"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15)"For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:...But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken" (Isaiah 28:10,13).

1.        Seek to understand the author/Author’s intended meaning.

As stated above, the overriding principle of our Bible Study must be to understand what the human author (and divine Author) intended to communicate. The only way to accurately do this is to take words in their normal meaning. As the adage goes, “if the plain sense makes sense you have the right sense”.

2.        All Scripture must be taken in its proper context

That means that the interpretation of scriptures should be looked at in the light of the verses and book in which the passage is found. The argument of the author must be taken into account. The historical and cultural context should be remembered as well. This is perhaps the most violated of all the principles and is, in my opinion, the number one violation of biblical interpretation which plagues the church today. A text without context is a pretext!

3.        Always compare Scriptures with other Scriptures

In other words, Scripture is its own best commentary. All the passages touching on a particular matter need to be studied and harmonized before truth is found. If one is studying the return of Christ, then one needs to compare passages from Daniel, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah, Matthew 1 and 2, Thessalonians, 2 Peter, Jude, Revelation, etc. Only once all relevant passages have been studied and compared, can we be sure of our interpretation. Martin Luther said, “The best interpreter of Scripture is the other Scripture.”

4.        Determine the literal references of figures of speech that provides comparison, substitution and amplification

Scripture, like any serious literature, uses figure of speech. These include similes, metaphors, hyperbole, idioms, metonymies, parallelism, etc. It is our job to recognize these figures of speech and discover what the author intended in his usage. What is the literal reference the author wishes us to understand?

5.        Recognize the near/far implications and applications in prophetic passages

It is common in prophetic literature for there to be both a near application and a far application to a certain prophecy. A few examples will illustrate this. A near future judgement will be predicted on a nation followed by a prediction of far future judgement on the whole world. The letters to the seven churches in revelation were relevant to their immediate audience and included specific items of praise and condemnation by Christ. These letters also mention the coming of Christ and are thus relevant to the final generation which will be on earth when He returns. And finally, there are several Old Testament passages which speak of the two Comings of Christ back to back, as if they were one event. This is a phenomenon called "telescoping". J. Barton Payne says, “Biblical Prophecies may leap from one prominent peak in predictive topography to another, without notice of the valley between which may involve no inconsiderable lapse in chronology”. (J. Barton Payne, Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy, p. 137)

If we are to understand Biblical Prophecy (or any other part of Scripture) we must approach the Bible with a humble heart, relying on the Holy Spirit, with the conviction that God’s word is true and cannot contradict itself. The bottom line of our study must be obedience and submission to God’s word. As A.W. Tozer said, “When you find the truth of Scripture, that truth always stands  in judgement of you, you never stand in judgement of it.”