How Getting Historical and Cultural Context Can Help During Your Bible Study Time

This episode explains why getting historical and cultural context when we're studying the Bible can be helpful. There are detailed examples of each in this episode. The scriptures referenced in this episode are John 4:5 and John 4:30. Here's the transcript for this episode with the main points in bold:

 

Denea (00:00)
Hello, hello, it's Denea, your host of the Faith-Filled Mom podcast. Thank you so much for listening. I hope that wherever you are today, number one, I hope you know that I really do appreciate you listening. Two, I hope and I pray that you are giving yourself some grace for the transition that you are going through right now or that you have just gone through.

It at the time of this recording, daylight savings time just passed. And let me tell y'all, it threw me. It threw me. It's been on my calendar, right? Like on your phone, you know, the time now it resets automatically. But like, I don't know if it's just because as an autistic individual who also has ADHD, changing.

Any type of change to my schedule or my routine, it typically takes me a little bit to get the hang of it, right? I feel like sometimes it's like I'm or I'm jumping to like double touch. I'm trying to, you know, I'm trying to get the hang of it. I'm trying to wait for my turn to really, you know, get in and get the rhythm of it. But it just takes me a little bit sometimes.

But it threw me. And so I am trying today. told myself, I felt this yesterday and I told myself today, it was like, Denea, this is a transition for you and you need to be extra patient with yourself. You need to be open to any type of changes or shifts you need to make in your schedule. And that is so hard.

for me to do, to be open to changing, not just because it's change, but I think also there's something in me that, like I have to remind myself that it is okay if I readjust the expectations that I had for myself. Like it doesn't mean that I can't do it, it just means that I need to go about doing it a different way. And so whether you are neurotypical or whether you were.

a neurodivergent, I hope that whatever transition you are going through, and remember a transition, like you get to define what a transition, a major change, a major transition, you get to define what that is. So before you start thinking, well, I don't really know if that's a big enough thing. I don't really know if that's a big enough change. Maybe I just need to get over it. No, no, no, no, no, no. We're not doing that. We're not diminishing. We're not dismissing. You define whatever

A transition is for you. Think of it and then think of ways that you can be just a little bit more patient with yourself. What are some ways that you can give yourself just a little bit more grace? Allow yourself to move at a different speed than what you had initially planned while you're going through this transition or while you're just recovering from a transition. Today's episode is all about how historical

and cultural context can help us get more context when we are reading the Bible. I'm gonna pray a sin really quickly, real quick. God, thank you so much for your word. Yes, it was relevant back then and God, we are so happy that your word, it is still alive, it is still relevant, it is still active now.

We invite you in Holy Spirit into this Bible studying time, make us sensitive to the promptings that you want to give us now. And even after this Bible study time ends, whatever promptings you want to give us to help us understand more of who God and Jesus are, help us to be sensitive to that. Help us to be sensitive to understanding this text. Let it plant a root.

in us a seed that has strong healthy roots that produces fruit not just in us but in those around us and our families and our friends and the people that we walk past every day let it produce fruit in them too. God we love you in Jesus name amen. All right so when we're talking about interpretation which these past couple episodes that's really what we've been focusing on right.

I think I initially started that because it was like the new year and it's gonna be like a new goal and then I was like I really love actually Bible teaching and I got I got a lot of messages and Just comments and people were like, this is this is awesome. Like this is exactly what I need and so We're kind of in this groove the faith of mom podcast will always be some sort of Bible teaching podcast, it will always be centered around faith. It'll always be centered around how us, especially as moms, can have a fruitful Bible studying time. And I guess that's redundant because anytime we study the Bible, it's gonna be fruitful, right? But I think sometimes, or at least what I was feeling when I would study the Bible, I would be like, I have no idea what I'm doing. I have no idea what I am doing, I don't know where to start, I don't know how to do this. And so that is what these episodes have been about. The goal. Whenever we are talking about biblical interpretation, the goal is for us to get as close of an understanding to what the author of the text was originally trying to say. That's what the goal is, right? The goal is not to read the text and make it fit what we want it to say. The goal is to understand with the author who originally wrote it, who was illuminated, the Holy Spirit gave the word to with that person, what they were trying to say. And so that's what these interpretation methods.

That's what they're going to help us do.

How Historical and Cultural Context Can Help Us When We're Studying Scripture

So historical context gaining historical context and cultural context are keys in getting more of a closer understanding to what the original author was saying. So how or what kind of is historical context any type of historical event that took place around the time that the author was writing? It could also be social or - we're going talk about that too. Any type of economic thing that that event that happened around that time. Any any type of event that can help us understand the foundation of why this person is saying what they're saying. It can also help us understand who the author is writing to. It can help us understand the circumstances, and why they are actually writing.

Where Do We Get Historical and Cultural Context?

Where can we get historical cultural context? Well, I'm glad you asked. I'm going to give you a few places that I tend to go. And these are pretty broad, by the way. If you have other ways or places that you get your context, whether it be historical, cultural, just in general, let me know. Please, please, please message me on Instagram. I'm at Denea Marable. I'll put the handle in the show notes, but I'm always open to gaining more access to anything that can help me understand, interpret the Bible. So I love any type of historical or cultural surveys because they really, they tend to break down the historical events. They break them down - historically and culturally in a way that I don't know, it just makes me feel like I was there. And I think also it's because I was the type of person when I was younger and it's still me now, who rejoiced when I was given a book report. anything that called for like research and I absolutely love that.

Well, historical and cultural surveys, they kind of lay out the information that is kind of in a, I guess, time sensitive, time friendly manner, which is extremely important for us moms because, you know, mom life. And so I highly encourage you, you can get those at your local library, at your Christian bookstore. You can try your local bookstore, of course, and Amazon.

Bible dictionary is also really good for it can help you. It doesn't give you I feel like as much Information as a historical or cultural survey might but it is definitely helpful Especially when you were trying to interpret the Google good old Google just make sure that the site you are Getting this information from is a reputable website

I always like to, I think it's a good practice when you have the time, whenever that is, to when you're on a website, I like to check out their social media because that kind of gives me a little bit of inside information on who is writing this. Like if I am not already familiar with the website, because I don't want, and you do not want a historical...background that is slanted, you know, because that that's not true. Like history should not be slanted. History, it should be giving us a straight back. And so I always like to go, if I'm going to a new website, I always, before I take the information in, I always like to go to their social media and see who is this company? Who are these people? What other things are they writing? What other things are they posting? Because I think that can really be helpful. A Bible Atlas map, that can be helpful whenever you are, whenever you see rivers like the Jordan River or wherever you see any type of geographical reference in the Bible. It's just good because it gives you an understanding of like, wow, know, this person, really, they really had to walk far or "wow, they had to go around Samaria", which is very common and we'll get into why they had to or why in the gospel especially during that time, why it was very common for people not to go through Samaria but around Samaria. So those are just some resources that you can try out. So this is an example of how historical context can help us get a good, a better understanding to what the original author meant. So in reading the gospels, I think, I mean, historical context, of course, is helpful throughout the Bible. I think I'm still stuck on the gospel because my class, my class last semester was all about the gospel and the book of Acts.

Historical Context Example

And I just found the historical information, some of that absolutely fascinating. So I'm going to share some of that and then some other stuff that I've kind of come upon too. So in reading the gospels, some historical context that we're going to talk about specifically is like Rome and how it impacted the tension when Jesus kind of came on the scene. Why especially traditionally Jewish individuals were so upset with Jesus. And this is something that I had not known before, but it definitely opened my eyes to, it opened my eyes to a lot. So Roman law, what happened was when Rome kind of, I guess took over Jerusalem, Roman law was being imposed on the Jewish people. Now again, you we have to remember these, these are God's chosen people. And so they've had prophecy after prophecy of being saved and being delivered. And also we have to remember too, that this was kind of on the tail end of the silent years and scholars are they go back and forth between how many silent years. But it was something like three or four hundred silent years. So there was not a prophet. There was not a word from God about the Messiah. It was silent. so Rome has overtaken Jerusalem and the Roman law is now being imposed on them. This means that the language was also changing. Historically, the Jewish people, most of them spoke Hebrew (please refer to the beginning of the episode for correction). And so now it was starting to change to Greek. Also, traditions, a lot of culture was changing and it was also being imposed on them. It was calling for them to either have to practice some of their cultural traditions in private or have to get rid of them altogether.

So this is one reason why the Jewish people had such a tough time believing that Jesus was the Messiah. And it's one of the reasons why they were so angry with him because they were looking for Jesus to come and start. They wanted him to start a revolution.

And like overtake Roman government and they wanted him to be their new king. But the thing is Jesus did not come to start a revolution with the Roman government. He came to offer salvation to all people, not just Jewish individuals, but Gentiles too.

And this is one, and this is another reason why they got so frustrated with him because they were like, look, we've seen you do signs and wonders. We know that you are clearly doing things that nobody else has ever done before. It could be so easy for you to just strike them out and you yourself get on the throne. Like why aren't you doing this for us? But Jesus, if it's one thing that he kept, he kept saying many things over and over again.

But one thing he kept repeating was, I have to be about my father's business. I think one of the reasons why Jesus didn't want to be as violent, of course, as they want to be, well, he's not violent. But also I think he wanted there to be a lot of validity to what he was bringing. Like he didn't want people to think that he was just some dangerous man who was coming and threatening people with violence. Like he came to changes from the inside out. He came to usher in the kingdom of God. He came to bring us salvation. And that was his focus. Not overpowering Roman government so that Jewish individuals could be happy. Right? He came for a lot more than that.

And I think just knowing that this is really helpful because it helps us understand why there was consistently so much tension between Jesus and Jewish individuals. And it's why to this day that some of them still do not believe that he is Messiah.

Cultural Background Example

Cultural background, specifically, there's a lot, but I wanted to focus on the woman at the well - the Samaritan woman. We meet her in John chapter four. She is a Samaritan woman. She is from Samaria. Samaria, to me it sounds like some area, like you know like some area over there. And I feel like that's kind of the attitude that they had back then culturally. Like in order to pass through Samaria, to get to a town that was near it, people often chose to go days out of the journey, out of the way to pass over or around Samaria rather than go through it. Samaritan people were often seen as dirty or unclean or beneath others. And so that is one of the reasons why Jesus even talking to this woman, it is so counter cultural. And I don't know about you, but y'all, I am so happy that we get to serve a Lord, that our Messiah is somebody who is some, he's counter cultural. Jesus, he said it many times, he came to be about his father's business. He did not come to appease social, cultural standards. He came for so much more than that. And I feel like his interaction with the Samaritan woman is just proof of that. love their exchange because even it reveals a lot and even how it's set up tells you a lot about how shamed this woman feels, how shamed other people have treated her, how poorly other people have treated her.

In chapter four, at verse six, and I guess I should start actually at verse five. This is Jesus. So he came to a town of Samaria near the property of Jacob, where Jacob had given his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there and Jesus, worn out from his journey, set out the well. It was about noon or some scholars say it was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to drink water. And I mean, it goes on and it details their exchange, but just the fact that she came at noon or the sixth hour, that was typically the hottest time of day. was hot. And if you kind of notice, so the well, the source of water, you would think it would be very, very crowded, right? Like there were certain times of day where the well would be crowded because it was where they got their clean water from. And so the fact that Jesus, that she and Jesus are able to have this conversation, to me, it says that there's nobody else around. Why? Because it's the heat of the day. And she is so accustomed to avoiding people. She is so accustomed to...probably people looking down at her or talking very poorly to her, treating her poorly, that she wants to avoid crowds and she is willing to come to the well at the heat of the day. Samaritans were not treated kindly at all. And so this is Jesus. This is our Jesus being counter-cultural, talking to somebody, who is a marginalized member of society and pushing that aside to reveal himself to her as the Messiah. It's not just that she's a Samaritan, it's also that she is a woman.

Culturally, culturally in this day, women just in general, it didn't matter if you were Samaritan, it doesn't matter if you were a Jewish individual,  you were seen as less, you were seen as lower than everyone else. And so she's a Samaritan, she is a woman, and then we find out that on top of that, she has had many husbands and the woman and the man that she's living with now is not her husband, which in this day, culturally was...kind of like, know, a woman who's unwed, like, my goodness, like grab your pearls. Like it was, it was seen as like, well what's wrong with her? Like that's how they looked at it back then culturally. Now today, I would like to think that's changed a little bit, right? Like there are, there are many, like there are many reasons why someone may not be married and that's fine.

Right, like that person should not be treated poorly or as an outcast as a society. Like Jesus did not, he didn't stand for it then clearly because he reveals himself to her as the Messiah. And I can tell you, he doesn't stand for that now. I love the conversation, exchange that goes on between them because it's just proof that our Messiah. He doesn't care about cultural expectations. He is more interested in saving souls and offering salvation to all people, male, female. It doesn't matter what your ethnicity is. Maybe you're a marginalized member of society. Maybe you're not. Jesus wants you to know back then and now that salvation is available to you.

They go on and they have this exchange. And he of course knows all of this about her. He knows that the man that she's living with now is not her husband. And he knows that she's had several husbands. And he still says like, you know, I am the Messiah. And this woman goes on y'all to evangelize. Like she goes on and she tells other people like, hey, I like come see a man in verse still chapter four. This is after they've had their exchange chapter 28 or excuse me, verse 28 chapter four. Then the woman left her water jar went into town and told the people come see a man who told me everything I did. Could this be the Messiah? And I love verse 30. It says they left the town.

and made their way to him. And I love that because it's like they were like, what? I gotta go see this for myself because of her evangelizing, right? Like that is what she did. She went and she spread the good news. Could this be the Messiah? And they were like, I've got to see. I don't know. I've got to see.

And so this is just, these are just some exchanges, some examples of how when we gain historical context, when we gain cultural context, it can help us understand what the author was trying to say. This conversation that happens in chapter four, like it's not just a regular conversation, right? Like when we put the cultural background to it, we can see like, my goodness.

Jesus was talking to a woman back in that day and he did not care. my goodness. Jesus, number one, was in a place and at a time, the hottest, hottest time of day, just to talk to her. He did not care about cultural expectations. Like it, it just opens up my eyes and I hope that it opens up your eyes and we can kind of see some of God's character when it comes to how marginalized members of society can be treated. And so I hope that the next time you go to study the Bible, the next time you have time, because remember we've talked about this, I give you tips, I give you certain methods, and maybe you go and you know what, the second that you sit down, you hear, like, you know we've all.

We've all had that. You know, that's okay. You can always have a part two to your Bible study, or you can have a part two, three, four, and five if you need. know, like you can have, study this however you study it. Apply it however it serves you. But I hope the next time that you were able to apply Googling, getting a book at your local library, local bookstore.

Amazon, wherever, historical context survey, biblical cultural survey, Bible Atlas, a map. The next time you can Google it, just try it and see how it helps to give you a little bit more understanding, like in depth of what the author, the point that the author was trying to make. We learned today that number one, from the historical context, I feel like

the author was trying to, and this is something that you kind of see throughout the gospels. And I think honestly, even in some of Paul's letters too, the context kind of helps us understand that Jesus didn't, he didn't come to appease people. And that's good news. He came to be about his father's business. He came to be, he was on a mission to usher in the kingdom of God. He was on a mission to offer salvation to all. The cultural context that we studied, it helped us understand more of the character of Jesus and more of the character of God and how he feels about marginalized members of society. I'm gonna pray us out. God, thank you for your word.

Thank you that we're not just reading stories, God. These things actually happened. And these things were relevant for the people who firsthand got to read them and they're relevant to us now. Help us understand how we can apply what we've learned today in our Bible-studying time and how we can apply it whenever we come across marginalized members of society.

Help us to understand Father that there are some times that when we are about your business, so to speak, we might not appease people. Help us to live that out. Help us to walk that out. Give us the strength to obey in that. Help us to be brave and courageous as we're trying to walk that out. Holy Spirit, we want to acknowledge you and we want to thank you for everything that you just did.

in us and everything that you're going to do after this Bible study time as we continue to use what we've learned today. We love you, Father, in Jesus' name, amen. Thank you so much for listening to this episode. I would love it if, yeah, if you use this, if you use these tools, these techniques, historical context, cultural context, message me on Instagram and let me know what did you learn?

Or if you have another way, I listed some ways that you can gain historical and cultural context. So if you have some other tools, resources, let me know those too. I love you. Thank you so much for listening and I will talk to you next time. Bye.

Contact:

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