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Welcome back! I hope you’ve had a chance to praise God this (U.S. Labor Day) week. He was and is and always will be so good to me! Even in my weakness and pain and hard times, He is still so worthy of praise. I can’t stay afraid, or sad, or mad when I’m praising God, so let’s do it all the time, and especially when we’re digging into His Word!

Last Week’s Work

REPETITION

This week, I noticed just two repeated concepts (though there are more, I’m sure). The first, naturally, was the phrase “was dead and is alive, … was lost and is found,” mentioned in vv24, 32 (my study focus!).  This change in the son’s condition led directly to the other concept, the celebration spoken of in vv23-25, 29, 32. Many of those verses describe the older brother’s reaction to the father’s “welcome back” party for the wayward son. I’m pretty sure that’s something I should keep in mind going forward in this study.

SPECIAL STATEMENTS

Most of the special statements I noticed were commands beginning with the prodigal’s, “give me [my] share of the property… (v12).” The way this is worded, it certainly seems like the son is not actually commanding but demanding the father relinquish his property. The other statement attributed to him (v19) sounds a bit more like a request, “treat me as one of your hired servants,” as one would expect from a humbled child with nothing but the rags on his back.

The remaining commands appear in vv22-23, spoken by the father to his servants, “bring quickly the best robe,” “put it on him,” “put a ring on his hand,” “[put] shoes on his feet,” and “bring the fattened calf” and “kill it.” These, along with the party mentioned in the last half of the text, give us a really good idea about the father’s reaction to the son’s return. Finally, I think it’s interesting to note the father’s promise to his older son in v31, “all that is mine is yours.” Feels like there’s a nuance there. I hope I have a chance to check into that, too.

LISTS

Like last time, the first list I noticed also contains a sub-list. I labeled it, “the father’s reactions to the son’s return.” He:

1. Felt compassion (v20)
2. Ran to and embraced the son (v20)
3. Kissed the son (v20)
4. Ordered his servants:
   A – To outfit the son with (1) a robe, (2) a ring, and (3) shoes (v22).
   B – To prepare the fattened calf for a celebration (v23).
5. Declared the son “alive” and “found” not “dead” and “lost” (vv24,32).

List 2 is “the older son’s reactions to the younger son’s return.”He:

1. Got angry (v28).
2. Refused to join the party (v28).
3. Complained his father hadn’t done anything for him (the loyal son) and rewarded the disloyal one (vv29-30).

Dig-In Challenges

This week, let’s wrap up Step 3 by:

1. PRAYING: As always, start with the prayer we wrote for Step 1.
2. MINING: Read through the passage again looking for comparisons in or related to your focus verses. Look for similarities using like or as, quantitative/qualitative comparisons using more or less, and/or contrasts.
3. MINING: Next, look for causes or motives by focusing on key words or phrases I call cause connectors. In this study text, look for the connectors so (a synonym of therefore), for (a synonym of because), and because. Then check the text surrounding the connector for an action and the reason or explanation for that action. For example: in the sentence,
   I went to the store because I was out of milk:
   the action = I went to the store             because        the reason = I was out of milk.
   NOTE A: so and for don’t always connect an action and a reason. To determine if they do in this passage, read the sentences containing these words replacing so with therefore and for with because. If the new sentence makes sense and means the same as the original, make a note of the action and its cause.
   NOTE B: With most of these connectors, you’ll find the action before the cause connector and the reason after it (like the example above). With so, though, you’ll find the reason before the word so, and the action afterward.
4. MINING: Finally, see if you can find any conditions that may have triggered some of the action in this narrative, and/or descriptions of how something was accomplished. For example, does the text say if or when a certain condition exists, some outcome happens (e.g., whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith (Matt 21:22)? Or does the author describe a particular method by which something happens—for example, specific steps taken to achieve something, or more generally by or through attributes or actions (e.g., saved by grace, through faith (Ephesians 2:8)? Does the text include any adverbs (-ly words) that describe how action took place?

These exercises are more involved, I know, but I’m confident you can do this with the Holy Spirit! Don’t forget to check your How to Dig Into Scripture Ourselves guide, and you can always reach out to me at [email protected] if you have questions.

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