Welcome to the Bible Study Inductively blog! www.biblestudyinductively.blogspot.com. This site offers free Bible study lessons. My objective is to share specific Bible study skills which will enable the learner to study their Bible personally. Bible study takes time and practice, but you can jump in at any lesson to improve your skills. A study skill along with a Bible passage will be presented one week followed by a second week of feedback and discussion. I will share what I’ve learned, and would like to hear from you. You can ask questions, ask for more clarification, or share something God revealed to you as you studied His Word. We will repeat this cycle alternating one week of study, with one week of discussion to observe what we’ve learned. This is an exciting way to study our Bibles together. I hope you’ll join us!
Bible Introduction
Grab your Bible and let’s look at it for a minute. It’s important to note the version of the Bible you are studying. You might look on the spine of the Bible, or on the Title page. My Bible says NASB or New American Standard Bible. You may have a KJV (King James Version), NKJV (New King James Version), NIV (New International Version), ESV (English Standard Version), NLT (New Living Translation) or any number of other versions. It is important to note the version you are studying because some reference materials will need to match the version of the Bible you are studying. (I’ll let you know when the reference material and your version of the Bible will need to match.)
Next, spend a minute and look through your Bible. The Bible is split into two Testaments: The Old Testament (39 books) and The New Testament (27 books). Over time, you will become familiar with the different books of the Bible and where they are found. In the meantime, most Bibles have a Table of Contents which will help you to locate the particular book we are studying. I will be using references to help us locate a Bible passage quickly. For example, Mar 10:46-52 (Mark 10:46-52) will be the first passage we will study. Mar is short for the book of Mark. (The reference will use the first three letters of the book name. Mar will stand for Mark. For awhile, I’ll write down the whole book name in parenthesis to get us started.)
If you look in your Table of Contents, you will find the book of Mark listed in the New Testament Section along with a page number. Go to that page number to find the beginning of the book of Mark. You have now found Mar 1:1 (The book of Mark, Chapter 1: verse 1) In the Bible, chapter numbers are usually large, followed by several small numbers which are the verse numbers. When looking at a reference number, the chapter numbers are followed by a colon which will separate it from the verse number. Mar 10:46 = Mark (book of bible) 10 (chapter number): 46 (verse number). To find Mar 10:46 you will have to turn a few pages to the right. Look for the large chapter number (10) first, and then look down the page until you find the smaller number 46. Did you find it? You have successfully found our first passage of Scripture! We will be studying seven verses, 46-52. When you see a reference noted as Mar 10:46-52 it means that we look at the book of Mark, chapter 10. The passage will start with verse 46 and we will study through to verse 52. If you have any questions, please ask. I’m happy to help!
Rule
The first rule of observation is that we don’t change Biblical text at all! Scripture tells us that God’s word is inspired by God, Himself (2 Tim 3:16) and we dare not change it! We will always be observing the text just as it is written.
Lesson
Today’s lesson is about nouns. A noun is a person, place or thing. For this lesson, let’s look at the people involved in Mar 10:46-52 (Mark 10:46-52). You’ll want to notice all the people who are mentioned in these verses. Some are listed by name, while others may be listed as they, or he. Dig a little deeper to determine who is spoken of as “they” is in verse 46. To find the answer you will have to read some previous verses. Let’s look at it together. Looking back to Mark 10:32 you find that “they” includes Jesus who was walking ahead of the twelve (Jesus had twelve disciples.) In Mark 10:35 notice that two of the disciples are named James and John, and in Mark 10:41 note that the other ten (disciples) were indignant with James and John. Back to verse 46. Who then is the “they” in verse 46? It is Jesus along with his 12 disciples. (As a side note they have now come to and are leaving the city of Jericho – at a later time. The ten disciples are probably not indignant with James and John any longer.) We will start our study with just the facts written in our passage.
First, before you start your study, ask God to show you what He wants you to know. You might also want to thank Him in advance for what He is about to reveal to you.
You may find a pencil and notebook helpful at this point to write down notes. With your Bible, pencil and paper, answer the following questions.
1. Write down a list of all the people you find in this passage (Mark 10:46-52)
2. Are there any relationships evident between the people mentioned in this passage?
3. If you find a description of any person, write down the description along with the person’s name.
4. Compare the blind beggar to Jesus.
5. Why are the descriptions important?
6. The term Rabboni is used in verse 51. Rabboni is the Galilean form of Rabbi. You may want to look up Rabbi, instead of Rabboni.
7. Do you have extra time and want to dig a little deeper?
a. Why are the places (nouns) mentioned in the passage important?
b. Are there any things (nouns) mentioned in the passage you want to know more about?
The book of Mark is the shortest of the four gospel accounts found in the Bible. Mark is always interested in determining: Who is Jesus, and How should we serve Him? Since the book is so short, every word found there is important.
To help you look up any people or names you are not familiar with, I have a link found on the bottom left of the blog, “Blue Letter Bible.” When you double click on that link it will take you to a Bible dictionary which is free for your usage through the Blue Letter Bible website. Be sure to use the drop down list to find the Bible version you are studying from, and simply type in the word you would like to search. Write down any questions you may have, along with the information you learn. If your version of the Bible isn’t found in the dropdown list, you may use the Scriptures from the New American Standard Bible written below.
When you’re finished studying, write in and let us know what you’ve discovered from this lesson and how you can apply it to your own life. Part of the fun is sharing what you’ve learned, and reading the insights of other people. This will lead to great discussions and send each of us back to our Scripture passage to find new insights we hadn’t seen before! I’ll look forward to hearing from you!
Scripture in New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Mark 10:46-52 ¶ "Then they came to Jericho. And as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road." 47 "When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"" 48 "Many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"" 49 "And Jesus stopped and said, "Call him here." So they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you."" 50 "Throwing aside his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus." 51 "And answering him, Jesus said, "What do you want Me to do for you?" And the blind man said to Him, "Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!"" 52 "And Jesus said to him, "Go; your faith has made you well." Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road."
Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright ©1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, Used by permission.
Searching the Scriptures
