The Nature of the Prophecy:More individual books of the Bible come under the heading of prophecy than any other heading. Four major prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel) and twelve minor prophets (the final twelve books of the Old Testament), written between about 760 and 460 BC. The first mistake that most of us make when studying prophecy is our understanding of what the word means. Most Christians think that the prophets only spoke to the coming of Christ as well as hinting to the New Covenant. In fact, less than 2 percent of Old Testament prophecy is directly Messianic (this does not mean that all prophecy is not ultimately fulfilled in Christ). Less than 5 percent specifically describes the New Covenant age. Less than 1 percent concerns events yet to come.

The prophets did announce the future, but it was usually the immediate future of Israel, Judah, and other nations that surrounded them, rather than our own future. The purpose of the prophets was to speak to their own contemporaries, not just us.

In the prophetical books we hear from God via the prophets and very little about the prophets themselves. This is the aspect of the prophetic books that causes the most trouble in interpreting. Other areas of trouble are how the oracles were written. In the longer books or the major prophetic books there seems to be multiple oracles. They are not always presented in their original order and often given without hints to historical setting or where on oracle begins and the other ends. Also most oracles were spoken in poetry.

Another matter that complicates our understanding of the Prophets is the problem of historical distance. As people move farther and farther away from the religious, historical, and cultural life of ancient Israel, we have a hard time putting the words spoken by the Prophets in their proper context. It is hard for us to see what they are referring to and why.

The Function of Prophecy: The following guidelines should help in the process of studying the prophetic books of the Bible.

The Prophets were covenant enforcement mediators. God does not merely give his law, but enforces it. God announced the enforcement of his laws through the prophets, so that the event of his blessing or of his curse would be fully understood by his people. They functioned as God’s mediators, or spokespersons, for the covenant. The blessings for covenant faithfulness fall into one of the following six categories: life, health, prosperity, agricultural abundance, respect and safety. The curses can mostly fit into one of ten categories starting with ”d”: death, disease, drought, dearth, danger, destruction, defeat, deportation, destitution, and disgrace. As you read the Prophets, look for this simple pattern: (1) an identification of Israel’s sin or of God’s love for her; (2) a prediction of curse or blessing depending on the circumstance.

The prophet’s message was not their own, but God’s. The prophets responded to a divine call. What we read in the prophetical books then, is not merely God’s Word as the prophet saw it, but God’s word as God wished the prophet to present it. The prophet does not act or speak independently.

The prophet’s message is unoriginal. The message that the prophets delivered was more or less the same as the one that Moses gave. God raised up the prophets to gain the attention of the people to whom they were sent. The prophets are not inspired to make any points or announce any doctrines that are not already contained in the Pentateuchal covenant.

The Exegetical Task: When studying the prophetical books three tools can be very useful to aid in exegesis. The (1) first, a Bible dictionary, this will help to give a good introduction to the historical setting as well as other background information. You should make it a practice to always read a dictionary article on the prophetical book before you start to study. The (2) second is to use a commentary. This will give more in depth analysis of background information but will also provide explanations of the meaning of the individual verses. The (3) third would be to use a Bible handbook. This is a combination of both. This a great resource when reading through multiple chapters and you only need a general amount of extra information and analysis.

It is also important to think oracles. You want to be able to separate the individual area of the prophecy. This will help to understand the audience better. If you know where the oracles begin and stop then you will know the sections where you need to find the specific context relevant to that oracle.

Specific Contexts: Each prophetic oracle was delivered in a specific historical setting. A knowledge of the date, audience, and situation, therefore, when they are know, contributes substantially to a reader’s ability to comprehend an oracle.

The Forms of Prophetic Utterance: It is important to realize that oracles can take on different forms. Bible commentaries are wonderful resources to identify and explain the different forms. Below are the three most common forms you will find in prophetic writing.

1. The lawsuit: The full lawsuit form contains a summons, a charge, evidence, and a verdict, though these elements may sometimes be implied rather than explicit. The figurative style of this prophetic utterance is an effective way of communicating.

2. The Woe: “Woe” was the word ancient Israelites cried out when facing disaster or death, or when they mourned at a funeral. Woe oracles contain, either explicitly or implicitly, three elements that characterize this form: an announcement of distress, the reason for distress, and a prediction of doom.

3. The promise: Another term for this kind of oracle is the salvation oracle. It can be identified by the following three elements; reference to the future, mention of radical change, and mention of the blessing.

The Prophets as Poets: Many of the things during ancient times that were important enough to remember were considered appropriate for composition in poetry. This was in part due to the ease of remembering the words or lyrics of the poem because most individuals could not read or owned any books. All of the prophetic books contain a large amount of poetry and some are entirely comprised of poetry. The following features demonstrate three repetitive styles of Old Testament poetry.

1. Synonymous parallelism: The second or subsequent line repeats or reinforces the sense of the first line as in Isaiah 44.22

“I have swept your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist.”

2. Antithetical parallelism: The second or subsequent line contrasts the thought of the first, as in Hosea 7.14

“They do not cry out to me from their hearts, but wail upon their beds.”

3. Synthetic parallelism: The second or subsequent line adds to the first line in any manner, which provides further information, as in Obadiah 21

“Deliverers will go up from Mount Zion to govern the mountains of Esau. And the kingdom will be the Lord’s.”

Some Hermeneutical Suggestions Beyond sharing most of the same principles with the Epistles, we offer three further matters that should help in applying the information located in the prophetic books to your lives.

1.    A Caution: The Prophet as Foreteller of the Future. Yes, the prophets predicted events for the future but as discussed most of their predictions had to do with ancient Israel and Judah. They spoke of coming judgment or salvation in the relatively immediate future of ancient Israel. Be careful to not assume that all of the prophecies were focused on the New Testament. When reading the Prophets take note of the context, intent, style and wording.

2.    A Concern: Prophecy and Second Meanings. At a number of places in the New Testament, reference is made to Old Testament passages that do not appear to refer to what the New Testament says they do. These passages seem to have a clear meaning in their original Old Testament setting and yet are used in connection with a different meaning by a New Testament writer. This second meaning is commonly called sensus plenior or fuller meaning. This is apparent when we see New Testament writers expand on references made in the Old Testament that do not, within scripture, allow for this further meaning.

The problem for us with this second meaning is that we can not and should not make these connections. Only the authors of the New Testament are authorized to proclaim their writings as inspired by the Holy Spirit. The difficult thing about these sorts of writings is that it takes no concern with the context, intent, style or wording of an Old Testament passage. They draw allegorical connections because the Holy Spirit inspired them to do so not because they were concerned with what the original Old Testament scripture intended. For us this second meaning when discovered through close examination of Scripture can provide further insight into the meanings of a particular passage of Old and New Testament writings.

3.    A Final Benefit: The Dual Emphasis on Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy. Orthodoxy is correct belief. Orthopraxy is correct action. Through the prophets God calls the ancient Israelite’s and Judah to a balance of right belief and right action. This is the same thing the New Testament calls us to. Because God basically wants the same thing from us as he did of Israel and Judah we can use the Prophets as a constant reminder of God’s determination to enforce his covenant.

(This post is a summary and partial abridgement of Fee And Stuart’s book “How To Read The Bible For All It’s Worth.” It is based solely on Fee And Stuart’s work and any help that this content gives should be credited to God’s grace through their effort. In other words, give God glory, thank Fee and Stuart and buy the book.)

What the Law is:The Old Testament contains over six hundred commandments, all of which are contained within four books; Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. While Genesis does not contain any of these commandments it is also considered to be part of the law. The largest problem for most Christians in reading and studying this portion of the bible is the hermeneutical question. The following guidelines should help in the understanding of the Old Testament Laws and covenant.

1.    The Old Testament Law is a covenant. A covenant is a binding contract between two parties, both of whom have obligations specified in the covenant. The covenant format of the Old Testament Laws had six parts to it: preamble, prologue, stipulations, witnesses, sanctions, and document clause. The preamble identified the parties of the agreement. The prologue gave a brief history of how the parties became connected to one another. The stipulations are the individual laws themselves. The witnesses are those who will enforce the covenant. The sanctions are the blessings and curses that function as incentives for keeping the covenant. The document clause is the provision for regular review of the covenant so that it will not be forgotten.

2.    The Old Testament is not our testament (at least not apart from the New Covenant). The Old Testament represents an old covenant, which is no longer binding to us. We have to assume that none of its stipulations are binding unless otherwise noted in the New Testament or New Covenant. God expects something different from us than he did those in the Old Covenant or Old Testament.

3.    Some stipulations of the Old Testament have clearly not been renewed in the New Covenant. You can make two groups within the Pentateuchal laws that no longer apply to Christians of today. (1) The Israelite civil laws and (2) the Israelite ritual laws. The civil laws specify what penalties existed for various crimes. The ritual laws dealt with the specifics about worshipping God and the atonement of sin. Both of these groups of Laws only applied to the people of ancient Israel.

4.    Part of the Old Covenant is renewed in the New Covenant. Some aspects of the old ethical laws are actually restated in the New Testament as applicable to Christians. Such laws derive their continued applicability from the fact that they serve to support the two chief laws of the New Covenant; love the Lord your God with all of your hear, your soul, and your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself.

5.    All of the Old Testament law is still the Word of God for us even though it is not still the command of God to us. God wants us to know about all commands even if they are not directed at us personally. Care needs to be taken though that we understand that the Law can be used in both a good way and a negative way in the life of the Christian and this is often determined by how the Law is mediated (through Christ or through Moses).

6.    Only that which is explicitly renewed from the Old Testament law can be considered part of the New Testament “law of Christ.” The Ten Commandments as well as the two laws mentioned earlier; loving your God with heart, soul, and mind; and loving your neighbor as yourself.

The Old Testament Laws: The following definitions of the categories of Laws will help in defining what God was trying to instruct, therefore, allowing better understanding of how this portion of Scripture can apply to your lives.

Apodictic Law: Usually begins with do or do not. They are commands, telling the Israelites what they need to do to fulfill their part of the covenant with God. Throughout the study of these Laws one can begin to see how impossible it is to please God on our own. This also helps to show us that when reading the Old Testament we ought to be humble and appreciate how unworthy we are to belong to God.

Casuistic Law: These laws are case-by-case. These sorts of laws constitute a large portion of the more than six hundred commandments found in the Old Testament Pentateuchal law. None of these laws appear in the New Covenant. What we can gain from studying this kind of law is the demonstration of God’s fairness and redemption that he granted. In these laws we often get a glimpse of the character of God.

The Food Laws: The majority of these laws have to do with God’s protection of the Israelites. Most of the foods prohibited were more likely to carry disease, or were uneconomical to raise.

Laws about the shedding of blood: Sin always deserves punishment. God revealed to his people that one who sins against him does not deserve to live. But he provided a procedure by which a sinner could make atonement for his or her sins; a substitute of blood could be shed for redemption.

Unusual Prohibitions: These refer to laws such as “ do not mate different animals,” or “ do not plant your field with two kind of seeds.” The inspiration of these laws came from a desire of God to set his people apart from the Canaanites. The Canaanites believed in what is called “sympathetic magic,” the idea that symbolic actions can influence the gods of nature. God could not bless his people if they practiced this kind of nonsense. These laws helped lead the Israelites away from a religion with no salvation, ultimately demonstrating Gods love and plan for us.

Laws giving blessings to those who keep them: Such a law is neither punitive or restrictive. These laws give instructions for the benefit of keeping God’s commandments.

Some Do’s and Don’ts

1. Do see the Old Testament law as God’s fully inspired word for you, but don’t always see it as God’s direct command to you. Ultimately see God’s law as a guardian that leads you to Jesus (see Galatians 3.19-24).

2. Do see the Old Testament law as the basis for the Old Covenant, and therefore Israel’s history. However, don’t see the law as binding on Christians in the New Covenant except where specifically renewed and mediated through Jesus.

3. See God’s justice, love, and high standards revealed in the Old Testament law, but don’t forget to see that God’s mercy is made equal to the severity of the standards.

4. Don’t see the Old Testament law as complete. It is not technically comprehensive. Do see the Old Testament law as a paradigm—providing examples for the full range of expected behavior.

5. Don’t expect the Old Testament law to be cited frequently by the prophets or the New Testament. Remember that the essence of the law (Ten Commandments, and the two chief laws) is repeated in the prophets and the New Testament.

6. Do see the Old Testament laws as a generous gift from God to the Israelites, and don’t see them as an annoying group of arbitrary regulations limiting people’s freedom.

(This post is a summary and partial abridgement of Fee And Stuart’s book “How To Read The Bible For All It’s Worth.” It is based solely on Fee And Stuart’s work and any help that this content gives should be credited to God’s grace through their effort. In other words, give God glory, thank Fee and Stuart and buy the book.)

The Parables in History:Parables have suffered misinterpretation second only to Revelation. One of the keys to understanding them, however, lies in discovering who the original audience to whom they were spoke; although many times they did come down to the evangelist without a context. It’s not that Jesus was trying to be obtuse; he fully intended to be understood. It is our task to try and hear what Jesus’ audience heard.

The Nature of Parables: The first thing to notice is that not all parables are the same kind. There is a basic difference between the Good Samaritan (true parable), the Leaven Meal (similitude), the saying “You are the salt of the earth” (metaphor), or “Do people pick grapes from thorn-bushes, or figs from thistles?” (epigram).

Story Parable: This is a story pure and simple. It has a beginning and an end; it also has something of a plot.

Similitude: These are illustrations taken from everyday life that Jesus would use to make a point.

Metaphor or Simile: Seem to function somewhat like a similitude but are spoken for a totally different reason. These can be detected by utilizing a figure of speech, which makes an implied comparison between things that are not literally alike

Epigram: Usually seen as a neat, witty, pointed saying.

How the Parables Function: The best clues as to what the parables are can be found in their function. Parables themselves are the message. They make a call for response. Because the nature of the parables assumes that the original audience understood the intended message we have to interpret them so we can begin to understand what they are trying to say.

The Exegesis of Parables: There are two things that captured the audience that heard Jesus’ parables; knowledge of the points of reference, and noticing the unexpected turn. The points of reference can be discovered by doing good exegesis of the parable. After being able to identify all points of reference, identifying the unexpected turn will be quite easy.

Throughout the parable Jesus uses many elements for reference but only to help the audience get the point. Note well that a parable is not an allegory because of this. A true allegory would mean that every element within the story would have some meaning foreign to the story itself. The point of the parable is not in the points of reference as it would be in a true allegory. The point of the story is to be found in the response.

Here are three suggestions to help with the task of exegesis. (1) Sit and listen to the parable again and again. (2) Identify the points of reference intended by Jesus that would have been picked up by the original hearers. (3) Try to determine how the original hearers would have identified with the story, and therefore, what they would have heard.

The Hermeneutical Question: The problem with the parables is that they were originally spoken in context to the original hearers and because of our cultural distance with that audience our immediate understanding of what Jesus was trying to say is limited. They need interpretation because we lack the immediate understanding that the original hearers had. Following are two suggestions on how to interpret the parables into our own lives after executing good exegesis.

1. The parables are presented in a written context and through exegesis we can discover what the point is with a fairly high degree of accuracy. At this point we will need to translate that same point into our own context. With the story parables one might try retelling the story in such a way that, with new points of reference, one’s own hearers might feel the same emotions that the original audience felt.

2. Jesus’ parables are in some way vehicles for proclaiming the kingdom. You must immerse yourself in the meaning of the kingdom in the ministry of Jesus.

(This post is a summary and partial abridgement of Fee And Stuart’s book “How To Read The Bible For All It’s Worth.” It is based solely on Fee And Stuart’s work and any help that this content gives should be credited to God’s grace through their effort. In other words, give God glory, thank Fee and Stuart and buy the book.)

The Nature of the Gospels:Gospels may be divided roughly into sayings and narratives, that is, teachings of Jesus and stories about Jesus. Theoretically you should be able to use the principles of studying the Epistles for the one and the principles for historical narratives for the others. Having said this we need to look at the other dimensions of the Gospels that require additional strategy to study and understand. Almost all of the trouble in interpreting the Gospels stems from the fact that:

1.    Jesus himself did not write a gospel; they come from others, not from him. Because of this reason to perform exegesis we need to think in terms of the historical setting of Jesus and the historical setting of the authors. You will also want to think about the historical context for each Jesus and the authors. Ask yourself why a certain gospel was written and when. One of the questions you will want to ask, even if it cannot be answered for certain, is whether Jesus’ audience for a given teaching was his close disciples, the larger crowds, or his opponents

2.    There are four gospels. For a variety of reasons the gospels written for one community or group of believers did not necessarily meet all of the needs in another community. So one was written first, Mark, and then rewritten twice, Matthew and Luke. Finally a fourth, John was written. All of these books exist with the same importance and authority because in each case the interest in Jesus is at two levels. First, the purely historical concern that this is who Jesus was and this is what he said and did; it is this Jesus, who was crucified and raised from the dead; whom we now worship as the risen Lord. Second, there was the existential concern of retelling the story for the need of later communities that did not speak Aramaic or Greek, and lived in areas like Rome, Ephesus, or Antioch, where the Gospel was encountering an urban pagan environment.

These books which tell us virtually all we know about Jesus are not biographies they are “the memoirs of the apostles.” Four biographies could not stand side by side with equal value; these books stand side by side because they record the facts about Jesus, recall the teaching of Jesus, and bear witness to Jesus.

The Historical Context: Finding the historical context of Jesus can be a difficult task at best. This is because the way in which Jesus’ teaching was handed down. The content of the Gospels was passed on in individual stories and sayings (pericopes), not as whole Gospels. Some of these sayings were transmitted along with their original contexts. These are often referred to as pronouncement stories. Other stories and sayings did not include any historical context. This left the evangelist under their own guidance and that of the Holy Spirit to give the sayings present contexts. This is one of the reasons that that we often find the same saying or teaching in different contexts in the Gospels. This is also why sayings with similar themes, or the same subject matter, are often grouped in the Gospels in a topical way.

The Literary Context: The literary context has to do with the place of a given pericope in the context of any one of the Gospels. The concern for doing this is twofold: (1) to help you exegete or read with understanding a given saying or narrative in its present context in the Gospels, and (2) to help you understand the nature of the composition of the Gospels as wholes, and thus to interpret any one of the Gospels itself, not just isolated facts about the life of Jesus.

Think Horizontally: This means that when studying a pericope in any one gospel, one should be aware of the parallels in the other. There are two basic reasons for thinking horizontally. First, the parallels will often give us an appreciation for the distinctiveness of any one of the Gospels. Second, the parallels will help us to be aware of the different kinds of contexts in which the same or similar materials lived in the ongoing church. This is important in seeing how the same material was used in new contexts in the ongoing church.

Think Vertically: To think vertically means that when reading or studying a narrative or teaching in the Gospels, one should try to be aware of both historical contexts, that of Jesus and that of the evangelists. This is to help bring awareness that many of the gospel materials owe their present context to the evangelists, and that good interpretation may require appreciating a given saying first in its original historical context as a proper prelude to understanding that same word in its present canonical context.

(This post is a summary and partial abridgement of Fee And Stuart’s book “How To Read The Bible For All It’s Worth.” It is based solely on Fee And Stuart’s work and any help that this content gives should be credited to God’s grace through their effort. In other words, give God glory, thank Fee and Stuart and buy the book.)

Acts: An OverviewThe exegesis of Acts includes historical questions like, what happened? But also the theological ones such as, why did Luke select and shape the text in this way? When reading Acts you must think paragraphs, like in the Epistles, but also move beyond that to think whole narratives and sections of the book. Also, like the Epistles, is it a good idea to read Acts in one sitting.

You will notice as you read Acts that at every key juncture, in every key person, the Holy Spirit plays the absolutely leading role. The following observations should help in understanding what Luke was and wasn’t concerned with accomplishing with this Scripture.

1. The key to understanding Acts is Luke’s interest in movement, orchestrated by the Holy Spirit, of the Gospel from its Jerusalem-based, Judaism-oriented beginnings to its becoming a worldwide, Gentile-predominant phenomenon. Any statement of purpose that does not include the Gentile mission and the Holy Spirit’s role in that mission will surely have missed the point of this book.

2. The following are things that Luke does not tell us or is not concerned with. First, he has no interest in the biographies of the apostles. Second, he has little or no interest in church organization or polity. Third, there is no word about geographical expansion except one in the one direct line from Jerusalem to Rome.

3. Luke’s interest does not seem to be with standardizing things, bringing everything into uniformity. The diversity that this creates probably means that no specific example is being set forth as the model Christian experience or church life.

4. However, it is thought that Acts intention is to serve as a model. But the model is not so much in the specifics as in the overall picture.

The Hermeneutics of Acts: It is thought that unless Scripture explicitly tells us we must do something, what is only narrated or described does not necessarily function in a normative way—unless it can be demonstrated on other grounds that the author intended it to function this way. In general, doctrinal statements derived from Scripture fall into three categories. (1) Christian theology, what Christians believe. (2) Christian ethics, how Christians ought to behave. (3) Christian experience and Christian practice, what Christians do. Within all of these categories exist two levels of statements referred to as primary and secondary. The primary level refers to things explicitly stated in Scripture. The secondary level is comprised of statements that are derived only incidentally by implication or by precedent. What is important to note here is that almost everything Christians derive from Scripture by way of precedent is in our third category, Christian experience or practice, and always at the secondary level.

The following principles apply to the hermeneutics of historical narrative:

1.    The Word of God in Acts that may be regarded as normative for Christians is related to what any given narrative was intended to teach.

2.    What is incidental to the primary intent may reflect the authors understanding of things, but it does not have the same didactic value as what the narrative was trying to teach.

3.    Historical precedent, to have normative value, must be related to intent. If it can be shown that a given narrative is to establish precedent, than such precedent should be regarded as normative, speaking to all churches, at all times.

It should be noted, especially in cases where the precedent justifies a present action, that the precedent does not establish a norm for a specific action. The decision as to whether patterns or practices are repeatable should be guided by the following considerations. First, the strongest possible case can be made when only one pattern is found, and when that pattern is repeated in the New Testament itself. Second, when there is ambiguity of patterns or when a pattern occurs but once, it is repeatable for later Christians only if it appears to have divine approbation or is in harmony with what is taught elsewhere in Scripture. Third, what is culturally conditioned is either not repeatable at all, or must be translated into the new differing culture.

(This post is a summary and partial abridgement of Fee And Stuart’s book “How To Read The Bible For All It’s Worth.” It is based solely on Fee And Stuart’s work and any help that this content gives should be credited to God’s grace through their effort. In other words, give God glory, thank Fee and Stuart and buy the book.)

The Nature of Narratives:Over 40 percent of the Old Testament is narratives and since the Old Testament constitutes three-quarters of the bible it is no surprise that the single most common type of literature in the entire bible is narrative. Narratives are basically stories. Stories that we refer to as God’s story—a story that is ultimately true, crucially important, and often complex. Their purpose is to show God at work in his creation and among his people. The narratives glorify him, and give us a picture of his providence and protection. They also provide illustrations of many other lessons important to our lives.

Three Levels of Narratives: Old Testament narratives are told on three levels. The top level is that of the whole universal plan of God worked out through his creation. Key aspects to this level are the initial creation itself; the fall of humanity; the power and ubiquity of sin; the need for redemption; and Christ’s incarnation and sacrifice. The top level is often referred to as the “story of redemption” or the “redemptive history.”

The middle level centers on Israel: the call of Abraham; the establishment of an Abrahamic lineage through the patriarchs; the enslaving of Israel in Egypt; God’s deliverance from bondage and the conquest of the promised land of Canaan; Israel’s frequent sins and increasing disloyalty; God’s patient protection and pleading with them; the ultimate destruction of northern Israel and then of Judah; and the restoration of the holy people after the Exile.

Then there is the bottom level. Here are found all the hundreds of individual narratives that make up the other two levels. Every individual Old Testament narrative is at least part of the greater narrative of Israel’s history in the world, which in turn is part of the ultimate narrative of God’s creation and his redemption of it. This ultimate narrative goes beyond the Old Testament and into the New.

You will not fully do justice to any individual narrative without recognizing its part within the other two. However there is nothing wrong with studying an individual narrative all by itself. But for the fullest sense you must finally see that individual narrative within its larger contexts.

What Narratives Are and Are Not:

1. They are first and foremost stories about what God did to and through people. The Bible is composed of divine narratives, God is the hero of the story.

2. Old Testament narratives are not allegories or stories filled with hidden meanings. But there may be aspects of narratives that are difficult to understand. In other words, narratives do not answer all our questions about a given issue. They are limited in their focus, and give us only one part of the overall picture of what God is doing in history.

3. They do not always teach directly. They emphasize God’s nature and revelation in special ways that legal or doctrinal portions of the Bible never can, by allowing us to live vicariously through events and experiences rather than simply learning about an issue.

4. Each individual narrative or episode within a narrative does not necessarily have a moral all its own. Narratives cannot be interpreted atomistically, as if every statement, every event, every description could, independently of the others, have a special message for the reader. To try and find significance and meaning in each bit of data or each single event in the narrative will not work if not read in light of the larger context and story.

Principles for Interpreting  Narratives: The following ten principles should help you avoid obvious errors in interpreting whenever you seek to exegete these and other stories.

1.    An Old Testament narrative usually does not directly teach a doctrine.

2.    An Old Testament narrative usually illustrates a doctrine or doctrines taught propositionally elsewhere.

3.    Narratives record what happened—not necessarily what should have happened or what ought to happen every time. Therefore, not every narrative has an individual identifiable moral of the story.

4.    What people do in narratives is not necessarily a good example for us. In fact it is usually the opposite.

5.    Most of the characters in the Old Testament are far from perfect and their actions are too.

6.    We are not always told at the end of a narrative whether what happened was good or bad. We should be able to judge this from what God has taught us elsewhere categorically in the Scriptures.

7.    All narratives are incomplete. Not all the relevant details are always given. What appears is what inspired the author to think important to let us know.

8.    Narratives are not written to answer all of our theological questions. They have particular, specific issues in which they deal with, leaving others to be dealt with elsewhere and in other ways.

9.    Narratives may teach explicitly (by clearly stating something) or implicitly (by clearly implying something without actually saying it).

10.    In the final analysis, God is always the hero of all biblical narratives, and all narratives ultimately find their full purpose and meaning in Jesus.

Some Final Cautions: Why is it that people often find things in narratives that isn’t really there? First, it is because they are desperate for information that will help them, that will be of personal value that will apply to their own situation. Second, they are impatient; they want their answers now, from this book, from this chapter. Third, they wrongly expect that everything in the Bible directly is instruction for their own individual lives. Here is a list of eight of the most common errors people make when interpreting the bible. These all apply to narratives but are not limited to them.

1.    Allegorizing. Trying to think of meanings beyond the clear intended message.

2.    Decontextualizing. Ignoring the full historical and literary contexts, and often the individual narrative, people concentrate on small units only and thus miss interpretational clues.

3.    Selectivity. Involves picking and choosing specific words and phrases to concentrate on, ignoring the others, and ignoring the overall sweep of the passage being studied.

4.    False Combination. This approach combines elements from here and there in a passage and makes a point out of their combination, even though the elements themselves are not directly connected in the passage itself.

5.    Redefinition. When the plain meaning leaves people cold, they often redefine it to mean something else.

6.    Extracanonical authority. Using external keys to Scripture that claim to unlock the mysteries of truths not otherwise known from Scripture itself.

7.    Moralizing. This assumes that a moral can be drawn from every passage. The fallacy of this approach is that it ignores the fact that the narratives were written to show the progress of God’s history of redemption, not to illustrate principles.

8.    Personalizing. This assumes that every passage applies to you specifically in a way that it may not to others. Do not forget that all parts of the bible are for everyone and ultimately for the Glory of God in displaying Him as the Hero.

No Bible narrative was written specifically about you. You can never assume that God expects you to do exactly the same thing that the Bible characters did, or to have the same things happen to you that happened to them. Narratives are precious to us because they so vividly demonstrate God’s involvement in the world and illustrate his principles and calling. But remember they do not systematically include personal ethics.

(This post is a summary and partial abridgement of Fee And Stuart’s book “How To Read The Bible For All It’s Worth.” It is based solely on Fee And Stuart’s work and any help that this content gives should be credited to God’s grace through their effort. In other words, give God glory, thank Fee and Stuart and buy the book.)