Ho w to Re a d the Bib le fo r All I ts Wo rth Cha pte r 5 T - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Ho w to Re a d the Bib le fo r All I ts Wo rth Cha pte r 5 T he Old T e sta me nt Na rra tive s: T he ir Pro pe r Use Jo shua Smith T his Pho to b y Unkno wn Autho r is lic e nse d und e r CC BY-NC-ND T he Ne e d fo r Guida nc e
Cha pte r 5 T he Old T e sta me nt Na rra tive s: T he ir Pro pe r Use Jo shua Smith
T his Pho to b y Unkno wn Autho r is lic e nse d und e r CC BY-NC-ND
On why we sho uld b e c o nc e rne d a b o ut Old T e sta me nt na rra tive
“Po lyg a my is pre se nt in the OT
the re fo re it is g o o d to pra c tic e .”
“Go d c o mma nds Mo se s a nd Jo shua to drive o ut a nd kill fo re ig ne rs
a nd so sho uld I .”
“E
lija h’ s b a ttle with the prie sts o f Ba a l o n Mt. Ca rme l is a b o ut Je sus triumph o ve r e vil spirits” (96).*
*Unle ss o the rwise no te d, pa re ne tic a ls re fe r to Ho w to Re ad the Bib le .
On two e rro ne o us a ppro a c he s to the Old T e sta me nt na rra tive s
rro r o f Dismissa l: “We a re pa rt o f the Ne w Co ve na nt in Christ. T he
he re fo re , we a re to o nly re a d the Ne w T e sta me nt.”
he OT is o ur spiritua l histo ry. E thnic I sra e l is no t the g e nuine re c ipie nts o f the pro mise s o f Ab ra ha m b ut tho se who trust in the pro mise s o f Go d to Ab ra ha m (Ga l. 3:6-9).
rro r o f Pe rso na liza tio n: “T he Old T e sta me nt c o nta ins me ssa g e s, e ve n se c re t me ssa g e s to me . T he OT is to b e re a d a s a dire c t pre sc riptio n fo r my da ily life .”
he OT wa s writte n to a spe c ific pe o ple in a spe c ific time . Be fo re we c a n e ve r a sk wha t it me a ns fo r us, we must first kno w what it me ant. Only the n c a n we se e wha t Go d is no w c o mmunic a ting to o ur pre se nt time .
On wha t c o nstitute s a plo t a nd ho w to unde rsta nd na rra tive s
Me ta na rra tive : Cre a tio n>F a ll>Re de mptio n>Re ne wa l
Ab ra ha mic line a g e E xo dus fro m E g ypt I sra e l in Ba b ylo n
Ab ra ha m a nd Sa ra h Mo se s Da nie l Co mmuna l Na rra tive I ndividua l Na rra tive
limite d a nd we c a nno t use this me tho d o f inte rpre ta tio n to de c iphe r OT na rra tive s fo r it c o mple te ly dismisse s wha t the na rra tive wo uld ha ve me a nt to the o rig ina l he a re rs.
b e c a use the Bib le de sc rib e s so me thing do e s no t me a n it pre sc rib e s it fo r mo ra l pra c tic e .
We c a n ha rdly a ppre c ia te
this no w in o ur a b unda ntly te xt a nd visua l b a se d c ulture .
T
he o rig ina l a udie nc e we re he are rs no t re ade rs. T his is why the re is muc h re pe titio n a nd why the na rra tive s c a n b e q uite diffic ult to re a d.
Aspe c ts to lo o k o ut fo r whe n re a ding Old T e sta me nt na rra tive s
T
he na rra to r is func tio na lly a ll-kno wing
T
he na rra to r do e s no t disc lo se a ll tha t he kno ws (he le ts us fig ure it o ut a nd a llo ws the sto ry to unfo ld o n its o wn).
T
he na rra to r is re spo nsib le fo r the po int o f vie w o f the sto ry.
T
e st Ca se : Jo se ph
T
he sto ry is fro m the po int o f vie w o f Jo se ph, a s it sta te s a t the e nd o f Ge n. “yo u inte nde d to ha rm me , b ut Go d inte nde d it fo r g o o d…”
T
e st Ca se : Jo se ph
We a re pre se nte d with fa vo re d Jo se ph in his
a rro g a nc e “ta ttle -te lling ” o n his b ro the rs.
Jo se ph re info rc e s this a rro g a nc e b y de sc rib ing
dre a ms tha t he will rule o ve r his o lde r b ro the rs a nd fa the r.
Jo se ph is so ld into sla ve ry b y his b ro the rs.
T
he po int is, the na rra tive g o e s fro m sc e ne to sc e ne to te ll a sto ry. Jo se ph’ s na rra tive is so
divine ly o rda ine d.
T
he first po int o f dia lo g ue se ts the to ne fo r the re st o f the na rra tive .
T
he na rra to r will e mpha size c ruc ia l pa rts o f the sto ry with a c ha ra c te r re pe a ting the na rra tive in a spe e c h.
T
e st Ca se : Jo se ph. T he spe e c he s o f the b ro the rs a nd Juda h illustra te this po int (Ge n. 42:30-34; 44:18- 34).
Ac tio n pla n fo r b e g inning yo ur e ng a g e me nt with Old T e sta me nt na rra tive s
Yo u must a llo w yo urse lf
to sit with the sto ry b e fo re yo u b e g in to a na lyze it a nd de c iphe r it.
A g o o d rule o f thumb is
to re a d the na rra tive thro ug h c o mple te ly twic e b e fo re yo u b e g in dig g ing fo r me a ning .
T
he c o ve na nt with Ab ra ha m
T
he L a w o f Mo se s
T
he E xo dus fro m E g ypt
Be c a use the na rra to r a ssume s yo u sha re his
pre suppo sitio ns, he do e s no t spe ll o ut a ll the implic a tio ns fro m the sc e ne s he pre se nts. So we ha ve to do a little wo rk he re .
T
e st Ca se : Ruth
I
n the b o o k o f Ruth, the re a de r a ssume s tha t we will b e fa milia r with the L e vitic a l la w whe n he de sc rib e s the rig hte o usne ss o f Bo a z a nd the trust tha t Ruth ha s in Ya hwe h.
Also , if we lo o k c lo se ly a t the g e ne a lo g ie s within Ruth, we
disc o ve r tha t she is in the line a g e o f K ing Da vid a nd b y implic a tio n, Je sus o f Na ze re th. T his sug g e sts tha t the sto ry is no t o nly a b o ut Ruth b ut a lso a b o ut the me ta na rra tive
Simply b e c a use the re a re
implic it po ints in the na rra tive do e s no t me a n tho se po ints a re se c re t o r hidde n. T he re must b e a c o nne c tio n b e twe e n e xe g e sis a nd a pplic a tio n. Othe rwise , we c a n ma ke the te xt sa y wha te ve r we wish.
Re a d Ruth a lo ud to yo urse lf o r to so me o ne e lse a nd a tte mpt to a pply the se
princ iple s we ’ ve disc usse d to da y.