The Comparative Method of Bible Study
By W. S. Sadler
HOW TO ENJOY YOUR BIBLE. No. 2.
The Comparative Method of Bible Study.
"WHICH things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual." 1 Cor. 2:13. The Bible itself is the best commentary on the Bible. One of the best ways of getting light on some difficult passage is to search out other scriptures along the same line, and compare the fruit of your labors. Of course one should make a free use of the concordance in such work, but many students of the Bible fail to appreciate the wealth of help there is in the ordinary marginal references found in the Bible. Let us just open the Bible for an illustration, and see the help we can get out of our marginal references. Our Bible is opened at Revelation. It is in the fourth chapter, and we find a verse marked in our Bible, which we have read many times, the fifth verse: "And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices; and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God." Now, let us suppose that we are especially anxious to understand what is meant by "the seven spirits of God." Elsewhere in the good Book we read of the one Spirit of God—the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost. What can these seven spirits of God mean? Let us proceed by the comparative method of Bible study, and see what help we can get from our marginal references, or, if they fail us, by resorting to the concordance. By referring to the marginal reference, we are referred to the first chapter and fourth verse. Let us turn there and read: "John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven spirits which are before His throne." Here we learn again of the seven spirits of God which are before the throne. We turn back to Rev. 4:5, and find that our second marginal reference carries us to the third chapter of Revelation and the first verse, which reads as follows: "And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write: These things saith He that hath the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead." Here we get more light, which would lead us to recognize that the seven spirits of God are somewhat under the control and direction of Christ. This would lead us to believe that the seven spirits of God must be the same as the one spirit of God, the Holy Spirit. But let us look again. We are next referred to the fifth chapter of Revelation and the sixth verse, which reads: "And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth." Here again we are led to consider these seven spirits of God to be identical with the one Spirit of God, by which and through whom Christ discerns all things, knows all things, and directs all things in the earth. Now, we have used up our marginal references; therefore let us go to the concordance. (And if you want to get the best results from the use of the concordance in your Bible study, have a complete concordance, either "Strong's Exhaustive Concordance," or "Young's Analytical Concordance.") Now, by turning to "spirit" you will find many references, some of which you know as you glance over them in the concordance, and many of which you will readily see shed no light on our subject. But when we strike the references in Isaiah, we at once recognize the use of the word "spirit" in a plural sense. In the fourth chapter of Isaiah and fourth verse, we see a reference to the spirit of judgment, and the spirit of burning. Now we take it for granted that this must be the same Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, being called by different names, according to its different work. But the next reference in the concordance gives us the light we are seeking. Isa. 11:2 says, "And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord." Here we have it; the comparative method of Bible study gives us light. Here we have a reference to the Spirit of God where the Spirit is called by several names: (1) The Spirit of the Lord; (2) The spirit of wisdom; (3) The spirit of understanding; (4) The spirit of counsel; (5) The spirit of might; (6) The spirit of knowledge; (7) The spirit of the fear of the Lord. And so we could open our Bible to almost any verse and trace it out in this way. Sometimes we shall quickly get the light, and at other times we might search repeatedly, and frequently examine the same scriptures, before gaining the help we sought. This is the method of Bible study that was pursued by the Bereans in Paul's day, of whom the apostle writes: "These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so." Acts 17:11. Most likely the Bereans followed out this very method of studying the Bible. Of course it was more laborious in their day, for they did not have the complete concordances and the elaborate systems of marginal references that we find in our Bibles to-day. If you would enjoy your Bible, you must search for its truths with the eagerness and perseverance with which the miner goes in quest of the treasures that lie hidden in the bowels of the earth. We trust you will not be tempted to refer to commentaries and other works of reference to find out the meaning of scripture, until you have first used your concordance and your marginal references, thus comparing scripture with scripture. In this way, new light and beauty will be discerned in many of the scriptures which have been read in a mechanical way scores of times; your faith will be strengthened, your soul developed, and the Bible become as it were a new book to you.