I kind of feel badly that I don’t have something dramatic and thrilling to share each time we get to start a new passage. On the other hand, I also don’t feel badly. This is how I’ve done Bible study for a couple of decades now and while the process itself isn’t necessarily exciting (unless you are a nerd like me), the results are exciting.
Take making pottery. Every pot starts the same. Cut the clay from the lump. Smack it into a rough ball-shape. Throw it down onto the wheelhead. Center it. Center it some more. Open the center. Compress the bottom. Compress the rim. Pull the sides.
It isn’t exciting to a casual observer, but then the result after doing the ho-hum again: it IS thrilling! All the little pots lined up like soldiers is quite a sight.
I see Bible study as the same kind of process. We get to do the routine over and over to get the results of knowing our God better so we can worship him better. Not only that, but when we study and know God better, we will be equipped with wisdom in order to speak life into someone else. Even if the speaking is sitting quietly with them and weeping with them because we’ve witnessed first-hand in scripture how Jesus entered a hurting soul’s darkness.
Identify the Passage
After we pray for the Spirit to teach and guide us, let’s read the book (remember it only takes about 15-20 minutes), and then let’s focus back on chapter one.
When you look at the section we just finished and read on from there, let’s choose to ignore the breaks the translators provided. Do you see a natural break in the flow of Paul’s discourse? Remember what we talked about the last time we diagrammed? We’re looking for a change in topic, change in subject. Do you see anything like that as you read from verse 15?
I see Paul praying and talking about about Jesus through the rest of chapter 1. Then he says “and you” at the beginning of chapter 2, which looks like a switch in topic to me. In my opinion, it looks like our next passage is Ephesians 1:15-23.
15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Ephesians 1:15–23 (ESV)
Sentence Diagramming
Eventually, I would like you to have the confidence to work through the passage with less detailed coaching, so I am going to try to be more general as we move through the process of sentence diagramming. Remember that this is not a matter of right and wrong, but an effort to engage with the text. Organizing the phrases to help us see relationships and Paul’s line of thinking is the goal.
In order for you to both have the opportunity to try the technique out for yourself and to have something to compare with your own diagram, I will include a link to my diagram at the end of this Bite. There is no right or wrong. My diagram helps me and your diagram will help you. But you will be able to see how I organized mine. If you are still timid about trying this process, you may feel free to print mine and use it. My objective is to help get people into the Word for themselves and get used to exploring on their own without a “book” study. Having the scripture pre-chewed and put into a “book” study has its place; there is also a place for us to know how to get the nutrition out of the Word for ourselves.
All right, let’s get going!
If you look at the first verse, there are two conjunction kinds of word groupings, for this reason and because. Words that help get the reader from one topic to another and explain that there is a connection. But that is the only function they serve, so they will line up against the left margin. Not the words that are the point, but the words that direct us to the point.
Then Paul gets into answering “what is the point?” Using the pronoun I, Paul gives us a glimpse of what prompted him to write. He tells us I have heard first and I do not cease second. Of course we will deal with them in the order of the text, but I want you to see that there are two I‘s that will eventually line up.
First, I have heard. Answering the question “what has he heard?” follows. Line up what Paul has heard.
Second, I do not cease. Here it gets fuzzy for me because I don’t have enough English grammar to know exactly how to organize it. However, I don’t let that stop me from asking the same sorts of questions to see what goes where. There was only one preposition that answered what Paul does not cease to do: to give thanks. The next preposition is for you, which doesn’t make sense if I were to line up those prepositions. It doesn’t answer the “not ceasing” but instead answers “for what does he give thanks?” I will show you what I mean in a minute with an image, but you keep trudging with me and trying to organize as we go.
Remembering is a participle if I remember teaching my kids grammar correctly. While it doesn’t line up with any prepositions, in my head it does explain how Paul doesn’t cease to give thanks–he’s remembering them in his prayers. I placed the remembering you in my prayers in a rough line under to give thanks.
Like this:
When Paul talks about remembering, he doesn’t just leave it there. We are now entering into the prayer that he prayed for the recipients, the meaty and worshipful prayer. I left the that which begins verse 17 somewhere under the previous phrase because it is a connecting word and not the point, and I lined up the two articles (the the‘s) that Paul used for his descriptions of God so I can see that they go together. While he’s describing what he’s praying, he’s also teaching them who God is. We’re only observing right now, if we remember our procedure:
- Observation
- Interpretation
- Application
However, our observation can include noticing the multiple descriptions of who God is.
I will show you in a moment, but I see the verb of the sentence after the description of God. I slightly separated the verb phrase may give you the Spirit so I could see it more clearly. Then Paul describes the Spirit with a couple more phrases and I line those up under the Spirit.
With Paul’s crazy-long sentences and stretched out thoughts, sometimes I need to draw a line to connect from one line to another in order to fit it on my page. I scooted the in the knowledge of him over from the line of prepositions (the of‘s) because I see that as what the wisdom and revelation looks like. In the knowledge of him and then like it, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened I think should be lined up, helping to modify the Spirit he is asking God for on the behalf of the recipients.
This image above is what I mean about drawing a line to connect. If you are old school, writing it out with pencil and paper, you might not need to use such techniques. With my Logos Bible Software, this is a common occurrence for me.
Reading and asking a question like “what does having my heart-eyes enlightened look like?” will bring us to the answers that we can line up with their modifiers all neat and tidy:
- what is the hope
- to which he has called you
- what are the riches
- of his glorious inheritance in the saints
- what is the immeasurable greatness
- of his power toward us who believe
Neat-o, huh? Paul prayed about God and what he looks like, he’s prayed about the eyes of the recipients’ hearts, and then he moves into talking about what that power looks like that he mentioned in verse 19. As I look at what I’ve got arranged on my structural diagram, it does look like I was thinking that power and might were close enough in meaning that I lined up the phrase that starts with according and the subsequent that under power to describe it. (I’m not sure I still agree with that, but as I’ve said before, there is no right or wrong with regard to our objective. We are simply getting involved with the text. So I will be content and leave it.)
That description is all confusing to write; I’m sure it’s barely comprehensible to read. Here is a picture (reread as you look at it to make sure it makes sense):
As we read on, we can see that there are a couple of phrases that modify how or when God worked this power. I lined up in Christ and when he under worked to show that relationship.
There are two actions that God performed with that power. He raised him and seated him. Same kind of idea as before, I lined up the actions with their modifiers:
- raised him
- from the dead and
- seated him
- at his right hand
- in the heavenly places
Answering the “where?” question with regard to the heavenly places, Paul gives a thorough list that we get to line up neatly next to the far above all phrase.
See how that all lines up?
Just so that you have opportunity to try a little on your own, I will leave the last two verses for you to experiment with. See if you can figure out a way to organize it so that relationships are made clear to you. I have a link below for you to print out so you have a comparison. We don’t need to have them match, but maybe it would be helpful for you to see an example next to yours.
Wrap Up
Our Bible Study Bite for today is to remember that while the process may not be exciting or glamorous, the end result will be a deeper understanding which will, by the power of the Holy Spirit, lead us into clarified worship of our God. This “elephant” of scripture is enormous and it requires small, methodical Bites to eat it. Nom, nom.
Woohoo! Next time we get to start on lists!
