GBBW: Give us a King!
plus, the plot of the OT
Hello there! Today we’re on part 3 of 3 in our mini series about Biblical Literacy. So far we talked about 5 views of Biblical Literacy and understanding God’s purposes to better understand the Bible.
Today, let’s talk about how knowing the plot helps us know the Bible.
The Narrative Arc of Scripture
My hope with the GBBW is that we can lay out the bigger story of Scripture in a way that helps kids understand who God is and what God is up to. The point is not just to know Bible stories, but to understand what those stories tell us about God. The first part of this, the purposes of God, we covered in the previous essay.
To sum that up: God’s dream is a world in harmony with and reflective of God’s own character, brought to reality through real partnership with humanity. God is consistently inviting people to trust Them and not idols, because that’s what leads to real life, as in enjoying making one’s creative mark on this work that works in ways that match who God is.
Now, let’s talk plot, with a quick sketch of the narrative arc of the Bible, and some notes on how these stories fit together.
We’re going to focus more on the Old Testament this time, because that’s where we are in the GBBW, and because a lot of times the OT has been poorly explained, seen as at best a prelude to the real stuff that starts happening when Jesus arrives, or at worst irrelevant stories about an angry God.
Creation
God created a good world and invited humans to help make it even better. All humans, male and female, rich and poor, are made in God’s image and invited to help fill the earth and rule well over it. In order to represent God well, humans need to trust and stay connected to God. This isn’t some arbitrary or ego-driven thing on God’s part, but essential in the way that a hose staying connected to the spigot is essential.
Sin
Humans walked away, not by doing bad things, but by putting their trust in things other than God. The story of Adam and Eve is the first instance in a recurring theme throughout the Bible of humans putting their trust in not-gods – idols – with the results being oppressive and violent and death-bringing instead of life-giving like those idols promised.
Israel
God promised Abraham and Sarah that their family would get things back on track, blessing the whole world in the process. Their story calls back to creation, a reaffirmation of God’s dream. It also points forward to Jesus, as the representative of Abraham’s family who would bring fully to life the blessing of the whole world.
Egypt and the Exodus
The family ended up enslaved in Egypt. But, God’s people can’t do the work of partnering with God to bless the whole world in slavery, so God set the people free by overpowering the gods of Egypt, showing the world that Yahweh is a God who can be trusted. Whoever wanted to join this newly formed family of God was welcomed.
The Land and the Law
God gave Israel a good and abundant land, and asked in return that they would be a people who showed the world what God is like in the way they lived together. The Law is an example of some of what this would have looked like in their time and place, and within the limitations of their culture.
Judges and Cycles
The dream was that Israel would be a fundamentally different sort of people, trusting Yahweh alone, and living in ways that reflect God’s character. They did…sometimes. And then they would forget what God had done for them, or would get lured away by the false promises of the gods of war, fertility, power, and rain. Over and over a cycle would occur, where the life those gods promised wouldn’t materialize, and the people would call out for help. Each time God would faithfully welcome them back, often using the leadership of a temporary judge. Each time God hoped the people would keep on trusting Yahweh, not idols, offering them another chance to be the people they were meant to be.
Kings (and more cycles)
One of the key ways Israel was supposed to be different was that their King was Yahweh, not a human hoarding power for himself. But the temptation of having a leader like all the other nations was too great. The result was that Israel became like the other nations, dependent on the character of that king. Some kings put their trust in God, and led the people towards more justice and life. But most did what people with power do – tried to hoard more and more for themselves, with disastrous consequences.
Prophets and Exile
God sent prophets to warn the kings (and the people) that the path they were on wouldn’t lead to life, but usually they refused to listen. Eventually, the prophets warned that God would not keep on protecting a nation that claimed to represent Yahweh while not living in ways that reflected Yahweh. The empires of Assyria and Babylon did what empires do, and conquered Israel, destroying the temple of God, and taking the people away from the Land into exile.
In exile, the Prophets began bringing a different message, one of hope and restoration. As a callback to the theme that God had always been faithful to Israel even when Israel was repeatedly unfaithful in return, the Prophets told of a time when God would bring Israel back to the Land. In that day, a faithful representative of God would appear, one who would bring God’s dream into reality. The people would return to trusting Yahweh, and Yahweh would accept them back with open arms.
New Testament
God stayed faithful to the promise made to Abraham and through the Prophets, and became human in Jesus. Jesus did what humans in general, and Israel in particular, were always supposed to do – lived in a way that showed the world what God was like. He showed in his life, death, and resurrection how the way to life was a way of self-sacrifice and love, and encouraged his followers to trust that was true, choosing to walk that path with him. The church, then, is meant to continue carrying this on, not as a replacement for Israel, but as a fulfillment for what Israel was always supposed to be.