As we continue to review the Bible we must also move on to the second principle of REM and that is to E-educate ourselves about the Bible. The writer of Proverbs pointed out the importance of knowledge in saying, “For wisdom will enter your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; discretion will guard you, understanding will watch over you” (Proverbs 2:10-11). Also, Paul indicates that knowledge helps to enable us to admonish or help one another grow. He said, “you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another” (Romans 15:14). We are encouraged to be knowledgeable. It aids in spiritual growth and for that reason we should seek to educate ourselves.
First, there are resources available to help you gain biblical knowledge. The cross-reference is helpful. In most Bibles the cross-reference is a small column either between the two columns of Scripture or to the left or the right of those two columns. There are numbers with verse references next to them. The first number is the verse of the text on that page. The references with that verse are other passages in the Bible that share the same subject, theme, principle, or idea as the corresponding verse does. Sometimes it takes you to a passage that just shares the same phrase or takes you to the event that verse is referring to. If you are looking for more references to the subject you are reading, a passage that explains it more, or just says something a different way this is a good tool to use.
Second reference is an exhaustive concordance. There is the Strong’s Concordance and the NIV Exhaustive Concordance. The concordance lists in alphabetical order every word used in the Bible. Under the word it lists every verse that mentions that word putting the verses in order of the books of the Bible. It will include the phrase of that verse that uses the word to help you narrow your search. The concordance is very useful if you want to do a topical study. For example, if you want to study marriage, just look up marriage in your concordance and you can find every verse of the Bible that mentions the word marriage.
Also, there are systematic theology books that are useful. These books teach about the various doctrines of Christianity. Other than learning the doctrines, these books are a great tool to use to find references for various doctrines. For example, the word trinity is not used in the Bible. The concept is there, but not the actual term. If you wanted to find verses on the trinity the concordance would not be helpful. A systematic theology book, however, would give you the verses you are looking for.
Another helpful tool is the study Bible. There are explanative notes given for many of the verses in the Bible to help you gain some additional knowledge. Then a Bible commentary is a larger version of the study Bible. It is a book that contains someone’s interpretation of practically every verse. There are commentaries on individual books of the Bible as well as on the whole Bible. These notes and books are written by people who are very knowledgeable of theology, biblical culture, and even biblical language. You will gain many insights from them.
Besides a Bible commentary there are Bible atlases. These will show you where people were in various stories of the Bible. It will help you get an understanding of how far someone traveled, what they were doing, etc. It gives you a greater ability to picture the story and decreases your chances of missing something in the text.
Another reference is the bible dictionary and encyclopedia. These are books that have articles about different items dealt with in the Bible. They are listed in alphabetical order. Besides giving some explanation, they also provide Scripture references. Often when you are studying a topic, you will not find every biblical passage that deals with that subject by using a concordance because some passages deal with a subject without actually using the word for that subject. The Bible dictionary or encyclopedia would be helpful here.
Then you can make use of a book on Bible Manners and Customs. These books explain the meaning and reason behind various customs and practices in the Bible. Where the Bible may not give an explanation, these books will provide the historical evidence to why certain things were done. Again, we are increasing our understanding in order to increase our ability to interpret the Bible correctly.
Lastly, there is the Englishman’s Bible. This book works alongside the Strong’s concordance. With every word in the Strong’s concordance there is a number. The number corresponds to the Hebrew or Greek word listed in the Englishman’s Bible. Then the Englishman’s Bible lists every verse that contains that Hebrew or Greek word. With this you can do a study based on the Hebrew or Greek definition of a word.
In addition to using these reference materials, just continue to be aware of information that will give you more Bible knowledge. When you listen to a sermon, a bible study, a conversation with mature believers, during our own devotions, when reading Christian books, or watching a Christian documentary be on the look out for educational information such as biblical history, culture, and context.
As you continue to educate yourself you will slowly see an increased ability to understand the Bible. Every once in a while compare yourself now to your understanding a year or more ago. See if there has been improvement. Sometimes the growth is so gradual that we don’t even notice it until we reflect on it. Now be careful as you educate yourself. Remember that all these resources including listening to other people are the opinions of man. Some of them may be biblical and some may not. Some may contain some biblical truth and some things that are unbiblical. We must still evaluate everything by Scripture, but once we determine that something is biblical then allow it to be information that is retained.
