Narrative as a Bible Genre

How to Study It andPreach It

ACC 2012/5/26 Sat. 8:35am

1. Narrative = Stories2. The Dale Ralph Davis Approach3. Gotchas

1. Narrative = StoriesIf we fail to study and preach from the narrative sections of the Bible, we neglect one of the most common kinds of material God has given us: He Gave Us Stories (Richard Pratt, P&R, 1990).

• Just because they are stories, it doesn't mean they are not true.

• Just because they are true, it does not mean that they are not stories.

Stories are meant:a) to be toldb) to be enjoyed, to be savouredc) to shock us, to motivate us,d) to be taken very, very, seriouslye) to be learned fromf) to be applied in our lives

According to Dale Ralph Davis (The Word Became Fresh, CF, Mentor, 2006), the tool to use to make good use of narrative is that of asking questions. He (DRD) says,

“I ask questions of the text. This is my 'procedure' so far as it goes. There is nothing supercharged about it... It is all very basic. I use it partly because it is simple and I can carry it around in my mental hip pocket.”

The questions are:i. Why? (Intention)ii. Where? (Context)iii. How? (Structure)iv. What? (Content)v. So What? (Application)

With the help of the Holy Spirit, these tools will give us both understanding and application.

RP p14: 'The NT quotes the OT 320 times, and alludes to it many more times'. Notice though that the narrative genre is not limited to the Hebrew Bible; it is just less common in the NT. What follows are DRD's incredibly simple questions that open-up narrative passages...

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Book Major GenresGenesis NarrativeExodus Narrative InstructionLeviticus InstructionNumbers Narrative InstructionDeuteronomy Narrative InstructionJoshua NarrativeJudges NarrativeRuth Narrative1,2 Samuel Narrative1,2 Kings Narrative1,2 Chronicles NarrativeEzra NarrativeNehemiah NarrativeEsther NarrativeJob NarrativeWisdomPsalms WisdomProverbs WisdomEcclesiastes WisdomSong of Songs WisdomIsaiah Narrative ProphecyJeremiah Narrative ProphecyLamentations WisdomEzekiel ProphecyDaniel Narrative ProphecyHosea ProphecyJoel ProphecyAmos ProphecyObadiah ProphecyJonah NarrativeMicah ProphecyNahum ProphecyHabakkuk ProphecyZephaniah ProphecyHaggai ProphecyZechariah ProphecyMalachi ProphecyMatthew NarrativeMark NarrativeLuke NarrativeJohn Narrative InstructionActs NarrativeRomans Instruction1,2 Corinthians InstructionGalatians InstructionEphesians InstructionPhilippians InstructionColossians Instruction1,2 Thessalonians Instruction1,2 Timothy InstructionTitus InstructionPhilemon InstructionHebrews InstructionJames Instruction1,2 Peter Instruction1,2,3 John InstructionJude InstructionRevelation Prophecy

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2. The Dale Ralph Davis Approach (with thanks to DRD and extra bits by DWL and RP)

2.1 Why? (Intention)Unless we can discover why a passage was written, we will not do it justice in study or preaching. Furthermore, 'the writer's purpose is usually theocentric' (DRD). So if, in Gen. 39 (Potiphar's Wife), we only notice the story of Joseph, we will get the wrong end of the stick. But if we notice all the references to 'the LORD', it will all make sense; we will see how it fits into the larger Genesis account and Moses' main theme in Genesis, namely, God's sovereignty. Our answers to the question, “Why”, should always be God-centred.

2.2 Where? (Context)The context of a passage is a lot more than just the verse before and the one after; there is indeed its textual context, but also its historical context, theological, cultural and other contexts.

2.2.1 Textual Context• Jer. 28:2 "This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: 'I will break the yoke of

the king of Babylon. 3 Within two years I will bring back to this place all the articles of the Lord's house that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon removed from here and took to Babylon. NIV84

Is Jer. 28:2-4 good news? No, it was Hananiah's false prophecy, but unless you take into account the rest of the chapter, you could make an embarrassing error.

The 'shape' of the book is always significant. In Isaiah, the theme of judgement is big, but grows smaller as the book progresses; the theme of salvation grows and grows towards the end of the book. Genesis has a low point at the Tower of Babel. Judges is downhill all the way. Observing these 'shapes' helps us to emphasise what the Bible is emphasising at each point.

2.2.2 Historical ContextFrom 'He Gave Us Stories' (Pratt): The author recounts how he shows his wife an advertisement in a newspaper, “Look at this ad. Just what we need.” Wife: “That's last week's newspaper!”, illustrating how vital it is to establish the correct historical context for any written work, including parts of the Bible.

2.2.3 Theological ContextWhere does a passage fit in with the big themes of biblical theology, systematic theology, covenant theology, pastoral theology, etc? E.g. David and Goliath in 1 Sam. “Children don't throw stones” would be an incorrect and trivially moralistic lesson to draw! Could there a type

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of Christ in David the saviour king? When viewed within the biblical frameworks of covenant theology and biblical theology, the answer is obviously “yes”.

Brief reading on the difference between systematic theology and biblical theology:http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2010/08/03/interview-with-desi-alexander-on-biblical-theology/

Sometimes a book has a key verse that gives the main theological theme, e.g. 1 John 5:13• 1 John 5:13 I write... so that you may know that you have eternal life.

—theme = assurance of salvation.

Q. What about the narrative book of Judges?A. The need for God's people to have a king is repeatedly suggested by 17:6, 18:1, 19:1, and:

• 21:25 'In those days Israel had no king'.Tracing the themes of 'king' and 'kingdom' through the whole Bible then enables us to put the book of Judges into its theological context.

2.2.4 Cultural Context• Luke 1:3 … I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed

good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. NIV84

Q. Who was the writer (A. Luke) and who was he writing to (A. Theophilus)?Luke 1:3 helps us to understand why Luke describes Jesus' miracles.

John 13: Should we literally be washing each other's feet as commanded, or is that something cultural for which we need to think of 21st Century equivalents?

2.3 How? (Structure)• 2 Kings 5:3..."If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would

cure him of his leprosy." … 7 … the king of Israel … tore his robes and said, "Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy?" NIV84

e.g. (DRD) Notice the juxtapositioning of the faith of the captive Israelite slave girl and the unbelief of the king of Israel in 2 Kings 5:2-7. He says, 'the intended contrast between the captive Israelite girl and the unbelieving Israelite king … cannot but stir the homiletic juices.'

• Gen. 39:2 The LORD was with Joseph and he prospered,....• Gen. 39:3... saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success …

◦ the story• Gen. 39:21 … the LORD was with him;...• Gen. 39:23... because the LORD was with Joseph...

Notice the brackets formed in Gen 39 by 'The LORD was with Joseph' x4.

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Notice symmetry, for example, in Psalm 1:• v.1 The proposition;

• vv.2,3 The godly man;• vv.4,5 The wicked man;

• v.6 The verdict.

Sectionalisation: Sometimes, how to divide up the Bible for study can be a problem, but noticing how it divides itself is very helpful, e.g. Ps 119 with “pre-fab sections” sharing the same initial letter of the alphabet.

2.4 What? (Content)We must observe and understand what is actually in the text, being careful not to read alien material or our own preconceptions into it. DRD says “I especially focus on what may be puzzling” p6. For example, Jonah 1 starts:

• Jon. 1:1 The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it,...

Q. Why would the God of Israel suddenly care about distant, pagan, Nineveh?A. Could it be that Yahweh is not a local pagan godlet, but actually 'a world-class deity'?!

We need to spend serious time actually thinking, prayerfully, about the text. We need to read books on hermeneutics (understanding scripture), commentaries, and use reference books.

2.5 So What? (Application)DRD: If we have asked the previous questions well, the application should be obvious, but that does not mean that we can just skip it!

Richard Pratt (HGUS): 'Many church leaders, especially recent seminary graduates, devote their pulpit time to the historical background of a passage, word studies in the original languages, and summaries of its original meaning. These matters are important, but often application is entirely omitted. “Exegesis is what I do best,” they say. “I trust the Holy Spirit to apply the word.” Ignoring explicit application can devastate a church. Congregations are left spiritually malnourished and with little ability to see how... stories have any bearing on their lives. This practice results in the lifeless orthodoxy plaguing many evangelical churches.'

DRD p9: 'Whenever you see God clearly in a text you can be sure there is something very applicable there for you.'

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3. GotchasSome difficulties to avoid, or at least, not to get caught out by.

3.1 The Temptation to Avoid the 'Nasties' (DRD Ch. 5 'Nasties')In the 21st Century western world, we are atypical: Most of us have never known starvation, invasion, refugees, most of our children dying, plague, short life-expectancy, serious persecution. Life in Bible times featured all of these.

So we find can it hard to relate to some of the starker passages of scripture well without diluting them or even avoiding them. Consequently, we are tempted to dilute God, his holiness, love, anger, grace, justice, faithfulness, heaven, hell. But we must let the 'nasty' (DRD) narratives re-normalise us. The 'nasties' will re-educate us so that we see things from God's point of view.

Also, the 'nasties' (e.g. gross sin in Gen. 38 by the chosen line) give us confidence in the truth of the Bible.

Nor should we think that the Hebrew Bible was especially 'nasty'. Is anything 'nastier' than Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5), Jezebel in Revelation 2, or the way the Lord Jesus himself was treated in the NT?

By facing up to the 'nasties', we find that God is much holier than we thought, much more gracious and patient and faithful. We turn out to be much more sinful than we thought; sin itself is more sinful, hell is more understandable, grace more 'godlike and divine', heaven and the new earth more amazing; the gospel is very good news indeed.

3.2 Reverting to 'Lessons for Life'Reading into a passage the morality that you already (usually correctly) assume to be true means that you then fail to see the big themes. For example, in Gen. 39, concentrating too much on Joseph's morality in the face of Mrs Potiphar's immorality could mean that you don't spot the theocentric themes.

Nevertheless, Joseph's morality in Gen. 39 is obviously contrasted with Judah's immorality in Gen. 38, and so must not be ignored. There is a fine line to be trod between moralism and morality. In Gen. 39, Joseph's morality provides a Christlike backdrop to Joseph's undeserved suffering. However, “be like Joseph” should not be the main lesson drawn from the passage.

3.3 Reading Narratives in Too Small PiecesIt is easy to miss the story and overall message of a large section of scripture by getting bogged down in details which are sometimes simply incidental. For instance, the tabernacle details in chapters 25 to 40 of Exodus very much belong together and are a repeat of previous material. The overall presence of this repeated material at this stage in the story is far more significant than the detail of how the tabernacle was to be made. The fact that God had forgiven the people through Moses' intercession is what should stand out.

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3.4 Missing the Big Picture/Theocentricity/Salvation Plan• Jer. 52:31 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the year

Evil-Merodach became king of Babylon, he released Jehoiachin king of Judah and freed him from prison on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month. 32 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honour higher than those of the other kings... NIV84

Being God-centred is essential. Jer. 52:31-end is a text that, treated correctly, is totally God/Christ-centred. It is about God keeping his promises to David, preserving the kingly line until Christ the king. [Tie it up with Matthew 1. Note that Jeconiah=Jehoiachin.]

DRD (again) p9: 'Whenever you see God clearly in a text you can be sure there is something very applicable there for you.'

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