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The Bible tells many stories which are also part of one grander story. One important aspect of a story is its setting and setting is often understood as where (or when) a story takes place. What might we learn about how to read the Bible by examining the use of Setting in Biblical Narrative? Watch Episode 7 by clicking HERE. Come back after the video to continue reading. Get access to RightNow Media 🡪 https://app.rightnowmedia.org/join/innerkippresbyterianchurch In the video, Tim talks about how setting is used by authors to help fill in the details of a story by appealing to what we already know about a given setting. Essentially, using our expectations about situations, time periods, and places to help tell their story. Often, settings can also be used to drive home important messages or themes. Especially if the author cleverly uses the setting to reverse or challenge the expectations we might have. This is something we see a lot when we compare stories in the Old and New Testaments. Tim also mentions how Biblical authors will sometimes use themes as a type of setting and this helps us to see how the whole story of the Bible fits together. This type of contextual perspective helps us to see the many layers by which a setting can inform a story’s meaning. For example: In the video they describe how the setting of Egypt is used first as a place where things go wrong for God’s people but also as a place where God provides/demonstrates his power to save them. Later, the theme of God’s provision is reinforced through the reversal of our expectations about the setting of Egypt. In the New Testament, Israel (who has begun to look like Egypt) has now become the place where things are going wrong, and God provides/demonstrates his power to save as he sends Jesus, the Messiah to Egypt with his family. Another example: Time periods of 40 are presented in the video as being significant in relation to the testing of God’s people. Therefore, we shouldn’t be surprised when Jesus is tested in the desert for 40 days. However, in another reversal of expectations Jesus overcomes this period of testing where Israel had repeatedly failed in theirs. There is certainly great potential for learning within the various types of settings used in Biblical narratives. Even so, we should exercise discernment when we read. We should never assume that settings necessarily contain these layered meanings. We should be aware of the possibility though, taking the time to consider the setting as we meditate on God’s word and its application. Next time you sit down to read Scripture on your own or with your small group take a few minutes to consider what the setting of the passage you are reading is. Then ask whether it informs the meaning of the text. If it does, explore together what the implications of that might be. A good commentary can be a helpful tool for this as well.

In this reflection, we’ll be looking at Character, the second component of Narrative and how it’s used in the Bible. Character in narrative writing is used by authors to connect the reader to the story by giving us portrayals of humanity that we can connect too and relate with. How do Biblical authors use Character and what does it teach us about ourselves? Watch Episode 6 by clicking HERE. Come back after the video to continue reading. Get access to RightNow Media 🡪 https://app.rightnowmedia.org/join/innerkippresbyterianchurch In the video, the presenters state that authors use characters to show us their view of what it means to be human. Biblical authors are no different in this respect but some aspects of how the Biblical authors write differ from the kinds of characters we encounter in modern stories. Remember, the Bible tends to communicate through densely packed writing with layered meanings. As a result, the Bible often doesn’t give us a lot of details about its characters but what it does provide communicates on multiple levels. The examples given are biblical names which often come with meanings attached and physical descriptions which can also act as clues to a character’s personality, morality, and behaviour. The details it doesn’t give us directly, such as motivations and feelings, are still accessible to us when we understand these layers of meaning and when we read stories in context as we looked at last time. The important take away here, however, is that biblical characters help to show us how God works with compromised and flawed people to accomplish His goals. The great heroes of the faith are not usually real heroes. Instead, they are broken, and sinful people just like us. We’re meant to see ourselves in them, not so we can be like them, but so we can be encouraged that just as God gave them His grace and used them to do extraordinary things, we can expect His grace also as He uses us. While you will never have to face Goliath, you will face versions of him in your daily life today. What can David, as small and flawed as he was, teach you about standing tall in faith? Read Philippians 4:11-13 as you contemplate.

Narrative is the most represented literary style in the Bible so it’s worth taking a closer look at the components of it. In this reflection, we’ll be looking at Plot and asking the question; What happens when we take stories in the Bible “out of context?” Watch Episode 5 by clicking HERE. Come back after the video to continue reading. Get access to RightNow Media 🡪 https://app.rightnowmedia.org/join/innerkippresbyterianchurch The story of Gideon is a great example. In the video they talked about how Gideon’s testing of God is sometimes taken ‘out of context’ and may be misunderstood as a result. In a larger sense, we may also be taking the story of Gideon out of context as well. Often, we focus on the story of Gideon by celebrating his victory over the Midianites. As a result, we may walk away with the sense that Gideon is a great hero of the faith. Certainly, God did use Gideon to accomplish something extraordinary for Israel but was he the hero we sometimes paint him to be? Read Judges 6-7 slowly and carefully. Read it more than once if you have time. Pay attention to Gideon’s character and ask honest questions about his thoughts, motivations, and actions as you read. If you’re reading closely, you’ll probably notice that Gideon behaves more like an antihero. Meriam-Webster defines an antihero as “a protagonist or notable figure who is conspicuously lacking in heroic qualities.” Based on your reading of Judges 6-7, could this describe Gideon? Still unsure? Read a little more of Gideon’s story in Judges 8. How about now? As the video suggests, when we read the whole story of Gideon in the context of the overarching story of the Judges and that of the nation of Israel in the Old Testament, we discover that Gideon is not the true hero of his story. If you read closely though, you can probably figure out who is. As we learned about last time, the Bible is dense, and its stories often have multiple layers of meaning to sift through as we try to fully understand them. We certainly learn lots of lessons from a story like Gideon’s. For example, we can learn that God is trustworthy. We can learn that God is bigger than our doubts. We can learn that God is greater than our enemies. We can also learn about our own brokenness and our need for God. When we look at the story of Gideon through the lens of the whole Bible story, I think the lesson that comes into focus is profoundly simple. It’s an invitation which is repeated throughout the Bible. That invitation is simply to Trust God in everything.

Every culture produces its own set of stories and ways of making sense of the world in which they live. The Bible is also a cultural product. Specifically, it is a product of Ancient Jewish culture particularly Jewish meditation literature. When we read the Bible, we need to read it through that lens also as we try to make sense of it. So, what does understanding the Bible as Jewish mediation literature contribute to our ability to read the Bible well? Watch Episode 4 by clicking HERE. Come back after the video to continue reading. Get access to RightNow Media 🡪 https://app.rightnowmedia.org/join/innerkippresbyterianchurch Here are some takeaways I’d like you to reflect on. The Bible is God’s Word but it’s also a product of Jewish culture and as such, should be read and understood through the lens provided by knowing that culture. Specifically, as Jewish meditation literature, we should expect to take our time, to read carefully, and to meditate on what we read because the style of writing is dense and deeply interconnected. Therefore, when we read, we need to reflect on the meaning of a text in relationship to the larger text in which it’s found. We also need to reflect on how it fits into the story of the Bible as a whole. Knowing that the Bible is a Jewish cultural product means that we shouldn’t press our own cultural understandings into the text either. Instead, we need to allow the Bible to interpret itself and we must allow the Bible to speak with its own voice to us. If we let it, we’ll find that the Bible begins to interpret us, our culture, and the convictions that we bring to our reading of it. Practically speaking, this means that we don’t ‘proof-text’ by taking verses and passages out of their context to make a particular point. When we do this, we are imposing meanings on the text which may not be present, and we risk doing an injustice to the Scriptures. Finally, we must invite the Holy Spirit to partner with us as we read Scripture. If we accept that God is ultimately the author of the Bible then it is not only right that we should ask Him to partner with us as we read it, it is also an incredible privilege to be able to do so.

When you read a book it’s important to know what kind of book it is to help you understand its contents. If you’re reading a cookbook you would expect to find recipes inside. Likewise, if you’re reading a book about political intrigue and espionage, you would want to know whether it was fiction or not so that you can appropriately process the information it contains. In the same way, we need to know what kind of book, or rather books, the Bible is made up of so that we know what to expect from them, and how to process the information they contain. So, what are those primary types and what do they tell us about how to read our Bibles? Watch Episode 3 by clicking HERE. Come back after the video to continue reading. Get access to Rightnow Media 🡪 https://app.rightnowmedia.org/join/innerkippresbyterianchurch Here are some takeaways I’d like you to reflect on and to be aware of when you pick up your Bible to read. The Bible is written in three primary literary styles and often we find elements of each in a single book. It’s important to know what style we’re encountering in a text and to notice when the text we’re reading moves from that style to another. We should also think about what those movements are designed to communicate as we read the Bible. The first literary style of the Bible is Narrative. This is the style of writing which tells a story. Biblical authors use narrative to tell God’s story and through that story to communicate something about God to us the readers. Stories are how we transfer meaning, value, and purpose. Narrative is the language of the soul. The second literary style of the Bible is Poetry. Poetry is used to move us outside ourselves and our ways of thinking/processing the world around us. Poetry evokes our senses and our imagination to help us to feel our way to understanding. It speaks to us on the level of our emotions, it appeals to our shared experiences. Poetry is the language of the heart. The third literary style of the Bible is Prose/Discourse. Prose and Discourse are used to make logical arguments and they appeal to our sense of reason. This is the literary style that tries to change the way that we think. Prose/Discourse is the language of the mind. Side Note… In the words of Jesus, we are commanded to: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Matthew 22:37 Isn’t it beautiful that we can see these aspects reflected in the literary styles of the Bible? The way in which we are called to be in relationship with God is the same way He reveals himself to us in His word.

One of the most amazing things about the Bible is that lots of different authors living in different places and times, writing in different styles and contexts still produced a unified set of stories that all help to tell a grander story. It’s one of the reasons the Bible is believed to be divinely inspired because its story transcends its human authorship. Indeed, the Bible communicates a coherent narrative concerning the universe and our place in it. What is that grand narrative and how does knowing about it help us to read our Bibles? This week’s video presents a broad overview of the “Story of the Bible”, and it presents that story as a series of divine movements and human choices. Watch Episode 2 by clicking HERE. Come back after the video to continue reading. Get access to Rightnow Media 🡪 https://app.rightnowmedia.org/join/innerkippresbyterianchurch The Bible tells the story of God moving to intentionally bring order out of chaos. Genesis tells us that God created an ordered universe out of chaos and called it good. Then, He created mankind within that ordered universe to be His representatives and he invited mankind to rule and reign with Him. God’s invitation comes with a necessary and simple choice. Either we will live in obedience to God’s will, trusting that He is good, or we will choose to define good and evil for ourselves. Our choice leads God’s good creation back into chaos. Unwilling to leave it there, God intervenes again. This time He chooses a nation, and He gives them the law which is good and evil defined. Through this nation and the law God would showcase to the whole creation the good order which He intended for it. Again, we see a necessary choice. The chosen nation can obey the law and showcase the blessing that it brings, or they can disobey the law and showcase the curse instead. Again, this nation is unable to live in obedience and repeatedly resorts to defining good and evil for themselves. In the midst of this drama God begins to lay the foundation for a new intervention. This time, He will enter into His creation and provide a once and for all model of goodness, perfect obedience, and the blessing that obedience brings. God Himself restores the good order to His creation and we are once again invited to rule and reign over it with Him. The necessary choice remains, will we follow His example and live in obedience to His example or will we go our own way.

The Bible is a small library of books. It was also written by multiple authors over many generations and in a variety of literary styles. Have you ever thought about the way we read it? Have you ever wondered how to read the Bible well? That’s what this series from the Bible Project is all about and we’ll be working through this series together with a series of reflections that I hope will help deepen your understanding and depth of insight. You can watch Episode 1 by clicking HERE. Come back after the video and continue reading. Get access to Rightnow Media 🡪 https://app.rightnowmedia.org/join/innerkippresbyterianchurch Here are some of the takeaways I’d like you to think about now that you’ve seen the first video When we read the Old Testament, we need to remember that it is a collection of books written in a variety of literary styles, some of which are extremely unique. These books were written by the Jews to record God’s involvement in their story as His chosen people. Likewise, when we read the New Testament, we need to remember that it is also a collection of books written in a variety of literary styles, some of which are also extremely unique. These books were written by the members of God’s new chosen community in order to communicate how God has ‘fulfilled’ the Jewish story and made that story ours through Jesus. In both cases, the Bible is primarily telling us about God and what God is doing for His creation through His people. Side Note… This is also why the second temple writings are not universally accepted as part of the Bible. If we can generally describe the Old Testament books as having been written by Jews, for Jews, about God’s activity then the second temple writings might better be described as having been written by Jews, for Jews, about the activities of the Jewish people. The distinction is subtle but important.