“Narratives are stories-purposeful stories retelling the historical events of the past that are intended to give meaning and direction for a given people in the present.” (Fee, 2003, p.92) Biblical narratives tell God’s story using characters, plot and plot resolution. When we read them we learn about God and His plan for redemption, God’s covenant with His chosen people and the stories themselves. These stories have been misinterpreted in the past and continue to be today. Fee and Stuart note three areas where people have difficulty interpreting and applying Biblical narratives: Old Testament narratives are not allegories, they are not intended to teach moral lessons and they do not contain explicit teachings. Problems with interpretation arise when the reader attempts to derive a meaning or moral and apply it. Also, not every event in a narrative is to be taken as a good example for us to follow. Narratives also expect the reader to be able to use God’s word to give them insight in reflecting on the story. Problems with application occur when we look for specifically taught doctrine or theology. Narratives are important to Christians because God uses them to give us guidance, but we cannot take narratives and specifically apply them to ourselves. As stated by Fee (Fee, 2003, 103), “this does not mean that each individual narrative is somehow to be understood as a direct word from God for each of us separately or as teaching us moral lessons by example.”

Gordon D. Fee, Douglas Stuart (2003). How to read the bible for all its