How to Study the Bible (John Macarthur Bible Studies Series) by MacArthur John F

Author:MacArthur, John F. [MacArthur, John F.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9781575673257
Publisher: Moody Publishers
Published: 2009-02-26T00:00:00+00:00

Know the Word

If we’re going to study the Bible, we’ve got to be convinced that it needs to be studied. That seems to be basic, so let’s look at some passages in Scripture that will help us understand it.

First there is Hosea 4:1–6. Hosea was facing the reality in Israel that God’s people had abandoned Him. Consequently, they fell into all kinds of sin. They became an adulterous nation, violating their vow to God. But what was their basic problem? How did it happen? Why did it happen? Note what he writes beginning in verse 1: “Hear the word of the Lord, you children of Israel.” Hosea puts his finger on the problem. When a nation ceases to hear the Word of the Lord, confusion and chaos take place.

He continues, “For the Lord brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: ‘There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land.’ They had removed the foundation, and when the foundation was gone, what was left? Verse 2 gives us the answer: “By swearing and lying, killing and stealing and committing adultery, they break all restraint, with bloodshed upon bloodshed.” In other words, you get national chaos when you give up the foundation of the Word of God.

In America today people are concerned about the condition of their country; they’re concerned about a rising crime problem, the disintegration of the family, chaos in government and the economic stress and turmoil that results—people have all these concerns in their hearts. But there will be no resolution to any of these problems unless there is a reaffirmation of the Word of God as the absolute standard for this country.

Israel had failed in Hosea’s day. When you destroy a biblical base, all you get is chaos. Everything bad had begun to happen because Israel would not hear the Word of the Lord. Verse 3 says, “Therefore the land will mourn; and every one who dwells there will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea will be taken away.”

Everything went wrong. Verse 6 sums it up for us: “My people are destroyed.” But why? “For lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge.” When a society rejects the law of God and the knowledge of Him, people open the floodgates to chaos.

Proverbs 1:20–33 echoes this theme of the importance of knowing God’s Word. As it is true in a nation, as in the case of Israel, it is also true in the life of an individual. If you do not have the Word of God as the base of your life, as the orientation for your behavior, as the solid foundation upon which you live—then there is no real base. The writer says, “Wisdom calls aloud outside; she raises her voice in the open squares.” Then in verse 22: “How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge.” It says they turned a deaf ear and refused to hear (v.

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