Pathways to Understanding the Bible

Workshop 1

Jonah

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Table of Contents

Introduction to the Pathways Course ...................................................................................................... 3

Overview of the Pathways Course ..........................................................................................................5

Demonstration Sermon .............................................................................................................................8

The Bible Pathway .....................................................................................................................................9

Careful Bible Study ..................................................................................................................................12

How to Lead a Practice Session ............................................................................................................16

Written Setting ..........................................................................................................................................19

Practice: Jonah 3:1-10.............................................................................................................................22

Practice: Jonah 4:1-11.............................................................................................................................23

Demonstration Sermon ...........................................................................................................................24

Reflecting on the Workshop ...................................................................................................................25

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Introduction to the Pathways Course

We are all familiar with what it means to travel down a path. For many of us it is the

primary means of getting from one place to another. We travel by path from house to

house, village to village and sometimes from one region of the country to another by

means of paths. Even in the city we use paths in parks and through gardens. Walking

on a path not only is a means of travel but can also be a means of learning. We learn

about the people and places we meet along the way. We also learn about the plants

and animals we encounter and the scenery we see as we travel. Walking down a

familiar path is one way of connecting with our community and experiencing life.

Walking a new path often allows us to expand our lives and experience new things.

Studying the Bible can be viewed in much the same way as walking down a path. As

we read through the Bible we learn new things. The more often we read the same

passages the more familiar we become with what we find there. The things we discover

as we read enrich our lives and help us connect with God and with others around us.

Often our reading even helps us understand ourselves better. When we read new

sections of the Bible we encounter new ideas that expand our thinking and lives.

Learning to walk on a new path requires some patience, and instruction and direction

from those who have been there before. Learning to study the Bible is like that as well.

There are new skills to learn from others and disciplines to master if we are going to be

able to walk through the teachings of the Bible well. This course is designed to take you

down the path of learning how to study and teach the Bible. Once you have mastered

the skills we will teach you, you will be able to walk down all the pathways of the Bible

and gain great understanding about what God has said in His Word and to effectively

share that understanding with others. Are you ready to begin? We hope this will be a

fun, challenging and fruitful adventure for you and that you will be blessed and God’s

kingdom will be advanced as a result.

Welcome to the pathway to better biblical understanding! We look forward to our

journey together.

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The following is a sample of the normal schedule for the first workshop on the book of

Jonah. The other workshops will have similar schedules.

Jonah Schedule Sample

How Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

8:15 Welcome

Devotions and

Prayer Devotions and

Prayer Devotions and

Prayer

Devotions and

Prayer

9:00

Session 1: Discussion

and Overview of

Training

Session 3: Study:

Travelling instructions

Session 5: How to Lead a Practice Session

Jonah 2:1-10

Session 7: Practice:

Jonah 3:1-10

Session 9: Demonstrate: Preaching the

Book of Jonah

10:00 Break Break Break Break Break

10:30

Session 2: Demonstrate Jonah 1:1-16

Session 4: Study: Careful

Bible Study

Session 6: Study: Written

Setting

Session 8: Practice:

Jonah 4:1-11

Session 10: Reflecting on

the Workshop

12:00

Questions

Questions

Questions

Questions

Questions

12:30 Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch

14:00 Elective Elective Elective Elective Dedication of

Trainers and Closing

15:00 Elective Elective Elective Planning for

Training Others

16:00

Group Assignments:

Prepare for Jonah 2

Group Assignments:

Prepare for Jonah 3

Group Assignments:

Prepare for Jonah 4

Group Assignments:

Prepare Message on

Jonah

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Session #1

Overview of the Pathways Course

The Pathways Training Course is designed to equip you to train other national pastors

to study and teach the Word of God accurately. Because we believe that the Bible is

the Word of God and is essential for a healthy individual and church life, we believe

learning to properly study and teach the Bible is an essential skill for all pastors. We

want to develop, empower and release you to train other pastors for generations into

the future. We want everyone taking this course to have in mind the task of passing this

training on to others as they are taking the training themselves. Passing the training on

will help you grasp the concepts even better and will multiply our efforts to train all

pastors in the Word of God. The course normally is taught in 5 day workshops, (3 days

without translation), conducted 3 times a year for 3 years, totaling 9 workshops.

As we train, we want our effort to be more than an academic exercise. Since we are

studying the Word of God, we want the Word to impact and transform our thinking and

lives as we study. We want to challenge you as teachers and preachers of the Word to

have the same goal in your teaching, the transformation of your listeners. Throughout

the course we will regularly call for reflection and application of what we are learning

from the Word to our own lives.

The course is not designed to be primarily a lecture-driven process. While there are

times when we will teach principles and tools in this way, the majority of the course will

be conducted through exercises and guided discussions. You will regularly be given

opportunity to make presentations from the Word with feedback from the leaders and

other students. These practice sessions are where we think the majority of the learning

will take place. In addition, in each workshop of the training, demonstration sermons

will be presented by the leaders to help you grasp the concept of expository preaching.

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Workshops

In each of the 9 workshops, there will be approximately 12 sessions for demonstration

sermons, study sessions and practices sessions. In addition, we will have 5 or 6 hours

of elective subjects that are designed to help you grow in the areas of knowledge,

character and pastoral skills.

In 8 of the workshops we will organize the training around single Bible books. The

books studied are, in order:

Jonah

2 Timothy

Genesis 1-11

Romans 1-8

Mark

Ephesians

Habakkuk

Psalms

The last workshop looks at the Bible as a whole from Genesis to Revelation. We will

introduce 16 different study principles over the duration of the course. They will be

introduced gradually one at a time and reviewed and reinforced in later workshops.

Each workshop is designed to help you learn new skills in reading, understanding,

applying and preaching the Bible. By gradually introducing and reinforcing these skills

over three years you will make progress in actually using and mastering the skills.

Study Tools

The Tools we will teach are:

Bible Pathway, Careful Bible Study Methods, Written Setting – Workshop #1

Asking Questions, Linking Words, Staying on the Line – Workshop #2

Structure, Biblical Theology, Frameworks – Workshop #3

Linking Words, Main Points, Big Idea – Workshop # 4

Asking Questions, Historical/Biblical Setting, Big Idea – Workshop # 5

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Structure of a Book, Connecting Big Ideas, Preaching – Workshop # 6

Genre, Biblical/Historical Setting, Poetic Tools – Workshop #7

Structure - Book, Big Ideas - Book, Overall Message - Book – Workshop # 8

Structure-Bible, Big Ideas-Bible, Overall Message-Bible – Workshop # 9

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Session #2

Demonstration Sermon

Jonah 1:1-16

An Expository Sermon is one that preaches what the text says and where the structure

of the sermon parallels the structure of the passage. The following is an example of an

outline for an expository sermon from the first chapter of the book of Jonah. You should

prepare and present your own expositional sermon on this text when you train others.

God confronts our hard-hearted rebellion

I. Jonah refuses to respond to God’s call with a receptive heart and flees

II. God doesn’t let him escape and confronts his sin through the storm and sailors

III. God demonstrates the foolishness of fleeing from Him

After the message, ask your partner to lead a discussion on the message. Discuss not

only what they learned from the passage but how the preacher presented his message.

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Session #3

The Bible Pathway

Introduction

When we hurry along a pathway, we want the shortest, straightest path to our

destination. But we often find that impossible because something blocks the path,

perhaps a river or a mountain. Sometimes a danger along the way makes the shortest

path unwise. So we have to take a path that curves and takes longer to travel if we are

going to safely arrive at our destination. This principle is also true of our path to

understanding the Bible.

We often are in a hurry to understand what God has to say to us in His Word. We want

to take what the Bible says and immediately apply it to our lives. But there are major

problems blocking our way. The first problem is that the Bible was not written directly to

us but to people who lived a long time ago in cultures sometimes far different from ours.

God certainly meant for the Bible to speak to us but if we do not take time to first

understand what the author was saying to the original audience, we are in danger of

misunderstanding God’s message to us. Second, we are sometimes tempted to

approach the Bible from our own cultural and personal outlook, often reading into the

passage what is not there. Once again we need to try to understand what was in the

author’s mind as he wrote to a specific people in a specific historical setting. Once we

understand that we can then ask “What is God saying to us in our time and culture as a

result?” The following diagram illustrates this process which we will call the “Bible

Pathway”.

God’s Message

Original Audience Me

No

Bible Pathway

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Sometimes the need to travel this path to the original audience is quite obvious and at

other times it is more subtle. For example, few people believe that the instructions of

the Law about sacrifices should be directly applied to us. God is not commanding us to

sacrifice animals, even though He did expect the original hearers to do so. This is

because we live in a different time and under a different covenant than the people in the

Old Covenant. We are no longer under the Law. We live under the New Covenant as a

result of Christ’s work for us. Although we cannot directly apply all that is said in the Old

Testament, we can apply the spiritual principles found there. So, while we should not

start sacrificing animals, we can learn about the principles of sacrifice, and that will help

us learn about Christ’s sacrifice for us.

At other times it is harder to see the need to look first at the original audience. For

example, if we are studying a New Testament book like 2 Timothy, we might be tempted

to quickly apply the teaching to ourselves without first asking what problems and

situations Paul was addressing in this letter to Timothy. The letter was not addressed to

us but to Timothy who lived a long time ago in a city called Ephesus. If we do not take

time to understand Paul’s original intent when he wrote to Timothy, we might make a

mistake in understanding what God wanted us to learn from this letter.

If we are going to hear God’s message to us, we first need to hear His message given

through the author to the original audience. We must observe and understand what

the author said in the original time and setting and then we can think about how to apply

his message to us in our time and setting.

Exercise: Together let’s look at the following passages, asking these four questions:

What is the situation found in this passage?

What is the main point?

How might the original listeners have heard the message differently than we do?

How should we apply the author’s message to our lives?

Numbers 15:37-41.

Matthew 12:9-14

Exodus 34:1-7

Matthew 10:5-6

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Bible Pathway

As we learn to study the Bible carefully and teach and preach it effectively to our

people, we will always travel on this “Bible Pathway” trying to learn the skill of

understanding what God was saying first to the original audience and then how He

intended that to be applied to us.

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Session #4

Careful Bible Study

Introduction

Careful Bible Study is the first step to getting on the pathway to understanding the

Bible. Because we believe that the Bible is the Word of God and communicates God’s

thoughts to us, (1 Corinthians 2: 11-13), we want to respect His Word by being careful

to accurately understand what is says. We do not want to impose our ideas onto the

Bible but to listen closely to what God is saying to us through His Word. That simply

means that we carefully read what is written, paying close attention to what is actually

said. As we examine the text we gradually come to a conclusion about what the author

of the passage intended to say. Once we understand what he intended to say we then

can consider how to apply that message to our lives. Throughout this process we

depend upon God’s Spirit to help us see what is said, to understand it correctly and to

apply it wisely to our lives.

The First Three Steps of Careful Study

Reading and Observation

We must begin our study by reading, and not just casually reading, but carefully reading

the passage. It is important to read the passage several times paying close attention to

what is said. Sometimes it may be helpful to read the passage out loud or even to copy

the passage on a piece of paper. This can help us slow down and notice everything

that is written in the passage. One of the most important things we can look for as we

read is the flow of the storyline or the logical sequence of the thoughts presented by the

author. We want to notice how he develops his ideas. We can ask, “What are the key

Words that he uses?”, “Are there repetitions or parallel ideas?”, “Does he compare or

contrast ideas?”, “How does this text fit with the other passages surrounding this

passage?”, and finally, “Are there any commands in the passage?” We also want to

notice the tone or general mood of the passage and anything that surprises us.

It is helpful to remember that observations cannot be disagreed with. We are simply

stating what is there. If someone can disagree with us, we have moved from observing

into interpreting the meaning of the passage. We should finish observing before we try

to understand the meaning of the passage.

Understanding

Once we have carefully observed what has been written, we need to try to understand

what the passage means. What we are trying to understand is what the original

author was thinking when he wrote the passage. We want to understand what he

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intended to say and what his purpose was for writing. In order to do that, we must first

understand the meaning of the Words that he uses. We may have to look up the

definitions of words we do not understand. Then we can consider the significance of

the words that are used. An important step will be to decide what the major points are

in the passage.

Taking into consideration the things we have observed, we need to prayerfully think or

meditate on what we have read. This takes time and effort but bears fruit in

understanding. As we meditate on the passage, we need to consider how the message

of this passage fits in with what we have learned elsewhere in the book we are studying

or in the Bible as a whole. As we seek for understanding, it is sometimes helpful to

summarize what the passage says in our own words. As our understanding grows, we

should be able to restate the main thing the author intended to say in a single sentence.

Application

After we have read and examined the passage and come to a conclusion about what

the author intended to say we are ready to consider how to apply his message to our

lives. We should notice if the passage offers an application in the text itself. Our

applications should address what we do, how we think and what we love. There may

be new truths to believe or changes that we need to make in our thinking. We may

simply be encouraged by new insights into God’s goodness or promises. We may need

to take specific actions of obedience or to repent of specific sins or attitudes. In all of

this, we need always to respond directly to God Himself in prayer, praise, commitment,

or fellowship. God is communicating with us in His Word and wants to draw us into a

closer relationship to Himself.

Using our Bible Pathway diagram we can show how observing, understanding and

application help us get the message God has for us.

God’s Message

Original Audience Me

No

Bible Pathway

1. Observation

2. Understanding

3. Application

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These three steps are the beginning of our journey to understanding the passage. As

we begin to learn how to complete these three steps well, we will add other steps and

tools to help us understand even better.

Practicing Careful Bible Study

Together let’s look at the following passages. For each we will:

Make as many observations as we can, attempt to understand the main point, and

make some application to our lives.

Romans 12:1-2

Ephesians 5:8-21

Genesis 22:1-14

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We will continue to practice observation, understanding and application as we study

Jonah 1:1-17.

Small Group Exercise

Observation: Form groups of three. Write down 10 observations from this chapter.

Share your group’s observations with the other groups. Notice how each group may

have observed some different things in the passage. Would you have noticed more if

you had observed longer?

Understanding:

In your groups, look again at the chapter. Using the list of things we observed in the

chapter, discuss what you think the main points are. What was the author’s purpose in

writing this chapter? What was his central point? What did he want to say to his

readers? Summarize your understanding in a single sentence to share with the other

groups.

Application:

Once again, in your groups think about how God might want you to apply the message

of this passage to your life. Are there changes you need to make in what you are doing,

in what you are thinking or in what you love? Share your thoughts with the other

groups.

Response to God: Take some time as a group to respond to God in light of what you

have learned from His Word.

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Session #5

How to Lead a Practice Session

Jonah 2:1-10

Practice Sessions are opportunities for students to make a short presentation of an

exposition of a passage of Scripture. The purpose of this type of session is to

encourage and help you to become a better and more confident preacher of God’s

Word. You will prepare a short message, present it to the class and receive feedback

from the leaders and other students. Several students will present messages in each

practice session.

Group interaction and discussion is crucial for this session to be effective. It is during

these discussions that we all make progress in learning to analyze the text and to

present it clearly by listening to the insights of the others in the class. The purpose of

the leader is not so much to teach, but to guide the discussion. The focus of the

session is not on the presentation of the message, but on its content and the

presenter’s grasp of meaning of the passage. The goal of the discussion is that all will

gain a better understanding of the passage being studied. Secondarily, we all want to

learn how to present that clearly to our listeners.

The discussion is not meant to be critical. We should all keep in mind that we are all

learning together and need to show love and respect to one another as we do so. As

we interact with the presentation, our goal is for the presenter, as well as all the rest of

us, to learn to study and understand the Bible better. We are working together to

accomplish that task. In doing this we also want to remember that we are studying

God’s Word and that we need to pay attention to what it says and apply it to our hearts

and lives even as we learn how to study better.

The Process for Leading a Practice Session

A practice session has three major parts.

1. Presentations

2. Feedback from designated responders

3. Discussion by the group

Presentations

Begin by reminding the group of the procedure used in a practice session and for the

need for graciousness and good discussion. Assign a time keeper. Assign a responder

for each preacher who is making a presentation. Then have the first preacher pray,

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read the text and make his presentation. (It is usually wise to have the all the

presenters write their Big Idea and the points of their sermon on the board before the

session to preserve time.) Give each presenter 5 minutes to make the presentation.

No more than 4 presenters should speak in any one practice session. Having more

than 4 speak makes the session longer and more confusing to those listening. It is

better to have more practice sessions rather than having more than 4 presenters per

session.

Responders

After each of the presenters has preached, ask their responders to comment on their

assigned presentation. Have each responder comment, and without discussion by

anyone else, go to the next presenter. The goal of the responder is to offer words of

encouragement to the presenter about something the responder appreciated in the

message. This is not a time for criticism. To help the responders be prepared to

encourage the preacher, instruct them to take notes when listening to their presenter.

When several people preach, it is easy to forget or become confused about what an

earlier presenter said. Notes will help you to remember key points.

Discussion

Once all the presenters have spoken and each of the responders has commented, open

up the group for discussion of the various presentations asking the question, “How well

did the presentations capture the central ideas of the text? How can we help them do

better?” Again the ultimate goal of the discussion is to help us all understand the text

better and to have our presentations reflect clearly what the text is saying.

At times it is fun to put a target on the board and to mark each presenter on the target.

Have several rings with the center designated as the exact, perfect understanding of the

passage, (which none of us will ever achieve), and with the outside rings progressively

moving farther away from that understanding. If this is done in a light-hearted way it

can be fun and not threatening to the presenters. The exercise is helpful in teaching

that our purpose is not to grade one another but to offer suggestions about how each

one could move their presentation closer to the center.

Practice

In groups of three read and discuss Jonah 2:1-10. Try to come up with a single

statement explaining the central or big idea of the passage. Come up with the main

points you would make in a sermon on this text. We will do this rather quickly giving

you just 15 minutes to come up with your presentation. Choose one of the members of

your group to be the presenter. We will have several present using the procedure

explained in session #5.

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Session #6

Written Setting

Introduction

As we travel on the Bible Pathway to understanding the Bible we need to understand

the concept of the written setting, sometimes called the context. Any path that we

walk on has unique surroundings. The path may pass through a village with certain

houses lining the pathway, or it may travel through the forest or bush where there are

few houses. Or the path may be through the city with winding streets and tall buildings.

Noticing the things that surround the path helps us know where we are on the path and

gives meaning to our journey.

The same is true of our study of the Bible. As we travel the path to understanding any

passage of scripture we must take notice of the things that surround the words we are

studying. What came before this passage? What follows after it? The verses and

chapters before and after the passage we are studying are called the literary, or

written, setting of the passage. In later sessions we will also study the historical and

biblical settings of a passage. If we are going to understand the meaning of the text

we are studying we must consider its setting. The sentences and passages that

surround our text will help shape our understanding of its meaning.

In order to understand the written setting of a passage we must read the passages

surrounding it. Once again we must observe what the author says in these passages

and try to understand what he intended to say. If we study our way through a book, it

is important to remember what we learned in the last passage. That will help us

understand the passage we are now studying. What we learned in the last one will

influence the meaning of the current passage. But it is also important to consider what

lies ahead. Where the ideas in the book are going also influences our understanding of

the meaning of the passage we are studying. If we studied the last passage well it will

help us understand the present passage better. We may not know the meaning of

future passages as well but having a general understanding of what is coming later will

help us see the author’s purpose. That is one of the reasons why it is important to read

the whole book through several times before beginning to study passage by passage.

As we consider the setting, we will be looking at the connections between the

passages we study. If we consider the major ideas of each passage we study we can

better see how they are connected with each other. As we make these connections we

will begin to see the path of understanding the author is taking us on as we travel

through the book. When we finish we will better understand the author’s purpose in

writing the book and what major ideas he wanted us to learn.

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Practicing Understanding the Setting

Luke 15:1-32

Look at verses 11-32

What is the central lesson?

Who are the main characters?

How is the passage, 1-32, structured? What is the flow of the story?

How do the first two stories, (written setting), affect our understanding of the third?

Matthew 24:42 – 25:12

What is the main point of each of the four stories in this passage?

How are the stories connected?

What is the overall message of the four stories?

Small Group Exercise

We will be looking at Jonah chapter two for this exercise. Form groups of three and

read chapter two. Remember to begin by making a list of observations of what you

see in the chapter. Then discuss together the main ideas that are in chapter two.

Compare this with what you learned earlier in chapter one.

-How does what you learned in chapter one affect your understanding of chapter two?

-From your reading of the whole book, how do chapters three and four affect your

understanding of chapter two?

-Is your understanding of chapter two changed by your understanding of what is in the

rest of the book?

Be prepared to share your thoughts with the other groups.

Application

It is obvious that chapter two is about repentance. But is that repentance genuine? Is it

a model for us? When we see Jonah’s attitude in chapter four we are forced to consider

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the nature of his repentance in chapter two. What is your experience with repentance?

Is it sometimes partial? Is it always genuine? Is being sorry the same as being

repentant?

As we look at the message of the book of Jonah what is God saying to you about your

attitude toward the people or groups around you? Is there a need for repentance in

your heart? What kind of repentance do you think God desires from us?

As teachers and preachers of God’s Word it is important that we listen and respond to

what He is saying in the passage we are studying before we try to apply it to our people.

It is important that we change and that our hearts are right and humble before we ask

God to use us in helping our people change.

Bible Pathway

By adding Written Setting to our Bible Pathway it now looks like this:

God’s Message

Original Audience Me

No

Bible Pathway

1. Observation

2. Written Setting

4. Application

3. Understanding

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Session #7

Practice: Jonah 3:1-10

In this session each student who has prepared a message on Jonah 3:1-10 will make a

short presentation of how they would preach this text. We will follow the regular

procedure for Practice sessions with feedback from responders and discussion by the

group. We will look for:

1. How well the Big Idea fit the text.

2. What the main points were.

3. How the message fit the written setting.

4. How the message can be applied to our lives today.

5. How we should respond in light of the gospel.

Points to ponder about chapter 3

1. How does the chapter relate to chapters one and two?

2. How does it prepare us for chapter 4?

3. Who are the main actors in chapter 3?

4. Why do you think the people of Nineveh repented?

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Session #8

Practice: Jonah 4:1-11

In this session each student who has prepared a message on Jonah 4:1-11 will make a

short presentation of how they would preach this text. We will follow the regular

procedure for Practice sessions with feedback from responders and discussion by the

group. We will look for:

1. How well the Big Idea fit the text.

2. What the main points were.

3. How the message fit the written setting.

4. How the message can be applied to our lives today.

5. How we should respond in light of the gospel.

Points to ponder about chapter 4

1. How does the rest of the book prepare you for chapter 4?

2. Why was Jonah angry?

3. How does that fact change your view of chapter 2, chapter 3, or the purpose of the

book?

4. Why does the book end the way it does?

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Session # 9

Demonstration Sermon

The Book of Jonah

An Expository Sermon is one that preaches what the text says and where the structure

of the sermon parallels the structure of the passage. The following is an example of an

outline for an expository sermon from the entire book of Jonah. You should prepare

and present your own expositional sermon on this book when you train others.

God wants more than obedience, He wants us to share His heart.

I. Jonah refuses to obey the Word of the Lord

II. Jonah responds to God’s correction

III. Jonah obeys the Lord and goes to preach

IV. Jonah’s heart is exposed

After the message have the partner you are teaming with lead a discussion on the

message. Discuss not only what they learned from the passage but how the preacher

presented his message.

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Session # 10

Reflecting on the Workshop

Review the Study sessions:

-Travelling Instructions

-Careful Bible Study

-Written Setting

Review what we learned from each chapter of the book of Jonah.

Discuss what we learned in the workshop as a whole and ask for

questions.

Review the Bible Pathway

Discuss how we can improve the workshop

God’s Message

Original Audience Me

No

Bible Pathway

1. Observation

2. Written Setting

4. Application

3. Understanding