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Bible Blog: The Importance of Themes

 One of the challenges of reading the Bible is the fact that it’s an anthology—a collection of shorter works, shorter stories, that don’t always seem to fit together all that easily. It’s not always obvious to us what this story in Genesis has to do with that story in Judges, or why this prophet has to do with that prophet. Sometimes it can seem like the Bible is a bit of a jumble, without a greater design.
If you look deeper, however, you will find that this couldn’t be farther from the truth. The Bible is an intricately woven masterpiece, a single work of dazzling complexity and elegant simplicity. See, every Biblical author was also a Bible-reader, and was inspired by the ultimate Biblical author, so that when they wrote they made all kinds of connections with other books and stories to help you fit the Bible into one great story.  True, some of the strands that connect scripture together can be harder to see once it’s been translated into English, but they are still there when you look for them.
The word I’m going to us for these connections is themes—and when you begin to see the types of themes that run through the Bible, you’ll suddenly see Scripture in a whole new light. Here are some of the Basic types of themes:

  • Setting. In the Bible, the setting of a story is very important. If you keep track of particular settings throughout the Bible, you will see some very interesting things begin to happen. Take Babylon, for instance. Babylon first appears in Genesis 11. Remember the Tower of Babel? Well, in Hebrew it’s called the Tower of Babylon—it’s the same place! Then, in chapter 12, God calls Abra(ha)m to leave his home in Ur and travel to the Promised Land. Guess where Ur is—Babylon! So humanity rebels against God and builds Babylon. God calls Abraham out of Babylon to build a new kingdom. When Abraham’s family rebels against God, he sends them… back to Babylon! And then, when we get to Revelation, what is John’s code word for the capitol of human rebellion against God? That’s right: Babylon. The Bible is full of setting-themes. Try studying locations like Egypt, the Wilderness, the East, and Jerusalem. See what you find!
  • Plot. There are many plots in the Bible that get repeated too, and the author often uses these to mess with us—especially with Jesus! For instance, in the Old Testament it was common for men to find a beautiful, pure bride by journeying to a well in a foreign land. Isaac, Jacob and Moses all found wives this way. So when Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4, we might expect a love story. And that’s exactly what we get… but it’s a totally different kind of love story! The Samaritan woman is not pure, but Jesus seeks her anyway. By playing with our expectations, John shows that Jesus loved all people, regardless of how “acceptable” they were. 
  • Symbols. Very often, the Bible will establish a symbol early on in the story and reuse it again and again. One of the most significant symbols in the Bible is water. The first dramatic encounter with water is Noah’s Flood, in which God saves his people from death by carrying them through the waters of the Great Flood. Then, God famously protected the Israelites from Pharaoh by bringing them through the waters of the Red Sea safely, and destroying the Egyptian army. Later God brings the Israelites into the Promised Land by parting the Jordan River. Water is a symbol for God’s salvation. It’s no wonder, then, that baptism became such an important symbol in John the Baptist’s ministry—and no wonder that Jesus chose to begin his ministry by being baptized in the Jordan River—to remind everyone that God’s salvation was at hand! 

There are many more themes I would love to show you, but I only have one page. Let me end with this: there is so much more to learn about the Bible that we are never done. It is such a beautiful book—beautifully designed, beautifully written, beautifully inspired. Start watching for themes—you’ll be amazed what you find!

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