Our Biblical Tapestry
The goal of this Study is that you would grow in seeing and understanding the Bible as a tapestry of sorts. We reference a tapestry because it represents a whole picture – and in this case it is the Revelation of God to you, through His Word.
A tapestry is woven, and there are many different sorts of threads which run through it. If you imagine looking up close and tugging on an individual thread, you might also imagine seeing where else that thread runs through the tapestry. Studying the Bible, especially by reference, is illustrated in this way too.
If a tapestry is a woven picture of a story or idea, then see the Bible as a tapestry a million miles squared. And in this tapestry are sections which are firmed up in your mind, while around these sections are all of the blind area that you don’t yet understand or are even aware of. It might look sort of like jigsaw puzzle that has several groups of the pieces, but most of the puzzle is yet to be assembled.
In your tapestry, these patches represent your current scope of Biblical understanding. Our job is to always be sure the patches of our tapestry are true and confirmed, and to use them to aid us as we continue to reveal more and more of the weave.
Pulling on the Threads
The Scripture cross references found on the inside margin of many Bibles today are an excellent study tool. Each of these numbered references point out the various threads running through the verses as they make their way through the rest of the Bible. Pausing to follow each reference as you work through your main passage of study helps you to see these threads revealed, and shows you how they are also anchored in other bodies of text. As we grow in our familiarity and understanding of God’s Word, we come to recognize more and more of the islands of thruth, and how they are linked together. And this is at the very foundation of any person’s Biblical acuity – continuing to see more and more of these patches of the tapestry surface, while recognizing the common threads that run in between each of them.