Where do I start?
How do I get deeper into God’s word in order to grow?
Do these questions sound familiar? Many women feel inadequate when it comes to knowing how to study God’s word. We may read God’s word daily, but do we study it? It is vital for women of God to learn how to study the Bible. We are responsible for our own study and we are responsible for teaching our children the word of God (John 8:31; Deuteronomy 6:7). In the following series of articles we will be developing a methodology in simple steps that will help us to be better students of God’s word.
We may read God’s word daily, but do we study it? It is vital for women of God to learn how to study the Bible. We are responsible for our own study and we are responsible for teaching our children the word of God.
“Exegesis” may be a new word for some of you.
“Exegesis” comes from a Greek word that means “to lead or to guide out.” (ek “out” and egeisthas “to guide or lead out”) it is a process where we get out of the scriptures only what they are trying to say… Correct exegesis will keep the Bible interpreter from putting meaning back into the Bible text (Petrillo).
Exegesis, put simply, is what does the text say? (While hermeneutics deals with what the text means.) In order to get to the application or meaning of a text, we must first know what that text says. The primary goal of Biblical exegesis is to find the author’s original purpose for writing.
Why do Exegesis?
Peter wrote in 2 Peter 3:14-16,
Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction (emphasis added).
- Some things in the scriptures are hard to understand.
We need to be able to accurately handle the word of truth, working diligently in this endeavor (2 Timothy 2:15) and it takes in-depth study and research to understand some of the words we find in scripture. Peter is upfront with the fact that it may be difficult, but by him saying this we can infer that we should be trying to understand. - Some people distort the Scriptures to their own destruction.
What types of people distort the scriptures? The untaught and unstable. May we never be guilty of being either of these types of people. The “untaught” do not know what they are doing and are ignorant by choice because they do not seek out a teacher. The “unstable” are emotional and irrational, “tossed to and fro” (Ephesians 4:14)
Having a methodology will help us to know where to start when we open our Bibles to study. We will be able to get deeper and truly study God’s word instead of just reading it. This series of articles will be focused on developing this methodology. Through exegesis we can find out what the text says which will later help us to understand what the text means.