Bible reading | Knowable Word

The Bible Is Not About You

January 2, 2023 By Ryan Higginbottom

We are self-centered by nature. This egotism can be amplified in certain cultures and by some personalities, but we all have a central impulse to focus on the person in the mirror.

So it is not surprising that when we turn to the Bible we think about ourselves first. Our spiritual disciplines can easily become a vehicle for self-improvement.

So what is a healthy way to approach reading the Bible? How should we pay attention to and process God’s word?

For a start, when reading the Bible, we should not immediately look for ourselves in the text. The Bible has implications for us, but the Bible is not about us.

The Bible is about God

If the Bible is not about us, then what is it about? Don’t take my word for it—search the Bible from beginning to end and you will see there is one primary actor and one main subject. The Bible is about God.

Note how the book begins.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)

And when the book ends, we see the servants of this creator-king gathered around to worship.

No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. (Revelation 22:3)

God is infinite and eternal, so glorious and holy that humans could never know him without his self-revelation. And while God has revealed himself through his creation, he has shown himself in more detail and with precision in his word, the Bible.

Consider the way this displays God’s heart. He wants to be known! If you have access to a Bible, you are able to learn about this wonderful, powerful God. This is his desire!

The Bible is about Redemption

As we read the Bible, we learn who God is and what he is like. But we also learn about the place of humanity in the world and how we relate to God.

Adam and Eve turned against God early in the Scriptural story, disregarding his command and seeking their own way. God responded with judgment, mercy, and a promise. God’s judgment was the exile from Eden (Gen 3:22–24) and the curse—childbirth, the husband-wife relationship, and work in creation would all be painful and difficult (Gen 3:16–17). God’s mercy was that he continued to speak with the man and woman and that he covered their shame and nakedness (Gen 3:21). God’s promise was that there would be a child of Eve that would bruise the serpent’s head (Gen 3:15).

The rest of the Bible unfolds these responses of God and the fulfillment of his promise, and everything points to Jesus (Luke 24:44–48). Jesus was the Son of God incarnate; he came to make God known (John 1:18), to redeem God’s people (Titus 2:14), and to bring them to God (1 Peter 3:18).

So, the Bible is about God, but it is also about how (and why) he is redeeming a people for himself.

Implications for Reading

If God and his redemptive purposes are at the core of the Bible, that should shape how we read.

First, we should be aware of the big picture as we read. When we study the Bible, we are seeking the author’s main point of each passage and how we should respond. But when we are reading for breadth, we don’t have time for such a narrow focus. It is better to think about the themes and arguments of the book we are reading and how they connect to the overall sweep of Scripture. Reading for breadth is primarily about familiarity and understanding, not application.

We should be sure to interpret before we apply the Bible. Some people are in such a rush to come away from their Bible reading with a “nugget” on which to meditate for the rest of the day that they skip crucial steps. All basic communication means that we must understand before we act. This may mean that you end up with no victory token from your devotions, no Instagram-worthy verse to quote and post. And that is fine!

Finally, we should think corporately, not individually. Especially in the global west we have a far more individual mindset than the first audiences of the Bible. God has set out to redeem a people for himself, the Church. This collective body is not the same as a group of random humans! So, while applying the Bible has clear implications for us as persons, those implications (often) flow out of truths and commands for the corporate people of God. (So many of the New Testament commands are for you (plural), not you (singular)!)

The beginning of another year brings many of us back to the Bible. As we turn to the Bible for the first or for the ten-thousandth time, let’s make sure we recognize our place. We are part of this grand story, but none of us are at the center. That would be far too small a story.

Re-Train Yourself in How to Read

November 16, 2022 By Peter Krol

We just launched our 2023 Bible reading challenge, and Tommy Keene has some good advice to help you along your way. He discusses “The Problem with Reading the Bible Verse by Verse,” and gives many practical suggestions for becoming better readers of the Bible.

Over the years we have trained ourselves to read the Bible in an unnatural way, so we’re going to have to break some bad habits. We are trained to read the Bible verse-by-verse, but in keeping with the “ordinary reading principle” we need to change our habits. We should ordinarily be reading the Bible paragraph-by-paragraph or, even better, book-by-book.

To re-train ourselves, we must discipline ourselves to read and get swept up in the grand literature of the Bible. We must be content not to read commentaries or study notes every time we have a question. We ought to devour the Scripture in gobbles rather than nibbles.

Keene discusses the benefits of reader’s editions and audio Bibles, all of which are encouraged in our reading challenge. Let Keene strengthen your conviction to read God’s word this year as though it was something God gave you to be read (because it was).

Check it out!

Announcing our 2023 Bible Reading Challenge

November 4, 2022 By Peter Krol

We believe one of the best ways to learn to study the Bible is to read it. A lot of it. Over and over again. That won’t give you everything you need to understand it, but it will get you quite a long way toward the goal. As in marching through Kadesh all the way to the peaks of Pisgah. All you have to do is look down toward the valley, trust that God meant what he said, and finish the job from there. Don’t listen to those fools who speak of giants and grasshoppers. Look at the size of those grapes. And the size of the God who gives them.

If you’re not sure what I mean by all this Kadesh/Pisgah stuff, then maybe this is your year to read the entire Bible in 90 days. Milk and honey are yours for the taking. Not the under-the-tongue sort (Song 4:11) but the flowing-land sort (Deut 26:9). Though, of course, there is a theological connection between the two.

But I digress and perhaps ought to get to the point.

The Challenge

I’m writing to announce our 8th annual Bible reading challenge. The challenge is to read the entire Bible within 90 days. If you wish, you may begin today. Regardless of when you begin, your 90-day period must end no later than March 31, 2023.

And why—you ask—would you embark on such a strange venture? (“Madness,” they say. “Sheer madness.”) I can think of at least three reasons. One: Your grasp of the Bible’s big picture will surge like a COVID case count in winter. Two: Your reward in heaven will be great. And three: We’ve got a sweet set of prizes to urge you on in the present age.

All who complete the challenge are invited to fill out the form below (which we’ll share again as the twilight of March draws nigh). One grand prize winner will be selected at random to win their choice of ESV Scripture Journals (Old Testament or New Testament), generously provided by the good people at Crossway Bibles. One additional winner will be selected to receive a one-volume reader’s Bible of their choice. Physical prizes are limited to the continental United States. Winners in other parts of the world will receive a $50 Amazon gift card via email.

If you’d like a checklist to help you stay on pace, here are three. You may make a copy and update the dates, if you plan to start on a date other than January 1.

Or here is an iOS app that can help you track your plan. You may also want to consider making a reading plan in the Dwell listening app if you prefer audio.

You may now begin any time, and may this be the ride of your life.

Official Rules

Here are the rules:

You must read (not scan or skim) all 66 books of the Protestant Bible. You may choose the translation and reading plan (canonical, chronological, etc.). You don’t have to stop and meditate on every detail, but the Lord sees and knows when you are being honest about reading and not skimming. Listening to an unabridged audio Bible is acceptable. You may also use any combination of audio and visual reading, as long as you’ve read or listened to the entire Bible within the allotted time period.
You must read the entire Bible within a 90-day period.
The last day of that 90-day period must be between November 6, 2022 and March 31, 2023. If you’d like to understand why we recommend such fast-paced reading, see our Bible reading plan for readers.
To enter the drawing, you must fill out the survey below, letting us know the dates you read and what you thought of the speed-reading process. Your thoughts do not have to be glowing, but they should be honest; you’ll still be entered into the drawing if you didn’t enjoy your speed-read.
Any submissions to the form below that don’t meet the requirements or appear to be fabricated will be deleted. For example: multiple entries with different data, date of completion not between November 4, 2022 and March 31, 2023, “What I thought about the experience” has nothing to do with Bible reading, or date of completion is later than the date of entry submission (please don’t try to enter the drawing if you plan to read the Bible; only enter once you have completed reading it).
In the first week of April 2023, we will randomly select 2 winners from those who have submitted the form. We will email the winners to get their shipping addresses. If a winner does not respond to our request for a shipping address within 1 week, a new winner will be selected in their place.
The first prize winner (if US) will get their choice of the Old or New Testament ESV Scripture Journals. The second prize winner (if US) will get their choice of a one-volume reader’s Bible (While these are not your only options, we have reviewed the following: ESV, CSB, NIV.). Any winner outside the continental US will receive a $50 Amazon gift card via email.
Unfortunately, though they are terrific people doing marvelous work for the sake of Christ, staff members of DiscipleMakers are not eligible to win the drawing.

Why We Skip Some Books of the Bible

October 10, 2022 By Ryan Higginbottom

When was the last time you studied the book of Nahum? What about 3 John? Have you read Ezekiel or Revelation carefully this year?

If you haven’t studied any of these four books recently, you’re probably not alone! I searched in vain for data on this question, but years in the church have convinced me that there are some portions of the Bible we rarely read, let alone study.

Let’s think a bit about our selective Bible reading.

The Books We Like

What parts of the Bible do Christians most often read, study, and discuss? What do our preachers most often take as their texts?

In my experience, we spend a lot of time in the Gospels, Acts, and (many of) the New Testament epistles. We are fans of Old Testament narratives like Genesis, Exodus, and—to a lesser degree—the books of Joshua through Esther. We dip into Psalms and Proverbs for inspiration and wisdom, and we might read the beginning and ending of Job. The only prophetic books we tend to know are Jonah and the first half of Daniel, because these chapters have strong narrative components.

In general, we like narratives, inspiration, and New Testament instruction. We shy away from the rest. Why is that?

The Books We Skip

There isn’t a single reason, and answers will vary by person, church, and circumstance. But here are my best guesses.

We skip Leviticus through Deuteronomy because we find them boring. There are too many laws, too many lists, and we find the books irrelevant.

We skip the middle of Job because it is lengthy and circular. We don’t really understand why it’s there. We skip Ecclesiastes because it is depressing and Song of Songs because it makes us uncomfortable. We skip Lamentations because it is so darn sad.

We skip the major prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel) because they are dense and difficult. We think of these books as long and repetitive. We skip most of the minor prophets because they are obscure and challenging, and probably no one expects us to read them carefully.

We skip 2 John, 3 John, Philemon, and Jude because they are short. What could an epistle of only one chapter teach us?

Finally, we skip Revelation because it is confusing and controversial. We have heard of or seen people use this book incorrectly, and we’re not sure we’re smart enough to understand.

What Books Should We Read?

Functionally, we think spending time on these often-skipped books of the Bible is not essential to our Christian lives. We imagine we’re not missing anything crucial in our neglect.

The gospel of Jesus Christ affirms that reading those books of the Bible is not essential to being a Christian. When we come to Jesus, he commands us to repent and believe. No act of obedience or love is necessary to keep us in his family. He will not let us go!

However, Jesus also said that all of the Scriptures point to him (Luke 24:44–48). So, if we want a full picture of who Jesus is, what he has done, what he is doing, and what he will do, we must look to the whole counsel of God.

That is, we should read (and study) the entire Bible.

Different Books in Different Seasons

This argument requires a small caveat. Not every book of the Bible is the best choice for every person or at every time. I would more likely point a new Christian to John than to Jeremiah, and I’d offer different counsel to a recent widow than a missions-bound twenty-something. Wise friends, counselors, and church elders can help us know where to turn in God’s Word.

But much of the church has quietly developed a category of books of the Bible that need not be read or studied. These books rarely even come up in discussion.

While we cannot read and study all of the Bible at once, we should not ignore or neglect any part of it. There are riches on every page, as much in Leviticus as in Luke.

It’s Okay to Struggle With the Bible

September 7, 2022 By Peter Krol

I appreciate Scott Sauls’s piece, “Sometimes I Struggle With the Bible,” because I certainly have similar moments.

When I read Scripture, potential distractions abound. So many things seem more urgent and alluring—things like email, text messages, social media, the day’s news cycle, to-do lists, the latest Netflix series or music release, or opportunities to connect with actual, in the flesh human beings.
Boredom can set in…
I also find the Bible perplexing…

But in the end, Sauls shows it’s all worth it. Check it out!

How to Find Time to Read the Bible

August 24, 2022 By Peter Krol

Barbara Harper took some advice from Elisabeth Elliot, that she’d never find the time for something that matters unless she made time for it. In this blog post, she provides some very practical suggestions for how to do just that.

As Ryan has written before on this blog, you have enough time to study the Bible. Barbara argues the same conclusion, along with much specific guidance to help you make the most of that time.

Check it out!

What We Miss When We Skip the Book of Ezra

August 15, 2022 By Ryan Higginbottom

The book of Ezra is an odd duck. It bears the name of a man who doesn’t appear in its first half. Though titled like a minor prophet, this is a book of history, one far shorter than most historical books in Scripture. And it is one of the few portions of God’s word set after the Babylonian exile.

I couldn’t find any data to justify this suspicion, but I would guess that Ezra is not commonly read or studied by modern Christians. I get it—among other barriers, there are long lists of names in chapters 2, 8, and 10.

Yet, this little book has much to offer!

God Works in the Hearts of Kings

God rules over kingdoms and kings—this is true everywhere and at all times. But it is made explicit with surprising frequency in the book of Ezra.

We see this in the very first verse of the book: “…the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing …” (Ezra 1:1)

We also read that the Lord “had turned the heart of the king of Assyria” toward the Israelites (Ezra 6:22). The author of the book blesses God “who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem, and who extended to me his steadfast love before the king and his counselors, and before all the king’s mighty officers” (Ezra 7:27–28). Finally, as part of his confession, Ezra thanks God that he “has extended to us his steadfast love before the kings of Persia, to grant us some reviving to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us protection in Judea and Jerusalem” (Ezra 9:9).

In Ezra a group of Israelites journeyed from Babylon to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple of God. Since they left captivity, traveled through dangeous territories, and settled in an occupied land, these people needed the approval, help, and protection of the local and central rulers. God gave them this favor, often by creating in the rulers a desire to help God’s people.

In addition to these large examples, the Lord worked in large and small ways to bless his people through governmental (and even bureaucratic) channels.

Repentance Requires Radical Action

Shortly after Ezra arrived in Jerusalem, he learned of widespread sin among the people. They had “not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations” and had “taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands” (Ezra 9:1–2).

God’s people had taken wives who worshiped foreign gods. This was disastrous, as the Israelites were trying to reestablish a community of faith and these marital bonds were likely to lead them in the opposite direction.

It sounds shocking to our modern ears, but repentance in this situation needed to be drastic. Here was Ezra’s prescription.

You have broken faith and married foreign women, and so increased the guilt of Israel. Now then make confession to the Lord, the God of your fathers and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives. (Ezra 10:10–11)

While the last two chapters of Ezra should prompt a longer discussion about marriage and divorce, one thing is clear. Ezra took sin and repentance seriously. His grief over his people’s transgressions would make the modern church stagger.

Worship is Central

The Israelites headed back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. They began with the altar and when that was finished, before any other part of the temple was constructed, they resumed the offerings, feasts, and festivals (Ezra 3:3–5). When they started to make progress on the temple itself, the people were moved: “And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid” (Ezra 3:11).

When the people finished the temple, they dedicated “this house of God with joy” and kept the Passover (Ezra 6:16, 19).

The narrative of the book then moves to the man Ezra, a priest and scribe. But this too is about worship. “Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel” (Ezra 7:10). Though the people had resumed the temple practices, they needed the word of God at the center of their worship, so God sent Ezra.

All About Worship

The centrality of worshiping God is a central pillar of Ezra. Even the first two themes I mentioned in this article are connected to worship. (God’s work in kings helped the people build the temple; radical repentance was needed because the people were being led away from worshiping God.)

This is one way that Ezra connects to the overarching story of the Bible. We were made to worship God, but our rebellion means that we need a pure high priest to make our worship possible. Ezra reminds us of this central activity of the community of God and our dependence on him to draw us near.

You Don’t Have to Read the Bible Every Day

July 18, 2022 By Ryan Higginbottom

“How’s your spiritual life?”

When most Christians are asked that question, their minds turn toward spiritual disciplines. They reflect on the previous week or month and how regularly they prayed, read the Bible, and so on. These activities have become the measure for many of vibrant Christian faith.

Still, many of us know people who are rigid about these disciplines but lack love and grace in their relationships with others. These regular practices don’t automatically produce the fruit of the Spirit.

The Gospel in Bible Reading

And yet, throughout the years, those who follow Jesus have been greatly helped by spiritual disciplines. The goal of these habits should be to stir up our affections for God, to help us regularly confess and repent of our sins, to rehearse our dependence on God’s grace, and to propel us toward loving our neighbors.

There’s a lot to unpack in that previous sentence! That takes time and instruction, and often when people come into the church they only hear a poor distillation: “Read your Bible and pray every day.”

When it comes to our motivations, humans are drawn more naturally to law than to grace, because we can measure ourselves against a regulation. Well, I only read the Bible four times this week, so my spiritual life must be mediocre.

Some discipleship endeavors reinforce this posture. If we check our boxes each week, we’re growing; if we fall under a certain threshold, we’re stagnant or in spiritual danger.

The gospel of Jesus can make box-checkers uncomfortable. For those who confess Christ, repent of their sins, and trust him alone, the good news should be repeated as often as possible. We are children of the Most High God. He loves us so completely that nothing we ever do can increase or decrease that love.

For the purposes of this particular website, let’s state in terms of Scripture. God does not love us any more when we read the Bible, and he does not love us any less when we don’t.

The Word is a Blessing

Please understand, I am not trying to convince you to read the Bible less often! But I want our motivations to be founded on the very Scriptures we study. As I wrote at the beginning of this year, the Bible points us to God’s word much more often with enticement than with scare tactics.

Christian, do you know how good the word of the Lord is?

The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple;
the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true,
and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward. (Psalm 19:7–11)

A Christian disconnected from or uninterested in the Bible is a contradiction. But we are not disobeying God if we do not read the Bible every day. (Our weeks are more similar to each other than our days are, and there are a variety of ways to take in the Bible.)

We Don’t Have To, We Get To

Over the last several years, my family has developed a simple, delightful practice when we go away for vacation. We take long walks together after dinner. We set out as a family to enjoy each other, the weather, and the scenery. It’s now a favorite activity for each one of us.

Do we have to take a walk every evening? Nope. If it’s raining, or very late, or if someone isn’t feeling well, we might skip it, shorten it, or move the time around. But as late afternoon arrives and we start making dinner, we usually talk about where we’ll walk that night.

The walk requires time, energy, and effort, but we love it. Even when we follow the same route on multiple days, we arrive back at the apartment refreshed and happy.

Believers, we don’t have to read the Bible every day. But God has generously provided his word to nourish and bless us. Do you want to be nourished? Do you want to be blessed?

Which Voice Delights You Most?

May 13, 2022 By Peter Krol

My fifth commandment for commentary usage is:

You shall not spend more time reading commentaries than reading and listening to the Bible.

If you’ve been tracking my advice thus far, you know I’m not opposed to commentaries; I find them an essential part of one’s study routine. And last week I encouraged you to read more commentaries. So with this commandment, I’m not suggesting you spend less time with commentaries but only that you spend more time with the Scripture itself. Unmediated. Unfiltered, except perhaps through translation to your native tongue.

In short, this commandment urges you to give priority to the voice of your Chief Shepherd over that of his under-shepherds. If you fail to cultivate that discipline, here are four risks you run.

Risk #1: Misidentifying the Source of Authority

If the majority of your time in “Bible study” is spent reading commentaries, you are unwittingly trusting, and not-so-subtly communicating, that the authority over the church and the Christian life is not the word of God, or the Son of God who spoke it, but its interpreters. Theological tradition is a very good thing … unless it becomes the primary thing. In which case, it obfuscates the best thing.

Risk #2: Becoming a Consumer of Theological Options

When you spend most of your time reading commentaries, you may end up treating theological traditions as a marketplace with you the consumer. You consider and evaluate the options until you find one that suits you best. You may end up persuaded, not by the option most faithful to the text, but by the option most persuasive in rhetoric. Or you pit one option against another, as though there must be an either/or instead of some sort of both/and dynamic.

Risk #3: Misdirecting Your Joy

When most of your time is spent in commentaries, instead of in the Scriptures themselves, you risk finding your joy in the commentaries rather than in the Scriptures. If you are bored or confused by the Bible, to the point where you must read one or more commentaries to find joy in the process of study, you are in danger of wandering from the lover of your soul. His sheep hear his voice; they do not know the voice of strangers.

Risk #4: Limiting Your Intimacy With the Lord

Following from the previous risk, this risk is the consequence of finding greater joy in the voice of someone other than the bridegroom himself. Bible study is not merely an academic or educational enterprise. It is a relational transaction. It is the means by which God’s people hear his voice so they may respond to him in faith and worship. For this reason, it is not a bad thing when Bible study is hard. It forces us to wrestle with our creator, to delve the depths of his wisdom, to know him through his promises, warnings, and encouragements. Do you believe that, in the Scripture, you hear the very voice of God? Don’t deny yourself this opportunity to develop your relationship with him.

Risk #5: Failing to Learn How To Study God’s Word for Yourself

A few years ago, I shared a post about a man who had learned to study commentaries but not the Bible. If you spend more time in commentaries than in the Bible, you run the risk of learning how to be told what to think. You may not understand where your conclusions came from, or how they are driven by the text. In a counseling session, or a firefight with false teaching, you’ll have nothing to shoot but nerf darts, while unlimited rounds of sniper ammunition remain boxed up in a storage closet. This brings us full circle back to the first risk, for you may be able to quote many commentators at whatever problem you face. But you will have missed the true authority to bring about truth or change.

Conclusion

I don’t mean to be pedantic. I’m not saying you should time yourself to ensure that the precise number of minutes and seconds spent reading commentaries must be exceeded by time with the plain Scripture. I am aiming at your motivations and intentions. Your joy and delight. Your relationship with the Lord. If setting a timer will help you to diagnose the distance or dryness you’ve felt in your Bible study, so be it. But in the end, I simply want you to be able to say with the psalmist: “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me” (Ps 119:97-98).

If such raw delight has been hard for you to come by, perhaps you could try to lose yourself for an entire afternoon simply enjoying the glorious drama of God’s word. Here is a place you could start.

3 Common Mistakes in Bible Reading

May 4, 2022 By Peter Krol

As a reader of this blog, you are most likely somewhat committed to personal Bible reading. That is a wonderful commitment, but are you aware of some of the most common mistakes we can make, so that you’re prepared to avoid them?

Wyatt Graham has a helpful post explaining some pitfalls he regularly sees:

We read without hearing from God.
We don’t read through a whole book of the Bible.
We forget about the divine author.

He makes some terrific points along the way, such as:

Biblical books communicate ideas. Each of the four Gospels presents Christ from four different angles. Paul’s letters have a purpose. And so on. Like any book that we read today, if we do not understand its beginning, middle, and end, we miss the point.

Check it out!

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