Principles for Reading the Book of Proverbs

This is taken straight from the end of the book by Tremper Longman on "How to Read Proverbs", which I highly recommend.

1. Keep in mind the structure of the whole book of Proverbs as you read any part of it. In particular, make sure you read any passage of the book in the light of the imagery concerning the path and the two women that is developed in Proverbs 1-9 and reaches its climax in Proverbs 8-9.

2. Reflect on the parallelism of a proverb by asking how the second colon sharpens or intensifies the thought of the first.

3. Identify the imagery in the passage, then unpack it by asking how the two things compared are similar and how they are different.

4. Think about the source of the wisdom of a passage. Does it come from observation, experience, tradition, revelation or any combination of these sources?

5. Is the passage an observation, a bit of advice, a warning, a reflection, or some other kind of teaching?

6. Since proverbs are not true in any and every circumstance, ask under what circumstances the proverb may or may not apply to a situation. How can you tell?

7. Does the proverb mention or imply a reward or punishment that will result from obedience or disobedience?

8. If the passage is addressed to a young man, ask how it applies to you.

9. Using a commentary, study the Near Eastern background of the passage you are considering.

10. When doing a topical study, read through the book of Proverbs and pinpoint the relevant verses. Group them together, then study each group.

11. Try to identify biblical stories or characters who may illustrate the truthfulness of the proverb(s) you are studying.

12. Does the New Testament address the topic or teaching of the passage you are studying?

13. Think of Christ as the fulfillment of wisdom and how he might illustrate the wisdom of the passage you are reading.

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Proverbs: The Way of Wisdom

We are starting a preaching series through the Proverbs and one of our pastors gave this to us as a topical index for us preachers. It is nice and concise and one that will aid people in after the understanding of the depth and cornerstone of wisdom, namely Christ. I thought it would be helpful to put it here: (If you'd like to hear our sermons on wisdom for the next 10 weeks you can check it out here: Renton; Tacoma; Issaquah)

The Human Heart - Advising the humble versus the fool.

3:11-12; 9:7-9; 12:1, 15; 13:1, 10, 13-14, 18; 15:5, 10, 12, 31, 32, 33; 17:10; 18:2, 15; 19:25, 27; 21:11; 23:9; 24:5-6; 25:12; 26:11; 27:5-6, 22; 28:13, 23; 29:1,9.

Negative influences pulling us away from wisdom - The compound effect of the fool

11:11; 14:34; 16:29; 20:7; 25:4-5; 28:10, 12, 28; 29:2, 8,16

Alcohol (and other drugs) – The danger of heavy drinking

20:1, 21:17; 23:19-21, 29-35; 31:1-9

Emotional Expression (both positive and negative - anger) - Controlling destructive emotions

15:18; 16:14; 19:11, 12, 19; 21:19; 25:23; 27:3-4; 29:8, 22

Words (Rumors, Gossip, Slander, Lies) - The destructive power of words

6:16-19; 9:7; 10:14, 18; 11:12, 13; 12:17-19, 22; 13:3, 16; 14:5, 25; 15:28; 16:28; 17:4, 27, 28; 18:3, 8; 19:1, 5, 9, 28; 20:18-19, 25; 21:6, 28; 24:28-29; 25:8-10, 18, 23; 26:4, 20, 22; 30:7-10.

Business ethics - Dealing with honesty and generosity

6:1-5; 10:2; 11:1, 15, 18, 24-26; 13:11; 14:23; 15:27; 16:8, 11, 13, 26; 17:18; 20:10, 14, 16, 23; 21:5; 22:7, 26-27; 26:10; 27:13, 18; 28:8, 16

Family Relationships (including the role of discipline in raising children) - The locus for instruction

6:16-19; 10:1; 15:20; 17:2, 6, 17, 21; 19:13, 18, 26; 20:7, 20; 22:6; 23:13-14, 22-25; 27:8; 28:7, 24; 29:3, 15, 17; 30:11, 17, 21-23

Conflict (including speaking/listening) - Speaking wisely at the right time

6:16-19; 8:6-9, 12-14; 10:6, 12, 18-21, 31, 32; 11:11-13; 12:6, 13, 14, 25; 13:2, 5, 16; 14:3, 5, 25; 15:1, 2, 4, 7, 18, 23, 28; 16:10, 13, 24, 28; 17:4, 7, 14, 19, 20, 27, 28; 18:4, 6-8, 13, 19-21; 19:5, 9, 11; 20:3, 19; 21:23; 22:10-11; 23:15-16, 29-30; 24:7-9, 26; 25:10-11, 14, 24; 26:17, 20, 21, 28; 27:14; 28:25; 29:5, 20, 22; 30: 5-6, 10, 14; 31:26

Friendship/Neighbors - The value of friendships

3:27-31; 6:1-5; 11:9, 12; 14:20; 16:29; 17:9, 17, 18; 18:17-24; 19:4, 6, 7; 20:6; 21:10; 22:11; 23:10-11; 24:28-19; 25:8, 9-10, 17, 18; 26:18-19; 27:9-10, 14, 17

Planning (including hard work) - Planning and working hard as a way of the wise

1:5; 6:6-11, 18; 10:4, 5, 26; 11:14; 12:5, 11, 20, 24, 27; 13:4; 14:22, 23; 15:19, 22, 26; 16:1-3, 9, 33; 18:9; 19:15, 21, 24; 20:4, 13, 18, 24; 21:5, 25; 22:13, 29; 24:6, 27, 30-34; 26:13-16; 27:1, 23-27; 28:19; 29:18; 31:27

Illness and Health - The relationship between spiritual health and physical health

3:7-8; 12:4; 13:12; 14:30; 15:30; 16:24; 17:22; 18:14

Authority - Leading in godliness and wisdom from God

8:15-16; 14:28, 35; 16:10, 12-15; 17:7; 19:12; 20:2, 8, 26, 28; 21:1; 22:11; 23:1-3; 24:21-22; 25:2-3, 4-5, 6-7; 27:18; 28:2, 15, 16; 29:4, 12, 14, 26; 30:21-23; 31:1-9

Reliable Messengers (and how this directly applies to us speaking the Gospel ) - Delivering messages with accuracy and in a timely manner

10:26; 13:17; 25:13, 25; 26:6

Protecting the Vulnerable - God’s concern for orphans and widows

15:25; 23:10-12

Shame - Praise belongs to the wise and shame to the proud

3:35; 6:32-33; 9:7; 11:2; 12:8; 13:18; 14:35; 18:3; 22:10; 25:8; 28:7; 29:15

Wealth and Poverty - The wealth of the fool is temporal; the wealth of the wise is in wisdom itself

3:9-10; 6:1-5; 8:18-19; 10:2, 3, 4, 15, 16; 11:4, 7, 15, 24, 28; 12:9; 13:7, 8, 11, 22, 23, 25; 14:20, 21, 24, 31; 15:15, 16, 17; 16:8, 19; 17:1, 5, 18; 18:11, 23; 19:4, 7, 10, 14, 17, 22; 20:17, 21; 21:6, 17, 20; 22:2, 4, 7, 9, 13, 16, 22-23; 23:4-5; 24:3-4; 27:13, 23-27; 28:3, 6, 8, 11, 16, 20, 25, 27; 29:3, 7, 13, 14; 30:7-9

An honorable wife - Avoid woman folly and seek woman wisdom

5:1-23; 6:20-35; 7:1-27; 11:22; 12:4; 14:1; 18:22; 19:13, 14; 21:9, 19; 22:14; 25:24; 27:15-16; 30:18-19, 20; 31:1-9, 10-31

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9 Mostest Weirdest Stories of the Bible

I figured I would change things up some. I have not been able to have fun on the blog in a while as I have been doing a lot of posts and studies on Muslim/Christian relations. Hardly appropriate to drop funny lines when speaking of that topic. But, being that I like to both study the Bible and write humorously, I am trying to figure out why I haven't done this before. If you are new to this blog, I apologize ahead of time on my humor and writing style as I embark on this odd blog series. If you want to get used to what this might look like, I would tell you to take a look at my blog series called, "10 Steps to Become a Legalist." Which, I have to be honest, was one of my favorite blog series I have ever done. And, oddly, a pastor of a pretty large church in Alabama asked to use those blog posts for a sermon series.

My goals for this series are the following:

1. Have some fun and make you laugh. I am what some would call, an equal opportunity basher. I will make fun you at some point in this series. Please laugh. I will make fun of myself probably more. Please pray for my self-deprecating attitude with my idiosyncrasies.

2. Get people excited about the Old Testament. Let's be honest. Most people don't read the Old Testament unless their Sunday School teacher forces them to study through it to prove something. We all know that these teachers are usually monotone, and seem to take pleasure in picking out the most dry passages in the Old Testament and then taking two years going through them. All the while, feeling like he is more righteous because he gleans so much from these passages as you try and keep your head from bobbing while falling asleep. Probably why the Southern Baptists created the "quarter system" for Sunday School.

3. Get people to worship God and his glory through these passages. Most teachers are clueless on what the Old Testament is really about and how it connects with the overall story of God and His glory. The above mentioned baby sitters, I mean "teachers", love to tell you how to make yourself more like David or less like David, depending on the passage. They love to give you a list to follow so your faith can be like David's, or give you a list to follow so you don't murder a woman's husband after you have sex with her because you are a peeping Tom watching her take a bath. What these teachers miss, is that maybe these stories are telling us more about the glory of God, than how we can better ourselves.

So, these are my thoughts on why I want to go through these passages. Why 9? Because 9 is a strange number with no secret biblical code to unlock. At least I haven't found it to be one of yet with the bible code detector ring from my Rob Bell: You too can have faith like Peter's, Wheaties' box.

I also want to include you, the reader, to help me out. What are some weird stories that you have read in the Bible that you have no idea why they are there and have no idea how they would point to the glory of God. Or, are just plain odd and you think are funny. Because lets be honest...funny brings readers. Readers bring comments. Comments bring...well nothing really because I do this stupid blog for free and have never made a penny doing it. But, comments make me feel important, and might get me a Sunday School gig at your local 4th First Baptist Church.

So, either comment here, hit me up on twitter or Facebook or email me what weird stories you would like to see in this countdown of sorts.

Hopefully this will be a great series that will be enjoyable for everyone involved. And, I hope to make fun of you...a lot. But only so you see your weirdness and look more to Jesus.

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Should We Use Study Bibles?

If you look around your local church you'll probably notice that people are carrying around these huge books, covered in enough leather that took a whole cow, where they are so big the dorks out there are carrying them in their rolling briefcases, because they are so heavy.

These things you see taking over the church are called study bibles. They are huge. Each one needing their own pulpit so your arms don't get tired holding them up.

Last year, the ESV Study Bible was named as the best book of the year by most major bloggers and Christian publications. This has made study bibles even more accessible to even the Reformed folk who have held off so they didn't have to trust in Arminians and dispensationalists to give them sermon ideas.

Now this opening makes it sound like I am completely against study bibles, which I am not. What I do want to put forth is some thoughts on how to make sure we don't allow the notes in the study bible as infallible as the red letters that they are explaining.

I know that we all, or most of us, remember the days of the horrific bible studies where you read a verse and then everyone gave their opinion on what it meant to them. Sometimes, I remember hearing 10 different views on the same verse. I was in high school back then, caring less about Jesus but had to pretend because my dad was the pastor. I remember thinking, "Who cares what these guys think it means, what does it actually mean?" So, off those horrific "bible studies" I understand why more people like to have in their hands a short commentary on the Scriptures where ever they are. I get that.

But, what has happened, or what I see happening, is that instead of studying the bible for themselves, they simply read the notes and that becomes ex cathedra. I hate to bring this up, but those who do the notes in your Bibles...they are fallible. I know, it's crazy to think that they could be wrong and you are just a dumb sheep following dumb teachings, but it could be true. What is funny, and it shouldn't be, is that every time I hear someone read from their study Bible notes, I just hear, "baaaaaaaa, baaaaaaaa" I ask them, "well, what did you find in your own study of the passage?" They look at me like a hooker in a baptist church.

I just want to put forth some ideas to help make these study Bibles, a help and not a hindrance.

All these things that I list should come before one even looks at the study notes in their study Bibles.

1. Know who wrote the notes. Know their background and theological convictions. Try to have Bibles with differing views so you can have a good supply of ideas on different verses in the Bible. This creates one to think out differing views to think and study for themselves.

2. Study the passage yourself. I know, this sounds crazy. Actually study the bible for yourself? Sounds like I am asking you to try and form your own ideas on what the bible says. Well, I am. If you merely recite what others say, what makes you different than a parrot who asks if you want a cracker? How is this understanding the Christ in your heart and not merely head knowledge? Tear through the passage yourself, looking at context, looking at who wrote the passage, cross referencing the passage with other passages and verses in the NT and OT, compare your conclusions with the rest of the Scriptures, find where Christ is the hero in the passage, etc.

3. Pray over the passage. Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit to teach us and guide us. Just to give you a hint. The Holy Spirit isn't code for John MacArthur, R.C. Sproul or J.I. Packer. I know we forget that, and these men know their Bibles very well, but they have searched the Scriptures and would ask you to do the same. Read a passage, read the verses and spend time in prayer that God would show you what it means and how it represents Jesus as the hero and how you should glorify God because of it. When was the last time you prayed over a passage that you read and studied?

4. Ask, "How does my interpretation work within the rest of the Scriptures?" If you have come up with an interpretation of the passage that contradicts the Bible in other parts, you might want to check yourself. This step requires one to be drenched in the word of God. But with someone who loves God, this step comes as they become more and more sanctified and grow in the knowledge of the Christ. A new Christian might have no clue on this as they are new to the Bible. This can take time. But any Christian, new or old, should do as much as God has supplied in this area.

5. Ask friends how they have interpreted the passage and how it has impacted their life for Christ. If you are homeschooled and have no friends, then start using what we call a computer and get on twitter and facebook so you can make friends. Kidding of course. But simply ask others that you love and see live for Jesus and ask them about it.

6. After all this, see what the study Bible (which I would recommend the ESV Study Bible) or other commentators have to say. You won't always be in agreement and sometimes this is okay. The only time this isn't okay is if you have come out completely opposite from all sources in professional training. You might want to take a second look. If you come out thinking that Jesus really has wool and hooves because he is called the Lamb of God, you might want to rethink your interpretation of those scriptures. Test their conclusions on the passage, making sure that you aren't merely reciting what they have said, but coming to a conclusion that makes you worship Christ instead of the human interpreter.

The reason I write this is that with the internet, cheap books and study Bibles, personal struggle with passages have become abnormal. Instead, what we find it a lot of reciting of famous preachers and teachers of today and times gone by. Although it is very profitable to study what the Holy Spirit has told others, we need the Spirit to test us and our spirit as well. We need to struggle through prayer and study on our own so that we can see the transformation of the Spirit in our lives. The passages that mean the most to me are the ones I have personally studied and prayed over like crazy and then having the Holy Spirit walk me through it to deeper understanding of how it should affect my love for Christ.

I don't hate study bibles, but I fear what they are doing to our congregations. I fear that if used improperly, we will grow into parrots reciting whatever the study notes say, and without knowing it, we have made them infallible and non-negotiable. The only persons who are those two things are the Trinity, not man.

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