Scripture Study Concepts

Throughout the book series presented on this website we’ll be considering many scriptural references, as well as natural and cultural revelations of Christ which reveal the workings of Providence in providing symbols to help make certain concepts more clear. The following is an explanation of these basic concepts to provide a deeper and richer scripture study experience, while avoiding many pitfalls that people often fall into.

Keeping a copy of the Bible handy as you study the books in this series can help you find deeper meaning and create anchor points for understanding. A printed Bible provides a more tangible experience and aids in forming a cognitive map for recalling and connecting points. Research supports the value of reading printed books. A printed Bible also has a certain vintage appeal, reflective of its timeless message.

For those unfamiliar with the Bible may find it challenging to read. The combination of frankness and factuality within it doesn’t gloss over the mistakes of its main characters, in contrast to contemporary writings of the times. Add to that God’s patience with human weakness and the time gap since it was written, and not every story is pleasant. But these factors help validate the Bible’s authenticity and provide assurance of God’s patience with humanity.

Some might feel about reading the Bible like the grandson in The Princess Bride felt about his grandfather’s book. At first, it may seem boring, but once you understand how it reveals Christ, the swashbuckling narrative becomes quite riveting. The grandfather’s book that was passed down through generations is like the Bible. It shares similar themes to this movie, which can be seen as a cultural revelation of Christ.

By the workings of providence, it would seem, cultural examples such as this provide glimpses of how interesting and beautiful the Bible’s stories are. Because it is the source of all knowledge and all mysteries, we find its truths reflected in a myriad of ways throughout nature and culture. Ecclesiastes 3:11, NIV, hints at this phenomenon when it says, “He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” The book entitled “Eternity in their Hearts” by Don Richardson expounds on this concept in more detail, discussing how God has put an innate sense of eternal truth within us and how stories and symbols that connect to biblical truths may be found in every culture.

Many are the ways God is reaching out to his children. He has traced his story on the canvas of Heaven and Earth. It’s written in the stars, on the continents, and in the ocean depths. It’s conveyed through media and artwork and shown through living and historical examples. When the Master storyteller that kept lakeside crowds spell-bound for hours returned to Heaven, his story telling hadn’t ended. It had only just begun.

I’m not recommending unfiltered acceptance of movies and mythology, to be sure, yet I believe there is value in recognizing how some may reflect biblical concepts. Though in seeking to avoid desensitizing my mind, I’ve always tried to limit my media exposure, I’ve discovered spiritual parallels in themes from many classic films. Some of these provide deep insights which we’ll be referring to throughout this book series. 

Yet it’s still wise to be cautious about media exposure, especially for children. The introduction of pagan or mythical concepts can lead to reduced interest in biblical truths (2 Timothy 4:3, 4). Verses like Proverbs 4:23 are among the reasons I also prefer to view movie scene clips on a smaller screen with lowered volume: “Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”

But to understand some of the natural and cultural symbolisms we’ll be covering, we will need to be aware of some principles that can unlock symbolisms and enrich your Bible study experience. Here is a summary of several principles of scriptural interpretation. I’ve named them to make them easier to remember;

The self-interpretation principle: 

Always assume the Bible will interpret itself. Look for other verses to help explain any passage you don’t understand. The Bible itself must provide confirmation of any interpretation through comparison of scriptures.

The multiple verse principle:

Never try to establish a truth on just a few verses. Study multiple verses on the subject throughout the Bible to get a clear view of what it’s teaching. You can use concordances or searches to find verses with the same word or term. Margin or center column references, in some printed Bibles, may also help you find connecting verses.

The symbolisms principle: 

Items like numbers, animals, and objects in the Bible have symbolic meaning. You can often find deeper meaning if you study the symbols by looking for other verses that help explain them. For example, Revelation 17:15 says that waters in the Bible symbolize “peoples, and multitudes, and nations.” Also, symbolic passages shouldn’t be taken literally, and those with factual details listed should be. For example, Revelation’s descriptions of hellfire are symbolic, rather than literal. But Genesis’ stories of Creation and the Flood are historical records with dates and time stamps. I’ve gone into more detail on these in the following book.

The original language principle:

It can help to look at the original Hebrew or Greek words in Strong’s Concordance, which is readily available online. You can find any verse in the concordance by searching for the verse reference with the word “Strong’s,” for example “John 3:16 Strong's” You can also see the original sentence structure with English interpretation if you search for a verse with “text analysis.” 

Nevertheless, we must be careful not to assign mystical power to the use of original languages, which can lead to pride and putting power in the hands of a few people. The Bible teaches that its message must be interpreted in local languages and nowhere encourages the idea that the use of Hebrew is proof of superiority (1 Corinthians 14:9, Matthew 28:19, 20).

The dual meaning principle: 

Prophecies often have 2 or more interpretations that may apply to different time periods. Don’t dismiss the possibility of a passage having multiple interpretations and applications. God packed messages for people of different ages into one small book (Mark 12:27).

The positive-negative principle:

That is the positive-negative principle, a phenomenon in which examples may take on contrasting significance when viewed from a different perspective. The idea is based on film photography, which contains both a negative and a positive picture within the same image. Human sight works by the same principle for most people. Metaphorical examples often contain both negative and positive symbolism as well, like how lions are used in scripture to depict either Christ or Satan. We’ll see several examples of this in the coming chapters. 

Many Bible stories and prophecies can be seen as symbolizing positive or negative elements, depending on how you look at them. For example, the marriage of King Solomon to multiple women is negative but represents Jesus’ spiritual marriage to believers in the positive. Though Solomon was disobeying God’s will (Deuteronomy 17:17-19), and thus bringing sorrow into his life (Ecclesiastes 2:10-11), God’s mercy found a way to show us a picture of Jesus through that.

The Jesus Principle:

Perhaps the most important principle is understanding that glimpses of Jesus are hidden throughout the Bible in a myriad of ways. As he explained of the scriptures in John 5:39, “these are they which bear witness of me.” This is also shown in Luke 24:27, where it says, “Beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them all the things in the scriptures about himself.

Reading the Bible is an amazing journey that can lead you into a closer relationship with God. And it’s the only book that by reading it, you get to meet the author. So, if you haven’t already, I hope you’ll take a chance on the adventure of studying the Bible for yourself.

Once you grasp its symbolisms, the Bible becomes more interesting than an 18th century romance or medieval dragon lore. When you understand the cosmic view it portrays and the spiritual realm it unveils, you see how we are living in a storyline of epic proportions. The earth’s continents are its castles, the seas are its moats, and there’s a dragon on the loose. Christ is our knight in shining armor. Once he rescues us, we must train to fight and rescue others. Unlike a fairy tale, however, its “happily ever after” can be yours...

If you read the story.

But the Bible doesn’t come alive until it gets some love. Much is lost by treating the Bible as a mysterious relic. Though it may seem like honoring it to try to keep it in pristine condition, this approach may lead to rarely cracking it open. For example, the references listed in parentheses throughout this book provide verses for deeper study. You may find it helpful to mark some of these and write notes in the margin. 

Strong’s Concordance (57) is also a great resource to enhance Bible study. It gives original language insights in English for each word of a text. Searching for the verse with the word “Strong’s,” (e.g. “John 3:16 Strong’s”) will pull up texts with hyperlinks to the concordance page for that word. Each is referenced by an assigned number. I’ll be referring to some of these throughout the book as well. To find the original sentence structure, you can also search for the “text analysis” of verses. This will help you locate pages showing the original language verse, its English translation, transliteration, and Strong’s numbers hyperlinks in parallel.

Understanding the Bible’s message is like putting together a puzzle, one piece at a time. Verses should be compared and considered in context with other texts to let scripture explain itself. Searching online or in concordances can help with finding other verses on any topic. It’s also important to avoid obscure or fanciful interpretations. And Bible study must be approached with prayer and humility, as spiritual things are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14). 

In referring to “the Bible,” “scripture,” or “the scriptures,” throughout this book, I am speaking of the 66 canonical books that have been confirmed to be accurate and divinely inspired. I don’t recommend using versions that include apocryphal books, or any similar works, due to the contradictions, deceptive errors, and fanciful writing they contain. Unless otherwise stated, scripture quotations in this book series are either based on the King James Version, or the American Standard Version (ASV) with revisions. The quotation marks and block quotes indicate the verses are from the Bible through a process of translation and revision.

The ASV, which is within the public domain, is based on the KJV and known for its accuracy. Biblical scholars and linguists worked on its development with consideration of newly discovered manuscripts. Still, archaic language and awkward wording were sometimes used. Although the older wording can sound majestic, it may make verses difficult to understand. Many Bible verses confirm that the Bible is for every language, tongue, and people (Revelation 14:6), which implies that translations can be updated for modern readers. So, for clarity, I’ve sometimes updated words or changed word order. In some cases, I’ve used different words with similar meaning, after consulting the lexicons in Strong’s Concordance and/or dictionaries.

To streamline verses for reference, I’ve often deleted short beginning words like “and” or “for” when not using the preceding verses they refer to. And I’ve removed unnecessary words that sound cumbersome in modern English, like repeated use of “and” or other extra words. While I’ve been cautious with my revisions, I don’t guarantee they are perfect.

Studying and speaking languages has made me aware of differences in sentence structures compared to English and how translation often involves reordering, omitting, or adding simple words. For example, different languages require different modifying words, like how we say “a flock of sheep” in English. These modifiers may or may not be found in the original language. Making complete statements by including such words shouldn’t be considered “adding to or taking away” from the Word of God.

For a sample of the revision process I used, with James 3:4, there were several outdated words that made it difficult to understand. In speaking of a ship turned by its rudder, the ASV concluded by saying, “whither the impulse of the steersman willeth,” which I changed to “wherever the helmsman wants to go.”

With this, I searched for the person who controls a ship’s rudder and found “helmsman.” I noticed that was one of the words mentioned in Thayer’s Greek Lexicon for the verse (in Strong’s Concordance), so chose to use it in place of “steersman.” The same lexicon speaks of “impulse” coming from the root word “to go,” so I used that. I also chose the word “wherever,” since the Greek word is translated to that in some of the examples of its use in Strong’s.  

In the text analysis of the verse, it ends with the word “βούλεται,” which translates to “will or desire,” so I used “wants,” a similar sentiment. In addition to these methods of preparing the quotes, I sometimes used the alternate meanings from the footnotes of the ASV. For the name of God, which ASV translates “Jehovah,” I have left it in the original Hebrew “HWHY,” which can be pronounced “Yahweh,” “YaHuWaH,” “Who-Hi,” or simply “LORD,” as some versions translate it. 

Tools you may find useful in studying include a ruler, pencil, large eraser, drafting compass, and printer paper or drawing paper. You might want to add watercolor paper, watercolors, colored pencils, or markers as well, since several illustrations in this book will provide opportunities for creativity. 

There is therapeutic value in making art by hand and it can help the learning process by facilitating insights. For that reason, keeping some art supplies handy while studying the Bible can be nice. The line drawings by Annie Vallotton in the Good News Bible show how simple illustrations can bring biblical concepts to life. 

You may want to draw some of the symbolisms you encounter. Watercolors can add a quick splash of color to a pencil drawing. They’re convenient because you can often blot mistakes off with a damp cloth. But try to avoid painting over areas that are still wet, as colors may run. There are many watercolor techniques you can explore. Painting is experimental for me, so I’ll just share a few ideas for fun. 

When using watercolors, place two cups of water within reach in the center of your workspace to avoid spills on the paper, one for rinsing brushes and the other to thin colors. A plate for mixing colors and a cloth for wiping the brush and plate between colors are also helpful. After washing and rinsing brushes between colors, dab the brush on the inside of the cup to remove excess water. If you’re not using a table, consider placing a blanket or shower curtain under your project to prevent stains. 

If you do the artwork, try not to be too self-critical of how it looks. Watercolors look best after drying when they’ve swirled and formed patterns. Sometimes they make a cauliflower effect, called blossoming. This can be beautiful where desired, but to avoid it, you can just reduce the amount of water on the brush and wait a few minutes until it dries before adding more color. 

As you embark on studying the scriptures, you’ll enter a whole new world of discovery as well as meet the Savior, who some say is long since dead. You’ll know how wrong they are when he walks off the pages and into your life. As he reveals himself to your soul through quiet whispers (1 Kings 19:12), you’ll find him to be the most wonderful friend you’ve ever known. 

For more about Bible study, you may want to see my articles entitled, "Got Wisdom?" and "Of Elephant's and Bible Study" at my other website.