Intro: When the author of a novel writes their book, it is their intent to draw you into the   story so as to allow you to 'live' the story rather than just 'read' it.

Question: How does the author do this?
     -graphic detail, vivid word pictures, interesting characters, a catchy plot...

     For me it is the graphic detail and vivid word pictures that make a story come alive. And God, through the Holy Spirit and the human authors has done the same thing with the Bible. This is especially true in the Old testament, the part of the Bible we don't read as much as the New Testament because we think it is usually boring or hard to understand.

ILL: Dietrich Bonhoeffer in  'Letters and Papers from Prison' said 'My thoughts and feelings seem to be getting more and more like the Old Testament and no wonder, I have been reading it much more than the New for the last few months. I don't think it is Christian to want to get to the New Testament too soon or too directly.'

I. Introduction to Biblical Motifs
    A. Biblical Theology: A Gallery of Pictures
 1. Background
     The ancient Hebrews were very good theologians but their theological significance is often overlooked by modern day scholars. The Hebrews were a people who although they understood reason, were not recognized for their use of it.

     The Greeks were the master of reason and logic. They systematized and categorized ideas and we have adopted their way of thinking. But this would have been foreign to the ancient Hebrews.

    If we are to fully understand then what the Old Testament is saying, we must be able to think like the ancient Hebrew thought about theology. BUT this is difficult.

Question: Why might it be hard for us to think like the ancient Hebrews?

Two reasons:
1. Their culture is so far removed from us in time that there are gaps in what we know about them and their ways.

2. We tend to measure and evaluate life through our own 20th century, western eyeglasses.  This is especially true for Americans because our culture is so self-centered that we hardly have any idea that there is another way of seeing and doing things..even theology.

     However, we do have an accurate record of the Hebrew people in God's Word, the Bible. When we take the time to examine the language, literature and events, we just may be able to catch a glimpse of what the early Hebrews saw when they looked at God. Thinking as the Hebrews did, is one  of the goals of Biblical theology.

Disclaimer: The Biblical theology I will be proposing is not the same as the liberal Biblical theology Movement of 1940-60's in the US and Europe. They were liberal in relationship to what we would consider conservative ways of doing theology. (they considered the Bible a fully human work that
contained divine truths)

 2. Biblical Theology and Systematic Theology
     Biblical Theology:
      Is understanding theology in each successive stage of Biblical revelation. Observing how the theology grows from a small seed in the earlier stages to it's full growth and maturation in Christ. God revealed Himself  and His intentions gradually and only at the time of Christ and the formation of the Canon of the Bible was the revelation complete.

ILL: Abraham knew more about God than Adam did...and less than Moses who understood less than the prophets.

     We, on this side of the cross, have the advantage of looking back and seeing how God has worked building salvation history.

     A Biblical Theologian is sensitive to the theological issues of the various periods in the Bible and how God deals with His creation; but he does not stop there, he appreciates the growth and unity of God's purposes as they culminate in Jesus Christ. The main idea is to see and understand the Bible as a whole, not as the sum of it's parts.

  Systematic Theology:
     Is  the attempt to reduce religious truth to an organized system which is easy to teach and to understand. It is a critical analysis of the meaning of terms, it follows a strict process of reasoning to reach conclusions.

Question: What are some of the categories of systematic theology.
     -Theology Proper, Christology, Pneumatology, Eschatology, Soteriology, Angelology

The Church constructs a systematic theology for 3 main reasons:
 1. That the people of God may be enriched by those teachings.
 2. Without the foundation of a solid theology there can be no effective ministry.
 3. That the content of Biblical truth might be preserved.

Question: Is one more important than another?
     NO, both are necessary. However, theology should never been seen independent of the Bible as a whole and out of the context of the original writers and circumstances surrounding the theological truth.

 3. How did the Hebrews think theologically?
     The early Hebrews were not systematizers who wrapped up their theology in nice neat bundles of theological abstract thought. They were very concrete in how they thought.

Example: The Greeks would say God was omnipotent. The ancient Hebrew would describe this attribute by picturing God as the 'all powerful Divine Warrior before whom no enemy could stand'.

         The Greeks would describe man's similarity to God at creation by saying he was tricotohmist or use some other complex definition. The ancient Hebrew would simply say that man was created in the 'image' of God without explanation.

     Therefore the early Hebrews painted their theology with colorful, vivid, detailed, concrete 'pictures'. These literary 'pictures' are called Biblical Motifs.

DEF: A Biblical Motif is a concrete, observable fact of nature or everyday life that symbolizes deeper, spiritual truths. These 'snapshots' form an elaborate picture of God as He revealed Himself in Christ when pieced together.

    B. The Nature of Biblical Motifs
  1. They are progressive
      Most motifs have their beginning in the first 11 chapters of Genesis, most of them in the early 'creation' chapters.

      It is necessary to determine what motifs are prevalent in the historical period you are studying. This will give us a clue to the theological issues during that time in history.  We can not limit our study of motifs, however, to one particular time in salvation history as each motif is developed from the previous period of time. And since history in a biblical sense is eschatological, that is, it is looking forward, you must look 'both ways', if you like, to fully understand what God is saying in and through the motif.

Example:

Read: Ex. 17:6
     If you were studying the passage where Moses strike the rock in the wilderness to produce water.

Read: Gen. 2:10-14
     Something would be lost if the connection with the rivers of Eden were not made

Read: John 7:38
     And the loss would be more significant if one would not connect this passage with Jesus' odd statement in John 7:38.  Jesus is using OT imagery (motif) to describe the paradise that He has to offer.

Read: Rev. 22:-5
     Where the river of life flows from the throne of God and the Lamb.XIV.