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Feed Yourself Lesson Six

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Context: Historical

"Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth." Dan. 9:13

Last week we looked at how important it is to read the Scripture in context. If we do not consider the verses that surround our reading and even the entire book in which it is found, we will have trouble understanding the true meaning. We may even reach an entirely false conclusion.

There are two other kinds of context. Scriptural context, as we saw last week, is by far the most important kind of context. Another kind of context is historical context. It can be very helpful in properly understanding some portions of Scripture to know what was happening in history at that time. This would include knowing the date when the book was written.

For many books of the Bible knowing when it was written can add additional insight, but often does not change the meaning. Although it may be interesting, knowing the date of the writing of Matthew does not change the meaning of the book. In a few cases, the date is critical. For example, if my view of the book of Revelation is correct, then it must have been written before AD 66. When looking for a date there may be both internal evidence [does the book give hints as to when it was written?] and external evidence [evidence outside the Bible for when it was written]. In most cases, the Bible student does not have to do this research himself or herself. Many Bibles have the mostly likely date written in an introduction. Just keep in mind that Bible Helps - even those placed inside Bibles - are not infallible. They could be wrong. For example, most Bible helps date the Book of Revelation around AD 90 - which I believe is an error.

Historical information can help in understanding the actions of people in the Bible. For example, why did Jonah not want to go the Nineveh? When you know the historical context you will see that Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria. Assyria was a powerful and cruel empire which was the enemy of Israel. For Jonah to go to Nineveh would be unpatriotic - maybe even treasonous. It was not something any loyal Jewish man would want to do. And their fears were well-founded. About 50 years after the story of Jonah, Assyria did invade and totally destroy Israel. This helps to explain Jonah's actions and feelings, but God loved the Assyrians anyway.

Historical information can often be gathered from a careful reading of the Bible. For example, we might wonder why God would send a flood and whether it was a local or global flood. Read Gen. 6-8 which deals with this. Looking at the historical details helps us to answer our questions. We see from Gen. 6:5-7 & 11-13 that it was because of the wickedness - and specifically the violence - that God determined to judge the world. So what was happening in the world? We know from Gen. 4:8 that murder had begun with Cain, we know from Gen. 4:19 that bigamy had begun, we know there was a large increase in population [Gen. 6:1]. There is some debate on what is meant in Gen. 6:2 & 4, but there was some kind of intermarriage going on which displeased God. We see people living to tremendous ages and God limiting them to 120 years. We see the Nephilim [possibly the source of the Greek/Roman god myths] roaming the earth. Out of the entire world population, only Noah was righteous. It took less than 1700 years for the world to become totally corrupt. As we look at these historical facts taken from the Scriptures themselves, we can begin to understand why God brought the Flood. As for whether the Flood was local or global, we look at Gen. 9:15 we see God promising never to flood the earth again. From subsequent history we know there have been many local floods; therefore, either the Flood was global or God lied.

Bible helps can give extra information, like we saw with Jonah, that is not found in the Bible. In later lessons we will look at how to effectively use Bible helps.

When reading the Bible, especially the historical books, always keep your eye out for historical details. Again, be a detective. Look carefully...what is said...what is assumed...what is implied?

WEEK SIX PROJECT

1. Spend your week reading Acts 8-10. As you read consider, among other things: What was it like to be a Christian at this time? What cities did the gospel go do? What was the attitude of the Jews? of the Gentiles? How did people travel? And as much more as you can find. Remember the Agassiz fish. Look at these chapters from every angle you can think of. Leave no stone unturned.

Day One: Read Acts 8-10 out loud.

Day Two: Read Acts 8 and write down all the historical details you see.

Day Three: Read Acts 9 and write down all the historical details you see.

Day Four: Read Acts 10 and write down all the historical details you see.

Days Five - Seven: Re-read Acts 8-10 each day, record any additional historical details you see.

2. Continue with your daily reading program.

3. If you would like extra practice, read through the Book of Esther. [By the way, Esther is the only book in the Bible that does not directly mention God.] Write down all the historical details you see. Answer questions like: Who was reigning? Where did he rule? What was his capital city? What was the punishment for treason? What were the laws like?

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Reference Works Used In This Course:

Bible Study Methods by Mrs. Shirley Davis

The International Inductive Study Bible by Harvest House Publishers

Effective Bible Study by Howard F. Vos, Zondervan

How To Understand Your Bible by T. Norton Sterrett, IVP

How To Study Your Bible by Kay Arthur, Harvest House

Independent Bible Study by Irving L. Jensen, Moody

How To Study The Bible For Yourself by Tim LaHaye, Harvest House

Return to Feed Yourself Lessons.

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