Characters | Knowable Word

Subverting Abraham’s Bad Rap

October 4, 2023 By Peter Krol

I am grateful to T.M. Suffield for his courage to take on (and take down) our widespread presumption that Abraham was a cowardly liar. Suffield takes us deep into the argument of Genesis and the overall message of the book.

What I am suggesting is that we should read these texts looking at the warp and woof of the Bible, the texture of the whole story, and considering why these stories are in Genesis at the point that they are. We’ll notice that they have more to do with the grand narrative and with Jesus than we might just think; this isn’t just by contrast either. Jesus does treat his wife differently in the presence of evil kings to Abraham. The point isn’t that he doesn’t disown us, because Abraham doesn’t and Jesus is our brother, but that he can protect us from snake-like kings. Some of them might even turn to God because of the church’s beauty.

And I think Suffield is exactly right. My co-blogger Ryan has written a wonderful piece on how we love to give gold stars to Bible characters. And that tendency too often leads us to draw all the wrong conclusions, sometimes missing the explicit assessment of Bible characters given in the text itself.

For example: Here is my not-at-all-controversial list of things I’ve found people typically get wrong:

Noah’s drinking wasn’t the issue; Ham’s rebellion was (Gen 9:24-25).
Abraham’s description of his wife as his sister wasn’t the issue; the evil king’s oppression was (Gen 12:17, 20:6-7, 20:18).
Jacob wasn’t as much a wicked trickster as he was a courageous fighter for the promises of God (Gen 25:34b, 32:28).
Moses: an out-of-control hothead and murderer? Try again: He was an attempted—albeit rejected—deliverer (Acts 7:24-25).

I can’t say whether Suffield would agree with all the items on my list here. But his piece on Abraham and Sarah is well-argued and worth your consideration.

Check it out!

See Your Bible Reading Go from Chore to Delight

September 5, 2018 By Peter Krol

Steve Midgley ask a great question at the blog for the Christian Counseling and Education Foundation: Is reading the Bible a chore or a delight? The difference, he suggests, depends on how connected you feel with the characters. Or more specifically, the Character.

For the Bible is really a book about one person: God. He is the hero on every page. How much do we really care about him? So much of the time we read the Bible as if it were all about us. How can I find some comfort? How can I get a little guidance? How can I be spiritually strong? We come to the Bible as if it were a self-help manual, as if its prime purpose were to help us fix our problems. But it isn’t.

The Bible’s prime purpose is to bring glory to God. It does that by declaring his excellence and establishing his kingdom and, finally and wonderfully, by bringing all things together under one Head, even Christ (Eph 1:10). As long as we insist on reading the Bible as if it were all about us, we will not only miss the point, we will find it dull because we won’t be interested in the character that it is describing—God himself.

Check it out!

We Three Kings… Sorta

December 19, 2012 By Tom Hallman

Christmas in the Hallman household always comes with an abundance of some of my favorite things, including my mom’s holly candy, incredible Christmas light displays, and, of course, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

One of TSO’s lesser-known songs is this fun tune [link no longer available] about “what really happened” when the three wise men showed up looking for the baby Messiah. It’s obviously a work of fiction but is bound to make you smile knowingly and say, “That’s creative, but we all know that’s not what actually happened!”

Image courtesy of Vectorportal.com

Do we?

Let’s take a closer look at what Matthew records in his gospel to see how our nativity traditions measure up! First, refresh your memory by reading over Matthew 2:1-18. Okay, ready for a quiz?

How many kings were there?

If you guessed “three”, you might be right, but that’s the most we can know. Matthew never tells us how many there were; he only tells us that there were at least three kinds of gifts offered (gold, frankincense and myrrh.) In fact, since these guys could obviously afford to offer some nice presents to young Jesus, they probably also traveled with a large company of servants and/or guards.

Were they actually kings?

Matthew doesn’t call them “kings”. Some translations call them “wise men”. The best word is probably “magi”, but there are many theories about who “magi” actually were.

One possible clue to their identity is way back in Daniel 2:48: “Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men (magi) of Babylon.” It’s entirely possible that Daniel went on to teach these Babylonian magi all about Yahweh and His coming Christ such that generations later, wise men in the east were expectantly watching for the star of the promised King.

When did they arrive?

If your favorite nativity characters happen to be our magi friends, I have sad news for you: they weren’t there!

We know from Matthew 2:7 that Herod asked the magi when the star had appeared. We also know from Matthew 2:16 that Herod, in his rage when the magi do not return to him, has all children under age 2 killed “according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.” It seems likely therefore that the magi had noted the star two years earlier but hadn’t made the trip for some time. By the time Mary welcomed these foreign visitors, Jesus was probably a toddler! Also, Joseph’s little family had upgraded to a house during that time (Matthew 2:11).

Application… sorta

So, consider this blog post your permission to have a new “nativity” where 2-year-old Jesus is getting piggy-back rides from a couple dozen Babylonian decedents. It’s at least as Biblical as the traditional nativity scene, and perhaps a bit more fun.

Is understanding a movie different than understanding the Bible?

November 17, 2012 By Tom Hallman

Recently a Christian friend said to me, “I’m not able to understand the Bible when I read it.”

I asked, “Are you able to understand movies you watch?”

My friend replied, “Yes, but that’s different!”

Is my friend right? Do we use a different set of skills to understand movies vs the Bible?

There certainly are some differences! You can more easily convey some things in writing than you can in visual media (and vice versa). Also, the Bible generally doesn’t come with a soundtrack nor does a movie come with cross-references.

However, a majority of the skills you use to watch and understand a movie are actually quite similar to how you’d read (and understand, and apply) the Bible. That’s what we’d expect, after all, from a God who desires that His Word be truly knowable.

Consider the following:

#1: The Bible often uses repeated words and themes in order to point out when something is important and should be remembered. Movies do the same thing. How many times has the last line of a movie simply been a repeated phrase from earlier? How many romantic comedies climax with the girl repeating the exact phrase the guy had said back on the first date? Even this memorable movie quote comes as a direct result of repeated words!

#2: The Bible is full of stories about people. As you read, it is expected that you’ll love them (e.g. Jesus, Joseph, Daniel), hate them (e.g. Eli and his sons, the Pharisees, just about all Israelite kings), learn from them (e.g. Paul, Peter, Jethro), empathize with them (e.g. the woman caught in adultery in John 8, the Psalmists) or avoid them (e.g. the “fool”, the sexually immoral, the Judaizers). Movies make heavy use of this same technique. You get drawn in, identify yourself with some character, and are are often meant to change your life as a result. Consider your favorite movie characters. Don’t you in some ways try to be more like them?

#3: The Bible is full of stories about how the world works and what is true. The Bible talks about the worth of life, of family, of work, of rest, and countless other topics. Movies address the same things. For example: What is reality? What is perseverance? What is worth fighting for? What is it to be falsely accused? What is it to sacrifice? The answers to those questions are meant to teach us more about how to live.

#4: After you watch a movie with a friend, you can discuss what the movie was about. While not everything is easily explained the first time through and may require thinking for a while, you know for a fact that the writer, actors, director and producer fully intended to communicate something. They had a main point that they wanted you to understand and wrestle with. So it is with the Bible. The author (and Author) intended it to be understood and applied.

Much more can be said here, but my conclusion is that the friend I spoke of above can indeed understand the Bible. Moreover, as one who watches many movies, I suspect my friend actually knows a lot more about Bible study than either of us even realizes!

The next time you watch a movie, ask yourself how you know what you know about it. Then determine how you knew that, and try the same technique on the Bible.

What to Observe: Four More Tips

October 9, 2012 By Peter Krol

We’ve seen five things you can observe when you study a Bible passage: words, grammar, structure, genre, and mood. Here is a final hodgepodge of things to observe.

Repeated Words. I can’t repeat it enough. Pay attention to stuff that repeats. This is one of the simplest observations you can make. Get a Bible that you don’t mind writing in, and highlight repeated words with the same color. The author’s big ideas will jump right off the page. For example, Genesis 14 repeats the word “king” more than 20 times. It’s even built into one of the character’s names (Melchizedek means “king of righteousness”). The author wants us to think about what a true king looks like!
Comparison and Contrast. A passage often shows how two or more things are similar (comparison) or different (contrast). Picking up on that connection can help. For example, Gen 24, Gen 29, Exod 2, and John 4 all describe interactions between a man and a woman at a well of water. What is similar and different in each account?
Characters. Pay special attention to how each character is named in a passage. Authors will communicate important stuff just by using certain names. For example, Genesis 21, which has a lot to say about Ishmael, never mentions his name. He’s always “the son of Hagar” or “the son of the slave woman.” Why do you think that is?
Connectors. Words like “therefore,” “in those days,” or “in the same way” draw significant connections between sentences, paragraphs, or chapters. Notice the connections so you can work to figure out why they’re there. For example, Genesis 15:1 begins with “after these things.” How might it affect your understanding of this chapter, if you think about how Abram might be feeling immediately after the events of chapter 14?

What else can we observe?

What the Avengers Taught Me about Bible Study

May 28, 2012 By Peter Krol

I just saw The Avengers and thought it almost lived up to all the hype. It’s well worth seeing, and it can teach you about Bible study!

Characters, characters

This movie was well set up by all the (mostly) independent prequels: The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Captain America, and Thor. Each of those movies tells the story of a single hero. All the heroes come together as a team in The Avengers. Needless to say, the movie’s greatest strength was its characterization.

There is no narrator to tell you what’s happening, and there’s not much explanation of plot or setting except through dialogue. All you have that drives the drama and action is the characterization of the heroes as they relate to each other, and it works beautifully.

Tony Stark (Iron Man) considers himself a “genius, playboy, billionaire, philanthropist,” and his choices, especially in his relationships, directly reflect this chosen identity. Bruce Banner (Hulk) remains pretty introverted, fearing the monster that rages within him. When asked how he keeps the monster at bay, he reveals his secret: “I’m always angry.” We can reinterpret his quiet withdrawal in light of this revelation.

I could go on, but the point should be clear that much of a story can be told through strong characterization. Notice how the Bible uses the same technique:

Jacob’s character drives much of the last sections of Genesis, as his affinity for conflict (Gen 25:22) and deceit (Gen 27:18-19) is used against him by his uncle (Gen 29:23, 31:26-28) before the Lord redeems it and makes him fruitful through it (Gen 32:28).
We are told very little about the prophet Elijah, but we resonate with the one whose nature was just like ours (James 5:17) as we see him alternately hiding (1 Kings 17:5-7) and confronting (1 Kings 18:17-19), inspiring (1 Kings 18:38-39) and raving (1 Kings 19:10, 14). The man who demanded justice (1 Kings 19:10) and saw the Lord only in wind, earthquake, fire, and whisper (1 Kings 19:11-12) eventually saw the fulness of God’s glory on that mountain in the face of Jesus Christ (Matthew 17:2-3).
One leper’s character shines when he returns to thank Jesus (Luke 17:15-19).
A whiny, victimized, blameshifting invalid (John 5:6-7) demonstrates the opposite of faith even after meeting Life in flesh (John 5:14-16). We don’t need the author to tell us to avoid his example.

When you read the Bible, be aware of how the characters are portrayed. By their description, choices, and dialogue, we receive instruction in how to flee temptation by remembering that Jesus is our escape (1 Cor 10:6-13). If you still have the chance to see The Avengers, do so, and become a better Bible student.