Questions+to+Ask+When+Reading+Different+Bible+Genres


 * __A summary of what each Biblical genre contributes to our spiritual formation__**
 * **O.T. Narratives/Histories** (Genesis, most of Exodus, most of Numbers, Joshua, Judge, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah. Additionally, the prophetic books Daniel, Jonah, and Haggai are primarily narratives, along with large portions of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, and the poetic book Job)
 * **Primary Contribution:** to inform and shape our worldview about the eternal plan God is working out universally in human history and also to underscore our continuity with the children of Israel as the people of God.
 * **Therefore, ask,** “What does this passage tell us about God (the Hero), His plan, or the role that His people should be playing in His plan?
 * **Secondary Contribution:** to give us positive and negative models of old covenant believers making choices to trust God
 * **Therefore, ask,** “What positive or negative model might this passage be setting before us to teach us about trusting God in the midst of His plan?


 * **The (Mosaic) Law** (Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy – Exodus 20 through Deuteronomy 33)
 * **Primary Contribution:** to explain how God relates to us within a covenantal relationship and how His holiness and Israel’s sin could be reconciled through Israel’s obedience to the covenant (Law). Within this covenantal relationship, the Law also demonstrates the concrete, practical multifaceted areas in which God’s people should obey and be transformed.
 * **Therefore, ask,** “What does this passage tell us about God and His holiness, about Israel and her sin, and about how Israel needed to obey in order to maintain her covenant relationship with God?” Also ask, “What specific areas of life does God expect holiness and transformation within His people?”
 * **Secondary Contribution:** to give us ethical and moral illustrations of godly responses to a wide variety of life’s situations
 * **Therefore, ask,** “Are these areas still relevant under the new covenant as areas I should be concerned about and areas in which I should be seeking to obey God?”


 * **Proverbs/Wisdom Literature** (Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon)
 * **Primary Contribution:** directly (for example, Proverbs) or indirectly (for example, Job, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon) instruct us how to make wise choices in the nitty-gritty, daily affairs of life and in the difficult, inscrutable events of life.
 * **Therefore, ask,** “What does this passage tell us about what wise, skillful living would be in the area being discussed? What general pattern does this reveal for God’s people, or what specific behaviors does it challenge us to embrace?”


 * **The Psalms** (Psalms)
 * **Primary Contribution:** to model what a God-centered view of life is like, through expressions of worship and prayer, and the way believers may express their deepest needs, pains, and concerns to God in passionate prayer and worship.
 * **Therefore, ask,** “What does this psalm tell us about how God’s presence and work connects with our deepest concerns and emotions in the midst of difficult or joyous circumstances?”
 * **Secondary Contribution:** to give us models of how we are to worship God
 * **Therefore, ask,** “What does this psalm tell us about how we should pray, praise, and generally express our hearts’ desires to God in individual and corporate worship?”


 * **The Prophets** (Major Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel; Minor Prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi)
 * **Primary Contribution:** to exhort us as to the rewards of covenant obedience and warn us of the discipline of covenant disobedience under the old covenant so that we are challenged to maintain our heart for God and our just treatment of others as we live under the new covenant.
 * **Therefore, ask,** “What does this passage or oracle tell us about Israel’s behavior in her convenantal relationship with God and about God’s response to His people, and those areas that we may also be susceptible to neglect within our new covenant relationship?”
 * **Secondary Contribution:** to give us glimpses into the immediate future of God’s people or into the distant future of the messianic/new covenant era and the superseding blessing of life in this climactic era.
 * **Therefore, ask,** “What does this passage or oracle tell us about God’s plan for Israel (now past) or His plans for His new covenant people (now present or still future)?”


 * **The Gospels** (The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John)
 * **Primary Contribution:** to teach us about who Jesus the Messiah is and give us the opportunity to be discipled by Him as we observe Him and His disciples. Also, to observe Him modeling life in the kingdom of God and listen to Him about how we should live in the kingdom and be transformed in areas of sinful resistance.
 * **Therefore, ask,** “What does this passage tell us about who Jesus is and about how I should respond to being His disciple? How then should I live as a citizen of the kingdom of God?”
 * **Secondary Contribution:** to give us insight into how we may encourage fellow disciples.
 * **Therefore, ask,** “Are there certain principles or methods of ministry that Jesus is modeling as He ministers to His disciples or others that would be appropriate for us to imitate in our ministries?”


 * **The Book of Acts** (The Acts of the Apostles)
 * **Primary Contribution:** to teach us what God is doing in history at this present time under the kingship of Jesus the Messiah and to model for us what our corresponding purpose is as God’s new covenant people; it also explains our roots, as well as some of the fruits of our identity as the church as we fulfill our purpose in the world.
 * **Therefore, ask,** “What does this passage tell us about our purpose and focus as God’s people and how I should respond to being a part of the church and living as a citizen of the kingdom of God?”
 * **Secondary Contribution:** to give us methods and techniques for ministry to others.
 * **Therefore, ask,** “Are there certain methods or techniques of ministry that the apostle or others are modeling as they minister to others that would be appropriate for us to imitate in our ministries?”


 * **The Epistles** (Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2, and 3 John, and Jude)
 * **Primary Contribution:** to teach, exhort, and model our identity as the church and how we are to live it in the community of God’s people by making godly choices in a myriad of practical areas in order to fulfill our purpose.
 * **Therefore, ask,** “What does this passage tell us about our identity in Christ and about specific choices we should make to underscore that identity or enhance our unity as God’s primary means of ministry in the world?”


 * **Revelation** (The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John)
 * **Primary Contribution:** to encourage and exhort us to overcome through continued faith and faithless in the difficult times by revealing God’s ultimate triumph over Satan in establishing Christ’s kingdom and the new heavens and new earth.
 * **Therefore, ask,** “What insights into God’s ultimate triumph does this passage give us and how does it encourage us to live faithfully and courageously today in the face of opposition to and persecution of the church?”
 * **Secondary Contribution:** to inform us of some of the specific events signaling the end of the age.
 * **Therefore, ask,** “What can we learn about where God is going to take history and glorify Himself as we see what events He will sovereignly allow at the end of the age?”

From //Playing With Fire: How the Bible Ignites Change in Your Soul// by Walt Russell