30 April: Assignment 1

Any introduction into Bible study will tell you there are 3 basic stages: Observation, Interpretation, and Application. This weekend in these devotions, we are going to spend a little time in putting these into practice. Today, read through Genesis 48-50 and write down 5-10 observations about ch. 50. Do this and you're done for the day.

Now, suppose this is someone's first time doing observation, what would he do (let's call him Josh)? Let's also suppose, for sake of example, that he wants to draw some observations from Ps. 39. First Josh would read the Psalm (and, because it's short and amazing, he'll read it a few times). Next, Josh will write down a few things he notices. His list may start out looking something like this:

1. The author starts with a decision to be silent.
2. The opening verses each have a certain, 3-phrase format.
3. The closing verses don't.

His list can also include questions which he hopes further study to address:

4. Why is there an interplay of silence and speaking?
5. What significance does the 3-phrase format have?

But also notice what sorts of things do not make the list; questions or assertions which would belong in one of the other two categories. For instance, Josh is not trying to make sense of what he's seeing in Ps. 39 (that's for interpretation) nor is he wondering if this Psalm is telling him that he needs to be silent (that's for application). He only notes what he sees and what interests him and that's exactly what you should do in today's assignment to have 5-10 observations from Genesis 50. Just read that chapter (more than once if you have time) and write down what you see. You'll use this list for Saturday's lesson.

Happy seeing.