Bible Study Tools

A few years ago I was not able to just read the Bible and study it. I had to have some sort of Bible study to follow, be it a book or on-line devotional. I didn't understand how people could just start reading the Bible on any given page and get something out of it. Once day I called a friend to chat and she told me that she had spent her morning just reading the Bible.What? How do you do that? How do you know where to start? How can it be that interesting to read for over an hour (or even 20 minutes)? I used to be one of those people who would only read a few verses and call it a day. Even though God would reveal Himself to me in those few verses, I still craved more, just didn't know how to get more. Still I read only a couple verses and chew on it for a while. There is nothing wrong with that. Hold on to your seats, I am about to show you a way to study the Bible using only ONE WORD (or maybe a phrase).

(A pretty pen always makes writing more fun right?)

Here is it is ladies and Gents... The Strong's Concordance with the Greek and Hebrew dictionary. Now, you don't have to have this 2,000+ page book to use a concordance but I like the paper version of everything. There are  sights online here and other brands. My Pastor and his wife gave this book to me as a going away gift when we left England.

A concordance shows alphabetically all of the words used in the Bible and their location. So you can look up the word turtle, ( yup that's in there...2 times) and it will show you what verses they are located in. So to use this to study you can find a word in the Bible that you want to know more about or a word that you hear a lot, confused about, find a pattern, etc. You may not think this will help you study the Bible much but believe me...if nothing, you will start to memorize where the books of the Bible are located. 

One of the word studies that I completed was on angel of the Lord.  I had been in a discussion of the angel of the Lord being the pre-incarnate Jesus. I was intrigued so instead of going to internet and get preconceived notions about it I decided to use my concordance. Below are the steps I took that you too can follow for any word study.

1.Find it! Pick out a word. Write down every time the word appears in the Bible. 'Angel of the Lord' was 77 times! I suggest leaving room to write some notes between each entry. I had to chicken scratch to fit my notes on the page.

(I talk about the other number here. Don't let the vastness of the book and all of the attributes intimidate you. It's easy to understand, I promise!)

2.Read it! Read through every PASSAGE the word is used. I say passage and not verse because you need to understand the context in which the word is being used. You can learn a lot by reading a passage compared to just a verse.

3.Write it! Makes notes of what you read. Due to my lack of space, I just wrote down key words from the story. Mark things that spark a question. Star the ones that have really good information. Create a mind map, spider web, bubble chart, brainstorm, whatever you call it, to start pointing out reoccurring themes or major ideas or questions. 

4.Learn it! Congratulations! You just studied the Bible. Yes, it was one word but look at how much you read, look at how many times you had to flip through your Bible. It is one step in the right direction to start creating your own Bible studies!

(Before you ask what my thoughts are on the Angel of the Lord being the pre-incarnate Jesus, conduct a study on it and then let's talk! :) 

It took me over a week to really study each verse and the passage that came with it. So don't think a study is too big or too small. All what matters is that you are diving into your Bible and learning. In this post I will tell you how to use the Greek and Hebrew dictionaries as a study (because they are powerful!) and the extra numbers next to the word. They all have a purpose and help you study! 

Remember to always pray before you go into a study. Pray for the Lord to open your eyes, ears, mind, and heart to what you are about to read. Ask to grow closer to Him and to know Him better through His word. I promise He won't disappoint! 

This is one of the methods I use to study the Bible. Do you have any experience or questions about using a concordance? Please leave a comment!

"All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17