Article How Do we Interpret Old Testament Narrative?

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Source / Full Article: How Do we Interpret Old Testament Narrative? - Overflow Chat

Here are 10 quick suggestions, accompanied by examples from 2nd Samuel.

1) Try and grasp the overall point of the book.

The overall point of 2nd Samuel is that God is establishing an eternal kingdom through David. Even David’s grotesque sin will not stop the promise and grace of God.

2) Read in big chunks – narrative often tells you ‘a little, in a lot.’

Chapters 2 to 5 of 2nd Samuel are basically about God raising David to power. Of course there’s lots of detail along the way, but the basic point is that David becomes the king of all Israel not through his own scheming and machinations, but by God’s divine hand..

3) Narratives tell you what happened, not what SHOULD have happened.

David shouldn’t have taken many concubines and wives to strengthen his political position. But he did it anyway (2 Sam 5:13-15). Likewise, the fact that Scripture reports Amnon’s abuse of Tamar doesn’t mean the Bible approves of it (2 Sam 13).

4) OT narrative is first and foremost about God: his holiness, grace, salvation and justice.

In 2nd Samuel we see that God puts David in power (2-5). God is holy and worthy of worship (6). God establishes an eternal kingdom (7). God gives his king and people the victory (8, 10). God is merciful to enemies (9). God is a disciplining Father, but forgiving (11-20). God is our rock, our fortress and our Saviour (21-24).

5) Moralise…but not too much.

It’s not wrong to draw moral lessons from the good or bad behaviour of characters in the Old Testament. The New Testament sometimes does this. We definitely shouldn’t lie like the Amalekite (1). We should pray before big decisions (2:1). And we should hold one another accountable when we sin (11). Yet these probably aren’t the most important points in the passage! [more...]

 

[LeeB]

The old covenant was given in response to Adams sin. The knowledge of good and evil without the Holy Spirit will lead to sin and sin to death; for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. The law could restrain sin but not forgive it or eliminate it. The law never addresses the true cause of sin, our defiled human spirit, but only addresses the the resulting outward actions or speech conceived in our defiled spirit. It is cause and effect, the defiled spirit is the cause, the words and deeds the effect. There were shadows in this covenant that needed the light of Christ to shine on them to give the true substance of them. This covenant was to be a schoolmaster to lead us to Christ thus it is a necessary thing in the salvation process without having salvation involved. We need saved from death this law justly brings. We need to realize the law kills us , it cannot save us, however if used lawfully can lead us to repentance and to Christ. The law shows us the problem and brings us to the answer, Christ. I love Gods law because of all these things. This is God first giving us the test and then the lesson. There are a few people who lived during that time who were Christians. The people in Hebrews 11 are some of them. These people were not under the law but grace else David would have been stoned to death rather than repent and be forgiven , Psalm 51. Abraham , a gentile, lived 400 years before the law was given. These people are the root of the olive tree in Romans 11 . The very first Christians were gentiles and the gospel was preached before the law was given. There are many more things about this covenant we have yet to learn as well as the new covenant.