Interpretive Journey Old Testament

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Interpretive JourneyOld Testament
Unit 5

1. Narrative
2. Law
3. Poetry
4. Prophets
5. Wisdom

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OT Narrative

• Introduction
• Narrative literary form with sequential action
  involving plot, setting, and
  characters.
• Narrative shows us how to live or how not to live
  by the actions of the characters.
• We use narrative and story interchangeably.
• Narrative (stories) comprise nearly half of the
  OT.
• The interpretive river is often wide in OT
  narrative.

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• Reading narrative
• Reading OT narrative is a lot like reading the
  Gospels, except that OT stories are longer.
• Observe carefully the details of each
  story.

• Look for connections with surrounding stories.

4

• Literary features of narrative

• (What? How?) The sequence of events
  that ties together the story
• Exposition or setting
• Conflict or crisis
• Resolution

Plot

• (When? Where?) Backdrop of the
  story
• Time
• Place

Setting
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• (Who?) Characters carry the
  action and move the plot forward
• Usually the meaning of the story is tied to the
  behavior of the characters.

Characters
Viewpoint of Narrator
(Why?) The narrator is the
one responsible for conveying meaning to the
readers through the story The narrator often
stays neutral and allows the characters and
events to speak for themselves. Sometimes the
narrator will express his views in subtle ways.
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Comparison/Contrast

• Major literary technique used in OT
  narrative to develop the plot and move the
  story forward
• Rahab and Achan
• Hannah and Eli
• David and Saul

Irony

• When the narrators intended meaning
  is quite different from the surface meaning of an
  episode
• Surface meaning pagan Philistines capture the
  ark and think they have defeated the Lord
• Intended meaning The Lord invades Philistia and
  defeats the enemy!

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• Literary context the big story
• Locate the story you are studying in the context
  of the stories that surround it
• Keep relating the parts (individual stories) to
  the big story of the entire book and the whole OT

God promises the land to Abrahams descendents in
Genesis 12
Israelites refuse to enter promised land in
Numbers 14
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• Do Good Guys always wear white hats?
• Many theological principles derive from the main
  characters
• Bible deals with real life and real people.
  People are complex!
• Essential that we be able to discern good guys
  from bad guys

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• Not every character is a hero and most characters
  exhibit both good and bad traits

Good Guys?
Solomon Sampson Gideon

• God is a central character in OT narrativelet
  God be God!

GOD
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• Making the Journey in OT narrative
• Step 1 Grasp the text in their town
• Rahab, the Canaanite prostitute, is contrasted
  with Achan, the Israelite. She believes in the
  God of Israel and trusts him with her life,
  resulting in deliverance of her and her family
  from the destruction of Jericho. Achan, however,
  trivializes God and ignores his strict commands,
  resulting in his death and that of his family.
  The two trade places.
• Step 2 Measure the width of the river
• We are under a different covenant than Achan.
  Our situation is also different. We are not in
  the conquest and we are not involved in any type
  of holy war. Nor are we Canaanites (or
  prostitutes) living in a city about to be
  conquered. God has not given us the same specific
  commands as he gave Achan.

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• Step 3 Cross the principlizing bridge
• God sees past superficial externals and saves
  unusual people who place their faith in him. This
  is because deliverance is based on true faith
  (demonstrated by action) and not mere externals,
  such as ethnicity or religious tradition. God is
  a God of grace. But judgment comes on those who
  trivialize God and treat him as if he does not
  exist.

New step for the OT
Step 4 Cross into the New Testament
The NT reaffirms that God looks beyond
superficial externals and saves people based on
faith in Jesus Christ. That God chooses some
unusual people is likewise reaffirmed in the NT.
Mere association with the people of God, rather
than true faith, will not result in salvation.
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• Step 5 Grasp the text in our town
• We tend to judge people based on externals. We
  meet a clean-cult, middle-class American and
  think what a great Christian he or she would
  make.
• Likewise, when we see someone involved in open
  sinful activity (drugs, prostitution, gambling,
  stealing), we tend to write them off and assume
  they could never become Christians.
• This attitude is wrong, because God delights in
  saving the most unusual people. He wants us to
  have the same attitude towards these people as he
  does. There are no unlikely candidates for coming
  to salvation in Christ.

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Rykens Rules

1. Look upon the story as an invitation to share an
   experience with the characters.
2. Pay attention to every detail of setting, and
   analyze how the place, time and culture of the
   story contributes to the message of the story.
3. Use every relevant detail in a story (direct
   descriptions, responses of others, the
   characters own words and thoughts,
   self-descriptions, and actions) to get to know
   each character in the story.

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Rykens Rules

1. Identify the nature of the plot conflicts (man
   with environment, man with man, man with himself)
   in a story, and discover how they develop and are
   resolved.
2. Ask yourself as you read, How is this story
   creating in me suspense, interest, and
   curiosity?
3. Pay attention to the protagonist (the one you
   hope will win) in a story. Stick close to him,
   because he is involved in a life experiment whose
   goal will be to reveal something important about
   human experience and values.

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Rykens Rules

1. Try to determine what makes the story one story,
   even if it has many episodes. This will lead you
   to understand the storys framework and parts.
2. Ask yourself as you read, How is the protagonist
   being tested? and What are the choices being
   offered him?
3. Notice what important changes happen between the
   beginning and the end of the story, what causes
   the changes, and how the changes transform the
   characters.

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Rykens Rules

1. Be on the watch for foils, dramatic irony, and
   poetic justice in the narrative. Storytellers use
   these to get a reaction from you, and to help you
   grasp the storys meaning.
2. Ask yourself, What would the story be like if
   this detail was omitted? and you will have a
   clue as to why the storyteller included it.
3. How does the storys action and characterization
   affect how you feel about the events and
   characters? Look for a pattern of approval
   and/or disapproval to tell you what the story
   means.

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8 Common Errors

• 1. Changing a narrative into an allegory
• Dont look beyond the clear meaning in a story
  and make all the details symbols of something
  else, if the story is not an allegory
• 2. Decontextualizing a story
• Dont ignore the historical and literary contexts
  and concentrate only on small parts of the story.
  Youll miss the clues the writer has given for
  interpreting the story as a whole unit. 

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8 Common Errors

• 3. Selectively choosing what parts to interpret
• Dont concentrate on only specific words and
  phrases, ignoring others, and failing to balance
  the parts and the whole.
•  
• 4. Falsely combining elements in a story
• Like mixing a compound from whatever chemicals
  you find at hand, this can have explosive
  results.

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8 Common Errors

• 5. Selectively choosing what parts to interpret
• Dont concentrate on only specific words and
  phrases, ignoring others, and failing to balance
  the parts and the whole.
•  
• 6. Falsely combining elements in a story
• Like mixing a compound from whatever chemicals
  you find at hand, this can have explosive
  results.

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8 Common Errors

• 5. Redefining terms and sayings
• Dont divert and constrict the meanings of a
  story and its elements to deflect the impact upon
  your own situation or condition.
•  
• 6. Employing extracanonical authority
• Dont use an external key to the Scriptures to
  seek for truths in the story not otherwise
  knowable.

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8 Common Errors

• 7. Moralizing
• This happens when you automatically make every
  story illustrate a moral, like Mother Gooses
  Nursery Rhymes or Aesops Fables do.
• 8. Personalizing or individualizing
• Not all parts of the Bible are intended to impact
  every single persons problems.

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OT Law

• Introduction
• Large portion of the Pentateuch (first five books
  of OT) is comprised of law (over 600
  commandments)
• Some of them are very strange
• Exodus 3426 Do not cook a young goat in its
  mother's milk.
• Leviticus 1919 Do not wear clothing woven of
  two kinds of material.
• Why do we adhere to some laws and ignore others?

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• Traditional approach to interpreting OT law
• Moral deal with timeless truths regarding Gods
  intention for human behavior (Love your neighbor
  as yourself)
• Civil deal with courts, economics, land,
  crimes, and punishment (At the end of every
  seven years you must cancel debts.)
• Ceremonial deal with sacrifices, festivals, and
  priestly activities (celebrate the Feast of
  Tabernacles for seven days after you have
  gathered the produce of your threshing floor and
  your winepress.)

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• Distinction between moral, civil, and ceremonial
  law allowed the believer to know whether the law
  applied to them
• Moral universal and timeless (still apply as
  law to believers today)
• Civil and Ceremonial applied only to ancient
  Israel, not to believers today
• Problems with traditional approach
• Arbitrary distinction not in the Bible (Lev.
  1918-19)
• Difficult to classify many laws (Lev. 1919?)
• Too ambiguous and inconsistent
• We need a more consistent approach OT law

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• Narrative context
• OT law does not appear by itself, but is firmly
  embedded in the story of Israels exodus,
  wilderness wandering, and conquest.

Exodus 1-19 Exodus 20-24
(narrative) (law) Israels bondage in
Part of the story of
Egypt, Gods mighty Gods encounter with
deliverance, and Moses and Israel at
their journey to the Mount Sinai
Promised land

• The law is part of Israels story and the story
  provides an important context for interpreting
  law.
• Dont separate OT law from its narrative context!

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• Covenant context
• OT law is tightly intertwined with the Mosaic
  covenant. What is the nature of that covenant?
• Mosaic covenant is closely associated with
  Israels conquest and occupation of the land
• Blessings from the Mosaic covenant are
  conditional
• Mosaic covenant no longer a functional covenant
  for NT believers
• Jesus is the mediator of a new covenant (Heb.
  813)

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• NT believers are no longer under OT law as part
  of the Mosaic covenant

• We must interpret OT law through the grid of NT
  teaching. Jesus is the final interpreter of OT
  law.
• The OT law no longer applies as direct law for
  us. However, the OT legal material still contains
  rich principles and lessons for living that are
  relevant when interpreted through NT teaching.

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• Making the Journey in OT law

Or if a person touches anything ceremonially
uncleanwhether the carcasses of unclean wild
animals or of unclean livestock or of unclean
creatures that move along the groundeven though
he is unaware of it, he has become unclean and is
guilty. Leviticus 52
Step 1 Grasp the text in their town

• Leviticus deals with how the Israelites are live
  with an awesome, holy God in their midst.
• Larger unit of 41-513 deals with purification
  offerings for those who become ritually unclean
• 52 details what makes a person unclean
• 55-6 tells the people what to do to become clean
  again

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• Step 2 Measure the width of the river

• We are not under the old covenant and our sin is
  now covered by the death of Christ.
• We also have direct access to the Father through
  Christ and no longer need human priests as
  mediators.

Step 3 Cross the principlizing bridge

• God is holy!
• Gods holiness demands that his people keep
  separate from sin and unclean things.
• If Gods people become unclean, they must be
  purified by a blood sacrifice.

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• Step 4 Cross into the New Testament

• God no longer resides in a tabernacle, but within
  each of us through the indwelling Holy Spirit.
• His presence, however, still demands our
  holiness.
• NT redefines clean and unclean (Mark 7)
• Under the new covenant, sin is washed away by the
  death of Christ, the Lamb of God.
• Confession of sin, however, is still important
  (1 John 19)
• Summary Stay away from sinful actions and
  impure thoughts because the holy God lives
  within you. If you do commit unclean acts or
  think unclean thoughts, then the death of
  Christ allows you to confess your sins and
  receive forgiveness.

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• Step 5 Grasp the text in our town

• There will be numerous applications of this text.
• One application relates to the issue of Internet
  pornography.
• Gods holiness demands that we lead clean lives.
• Viewing pornography clearly violates Gods
  holiness and hinders our worship and fellowship
  with God.
• Stay away from Internet pornography!
• If you do fall into this sin, confess your sin
  and because of the death of Christ, you can be
  forgiven and your fellowship with God restored.

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• Conclusion
• Traditional approach to law (moral, civil,
  ceremonial) is inadequate.
• Journey approach to interpreting law
• Narrative context
• Covenant context
• Interpret all OT legal texts with the same method

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OT Poetry

• Introduction
• Over one third of the
  Bible is poetry.
• OT poetry
  focuses on our
  emotional
  response
  to God. It connects with
  us down deep, both
  in joy and in despair.

Psalms
Proverbs
Song of Songs
Job
Lamentations
34

• Jet engines and paintings
• Different literary genres of the Bible are like
  different museums.

National Gallery of Art
Air and Space Museum
Appeals to emotion, images are central,
analyze figures of speech
Appeals to logic, rational arguments are central,
analyze grammar and syntax
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• Elements of OT poetry
• Terseness g uses few words to enhance their
  impact and power

Show me your ways, O Lord,
Teach me your paths.
Psalm 254

• Structure g the most obvious is parallelism where
  lines represent thought units and are usually
  grouped in units of two or three
• Synonymous second line repeats idea of first
  line
• Developmental second line further develops idea
  of first line
• Illustrative second line illustrates first line
  
• Contrastive second line contrasts with first
  line
• Miscellaneous other types of parallelism not
  easily classified

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• Figurative language
• OT poetry is more like a painting than an essay
• Literal, historical truth expressed in picture
  language
• Figures of speech involving analogy
• Simile comparison using like or as

As the dear pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, O God.
Psalm 421

• Metaphor direct comparison

The Lord is my shepherd.
Psalm 231
37

• Indirect analogy comparison without stating it

Roaring lions tearing their prey open their
mouths wide against me.
Psalm 2213

• Hyperbole exaggeration for the sake of effect

My tears have been my food day and night.
Psalm 423

• Personification/anthropomorphism/zoomorphism
  attributes to one entity the characteristics of a
  totally different entity

Life up your heads, O you gates.
Psalm 247 Your face, Lord, will I seek.
Psalm 278 He will cover you with his
feathers, And
under his wings you will find refuge.
Psalm 914
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• Figures of speech involving substitution
• Effects and causes substitutes the effect for
  the cause

Let me hear joy and gladness Let the bones you
have crushed rejoice.
Psalm 518

• Representation substitute a part of an entity
  for the whole

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but
we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
Psalm 207
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• Miscellaneous figures of speech
• Apostrophe when they address a person or
  entity not actually present as if he was
  present.

Therefore, you kings, be wise
Be warned, you rulers of the earth.
Psalm 210

• Irony when the writer says the exact opposite
  of what he really means (as in Gods
  use of sarcastic irony below)

Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the
earth? Tell me, if you know all this.
Job 3818

• Wordplays

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• Interpreting OT poetry
• As with any text in the OT we need to make the
  five steps in the Interpretive Journey. Here are
  a few guidelines for the poetry genre related to
  Step 1
• In your observation, look closely for
  parallelism. Read the two or three lines of
  parallelism as one thought.
• Locate and visualize figures of speech. Identify
  the kind of figure you have in the passage. Also,
  try to enter into the emotional world of the
  image.

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• Unique aspects of the Psalms
• Does not present doctrinal guidelines so much as
  examples of how to communicate our deepest
  emotions and needs to God.
• When we find ourselves in deep despair or in
  jubilant celebration, Psalms teaches us to be
  honest and open with God.
• God wants us to pour out our hearts to him and he
  wants to connect with us in the depths of our
  emotional being.

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• Conclusion
• In OT poetry we are dealing with
  rather than

• Poetry is characterized by terseness, a high
  degree of structure (parallelism), and figurative
  language.
• OT poetry shows us how to communicate our deepest
  emotions to God.

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OT Prophets

• Nature of OT prophetic literature

OT Prophets Major Minor Isaiah Ho
sea Jeremiah Joel Ezekiel Amos
Daniel Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk
Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi
Longer books
Shorter books
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• Little in our culture that resembles the OT
  prophetic literature (Bob Dylan?)
• Only a small amount of OT prophecy deals with
  events still future to us

Less than 2 percent of Old Testament prophecy is
messianic. Less than 5 percent specifically
describes the New Covenant age. Less than 1
percent concerns events yet to come. Fee and
Stuart

• Prophets proclaim more than they predict
• Prophets make extensive use of the figurative
  language of poetry

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• Prophetic books are primarily anthologiescollecti
  ons of shorter units, usually oral messages
  called oracles proclaimed publicly to the people
  of Israel or Judah.
• Not usually arranged chronologically
• Therefore, almost impossible to outline
• Look for a few major themes repeated over and
  over
• Yet the prophets message comes through loud and
  clear

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• Historical-cultural and theological context

Israel Judah
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• Basic prophetic message
• Prophets function as Gods prosecuting attorneys
  (covenant enforcement mediators), warning the
  people of the consequences of covenant violation.
• Prophetic message has three basic points
• 1. You have broken the covenant you had better
  repent!
• Idolatrysyncretism, faithful husband/unfaithful
  wife
• Social justicewidows, orphans, foreigners
• Religious ritualismritual substitutes for
  relationship

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• 2. No repentance? Then judgment!
• Plea for repentance, but proclaim severe
  consequences of rebellion
• Horrific invasions
• Loss of Promised land
• 3. Yet, there is hope beyond the judgment for a
  glorious future restoration.
• New exodus (Isaiah), new covenant (Jeremiah), new
  presence of the Spirit (Ezekiel and Joel)
• Messianic promises and future predictions

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• Interpretation and application of basic message
  
• 1. You have broken the covenant you had better
  repent!
• Must pass through filter of NT teaching
• No longer under covenant of law, so different for
  believers and unbelievers
• Focus on relational aspects of our sin (marriage
  analogy)
• Sinning against God causes him to hurt
  emotionally
• Idolatry job, success, money, TV, clothes,
  grades
• Social justice poor, elderly, minorities,
  children
• Religious ritualism rituals function as means
  or ends?

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• 2. No repentance? Then judgment!
• Sin is an offense against God and demands
  judgment
• NT g judgment of death for Christians sin
  transferred to Christ
• If Christians fail to repent, their relationship
  with God will be damaged
• 3. Yet, there is hope beyond the judgment for a
  glorious future restoration.
• Ultimate fulfillment of promises in Christ
• God is in the business of forgiving and restoring
  people

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• Predictive passages
• Small portion of prophets message to events that
  are still future for us

Near View or
Far View?

• Predictions could refer to
• Return of Jewish exiles to Israel (past for us)
• First coming of Jesus Christ (past for us)
• Second coming of Jesus Christ (still future for
  us)

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• Difficult to determine whether the prophets are
  describing events that will occur within their
  lifetime (near view) or events that will occur
  much later (far view).
• We should be cautious about being overly dogmatic
  when interpreting details of predictive prophecy.
• It is possible that the prophets have
  intentionally blurred together these future
  events so that their readers will focus on the
  broader theological principles.

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OT Wisdom

• Introduction
• You have persevered the end of this book!

Of making may books there is no end, and much
study wearies the body. Ecclesiastes 1212b
Job
Wisdom
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song of Songs
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• Purpose of the wisdom books
• Law, narrative, and prophets stress Believe!
  and Obey! while wisdom stresses Think!
• Call us to listen, look, think, and reflect
• Offer practical insights for living
• Goal is to develop wise and godly character for
  life in the real world

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• The big picture
• Four wisdom books balance each other
  theologically. Read each one in context of all
  four.

Job Righteous and wise suffer in ways
that mere humans cannot understand.
Proverbs Rational
norms of life (what normally happens). Does not
present universals (what will always happen).
Ecclesiastes Failure of the rational,
ordered approach to provide ultimate meaning to
life. Meaning only comes through a relationship
with God.
Song of Songs Irrationality of romantic
love between husband and wife.
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• Wisdom as poetry
• A large portion of wisdom literature is poetry.
• Wisdom books use parallelism as their standard
  structural feature.
• The more emotional the tone, the more the book
  will use figurative language

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• Grasping the wisdom books
• Proverbs
• Proverbs short, pithy sayings that teach
  practical wisdom about life
• Individual proverbs reflect general nuggets of
  wisdom about what normally happens in life (e.g.,
  Dont be lazy! Work hard!).
• Proverbs are never to be taken as universal
  promises.
• The book of Proverbs does not deal with the
  exceptions to the normal rules.
• Since each proverb presents a general principle,
  the river of differences is usually quite narrow
  and shallow.
• But be careful how you define blessing.

58

• Job
• Job does all that Proverbs commands, but he
  receives dead children, financial ruin, physical
  pain, and criticism from his friends.
• Job is a story (in contrast to Proverbs) and we
  must take the literary context of narrative
  seriously
• 1-2 Job is afflicted
• 2-37 Job searches unsuccessfully for a
  rational answer
• 38-42 God answers Jobs accusations
• 42 Jobs friends are rebuked and Job is
  restored
• The differences between the ancient audience and
  us are not great.
• Lessons from Job
• God is sovereign and we are not
• God knows all and we know precious little
• God is always just, but does not always disclose
  his reasons
• God expects us to trust his character

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• NT presents suffering as a normal feature of a
  godly life.
• Dont repeat the mistake of Jobs friends and
  misuse biblical truth.
• Book of Job teaches us that it is not wrong to
  cry out to God in anger and frustration when
  unexplained tragedy strikes.
• Our focus in grief should not be on why but
  rather on God and his character.
• Comforting friends is different from having all
  the answers.

60

• Ecclesiastes
• Ecclesiastes (like Job) must be interpreted as a
  whole with the ultimate answer coming at the very
  end.
• The book is full of satire, sarcasm, and
  cynicism.
• The Teacher or Preacher declares that a
  strictly rational search for meaning is
  meaningless.
• At the end of the book, the Teacher comes to his
  conclusion Fear God and keep his commandments.
• Apart from God, not even wisdom can give life
  meaning.
• River normally shallow in Ecclesiastes except for
  a limited concept of death and the afterlife.
• The NT adds that apart from a relationship with
  Jesus Christ, life is meaningless.
• Apart from a relationship with Christ, not even a
  college degree can make life meaningful!

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• Song of Songs
• Shocking book because it speaks openly and
  joyfully about human sexuality (read 77-8).
• The book is organized into three sequential
  units
• 1-3 Courtship
• 3-5 Wedding
• 5-8 Life of Love
• Highly emotional and full of picture language as
  the man and woman describe their love for each
  other
• Most scholars today caution against the
  allegorical interpretation
• A model of the joy and irrationality of a married
  couple madly in love
• Wise and godly people should express their
  marital love in strong, emotional (mushy?)
  terms.
• We suggest a little updating of the figurative
  language (hair like a flock of goats?)

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"How beautiful you are, my beloved, how beautiful
you are!Your eyes are like doves behind your
veil.... Your hair is like a flock of
goats...Your teeth are like a flock of newly
shorn ewes...Your lips are like a scarlet
thread,Your temples are like a slice of
pomegranate... "...Your neck is like the tower of
Davidbuilt with rows of stones on which are
hung a thousand shields...... Your two breasts
are like two fawns, twins of a gazellewhich
feed among the lilies... "... Your lips, my
bride, drip honey,Honey and milk are under your
tongue...And the fragrance of your garmentsis
like the fragrance of Lebanon.Your belly is like
a heap of wheat... "... Your nose is like the
tower of Lebanon,which faces towards
Damascus..." From Song of Solomon chapters 4 and 7