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How I Study a Bible Passage (2)

The FIRST step is DISSECTING (as I showed in the previous post).

The SECOND step is UNDERSTANDING what is writen.

These are the things I look at and ask, in no particular order:

** THE CONTEXT - What comes before and what comes after?
** CROSS REFERENCES - What do other parts of the Bible say about this? The Bible is a progressive book of God's revelation, so the later revelations generally come later in the Bible, and they confirm what was written earlier.
** KEY WORDS AND PHRASES - What do particular words and/or phrases mean? I do enjoy digging deep and discovering the original meaning of words, so I use my Strong's Concordance and Vine's Expository Dictionary.

Next Example:
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V.1-2 - THE PURPOSE OF THE COMMANDMENT
Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the LORD your God has commanded to teach you,

that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess,

that you may fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life,

and that your days may be prolonged.

1. What is meant by the commandment, and the statutes and judgments?

The commandment is verse 5 - "Love the Lord your God...". As I see it, the writer is presenting the commandment to us, and it is to follow.

The statutes and judgments would be the 10 commandments from the previous chapter. Look at verse 1 of chapter 5:

And Moses called all Israel, and said to them: "Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your hearing today, that you may learn them and be careful to observe them."

2. What is the Purpose of the Commandment?

This reminds me of what Jesus said in Matthew 22:36-40

" ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment.
"And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Notice, Jesus added a second commandment. And here are more Scriptures on the second:

Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. (Mat 7:12)

For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Gal 5:14)

If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.
For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. (James 2:8-13)

But then, love for our neighbour or brother is not possible unless we love God first. As it says in 1 John ...

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. (1 John 4:7)

So, in other words, by keeping this greatest commandment, we will then keep all the other commandments, because they all flow from our love for God.

How I Study a Bible Passage (2)

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