Category: Jessica’s Bible Study Blog

Inductive Bible Study Symbols

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I started out thinking “gee these ascii art arrows look a little tired” and I didn’t want to do symbol font again like I had in another study. So I drew arrows on paper and scanned them in and colored them in photoshop in contrasting colors to visually differentiate.

Causation (Therefore, For this Reason)

Substantiation (For, Because)

Comparison (Like, As)

I was having a more difficult time with Contrast, because I don’t like the ambiguity that it could be confused for a copyright symbol. So I tried several variants. I’ve also tried an X in a box but I didn’t try that one here.

“official” learned symbol for contrast

idea 2, “negated” comparison as they are unlike. Supposed to be similar to a not equals symbol.

idea 3, represent opposing ideas with a yin-yang (but might be offensive or inappropriate to some because of spiritual connotations to other religions?)

idea 4, contrast symbol with arrows out the sides. Clear enough, doesn’t look like a copyright. Will do for now.

And then I came up with some labels for different inductive question types:

Observation

Interpretation

Application

Coming up with these symbols and then labeling the questions I already had written was quite useful actually. Launched me into a whole study of learning more about inductive study and I learned some useful things that I will blog about later that was improving my study. Plus I could see where I wasn’t asking enough observations, etc.

Comfort In Christ

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1:3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. 6But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; –2 Cor. 1:3-6

How is God described? (1:3)

  • Father of our Lord Jesus
  • Father of mercies
  • God of all comfort
  • Comforts us in our tribulation

(internal causation) Why does God comfort us in our tribulations? So that we may be able to comfort others also in the same way.

1:5 is adding support to this thought (notice the “for”/”because”): both the sufferings and our consolation are through Christ.

1:6 Internal cause and effect:

If we are afflicted             it is for your consolation and salvation
If we are comforted         it is for your consolation and salvation

Both comfort and affliction are for consolation and salvation (serving God’s purposes). Therefore we should rejoice regardless of whether we are afflicted or comforted.

Shepherd’s Voice

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One of my friends posted this cartoon about John 10:27 on their facebook page yesterday. The message in it seems quite applicable in our “always on” society. If we don’t take time to listen to God, it can be awfully hard to hear him over all the “noise” of day to day distractions.

Challenges We Are Presented in Hebrews

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Let Us…
4:1 Fear God
Lest we come short and miss the rest of salvation
4:11 Be Diligent to Enter God’s Rest
Lest anyone fall according to disobedience.
4:14 Hold Fast to Our Confession
because our High priest can sympathize with us in our weakness
4:16 Approach the throne of grace with confidence
So we can receive mercy and grace and help when we need it
6:1 Press on to Maturity
Leaving the elementary teachings of Christ
10:22 Draw Near to God
w/ a sincere, cleansed heart in faith
10:23 Hold fast to our Hope
because he who promised is faithful
10:24 Consider one Another
in order to stir up love and good works
10:25 Keep Meeting & Encouraging Each Other
12:1 Lay Aside Sin and Run With Endurance
since we have such a great cloud of witnesses
12:2 Fix our Eyes on Jesus
12:28 Be Thankful and Worship God
Since we are receiving an unshakable kingdom
13:13 Go to Him outside the camp
bearing his reproach
13:15 Offer up a sacrifice of praise
with our lips by giving thanks to His name

Joseph vs Jesus

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I came across this interesting comparison of parallels between Joseph and Jesus. Some great food for thought.

Joseph and Jesus Compared

  • Joseph was a shepherd
  • Jesus was our Shepherd
  • Joseph was a beloved son
  • Jesus was a beloved Son
  • Joseph was stripped of his tunic
  • Jesus was stripped of His tunic
  • Joseph was sold for twenty pieces of silver by Judah
  • Jesus was betrayed for thirty pieces of silver by Judas
  • Joseph was abandoned by his brothers
  • Jesus was abandoned by His disciples
  • Joseph was falsely accused of crime
  • Jesus was falsely accused of crime
  • Joseph was imprisoned with two criminals, one of whom would be released
  • Jesus was crucified with two criminals, one of whom would be saved
  • Joseph was became ruler of all the land
  • Jesus was became King of heaven
  • Joseph provided food to hungry people
  • Jesus provided food to hungry people
  • Joseph was reunited with his brothers, who bowed down to him
  • Jesus was reunited with His disciples, who worshiped Him
  • Joseph was reunited with his father
  • Jesus was reunited with the Father in Him

Revelation: Kings and Priests Forever

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Rev 1:6 He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

“He has made us to be a kingdom” The greek word for kingdom, basileia, is in reference to the right or authority to rule over a kingdom, ie. that we are conferred royal power and dignity. There is a subtle difference between being granted the authority to rule and actually being the king. Basileia can also mean “a kingdom, a territory subject to the rule of a king”, ie: even though we are conferred royal power and dignity, we are still subject to the rule of the ultimate King, Jesus! A kingdom has a lot of people in it, it has power, force, sovereignty. He did not make us into a “support group”, he has given us real power. He has given us a piece of his royal lineage.

“priests to His God and Father” In the old testament, priests were the only ones who had access to God; in Hebrews, this priesthood is expanded to all believers under the new covenant. The significance, thus, of Him making us priests forever is that we will have eternal access to God.

“…to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever” This is emphasizing eternity. This is not a side hobby or something you will retire from. You will not be voted “off the island” based on performance or popularity. Your identity is secure.

Exodus & The Pursuit (Ex.13:15-21)

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“Pharaoh and his soldiers were cruel men, bent on destroying God’s people. Was it not right for God to punish evil men for killing innocent children? It was especially appropriate for them to die by drowning because they had once tried to drown the children of Israel in the Nile. What happened to them at the Red Sea was divine retribution. These men deserved to be punished for their sins. And God is glorified when he judges people for their sins because this displays his divine attribute of justice” -Rykin

Favorite Thoughts on the Tabernacle from “The Tabernacle Place”

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“A person could not simply come from any direction into the tabernacle as he pleased — he had to enter through the one gate, which was always located to the east (so that people were facing west when they entered the tabernacle — a direct opposition to the pagan sun worshippers of the day who always faced east).” – the-tabernacle-place.com See Ez. 8:16-18

“The Bible has two chapters on creation and 50 chapters on the tabernacle. Why don’t we teach it more?” – the-tabernacle-place.com

“The detailed commands that God gave the Israelites for the setting up of the tabernacle demonstrate to us God’s holiness — in order for sinful man to approach a holy God, he must come to God in God’s own prescribed way, and no other way.” – the-tabernacle-place.com

Another amazing symbol surrounding Christ’s death is the tearing of the temple curtain from top to bottom. That event is meaningless unless we understand why the curtain was there in the first place and what exactly it was separating — a holy God from sinful man. To see that, we need to be able to visualize the physical layout of the temple. And the origin of the temple itself is difficult to explain apart from its prototype — the mobile tabernacle given to the Israelites in the wilderness.” – the-tabernacle-place.com

“why is Jesus so often referred to as our “high priest” in the New Testament? Invariably, you are forced to go back to the tabernacle to explain the nature and purpose of the priesthood.” – the-tabernacle-place.com

“Its physical structure, ‘a copy and shadow of heavenly things’ (Hebrews 8:5), teaches us spiritual lessons about eternal truths.” – the-tabernacle-place.com

“For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence.” (Hebrews 9:24)

Sig. of only one gate & tall outer walls… to approach God you have to do it God’s prescribed way, and no other way.

Tenons and Hands: A Word Study on יד (Yad)

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TEN’ON , n. [L. teneo, to hold.] In building and cabinet work, the end of a piece of timber, which is fitted to a mortise for insertion, or inserted, for fastening two pieces of timber together. (Websters)

By using this type of connector, common in traditional Chinese architecture, the boards could interlock with perfect fit, without requiring glues or fasteners, and allows the wood to expand or contract according to humidity.

Tenon (in Hebrew יד or yad) means hands. It also has many figurative uses, such as describing someone who would be a right-hand man (assistant) or in the hand of (in the custody of). The only place in the bible that yad is translated as tenon is in the tabernacle description in Exodus (26:17,19 and 36:22,24).

“Exo 26:19 You shall make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards: two sockets under each of the boards for its two tenons [hands].”

Yad occurs 1536 times in the old testament, and only four of those times is it translated tenon, all four of those times being in the context of describing the tabernacle construction in Exodus 26 and 36. Most of the time, yad means hands, or the work of the hands.

  • Moses stretched out his hand (same word) to instigate many of the plagues.
  • God stretched out his hand (same word) to smite people with pestilence.
  • When Isaac felt Jacob’s hands to identify that he was Esau, yad is the word used for hand (Gen. 27:2).

Yad also appears to have a less frequent secondary meaning as an edge, border, or boundary. The “coasts” of Cypress (Num 24:24) and the “side” of the great River Tigris (Dan 10:4) are also uses of yad.

These Words are Faithful and True

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Rev 21:5  Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”