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How to Study the Bible and Enjoy It
Copyright © 1996, 2002 by Skip Heitzig. All rights reserved.
Cover design copyright © by Rome & Gold Creative Ltd./Albuquerque, NM. All rights reserved.
Cover photograph copyright © by Janis Christie/Photodisc. All rights reserved.
Designed by Dean H. Renninger
Edited by Dave Lindstedt
Published in 1996 by Connection Publishing.
Revised and expanded edition published in 2002 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version.
Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright
© 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights
reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®.
NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of
Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1962,
1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the Holy Bible, King James Version.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Heitzig, Skip.
How to study the bible and enjoy it / Skip Heitzig.—Rev. and expanded ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-8423-3723-7
1. Bible—Study and teaching. I. Title.
BS600.3.H45 2002
220′.071—dc21 2001007369

Printed in the United States of America

08 07 06 05 04 03 02
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
 CONTENTS

1) Deciphering the Bible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2) Finding the Right Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

3) Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

4) Observation: Opening Your Eyes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

5) Interpretation: Opening Your Mind . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

6) God’s Creative Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

7) Application: Opening Your Heart . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

8) Practicing What We’ve Preached. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

 1
DECIPHERING
THE BIBLE

The Scriptures were not given to increase our knowledge but to change
our lives. —D. L. MOODY

L E T ’ S S U P P O S E that one day you receive a letter from a

friend. You open it with eager anticipation only to discover a con-
fusing jumble of words: “Uzza wuzza jazza wazza! Surfuss murfuss
calorex flex.” With a perplexed frown, you think, Hmmm, what
could this mean? A joke, perhaps? Maybe it’s a secret code or some
other language. Unless someone interprets it for you, though, you
are at a loss.
That’s how a lot of people feel about the Bible. They see it as
a confusing combination of stuffy old stories, ancient history, and
irrelevant rules. “What do all those prophets, poets, and pundits
have to do with me and my life today? Their world seems so—
distant.” They may concede that the Bible contains some noble
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HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE AND ENJOY IT

principles—but written in archaic language that is difficult to

understand. They approach the Bible like some cryptic code that
needs to be broken or deciphered. Sound familiar? Some people
believe they can’t understand the Bible without an expert to
explain its mysterious truths. They think they must go to a Bible
school or seminary to really understand its message. Hogwash!
Of course we need to understand what the Bible says, or else
it will be of little value to us, but God has taken our frailties into
consideration and has given us His Word in such a way that our
minds can understand its truths and our souls can be nourished by
it. God wants us to read the Bible. He didn’t intend for it to collect
dust on a coffee table or lie dormant inside a desk drawer. It is a
means of getting to know Him. He also wants us to understand it.
It was never God’s intention that the Bible become something we
recite, read, chant, or sing without a thorough comprehension of
its truth.
Of the many radical changes that accompany spiritual conver-
sion, perhaps none is more significant than the shift in our atti-
tude toward the Bible. I have experienced this personally and
witnessed it in others. When a person comes into a relationship
with the living God, he or she notices a hunger to know more and
experience more. Who is this God? What is He like? What does
He want me to do? Questions like these drive us to the Bible for
answers. What a surprise, when our spiritual eyes are opened, to
find that God’s Word is an inexhaustible treasure chest of truth
and wisdom. Better yet, it’s even possible to enjoy studying the
Bible. Has that been your experience yet?
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 DECIPHERING THE BIBLE

Perhaps you’ve found that even though this joy of discovery is

readily available to all sincere seekers, it isn’t automatic. Despite
the basic simplicity of the Bible’s message, it isn’t always easy to
understand the original context of ancient Hebrew or Greek cul-
ture. On the other hand, God gave us the Bible to reveal Himself
to us, and we don’t have to be scholars of ancient history to enjoy
a rich, rewarding, and meaningful study of the Scriptures. That’s
why I’ve written this book—to whet your appetite for studying the
Bible and to give you some tools to help you properly approach a
consistent study of God’s Word.
Not long after I became a Christian, I went back to the church
in which I’d been raised. Although it was considered a Christian
denomination, Bible reading was never emphasized. As I entered
the front door, Bible in hand, and made my way through the foyer,
people looked at me as if I were some sort of extraterrestrial being.
“Why are you bringing in one of those things?” someone asked. I
thought, What am I supposed to carry? A coloring book? It dawned
on me that of all the places that should welcome and foster a study
of the Bible, it would be a church!
Certainly the Bible should be prominent in our churches. It
is our Magna Carta, our Declaration of Independence. It is our
owner’s manual and our road map to life. I agree with what George
Mueller, founder of the Bristol Orphanage in London during the
1800s, said about the importance of God’s Word:

The vigor of our spiritual life will be in exact proportion

to the place held by the Bible in our life and thoughts. I
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HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE AND ENJOY IT

solemnly state this from the experience of fifty-four years.

The first three years after conversion I neglected the Word
of God. Since I began to search it diligently, the blessing has
been wonderful. Great has been the blessing from consecu-
tive, diligent, daily study. I look upon it as a lost day when
I have not had a good time over the Word of God.

In these chapters, I will introduce some very basic concepts that

will help you feel at home just about anywhere in the Bible. You
don’t have to be afraid of any passage of Scripture. After all, when
Jesus was still on earth, He promised His followers that He would
send the Holy Spirit to teach them all things and guide them into
all truth (John 16:13). The Holy Spirit is the ultimate Author of
all Scripture and He is also our best interpreter. Not only did He
orchestrate the composition and preservation of God’s Word,
He also reveals its deepest truths within our hearts. As Christians,
every time we open the Bible, we can rely on the Holy Spirit to
illumine the text.

IT’S ALL GREEK TO ME!

Further evidence that God intends for the Bible to be accessible
to everyone is the simplicity of the language in which it was given.
Greek was the most universal language at the time of the New
Testament. The style in which it was written is also noteworthy.
In those days, two types of Greek were spoken: a classical, refined
style unique to scholars; and a simpler style, known as koine or
common Greek, which prevailed in the Greek-speaking world
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 DECIPHERING THE BIBLE

from the time of Alexander the Great until about A.D. 500. This
“marketplace Greek,” which the average citizen could understand,
was the language used by the writers of the New Testament.
That’s not to suggest that all of Scripture is simplistic and easy
to understand. Certainly there are difficult and controversial parts,
and some verses are hard to interpret without a thorough under-
standing of the Bible as a whole. At times we may feel as if we are
wading through a deep river. After all, we’re dealing with God’s
infinite truth—it’s not lightweight stuff! The apostle Paul even
says that for now we only “know in part,” but someday we’ll see
the full picture of truth (1 Corinthians 13:9-10). Until then,
I am content to be “on hold” about some of the more difficult-to-
understand issues.
I like what the great evangelist Dwight L. Moody said about
the challenge of understanding the Bible:

I am glad there’s a depth in the Bible I know nothing about,

for it shows its divine authorship. A man once came to me
with a very difficult passage and said, “Mr. Moody, how do
you explain that?”
I replied, “I don’t.”
“But how do you interpret it?”
“I don’t interpret it.”
“Well, how do you understand it?”
“I don’t understand it.”
“What do you do with it?”
“I believe it! I believe many things I don’t understand.”
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HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE AND ENJOY IT

Because much of God’s truth transcends us, we must be content to

believe some things we don’t fully understand. Nature itself is filled
with wonders we cannot fathom, so how can we expect to know
everything spiritual? In John 3, Jesus reminds Nicodemus that if he is
unable to grasp earthly things, heavenly things would be far beyond
him (John 3:12). Still, God has spoken so that we can understand.
He delights to reveal His truth and enlighten our hearts and minds.
He loves for His children to understand His ways. As Moses said,
“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things
which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we
may do all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:29).
In studying the Bible, don’t get hung up on everything you don’t
understand. Instead, be content to study the Scriptures in faith, and
leave the rest to God. My friend and mentor Chuck Smith once
gave me some unforgettable advice: “Never give up what you do
know for sure for what you don’t know for sure.” Great wisdom!
Hold on to what you know for certain—those things that God has
revealed to you in His Word. For everything else, create a little
mental file titled “Waiting for Further Information” and allow God
to continue to teach you. As you study, your knowledge and under-
standing will grow—and the “pending” file may grow as well.

DOES GOD USE HUMAN TEACHERS?

Because the Holy Spirit is ultimately the best Bible teacher, and
because He resides inside every believer to direct us into God’s
truth, the question may arise, do we even need human teachers?
I’ll let the apostle Paul answer that:
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 DECIPHERING THE BIBLE

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets,

some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the
equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edify-
ing of the body of Christ. (EPHESIANS 4:11-12)

Here’s how it works: Among the many spiritual gifts that God dis-
tributes across the body of Christ, He gives the gifts of pastoring
and teaching to some to help the church understand the meaning
of the Scriptures. These teaching pastors are individuals used by
God to equip and prepare God’s people for works of service. We
don’t want to rely on our teachers to the detriment or exclusion
of our own careful study, but there’s nothing wrong with learning
from others whom God has especially gifted and who have studied
the original languages, history, and cultures of the Bible.
If we’re not careful, though, we can become conditioned to
being spoon-fed the Scriptures. After all, it’s great to sit and listen
to a well-versed Bible teacher and just soak it in—right? The
teacher does all the work, and we do all the sitting and soaking.
However, the most rewarding truths are those we discover on
our own as the Holy Spirit sheds light on the Word. When we
uncover truth by our own study, our convictions deepen and take
root more readily than if those truths were merely handed to us.
A truly gifted teacher will not only strengthen us spiritually but
also whet our appetite for personal study.
The perfect balance between the enlightenment of the Holy
Spirit and instruction by human teachers was perhaps modeled
by the Bereans, a group of Christians that Paul met on one of his
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HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE AND ENJOY IT

missionary journeys. He was impressed by their openness to

instruction and their uncommon diligence in studying the Scrip-
tures on their own. Paul says of the Berean believers, “These were
more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they
received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures
daily to find out whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11).
Did you notice the balance between receiving truth and
searching it out? The Bereans scrutinized Paul’s teaching in light
of the Scriptures, and the apostle commended their actions. As a
preacher myself, I advise you to listen readily to your pastor, but
always check to see if his words align with what God has said in
the Bible. As you become a student of the Scriptures, you will see
an acceleration in your spiritual growth and you will experience
the incomparable ministry of the Holy Spirit as He speaks to you
directly and personally.
Perhaps you’ve had the same experience I’ve had. Maybe
you’ve read a passage of Scripture several times without any par-
ticular insight. Then you read it again—only this time, it’s like a
light goes on and your understanding is clearer than ever before.
Now when you refer to that Scripture, you have some genuine
insight and wisdom. What happened? The Holy Spirit simply did
what Jesus promised He would do—He led you into all truth.

REGULAR FEASTING ON THE WORD

One of healthiest habits you can develop is to read through the
entire Bible on a regular basis. Before you dismiss the idea as too
difficult, let me put it in perspective. It’s not as formidable a task
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 DECIPHERING THE BIBLE

as you might think. At a very moderate rate, the entire Bible can
be read in about seventy hours—about fifty-two hours for the Old
Testament and eighteen hours for the New Testament. Divided
over an entire year, those seventy hours equate to one hour and
twenty minutes per week, or sixteen minutes per day if you were
to read five days a week—or only eleven-and-a-half minutes per
day if you establish the habit of reading your Bible every day. Not
as time-consuming as you’d think, is it? Compare that with the
time you spend on other activities. For most of us, our primary
occupation consumes at least forty hours a week. Week in and
week out, that’s about two thousand hours annually. Each year we
sleep almost three thousand hours. Add another five hundred and
fifty hours per year for eating, and about fifteen hundred hours per
year for watching television, and suddenly those seventy hours of
Bible reading look pretty easy. Perspective is everything!
Let’s take a look at some tools that can launch you into a regu-
lar, satisfying—yes, even enjoyable—practice of Bible reading and
study.