Today, we're diving into the often confusing world of applying Bible stories to our lives. The main takeaway is that while the Bible is rich with narratives that teach us about God's character and His interactions with humanity, we can't just assume that what happened back then directly translates to our situations today. Many folks, including ourselves at times, fall into the trap of thinking that if God acted a certain way in the past, He will do the same for us now, which can lead to disappointment. We must approach these stories with a clear understanding of their context and the different literary genres at play, as this is essential for correct interpretation. So, join me as I break down the importance of understanding these narratives and how they can guide us in our spiritual journeys without misapplying their lessons.

Takeaways:

1. The Bible is a comprehensive guide for finding purpose, love, and peace in life.
2. Understanding the context of biblical narratives is crucial for proper interpretation and application.
3. Not every verse in the Bible directly applies to our individual situations; context matters immensely.
4. When reading stories in the Bible, we should recognize that they illustrate God's actions, not just human behavior.

Links referenced in this episode:

1. bible805.com

PLEASE NOTE: the following transcript is AI-generated and may contain random errors and odd spacing and wording. For an exact transcript of the lesson, go to www.Bible805.com/lessons and then to the first drop-down, Bible805 Podcast lessons. You'll also find links to the video, notes and discussion guides at that location. For editable, attribution free materials to teach the lesson, go to www.Bible805Academy.com.

Today's lesson is from our series Happy Corrections.

Because the Bible doesn't always say what you think it says, the lesson today is entitled Confusion about Applying Bible Stories. Now what's confusing about applying Bible stories?

If God acted in a certain way in the Bible, doesn't that mean he'll always act in that same way towards me? Isn't one of God's characteristics that he doesn't change without even thinking? That's how many of us approach the Bible.

We assume if God acted in a certain way towards people back then, he should act that same way now. But when we try to do that with the stories in the Bible, it doesn't always turn out the way we expected.

And it's hard not to be disappointed with God now. We often go back when we're discussing this to the story of Gideon. Many people use his story as a guide on how to apply Bible stories.

If you're not familiar with his story, he asked God for a sign to confirm what he was supposed to do, in this case lead Israel into battle. He apparently didn't trust God's direct word to him that he was supposed to do this.

So he set out a fleece and animal skin and asked that the next morning the fleece be wet and the ground dry. God graciously, miraculously answered him and did that. He asked for the reverse, and God again answered based on that Bible story.

Does that mean we should come up with tests to determine God's will? Shouldn't we expect him to act in the same way? The short answer is no, and exactly why it's no.

And how to properly learn from and apply the lessons of the stories, the narratives in the Bible is the correction to your Bible reading that we'll talk about in this lesson. Now, it's important to understand this because we don't want to miss out on what we're supposed to learn from the bible, as Romans 15:4 tells us.

The Bible stories aren't just for our entertainment.

We are supposed to learn from these Bible stories, but it's important that we carefully consider what God wants us to learn and how he wants us to apply it. As with many things concerning the Bible, the answer is not a simple just well, do this, do that. It's far more complicated.

And to help us do that, it helps to properly understand the different types of writing, also known as genres, in the Bible.

This understanding of genre is the foundation of for how to apply the stories of the Bible correctly Much of what I will share in the remainder of this lesson comes from the book how to Read the Bible for All It's Worth by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stewart. What follows will rely extensively on the book intertwined with my comments and added teaching on it.

I may not always be clear on what comes from what, but I want to give credit to where credit is due because much of what follows was either from or very strongly influenced by this book. Now let's begin by defining the term genre from Webster's Online dictionary. This is how it defines it.

Genre means a type of art, literature, or music characterized by a specific form, content and style. The genres in the Bible include narratives, also known as stories, poetry, prophecy, history, letters, didactic, and apocalyptic literature.

Now don't worry about the definitions of each one for now.

What's important as we begin this lesson is that we must identify each one correctly for what it is and then read and apply it with interpretive and application guidelines that apply to that genre. Now why we need to do this you don't read and interpret a poem in the same way that you do a historical narrative.

You don't read prophetical, allegory filled text in the same way that you read Old Testament laws. The interpretation of Daniel's prophetic vision of a giant statue is very different from the simple command Thou shalt not kill.

These may be obvious examples, but precisely how to read each genre with valid interpretation and correct application isn't always simple.

The genre we're going to talk about in this lesson and by the way, on the Bible 805 site, there are additional lessons about different genres, but in this lesson we're talking about story or narrative. Again, this is the largest genre category in the Bible, as about 40% of the Bible is narrative. Narrative equals story. Story equals narrative.

The two words mean the same thing and are used interchangeably in commentaries. And in what I teach, I often use the word story because that's what most of us are familiar with.

But narrative is the term preferred by many commentators because sometimes the word story implies that something isn't true, and that's of course not the case in the Bible. Keep in mind, a story in the Bible is always a true account of what happen happens.

As Gordon and Fee put it, the biblical narratives thus tell the ultimate story, a story that, even though often complex, is altogether true and crucially important. My comments on this are that we also need to keep in mind that Bible stories are a true account of what happened, what people truly did.

Now that that does not mean their actions are a good thing or that we should necessarily follow them, but they were recorded truthfully. That's super important for you to remember. The Bible doesn't sugarcoat human history.

There are many horrible, wrong sinful actions recorded in the Bible as many good and godly ones. We need to discern what God wants us to learn from both good and bad actions.

With the previous thoughts in mind, here are three important overall guidelines for interpreting narratives or stories, and these come from how to Read the Bible for all it's worth. Number one the Old Testament narratives are not just stories about people who lived in Old Testament times.

They are first and foremost stories about what God did in and through those people.

For example, the key lessons from the Book of Ruth are not primarily about how to be kind to an elderly mother in law or how gleaning worked in the Old Testament.

The key lessons in the Book of Ruth are about God's care in the midst of troubled times and ultimately about the formation of the line of David and Jesus. Number two, Old Testament narratives do not necessarily teach directly. They often illustrate what is taught directly and categorically elsewhere.

This is very important.

Again, this is why it's so important to read all the Bible in chronological order, because you're expected to know the explicit teaching behind the example behind the story. Only then will the later narrative events make sense.

For example, the Book of Judges doesn't repeat the commands of Deuteronomy given 40 plus years earlier. It shows what happens when the commands are not obeyed.

For the stories and the judgment that took place after the preaching of the prophets to make sense, you must go back to both the direct commands of God, the direct commands God gave in the books of the Law, the first five books of the Bible, and review the promises that people made back then to obey. These books establish the history of their failures and the right of God's judgment.

The later historical books will assume you understand and remember these things, review the laws and the covenant between God and the people if necessary, so that these books make sense.

If you don't, Just a side note here, you'll look at what the prophets talk about and they just seem like sort of these angry old guys, just completely out of context. And why were they so mad? And what was going on? Why was God so mean? You've got to know what happened before for the prophets to make sense.

Now what to do if you don't know the rest of the Bible well enough to do this, to remember what God said to do, what the people promised, what the laws were, all that sort of thing. Many people are in that situation.

They don't know the rest of the Bible, the overall story, the narrative, the laws, all the historical parts well enough to make judgments about later sections of the Bible.

Now don't be discouraged if you're in this situation, use it as a motivation to learn the entire expanse of the Bible well so that you'll understand the parts of the Bible better and be able to apply them correctly. I've got many, many resources on Bible805.com that'll help you do that. Schedules, overview, videos, motivational materials, whatever you need.

It's all free and available to you. Just go to ww bible805.com to access any and all of it. Now, number three narratives record what happened, not necessarily what should have happened.

What people do in the narratives is not necessarily a good example. Frequently it's just the opposite. For example, Israel was commanded to destroy the Canaanites.

God had granted The Canaanites over 400 years of mercy, but they didn't repent. They were ordered destroyed because after the flood their ancestors had the same knowledge of God as did the other sons of Noah.

They could have continued to follow God, but instead they chose the path of gross immorality, idol worship culminating in sexual perversions as part of that worship. And worst of all, in sacrificing their children to Moloch, where they burned children alive.

Now not only were they a problem because their blatant sins, but it didn't stop with that. When Israel did not destroy them, they became oppressors and tempters.

Constant wars are recorded from the Book of Judges with people who were supposed to be destroyed under Joshua.

Not only were God's people tempted to participate and sin in involvement with the Canaanites worship of other gods, but ultimately wives from these nations caused the downfall even of Solomon, the greatest king of Israel and the wisest man who ever lived, as his many wives led him to follow other Gods little sins never stay little. They can become huge, personal and national disasters. In judgment for Solomon's actions, God split the kingdom.

To emphasize God's recording of these events doesn't mean his blessings of them. Now it's important to note here, in answer to the question, why did God command that the Canaanites be totally destroyed?

All nations had the initial teachings and heritage to obey God after the Flood as the people. Overall, they did not, though individuals did, and we'll talk about them a little bit more later. Their sins so permeated them as a people.

It resulted, as previously stated, in gross immorality, culminating in the burning alive of children, the oppression of other people, and the ultimate downfall of Israel. Sin is ugly, horrid and has lasting consequences. God is to be trusted and obeyed when he commands that we deal decisively with sin.

These narrative parts of the Bible illustrate the consequences. We also cannot forget the character of God in this issue.

Would a holy and just God allow just a little bit of child sacrifice, just a little bit of temple prostitution, just, just every now and then oppression of people based on his character? Of course, the answer is no. God must judge sin and he knows it must be totally blotted out.

We don't like that because we want him to wink at our sins, but he cannot do that. We must also remember that God is ultimately loving.

He warns his people about what will harm them and ultimately in Jesus provided a sacrifice for the sins we could not get rid of on our own. He demonstrates in macro through history what plays out in micro form in all our individual hearts.

We must ruthlessly deal with sin or it will destroy us. We must learn from their examples.

As we read more and more from Gordon and Fee, they go on to say, we're not always told at the end of a narrative whether what happened was good or bad. We are expected to be able to judge this on the basis again of what God has taught us during and categorically elsewhere in scripture.

Again, we only learn that by reading the whole thing. God expects you to read the whole thing. He didn't give you the Bible for you just to pick out a little bit here, pick out a little bit there.

No, you need to read and know the whole thing. But Gordon and Fee go on, they didn't say that rant I just gave. But all the narratives are selective and incomplete.

Not all the relevant details are always given. And this is a pattern throughout the whole Bible.

Narratives are not written to answer all our theological questions. What does appear in the narratives is everything that the inspired author thought was important for us to know.

Now, this helps answer questions of personal responsibility and fairness. As we read, though, we don't always see the individual stories. They're always going on and they're not lost to God.

There are and were many things happening that we aren't told about. And the Judge of the whole earth will do what is right.

In final analysis, God is the hero of all biblical stories, all narratives at all levels, because every individual story is part of the bigger story, God's story of redemption of his people and his creation. And you must study and know the context and keep in mind the big picture of that particular part, the story, for it to make sense.

For example, as you read Judges, it is arguably one of the most depressing books in the Bible. In it are individual stories of Gideon and Samson. They are not the heroes of the story. God is and how he used and empowered them.

When we understand that God is the true hero of all biblical stories, it not only helps us put him in his proper place, but it gives us a proper view of the biblical characters. They all made mistakes as we do.

We don't work to emulate them, but to learn about God who gives grace to all of us no matter how many mistakes we make. So why do so many people misapply the Bible stories? Well, Gordon and Fee have some things to say about this. And here's what they say. It says.

They say. First, people are desperate, desperate for information that will help them in their situation. Second, they're impatient. They want answers.

Now from this book, this passage. They do these things thirdly, because they wrongly expect that everything in the Bible applies to them individually.

These actions are incorrect because though the entire Bible was all written for our instruction, not every passage is specifically to or for us. It's not all about you, though. You can learn from it.

Not only are these mistakes not the correct way to read the Bible, but they can lead to disappointment with God because in reading them out of context or from desperation, people think that God promises something he does not promise.

And then they get disappointed if he doesn't do what they thought he was supposed to do, even though he didn't really say that he would do that in the first place. Now here's an example.

This verse is often used as a primary example of bad application, and here's what it says For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.

People grab at it, share it all the time as a promise that whatever their specific situation is, that God will make it better because God wants them to be happy and preferably very quickly. Now can we do that? Can we grab onto the promise God will make it all better and make it all better now. Now we need to be careful.

It's not a simple categorical no, let's apply what we've learned so far for a correct answer and spoiler alert here. It's going to be an encouraging one.

He told them that God, remember the hero, the true main character of the story, was still with them. He still had a plan for them, even though as a nation they'd sinned horribly and suffered the ultimate punishment of being removed from their land.

He told them to settle in, seek the welfare of Babylon, to trust and serve God even under judgment.

Finally, he reminded them that God also promised that after 70 years he would bring them back to the land that is the future and hope the verse refers to. Now, as far as personally claiming this promise, unless you want to take 70 years for a promise to be fulfilled.

The specifics of this passage may not be something you want to claim, but don't stop there and don't give up on God giving you a good hope and future. Look at the bigger picture of who God is in this passage and the rest of the Bible.

If we continue to read again all the Bible stories in the Old and New Testament, what do we see in how God deals with his people who continuously sin?

And even when they are under judgment for their sin, as they were in Babylon when this promise was given to them, we see that God never gives up, but deals with them in continuing love and grace. Though Israel sinned greatly, they made it into the promised land.

Though in Judges they constantly sinned, God continued to provide deliverance and times of peace. Throughout the Old Testament, God continued to raise up prophets. Their job was to call people back to God.

The prophets were ignored, killed and the people were punished.

But God took care of them in every circumstance, even during the exile in Babylon, and brought them back into the land where eventually the Savior would be born. We do have a good future and a hope promised in the Bible because the overall story of how God treats His people gives us that.

But in waiting for that to be fulfilled, what can we learn from reading all the Bible stories and not just grabbing one verse? Here are some suggestions. 1. We may need to endure consequences before ultimate blessing. The Jews were in Babylon for 70 years.

Your challenge Pain, hurt, need may last a long time and it may not be your fault. The sins of our parents and others can influence our lives. Though our ultimate goal and good is guaranteed, the timing is not.

It will almost always take longer for the fulfillment of our hope than we want it to. The fulfillment of your future and hope may not come on this earth, but yet God's love and care for us is guaranteed throughout.

What then should you do with what you know about how God works and how to study and learn from the narratives in the Bible? Keep reading and studying and listening to God's Word and the lessons in it.

If you want your faith and life to make sense, you must keep working on understanding the big pictures of the context of the Bible stories.

Keep reading the stories, the narratives, not only for what you can claim from them, not only what will work for you, but to learn how God works, how God thinks, what matters to Him. Remember, God is the hero of all the stories. Get to know your God better, to grow in your trust and love for Him.

Your joy and peace will grow also as you do this to circle back to the beginning example of Gideon and if we should put out a fleece short answer again, don't do it. Gideon's story is an example of God's mercy to an afraid untrusting man. There are clear commands against this.

In Deuteronomy 6:16 it says, do not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massa. Be sure to keep the commands of the Lord your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you.

The implication here in parentheses is if you know them, you won't need to do the fleece thing. You won't need to test God. Know the commands and then it goes on.

Do what is right and good in the Lord's sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land the Lord promised on oath to give to your ancestors. Also, during Jesus temptation, when he replied to Satan, he quoted this verse again, do not put the Lord your God to the test.

Some additional concerns Putting out a fleece can be an excuse to not wait for God to short circuit doing his will. That's what it would have been for Jesus. It can be a spiritual sounding way to avoid something.

For example, lord, if you want me to talk to this person, maybe about whatever difficult thing you know you really should do, have them call me. Don't confuse cowardice for trusting God. Don't confuse God not answering as an excuse for disobedience instead of putting out a fleece.

Often the answer to what we're seeking is in applying what you already know from God's word. Speak the truth in love. Don't let anger control you. Do justly love, kindness and walk humbly with your God. Don't lie to each other.

Simply wait for the Lord. Study God's clearly revealed will in the Bible. He is very plain about most issues we face when faced with a truly difficult situation.

Remember in James 1 it tells us that when we face trials we need, we can we are encouraged to ask for God's wisdom. Not for a way out, but for wisdom for what to learn from hard times how to bring honor to the Lord in the story he may be telling in your life.

Finally, remember, even though the plot line of your story might be quite confusing, know you are loved by a good God. Know the story you are in is much bigger than what you can see and that God has it all under control.

Know you can trust the author of all the stories of those of us who love him.

And one day he will tie up every loose plot line, resolve all conflicts, and bring our story to a conclusion where, in truth, we will live happily ever after. That's all for now.

Please check out the show notes a complete downloadable transcript Graphics mention and related materials at www.bible805.com until next time, I'm Yvonne Prynn, your fellow pilgrim, writer and teacher for Jesus, and I'd like to close with this benediction.

May you know the invitation of God to move from confusion to clarity, from wandering to rest, from loneliness to knowing you are loved, from turmoil to peace, from wherever you are in your spiritual journey to a growing knowledge of God's Word and in your personal relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.