Bible Blog: Reading Bible Discourse

There are three basic types of literature in the Bible: narrative, poetry, and discourse, and each type communicates in a different way. In April we talked about reading Bible stories, and last month we talked about poetry.; this week we’re talking about the last genre: discourse.
What is “discourse?” Basically, discourse is any passage of scripture that lays out logical reasoning for why we should behave a certain way. Think of the Law of Moses, the Wisdom books, the Sermon on the Mount, or the New Testament Letters. Discourse is what we are used to reading, because it’s often simple and easy to break down into short statements. “Do not murder.” “Blessed are the peacemakers.” “You shall love the Lord your God will all your heart, soul and mind.” These are short, simple, and easy to apply. This is how we want the whole Bible to be.
The truth is, however, that even in discourse things are not quite so simple. There are several factors we have to keep in mind while we are reading, in order to take away the right meaning of the passage. Take, for instance, Jeremiah 29:11: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” This passage appears on countless graduation cards, bible bags, and other products with the basic message: everything is going to go well for you because God has a plan for your life. But is that what this verse means? Let’s take a look:

1. Who is speaking? You can see in the verse that God is speaking. More specifically, God is speaking through his prophet Jeremiah. Now, of course all of Scripture is God’s word, but God isn’t always the one speaking. For instance, I once saw verse-a-day calendar that used Luke 4:7, “If you worship me, it will all be yours,” as an encouraging verse. The problem is, Luke 4 is the story of the Temptation of Jesus, and the character speaking in verse 7 is the Devil. Clearly the makers of that calendar were not paying attention to who was speaking. In the case of Jeremiah 29:11, however, we’re on solid ground.
2. Who are they speaking to? Now this is important. Jeremiah 29 is a letter written by Jeremiah to a specific group of people—the first group of Jews who were taken into exile in 597 BC. Jeremiah was not writing to all of God’s people across time and space, but to a specific group of people in a specific time. We cannot assume that everything said in the Bible is said to us. This is especially important when we are reading the Old Testament, which is addressed to God’s covenant people Israel. This doesn’t mean that we can’t learn from the Old Testament, far from it. But we do have to remember that they had a special covenant with God—a different covenant than God has with the Church.
3. Where does this take place in the story of the Bible? Jeremiah 29 takes place at a very important stage in the story of the Bible: at the breaking of the Covenant. God had entered into a special contract with Israel: they would follow his law and he would be their God. After centuries of Israel breaking the Covenant, God finally invoked the punishment clause of their contract by sending them into exile. Jeremiah is writing to the exiles to help them understand that God is the one who sent them into exile—God actually wants them in Babylon. And that leads us to the final insight.
4. What is their main point? Here is where our normal use of Jeremiah 29:11 breaks down. If you read the whole letter, you find that Jeremiah is making a very different point than you would expect from all the graduation cards. Go read the whole chapter. When you read this verse in its proper context, you realize that “you” is plural. God is talking to a whole nation, not a single person. His plans will prosper Israel, and he offers hope for Israel. That means the people who received this letter were getting good news and bad news. Sure, God had plans and hope for Israel—but only after their generation had died in exile. He was telling them to settle down in Babylon because they wouldn’t be coming back—their kids would. The point of this verse is not to tell God’s people that each of their lives are going to go well. The point of this passage is to tell God’s people that, even though our individual lives may not go well, God’s purposes continue and he will fulfill his plan for the people of God. This is why it’s important to track with the author’s overall argument, not just a specific verse. Many Christians have gotten very wrong notions from the Bible by taking verses out of context and ignoring the main point.

I believe that one of the worst things we can do with Scripture is take it lightly. “The Bible says it, and I believe it!” is a great motto, as long as we understand that figuring out “what the Bible says” requires thought, prayer, and discipline. We can’t just assume that the interpretation that seems most obvious to us is the correct one. After all, the people who wrote the Bible wrote in ancient languages to ancient audiences in ancient cultures. We can understand the Bible—and the most important parts, what we might call the “essentials,” are very clear. Humanity is sinful, God sent his son to die for our sins, and through faith in him we can be saved. These are undeniable truths of Scripture. But as we move out into areas that are less clear, we ought to be careful how we proceed. We must be humble and recognize that our interpretations of Scripture are fallible, and we must remember that faithful Christians can disagree on the proper way to interpret Scripture. And we must accept our brothers and sisters in Christ, even when we disagree.