Step 2: Introducing ourselves to the author and readers of the Epistle
The general course of our studies will build upon the personal relationship you have with our dear Lord and the very dependent relationship you are developing with the Holy Spirit. We will lay our experiential foundation upon personal devotions and serious Bible Study. From that central foundation we can then incorporate the third party written materials from the course of Christian History, i.e. the books from revival times, Holiness authors and etc. These can then be interpreted from the solid foundation you will have built with the Holy Spirit through devotions and Bible Study.
The overall approach for Bible Study will be to deal with one book at a time for study. After you have finished reading Hebrews 10 times completely through without stopping we will then deal with it on a daily basis.
1. Each day now you should read it through once again without stopping to keep your mind immersed in the content and thought patterns of the text.
2. Spend the balance of this week getting used to reading it on this basis as we proceed.
3. Book Introduction. Chapter outlines of content and subject matter. After your entire book reading for each day, take chap 1-13 and begin to write your own study notebook of Hebrews with your own introduction. What you will do is, (without assistance from outside study aids like commentaries, etc.), answer the following questions to the best of your ability and note the passages from Hebrews that give you the insight.
a. Who is the author? What is he/she like? How might I describe the author by personality, character, Christian experience, etc.
b. Who is the epistle written to? What are they like? What is their spiritual state? Any other info about them?
c. Where are the readers of the epistle located? Any info that helps get a grasp about the location, time, year the book was written, etc?
d. What is the epistle about? What is its main theme? What would be a good summary statement of the content?
e. What are the central topics of the epistle? What are the main truths expressed?
f. How is the epistle structured? Are there content and subject divisions in the epistle, if so where do they occur? Give a single phrase title to any divisions you make note of. If there are any warning sections describe what they are about and give them a title.
g. What do I feel the Holy Spirit is emphasizing to me at this point in my study about Hebrews? List them out and note if I feel that the Holy Spirit is telling me anything in specific.
h. At this point how do I see Hebrews fitting in with the other books of the New Testament? Does there seem to be a unique reason why the Holy Spirit has it in the Bible? If so, what is it as far as you can tell right now?
4. Our next step is to begin a chapter by chapter and paragraph by paragraph content study of Hebrews that I will give you when we reach that point. I will also give you an approach to personal devotions that can complement our Bible Study in the time to come.
From this one book thoroughly studied will come confidence, insight, and a great degree of spiritual understanding that you can apply to the other books of the Bible. And from our well-studied Bible will also come a very solid and balanced foundation to rightly deal with all the 3rd party books we will be exposed to as we press on hard after the Holy Spirit! Discipline and the right exercise of all our faculties is the great key to the WISDOM we seek in humble dependence upon the Holy Spirit and the wonderful fellowship of our Triune God.
If you manage to read Hebrews every day for 5 years it will equal 1825 times. I have been doing this with Ephesians, 1 John, and Hebrews since before 1982. If you do this, you will indeed become a man of the Book! and have the confidence to stand before Kings.