Discover The Word

Monday, April 7, 2008

IDEA: The Old Testament narratives don’t always teach directly, but they do teach.

PURPOSE: To help the listeners interpret Old Testament narratives.

Why do you think God communicated so much of Himself through stories?

Wouldn’t it have been easier if, instead of 10 commandments, He had given us 100 commandments to spell out for us exactly what we needed to know? Why stories?

I. Narratives allow us to live through other people’s experience.

A story draws you in, and in a way you learn by experience.

II. Stories often teach indirectly what is taught in a direct manner elsewhere in the Bible.

One example is the story of David and Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11.

Do you think that what David did was wrong?

There is no statement in the story that says that in committing adultery, David did what was wrong, or in betraying a faithful companion, he sinned, or in planning to have Uriah murdered, he did what was wrong. You do have places in the law in which these are taught. Exodus 20.

You’re expected to know that adultery and murder and betrayal are wrong.

Do you think that the story teaches anything that the commandments of Exodus 20 don’t cover? The story does teach the damage that sin did in the personal life of King David and his ability to rule.

By experiencing this story of David and Bathsheba, the result of sin impacts the mind of the reader.