The OT Narratives: Their Proper Use*
* A Summary from How to Read the Bible for all its Worth
The Nature of Narratives
a. What Narratives Are:
b. Three levels of Narratives
c. What Narratives are not:
I. The Nature of Narratives
What Narratives Are:
Showing God at Work in His Creation and Among His People
B. Three Levels of Narrative
1. Top Level: God’s Big Plan
--Creation
--Fall
--Power of Sin
--Need for Redemption
--Christ’s incarnation and sacrifice
The Big Plan is “The Story of Redemption”
2. Middle Level --Centers on Israel
--The Call of Abraham
--The Establishment of Abraham’s descendants
--The Enslaving of Israel
--God’s deliverance of Israel
--Conquest of Canaan
--Israel’s frequent sins
--God’s patient protection
3. Bottom Level --Individual Narratives
Joseph, Gideon, David…
Each narrative is also a part of the story of Israel and a part of the
“Story of Redemption”
C. What Narratives are Not:
1. Not just stories about people who lived in OT times
God is the “protagonist”, the hero, the focus
2. Not allegories or stories filled with hidden meanings
“Joseph relates the prophetical dreams he had. Though he was now about seventeen years old, yet he was pious and devout, and well-inclined, and this fitted him for God’s gracious discoveries of himself to him.”
3. Do not always teach directly; they often illustrate what is explicitly taught elsewhere.
4. Each individual narrative does not necessarily have a moral of its own. The whole unit has the message.
Principles for Interpreting Narratives (see handout)
Ways NOT to interpret Narratives
(OR, “How to make a passage say anything you want it to!”)
1. Make an allegory
2. Ignore the context
3. Pick and choose
4. Tricky combination
5. Change the definition
6. Use an outside authority
7. Finding a moral
8. Find a personal application
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1. What are the three levels we need to understand when reading the OT narratives?
ReplyDeleteAnswer:
Top level (God's big plan)
Middle level (Centers on Israel)
Bottom level (Individual Narratives)
2. What is the purpose of the OT narratives? What are two examples that demonstrate this purpose?
Answer:
Showing God at work in his creation and among his people.
Example: creation, fall of man
3. How should we understand the Joseph Narrative? What are important things that we need to understand as we apply this passage to your own life?
Answer:
Not all narratives have a moral, the biblical truth might be subtle. Not everything applies to us today. Don't change the definition of certain words.
OT Narratives
ReplyDeleteWhat are the three levels we need to understand when reading the OT narratives?
God's big plan of redemption
Plan for Israelites
Individual Narrative
What is the purpose of the OT narratives? What are two examples that demonstrate this purpose?
To tell a historical event. To show how God is working in history through God's creation. Example: Joseph—not just about Joseph and how great he was, but about God and how he accomplishes his purpose through him.
How should we understand the Joseph Narrative? What are important things that we need to understand as we apply this passage to our own life?
His life was to illustrate how God works in people's lives for his purpose.
That it is not telling us to follow exactly what the story is telling us, for example, it is not telling us to copy the brother's example so that good will come out of it. We need to remember the bigger plan. And we need to remember that it isn't just a story about Joseph but its also a story about God working in history to accomplish his plan. Not meant to be a template of how we should act.
1. Three levels:
ReplyDelete• God’s big plan
i. Creation, fall, power of sin
ii. Need for redemption
• Centres on Israel
i. The call and establishment of Abram
ii. The enslaving and liberty of Israel from Egypt
iii. Israel’s constant sin and God’s patience
• Individual Narratives
i. Joseph, Gideon, David
ii. Each narrative is a part of the story of the “Story of Redemption” (JB)