Canonical Study is for Everyday Believers
The discussion about “canonical study," “historical narratives” and “narrative typology” can sound like this kind of study is reserved for scholars and theologians, the really smart people. But it’s not. Once we know what to look for, regular people like you and me can do canonical study.
Let’s look at a question that gets resolved through observing a pattern in the Pentateuch. It was one that was asked in my toddler’s Bible last night. It’s a good question and one that adults discuss.
Basically, the question is would anyone have done things differently than Adam and Eve in their choice to disobey God (by taking and eating the fruit from the forbidden tree)? I think we know the answer is “no,” but how do we prove that from the text? Is this even a question that’s answered for us in the narratives of the Pentateuch? And of course, my answer is “yes.”
Using Observations of the Biblical Text to Answer Questions
Let me demonstrate with some of the parallels I observed:
So, the text is recasting Adam and Eve in Abraham, in Isaac, and in Joseph. The parallels between each story that demonstrate this are the land, the blessings, and someone or something that is beautiful. There’s also a failure, a confrontation, and a consequence. We’ll discuss this in-depth in the next blog, but there are specific verbs that are also repeated: to see, to take, and to give.
The parallels or patterns that connect these stories show us that God’s people are failing in the same way over and over. It wasn’t just Adam and Eve who “couldn’t obey one simple little command.” It was everyone (but Joseph). We can go on to discuss even more examples of this failing.
Beyond Genesis, the nation of Israel failed collectively at Mt. Sinai (cf Eden, which was on a mountain), on their way to the Promised Land, after they were just brought out into life and away from slavery and death, as God brings them through water was just parted by a great wind (Ex. 14:21, 15:8, wind is the same word for the Spirit, which was hovering over the waters in Gen 1:2) and through the water, the dry land appeared (another of many Creation links in the Exodus text), where God gives commands, and the people immediately failed (worshipping the golden calf).
But back to our question:
There is a rather straightforward answer to my daughter’s Bible question “What do you think you would have done in Adam and Eve’s shoes?” The pattern shows us that Adam and Eve failed to obey. Abraham failed, and Isaac failed. The people of Israel failed, too. The Pentateuch is showing us that people are really bad at following God’s commands. So no, it is very unlikely that I would’ve obeyed if I were in Adam or Eve’s place. I know this because basically everyone who failed was recast in their shoes, as evidenced by the parallels or recursions in the text of Scripture.
Answering Questions that We Have
I hope that this demonstration is proof to us that studying the text for patterns is for regular people, and for regular people to teach their regular children! It’s not too lofty; it’s attainable and it’s practical. We can answer the questions we have through means of observing repetitions (parallels) in the text of Scripture!
A Post-Script
Looking for patterns and recording our observations is not the only task of canonical study. We must also ask why does the author show us these patterns? This begins the work of interpretation. We need to understand the author’s intent before we think about applying the content to our own lives. For more on this sequence of studying and understanding, you can download my workbook on methodical, inductive Bible study here.
Just as above, we note the repetition of language and settings that showed us that God’s people kept on failing. Like Adam and Eve, Abraham and Isaac and the nation of Israel failed, too.
The Intentionality of the Author
The writer of the Pentateuch is creating a palpable tension in his narratives between God’s laws and humanity’s inability to trust and obey Him. To the reader observing the narrative patterns and parallels, it seems incredible that God’s people wouldn’t obey Him. Like Adam and Eve. They were living in paradise where God walked with them, having access to everything but one tree, entrusted with dominion over the lands and all that was in it, yet they failed to trust the word of the LORD and obey His command.
In the same way, God is with the Israelites, bringing them out of death and into life after performing many miracles in Egypt, not least of which is bringing them through a sea on dry ground (cf Gen. 1:9). The reader of Exodus can’t help but be exasperated with the Israelites, because as soon as they’re through the sea, here come the complaints. Here comes the disobedience at Mt. Sinai (and beyond). This astonishing contrast between how the reader expects Israel to act (trust in their powerful God and obedience to His commands) and how they end up acting (distrust and disobedience) is the author’s intentional weaving of the narrative. He’s created a problem for the reader. Why can’t God’s people obey? And what is God going to do about it?
Why is the Pentateuch’s author showing us the tension and showing us the failures?
A short answer, and a seed for your own study, is that the writer is creating a longing for the Messiah, the promised Seed from all the way back in Genesis 3. God raises up these human sons who keep on failing[1], who are hot and cold with their trust in God. So, the reader is looking forward, waiting for the son who will entirely succeed! He will trust and obey God and will bring his people back to the Promised Land, ascending the mountain of the LORD, and restore His people’s access to the Tree of Life and to God’s presence.
Keep at your personal, methodical study of the historical narrative texts. Keep thinking on your observations and see what the patterns seem to be explaining about the intentions of the author (the interpretation). We need to see the small patterns (like the patterns in Abraham’s narratives) and we need to fit those patterns into the big picture of the whole, five-part book to get at the full intention of the author.
NOTE
[1] Again, Joseph is the only one who isn’t shown as failing God’s commands. In fact, when Joseph is confronted by the overt advances of Potiphar’s wife, he says exactly what Adam should’ve said when his wife gave him fruit from the forbidden tree: “Look, my master does not give any thought to his household with me here, and everything that he owns he has put into my care. There is no one greater in this household than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?” Gen 39:8-9
Yet, while he obeys God, Joseph is only a man and eventually dies. Not only is the reader of the Pentateuch searching for the son who will trust and obey, but the reader is also looking for the son who will restore his people’s access to the Tree of Life.