BibleProject is teaching me to read Scripture in a different way than I am used to -- by tracing narrative patterns over multiple stories and books of the Bible.
In an episode about applying the biblical paradigm to your Bible reading, Tim says, "Narrative patterning is exactly what it sounds like: the entire structure of a story and the sequencing of words within a story is repeated in a later story, but with key differences. The act of comparing and contrasting the two connected stories is one of the major ways the biblical authors communicate the significance of a narrative to us."
This means I don't finish every narrative and ask, "How can I apply this to my life today?" Instead, I can ask, "what does this tell me about God? What is significant about it within the larger story of Scripture and it's fulfillment in Jesus?"
Honestly, I miss most of the patterns. Even when I recognize one, it is challenging for me to understand what it means theologically. But, when I do find one for myself, I feel like a true Bible nerd.
In the Beginning
Genesis 1-9 lays most of the foundation for patterns/themes you find throughout the Old and New Testaments. With some important themes being Creation, Fall, and Judgement/Rescue. Each of these themes has specific words and imagery associated with them.
In Exodus 3:2-5, Moses and the burning bush, we can trace the narrative patterns that echo and invert the Fall narrative in Genesis 3 and point to God initiating redemption and rescue for the Israelite people.
Exodus begins where Genesis left off, with the descendants of Israel living in Egypt. But while they once flourished under the rule of a Pharoah and Joseph, they are now oppressed by a new Pharoah who "did not know about Joseph" (or the God who blessed Him) (Exodus 1:8).
However, even in exile, the Israelites are multiplying, and God is actively moving on behalf of Israelite families (3:21). This is an echo of God's blessing to Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:28.
The narrative then focuses on one man, one baby, Moses. He is caught in Pharaoh's plot to kill Israelite babies, but He is rescued through the waters in a basket. Moses goes on to grow up in Pharaoh's palace. Then, he is exiled for killing an Egyptian.
In his exile in Midian, while shepherding his flock, Moses sees a burning bush on Mount Horeb.
Creation
As Moses looked, he saw that the bush was on fire but was not consumed. So Moses thought, I must go over and look at this remarkable sight. Why isn't this bush burning up?" When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called out to him from the bush, "Moses, Moses!"
"Here I am," he answered.
"Do not come closer," he said. "Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." -Exodus 3:2-5, CSB, Emphasis mine.
When we read the Bible through the lens of narrative patterning, we pay attention to specific patterns or groupings of words and images over multiple narratives.
The bolded words, looked, saw, bush, remarkable sight, and called out from the bush are in some form also present in the sin narrative in Genesis 3.
In Genesis 3:6 Eve "saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom." Then, when she and Adam had eaten the fruit and heard God walking in the garden, " they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden" (Gen 3:8).
Both Moses and Eve saw that the tree/bush was a sight that caught their attention. However, Eve's approaching the tree led to her foolish rebellion against God. Moses' attention and interest in the bush led him into the presence of God.
In this way, Exodus 3 serves as an inverse of sin in Genesis 3. It also hints at a rescue and redemption from the effects of sin for Moses and the Israelites.
So What?
According to Tim Mackie, the key to narrative patterning is comparing and contrasting patterns to draw out meaning.
Adam and Eve's rebellion against God at the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil led to exile from God, their purpose, and His garden of abundance. It led them out of God's Holy Presence.
The narrative of the burning bush ends with God calling to Moses from the bush and telling him that he is standing on holy ground.
Again, according to Tim, "The Hebrew word for holy is kadosh, which can describe a person, place, or thing that has been brought into proximity or dedicated to the service of Yahweh."
What does this mean? Man is again in the proximity and presence of God!
What's more, we know Moses is not blameless. He fled Egypt to Midian because he killed an Egyptian man. Still, God is inviting him and receiving him into His Holy Presence.
Why? How? What does this mean?
In my next post on Leviticus, we will explore how God forms Moses and the Israelite people into a people of His own possession. God does not come into the camp of people who are blank slates. Through a series of laws, rituals, and festivals, they have the opportunity to be formed by God's grace, mercy, and wisdom.
Resources:
BibleProject, Paradigm: Applying the Paradigm Ep. 14, 20 December 2021.
BibleProject, Leviticus: Purity and Impurity in Leviticus Ep. 5, 27 June 2022.
GABRIELLE WENOS
Wife, mama of Byron, and inconsistent writer.
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