One week into my current pastorate, I challenged our congregation to read through the Bible. Desiring to encourage participation, I offered a weekly lesson on how the gospel of Jesus Christ is evidenced in every book of the Bible. Many in our church showed interest, and so with great zeal for God’s Word, and with just as much ignorance on what it would take to finish the course, I embarked on teaching Genesis through Revelation in 52 weeks.
In the year that followed, I learned a lot—-a lot about the Bible and a lot about biting off more than I could chew. God was gracious to let our band of Bible readers make it from cover to cover. What follows are some traps of, tips, and tools for teaching through and declaring the whole counsel of God.
Traps
First, if you are just beginning at your church, WAIT! Unless providence prohibits, you will have many years to teach through the Bible. With grand intentions, I dove into this marathon in my first year and nearly collapsed. Thus, if this is year one, consider taking on something more manageable. With that said, teaching through the Bible in one year, if done well, will provide an excellent biblical platform on which you can build for years to come.
Second, consider how many times you have read the Bible in a year. If you have had difficulty reading the whole canon in a year, adding the pressure of teaching every week will not help. Similarly, since some books require multiple readings to understand them, it would be unwise to take on such a comprehensive project if the Minor Prophets are foreign and apocalyptic literature is unfamiliar. This is not to say that you must be an expert to teach, only that in teaching the Bible at such a pace, you will be forced to depend on your accumulated knowledge of the Bible.
Third, do not do this alone. Recruit others. Cast a vision for the endless treasures of God’s Word, and then provide a reading plan that you will do together. Do not simply offer a class on the whole Bible; call others to join in. This will keep you accountable and prompt informed conversations about God’s Word.
Tips
First, let the Scripture be primary. Fill your handouts and your teaching with Bible references and Scripture quotation. Reading larger portions of the Bible should be commonplace in your overview. Synthesize the main points and show from the text how you made them. In your preparation, use commentaries sparingly; spend the bulk of your time pouring over God’s living and active Word.
Second, don’t get bogged down with details. This is hard, especially for those who preach in-depth, expository sermons. Aim to cover the big ideas that emerge in each book. It may help to treat some books together. Spend little time on source criticism and debatable interpretations. Those matters are important, but such monstrous trees often obstruct the forest’s beauty.
Third, use literary outlines from trusted sources to help you. Truth is, you will not have time each weak to prepare an exegetical outline. So appropriating the outlines of respected scholars is helpful. It conserves time, points you to the main points of a book, and lets you focus on applying God’s Word to your congregation. One caveat: If you use the outline of another book or scholar, give credit. Don’t plagiarize.
Fourth, create space in your teaching schedule. In truth, 52 weeks easily reduces to 46 or less. Vacations, conferences, weather, and emergencies all play a factor. Having extra space in the schedule will alleviate the stress of fitting it all in.
Fifth, pray! Never underestimate this. You won’t have time to find all the nuggets of gold in your weekly preparation, so pray that God will give you insights as you teach. What a joy it was (and is) to receive Christ-exalting flashes of light—-missed in the study but observed in the pulpit. Pray that God would give you illumination.
Pray also for stamina. It was only by the grace of God that I finished the course. When I grew tired, it was petitions for grace that were answered with time and ability to present God’s Word to God’s people.
Tools
If you are going to teach through the Bible this year, you should not go empty-handed. Like a master-craftsman, you will need tools that will help you understand (1) Background Information, (2) Biblical Theology, (3) Biblical Interpretation, and (4) Pastoral Wisdom for Application and Delivery. Here are a few noteworthy biblical resources.
Background Information. The ESV Study Bible supplies introductory material on each book, charts and maps graphically display vast amounts of information into small space, and exegetical notes that give clarifying insights. Going deeper, Zondervan’s Introduction to the Old Testament (Dillard and Longman) and Introduction to the New Testament (Carson and Moo) will help explain the historical, cultural, and theological setting of each book.
Biblical Theology. Jim Hamilton’s biblical theology, The Glory of God in Salvation Through Judgment, is a perfect companion for this kind of study. Hamilton deftly observes the literary structures of the Bible and the way they display the glory of God throughout the whole Bible. Additionally, the articles in the New Dictionary of Biblical Theology highlight the theological themes of each book.
Biblical Interpretation. In order to avoid allegory and moralism, it is imperative to understand what Jesus meant when he said that all Scripture points to him (John 5:39). Such a Christ-centered reading of Scripture is vital for displaying the gospel in all 66 books of the Bible. For help on these interpretive matters, see Graeme Goldsworthy (According to Plan, Preaching the Whole Bible as Christians Scripture, and Christ-Centered Hermeneutics), Edmund Clowney (Preaching and Biblical Theology), and Michael Lawrence (Biblical Theology in the Life of the Church).
Application and Delivery (Audio Resources). If your time is limited, audio messages provide excellent means of preparation. Even more, they model how to teach larger portions of Scripture. Personally, I benefited from Mark Dever’s overview sermons. They were spiritually edifying and regularly helped me see Christ from all angles of the Bible. Using this audible medium will complement your book studies, and its transportable format can be inserted into a busy week more readily than extra reading. In addition to Dever, The Gospel Coalition resource database has a number of overviews on each book of the Bible.
Watch the Story Unfold
In the end, I would highly recommend teaching through the Scriptures this year. It is amazing to watch the story unfold and to see how every page in Scripture radiates the glory of Christ. I can gladly say that teaching through the whole canon strengthened my faith and gripped my heart with greater gratitude for God’s grace in redemptive history. At the same time, great joy came in seeing our church members learn to see Christ in all the Scriptures.
I hope more pastors and teachers will take up the challenge of teaching through the Bible in a year and more congregations will gather to hear the inestimable riches of Christ from the whole counsel of God’s Word.
