Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.
2 Timothy 3:15-17 And how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 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.
Bible reading is one of the Christian's daily practices. Rev. James from Hangzhou offered two tips on reading the Bible in a morning meeting: have an overall direction and know the focus of each book.
Have an overall direction.
Rev. James shared that excepting Genesis chapters 1 to 11, nearly 90% of the Old Testament recorded the history of Abraham's family and the Jews and God's salvation in all kinds of ways. God was extremely pained and grieved during the long history. The Old Testament ended with Malachi, with four centuries of silence between Malachi and Matthew.
Although there are many approaches to interpreting the Bible, the pastor suggested explaining it from the angle of God's eternal will and kingdom."What is God like? What kind of Christians should we become? We must have a standard and look at the whole picture in all directions rather than make a deliberate misinterpretation out of context. " Rev. James said.
Know the focus of each book.
Every book in the Bible has its own course and focus. For example, the focus of Exodus was the story of the Israelites leaving Egypt for the land of Canaan, with the Pharaoh refusing to let them go. God chose Moses and the latter led the Jews out of Egypt and into the wilderness. Leviticus tells that the Israelites sinned and disobeyed the Lord in Exodus; God gave the law through Moses, then the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, and the ark of the covenant were built. The content was also described in Numbers, Deuteronomy, and Joshua.
He also mentioned that the Bible contained the Major and Minor Prophets. One would figure out what the prophets emphasized from the perspective of the eternal kingdom.
Understand God's guidance and the course of history when reading the Bible. Add meditation while reading it.
- Translated by Karen Luo
