STUDYING A BIOGRAPHY "BIBLE CHARACTERS"

STUDYING A BIOGRAPHY
People are important for many reasons. One of them being; anyone can make a difference. You will want to study the people in the Bible for the differences they made in their time, and the difference they can make in your life. The following people made a significant difference: The Woman who Saved a Nation from Genocide (Esther), The Dad Whose Drunkenness Influenced His Sons (Noah), The Mom who Imparted Wisdom to Solomon (Bathsheba), The Little Girl Who Helped a General Win His Most Challenging Battle (II Kings 5), The Young Boy that Jesus Needed for His Greatest Miracle (John 6). All these people and hundreds just like them are described in the pages of Scripture waiting to be discovered and taught by teachers.
When God chose to reveal Himself to us in Scripture, He often does it through people. More than 3,500 individual people are identified in Scripture, their stories will tell you much about God and yourself. The teacher who is committed to teaching the Bible cannot avoid teaching a biography as part of his or her ministry. But rather than trying to avoid biographies, there are good reasons why teachers may want to use them as often as possible. Teaching biographies can be a highly effective tool to opening up the Bible both for the beginning teacher as well as those more experienced.
Andrew Blackwood, well-known professor of homiletics advocated using Bible stories of people. His textbooks have been widely used to train a generation of preachers. In his book, Biographical Preaching for Today, he states,
"A biographical sermon means that the truth of God comes from a Bible passage about a certain character."

Why Study Bible Biographies?
The average American is not interested in dusty history stories, but they want to know about people. People Magazine is one of the most popular on the newsstand, because people are interested in people. Historical fiction and biographical books are consistently among the books most often purchased in book stores or borrowed from libraries. Most have little interest in historical trends, but are eager to learn about the people who influence history.
When God created people, He intended for them to be social creatures (Gen. 2:18). As a result, people are drawn toward other people. People like people. As a result, biographical lessons are more interesting than other approaches to Bible study. The Psalmist affirmed, "I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies (i.e., biblical biographies), as much as in all riches (Ps. 119:14).
This social tendency that God gave us means that people not only like people, they identify with people. Your students who struggle to apply a biblical principle to their life will find it easier when they follow the example of someone else who models that principle. The old adage “monkey see, monkey do” is some-what derogatory. So let’s update the adage to “people see, people do.” The Psalmist wrote, "I cling to Your testimonies" (Ps. 119:31) and considered them his counselors (Ps. 119:24). Understanding this principle, Paul repeatedly called upon those he reached for Christ to follow the example of the Christian life he modeled for them in his own life (II Thess. 3:7, 9; I Cor. 11:1; Phil. 4:9).
People also gain insights from the life experiences of other people. "The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple" (Ps. 19:7). God has recorded the lives of various people in Scripture to help us gain His perspective on life.
PEOPLE ARE GOLD MINES
All good biography is fruitful; but Scripture biography is singularly so.2
Ultimately, people learn from people. The ultimate aim of your teaching ministry is that your students learn and apply the important biblical truth you share. Biographies are an effective way to communicate biblical truth to them. Perhaps the Psalmist was thinking of teachers when he wrote, "I will speak of Your testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed" (Ps. 119:46). People tend to learn from what they see illustrated in the lives of others so well. The teacher should not be embarrassed to use this effective approach to Bible study regardless of the character or status of Bible study group members.

STEP ONE ON HOW TO STUDY A BIOGRAPHY
Everyone has a “life-message.” What is a “life-message?” It is simply the contribution
–either good or bad–they make because they lived. In approaching biographical study, several steps should be taken to insure success in gaining a better understanding of the “life-message” of a particular biblical character. The first step involves the selecting you will study. Usually begin by choosing secondary characters rather than major characters. To begin your study in the life of Peter, Paul, Abraham or Moses may overwhelm you with biblical material available on the subject's life and times. Herbert Lockyer advises students of biography to "begin with a person whose story is briefly told." He uses the example of Enoch whose entire life is recorded in six or seven verses of Scripture. There are hundreds of people mentioned in Scripture whose life is summarized in less than a chapter yet illustrate a significant “life-message” worth studying.
In the event you feel you must study a major character, limit your study to a specific aspect of that character's life. Rather than examining the entire life of Moses, why not consider the record of his first forty years in Egypt. Likewise, a student studying the life of Joshua might better study how Moses mentored him, or his role during a particular military campaign, i.e., the battle for Jericho. If your interest in a character continues to grow as you study part of his or her life, you can develop a series of on the person. Examples of this approach include such things as faith in the life of Abraham, leadership in the life of Nehemiah, and the development of character in Peter.
Once you know who you want to study, begin gathering all available biblical data on the character. Find and read every verse on the person by looking him or her up in an exhaustive concordance. Also, a good topical Bible may describe the person. Don’t forget to look in a Bible dictionary or encyclopaedia. When a person has more than one name (i.e., Abram/Abraham, Jacob/Israel, or Saul/Paul), be certain to check each name. The cross-reference notes in your study Bible will also be helpful as you gather biblical data that describes your subject.
Look into background and/or ancestry material. Does the Bible identify his or her parents and/or grandparents? How did those parents and/or grandparents shape the character of that child? Is his or her ethnic background clearly identified? How would Esther's background as a Jewish girl in a Persian palace or Ruth's background as a Moabitess in a Jewish small town influence their outlook on life? What about the age in which this person lived? Ahab, Jezebel, Elijah and Obadiah lived in a time of great moral decline in Israel, yet each had his or her own unique response to cultural conditions.
As you study the background of your subject, attempt to determine the nature of his or her childhood. A good place to begin is a consideration of the meaning of a child's name. Four hundred years before Christ, Antisthenes said, "The beginning of all instruction is the study of names." The name assigned to a child often reveals the dreams and aspirations parents have for their children. Throughout Scripture, names are used to identify personality traits, occupations, special relationships with God or some significant symbolic or prophetic reference. Some people live up to their name and fulfil the meaning of their name. Others prove to be a dismal disappointment to their parents in failing to accomplish what was anticipated. At times, some even rise above their names and gain a new name by reputation or divine revelation (Simon/Peter, or Saul/Paul). Concerning the importance of names, Lockyer writes,
NAMES REFLECT PEOPLE’S CHARACTER
Truth taught by names is another important aspect to observe. The significance of names opens up a field of pleasant and profitable investigation to all true lovers of Scripture. . . In ancient Israel the name of a person was supposed to indicate some characteristic of that person, or be linked to circumstances, however trivial or monotonous.3
As you study your character's early childhood and background, consider other hints as to significant early influences in his or her life. What kind of training would a child living in that era have typically received? Are there any specific references to significant events in that child's early life that give us insight into his or her early character or dreams?
One of the keys to understanding the “life-message” is tied to significant turning points in someone’s life. Look for traumatic events which took place in the person's life that were likely to influence them. How did the birth of a child or death of a close friend affect you in their life? What would it have been like to live through the famine, battle or other world crisis that your character experienced? Also, look for unique encounters with God as significant turning points in the life of the character you are studying, i.e. Jacob at Penial had his name changed to Israel.
As you begin to formulate a better understanding of your subject, attempt to describe his or her character. There are several questions that can help you do this. (1) What was the condition when he/she lived? Most of us are influenced by our environment, although many will rise above the conditions of their age. (2) Does his or her name suggest a character trait reflected in his or her actions? Did this person live up to his or her name or prove a disappointment to his or her parents who had that dream for their child? (3) What kinds of people did this person associate with? You can tell much about a person by the kind of people he or she calls friends. (4) Does the Bible ascribe certain character descriptions to the person? Check the meaning of the words used with this person to uncover the emphasis intended in describing their morality. (5) What kind of influence did this person have on those around him or her? Jesus said, "You will know them by their fruits" (Matt. 7:16). (6) Is the evil in this person's life portrayed as an anti-type or example to avoid? (7) Is there a growth or dramatic change in the character of this person in the account of his or her life? Is his or her character redefined in some other part of Scripture?
As you summarize the life of your subject, compile a list of the major contributions of his or her life. Did he or she have a unique office and/or career? Was he or she involved in some significant accomplishment? Did he or she have a significant influence on someone else who accomplished something special for God and/or his or her society? Was there some failure in his or her life that prevented success in a major undertaking?
Take time also to identify any insights this person's life might reveal concerning God and His character. Could this person be considered a type or anti-type of Christ? (Joseph is considered a type of Christ). What do we learn about God in the context of this person's experiences with God? Does this person make significant statements concerning God's nature and/or character?
As you conclude your biographical study, identify the single most important principle illustrated in this person's life. What is his or her “life-message?” Write that principle in a one or two sentences. Then ask yourself four questions to help you understand the principle in the context of your subject's life and its meaning in your life today. (1) How does this principle relate to your personal Christian walk with God? (2) What contemporary life issues are addressed when this principle is applied? (3) What changes do you need to make in your life in light of this biblical principle? (4) How is this principle illustrated in the life of the person being studied? The strongest biographical lessons you teach will be the ones you first learn as a student of biography.
Once you have completed your personal biographical study, you may wish to consult the research of others. Check your church library for biographical studies of your character or commentaries on the passages that describe that person's life. Those who study and teach biographies on a regular basis will want to add good biographical collections to their personal library. These books will serve as reference tools in the process of developing your biographical studies of biblical characters. At the conclusion of this chapter, you will find a bibliography listing a dozen major biographical collections. While not an exhaustive list, it identifies several books you may wish to add to your personal library.
PRINCIPLES FOR INTERPRETING A BIOGRAPHY
1. Determine the main characteristics or strengths, i.e. “life-message” of the
person(s) from the passage of Scripture and the principles by which they lived.
2. Determine the weaknesses, failures or negative lessons that are found in this person.
3. From other scriptural references, determine what additional information can be
found on this person.
4. Determine what influence the person(s) family had on them and why?
5. Determine the influence the person(s) had on his family or others and why?
6. Determine the conditional promises or threats that apply only to their lives, and the
universal promises or threats that apply to your life.
7. Determine the positive principles that could be applied to your life and the negative
principles that should be avoided.
How To Teach A Biography
Because of the natural tendency of people to identify with other people, the teacher is more likely to attract and maintain interest in a biographical lesson than in other approaches to Bible study. Still, care should be taken on the part of the teacher to introduce the person being studied in a relevant context. This may be done in one of several ways. First, you might suggest a case study of a living person. This living person should have a similar “life-message” to the person being studied. The problem that is addressed in the life of your character will answer the problem raised in the case study.
A second way to begin might involve asking the question, "What would you do if you found yourself in a situation where . . . ?" Complete that question by describing some contemporary context similar to the experience of the character being studied. Then turn to a biblical character to demonstrate how he or she responded in a similar situation. When a children's worker was called upon to teach a group of children living in foster homes, she told the story of a boy named "Danny" who as a young boy was taken from his parents and forced to live in a different culture. Immediately, the children identified with the life of Daniel the Prophet and many were responsive when challenged to "dare to be a Daniel" by determining to serve the Lord rather than conforming to the world. A third approach to introducing a biographical study might involve identifying a positive character trait that Christians struggle with in their life. A teacher might ask, "What do you think faith would look like when facing this problem?" The discussion could lead into a study of how Abraham expressed faith in God to solve a variety of problems.
As you prepare your lesson plan, outline the life of the person being studied. Much of this work has already been done in your personal Bible study, but consider the group you are teaching as you prepare this outline. What approach to this person's life will help them best grasp the principle you are trying to communicate? Sometimes, you will outline the person's life in chronological order. On other occasions, start with a significant event in the person's life and then review the various steps that led up to that event. A third approach might identify an attitude or value and then trace the development of that attitude or value through the various events of that person's life.
Next, identify the primary lesson or lessons to be drawn from this person's life. In each person, his or her life message will be reflected in a different way. Is this person a negative example to avoid? Is this person a positive example to imitate? Is there a guiding principle or proverb, i.e. “life-message,” which seems to guide this person's life? Are there steps revealed as the person grows in some area?
In teaching a biography, it is important to remain focused on the subject of your study. In his book on biographical preaching, Andrew Blackwood warned, "In preaching such a sermon there is a tendency, if not a temptation, to show how much one knows about other men of the Bible."4 Taking time to draw parallels between your subject and other similar men and women in the Scriptures will cut into the time you have available. If there is a need to consider other similar characters, a better approach would be to teach a series of biographical studies with a focus on a specific character in each study session. The following chart lists several examples of biographical series you may wish to consider to teach. As you look toward the conclusion of this lesson, suggest ways the “life-message” is can be applied in the life of your students. Once again, a series of questions may help you find specific applications of the “life-message” or principle of someone’s life. How would this “life-message” affect my relationships? How would this “life-message” change my character and/or personality? How would this “life-message” help me accomplish a worthy goal? Usually, it is best to focus your application in the specific area most applicable to the members of the group you teach.
When you teach this lesson, help your students become "doers of the word and not hearers only" (James 1:22). Encourage a specific application of a “life-message” that can be accomplished by your students within the month. Sometimes this will involve identifying a specific action or behavior to copy, i.e., to follow the example of Daniel by praying three times daily throughout the week. On other occasions, this will involve addressing a specific attitude, i.e., to begin overcoming personal bitterness by asking God to remind you of His sovereign control over your circumstances just as He reminded Joseph of that important truth. A third approach may involve making a significant lifestyle change, i.e., to submit yourself to a Barnabas as did Paul in his early ministry, who will hold you accountable in the development of spiritual disciplines and help you experience significant spiritual growth.
If you study and teach biographies often, you will want to periodically take time to evaluate what you have done to stretch yourself to be the best student and teacher possible of the Scriptures. All of us have a tendency to slide into a routine comfort zone, which if unchecked, can cause us to abandon our pursuit of excellence in all we do for God. Blackwood, concerned that preachers of biographical sermons may also become complacent in their work, developed a series of questions he called "The Tests of a Completed Sermon."5 Blackwood's questions are listed to help you evaluate yourself as you study and teach biographies.
BLACKWOOD'S TESTS OF A BIOGRAPHICAL SERMON
1. Have I changed the bill of fare often enough?
2. Will this sermon interest the men and boys?
3. Will my sermon appeal to the intelligence of the hearer, or address him as an inferior?
4. Does this message deal fairly with the facts in the Bible passage?
5. Throughout this message do I preach mainly in the present tense?
6. Does my sermon exalt God the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, or does it move largely on the horizontal level?
Tools for Biographical Studies
If you study and teach biographies on a regular basis, you may want to invest in a few good biographical collections. These books will serve as reference tools in the process of developing your biographical studies of biblical characters. While not exhaustive, the following list identifies several leading books in this field.
David Barnard, Biblical Women (Cincinnati: Hart & Company, 1863).
Edith Deen, All the Women of the Bible (New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1955).
James Hastings, The Greater Men and Women of the Bible (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark Co.).
Abraham Kuyper, Women of the Old and New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1934).
Herbert Lockyer, All the Apostles of the Bible (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House).
Herbert Lockyer, All the Children of the Bible (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House).
Herbert Lockyer, All the Kings and Queens of the Bible (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House).
Herbert Lockyer, All the Men of the Bible (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1958).
Herbert Lockyer, All the Women of the Bible (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House).
Elmer L. Towns, What the Old Testament is All About: A Study of the History Makers of the Old Testament (Lynchburg, Virginia: Elmer L. Towns, 1995).
Elmer L. Towns, What the New Testament is All About: A Study of the History Makers of the New Testament (Lynchburg, Virginia: Elmer L. Towns, 1995).
Alexander Whyte, Bible Characters (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House).

STEP TWO
BIBLE STUDY ON LOT
1. Who was Lot?
“This is the geneology of Terah: Terah beget Abraham, Nahor and Haran. Haran beget Lot” (Gen. 11:27). “Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot . . . they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans” (Gen. 11:31).
2. What relationship did Lot have to Abram?
“Now the Lord had said to Abram: get out from your country, from your kindred and from your father’s house” (Gen. 12:1). “Lot also, who went with Abram” (Gen. 13:5).
3. What problem caused a separation to the two?
“There was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of
Lot’s livestock” (Gen. 13:7).
4. How did Abram solve the problem?
“Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife . . . please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or if you go to the right, I will go to the left” (Gen. 13:9).
5. On what basis did Lot choose?
“Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the plains of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere . . . like the garden of the Lord” (Gen. 13:10). “Then Lot chose for himself all the plan of Jordan” (Gen. 13:11).
6. What was the first step of Lot’s downfall?
“Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other” (Gen. 13:11). “Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom” (Gen. 13:12).
7. Read the background of Sodom in a Bible dictionary.
8. Read Genesis 19:1-38 for background.
9. What was Lot’s next place?
“Two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate”
(Gen. 19:1).
10. What crisis did Lot face?
“The men of Sodom, both old and young . . . surrounded the house. And they called to Lot . . . “where are the men (angels . . .?” Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally” (Gen. 19:4,5).
11. How did Lot want to solve the crisis?
Lot . . . said, “Please my brethren, do not do so wickedly! See now, I have two daughters who have not known a man: please let me bring them out to you, and you may do with them as you wish” (Gen. 13:7,8).
12. What happened to Lot’s wife?
“They (the angels) said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain” (Gen. 13:17).
13. What good and bad can be said about Lot?
“For (if God) delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed with the filthy conduct of the wicked . . . the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation”
(II Peter 2:7,9). 

STEP THREE
CHECKLIST FOR STUDYING BIOGRAPHIES
1. Who are you studying? (Primary)
    Other people in passage)

2. Primary reference
    Other references in the Old Testament
    Other references in the New Testament

3. Where was the person?

4. Why was the passage there?

5. What was the person doing? (going?)

6. What was the person thinking and feeling? 

7. What problem(s) did the person face?

8. What decision did the person face?

9. How did the person solve the problem(s)?

10. What can you learn about making decisions solving problems?

11. What is the greatest quality of this person?

12. What were some supporting qualities in this person?

13. What practical principles can you learn from this person?