Old Testament Narratives

Teaching Notes: Chapter 5 – The Old Testament Narratives: Their Proper Use

#### Overview

- **Purpose**: Chapter 5 provides guidelines for interpreting and applying OT narratives, which make up over 40% of the OT and roughly three-quarters of the Bible. The authors aim to help readers understand the nature, structure, and purpose of these narratives to avoid misinterpretation and apply them appropriately in a modern context.

- **Key Theme**: OT narratives are historical, theological, and literary stories that reveal God’s work in and through His people, with God as the ultimate hero. They are not allegories or direct moral instructions but often illustrate truths taught elsewhere in Scripture.

Key Points

1. **The Nature of OT Narratives**

- Narratives are stories with characters, plots, and resolutions, comprising over 40% of the OT (e.g., Genesis through Esther, parts of prophetic books).

- They are the Bible’s dominant genre, found in the OT (Pentateuch, historical books) and NT (Gospels, Acts).

- Purpose: To show God at work in His creation and among His people, glorifying Him and illustrating His providence, protection, and principles.

- Not written specifically about the reader but to demonstrate God’s involvement in history.

2. **Three Levels of OT Narratives**

- **Top Level**: The universal plan of God for redemption, encompassing creation, fall, sin, redemption, and Christ’s incarnation and sacrifice, extending into the NT.

- **Middle Level**: The story of Israel as a nation in covenant with God, reflecting their collective relationship and responsibilities.

- **Bottom Level**: Individual stories (e.g., Abraham, David) that contribute to the larger redemptive narrative.

- **Implication**: Each narrative should be understood in its broader context within God’s redemptive plan, not as isolated stories with individual morals.

3. **Characteristics of OT Narratives**

- **Not Allegories**: Narratives are not filled with hidden meanings or symbolic interpretations. They are historical and theological, focusing on God’s actions.

- **Limited Focus**: They do not answer all questions or provide comprehensive teachings on a topic but offer one part of God’s work in history.

- **Indirect Teaching**: Narratives often illustrate truths taught explicitly elsewhere (e.g., David’s adultery in 2 Samuel 11 illustrates Exodus 20:14, “You shall not commit adultery”).

- **Explicit and Implicit Teaching**: Some narratives state lessons clearly (explicit), while others imply them through the story (implicit, but not secret).

- **God as Hero**: In every biblical narrative, God is the central figure, working through people and events to accomplish His purposes.

4. **Common Errors in Interpreting Narratives**

- **Allegorizing**: Seeking hidden meanings behind the text, ignoring its clear historical and literary meaning.

- **Decontextualizing**: Reading narratives without considering their historical and literary context.

- **Selectivity**: Focusing on specific words or phrases while ignoring the broader narrative sweep.

- **Moralizing**: Assuming every story has a direct moral lesson for the reader.

- **Personalizing**: Expecting every narrative to apply directly to the reader’s personal life.

- **Misidentification**: Assuming the reader should emulate biblical characters’ actions without discernment.

- **False Appropriation**: Applying narrative events directly to modern situations without considering context.

- **False Combination**: Combining elements from different narratives to create a new, unintended meaning.

5. **Hermeneutical Guidelines for Proper Interpretation**

- **Understand the Context**: Place the narrative within its historical, literary, and theological context, considering its role in the broader redemptive story.

- **Recognize the Genre**: Treat narratives as stories, not doctrinal treatises or allegories, focusing on the author’s intent.

- **Look for God’s Role**: Identify how God is working in the story as the central figure.

- **Connect to Broader Scripture**: Seek explicit teachings elsewhere in Scripture that the narrative illustrates (e.g., laws in the Pentateuch or NT principles).

- **Avoid Over-Application**: Do not assume narratives are direct instructions for modern life unless supported by broader biblical teaching.

- **Use Common Sense**: Apply hermeneutical skills with humility, recognizing that the Bible is accessible but requires careful interpretation.

6. **Practical Application**

(https://www.dwellcc.org/classes/electives/hermeneutics/old-testament-narrative)[](https://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Bible-All-Worth/dp/0310517826)

- Narratives are historical (describing real events), theological (revealing God’s nature and purposes), and literary (crafted with purpose and structure).

- Application should focus on the theological point of the narrative, understood in light of its place in Scripture’s broader redemptive story.

- Example: The story of Joseph (Genesis 37–50) illustrates God’s providence and sovereignty, not a directive to emulate Joseph’s actions in every detail.[](https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/how-do-you-find-meaning-in-the-bibles-narratives)

#### Discussion Questions

1. **Understanding the Genre**: Why is it important to recognize that OT narratives are stories rather than allegories or direct moral instructions? How does this affect our interpretation of stories like David and Goliath or Jonah?

2. **Three Levels of Narrative**: How does understanding the three levels of OT narratives (universal plan, Israel’s covenant, individual stories) help us avoid misinterpreting specific stories?

3. **Common Errors**: Which of the common errors (e.g., allegorizing, moralizing) do you see most often in modern Bible teaching or personal study? Share an example and discuss how to correct it.

4. **God as Hero**: How does viewing God as the hero of every narrative change the way we read stories like Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac or Esther’s courage?

5. **Application Challenges**: How can we apply the lessons of OT narratives to our lives without falling into the trap of personalizing or moralizing? Discuss a specific narrative (e.g., Daniel in the lion’s den) and propose a biblically grounded application.

#### Practical Applications

- **For Personal Study**: When reading an OT narrative, ask: (1) What is the main theological point? (2) How does this story fit into God’s redemptive plan? (3) What explicit biblical teaching does it illustrate? Use a study Bible or commentary to clarify historical context.[](https://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Bible-All-Worth/dp/0310517826)

- **For Teaching/Preaching**: Emphasize the narrative’s theological message over moral lessons. For example, when teaching about Noah’s ark, focus on God’s judgment and grace rather than Noah’s obedience as a direct model for behavior.

- **For Small Groups**: Use a narrative like Ruth to discuss God’s providence. Have group members identify the explicit and implicit teachings and connect them to NT principles (e.g., God’s care for the marginalized in Matthew 25:40).

- **Avoiding Errors**: Create a checklist based on the common errors (allegorizing, decontextualizing, etc.) to review before teaching or applying a narrative.

#### Key Quotes from the Chapter[](https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/420678-how-to-read-the-bible-for-all-its-worth)

- “Old Testament narratives are not allegories or stories filled with hidden meanings.”

- “A text cannot mean what it could never have meant for its original readers/hearers.”

- “The concern of the scholar is primarily with what the text meant; the concern of the layperson is usually with what it means. The believing scholar insists that we must have both.”

#### Additional Notes

- **Historical Context**: OT narratives were written in a specific cultural and historical context (e.g., ancient Near Eastern covenant structures). Understanding this context prevents modern misapplications.[](https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/o/old-testament-of-the-bible/about-the-old-testament-of-the-bible)

- **Literary Features**: Pay attention to literary clues like repetition, dialogue, or narrative structure to discern the author’s intent (e.g., the Joseph narrative’s focus on God’s sovereignty through repeated dreams).[](https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/how-do-you-find-meaning-in-the-bibles-narratives)

- **Theological Focus**: Narratives emphasize God’s nature (e.g., justice, mercy) and His redemptive plan, not necessarily the actions of human characters as models for behavior.

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### Notes for Use

- **Teaching Setting**: These notes can be used for a Bible study group, Sunday school class, or personal study. They are structured to facilitate discussion and practical application.

- **Time Allocation**: A 45–60-minute session could include a 15-minute overview, 20-minute discussion of key points and questions, and 10–15 minutes for practical application exercises.

- **Supplementary Resources**: Recommend a study Bible (e.g., ESV Study Bible) or Fee and Stuart’s own *Old Testament Exegesis* for deeper study.[](https://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Bible-All-Worth/dp/0310517826)

- **Critical Reflection**: Encourage students to critically examine narratives rather than accepting traditional or popular interpretations without scrutiny, aligning with the authors’ emphasis on careful exegesis.