What is the purpose of the stories in the Bible? If someone does something that seems a bit odd like Gideon setting out a fleece to determine God’s will or the Children of Israel walking around the walls of Jericho to conquer it.
Does that mean I should do similar things to please God?
As we start reading the book of Joshua, we move from the foundation of laws into stories, also called narratives
Let’s face it, it is a bit of a relief to be finished with the the foundation of laws and into the stories of the Bible.
For the next few months, you’ll be reading some of the most familiar stories from the Old Testament: about the walls of Jericho falling down, of Gideon setting out a fleece, of Sampson and Deliah, about David and Goliath and the other exploits of David’s life.
Though interesting reading, these books pose a major challenge.
How do we properly apply them?
The laws are easy—God says, don’t lie; I know I’m not supposed to lie.
The stories are harder—because a Bible character acted in a certain way and seemed to turn out well, should I act in the same way?
For example, in the story of Gideon, he asked God for sign that confirmed what he was supposed to do. He set out a fleece (an animal skin) and asked that the next morning the fleece be wet and the ground dry. God graciously, miraculously answered him and did that. He asked for the reverse and God again answered.
Does that mean that we should come up with tests to determine God’s will?
The short answer is “no.”
And exactly why it’s “no” and how to properly learn from and apply the lessons of the stories in the Bible is what I’ll explain in this lesson.
Below is the podcast and video on this and following that, the notes for the lesson.
If you would like FREE, editable downloads of this material that you can modify and use to teach without attribution, go to the Bible805 Academy. Just click on the little search (magnifying glass icon) at the top of the page, type in the topic you want, hit enter, and it will bring up the various lessons and infographics on it.
• What is the purpose of the stories in the Bible?
• If someone does something that seems a bit odd, like Gideon setting out a fleece to determine God’s will or the Children of Israel walking around the walls of Jericho to conquer it—
• Does that mean I should do similar things to please God?
• We’ll answer these questions and more in our lesson. . . . .
How to Correctly Understand & Apply
Bible Stories & Biblical Narrative
Teacher, Yvon Prehn
As we start reading the book of Joshua, we move from the foundation of laws into stories, also called narratives
• Let’s face it, it is a bit of a relief to be finished with the foundation of laws and into the stories of the Bible.
• For the next few months, you’ll be reading some of the most familiar stories from the Old Testament: about the walls of Jericho falling down, of Gideon setting out a fleece, of Sampson and Delilah, about David and Goliath and the other exploits of David’s life.
• Though interesting reading, these books pose a major challenge.
How do we properly apply them?
• The laws are easy—God says, don’t lie; I know I’m not supposed to lie.
• The stories are harder—because a Bible character acted in a certain way and seemed to turn out well, should I act in the same way?
• For example, in the story of Gideon, he asked God for a sign that confirmed what he was supposed to do. He set out a fleece (an animal skin) and asked that the next morning the fleece be wet and the ground dry.
• God graciously, miraculously answered him and did that. He asked for the reverse and God again answered.
• Does that mean that we should come up with tests to determine God’s will?
• The short answer is “no.”
• And exactly why it’s “no” and how to properly learn from and apply the lessons of the stories in the Bible is what I’ll explain in this lesson.
It’s important to understand this because
• As Romans 15:4 tells us, For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
• And 1 Cor. 10:11, ESV reminds us, Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction,
• The Bible stories aren’t just for our entertainment; we are supposed to learn from these Old Testament stories.
• But it is important that we carefully consider what God intends us to learn.
• As with many things concerning the Bible, the answer is not a simple just do this or that, but I think the following guidelines will be useful.
To help us—
• Much of what I will share with you comes from a book, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth by Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart
• What follows will rely extensively on the book intertwined with it my comments and added teaching on it.
• I may not always be clear on what comes from what, but I want to give credit where credit is due that much of what follows is from the book.
The book focuses on a study of GENRE in its analysis of the Bible
• To understand why, let’s begin by defining the term “genre”
• From: Webster’s online dictionary: Genre means a type of art, literature, or music characterized by a specific form, content, and style.
• For example, literature has four main genres: poetry, drama, fiction, and non-fiction.
There are various genres or types of literature in the Bible
• They include narrative [also known as stories], poetry, prophecy, history, letters, didactic, and apocalyptic literature.
• Don’t worry about definitions of each now, what is important as we begin is that…
• We must identify each one correctly for what it is and then read and apply it with interpretative and application guidelines that apply to that genre.
Why we need to do this
• You don’t read and interpret a poem in the same way you do a historical narrative.
• You don’t read the prophetical, allegory-filled text in the same way you read Old Testament Laws. The interpretation of Daniel’s vision of a giant statue is very different than the command, “Thou shalt not kill.”
• These may be obvious examples, but precisely how to read each genre with valid interpretation and correct application isn’t always simple.
• On Bible 805 I’ll talk about the various genres in the Bible as we encounter them in our reading.
But also important is that….
• Understanding the genre, you are reading is more than an intellectual exercise.
• The Bible is from a God who loves us and who has given us His Word to tell us about Himself and how He wants us to live.
• It’s vital for our growing relationship with Him that we understand correctly what He is saying to us.
• On the one hand, you don’t want to be disappointed with God by thinking He is teaching or promising one thing, when His true message is far from it.
• And you don’t want God disappointed with you because you aren’t taking the time to understand what He wants to tell you.
• With these preliminary comments in mind, let’s now get specific on the genre we are talking about today….
The genre we are going to talk about in this lesson is: Story or narrative.
• This is the largest genre category in the Bible.
• Narrative=story=narrative=story, the two words mean the same thing and are used interchangeably in commentaries and in what I teach.
• I used “story” in the intro because that’s what most of us are familiar with, but
• “Narrative” is the term preferred in many commentaries because sometimes “story” implies something it isn’t true.
• That is not the case in the Bible.
Keep in mind, “a story” in the Bible is always a true account of what happens
• When we talk about this genre, about narratives and stories in reference to the Bible, we aren’t talking about a made-up story—As Gordon and Fee put it:
• “The biblical narratives thus tell the ultimate story — a story that, even though often complex, is altogether true and crucially important.”
• My comments: We also need to keep in mind that Bible stores are a TRUE ACCOUNT of what happened; what people truly did.
• That does not mean their actions are a good thing or that we should necessarily follow them, but that they were recorded truthfully.
• The Bible doesn’t sugar-coat human history. There are many horrible, wrong, sinful actions recorded in the Bible as well as good and godly actions.
• We need to discern what God wants us to learn from both good and bad actions and I pray these Bible805 lessons will help you do that.
More of why it’s so important to understand Bible narratives/stories
• We are known through our stories.
• When I’ve taught writing classes about how to research an interview with someone, I would tell my students to ask the person they were writing about, “Tell me your story.” Amazing things always happen.
• When we first get to know anyone, we share stories…How did you meet your partner? or What got you into the kind of work you do? or How did your family treat you growing up?
• In the Christian world we ask, How did you come to know Jesus?
• Those answers tell us much more than basic facts.
• We are made in God’s image and when He tells us a story and His reaction to it, we understand far more about Him and what He wants our relationship to be, and how He will treat us, than if He only gave us commands.
With the previous thoughts in mind, here are three important overall Guidelines for Interpreting Narratives, from How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth
• #1 OT narratives are not just stories about people who lived in OT times. They are first and foremost stories about what GOD did to and through those people.
• For example, in the story of Ruth, it is about her.
• But the key lessons from the book are not primarily about how to be kind to an elderly mother-in-law or how gleaning worked in the Old Testament, though we learn about these topics from the book.
• The key lessons in the book of Ruth are about God’s care in the midst of troubled times and ultimately about the formation of the line of David and Jesus.
#2 OT narratives do not necessarily teach directly, they often illustrate what is taught directly and categorically elsewhere.
• This is VERY important—
• You are expected to know the explicit teaching behind the example—only then will the narrative events make sense.
• For example, the book of Judges doesn’t repeat commands of Deuteronomy, it shows what happens when the commands are not obeyed.
• For the stories of the prophets to make sense, you must go back to both the direct commands God gave in the books we just finished reading (the Pentateuch) and the promises the people made to God to obey. These books establish the importance of their failures and the right of God’s judgement.
• The later historical books will assume you understand and remember these things; review the laws and the covenant between God and the people, if necessary so these books make sense.
#3 Narratives record what happened, not necessarily what should have happened
• What people do in narratives is not necessarily a good example. Frequently it is just the opposite.
• For example, Israel was commanded to destroy Canaanites. God had granted them (Canaanites) over 400 years of mercy, but they didn’t repent.
• They were ordered destroyed, because after the flood, their ancestors had the same knowledge of God as did the other sons of Noah—they could have continued to follow God.
• But instead, they chose the path of gross immorality, idol worship culminating sexual perversions as part of that worship, and worst of all in sacrificing their children to Molech, where they burned children alive.
Not only were they a problem because of their blatant sins, but
• When Israel did not destroy them, they became oppressors and tempters—constant wars are recorded from the book of Judges on with people who were supposed to be destroyed under Joshua.
• Not only were God’s people tempted to participate and sin in involvement with the Canaanite’s worship of other gods,
• But ultimately wives from these nations caused the downfall of Solomon, the greatest king of Israel and the wisest man who ever lived.
• In judgement for his actions, God split the kingdom.
• To emphasize, God’s recording of these events doesn’t mean his blessing of them.
As we read, more from Gordon and Fee
• We are not always told at the end of a narrative whether what happened was good or bad. We are expected to be able to judge this on the basis of what God has taught us directly and categorically elsewhere in Scripture. [again, he expects us to read the whole thing]
• All narratives are selective and incomplete. Not all the relevant details are always given. [This is a pattern throughout the Bible as the New Testament reminds us of when it says:]
• John 28: 30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.
• What does appear in the narrative is everything that the inspired author thought important for us to know.
• Narratives are not written to answer all our theological questions. [or ones of human interest].
• Fee, Gordon D. How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth: Fourth Edition (p. 111). Zondervan. Kindle Edition
Beyond the details of various stories, Gordon and Fee distinguish 3 Levels of the Story of the Bible
• Top level=the whole, universal plan of God worked out through His Creation [and the ultimate redemption of earth and humanity].
• Middle level= centers on Israel, the big picture of the call of Abraham, forming a people, bondage, deliverance, taking the land, destruction and restoration.
• Bottom level=Individual stories
• All Biblical characters had imperfections but were still used by God.
• Most of the stories operate on all three levels and we need to keep the upper levels in mind as we read about individuals.
• My comments—individual stories aren’t told simply as ancient biographies; the Old Testament isn’t only an early source document for Josephus and other histories of that time.
• Individual stories are only important in how they illustrate the larger story because as Gordon and Fee emphasize….
In final analysis, God is the hero of all Biblical stories, all narratives, at all levels.
• Because every individual story is part of the Bigger Story—
• God’s story of redemption.
• And you must study/know the context and keep in mind the big picture of that particular part of the story for it to make sense.
• For example, we will soon be reading Judges, arguably one of the most depressing books in the Bible.
• In it the individual stories of Gideon and Sampson—they are not the heroes of their stories; God is in how He used and empowered them.
• When we understand that God is the true hero of all Biblical stories it not only helps us put Him in His proper place, but it puts Biblical characters in a realistic place.
• They all made mistakes as we do—we don’t work to emulate them, but to learn about God who gives grace to all of us, no matter how many mistakes we make.
We might then ask, why is it that people don’t read the context or put people rather than God as the hero of the story—why do people make mistakes in interpretation when they read biblical stories? Gordon & Fee suggest:
• First, they are desperate, desperate for information that will help them in their situation.
• Second, they are impatient, they want answers now, from this book, this passage.
• [They do these things because] Third, they wrongly expect that everything in the Bible applies to them individually.
• These actions are incorrect because though the entire Bible was all written for our instruction—not every passage is specifically to or for us.
• Not only are these mistakes not the correct way to read the Bible, but as I mentioned earlier, they can lead to disappointment with God because in reading out of context or from desperation people think that God promises something that He did not promise to them and then they get disappointed if He doesn’t do it.
• PLEASE SEE THE LESSON…. #82 How to avoid disappointment with God—for a detailed discussion of this danger and how to avoid it.
An example of rushed and out of context reading and claiming a verse incorrectly is Jer. 29:11
• This verse is used as a primary example of bad application, sadly by desperate people.
• It says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jer. 29:11).
• People grab it, share it all the time as a promise that whatever their specific situation is that God will make it better because God wants them to be happy and—preferably very quickly.
• Can we do that? Can we grab on to the promise God will make it all better?
• We need to be careful as we answer—it is not a categorical “no”—let’s apply what we’ve learned so far for a correct answer.
The context, the historical setting of Jer. 29:11
• The narrative, the setting of the story is that this verse is part of a letter Jeremiah wrote to the exiles in Babylon—it is part of a narrative passage about how to live during the exile.
• He told them that God (the hero, the true main character of the story) was still with them, still had a plan for them.
• Even though as a nation they had sinned horribly and suffered the ultimate punishment of being removed from their land,
• He told them to settle in, to seek the welfare of Babylon, to trust and serve God even under judgement.
• Finally, he reminded them that God also promised that after 70 years He would also bring them back to the land—that is the “future and hope” the verse refers to.
As far as personally claiming this promise
• Unless you want to take 70 years for a promise to be fulfilled, the specifics of this passage may not be something you want to claim.
• But don’t stop there and give up on God giving you a good hope and future, look at the bigger picture of who God is in this passage and the rest of the Bible.
• Again, in this and other passages, what do you learn about the character of God and how He treats people?
• That is what you can legitimately hold on to—so let’s look at it in this way….
The larger Biblical setting of Jer. 29:11
• If we continue to read ALL the Bible stories, in the Old and New Testament, what do we see in how God deals with His people who continuously sin and even when they are under judgement for their sin as they were in Babylon when this promise was given to them?
• God never gives up but deals with them in continuing love and grace.
• Though Israel sinned greatly they made it into the Promised Land.
• Through in Judges, they constantly sin, God continued to provide deliverance.
• Throughout the Old Testament, God continued to raise up prophets.
• Their job was to call people back to God—
• The prophets were ignored, killed, and the people were punished but God took care of them in every circumstance, even during the exile in Babylon (context of this verse), and brought them back into the Land where eventually the Savior would be born.
And more……in the Psalms…. And New Testament—what does it say about the hope and future God gives us all?
• Ps 37: 23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way.
• 24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.
• In the New Testament…. Jesus told his followers…
• Hairs of their head were numbered, that they were of more value than many sparrows (who God effortlessly cares for), and that God would care for them in the same way.
• We are promised peace on earth, and in the future, heaven, an eternity without sickness or tears.
We do have a good future and a hope promised in the Bible
• Because of the overall story of how God treats His people. But in waiting for that to be fulfilled, what can we learn from reading all the Bible and not just grabbing one verse? Here are some suggestions:
1. We may need to endure consequences before ultimate blessing (the Jews were in Babylon for 70 years). Your challenge, pain, hurt, need, may last a long time.
2. Though our ultimate goal and good is guaranteed, the timing isn’t.
3. And it will almost always take longer for the fulfillment of our hope than we want it to.
4. The fulfillment of your future and hope may not come on this earth.
5. God’s love and care for us is guaranteed throughout.
So, what to do with what you now know about how God works and how to study and learn from the narratives?
• Keep reading & studying & listening to God’s Word and lessons on it—if you want your faith and life to make sense, you must keep working on understanding the big picture of the context of the Bible stories.
• Keep reading the upcoming stories, the narratives, not for what you can claim from them, not only what will work for you, but to
• Learn how God works, thinks, what matters to Him. Remember God is the hero of all Bible stories.
• Get to know your God better to grow in your trust and love for Him. Your joy and peace will grow also as you do this.
Because you have God’s written word
• Don’t be asking for a sign or a fleece to make decisions.
• People sometimes ask for God’s will in a particular situation, but often the answer is in applying what you already know…speak the truth in love, don’t let anger control you, do justly, love kindness, walk humbly with your God.
• Study God’s clearly revealed will in the Bible—He is very plain about most issues we face.
• When faced with a truly difficult situation remember in James 1 it tells us that when we face trials, we need to ask for God’s wisdom—not for a way out but for wisdom, for what to learn from hard times, how to bring honor to the Lord in the story He may be telling in your life.
Finally……
• Don’t be a whiney child that complains because you think you should be treated like the Father treated some other child.
• Be a child who knows you are loved by a good God and trust Him.
• Be assured that the story you are in is much bigger than what you can see, and God has it all under control.
• Know you can trust the Author of all the stories of those of us who love him and that He will one day tie up every loose plot line, resolve all conflicts, and bring our story to a conclusion where, in truth, we will live happily ever after.
That’s all for now,
• Please check out the notes from this lesson, they are in Downloadable PDF format and other materials at www.bible805.
• Until next time, I’m Yvon Prehn, your fellow pilgrim, writer, and teacher for Jesus.
• I’d like to close with this benediction:
• May you know the invitation of God, to move
-from confusion to clarity
-from wandering to rest
-from loneliness to knowing you are loved
-from turmoil to peace
From wherever you are on your spiritual journey to a growing knowledge of God’s Word and in your personal relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit . Amen