One of the reasons I consented to writing Bible Study Bites when Jeremy asked me was that I love discussing the Bible and what is being learned in it. Going out with friends on the trail with our mountain bikes, it was not unusual for us to stop and pull out phones to look up verses or look at Greek words.
Meeting with you here at Bible Study Bites is like biking and discussing. I love it. Thank you for meeting with me. Has the Spirit been teaching you anything in your study? I’d love to hear about it.
Or we could bike and you can yell, either way.
What is the Context?
With our sentence diagrams in front of us (you can get one here at the end of the article), do you remember what we want to do first? Keeping the Context King is imperative for ultimate understanding so we want to write the summary from our last passage and write a brief note about what will come after. Here is what I came up with:
To understand where we’ve been and where we are going will help us to understand what Paul is saying currently in our passage. Taking his words out of context can lead us to assign meaning to the text rather than us being disciplined to discover the meaning Paul had.
Here at Bible Study Bites, we hold to the principle that the author has decided the meaning of the text and it is our adventure to find it.
As we observe and interpret, let’s keep the context in mind.
Compiling Lists
The first group I see in the passage are the recipients. What does Paul say about them? This is what my observation worksheet looks like:
As seems to be a theme here in Ephesians, there is a lot of information about how bad off the recipients were and then God begins to move. I like to show you exactly what I’ve done. Yes, I really do write lists and consider them. Trying to think of effective ways to show you my process, if I can show you what I do, it seems as though you might try it too.
Just like biking. Until I see a gal do these crazy things like ride over a fallen tree, there is no blankety blank blank way I can do that. Oh, would you look at that? I can ride over a tree.
Making sure you can read my chicken scratches, here is the list again.
What Does Paul Say About the Recipients
Called to remember (Ephesians 2:11, 12)
Gentiles (Ephesians 2:11)
Called uncircumcised (Ephesians 2:11)
Were separated from Christ (Ephesians 2:12)
Alienated from God’s people (Ephesians 2:12)
Strangers to promises of God (Ephesians 2:12)
Had no hope (Ephesians 2:12)
Without God (Ephesians 2:12)
Were far off (Ephesians 2:13)
Now in Christ, brought near (Ephesians 2:13)
Christ is their peace (Ephesians 2:14)
After reading through and finding what Paul had to say about the recipients who were called the uncircumcision and Gentiles, I decided to make a list about the opposing group. Here is my list compiling information about the circumcision:
There are points I hadn’t thought of before in here:
Who are the Circumcision
Made distinction–us vs them (Ephesians 2:11)
Made in flesh by hands (Ephesians 2:11)
Paul includes himself in the group (Ephesians 2:14)
Part of the one new man (Ephesians 2:15)
Reconciled to God (Ephesians 2:16)
Hostility is dead–no more us vs them (Ephesians 2:16)
Had peace preached to them (Ephesians 2:17)
Have access to God (Ephesians 2:18)
Maybe it was obvious to you, but I hadn’t thought about Paul being part of the circumcision before. That he would identify himself with them. Of course he was with all of his credentials he had listed elsewhere, but I hadn’t thought about it.
Other lists that I usually make are ones about God and Jesus. I will write them here, respectively.
God
Isn’t “with” everyone (Ephesians 2:12)
Can be reconciled with (Ephesians 2:16)
Is accessible through Jesus (Ephesians 2:18)
Has a household (Ephesians 2:19)
There is a dwelling place for God being built (Ephesians 2:22)
Jesus
Some are separated from him (Ephesians 2:12)
Brings people near (Ephesians 2:13)
Is peace for some (Ephesians 2:14)
Makes 2 groups 1 group (Ephesians 2:14)
Breaks down division (Ephesians 2:14)
Abolished law (Ephesians 2:15)
In him is one new man where there were two (Ephesians 2:15)
Reconciles to God (Ephesians 2:16)
There may be some other lists to make, but I think those are the ones I will observe in our time together.
What Does it Mean When There are Repeated Words?
As we’ve read Ephesians 2:11-22 a few times now, have you noticed that Paul repeats words and phrases or ideas? Repeated concepts are ones that Paul wanted to emphasize and therefore we want to give them attention.
Finding Repeated Words
Once I’ve realized there are a number of repeated concepts, I like to pull out my trusty colored pencils to help me see the connections. In this case, I have observed both repeated words and repeated opposites.
For today, my designation is to underline the words that repeat and box the repeated opposites. Opposites are good to notice in general, but when they are repeated, I want to notice those even more. Here is my observation worksheet after I marked up the text a bit.
Repeated Words
Remember (Ephesians 2:11, 12)
Strangers (Ephesians 2:11, 19)
Peace (Ephesians 2:14, 15, 17)
Repeated Opposites
Far off/near (Ephesians 2:13, 17)
Peace/hostility (Ephesians 2:14, 15, 17)
As we move forward in our examination of the passage, these lists may not amount to much, or they may help us to see more clearly what Paul’s meaning was in writing his letter. Developing good Bible study technique includes noticing these relationships.
Wrap Up
Our Bible Study Bite for today is to be diligent to make lists in the process of observation. Remember our order of study?
- Observation
- Interpretation
- Application
Today’s Bite was all in the realm of observation. Taking the time to make a list for example about Paul, highlighted for me that Paul includes himself in the party of the circumcision. He and all the other Jews are also part of the new man just like the ones they called the uncircumcision, the Gentiles.
Making lists, even if they seem mundane, will help us to slow down and be more observant of the text that is in front of us.
