Lesson #06

Bible Perspectives: How to Study the Bible for Yourself – Part II
Lesson #06
“The Big Telescope”

• Daily Spiritual Diary Discussion
• Personal Concordance Discussion
• Homework Discussion:
• #9 Comprehensive Book Analysis: Chapter Analysis #C & #D – Jonah 1 (to go to homework answers for the teacher – an example)

• Class Lesson: Words of Prophecy are like a big telescope that looks down through time.
• The next group of books in the Old Testament contains the large books of prophecy followed by the smaller books of prophecy.
• Isaiah

[Salvation of the Lord]

• Isaiah wrote his book of 66 chapters before the Babylonian Captivity to the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
• Key Characters:

• Isaiah, Sennacherib, Hezekiah
• Major Highlights:

• This book is the Bible in miniature: (39 Old Testament books and 27 New Testament books)
• Warnings of coming judgments in the first 39 chapters
• The coming Messiah and His kingdom in the last 27 chapters
• A Godly man in a nation of crisis
• This book contains some of the most graphic descriptions of Christ, such as the suffering servant (Isa 53)
• Christ in the book of Isaiah:

• Christ is our Prince of Peace (Isa 9:6)
• The Significance to the Christian Life:

• Isaiah is the Prophet of God, The Son.
• If the believer does not feed on the words of Jesus Christ, he will not go forward in his spiritual life to experience the joys of fellowship with Christ.
• Jeremiah

[The Lord Throws Down] [The Lord Establishes]

• Jeremiah wrote this prophetic book before the Babylonian Captivity to the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
• Key Characters:

• Jeremiah, Zedekiah
• Major Highlights:

• We see the warnings of coming judgments from the weeping prophet, and the certainty of God’s judgment on sin.
• The God who scatters the people is the God who re-gathers the people
• Christ in the book of Jeremiah:

• Christ is our weeping prophet (Mat 23)
• The Significance to the Christian Life:

• Jeremiah is the prophet of God, the Father.
• God calls the believer to walk in holiness.
• Lamentations

[Mourning]

• This book was also written by Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, to the Southern Kingdom of Judah before the Babylonian Captivity.
• Key Characters:

• Jeremiah
• Major Highlights:

• This book is an illustration of God weeping over Jerusalem and His people that have fallen into idolatry and sin.
• Each chapter is a different poem of lamentation.
• Christ in the book of Lamentations:

• Christ is our weeping prophet.
• The Significance to the Christian Life:

• God weeps over his disobedient children even though He allows believers to pay the consequences for disobedience.
• Ezekiel

[God will strengthen]

• Ezekiel wrote this book during the Babylonian captivity. (Chapters 1-24 are before the fall of Jerusalem and chapters 25-32 are after the fall of Jerusalem.)
• Key Characters:

• Ezekiel
• Major Highlights:

• Warnings of judgment on Jerusalem and the gentile nations
• The purpose of the book is “to know that I am the Lord” (repeated 68 times)
• The departure of the glory of God from Israel
• Understanding the moving of the Holy Spirit
• The glory of the restored Millennial Kingdom
• Christ in the book of Ezekiel:

• Christ is the four-faced man. (that are explained in the four gospels)
• The Significance to the Christian Life:

• Ezekiel is the Prophet of God, the Holy Spirit
• Daniel

[God is My Judge]

• Daniel wrote his book during the Babylonian captivity.
• Key Characters:

• Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Darius, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego
• Major Highlights:

• God’s prophecy of the gentile kingdoms through history
• God’s time table for the Jews and the second coming of Christ
• Christ in the book of Daniel:

• Christ is the fourth man in the fiery furnace. (Dan 3:25)
• The Significance to the Christian Life:

• Daniel is God’s prophet to the Gentiles.
• This book tells us how to live the Christian life in a non-Christian world and succeed.
• Hosea

[Jehovah Saves]

• This small book begins the section called the Minor Prophets. They are minor only because they are small books. Hosea was written just before the Babylonian Captivity and directed to the Northern Kingdom. Hosea was contemporary with Amos, Isaiah, and Micah.
• Key Characters:

• Hosea and Gomer, his wife
• Major Highlights:

• This is a book of redemption through an allegory (a story with a deeper meaning).
• Hosea was married to an unfaithful woman, a prostitute. God used this relationship to illustrate Israel’s relationship to God.
• The major theme illustrates God’s faithfulness and the life of a backslider.
• This book parallels the conditions of the church in the last days.
• Christ in the book of Hosea:

• Christ is the eternal husband forever married to the backslider.
• The Significance to the Christian Life :

• Unfortunately there are times when we are not as close to the Lord as we should be. Even when we do not deserve his faithfulness, He is always there waiting for us to return.
• Joel

[Jehovah is God]

• Joel wrote this book just before the Babylonian Captivity and directed his message to the Southern Kingdom.
• Key Characters:

• Joel
• Major Highlights:

• The destruction of Jerusalem and a promised restoration
• Reaping the consequences of sin
• A sovereign move of restoration by the Holy Spirit
• Christ in the book of Joel:

• Jesus Christ is the Baptizer in the Holy Spirit. (Mat 3:11)
• The Significance to the Christian Life:

• Many times in our lives we have come to Christ out of a past of moral desolation and destruction. As a result, we often still bear the consequences of past sin. Even so, we can bear the consequences and learn from them if we have the encouragement of future victory and restoration.
• Types of Bible Study Methods:
• #9 Comprehensive Book Analysis: Chapter Analysis

– Sheets #E and #F – Jonah 1
• This is part three of our comprehensive book analysis. It continues with your close examination of chapter 1.
• Homework:
• Work on your spiritual diary 15 minutes a day for 6 days.
• Remember this is how God will speak to you personally.
• Add to your Personal Concordance section.
• Use the Comprehensive Book Analysis sheets #E and #F – Jonah 1
• Day 1 = Read the whole book of Jonah in a different Bible translation. (your choice)
• Day 2 = Read Chapter 1. Begin to fill out page #E.
• “Cross Reference”
• Mark the kind of cross reference:
• Internal

(within Jonah) or External (in any other book of the Bible).

• Mark the type of cross reference:
• Parallel

(It says the same thing in almost the same words.)

• Corresponding

(It deals with similar themes.)

• Contrasting

(It deals with opposite ideas.)

• Illustrative

(It tends to illustrate the verse.)

• “Linking Thought”
• What one or two words did you use to find the cross reference?
• “Notes & Comments”
• Write any implications, illustrations, or definitions.
• Day 3 = Read Chapter 1. Work the top of Page #F.
• “Title”
• Create a title for the chapter that reflects the theme.
• “Theme”
• Write what you think is the central thought of the chapter. It may be a topic, proposition problem, or argument. There may even be more than 1.
• “Conclusions”
• What are the author’s conclusions to the theme?
• Day 4 = Read Chapter 1. Work on the bottom half of Page #F.
• “Conclusions”
• Write some basic principles (broad, general observations)
• Day 5 = Read Chapter 1. Finish Page #F.
• “Application”
• What does this chapter tell you that applies to your own personal life today?
• “Passage Description”
• Summarize the chapter in your own words. Do not interpret what is being said here, or why, only write what is said.
• Day 6 = Read Chapter 1. Finish up any remaining work on this chapter.

Homework Sheet #E

#9 Comprehensive Book Analysis

Chapter Analysis: — Jonah 1

Verse:	Cross References and Linking Thought:	Notes and Comments:

Homework Sheet #F

#9 Comprehensive Book Analysis

Chapter Analysis: Jonah 1

Title:

Theme:

Conclusions:

Application: