Bite 63: Let’s Observe Ephesians 4:1-16

First Step in Observation

With our blank observation worksheet in front of us, do you remember what some of the items are on our “to do” list?

The first thing for us to notice is that essentially we’ve ripped a section of scripture out of its moorings. Before us are 17 verses without context. Without remembering what comes before and glancing at what comes after, we run risk of operating in the realm of subjective interpretation. Being grounded in the flow of conversation Paul is having with his audience will help keep us from the dangerous waters of “this text means ____ to me.”

One interpretation, almost countless application and significance. So let’s always proceed with respect for the author, intent to discover his meaning. Not pressing our meaning into his text.

I don’t know about you, but I forget details. And I forget why some details are important. Therefore I need reminders in order to continue to learn and grow. Maybe you are similar.

So our first step as we begin observation is to remember what came before our passage and glance at what follows our passage.

Before

As we closed out our time of study in Ephesians 3:14-21, we wrote our own summary. That summary is what I generally use as my “before” and I take it from my last observation worksheet and put it at the top of my new worksheet.

After

Glancing at what follows and coming up with a pertinent summary without studying it first always gives me tiny fits. But the purpose is to keep my head aware that there is more coming. Paul is mid-stream in his letter. So even if I miss a little on my summary, the exercise is fulfilling its purpose: awareness.

I read further on in Ephesians 4 and see that Paul continues to talk about a walk and what Gentiles (those who are outside) look like when they walk. And then Paul switches from talking about outsiders to talking about insiders (believers) and that they should do some wardrobe changes. Putting off and putting on. And what that should look like. As we’ve said before, all of scripture is important. What I will put into my “after” summary, though, will be Paul’s call to action.

How did you summarize what comes after? Remember that this exercise is for the purpose of keeping ourselves grounded in the text. Your summary should help you keep the big picture in mind. This is one of those things where there isn’t a “right” answer. So you choose the summary that helps you achieve a wide frame of view on our passage and the letter.

Second Step in Observing

Do you remember what we usually do next? For my process in noticing what is going in the passage, I like to make lists. Lists about God, man. When I notice repeated words and ideas, those can also be turned into lists.

So I’m going to make lists on my worksheet. If you want, you can make some on yours too, and then afterwards we can share what we learned.

A Day Went By

The first list I observed was one about Paul because he came up first in the passage.

Since within the list for Paul was a reference to the recipients, he lumped himself in with them, I created a list for the recipients next. I wanted to see how they compared.

Understanding what the passage says about God is always critical, so I made a list about that.

As I read through the passage a number of times to make each of these lists, I was thinking that the recipients and the church (the body) as a whole might be different. So I made a list specifically for the body.

There may be more lists to be made, but I will let you decide that for yourself. We will move on to other steps of observation.

Tertiary Step in Observing

I’m not sure if there is a single third step, but I like finding opportunities to utilize obscure words. Like the word “tertiary.” If I use it, I may learn it and be able to implement it into my vocabulary in the normal course of conversation. Maybe my tertiary step is multi-faceted. Thanks for helping me grow my language skills!

What I look for next are repeated words, time words, OT quotes, comparisons and contrasts, and anything else that draw attention to itself. Progressions, that sort of thing. Poetry, parallelisms, merisms.

Repeated Words

In this passage, for example, we have a smattering of one‘s. We can make a list about it, and that is useful because we are not just nodding at the list within the passage. We are cognitively asserting what there are only one of in the world. In addition to making a list, though, this concept of one-ness was something that was obviously an answer to some question he was answering. Therefore, I want to attend to this list and see both what the culture was asking and what he means by his answer.

From the immediate text, I won’t try to definitively declare at this point what question he’s trying to answer. My suspicion is around his previous emphasis which was to ease racial and religious tensions between the Hebrews and anyone who could be called a God-fearer. Or like Paul described in Ephesians 4:14-15, those families in heaven and on earth which are named in relation to God.

Questions and suspicions are part of observation. So I wrote mine down.

OT Quotation

In our English translations, there are typically variations in the printed material that alert us to what the translators think are different genres of literature within the body of the passage. For example, when the translators identify a section of scripture as poetry, they tend to have it be with wider margins and the type is more versified. I’m sure you’ve noticed this.

For OT quotations, they often do the same sorts of type-differentiation. In the ESV, Ephesians 4:8 which is our quotation from the OT, is off-set. In the NET, it is within the paragraph of the text but is set in bold-face to differentiate.

As students of the Word, we want to observe this. Having an OT quote used by an author of an epistle in the NT is a valuable tool. One of the tools in our tool box of hermeneutics is how does another biblical author understand a passage of scripture. We have an interpreter of the OT right here in our study of Ephesians.

At the same time that it is an OT quotation that Paul deals with, there is a pair of contrast words he highlights within it. Do you see that? Contrasts are there for a reason, so we will investigate and try to understand what Paul means when he uses them.

Oh, look, there are two pairs of opposites in the section. Ascended/descended and high/lower. I didn’t notice that until I wrote it down and considered it. See, Kristi, this is why writing lists is valuable.

Topical Study

We’ve chatted in other sessions when we’ve met about my opinions (only my opinion and you don’t need to agree or follow what I think, but I have this opinion so there you go) on topical studies. Wrenching a quotable kind of coffee-cup-verse out of its context and waxing eloquent about it, airing out all the other verses that might be memorized to support an opinion about what it means, is a disservice to the author and his text.

However, when we come across a topic within a passage that as a culture we kick around, this is the time to dig into it. We’ve got a context behind us that Paul has been teaching us, so what does he mean by the topic?

Now that I’ve been mystic and not actually said what topic I see, do you see a topic or term that our culture, either church culture or culture culture (sometimes, is there a difference?), kicks around?

Button-Word

Actually, as I look through, I see a number of topics and terms. Love, peace, manhood, truth. A host of different topical directions a student could go. The one that sticks out like a sore thumb, to me, is unity.

Probably because I am inherently a questioning sort of person. For example, one of my questions right now is this redefinition of love that our culture has adopted seemingly without question. To the point that services of hospitality are scarce. Drinking fountains are turned off. Bathrooms are blocked off or labeled as “emergency only.”

See? I question stuff. So unity is a word that I hear a lot. What exactly does Paul mean by it? If Paul didn’t talk about it much, what did other biblical authors mean by it?

So it’s a question and a notation that I jotted down in a few places across this passage because it comes up a few times. And it’s a button-word for me. If you see a button-word for you, notice it and see what you learn from the context and primarily from the other texts the same author wrote. However, with these topics that cause us to perk up and say “hey, wait! what are you talking about?” we needs must remember to leave our backpacks at the door, right?

I’m telling myself as much as I’m telling you.

Reflection

I didn’t think we needed a Reflection Section (hey! I’m a poet!) since we spent our time listing, asking questions, and noticing other stuff. Uncovering truth wasn’t the main purpose today. Though, by making lists, you may have seen some things with connections that you hadn’t noticed before. Reflect on that. Praise God for revealing.

Just now, you’ve helped me to look over my lists more carefully. Since I’m suggesting that lists might have brought something to your mind, why wouldn’t they bring something to my mind? What I found for my own self is a question that came up, but even in a question, I can praise God for truth I don’t understand.

Wrap Up

For today, the Bible Study Bite I’d like us to consider is that we are always able to learn a little more about hermeneutics. Please don’t be put off by such a term. In its basic sense, hermeneutics equals Bible study. It’s the science of Bible study. And science isn’t scary. It’s a method. Well, it’s supposed to be a method as opposed to opinion. Huh, isn’t that interesting? These days, science seems to be more a tool to support opinion rather than to actually discover information.

This seems to be a common problem.

Anyway, I recommend the book I mentioned earlier by R.C. Sproul. He writes similar to how he speaks. Winsome. Easy to understand. Interested in equipping Joe’s and Jane’s like us out here among lay people to be people of the Word. People in the Word. People with the Word in us. He had the desire to equip our mindset of folk and since we have the same desire, listening to what he had to say seems good and right.

So keep learning.

Thank you for studying with me today. I’m better for our time together! If you’ve found anything useful here in our time together, would you share this article? Or sign up for emails? Then we can meet whenever I have a new article. Also, I don’t share emails or any of that nonsense. I hate junk mail with a burning passion. So I wouldn’t do that you. And if you have questions, there are places below to put them.