What is theological narrative?

• Historical narrative is not the same as mythology or mythological saga

• History is the context or theater of God’s revelation. "I am the God of …" is as important as "thus says the Lord …"

• Biblical history is prophetic—it serves a theological purpose

E.g.: Exodus 9:14

 

God is advancing his plan (Is. 46:8—11)

• Unity of scripture: God’s plan to redeem or save his fallen creation

• Hermeneutical Principle #2: Interpretation of theological narrative pieces is based on their relationship to the broader structure of the narrative whole

• Implication: Inductively identify the theological framework or structure of Old Testament narrative

• Blessings
• Covenants
• Promises
• Prophetic summaries in the narrative

Theological markers can not be viewed in isolation—they have a broader literary context

• Two key theological markers as structural literary centers of Old Testament narrative:

Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel: Preparation for monarchy

 

2 Samuel 7—24 (1 Chron. 17—29): God’s blessing on David

 

1 Kings 1—11 (2 Chron. 1—9): God’s faithfulness to Solomon

 

1 Kings 12—2 Kings 25 (2 Chron. 10—36): God’s faithfulness to David’s line

 

Connections between eras can be identified by the presence of "links" that connect the present with the past and future

• Links are found at crucial transitions in the broad narrative, explaining why the present narrative is important in the light of past revelation. As past revelation is injected into a subsequent narrative, progressive revelation takes shape.

• Prepatriarchal to Patriarchal:

• "fruitful and multiply" (Gen. 8:17; 9:1,7;17:6; 26:24)
  

• "seed" connecting blessing/curse of Gen. 3 to Noah (Gen 5:29)
  

• Transfer of blessing from Noah to Shem (Gen. 9:26)
  

• Transfer of blessing from Shem to Abraham (Gen. 11:10—32)
  

• Patriarchal to Egyptian Captivity and Exodus:

• God remembers his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Ex. 2:23—25; 6:5)
  

• Exodus to Conquest and Judges:

• God with Joshua "just as" with Moses (1:5; 3:7)

• Repetition of Exodus events in Josh 3—5

• Joshua/Judges to United Monarchy:

• Judges era plagued with the problem, "no king in the land" (Jud. 21:25)
  
• Ruth’s genealogy as bridge to David
  
• Prophetic words of Hannah linking final judge to king (1 Sam. 2:10)

• Link of Judges era and Law to monarchy (1 Sam. 8:1—9 cf. Deut. 17)

• United to Divided Monarchy and Exile:

• God will divide the nation, but remain faithful to the Davidic Covenant (1 Kings 11:4—13)

• God will judge the nation based on the conduct of the kings (1 Kings 9:4—9)

• Linear history unique to the Bible

• The future is an extension of the past. God’s work in history follows certain patterns

Hermeneutical Principle #3: In Old Testament narrative, the past is incomplete, being "filled", and ultimately "fulfilled" in subsequent revelation

• Key elements in history can become thematic paradigms or motifs, repeated in various ways in later narratives and prophecies.

Use of narrative as motif identified by:

• Using language rooted in prototype in later texts (Isaiah 19… )

• Rhetorical formulas: "just as… so" (Josh. 3:7; 4:4; Is. 11:16… )

• Relating "first" things to "new" or "last" things (Is. 43:18; 65:16,17; Jer. 31)

Hermeneutical Principle #4: Certain blessings, covenants, and promises are repeated in a variety of contexts outside of the narrative in which they are introduced. In addition to historical event as motif, the OT expands the meaning of these promises, establishing a promise motif.

E.g.: Jer. 23:3—8