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Glory · The Word of God
Reading the Bible feeds the soul; studying it digs into the riches beneath the surface. Reading takes in the word broadly and habitually; studying concentrates on a passage, asks questions of it, and compares Scripture with Scripture. The Bereans model the difference: they received the word eagerly and were 'examining the Scriptures daily,' and Ezra set his heart to seek the law of God, to do it, and to teach it.
https://glorystudy.com/questions/what-is-the-difference-between-reading-and-studying-the-bible · Scripture quoted from the World English Bible
Acts 17:10-15
As you read: What distinguished the Bereans from others: they received the word eagerly and examined the Scriptures daily.
10The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Beroea. When they arrived, they went into the Jewish synagogue.
11Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of the mind, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.
12Many of them therefore believed; also of the prominent Greek women, and not a few men.
13But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Beroea also, they came there likewise, agitating the multitudes.
14Then the brothers immediately sent out Paul to go as far as to the sea, and Silas and Timothy still stayed there.
15But those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens. Receiving a commandment to Silas and Timothy that they should come to him very quickly, they departed.
Ezra 7:1-10
As you read: The pattern: Ezra set his heart to seek the law of the Lord, to do it, and to teach it.
1Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,
2the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub,
3the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth,
4the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki,
5the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest;
6this Ezra went up from Babylon: and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which Yahweh, the God of Israel, had given; and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of Yahweh his God on him.
7There went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinim, to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.
8He came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.
9For on the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon; and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God on him.
10For Ezra had set his heart to seek Yahweh’s law, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and ordinances.
Psalms 119:9-16
As you read: Loving the law, hiding it in the heart, and meditating on it all day.
9How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.
10With my whole heart, I have sought you. Don’t let me wander from your commandments.
11I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
12Blessed are you, Yahweh. Teach me your statutes.
13With my lips, I have declared all the ordinances of your mouth.
14I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies, as much as in all riches.
15I will meditate on your precepts, and consider your ways.
16I will delight myself in your statutes. I will not forget your word.
Proverbs 2:1-6
As you read: The effort involved: call out for understanding and search for it as for hidden treasures.
1My son, if you will receive my words, and store up my commandments within you;
2So as to turn your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding;
3Yes, if you call out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding;
4If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures:
5then you will understand the fear of Yahweh, and find the knowledge of God.
6For Yahweh gives wisdom. Out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.
Reading takes in the word in breadth, so that the whole counsel of God shapes us; studying takes a portion and opens it, asking what it says, what it means, and how it applies. The Bereans show the merger: they 'received the word with all readiness of the mind, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.' Openness is reading; the daily examination, the checking of claims against the text, is studying.
“Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of the mind, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.”Acts 17:11
“Many of them therefore believed; also of the prominent Greek women, and not a few men.”Acts 17:12
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.”Colossians 3:16
Paul calls Timothy to 'give diligence to present yourself approved by God, a workman who doesn't need to be ashamed, properly handling the Word of Truth.' Proverbs pictures the work: 'call out for discernment... if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of Yahweh.' Reading can be a quick meal; study is mining for treasure, and the effort is its own reward.
“Give diligence to present yourself approved by God, a workman who doesn’t need to be ashamed, properly handling the Word of Truth.”2 Timothy 2:15
“Yes, if you call out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding; If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures: then you will understand the fear of Yahweh, and find the knowledge of God.”Proverbs 2:3-5
“If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures:”Proverbs 2:4
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.”Colossians 3:16
The pattern from Ezra is decisive: 'For Ezra had set his heart to seek Yahweh's law, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and ordinances.' The heart is set first, then the law is sought, then it is done and taught. Study without a heart to obey becomes mere information, and a heart without study becomes shallow. Real study begins with a resolved heart asking God to teach, and the Spirit is the one who leads us into truth.
“For Ezra had set his heart to seek Yahweh’s law, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and ordinances.”Ezra 7:10
“But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you.”John 14:26
“But to us, God revealed them through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For who among men knows the things of a man, except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God, except God’s Spirit. But we received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might know the things that were freely given to us by God.”1 Corinthians 2:10-12
“But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves.”James 1:22
The psalmist's purpose for treasuring the word is obedience: 'I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you,' and he prays in the law 'on his law he meditates day and night' so that he may observe all that is written. James warns against being 'doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves.' Reading and studying both serve one end: that the word would dwell richly and change how we live.
“I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”Psalm 119:11
“but his delight is in Yahweh’s law. On his law he meditates day and night.”Psalm 1:2
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.”Colossians 3:16
“But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves.”James 1:22
Reading gives studying its breadth, and studying gives reading its depth; the same Scripture is 'profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness' whether we read it widely or mine it closely. A steady daily reading keeps the whole story in view, while a focused study lets one truth take root deeply. 'How I love your law!' the psalmist sings, 'It is my meditation all day,' and the same love can fill both our wide reading and our deep study.
“Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”2 Timothy 3:16-17
“How I love your law! It is my meditation all day.”Psalm 119:97
“Yahweh’s law is perfect, restoring the soul. Yahweh’s testimony is sure, making wise the simple.”Psalm 19:7
“This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success.”Joshua 1:8