These Things Happened as Examples: A Guide for the Interpretation of Biblical Historical Narrative

Historical narrative is an account of the events what have happened in the past. A great deal of the Bible contains historical narrative. I would go so far as to say that historical narrative is God's "go to" way of speaking to his people. Therefore, if interpreters are going to hear God speak through the Bible it is necessary that they understand biblical historical narrative and how it works to communicate a message.
In Ears to Hear: A Guide for the Interpretation of the Bible I provide principles, methods, and procedures for Christians and ministers as they seek to hear God speak through the Bible and communicate the message of the Bible to those who need a word from God. In Ears to Hear I identify different perspectives for examining biblical passages including text and translation, situation and purpose, literary context and role, form and function, strategy and structure, and message. One of the most fruitful of these perspectives is form and function. Form refers to the specific type of literature in which the passage is composed. Function refers to the way in which the particular form works to communicate a message. Understanding the form and function of a passage is essential for understanding its message.
Though the forms of the Bible are diverse, most of them can be categorized generally as either historical narrative or exhortation. In this volume I supplement Ears to Hear by examining and providing a simple approach to interpreting biblical historical narrative. I am planning another volume in which I will examine and provide a simple approach to interpreting biblical exhortation. The first chapter contains an examination and simple approach for interpreting biblical historical narrative. Subsequent chapters contain my interpretations of a variety of historical narratives from both the Old and New Testaments.

William H. (Bill) Lawson is a proud graduate of California Baptist University (BA), Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary (MDiv), and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (PhD). He taught briefly at SBTS and then served with the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention and taught the Bible in Baptist seminaries throughout Asia for over 30 years. He has written numerous books including Ears to Hear: A Guide for the Interpretation of the Bible, Obedient unto Death: A Guide for the Interpretation of Paul's Epistle to the Philippians and The Lion Roars: A Guide for the Interpretation of the Book of Amos. He is now retired and living at The End of the Lane where he is writing books and painting/drawing pictures.