Study Tools and Writing Good Discussion Questions

What You Will Learn

• Use a concordance, Bible dictionary, cross-references, and maps, with paper options
• Use study notes and other human helps with wisdom and humility
• Write clear observation, interpretation, and application questions
• Arrange questions into a simple, safe discussion plan

Lesson Notes

Giving the Sense

When Ezra and the Levites read God's law to the people, they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading (Nehemiah 8:8). Reading clearly, explaining the meaning, and helping people understand: that is the teacher's job in one verse.

Ezra prepared for this. Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments (Ezra 7:10). Notice the order: seek, do, teach. Study tools help us seek, but they never replace prayer, the text itself, or obedience.

Basic Study Tools

• Concordance: an alphabetical list of Bible words and where they appear. Use it to find a half-remembered verse or trace a word like grace or shepherd. Many KJV Bibles have a short one in the back.
• Cross-references: small letters or numbers beside a verse pointing to related verses in the margin or center column.
• Bible dictionary: short articles on people, places, customs, and words (for example, What was a threshing floor? for Ruth 3).
• Maps: many Bibles include maps in the back.
• Study notes and commentaries: helpful, but human words, not Scripture. Read the text and make your observations first, then check your thinking. Ask the chaplain which resources your church or facility trusts.

Paper options: use the concordance and maps in your Bible, borrow tools from the chaplain's library, and make cross-reference cards (a verse on the front, related verses on the back). Nothing in this course requires a device.

Three Kinds of Questions

Good questions help people discover truth for themselves. Jesus asked many questions, and as a boy He was found sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions (Luke 2:46). Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out (Proverbs 20:5).

We use three kinds of questions that match our study steps. In this course we call them Look, Learn, Live questions:

• Look (Observe): What does Naomi tell her daughters-in-law to do in verse 8? What words are repeated in this psalm?
• Learn (Interpret): Why do you think Ruth chose to stay? What does verse 16 show about her faith? How does Psalm 23:4 connect with John 10:11?
• Live (Apply): What is one way we could show loyal love to someone this week? Which line of this psalm would help someone facing a hard night?

Marks of a Good Question

A good discussion question is:

• Open: it cannot be answered with yes or no. Instead of Did Ruth go with Naomi? ask What did Ruth give up to go with Naomi?
• Clear and short: one question at a time, in everyday words.
• Tied to the text: people can find the answer, or something to talk about, in the passage.
• Not a guessing game: avoid What am I thinking of? questions with one hidden right answer.
• Safe: never require personal disclosure. Instead of Tell us about your worst loss, ask What kinds of losses might make someone feel like Naomi in verse 20? People may share their own stories, but they choose to.

A simple plan for a one-hour study: one opener question anyone can answer, two or three Look questions, two or three Learn questions, one or two Live questions, and a closing prayer.

Key Terms

In-Class Activities

Tool Trail

Using the tools available (the concordance and maps in your Bible, or classroom tools): (1) Find three verses that use the word shepherd. (2) Follow the cross-references for Psalm 23:1 and write two. (3) Look up Moab or threshing floor in a Bible dictionary or ask your instructor for the handout, and write two facts. (4) Find Bethlehem on a map. Write what each tool helped you understand.

Question Makeover

Your instructor will give you ten weak questions about Ruth 1 (yes-or-no questions, guessing games, questions that pry into personal pain, or questions not tied to the text). Rewrite each one into a good Look, Learn, or Live question, and label which kind it is.

Assignment: Final Project Step Two: Study Notes and Questions

Continue your final project for Sessions One and Two:

• For each session, write interpretation notes: context, kind of writing, at least two cross-references, and any word or custom explained (from a dictionary, your glossary, or class notes).
• Write a one-sentence big idea for each session (the main point of the passage in plain words).
• For each session, write a discussion plan: one opener, three Look questions, three Learn questions, and two Live questions.
• Check every question against the marks of a good question, especially open and safe.

Graded with the Module Assignment Rubric.

Reflection Journal

Proverbs 20:5 says a person of understanding will draw out the deep waters of another's heart. Who has asked you a question that helped you think or grow? What made that question good?

Prayer focus: Ask God to give you a prepared heart like Ezra's, to seek, to do, and to teach, and to help you ask questions that draw others closer to Him.

Giving the Sense

When God's people gathered after returning from exile, the teachers read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading (Nehemiah 8:8). That is a beautiful job description: read clearly, explain the meaning, help people understand.

Tools help. A concordance helps you find words. Cross-references let Scripture explain Scripture. A Bible dictionary explains customs like gleaning and threshing floors. Maps show where Bethlehem and Moab are. These are helpers, not replacements for prayer and the text itself.

Questions help even more. Jesus asked many questions. A good question opens a door; a poor one closes it. Did Ruth go with Naomi? ends the conversation. What did Ruth give up to go with Naomi? begins one.

And a good question is safe. We never pry into someone's pain. We ask about the passage and let women choose what they share. Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out (Proverbs 20:5).

Think About It

1. Which study tool do you have access to now, and which would you like to use? ______________________
2. Who once asked you a question that helped you grow? ______________________
3. Write one Look, one Learn, and one Live question about a verse you love. ______________________

Daily Devotions for Week 5

Read Distinctly

So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.— Nehemiah 8:8 (KJV)

Teaching means reading clearly and helping others understand.

Reflect: Who might God want you to help understand His Word?

Pray: Lord, help me read clearly and give the sense.

Do: Read a passage aloud slowly to yourself, then explain it in one sentence.

A Prepared Heart

For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.— Ezra 7:10 (KJV)

Seek, do, then teach. The order matters.

Reflect: Which comes hardest for you: seeking, doing, or teaching?

Pray: Lord, prepare my heart to seek You and obey You.

Do: Before you plan any lesson, spend time with the passage for yourself.

Deep Water

Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.— Proverbs 20:5 (KJV)

Good questions draw out what is already in a person's heart.

Reflect: How can you listen more and tell less?

Pray: Lord, make me a person of understanding.

Do: Ask someone one open question today and really listen.

Hearing and Asking

And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.— Luke 2:46 (KJV)

Even as a boy, Jesus listened and asked questions.

Reflect: What questions do you want to bring to God's Word?

Pray: Lord, give me a listening, asking heart.

Do: Write three questions about a passage before reading any notes.

How Can I, Except Some Man Should Guide Me?

And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me?— Acts 8:30–31 (KJV)

Some people are waiting for someone to sit with them and open the Word.

Reflect: Who might be waiting for a guide like Philip?

Pray: Lord, send me to someone who wants to understand.

Do: Pray by role or first initial for someone you could help read the Bible.