Every Bible reader must set aside a certain amount of time every day to study the Bible in a definite way. This should be done apart from his reading during "morning watch." Experience tells us that it is not altogether wise to allocate too much time to such study. When we allocate too much time, we usually cannot keep it up, and the result is not profitable. We should set a standard for ourselves that is reasonable to achieve. Servants of the Lord do not need to spend more than two hours every day to study the Bible. Nor should we spend less than one hour. Occasionally, when we have more time, we can extend our study to three hours. We have to make a decision about this after careful consideration. Once we have made a decision, we should adhere to it at least for a few years. We should not change our schedule after two or three months. We have to learn to restrict and discipline ourselves a little. Our reading cannot be too capricious. Such free, undisciplined, and "inspirational" reading should not be our pattern. Many people are too careless in their reading. They read a few hours one day and nothing the next day. This shows a lack of perseverance. It is a terrible habit. We should decide on what to do after careful consideration and prayer, and once we have made the decision, we should adhere to it wholeheartedly.
After we have decided to spend, for example, one hour a day on our reading, we should have a plan for that hour. The hour should be divided into several periods, and we should use a different method of study for each period. Some methods are like tree-planting; one does not see the result until eight or ten years later. Other methods are like vegetable farming; one gets a crop every year. The methods that do not reap results for eight or ten years easily discourage a person. This is the reason there is the need for "vegetable farming" methods that reap results in two or three months, methods that will encourage starters to go on. It is easy to get tired if we do the same thing for an hour, and it is easy to give up when we do not see results immediately. This is the reason it is advisable to divide the hour into different periods.
Suppose we have twenty minutes for the first period. These twenty minutes should be devoted to more serious subjects in the Bible. It takes years to reap benefit from this kind of study. Subjects like prophecies, types, and the death of the Lord Jesus require years of study before we can reap results. Studying passages like the sermon on the mount, the prophecy on the Mount of Olives, the parables in Matthew 13, the final discourse of the Lord in the Gospel of John, and teachings concerning the four dispensations will not yield immediate results. We have to spend months and years on them before we will see something. If we want to find something in the Old Testament on these subjects, we must study Genesis and Daniel. We should also read Exodus, Leviticus, and Joshua. If we want to find out more about prophecies, we have to add Zechariah to the list. The first book to study in the New Testament is Matthew, and Romans should be next. Following that we should study Revelation or Hebrews. Then we should study the Gospel of John or the Epistles to the Ephesians or the Galatians. After we finish these books, we will have laid a foundation for ourselves in the New Testament. These studies do not reap benefit immediately; we have to read them dozens of times before we can get something out of them. This kind of study should be done during the first period. During this time our mind is the most clear, and we should tackle the more serious subjects. Of course, I am only giving something in the way of a principle. It depends on each of us as to how we should spend our time specifically.
We should take note of one thing: After studying for twenty minutes, we may be tempted to extend our reading to thirty minutes. We must overcome this temptation. If we have made the decision to read only twenty minutes, we should adhere to twenty minutes. If we can resist extending our time, we will also overcome the temptation of reducing our time from twenty to ten minutes. Once we have made a decision before the Lord, we have to discipline ourselves to adhere to it. We would rather be stuck with something for ten years than be free from it in ten days. We must never be loose or careless. We have to learn to be disciplined.
During the second twenty minutes, we can turn to lighter subjects, such as the study of specific words. There are at least two to three hundred words in the Bible that need to be studied in depth. For example, the word blood is used in the Bible over four hundred times. We should go over all the verses that speak of the blood, note the important ones, and group the ones with similar meanings together. In this way we will compile for ourselves a kind of concordance. This is more meaningful than buying a concordance from a store. It also would be good if we could memorize these verses. Later the Spirit of God may give us revelations. When a revelation comes, we immediately will be able to recall all the verses on the subject. A word such as calling was once studied by some brothers, who grouped the verses into ten sections (See heading XXVI in Chapter Five, "Various Plans for Studying the Bible"). We can spend twenty minutes a day studying such words. Twenty minutes is enough for this kind of study. Do not expect to finish a word-study in a day. Some words require two months to finish. The study of the Bible takes time. We cannot be sloppy about it. Otherwise, we will not have the sword of the Spirit but a worthless reed. We have to dive into the Word in a solid way. If our study of the Word is solid, our preaching will also be solid. If our study of the Word is sloppy, our preaching will also be sloppy. Suppose someone comes to us and tells us that the blood can give us a new life. If we have studied the word blood carefully, we will know that this teaching is wrong. The life contained in the blood is the life of the soul, not the new life. We have to acquaint ourselves with the fundamental teachings of the whole Bible. Otherwise, we will simply take what others say and be led astray by their mistakes. A knowledge of the fundamental teachings of the whole Bible is not something that comes to us in an instant. We must study each word carefully one by one before we can know what the whole Bible says. Young brothers and sisters have to be conscientious in word-studies. If we can get through several dozen words in a year, we will be able to go through all the important words in the Old and the New Testaments in ten years.
In the third period, we should spend ten minutes collecting facts. We have to do this every day. What should we collect? All the metals in the Bible, such as gold, silver, bronze, and iron, have special significance. The precious stones in the Bible also have special significance. We should not consider them as minor issues. They occupy an important role in the interpretation of the Scriptures. Why was the bronze serpent bronze? Why does Revelation 1:15 say that the Lord's feet were "like shining bronze, as having been fired in a furnace"? Why was the head of the image in Nebuchanezzar's dream golden? Why were some of the utensils in the temple golden? Why was the ark covered with gold, not silver? Why were the bases of the tabernacle silver? In Zechariah 5 we find lead. What does this refer to? We have to study these things carefully before we can understand what they mean exegetically. During this period of time, we should collect all these facts and write down the verses one by one. Later, we may devote the first period of time to meditate on them and study them, or we may read about them in the second period. In other words, during the third period, we collect material for our study in the first and second periods. The book of Ephesians speaks of the spirit fifteen times. We can use the third period of time to find these fifteen instances. Ephesians 1:13 speaks of the seal of the Spirit, and we can write down all the verses in the New Testament that speak of the seal. Ephesians 1:17 speaks of a spirit of wisdom and revelation, and we can write down all the verses that link the spirit with wisdom. After we have collected and sorted out all these facts, we can study them during the twenty minutes of the first or second period. If we do not have the facts gathered and sorted ahead of time, our study will not have a basis and will not be that accurate.
The fourth period is ten minutes for paraphrasing the Bible. When we have a fresh understanding of a portion of the Word, we should write out the whole portion in simple and intelligible language for the easy comprehension of others. A person who is trained in this exercise will find meaning and significance in every word of the Bible. This requires fine work. It may take a few days to paraphrase one verse. We have to touch the thought of the Holy Spirit with our spirit, and we have to open up ourselves to receive the proper impressions. Our thoughts have to match the thoughts of the writers of the Bible. We have to use basically the same expressions, only with a little more explanation of our own to clarify their meaning.
Paraphrasing should be done paragraph by paragraph. To paraphrase a verse at a time is too little, and to paraphrase a chapter at a time is too much. We should group a few verses together that naturally form a section, read through the whole section, and then paraphrase it verse by verse.
Paraphrasing is different from translation. Translation is brief; it is not detailed enough. Of course, we should not write too much in our paraphrasing, or else we will find ourselves involved in extensive exegesis. Paraphrasing involves a little translation and a little exegesis. It is something that lies between these two things. Exegesis is the exposition of the Bible with our own words, while paraphrasing is the utterance of a passage in the tone of the biblical writers themselves. Translation is a mere rendering of the meaning of the original text, while paraphrasing adds a little of our own explanation to it. Therefore, paraphrasing is a work that lies in between exposition and translation. In paraphrasing we retain the tone of the biblical writers, but here and there we render our own explanations. This kind of paraphrasing helps others to understand words in the Bible that they do not understand. Let us consider a few examples.
Romans 1:1 says, "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ..." (KJV). We can paraphrase it by saying "Paul, a slave of Jesus Christ." Paul used the word servant with the idea that he was the Lord's bondservant, a slave who had no freedom of his own. It is up to us whether or not to interpret the meaning of the word servant. But this involves another kind of paraphrasing. Paraphrasing, however, does not have to involve interpretation. If we were trying to interpret this verse, we could write, "I, Paul, was sold to sin. But the blood of the Lord Jesus has purchased me, and now I have become His slave." If we wrote this way, others would be clear about the Lord's right and our consecration. We were sold to sin but the Lord has redeemed us. Now we love to serve Him, we choose to serve Him, and we willingly give ourselves to serve Him. We become His servants on the basis of His purchase and through our choice. When we elaborate on the reason for Paul's being a servant, we make his word crystal clear.
The next phrase says, "Called to be an apostle." It is easy for us to think that Paul was called to be an apostle. Actually, this phrase should be translated as "called apostle" or "called as apostle" according to the original language. He was not called to be an apostle; he was a called apostle. In verse 7 we find the same thing: "To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints" (KJV). The words to be present the same problem. Many people have been believers all their life, yet they still do not regard themselves as saints. According to the original language, the expression should be "called saints." This means that they were called as saints. They were not called to be saints. The word called is an adjective, not a verb. It shows us the kind of apostles and the kind of saints that these ones were. It explains a condition, not an action. The advantage of paraphrasing is to discover many biblical truths through the phrases and expressions.
Consider Romans 6:6, which says, "Our old man has been crucified with Him." This verse can be expressed in many different ways. It can be expressed as, "Since my old man has been crucified with Him, I no longer have to be crucified." If our emphasis is on how our old man is crucified with Him, we can say, "Because God has placed us in Christ, we are crucified together with Him." This is based on verse 11, which says, "Reckon yourselves to be dead to sin...in Christ Jesus." It is because we are in Him that we can be with Him. The basis of our being with Him is our being in Him. Without being in Him, we can never be with Him. Those who are not in Christ cannot be crucified with Him. Only those who are in Him can be crucified with Him. Because God has put us in Christ, we can be crucified with Him. The work of paraphrasing is to make a sentence clear. Every verse has some crucial words, and we must pay attention to these words. If we come across a verse that we do not quite understand, we have to ask the Lord to shine on us so that we can express the verse in language simpler than the original and in utterance more concise than an exegesis. Every time we work on a sentence, we have to ask, "Why is this sentence so difficult to understand?" We have to tackle all the crucial terms in the Bible before we can paraphrase it. For example, if we study the word crucified in Greek, we will find that it refers to an accomplished fact. Therefore, we can rewrite this verse: "Our being crucified with Christ is an accomplished fact; it is not an experience that we pursue after." Christ is the One who was crucified. To Him it was an experience, but to us there is no need of an independent crucifixion; we are crucified in Him already. With us this is a fact. Thus, there is more than one way to paraphrase this verse. Everyone has his own way. It all depends on how much one needs clarification or how much others need clarification on a point. Whatever we write, we have to do it in such a way that those who do not understand the verse will understand it.
Consider 1 Corinthians 3:1, which says, "And I, brothers, was not able to speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to fleshy, as to infants in Christ." The word but means a great deal here. It means, "You have been believers for all this time. You should know what it means to be spiritual and what it means to be under the discipline of the Holy Spirit. Yet in many things you are still under the influence of the flesh, you still walk by the flesh, and you have not subjected yourselves to the authority of the Spirit. I cannot help but to consider you as being fleshy." If we consider for a moment Paul's expression infants in Christ, we will realize that Paul was saying, "You have been wasting too much time. It is excusable for a new believer to be under the influence of the flesh. But you have been believers for so many years, and you are still under the power of the flesh. Even today, you are still not grown up in Christ, and I still have to feed you with milk." Whatever our understanding is concerning this passage, we should write it down. In this way, when we read our writing again, we will be clear about the meaning of the passage. If we apply ourselves to this exercise for ten minutes a day, by the time we finish the whole book of 1 Corinthians we will have a good grasp of Paul's thought in writing this Epistle.
The above division of time is a suggestion based on others' experience. In actual practice, everyone can make appropriate arrangements based on his specific needs before God.
While we are reading the Bible, we have to jot down notes. Every student of the Bible has to take notes. We need small notebooks, and we need big notebooks. We should always carry a small notebook in our pocket to jot down our thoughts all the time. We should also jot down our questions. In addition to the small notebook, we should also carry a bigger, consolidated notebook. We should write down systematically in this consolidated book all the things that have passed through our mind and all the materials we have collected. We have to categorize this information for future reference. At the beginning we do not need a detailed division; the categorization can be somewhat general. If we want to categorize our material by theological subjects, we can divide it into five sections, concerning the Father, the Son, the Spirit, the church, and the coming age. It is all right to make finer divisions, but for new believers, these five categories will suffice. Prophecies concerning the church can be grouped under the church. All the doctrines from justification to sanctification also can be grouped under the church. At the beginning we can have five notebooks, one for each of these five categories. When we have more material, we can make further subdivisions.
We must exercise care in taking notes. For example, in reading Romans, we should note that reign or reigning is used five times in 5:14, 17, and 21. Much more is used four times in verses 9, 10, 15, and 17. We have to make a note of all of these. Mark 13:9 says, "For My sake," verse 13 says, "On account of My name," and verse 20 says, "On account of the chosen." Why do these three verses say these three different things? Consider the example of Matthew 24 and 25. How many questions did the disciples ask the Lord on the Mount of Olives? How many verses answer one question, how many answer another? The disciples were limited in their knowledge. Their questions were not that pertinent. This is the reason not much is recorded concerning their questions. But the Lord Jesus spoke a great deal in His answers. We have to pay attention to this speaking and find out from which verse to which verse are Jesus' answers and from which verse to which verse are His additional words. In this way, we will have a thorough grasp of the whole prophecy on the Mount of Olives. Consider the three occurrences of "I said" in Isaiah 6:5, 8, and 11. The first "I said" is a confession, the second "I said" is a consecration, while the third "I said" is a fellowship. We have to take note of all of these. This kind of material is very useful to us as well as to other brothers and sisters. All good readers of the Bible are diligent. They do not become good by accident.
Studying the Bible is like working at a trade; we have to have the proper tools.
We should have two large-print Bibles for our own reading. We also should have a small-print Bible for our travel and for meeting. If we cannot have two Bibles for our own reading, we should at least have one. The print should not be too small, because if it is too small, it will be easy to miss the meanings in the words. The font must at least be size five. Preferably it should be size four or three. Size two is too large, and it is suitable only for elderly ones. [Translator's note: These sizes refer to Chinese typesetting conventions, with the higher the size, the smaller the print. The English equivalent of size five is approximately nine points, and the equivalent of size two is approximately twenty-four points.] It is best to have two Bibles for studying. In one of them we can put marks and notes. The other should be left unmarked. By reading an unmarked Bible, we will not be affected by our previous readings, and every time we read a passage, it will be like reading it for the first time. The other Bible should be used for marking and underlining. We can write notes, underline and circle words, or link similar passages together. But we should not spend too much time or be too detailed in doing this. For our daily spiritual nourishment, we can use the unmarked Bible. For research, we can use the marked Bible.
The Chinese Union Version is the best Chinese translation of the Bible. It is also one of the best translations of the Bible in the world available today. One of the reasons for this is that it is based on the best edition of the Greek text. This translation is very accurate in many places, even more accurate than the King James Version. For example, the King James Version in many instances does not distinguish between "Jesus Christ" and "Christ Jesus." But the Chinese Union Version is always accurate in the order of the two expressions. It is good to buy several different translations and compare them. Another good translation is the Wen-li (classical) Union Version. In many instances, its monosyllabic terms are better than those used in the Chinese Union Version. The vernacular Chinese language does not express itself as well as the classical Chinese language when it comes to terminology. For example, both "making alive" and "raising up" are translated as fu-hwo in vernacular Chinese. But the classical Chinese makes a distinction between the two. One is fu-chi and the other is fu-hwo. In some cases the vernacular Chinese is more restricted than the classical Chinese, and in some other cases, the opposite is true. Another version worth considering is the Joseph (?) Version. He was a Jew, and after he became a Christian, he felt the need to translate the Bible into Chinese. For that very purpose he studied Chinese and later did a translation all by himself. We can also compare the New Testament translation of the "Shin-Ju-Ku" Version. The Christian Gospel Bookroom has also done a translation of the Gospel of Matthew. It can be used for reference as well. The most reliable versions, however, are still the Chinese Union Version and the Wen-li Union Version. If a person can read English, he can also try to have a copy of Darby's translation.
Other than the Bible, one should also have a concordance. Courtenay H. Fenn's compilation is probably one of the better ones. Yet even this one is not too complete. In the future we hope to publish a concordance according to the original Greek. The Lord willing, we will publish an Old Testament concordance as well.
In addition to the above tools, we should also have Bible dictionaries. For example, we need a dictionary to tell us the meaning of Urim and Thummim, the histories of the six Marys, etc. A dictionary can give us all this information. But we should use a dictionary whose doctrinal conviction is sound. One can consult the Bible Encyclopedia by Ou-Er. This can be considered a Bible dictionary. Unfortunately, its Chinese version is out of print. Perhaps one can still find a copy of it in the library or in old bookstores.
We need another book to help us make good outlines of the Bible. We can consult Once a Year through the Bible (see Volume 2 of The Collected Works). This book has good outlines. Many Christians all over the world have used the divisions outlined in this book for their study of the Bible.
These reference books are useful to us in our study of the Bible. They are indispensable tools.
