Genesis is written in the literary form known as narrative. It is a sequence of stories arranged by the author, in this case Moses, to tell a story and convey important points throughout the story. The biblical authors were masters in the narrative style of writing. But we must remember that they were writing these narratives in an ancient, eastern culture and, therefore we cannot hold them to the same standards that we do modern, western narratives. They are often more symbolic than literal, which ancient readers would view as simply good writing. They are often not chronological, instead arranged thematically. These are only a couple of the many differences. It's important that we not impose modern western standards on ancient eastern writings.
The most important thing in reading any narrative is keeping the context in mind. That's why for the next few days of this study we will be going over the big picture context of Genesis to catch us up to the story of Joseph.
This is one of the primary disadvantages to preaching and teaching the way we do in the church today. Each week the preacher feels the pressure to have a different application that relates directly to the listeners in the audience. That's obviously a good thing but it often leads the preacher to sacrifice the big picture for an application that is out of context with the overarching narrative. I know I'm guilty of doing this unknowingly. I would imagine almost every preacher is. The video below illustrates in the story of Gideon how this often happens.
This devotional has freed me up to do both more effectively. Here I can give you broader context and the tools to correctly interpret the text through the lens of the overarching narrative, while focusing on the more relevant application in the preaching and teaching time on Sundays.
*4 videos is definitely a lot but they are all important and on topic. I placed them in order of which ones I think will be most helpful. So if you can, watch all of them. If you don't have time, I'd suggest starting the the first one and revisit later when time allows.