BIBLE STUDY TRAINING

OBJECTIVES
• For all the inmates to understand the Bible as
the authority in their life.
• To be the base of thoughts and actions.
• To know how to correctly read and interpret
the Bible.
• To equip inmatess with skills and tools to
study the Bible
• To mobilize and sensitize the inmates to love
and study the BIBLE
 WHY THE BIBLE IN GBU
• It is one of our values (base of thoughts and
action)
• We are evangelical in theology (cfr our
statement faith)
• We are Bible centered,
• GBU is a ministry whereby students and
graduates gather around the Bible in small
groups, studying it, learning from it and living
it out in all spheres of life.
 What is the Bible?
• Some say it is God’s Word, others that it contains God’s Word.
Others think it is the records of experiences of men, like any other
records of history, while yet others that it is a record of God’s
dealings with men. Some think that it was written by men, others
that it was written by God, and others that it was written by both.
Whatever our position is, it is most likely that our understanding of
what the Bible is greatly influences our approach to it. 
• The Greek word, biblia, literally means a library of books, thereby
defining the composition of the Bible. It is made up of the Old
Testament, which has 39 books, and the New Testament with 27
books, bringing the total number to 66 books. These were written
by different authors over a period of approximately 1600 years. The
content of the Bible is about God’s dealings with men over the
years.
 THE BIBLE AS GOD REVEALING HIMSELF

• God is speaking! He reveals himself through His word. General

Revelation and Specific Revelation. We come to know who God is
through the Bible. Events + Explanation = Revelation.  
EVENT + EXPLANATION = REVELATION
God acts + God speaks = God makes himself known to us
 
• Examples: what are the event, the explanation and the revelation? 
1. Event (God acts): Genesis 7:17:24
Explanation (God speaks): Genesis 6:11-14, 17-18
 
• Revelation (what do we learn about God):
 BIBLE OVERVIEW -THE BIBLE AS ONE STORY
• Firstly, CONTINUITY – THEME RUNNING STRAIGHT THROUGH ….The bible
is the ONE word of God... it only has ONE message… and that message is
about the ONE way of SALVATION from the ONE true GOD!!! Yes it is true
that the bible’s message will have different application to all of us, given
our different circumstances... Will talk about that in the next point but so
far the Bible has one message. The Gospel “ good news” . We see
different themes arising like Kingdom of God, God dwelling with man,
Sinful and rebellious man..etc..
• But 2ndly, DISCONTINUITY….THE THEME DIFFERENT….although there is a
great unity within the bible… we also need to remember that there is
disunity within the Bible. In the Bible God reveals himself to us
progressively:
• The bible is that story of how God PROGRESSIVELY revealed himself & his
purposes & plans
• There is difference between the OT & NT. After all the OT is called the Old
covenant… and the NT the NEW covenant.And the main difference is that
in the OT, we have God’s revelation in Promise form…
Whereas in the NT we have God’s revelation in fulfillment!
 WHY STUDY THE BIBLE
A. Appreciating and cherishing the Word of God
It is true, reliable, dependable, and authenticity.
Why?
• God’s breath - 1 Timothy 3:16
• Sure and righteous - Psalms 19:9b
• Divine attributes (Person of Christ, Eternal,
Creates, Sustains, Truth)
• It is the foundation – Mathew 7:24
 WHY STUDY THE BIBLE Cont...
B. Effects of the word of God in a Christian
• Source of wisdom (1 Timothy 3:15, Psalms 119:98…
• Source of blessings and prosperity (Psalm 1;1, 119:1,
Joshua 1:7…
• Gives direction (Psalms 119:105)
• Source of Confidence and basis of FAITH
• Heals us (Psalms 107:20)
• Revives the soul (Psalms 19:7)
• Cleans our conscience and keeps it from sin (Ephesians
5:26)
• Source of victory over all spiritual battles
 WHY STUDY THE BIBLE Cont...
Our general attitude and response to the Word
of God
• Crave/desire and treasure the Word (Job
23:12, Psalms 19:10)
• Know it – Take time to read it
The need for reading the Word of
God properly and Accurately
• To discern God’s message clearly and
accurately
• To guard against error in doctrine and practice
• To be able to correctly apply God’s Word in
our lives
 HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE Cont...
We depend on;
• Our mind
• The Holy Spirit
• One another
Reading the Bible Inductively
Deductive reasoning - begin with a hypothesis
and then look for details to prove it
Inductive reasoning - Start with facts/ details,
and then draw conclusions from them
 Inductive method - contd
• It is expository in nature, as opposed to being
impository.
• Its aim is to help us get our facts, conclusions and
applications from the texts studied. I.e. LETTING THE
TEXT SPEAK FOR ITSELF.
• Note
• Determination to study & listen to the Holy Spirit
• Self is the major hindrance
• Override your Pre- understandings or bias –
paradigm shift
 Advantages of IBS
• A suitable environment for being ‘true to the text,’
• Gives you the freedom to learn from the Holy Spirit
as you co-operate with him in your study.
• Enhances personal growth
• Personal discoveries of Bible truths form a firm
foundation for personal convictions and beliefs.
• It facilitates the getting of points of application in
each moment of study.
• IBS is very rich for personal quiet time; TRY IT OUT.
 The 3 Steps of IBS
• Observe: What does the text say? Look at
the text; get the facts and their implications.
• Interpret: What does it mean? Think about
the facts, get what they intended to
communicate.
• Apply: What does it mean to me? Link the
meaning to yourself, get the relevance.
 Summary

• O ---------------- I ----------------- A
Look Think Link

• All 3 parts should be linked; i.e. Interpret what

you have observed, and apply what you have
interpreted.
 OBSERVATION
 What does the text actually say?
 The goal of observation is to get the facts
from the text as they are.
 The emphasis here is to Look, Look and
Look again.
Observation
Observation
 The Importance of Observation
• It’s the foundation upon which all BS builds;
its fodder for the study.
• If you don’t observe well, then you miss it all
right from the beginning.
• It’s the most difficult part of IBS, because it
calls for great discipline.
 See the Big Picture.
• Read the passage quickly to get your general
impression
• Do not get too bogged in details that you miss
the overall picture
 Determine the Literary Form.
• Narratives: They describe events or people,
and report dialogue and teaching
• Discourse: Are arguments persuading people
to change their beliefs or behavior
• Poetry: These record the writers’ experiences
and observation of life
• Apocalyptic: Record the vision of the writer
 Find Clues to the Writer’s
Emphasis
• Repetition of words, phrases, ideas
• Proportion: the fraction of time/space given to a
particular idea
• Comparisons and contrasts
• Figures of speech; i.e. the use of figurative/ symbolic
language to represent a given idea.
• Grammar: e.g. Use of connectives, verb tenses,
writer’s thought patterns etc
• Other illustrations
 Use the Seven Basic Fact Finding
Questions (7FFQs)
• Who? Where? When? : These give you the setting of
the passage.
• What? – Leads you to focus on the main point of the
passage. This depends on the kind of literature you
are studying.
• How? – Method or Manner of doing the action or
telling.
• Why? – Reason/ purpose for the action or the words.
• So? – Logical conclusion; a result.
 Determine the Means of
Persuasion.
• Advice: information offered
• Exhortations: personal plea
• Commands: order from authority
• Warnings: threat of consequence
• Promises: incentives
• Questions: appeal to known facts, probing
• Quotations: e.g. appealing to authority of the O. T.
• Contrasts: the good verses the bad
• Examples: pointing to other people’s experiences; both
positive and negative.
 Keep Asking Questions.
• This is the greatest task: to keep asking THE
TEXT questions.
• Try to interact with the text/ writer by
interacting with the details.
 INTERPRETATION
• Interpret the Facts you have observed; what did they
mean to the primary audience?
• The goal of interpretation is to get the author’s
intended meaning.
• Interpretation engages both the specific words and
phrases and the author’s overall message.
• Activity of emphasis here is to Think, Think and Think
again. Reflect on the facts, tie them together, see the
links between facts, and look out for intentions and
emphases.
 A. Determine the Writer’s
Purpose.
• Look for the theme or draw out the principles that
tie facts and ideas into a meaningful whole
• The message should be linked to the context of the
passage.
• Determine the author’s purpose in writing to his
primary audience
• What was the value, meaning or significance of what
was written?
 B. Principles of Interpretation
• The rule of Context : All scripture must be
interpreted in context.
• The Natural Sense- The rule of Simplicity: Take
whatever you read as it is, unless it does not make
sense or contradicts scripture.
• The Original Sense- The rule of History: All historical
events in the bible did occur at one some particular
time in history.
• The General Sense- The rule of Harmony: The bible
does not contradict itself
 C. Understanding Figures of
Speech.
• Communicating abstract ideas using picture language
• These should never be taken literally, but
understood and interpreted as symbolic language.
• Start by taking everything literally
• If the literal meaning is absurd or contradicts
scripture, then determine if it is a figure of speech.
• Determine which figure it is
• Interpret it as a figure of speech, drawing from the
literal to the figurative meaning.
 C. Understanding Figures of
Speech-contd
• Simile: comparing two unlike things using ‘as’ or ‘like’
• Metaphor: comparing two unlike things using the verb
‘to be’
• Parable: short story with familiar people/activities
having one main idea
• Hyperbole: an intended exageration, obviously not true
if taken literally
• Personification: when an inanimate object or abstraction
is given personality traits
• Anthropomorphism: ascribing human characteristics to
God
 D. Bridging the Gaps.
• These include:
• Bible Dictionaries
• Bible Commentaries
• Bible Atlas
• Concordance
• Language Dictionary
• Ensure that these do not replace the Bible as your
source of authority. Consult them after trying
your best. Do not use a commentary until you
have come up with your own interpretation.
 APPLICATION
• What does the Bible mean to me/us?
• In application, we try to link the truths learnt
from God’s Word to lives and daily
experiences.
 A. The Purpose of Application
• All Bible study should come to this point where we
can list one or two specific things we have learnt that
we may put into practice.
• Apply the truths learnt to
– God’s people as a whole
– Your local fellowship
– Your small group
– Your own life
 Applications should be:
• Personal, honest and specific. Avoid applications that
are too general, impractical and ineffective
• As smart as possible:
• S – specific
• M – measurable
• A – applicable
• R – realistic
• T – time specific: when will you do it?
 Distinguish between:
• Moral laws: these are theological, transferable
and binding even today
• Ceremonial laws: these were not meant to be
permanent, but were to teach them what it
meant to be God’s people. They pointed
forward to what was going to happen in the
future. Borrow the principle.
 C. Get Practical.
• How does my life measure up to God’s truth?
• What practical action does this text challenge me to
take?
• What life changing view of God and his purposes do I
see?
• What can I praise God for?
• Is there any weakness in my life/ our group that this
text reveals for which we need help from God?
 Get Practical - contd
• Look for SPECK:
• S – sin to confess
• P – promise to brighten/ renew my hope
• E – example to follow or not to follow
• C – command to heed
• K – knowledge of God that is new.
 Moving Forward…Practical steps
Consistently read your Bible daily – define your
rhythm and pattern…
Be an active member of a Bible study
group
Diligently guard the deposit that is in
you until the end….Amen
MAY THE LORD BLESS YOU!
 Assignment
 Study 2 Chronicles 12: 1-12
– Observation
 Determine the literary form
 What are the clues to the writer’s emphasis?
 Use the 7 FFQs
 Are there figures of speech? If yes which ones?
 Any mean of persuasion?
 What are the possible divisions in the passages
 How are the paragraphs and ideas linked
– Interpretation
 Think about the meaning of the text from its context you
might go back to read chapter 11 and 13 of the same
book
– Application