HOMILETICS

Acts 8:27, 30 31; Proverbs 27:17

What we try to do Isaiah 28:13

1. We cannot know it all

2. We cannot stop learning
3. We can learn from anyone
4. Be a student of the word of God
5. Study, study, study II Tim 2:15
6. Meditate and read- be a reader
7. Feed the flock John 21:17; Acts 20:28; I Peter 5:2
8. Pray, pray and pray
9. Holy spirit

Nehemiah 8:8

1. They explained the word of God to the people

2. They caused them to understand the word of God

Luke 24:44-45

1. We must open the understanding of the people that they understand the word
of God.
a. Christ- the seed of the woman
b. Jesus – The savior of sinners
c. Lord- sovereign of heaven and earth

II Tim 2:15

We must rightly divide the word of truth- correctly handle it or cut it through in a
right manner

Why is Bible Interpretation Important?

1. Many pastors preach the Bible without first interpreting it correctly in order to
understand its meaning. Interpretation is the most difficult and time-consuming step
of Bible study. There are three indispensable steps in Bible study with their
significant questions:

a. Observation – What does the text say?

What is here in the text?

What do I see in the text?

b. Interpretation – Explanatory = What does the text mean?

 Rational = Why is it said and why is it said here?

Implicit = What does it imply?

Significance = What is its significance or importance?

Identifying = Who or what is involved?

Modal = How is it accomplished?

Temporal = When is it accomplished?

Local = Where is it accomplished?

c. Application – What does it mean to me?

How does it apply to me?

How does it apply to my people/audience?

How does this work in my life?

How is it accomplished in the church?

What do I need to do?

d. Practical Application Questions

Is there an example for me to follow?

Is there a sin for me to avoid?

Is there a command for me to obey?

Is there a promise for me to claim?

Is there a difficulty for me to overcome?

Is there a truth for me to appropriate?

Is there something I need to pray about?

Is there something Christ wants me to do?

Is there someone Christ wants me to love?

Is there someone I can share the gospel with?

Is there a ministry I can help support?

Is there a missionary I can help send?

What we should avoid 2 Pet. 3:16. Imposing what we think on the word of God.
Ask questions. If you do not probe the Scriptures and ask questions that seek to
delve into the meaning of the passage, you will not have a good foundation to
develop solid applications from the Scriptures.

Observation is discovery; interpretation is digesting. Observation means depicting

what is there; interpretation is deciding what it means. The one is to explore, the
other is to explain.

It is essential as a crucial step for applying the Bible properly. Interpretation builds
on observation and leads to application. The goal of bible study is not simply to
determine what it says and what it means, but to apply it to one’s life. Heart
appropriation, not merely head apprehension, is the true goal of bible study.

Exegesis is defined as the determination of the meaning of the Biblical text by

drawing out that meaning from its historical, literary, and grammatical context.
Exegesis is the process by which the expositor actually interprets the Scriptures,
and hermeneutics consists of the principles by which the meaning is determined.

Homiletics is the science (principles) and art (task) by which the meaning and
relevance of the Biblical text are communicated in a preaching situation, and
pedagogy is the science (principles) and art (task) by which the meaning and
relevance of a Biblical text are communicated in a teaching situation (Zuck, 1991,
pg. 20).

Therefore, exegesis is the study of the text in private to determine the meaning of
the text, whereas exposition is the preaching of the text in public to convey the
meaning and relevance of the text to the audience. The primary concern is exegesis
is an understanding of a Biblical text, whereas, the primary concern of exposition is
the communication of the meaning of the text.

Therefore, the process of preaching the Word of God involves the following eight
steps:

1. Observation – seeing and documenting the content of the text

2. Hermeneutics – principles for understanding the meaning of the content

3. Exegesis – analyzing the content to determine the meaning of the text

4. Theological Correlation – determining the theological significance of the

truths of the text

5. Personal Application – determining the relevance and personal significance of

the text

6. Homiletics – principles for communicating the content

7. Exposition – the process of explaining and communicating the text

8. Edification – the building up of the Body of Christ through Biblical preaching

1. Communication, whether spoken or written, always involves three elements:

a. The speaker or writer

b. The message, given in audible sounds or written symbols called words

c. The hearers or readers

1. Each Biblical writing – that is, each word, sentence, and book – was recorded
in a written language and followed normal, grammatical meanings, including
figurative language.

Question that is asked: What did the words convey in the grammar of the original
readers?

2. Each Biblical writing was written by someone to specific hearers or readers in

a specific historical, geographical situation for a specific purpose.

Question that is asked: What was being conveyed by those words to the initial
readers?

3. The Bible is affected and influenced by the cultural environment from which
each human author wrote.

Question that is asked: How did the cultural setting influence and affect what was
written?

4. Each biblical writing was accepted or understood in light of its context.

Question that is asked: What is the meaning of the words in their context?

5. Each Biblical writing took on the nature of a specific literary form.

Question that is asked: In what literary form is the material written and how does
that affect what is said?

Each biblical writing was understood by its initial readers in accord with the basic
principles of logic and communication.

Question that is asked: How do the principles of logic and normal communication
affect the meaning?

What we need to understand about the Bible The Bible is inspired by God (2 Tim.
3:16, 2 Pet. 1:21).

1, The Bible is inerrant (John 10:35, Heb. 6:18, 1 John 5:20).

The Scriptures are inerrant, that is, without error in their original writings.

1. The Bible is authoritative.

Since the bible comes from God, it has an intrinsic authority. Jesus’ frequent
quotations of the Old Testament, which He recognized its supernatural origin, also
indicate His acceptance of its authority.

2. The Bible has unity.

Though written by 40 or more authors, the Bible is the work of God Himself.
Therefore, it possesses unity. As a result, the Bible cannot contradict itself. The
Scriptures are coherent and consistent, and all of the pieces fit together in harmony
with each other. Thus, we also acknowledge what is called the progress of
revelation.

3. The Bible has mystery.

It is recognized that the Bible contains many ideas and truths that are hard to
understand. The Bible contains mystery in four areas:

(a) prophecy concerning future events

(b) miracles, especially of Christ

(c) doctrines hard to comprehend

(d) the dual nature of Christ

The goal in Biblical Interpretation is to discover the original meaning of the

Scriptures when they were first written by the author, that is, what the original
intended meaning of the text meant to the first hearers or readers that comprised
the original audience.

To do this involves looking at several aspects of the interpretive process:

Historical-Cultural Context – the setting in which the Bible books were written and
the circumstances involved in the writing, including the cultural environment of the
context.

Biblical-Theological Context – the Biblical and theological background that

represents the perspective from which the Biblical author writes his book contained
in the Scriptures. It also represents the whole body of the author’s literary work,
other contemporary writers and related Scriptures, the whole book itself, and the
whole Bible.

Grammatical-Syntactical Analysis – studying the words, their definitions (lexicology),

parts of speech, phrases and clauses, and whole sentences of Scripture, and the way
they are put together.

Rhetorical-Literary Analysis – studying how the literary quality of a portion of the

Bible affects its interpretation.
There is a huge gap between the cultures in the world today and the cultures that
existed in the Bible times. According to Zuck and Virkler

1. A Historical Time Gap – gap of time

2. A Geographic Space Gap – There is a huge geographical distance from most of

the present-day countries of the world and the Biblical lands where most of the
stories of the Bible took place.

3. A Cultural Gap – There is a huge cultural gap that exists between the Biblical
peoples and that of the modern-day peoples.

4. A Linguistic Gap – The Bible is written in three main languages, which are
Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. These languages have unusual peculiarities, which are
quite different from the English language and most present-day languages in the
world.

5. A Literary Gap – 40 different authors that wrote the Scriptures over a period of
1500 years. There are many different genres employed and writing styles and literary
forms that are used by Biblical authors, which are quite different from literary styles,
forms, and genres utilized by present-day authors.

6. A Philosophical Gap – There are many different worldviews, circumstances,

natural and supernatural understandings, and perspectives of the culture and the
universe, which are radically different from those of modern-day peoples. Everyone
sees reality through eyes conditioned by their own culture.

7. A Spiritual Gap –

Important Factors involved in Studying Biblical Context

1. The words

2. The verse (s) immediately before and after a passage

3. The paragraph and book in which the passage occurs

4. The time period (when in Biblical history) in which the book was written

5. The message of the entire Bible

6. The historical-cultural environment of that time when the book was written

Initial Pertinent Historical-Cultural Questions to ask:

1. Who wrote the book?

2. What was his spiritual background and experience?

3. At what time was the book written?

4. What prompted the author to write the book?

5. What problems, situations, or needs was he addressing? In other words, what

is the general historical setting and situation that the author is addressing?

What were the political, economic, and social situations?

What was the main source of livelihood?

What were the major threats and concerns?

6. What is the book all about, i.e., what is its main subject or subjects?

What is the main argument of the book?

7. To whom was the book written, i.e., who were its first hearers or readers?

What was the level of spiritual commitment of the audience?

Were they believers, unbelievers, apostates, or believers degenerating toward

apostasy?

8. What is the specific historical-cultural context of the book?

Knowledge of what customs will clarify the meaning of the book?

9. What is the purpose of the book, i.e., the writer’s purpose in writing the book?

Danger: Otherwise, the tendency in Bible Interpretation today is to read into

Scripture (eisegesis) our own twenty-first century African or Western understandings
into the text and be guilty of misinterpreting the original intended meaning of the
author, and thus, making the Scripture mean what we deem it should mean rather
than what the author originally meant.