Archetypes and Applications- I Know, It sounds Boring, Bear with Me

[Starise]

I recently heard a sermon taking stories in Exodus  describing the journeys of the children of Israel under the Lord's care, to the personal lives of Christians in making direct application to something God did with the Israelites.

In other words taking one unrelated story and making it applicable to your life in some way, only the first story doesn't show even vague similarity to the application attempted.

Has anyone else thought this, or am I the only one? 

[FJK]

40 minutes ago, Starise said:

I recently heard a sermon taking stories in Exodus  describing the journeys of the children of Israel under the Lord's care, to the personal lives of Christians in making direct application to something God did with the Israelites.

In other words taking one unrelated story and making it applicable to your life in some way, only the first story doesn't show even vague similarity to the application attempted.

Has anyone else thought this, or am I the only one? 

My opinion, and I have given it thought for some time now, is that the lessons learned from one story can be applied to all stories.

To be simple, consider the secular story of putting all of your eggs in one basket and counting your chickens before they hatch.

Human nature is the same today as it was for the ancient Israelite people, and God is the same today as he was then.

Always look for the lesson of the story, not the literary framework in which it is told.

[Starise]

1 minute ago, FJK said:

My opinion, and I have given it thought for some time now, is that the lessons learned from one story can be applied to all stories.

To be simple, consider the secular story of putting all of your eggs in one basket and counting your chickens before they hatch.

Human nature is the same today as it was for the ancient Israelite people, and God is the same today as he was then.

Always look for the lesson of the story, not the literary framework in which it is told.

Certainly some gems to be had in looking at God who is the same today, yesterday, and forever. 

Sometimes though, I think some of it seems to be overreach.

[FJK]

5 minutes ago, Starise said:

Sometimes though, I think some of it seems to be overreach.

Sometimes, depends on what is being taught and the reason it is being taught in the way that it is.

Consider the story of the Manna God provided the Israelite's in the desert and the rules about it and then apply it to "Give us this day our daily bread" as you prioritize and organize the activities of your life.  This is a serious lesson about the priorities of the Christian life, the Jewish one as well for those Jews that try to practice what they have been told in scripture.

Again, just my opinion and certainly not the be all and end all of it.  Other opinions are as valid as mine.

[Starise]

1 minute ago, FJK said:

Sometimes, depends on what is being taught and the reason it is being taught in the way that it is.

Consider the story of the Manna God provided the Israelite's in the desert and the rules about it and then apply it to "Give us this day our daily bread" as you prioritize and organize the activities of your life.  This is a serious lesson about the priorities of the Christian life, the Jewish one as well for those Jews that try to practice what they have been told in scripture.

Again, just my opinion and certainly not the be all and end all of it.  Other opinions are as valid as mine.

Now I am in total agreement with that comparison.

[ayin jade]

I wrote up a bible study a few yrs ago and posted it here on biblical types in the bible. Jesus specifically mentioned 2 in the gospels.

[Guest AFlameOfFire]

4 hours ago, Starise said:

I recently heard a sermon taking stories in Exodus  describing the journeys of the children of Israel under the Lord's care, to the personal lives of Christians in making direct application to something God did with the Israelites.

In other words taking one unrelated story and making it applicable to your life in some way, only the first story doesn't show even vague similarity to the application attempted.

Has anyone else thought this, or am I the only one? 

 

Starise, it does say the following

1 Cr 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

Wouldn't those things actually be relatable as far as the examples given to us in them?

 

 

[Starise]

1 hour ago, AFlameOfFire said:

 

Starise, it does say the following

1 Cr 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

Wouldn't those things actually be relatable as far as the examples given to us in them?

 

 

Yes you are right. That's a great reference. To me it didn't feel very personal talking about a people when we might be looking for personal help. God helped them, He will help us and I get that. Possibly I just wasn't aquiesing to it as well as if it was , let's say, one of Jesus's teachings which to me seems far more personal. Most of us read the bible for personal revelation.

Not sure what an 'ensample' is. I would need to look that one up. I'm guessing it means "example" . Admonition? It's a council or warning. Not really a warm fuzzy word. I look at it like it's something rigid and strict. So I take it to mean examples to follow. IOW don't do what they did when they did the wrong things because God will judge. If anything it's an admonition to look at what happened to them, which for the most part, wasn't good. Even so, God delivered them.

Archetypes such as Jonah in being representative of Christ, in the whale three days . Jesus was in the ground three days. There are parallels. Same with the story of Joseph, many parallels. We can take that text and make direct comparisons to Jesus, in fact I think these were likely intended to give those similarities.

So far as I am concerned, I need to ask myself how to interpret some of this sometimes, and not always to lean on every message that a speaker is trying to tie into some personal application. If a speaker says, " Just like the oil that was poured on David's head, We too will recieve this holy oil in our lives." This is obviously suspect. Sometimes it seems they force an application. Not often, but sometimes. If they are referring to the Spirit, I believe there would be better more accurate references for that. Know what I mean?

[Dennis1209]

8 hours ago, Starise said:

I recently heard a sermon taking stories in Exodus  describing the journeys of the children of Israel under the Lord's care, to the personal lives of Christians in making direct application to something God did with the Israelites.

In other words taking one unrelated story and making it applicable to your life in some way, only the first story doesn't show even vague similarity to the application attempted.

Has anyone else thought this, or am I the only one? 

Reading the title of your thread, my first thought was parables. 

[Starise]

Yes parables. Intentionally vague information. Do you think that's accurate?