The Bible isn’t a book; it’s a library.
The Bible is …
- A collection of 66 different books
- Written in three languages
- Across three continents
- Over a 1,500-year time period
- By 40 different authors
The authors include farmers and fishermen, shepherds and doctors, priests and prophets, philosophers and kings.
What is it? It’s actually a collection of poems and prophesies, letters and laws, histories and biographies that shows us God’s love for us.
And to understand the context of what you’re reading, when you open up the Bible, you’re always going to ask three questions …
Three Simple Questions
- Who wrote it?
- To whom was it written?
- What is its purpose?
So, let’s practice this together. We’ll open up the Bible to Philemon, and we’ll try to get the context as we go. Philemon starts with these words …
Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker … and to the church that meets in your home … (Philemon 1:1-2)
First of all: Who wrote it? Paul. It’s the shortest letter he ever wrote – only 335 words.
What’s interesting is that he identifies himself as “Paul, the prisoner.” He doesn’t say, “Paul the apostle.” Almost every other time, he says, “Paul the apostle.” But here he writing to an old friend. And he doesn’t want to pull his official rank on his friend.
And the leads to our second question: To whom was it written? It was written to Philemon, a wealthy businessman who led a church in his home, and was an old dear friend of Paul.
When you start to understand the context, it comes alive for you. And to make it really speak to you, you begin to ask some very real questions. And so, the next thing you want to do is …
Read slowly and ask questions.
And I’ll tell you what you want to ask. We’re always going to ask the two biggest questions …
The Two Biggest Questions
• “What does this say about God?”
• “What is God saying to me?”
And, if you want to dig deep, try looking at every little SPECK on the page …
SPECK ….
• Is there a SIN to be avoided?
• Is there a PROMISE to be claimed?
• Is there an EXAMPLE to follow?
• Is there a COMMAND to obey?
• Is there something to KNOW about God?
So, we’re going to read slowly, and ask questions, and look at every little SPECK on the page. And when you read the Bible like that, wow! It comes alive and the Holy Spirit can speak to you and begin to work on you from the inside.
