How To Study The Bible | Lenses of Context Pt 1 - Historical | EP144

Perhaps the most frequent question we hear is, “How do I learn to study the Bible in context on my own?” That’s why we wrote a free e-book called The #1 Mistake Most Everyone Makes Reading the Bible (available for FREE at https://walkingthetext.com/join/) and why we’re launching this new series.

In the first episode of our new six-part mini-series Lenses of Context, Walking The Text founder Brad Gray shows us how understanding the historical context of a passage can amplify its meaning. The Bible is filled with subtle clues that reveal the state of the world at the time the passage was written. From a historical perspective these clues include things like: Who’s in charge? What’s their rule or reign like? What else is happening in the world? And what sort of implications do these things have for the world at the time of this particular passage?

For instance, in Revelation 3:1-6, Jesus has a message for the church in Sardis. Located in Western Asia Minor (present day Turkey), one of the unique features of Sardis was the towering, impenetrable walls of the acropolis. When attacked, the citizens of Sardis would flee to the top of the acropolis and simply wait out their enemies. Unfortunately, the height of their walls made them overconfident in ways that would prove devastating.

Consequently, in the sixth century BC, the Persians laid siege to Sardis. During the siege, a Persian observed a Lydian soldier retrieve a fallen helmet from a secret place in the wall. Later, the Persians attacked this location and caught the city by surprise. Hundreds of years later, the city would be conquered in a similar fashion. Sardis has a history of being asleep and overconfident. And when Jesus addresses the church at Sardis, he likens their faithfulness to the overconfidence of Sardis. If we don’t understand that history, we’ll miss what Jesus was saying. By the end of this first episode in Lenses of Context: Historical, you’ll be equipped with a set of five questions to ask any passage you’re reading in order to understand its historical context.

To view the Discussion Questions for this episode, please go here http://bit.ly/lensesofcontextpt1

To acquire the 40+ teachings on the Roman Empire and its intersection with the New Testament, please go here https://bit.ly/3qcV1iN.

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