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Feed Yourself™ Lesson Eleven

By Glenn Davis

Finishing The Book Survey:  Style Of Writing

"Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus," Luke 1:3, NIV

You have come a long way.  You are now halfway through the course.  Great!

As we continue looking at the Book Survey, the next thing we want to consider is the style of writing.  In other words, what kind of book is it?  All the Books of the Bible are divinely inspired, but they were written in different ways.  Keeping the book's style in mind will help us understand it better.  When determining a book's style, look at its overall style.  For example, Exodus is a historical book, but it does contain poetry.  In the same way, the Psalms are a poetic book, but it does contain historical and prophetic details.

What are the styles to look for?

Historical

Historical books record events that happened.  They record real events that happened to real people.  The Bible is not a Book of world history, so it records events for a specific purpose.

For example, the Chinese civilization is not mentioned in the Bible.  The Bible focuses on the people and events related to the coming of the Messiah and the fulfillment of His mission.  As we study in Covenants, God had to limit His dealings with mankind for a time.  After the Holy Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost, the Gospel returned to its worldwide mandate.  This will not change until the end of time.

The events focus on the Bible's grand theme of Jesus Christ and His redemption of His people.  Sometimes we learn what to do from studying historical events, and sometimes we learn what not to do.  Verses in historical books describe what happened and should not be assumed to justify the action or to give us instructions to follow.  For example, Matt. 25:7 records that Judas hung himself.  This is a statement of fact.  It is not saying he did the right thing or that he is an example to follow!  Historical books offer much to learn from, but we have to keep their historical style in mind.

Poetic

Poetic books often express emotion.  Many times, they use action and picture words.  They use many forms of speech [as we will see later].  Psalm 18:2 states that the Lord is my Rock.  Of course, we know the writer did not believe God was a literal stone.  It pictures God's strength and firmness.  Poetic books often use such images.  We must consider context and Scripture's general teaching to determine whether it is a literal statement or a picture.  Poetry books also include Job and Song of Songs, which are written in the style of plays.

Read Ps. 18, write down all the poetic images you see.

Prophetic Books

Prophetic books tell people what God will do.  Prophecy is actually only speaking for God or on His behalf.  It does not necessarily have to be about future events, although often it is from the perspective of the prophet. Often prophetic books denounce the wickedness of the people [usually Israel], and declare the coming Judgment of God if there is no repentance.  Sometimes they predict what will happen in the distant future.  Many prophetic books in the Old Testament contain passages which predict the coming of Christ and the kingdom of God, which Christ established upon His resurrection.  Prophetic books often use symbols and types to convey their message, especially when speaking of the distant future [from the prophet's point of view].  Many people err in their understanding of prophetic books because they try to make the symbolic language literal.  They ignore the context rules you studied earlier and common grammar rules, which we will look at later.  Instead of looking at the prophetic books to see what they are saying [inductive study], they impose what they have already chosen to believe onto the book.

For example, Rev. 7:1 and 20:8 talk about the four corners of the earth.  If this were a historical book, we would be forced to believe in a flat Earth.  Since it is a prophetic book, we know it is not necessarily presenting a literal statement, but rather a picture illustrating a truth.

Teaching Books

Teaching books are books whose primary purpose is to teach God's ways.  They are usually straightforward, though they can have countless applications.   All of Paul's writings are in the teaching style.

Each style matters, and God chose it in each case because it was the best way to communicate what He wanted to say.  We need to recognize the different styles.  For example, if Genesis were a poetic book, we might have a genuine reason to wonder if God created the world in six literal days, and whether Adam and Eve were real people; however, since Genesis is without a doubt a historical book, we know that God did create the world in six literal days and that Adam and Eve were real people.  Genesis records historical facts.

We have two more things to do to finish our book survey.

You will notice a lot of blank space on the left side of your Bible Survey Outline Chart.  This is "note" space for you.  You may want to describe what specific chapters have in common.  For example, if you did a survey on Luke, you might draw a line or bracket connecting Chapters 1 & 2 and call it the birth of Christ; Chapters 3-6 could be linked and called Beginning Ministry, etc. Or you could connect the chapters by where they happened.  This is your survey; connect them in any way that interests you.  One section might have only one chapter; another might have 5 or 6 chapters.  Relax and have fun.

You can use any extra space for short notes you want to make, key words, inspiring thoughts, other subjects you want to look into, references to related verses, whatever...

Review the book.  Look over all the information you have collected so far and write a short, one-paragraph summary of the book at the bottom of your Bible Survey Primary Chart.

WEEK ELEVEN PROJECT

1.  Continue with the Book you chose two weeks ago [Ephesians, James, or 1 John].

Day One:  Read through your chosen book again and write down the literary style on the Bible Survey Primary Chart.

Day Two: Read over all the information you have collected so far and write a summary of the book at the bottom of your Bible Survey Primary Chart.

Day Three:  Decide how you want to group your chapters and then connect them with a line or bracket and title each group.

Days Four - Seven:  Divide your book into four sections.  Each day, read one section and write down any ideas that come to you from that section [Devotional Reading].

2.  Continue with your daily reading program.

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Reference Works Used In This Course:

Bible Study Methods by Mrs. Shirley Davis

The International Inductive Study Bible by Harvest House Publishers

Effective Bible Study by Howard F. Vos, Zondervan

How To Understand Your Bible by T. Norton Sterrett, IVP

How To Study Your Bible by Kay Arthur, Harvest House

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