whose story is it anyway? part 1

from the book Promise and Deliverance: From Creation to the Conquest of Canaan, Vol. 1, S.G. De Graaf, pp. 19ff

"Every time you tell [a story from the Bible], you are telling about God. And you must tell not only what God did but also how He revealed Himself through His actions, for all these things have been written to instruct and enlighten us.

Don't think that such a procedure goes without saying. If we set aside no time for quiet reflection before telling the Bible story but simply follow the most natural course, we will find ourselves talking of men and their actions, of what they believed and how they sinned. God still enters the picture, of course; He intervenes now and then and offers rewards and punishments. Before we know it, we arrive at the "moral" of the story. We tell the children that God will deal with them according to their actions: if they are "good," He will reward them, but if they are "bad," He will punish them.

I venture to say that this is by far the most popular way of telling Bible stories to children. It is also the way many sermons are constructed. But while some people think that this procedure keeps the story simple and direct, they forget that they are not passing on what we are told in Scripture, the record of God's self-revelation.

Scripture is prophecy (Prophecy is first of all speaking for or on behalf of God. Foretelling the future is just one element of prophecy.). This is true even of its historical passages. In other words, every story in Scripture reveals something of the counsel of God for our redemption, even though every story tells it differently. And in every story God is the prime agent, revealing Himself through His acts as the Redeemer. The entire work of redemption can be seen in each story."