Before I talk too much about his I study the scriptures, I want to talk about some useful tools.

A buy a cheap set of scriptures.
It is always cool to see someone’s set of leather scriptures all marked up and color-coded. For awhile that is what I did. But after time my scriptures were so marked up that they almost lost their meanings. Those markings also sometimes prevented me from learning something new for that verse.

I discovered that purchasing a few cheap sets of scriptures to study out of and mark up was more effective. It is a great feeling after some time to start a new clean set, knowing the Lord is now going to teach you more.

One of the fun things I like to do is with a set of clean scriptures is to just pick one subject. Then read through that set looking only for that subject, marking it every time it comes up. After reading all the way through, I will go to the front of that set and label it with that subject. It is amazing what God teaches you. Then you can but it on the shelf and refer back to it and add to it as you make other scripture journies.

Get a good dictionary.
There are many words that we do not understand and often have more than one definition. One of my habits is to always have a good dictionary on hand. A good dictionary will provide more than one description and at least a few synonyms and antonyms. Looking words up on the internet can make it easy to find definitions and synonyms, but sometimes a good old written dictionary is enough.

After looking up the words and it’s different meanings I attempt to see if all of the various applications apply to this particular verse or situation. I find it fascinating when the word used, encompassing every definition that the word postulates.

When studying the Bible, I prefer a British printed Oxford Dictionary. Not an Oxford dictionary that we have here in the US. But an actual dictionary printed for the British sold in British stores.

I use a British dictionary because one of the most well-accepted translations of the scriptures is the King James version. King James version is written in Old British. You will find that the British definitions relate to the King James translation than more modern dictionaries do.

Scripture Journal.
As I progressed in my studies I found the best way to learn and grow was to keep a journal. It is one thing to mark an important verse (which I do all the time), but it is another thing to be able to express what you have learned.

Ask questions and Seek answers!

One of the other questions I get asked is “How do I know if I am studying”. Ask questions and Seek answers! That is it that is all that is required, to move from reading the scriptures to studying the scriptures. Anybody can read the scriptures, but as soon as you start asking questions you are studying the scriptures. There are different approaches to asking questions and processing the information, but ask and seeking is all that is needed. If you find yourself asking a question about a verse or concept, congratulations you are studying the scriptures.

For many people, this is not enough, they think there is some secret to it.  No!  Ask questions and seek answers.

What questions to ask?

Take Genesis 1:1
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
Who is God?
What is heaven?
What is the beginning?
What does it mean to create?

Our journey has begun. We now have several questions for which we can seek answers. From the first verse in the Bible, we can seek to find the solution to the great question… “Who God is?”

Understanding then interpretation.

We spend to much time trying to interpret a verse then trying to understand it. Too often we try to make a verse fit our point of view. In the prosses of studying the scriptures, interpretation is the last thing we should do.

Understand the words and word usage.

Word Usage.
A good start to finding answers is to discover all the places a word or concept is used. I try to find every time the word God appears in the scriptures. Then see how it applies to the questions about God. Modern technology has made it easy for us to use scriptural-software to search to discover every time the word God appears.

As you can see studying the scriptures is not a difficult task. It can be time-consuming, but all that is needed is for you to ask questions and seek answers.

Keep track of who is talking. You will often find in the scriptures that you have to keep track of who is talking. There will be times where you’ll read about him and this and that and who is speaking that you lose track of who’s talking. Maintain an accurate perspective of who is talking and keeping the verse in its context and environment, not with interpretation, but the understanding of what is written.

Know where and who they are
I force myself as often as I can to keep my mind focused on where am I, who is talking, and who the audience is. As mentioned before often it’s easy to lose track of who is communicating. in modern-day writings were taught to be very specific about using names opposed to pronouns. Scriptural writings tend to use pronouns. They may introduce the subject early on in the conversation and then on only use pronouns. It is not uncommon for the subject and listener to switch place, using only pronouns. Which results in ‘they and he’ being someone else than who ‘they and he’ were before. Seek to maintain the context of where am I, who is speaking, and who is the audience.

Most of us struggle to understand the writings of Isaiah. When reading Isaiah, we discover the pronoun issue. Isaiah sometimes uses phrases or analogies that related only to his current audience. That makes it hard for us who don’t live in that environment or understand those concepts to grasp his analogies.
One great thing that I did Isaiah does is begin most his writings presenting a contextual explanation. At the beginning of each of his chapters or new concepts, he will say things like during the time of this King or at this place to this people. This presents to us an opportunity to gain a greater understanding of the context of his writings. We can look up historical events about times and places of these people outside of the scriptures. Because of the plethora of knowledge that exists today, we have the opportunity to learn from his story ins concerning those times in those places. That gives us an opportunity to become more personally acquainted with those who were speaking and the audience of the time.

get to know the person
Another thing that I find useful is getting to know the person who is talking. Knowing about a persons history. those sometimes genealogy is annoying and almost to consuming knowing a little bit about someone’s and sister e can help gain a perspective of where this individual may be coming from and even the theologies and the teachings of his upbringing.

Sometimes we know very little about the people and the writings. Elijah the prophet is an example of a person that we have minimal history too. But in the end, Elijah is among some of the most significant Prophets in the scriptures. Elijah Rose people from the dead brought plagues upon the Earth, destroyed all the Babylonian Prophets. And showed for that he is God was the true God.

Moses is another example of knowing the person. Through Him, we have a strong history. We know his history his people are in slavery, the male children born in his time were mostly all killed, royalty raised him with the doctrines of Egyptian kings and gods. Put understanding Moses firstly as a man brings strength and a power Understanding of what a prophet is and is not.

Knowing the writer and history will give you a greater understanding of his writings.

Become another person
When I read the scriputes I try to become the writer and audience. This is probably one of the hardest principles for people to adopt. Often when I study the scriptures, I try to put myself in their situation and environment. This is different than applying the scriptures to yourself, which is another concept I will talk about in the future. Though many people may disagree with me it is imperative that we attempt to understand the scriptures first and foremost as human mortal beans.

Yes we should interpret the scriptures with a spiritual eye but that is the last stage of our adventure into the scriptures. When Jesus speaking with his apostles he tried to explain to them a concept about the things of God. he makes a very profound statement which I believe we should take to heart and apply to the way we study the scriptures.

Verse

Jesus says if you cannot understand it in a worldly human sense then how will you ever understand it on a spiritual level. Take this concept to Heart. This is the Theology of how I believe people should study the scriptures. Understand the writings of God with the understanding of man, this is why I talk about having a dictionary. Or I talk about knowing who they are and where they are at, and where they are from.

All of this information begins to open your mind to receive spiritual interpretations of the scriptures. The more you understand them as a man and as a human as a riding, the more God can communicate to you on a spiritual level.

There is another scripture where it says man does not understand the things of God. the scripture should speak three things to us one without God we honestly cannot understand things as they are. 2 That is it is vital for God to communicate with us on our level. This is why he has had profits from the beginning of time. This is why we have writings written by men about God. This is God’s attempt to communicate with us teaching spiritual Concepts on an Earthly level.

First, understand biblical writings on a worldly human level. The greater you understand the writings as they are the more God can open your mind to the spiritual interpretations.
Spiritual interpretations.
After I have taken the time to gain an understanding of the words that are used, the person who is speaking, the place, and looked at the scripture in the most simplest understanding of what is printed before me. it is then that I seek spiritual interpretations

The more you read and begin to understand the Bible and its writings the more versus will start to connect to each other. You will be surprised how often God will open your mind to the understanding of how things are connected and what a particular verse is actually referring to.

Outside historical documents.
Old and new and new scriptural commentaries.
Different translations
Understanding Hebrew and Greek.

Be a scriptural scientist. To maintain an objective point of view of the scriptures, I would suggest that we all become scriptural scientists. There is a pride that exists in the interpretation of scriptures within every religion. Too often we interpret scriptures to our point of view instead of seeking understanding.

A pure scientist knows that there are no facts. Only supported theories. That simple system ensures humility and open-mindedness. Society makes a mistake to assume that just because it is supported, it is a fact.

Scriptural justification. When we start down the path of interpretation, we should seek for scriptural justification. When one has a possible explanation or Theory of what a verse means or how it applies to the whole it should become our endeavor to prove our Theory. Using multiple sources of evidence throughout the scriptures and never relying on a single verse.

Wholistic interpretation. This is where it becomes imperative for us to understand scriptures within their context, within their environment, within their society, within their culture, and not as we want to see them. It is okay to see how the scripture applies to you, but that cannot be obtained until we understand to whom it applies.

Isaiah is an excellent example of this. There are many phrases and terms that Isaiah uses to express or to help the reader understand what he is saying. But often those phrases are unknown to us. To understand what Isaiah means we need to understand what it meant to his intended audience. we are too lazy and too quick to interpret than to understand

I attempt to put controls on my scripture study.
First I tried to take the scripture at face value. Meaning that I try to understand it as it is written not necessarily an interpretation or spiritual context, put it within its current setting and within its current environment.