Observation is asking:
- What does the passage say to the people it was written to?
- Why did God say these particular words, to these people, at this particular point in the storyline?
Three Things to Remember about Observation
- Observation is done in specific order.
We start with the larger picture of storyline. To continue with the theme of exploring a new territory, we want to get to the highest place possible and then work down to specifics. So, we start with storyline, then the type of writing (genre,) the book, section, paragraph, sentence and then words.
Note:
Keep in mind that Scripture was first written in complete sections and books. The chapter and verse divisions were added to the Bible for the sake of convenience. There is no authoritative basis for the divisions we now find.
A man named Stephen Langton divided the Bible into chapters in the year A.D. 1227. Langton was a professor at University of Paris and later he became the Archbishop of Canterbury. Robert Stephanus (Stephens), a French printer, divided the verses for his Greek New Testament. It was published in 1551.
Jewish scholars also divided the Hebrew Scripture into chapters and verses to make it convenient for reference and quotation purposes. They can make it easier to find certain statements and accounts in Scripture, but at the same time chapter and verse divisions can cause a number of problems. They are sometimes arbitrary, and they sometimes interfere with the sense of the passage. Don Stewart : Why Is the Bible Divided into Chapters and Verses? Blue Letter Bible
- Observation works best when you take notes.
“A pen is a mental crowbar.”- Howard Hendricks
Take lots of notes. Some people prefer to jot down rough notes and only keep what they want for later use. You will be surprised how taking notes keeps you focused and on track.
- Observation takes practice. Don’t get paralyzed or overwhelmed.
If it helps, think of the picture of traveling with your Guide. You can talk with your Guide and ask questions. We are getting to know the Guide as we go. God wants us to enjoy this journey with Him.
Go slow and use the 4 W’s (who, what, when, and where) as a starting template to get in the habit of being thorough in this observation step.
1st do your own thinking
- Most people don’t think – they just repeat what they have heard other people say
- Goal is not information – but transformation – not written to make you a smarter sinner
- If you lose sight of the goal you bog down on all sorts of details – see 2 Cor 5:17 new creation
- The bible is designed for all the parts of you
Let’s start the Observation Step:
Start with your own observations before you consult a resource help. This sets you up for the most wonderful result, learning to think. For some of you, it is time to shed the mindset that you can’t understand or you are not smart enough. Seriously, you can with His help!
- What part of the storyline is this section? – The Bible is one complete story (See video or handout for more information.)
- What type of literature is this section?
- Ask questions (who, what, when, where, and why)
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- Narrative – This includes books of the Bible or sections of books which simply tell the story of what happened. Narrative tells us what happened, according to the purposes of the author. Sometimes there are spiritual lessons from events, and sometimes we are just gaining the context of the history of God’s people.
- Poetry – This is all of Psalms and sections of other books. The power of poetry comes through the use of vivid figurative language The Psalms and other poetic sections of the Bible communicate ideas, but they especially express emotion. They show life in its fullness.
- Wisdom – Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes are collections of wise sayings meant to shape the moral and ethical lives of their readers. They cover many practical topics. The book of James in the New Testament in many ways is like Proverbs in the Old Testament.
- Prophecy – The four major prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel) and the 12 minor prophets (Hosea through Malachi) are all God’s word to his covenant people, warning them and bolstering them during periods of pronounced spiritual and national danger. We must read Old Testament prophetic books as God’s challenge to the original audiences.
- Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are similar to the genres of narrative or biography, but they are more than these. The Gospels are proclamation. The people who wrote them were true believers relating first-hand accounts about the life and teachings of Jesus. And so we read the genre of Gospel as faith documents, announcing a world-changing event centered in the person of Jesus. (The teachings of Jesus we know as parables are their own genre. These unique stories communicate lessons embedded in extended similes and metaphors.)
- Epistles – The letters of the New Testament were communications to specific individuals or groups for specific and varied purposes. We need to get at the circumstances that led to them being written.
- Apocalypse – The book of Revelation and parts of the book of Daniel are revelations. Like other prophecies, they proclaim urgent messages to their original audiences, in particular, warning and comfort. To a greater degree than other prophetic books, they employ much symbolic language, which can be understood by studying preceding similar expressions in Scripture.
Resources Materials Intro:
How to use reference materials – online, concordance and Study Bible – Most important
Click for Questions for Observation that give ideas about the questions to ask.
Click for How to Read Genre’s
