How to Use Our Commentaries
Preparation for reading: Before starting each reading, remember to pray to the Creator of the universe, asking him to guide you into all truth and to help you understand his Word during your study.
Post structure: For didactic reasons, each long post has been divided into smaller sections so that the reader will not be overwhelmed by receiving too much information at once. We recommend that readers pause at the end of each section to digest what they have read, reflect, and pray.
Make sure to read the entire study: Our series are expository studies that analyze the biblical book as a whole and within its context, following the inspired biblical writer’s line of reasoning. Reading everything, and in order, from start to finish, is essential. This approach ensures that the reader will have a better understanding of the message that God wants to convey through the biblical book under analysis.
Authority of the Bible: We want the Bible to be our authority. So, quotations that do not refer to the meaning of the original words, archaeological data, or historical facts—the interpretative quotations—are not given for the purpose of citing the writer or theologian as authority, but because the statement affords a ready, clear, and biblical presentation of the subject.
Focus on pertinent topics: Although the production of our materials involves the study of the biblical book verse by verse and word by word, what we bring to the public is not a verse-by-verse commentary. Given the urgency of our time, as we find ourselves living during the final pages of this age’s history, we must not linger on less pertinent topics or provide unnecessary information about a biblical verse. We have been commissioned to show the truths for this present time, giving “meat in due season.” Therefore, our Bible commentaries are not strictly verse-by-verse.
Where our sources come from: None of the texts quoted in our articles, whether from theologians, archaeologists, linguists, or historians, come from researchers who share the set of doctrines that we have extracted from the Bible and present here. All of our sources come from impartial researchers.
Enhancing your understanding: In our series, we sometimes include chapters between the main ones to clarify previous sections or prepare you for what is coming next. It is important to pause and read these appendices, as they provide essential knowledge for understanding the biblical book under analysis. For example, Daniel and Revelation reference many other biblical passages and doctrines; a lack of familiarity with them will certainly prevent a correct understanding of the messages in these biblical books. Therefore, these appendices ensure everyone, whether new to Christianity or even long-time believers, has the necessary background for a correct understanding.
Use of historical texts: Although it may seem so, the historical texts quoted in our publications are not commentaries on the prophecies, nor were they written with the purpose of endorsing what the biblical text says. Historians were simply writing about history, and history has been unfolding as prophesied in the Bible.
Translation approach: We observe that a more literal translation of the biblical text is usually the one that accurately conveys the biblical author’s intended meaning, aligning with the immediate context and the broader testimony of Scripture. In the case of prophecies, it also aligns with historical data that shows their fulfillment. Therefore, we prioritize a more literal translation of the biblical text whenever possible, even if it results in language that slightly deviates from standard English usage.
Questions & Answers: At the end of each post, the reader will find a Q&A section about the chapter of the biblical book that was studied. This section includes questions asked on Google, Reddit, Quora, and other websites, as well as questions from our readers. So, if you still have questions about the chapter studied, please send them to our email address: questions@thebloodstainedbanner.org