Living by the Book/Living by the Book Workbook Set (19 page)

Many biblical authors communicate their mind through carefully selected grammar. I know that there’s a growing trend today to dismiss grammar as
the bugaboo of officious schoolmarms of whatever gender or occupation. But the Bible is not so cavalier in its choice of words and their order. In fact, grammar is determinative for doctrine. So we need to pay careful attention to the following grammatical features of the biblical text.

Verbs are critical. They’re the action words, the words that tell us who is doing what. For instance, in Ephesians 5:18, Paul writes, “Be filled with the Spirit.” The verb “be filled” is passive. He doesn’t say, “Fill yourself with the Spirit.” He’s challenging us to open ourselves up to the Spirit’s control, to yield to His will. That’s an important observation because Ephesians tells us what life in the Spirit looks like in the church.

Another interesting use of the verb is found in Genesis 22:10, where Abraham takes his son, Isaac, up Mount Moriah to offer him as a sacrifice: “And Abraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.”

You can’t detect it in the English translation, but a commentary will tell you that the verbs here indicate a completed act, as if Abraham actually slays his son. In his mind, the deed is done; he has obeyed God to the uttermost. That’s crucial to understanding the purpose of the writer. He’s showing us Abraham’s faith—faith illustrated by obedience. As Paul says later in Romans, Abraham’s trust in God was such that even if he sacrificed his son, God could raise him from the dead in order to preserve an heir (4:16–21). Also see Hebrews 11:17–19.

The subject of a sentence does the acting, and the object is acted upon. It’s important not to confuse them. Philippians 2:3 exhorts us, “Let each of you regard one another as more important than himself.” The order is crucial. “Regard” is the verb; “each of you” is the subject; “one another” is the object. Paul is writing some challenging words about the humility of Christ that ought to mark the relationships of believers.

A related verse is Galatians 6:4: “But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another.” This is the “fruit inspector’s verse,” because many of us
have a tendency to inspect other people’s spiritual fruit, when we need to pay more attention to our own.

Again, the verb is “examine”; the subject is “each one,” and by inference, “each one of you believers”; the object is “his own work.” So Paul is arguing for some self-reflection, which has an important bearing on this portion of Galatians. He is talking about believers intervening with other believers when they have sinned.

Modifiers are descriptive words such as adjectives and adverbs. They enlarge the meaning of the words they modify, and quite often they make all the difference. For instance, in Philippians 4 Paul thanks the Philippians for a gift they had sent him. We don’t know exactly what the gift was, but Paul encourages those who sent it with the oft-repeated promise: “My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (v. 19).

This verse is routinely ripped out of its context and made to appear as if God promises to supply all of our wants rather than all of our needs. But it was never designed to stimulate our materialism. It is Paul’s statement of confidence in God’s provision. How confident was he? The modifier “all” is definitive: “my God shall supply all your needs,” literally, “every need of yours.” He doesn’t shortchange us. He not only supplies what we need, He supplies
all
that we need.

Prepositions are the little words that tell you where the action is taking place:
in, on, upon, through, to,
and so on. Consider a few of the many prepositional phrases that appear in Scripture, and you will see how important it is to mark them when you see them: “in Christ,” “in the beginning,” “by the Spirit,” “according to the Spirit, “in the flesh,” “under the law,” “by faith,” “according to the Word of the Lord.”

Two of the most powerful words in the Bible are
and
and
but
. We saw how crucial
but
was in Acts 1:8. Look up Numbers 13:31; 2 Samuel 11:1; Luke
22:26; John 8:1; and 1 John 3:17, and you’ll see some more illustrations of its potency.

And
is just as crucial: “Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4); “Abide in Me, and I in you (John 15:4); Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:42–43); “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8).

Another important connective is
therefore
. Whenever you see a
therefore
, go back and see what it’s there for. Romans is chock full of
therefores
, as Paul works his way through a tightly structured argument. The Old Testament prophets use
therefore
extensively. Over and over the prophets state their case against the people, and then cry, “Therefore, thus says the Lord.”

In addition to grammatical devices, the biblical writers communicate their purposes through literary structure. Even if you are inexperienced as a reader, you are probably familiar with literary structure. Film and television screenplays use the same ones over and over again.

For instance, think how many mystery shows and action thrillers use this structure: (1) introduction of the characters and the setting; (2) committing of the crime, usually murder or robbery; (3) investigation by the protagonist; (4) evasion by the criminal(s); (5) crisis, such as a car chase or shoot-out; and (6) resolution, as when the perpetrators are led away in handcuffs and the protagonist gets the girl. That’s an all-too-common structure for screenplays.

The Bible has literary structure, too, though it’s usually more sophisticated. When we get to Step Two, Interpretation, we’ll see how different kinds of literature use different kinds of literary structure. But for now, here are five kinds to look for.

Commonly found in the narrative books, biographical structure builds on the key persons in the story. As I’ve pointed out, in Genesis, chapters 12–50 focus on the experiences of the four patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. Judges structures itself around the leaders of Israel in the period between Joshua and the nation’s first king, Saul. In 1 and 2 Samuel, the narrative
moves from Samuel to Saul to David. In Acts, the apostle Paul commands the action in the later portions of the book.

Here the key is place. The structure of Exodus depends heavily on the places that Israel visits on its way from Egypt to the Promised Land.

Key events are the basis of historical structure. The book of Joshua is a good example. The book opens with Joshua receiving his charge from the Lord. Then the people cross the Jordan. Then they take Jericho. Then they face defeat at Ai. And so it goes throughout the book, as the people go in and possess the land.

The gospel by John is another book that uses historical structure to make its point. John presents seven key miracles that together promote one central purpose, stated in 20:30–31:

One of the most interesting uses of historical structure occurs in the Revelation. John tells us at the outset that the book records a vision that God gave to him while he was living out the end of his life in seclusion on the island of Patmos. In the vision, startling events of global proportion take place, and the narrative progresses from incident to incident until it reaches a climax at chapter 21, with the presentation of a new heaven and new earth.

Closely related to historical structure is chronological structure, in which an author organizes material around key times. There is temporal progression; the events of the story happen sequentially. First and 2 Samuel use biographical structure, as I pointed out, but they also employ chronological
structure. The narrative moves like a diary through the early days of Israel’s kingdom. Incident after incident begins with the word, “Then . . .,”“Then . . .,” “Then. . . .”

The same is true for much of the Luke-Acts account.

Most of Paul’s letters to young churches are structured around ideas and concepts. Romans is a classic in this regard. It argues forcefully and comprehensively for one main idea, as summarized in 1:16: the gospel is the power of God for salvation. In presenting his case, Paul touches on concepts such as sin, the law, faith, grace, and life in the Spirit.

Ideological structure makes it easy to outline a book. Once you understand the central theme and purpose, you can determine what each part of the book contributes to the understanding of that theme and purpose.

Detecting structure is a critical step in the Bible study process. When we get to Interpretation, we’re going to ask, What does this text mean? But we’ll never be able to answer that question accurately until we’ve answered the observational question, What do
I
see? Structure is the doorway to understanding an author’s purpose.