Principles for Interpreting Narratives<\/b><\/p>\n
1. An Old Testament narrative usually does not directly teach a doctrine.<\/p>\n
2. An Old Testament narrative usually illustrates a doctrine or doctrines taught propositionally elsewhere.<\/p>\n
3. Narratives record what happened\u2014not necessarily what should have happened or what ought to happen every time. Therefore, not every narrative has an individual identifiable moral of the story.<\/p>\n
4. What people do in narratives is not necessarily a good example for us. Frequently, it is just the opposite.<\/p>\n
5. Most of the characters in the Old Testament narratives are far from perfect and their actions are too.<\/p>\n
6. 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 that on the basis of what God has taught us directly and categorically already in the Scripture.<\/p>\n
7. All narratives are selective and incomplete. Not all the relevant details are always given (cf. John 21:25). What does appear in the narrative is everything that the inspired author thought important for us to know.<\/p>\n
8. Narratives are not written to answer all our theological questions. They have particular, specific limited purposes and deal with certain issues, leaving others to be dealt with elsewhere, in other ways.<\/p>\n
9. Narratives may teach either explicitly (by clearly stating something) or implicitly (by clearly implying something without actually stating it).<\/p>\n
10. In the final analysis, God is the hero of all biblical narratives.<\/p>\n
Hans Finzel, Opening the Book, (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1987), pp. 60-61<\/p>\n
Marla Maples<\/b><\/p>\n
At the height of her fame as the other woman in the Ivana and Donald Trump breakup, Marla Maples spoke of her religious roots. She believed in the Bible, she told interviewers, then added the disclaimer, \u201cbut you can\u2019t always take [it] literally and be happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
C. Colson, The Body, p. 124<\/p>\n
Chapter 11<\/b><\/p>\n
When the preacher\u2019s car broke down on a country road, he walked to a nearby roadhouse to use the phone. After calling for a tow truck, he spotted his old friend, Frank, drunk and shabbily dressed at the bar. \u201cWhat happened to you, Frank?\u201d asked the good reverend. \u201cYou used to be rich.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank told a sad tale of bad investments that had led to his downfall. \u201cGo home,\u201d the preacher said. \u201cOpen your Bible at random, stick your finger on the page and there will be God\u2019s answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some time later, the preacher bumped into Frank, who was wearing a Gucci suit, sporting a Rolex watch and had just stepped our of a Mercedes. \u201cFrank.\u201d said the preacher, \u201cI am glad to see things really turned around for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, preacher, and I owe it all to you,\u201d said Frank. \u201cI opened my Bible, put my finger down on the page and there was the answer\u2014Chapter 11.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reader\u2019s Digest, March, 1993, p. 71<\/p>\n
Best <\/p>\n
In about 512 B.C., as Darius I of Persia led his armies north of the Black Sea, the Scythians sent him a message comprised of a mouse, a frog, a bird, and five arrows. Darius summoned his captains. \u201cOur victory is assured,\u201d he announced. \u201cThese arrows signify that the Scythians will lay down their arms; the mouse means the land of the Scythians will be surrendered to us; the frog means that their rivers and lakes will also be ours; and the Scythian army will fly like a bird from our forces.\u201d But an adviser to Darius said, \u201cThe Scythians mean by these things that unless you turn into birds and fly away, or into frogs and hide in the waters, or into mice and burrow for safety in the ground, you will all be slain by the Scythian archers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Darius took counsel and decided that the second was the right interpretation, and beat a retreat!<\/p>\n
Today in the Word, Moody Bible Institute, Jan., 1992, p.22<\/p>\n
All Flesh is Grass<\/b><\/p>\n
The steed bit his master How came this to pass? He heard the good pastor Cry, \u201cAll flesh is grass.\u201d<\/p>\n
Source unknown<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Principles for Interpreting Narratives 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\u2014not necessarily what should have happened or what ought to happen every time. Therefore, not every narrative has an individual identifiable … Continue reading “Interpretation”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}