the original
autographs, there are no mistakes.
– Infallible means that if you follow it, it will
not lead you astray.
• Inspiration makes the Bible inerrant and
infallible.
– Inerrant means that in the original
autographs, there are no mistakes.
– Infallible means that if you follow it, it will
not lead you astray.
• Inspiration makes the Bible inerrant and
infallible.
– Inerrant means that in the original
autographs, there are no mistakes.
– Infallible means that if you follow it, it will
not lead you astray.
Psalm 119:160 The entirety of Your word is
truth, And every one of Your righteous
judgments endures forever.
Isaiah 40:8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.”
Psalm 119:160 The entirety of Your word is
truth, And every one of Your righteous
judgments endures forever.
Isaiah 40:8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.”
Psalm 119:160 The entirety of Your word is
truth, And every one of Your righteous
judgments endures forever.
Isaiah 40:8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.”
Jesus Himself said, “Sanctify them by Your
truth. Your word is truth.” John 17:17
• Allow the Bible to speak for itself.
– What we want to do is exegesis, which
means drawing out the meaning. We want
to know what the Holy Spirit is telling us
through the words of the Scripture.
– What we do not want to do is called
eisegesis, which means reading into the text
what we want it to say.
• Allow the Bible to speak for itself.
– What we want to do is exegesis, which
means drawing out the meaning. We want
to know what the Holy Spirit is telling us
through the words of the Scripture.
– What we do not want to do is called
eisegesis, which means reading into the text
what we want it to say.
• Allow the Bible to speak for itself.
– What we want to do is exegesis, which
means drawing out the meaning. We want
to know what the Holy Spirit is telling us
through the words of the Scripture.
– What we do not want to do is called
eisegesis, which means reading into the text
what we want it to say.
• Observe the context.
– Always understand what the book you are
reading in is generally about, who it is to,
and who is the human author.
– Read any verse with the passage above and
below.
– All this background information is the
“context.”
• Observe the context.
– Always understand what the book you are
reading in is generally about, who it is to,
and who is the human author.
– Read any verse with the passage above and
below.
– All this background information is the
“context.”
• Use Scripture to interpret Scripture.
– Many of the mysteries of Scripture are
explained in other Scriptures. Consequently,
the more you read Scripture, the easier it is
to understand Scripture. You will read a
verse or even a phrase and it will bring other
Scriptures to mind.
• Use Scripture to interpret Scripture.
– A great blessing we have in the day in which
we live is that we can benefit from what other
students of the Scriptures have learned and
recorded as well. I am not here referring to
commentaries, although they have their place,
but not until after your basic work in tackling
a passage has been done.
• I am speaking of Bible study tools that help you
find other passages of Scripture that are in
some way connected to what you are reading.
– A quotation
– An allusion
– Common theme
• I am speaking of Bible study tools that help you
find other passages of Scripture that are in
some way connected to what you are reading.
– A quotation
– An allusion
– Common theme
• I am speaking of Bible study tools that help you
find other passages of Scripture that are in
some way connected to what you are reading.
– A quotation
– An allusion
– Common theme
• You will often
find these in a
center column
reference of a
study Bible or
as footnotes
on a page in a
study Bible.
• You will often find these in a center column
reference of a study Bible or as footnotes on a
page in a study Bible.
• You can also find these and other helps in an
online study Bible. A good free one is My
WORDsearch Bible – https://mywsb.com.
• “When the plain sense, makes sense, seek no
other sense, or you end up with nonsense.”
– The Bible is filled with figurative language,
symbol, poetry, and parables.
– Most of the time these things are clearly
indicated in the text. Beware of “secret
meanings” people will say are behind a text.
Remember God gave His Word for you to
understand. He did not hide it!
• “When the plain sense, makes sense, seek no
other sense, or you end up with nonsense.”
– The Bible is filled with figurative language,
symbol, poetry, and parables.
– Most of the time these things are clearly
indicated in the text. Beware of “secret
meanings” people will say are behind a text.
Remember God gave His Word for you to
understand. He did not hide it!
• Look at the meanings of words in the original
language as needed.
– Again, this is where we are blessed. You do
not have to learn Hebrew or Greek. In the
My Wordsearch Bible, basic information
about the meanings of words in the original
language are given.
Here is the
general reading
screen in My
Wordsearch Bible.
When you click on
the Alpha &
Omega sign you
get the Strong´s
numbers, which
are standard
numbers for root
words in the
original languages
used by many
reference tools.
When you double
click a number, like
the one by the
word “revelation,”
it tells you how all
this word is
translated. In this
case, it is
translated as
revelation 14
times, revealed 2
times, and
revelations 2
times.
When you click
on Dictionary
Reference, it
gives you the
English
transliteration
and a brief
definition.
Clicking on Usage Study
shows you how the
same Greek or Hebrew
word is used in other
passages of the Bible. I
find this to be one of
the most helpful ways
to understand the
meaning of words in the
original languages.
• “The Plain Things are the Main Things, and the
Main Things are the Plain Things.”
• Read the Bible prayerfully and pensively.
– Ask God to illumine your understanding.
– After you read and/or study a passage,
meditate one it – chew on it.
• Read the Bible prayerfully and pensively.
– Ask God to illumine your understanding.
– After you read and/or study a passage,
meditate one it – chew on it.
• Read the Bible prayerfully and pensively.
– Ask God to illumine your understanding.
– After you read and/or study a passage,
meditate one it – chew on it.
• Read the Bible prayerfully and pensively.
– Ask God to illumine your understanding.
– After you read and/or study a passage,
meditate one it – chew on it.
• Now we are going to work our way through
the Revelation, doing these simple things.
– You will be surprised how easy they are as
we practice them.
– And you will be surprised how easily the
meaning flows from the text as we do them.
Revelation 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ,
which God gave Him to show His servants—
things which must shortly take place. And He
sent and signified it by His angel to His servant
John,
• What is the first thing we are to do? Knowing
this is God´s Word, we want to let it speak to
us. So, next, to understand the first verse, we
read the context. Let´s read chapter 1.
• What is the first thing we are to do? Knowing
this is God´s Word, we want to let it speak to
us. So, next, to understand the first verse, we
read the context. Let´s read chapter 1.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him
to show His servants—things which must shortly
take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel
to His servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word
of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all
things that he saw. 3 Blessed is he who reads and
those who hear the words of this prophecy, and
keep those things which are written in it; for the
time is near.
4 John,
to the seven churches which are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who
was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits
who are before His throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ,
the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead,
and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him
who loved us and washed us from our sins in His
own blood, 6 and has made us kings and priests to
His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion
forever and ever. Amen.
7 Behold,
He is coming with clouds, and every
eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him.
And all the tribes of the earth will mourn
because of Him. Even so, Amen. 8 “I am the
Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the
End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and
who is to come, the Almighty.”
9 I,
John, both your brother and companion in the
tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ,
was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of
God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. 10 I was in the
Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud
voice, as of a trumpet, 11 saying, “I am the Alpha and
the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see,
write in a book and send it to the seven churches which
are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to
Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”
12 Then
I turned to see the voice that spoke with
me. And having turned I saw seven golden
lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the seven
lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed
with a garment down to the feet and girded
about the chest with a golden band. 14 His head
and hair were white like wool, as white as snow,
and His eyes like a flame of fire;
15 His
feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a
furnace, and His voice as the sound of many
waters; 16 He had in His right hand seven stars,
out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword,
and His countenance was like the sun shining in
its strength. 17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His
feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me,
saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First
and the Last.
18 I
am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I
am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of
Hades and of Death. 19 Write the things which you
have seen, and the things which are, and the things
which will take place after this. 20 The mystery of the
seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the
seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the
angels of the seven churches, and the seven
lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.