Reading Guides to Bible Books

Parent Category: Bible Resources

Category: Reading Guides to Bible Books

Reading Guide to Ruth

You may like to use this guide to help you read the book of Ruth.

1. Read through the book in one sitting first.

2. Then read it again and look for:

• The repeated pattern of leaving and coming back.

• The names at the beginning and the end that frame the story

• The main turning points in the story

3. The story

• Who is this story mainly about?

• Do you think the genealogy at the end spoils it or makes it a better story?

• Is this a love story?

• What is significant about the only occurrence of the word “love”?

• Notice the occurrences of the word “kindness”.

• Do you think this story could have been included in the stories of the Judges?

• Does the story have a main idea or theme?

4. Naomi:

• What are Naomi’s expectations about returning to Bethlehem?

• Is Naomi too self-focused?

• Is she grateful to Ruth?

5. Ruth

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of Ruth as a foreigner?

• Ruth is a Moabitess – what about Deut 23.3-6 and Neh 13.1,23?

• Did Ruth lose the baby in the end?

6. Boaz

• What is a kinsman-redeemer? See Lev 25.25-28; Num 35.6-28; Is 54.5-8; 62.11-12

• Why does Boaz think Ruth is doing him a kindness?

7. The Law

• Ruth was traditionally read at the Feast of Weeks (The Barley Harvest: Deut 16.9) to celebrate the giving of the Law. But it seems to undermine the law. How do Neh 13.1,23 and Mic 6.8 help resolve this?

8. Us

• Why does Ruth get a mention in Matthew’s genealogy (Matt 1)? What other mothers are mentioned in Matthew’s list?

• What passages in the New Testament are connected with the main themes of Ruth?

Parent Category: Bible Resources

Category: Reading Guides to Bible Books

Reading Job

These questions may help you think about some of the issues in this book. You will think of other questions yourself as you read it. At this stage read the book as many times as you can in order to form your own picture of what it is about.

Part 1 Overview

1. Reading

1.1. Read Job a number of times. Look for the structure, the recurring themes and main ideas.
1.2. Don’t read any notes, introductions in your Bible, or other books. Try to work out what it is about yourself first.

2. The Book

2.1. What is the broad structure of Job. Can you see any pattern?
2.2. Can you see where poetry and prose are used?
2.3. What references are there to Israel’s history or traditions?

3. The Author

3.1. Who is telling the story?
3.2. Why was it written?
3.3. What was the author’s thesis?
3.4. Do you think the author succeeded in what he or she set out to do?

4. The Content

4.1. Compare the beginning 1.1 – 2.10 with the end 42.10-17
4.2. How does the behind the scenes story (1.6-12; 2.1-6) make a difference to our understanding of Job’s response?
4.3. What is it that characterises Job in Chapters 1-2 and 42?

5. God

5.1. When God spoke to Satan, was it a dare, a challenge, a bet, or …?
5.2. What was at stake in this interaction between God and Satan?
5.3. Why did God do it?
5.4. Why does Satan not feature at the end of the story?
5.5. What is God’s role in job’s suffering?

Part 2: The speeches of Job and his Friends  Job 3-31

1. You may like to make your own analysis of this section without, or before, using this guide.

2. In 42.7,8 God says the friends have not spoken of God what is right as his servant Job has. What was wrong and what was right in the speeches of the friends?

3. What are job’s main complaints and accusations against God?

4. What are Job’s main requests?

5. What is the theological foundation from which Job is speaking?

6. Does Job charge God with wrong (1.22)?

7. The grid below may help identify some of the main ideas in the section.

8. Does Job have a theory to explain his suffering?

Part 3:   The Final Speeches: Job 32-42

You may like to use these questions to help you think through the last part of Job, and review the book as a whole.

1. The Elihu speeches 32 – 37

1.1 According to Elihu what was wrong with the ideas of
a. the friends
b.  Job
1.2 What main ideas did Elihu put forward to explain Job’s predicament?

2. The LORD’s Answer 38-41
2.1 What are the main ideas the LORD puts forward?
2.2 How do these answer Job?
2.3 Is Satan’s role referred to, or are there any supernatural references such as in chapters 1-2?

3.  Job’s Answer and Restoration 42
3.1 Was Job satisfied?
3.2 What convinced Job to stop complaining?
3.3 Was Job charged with wrong by God?
3.4 What brought about the end of Job’s sufferings?
3.5 Why was Job’s prayer for the friends necessary?

4.   The book as a whole
4.1 What is the main thesis of the book? or
4.2 What is the main story of the book?
4.3 Why do you think it was written?
4.4 What picture does it give of
i.      The LORD
ii.      Satan
iii.      Job
4.5 Why did these things happen to Job?
4.6 Did he learn or benefit from what happened?
4.7 What help does it give to others who are like Job?
4.8 To whom will the “happily ever after” apply?

5. Job in the Bible
5.1 How do the main ideas of the book of Job develop through the Bible?
5.2 Does it find any fulfilment in the NT?
5.3 What help is the book to a follower of Christ?

Parent Category: Bible Resources

Category: Reading Guides to Bible Books

Reading Guide to John's Gospel

The following notes may help you begin reading John's Gospel.

1. What is it?

The writing we are studying is a special kind of literature. It is not a history, and it is not a modern biography. We call it a gospel, although the author doesn’t call it that, in fact he does not use the word gospel at all.

But gospel describes a certain kind of writing which is meant to help people know about Jesus and put their trust in him. The author calls his writing a book (20.30) and says he has written it so “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

This purpose tells us the kind of writing it is, and so helps us interpret its meaning.

2. Who wrote it? and when?

There is a lot of debate about who wrote it. The title was not part of the original gospel, and John is not mentioned by name as the author. In the second century there was a strong belief that the apostle John had written it.

At the end of the gospel there is a kind of postscript written by others (21.24) attesting to the fact that the “disciple whom Jesus loved” wrote down these things (presumably the things in the book). There is considerable scholarly debate about the authorship, but there is strong evidence to think that the traditional view is still true.

Dates between 55 and 95 AD have been suggested. Probably a date in the later part of this period is most likely. The debate is focussed on certain historical details such as references to being put out of the synagogue  (a decision of the Council of Jamnia 85AD), the destruction of Jerusalem (AD70), the demise of the Sadducees, and the perceived development of doctrine expressed in John. See the commentaries for more details.

The early tradition claims that it was written from Ephesus.

3. Why is it not the same as the synoptic gospels?

One of the things that strikes every reader is how different John is from the synoptic gospels.

3.1 John omits many things included in the other gospels such as the transfiguration, the institution of the Lord’s Supper, the temptations of Jesus, casting out of demons, and hardly any reference to the theme of the preaching of the kingdom of God.

3.2 John on the other hand includes material the other gospels don’t have. The events in chapters 2-4, the raising of Lazarus, the long farewell discourse in chapters 14-17 are John exclusives.

3.3 There are also some differences between John and the others, such as his view of the giving of the Spirit (20.22), whether John the baptist was Elijah or not (1.21), and how much the disciples understand in the early days of the ministry.

3.4 There are also some discrepancies in chronology between the synoptics and John. The cleansing of the temple (Jn 2.14ff; Mk 11.15ff), and the question of when the death of Jesus occurred, are examples.

4. Why did he write it? and for whom?

When we try to interpret John’s gospel we need to have an idea why it was written. John states his purpose clearly at the end (20.30,31). A likely way to understand this statement, according to Carson, is that John wrote so  “that you may believe that the Christ, the Son of God, is Jesus”. In other words the gospel is not so much about who is Jesus, but who is the Messiah. John’s answer is that Jesus is the expected Christ. John thus sets out to show who the Christ is.

If this is John’s purpose, then it is not primarily a purpose directed at Christians, who would already be convinced of the fact. Rather it suggests that a major purpose was to evangelise those who were not yet convinced that the Messiah was Jesus. This indicates that John’s target audience was Jews and Jewish proselytes. He is writing for people who are familiar with the Old Testament. His translations of Hebrew words doesn’t indicate that the readers are not Jews, rather that they are not readers of Hebrew. They are probably Jews of the diaspora who speak Greek.

If his purpose was something like this, we then have reasons to understand why his gospel is different to the others. He chose his material and style to suit his particular audience and purpose.

5. Making sense of John’s gospel

John has written a book. So we should read his book. As we read it we will want to see if he has any arrangement of his material (a structure) that helps us better understand what he is saying. We will want to look for recurrent themes and ideas, and especially we will want to see how he supports his claim that the Messiah is Jesus.

5.1 From the whole to the parts

John’s gospel is a narrative kind of book. It has long sections of story in it. So we should first of all read it as a whole. And then we should read each of the narratives as whole stories. This will help us avoid getting bogged down in the details.  On the way through, of course, we will need to attend to some of the details since they help us understand the narrative.

5.2 What to look for when you read it

Read through John’s gospel in one sitting if you can. Read it through more than once. As you do take note of the following:

• What does it say about Jesus?

• What is said about his relationship with his Father?

• What is said about salvation, what it is and how it is accomplished?

• What salvation blessings are enjoyed in the present and what are anticipated in the future?

• What is John’s picture of the Holy Spirit?

• What allusions and references to the Old Testament can you spot ?

• What misunderstandings of Jesus’ teaching and ministry are recorded?

Parent Category: Bible Resources

Category: Reading Guides to Bible Books

Reading Guide to Galatians

You might like to use this sheet to help you read the letter to the Galatians

First read the letter right through in one sitting.

Then read it again looking for:

1. Context:

• To whom was it written? Is this unusual among NT letters?

• Where were they located?

• When had Paul visited them?

• When did Paul write the letter? Was it after or before the Council in Jerusalem (Acts 15)?

2. People:

• What does Paul tell us about himself?

• What is his explanation for his change of direction?

• What does the letter tell us about the “false brothers”?

3. Content:

• What themes in the opening greeting (1.1-5) are developed in the rest of the letter?

• What is the main issue in the letter?

• What is the relationship of the death of Christ to the main issue?

• How does Paul think believers should live the Christian life if they are freed from observing the law?

• What kinds of slavery does Paul describe?

• Which of this teaching is found in the Old Testament? What is new to the NT?

4. Us:

• What does the letter have to say to modern Christians and churches?