Our place in the Story
If we allow the narrative nature of scripture to lead us
we can more easily see how the entire Story holds together and how we
are supposed (in general) to live our lives out before God.
Should we expect the actors in Act 3 of a ten Act play to know as
much as those in Act 10? If the playwright presents his drama as
unfolding over a period of centuries it’s hardly surprising that those
that lived out their part in the early stages would not grasp the
overarching drift of the story.
If the political and cultural setting is very different for the
people of Act 4 than for those in Act 9 then we shouldn’t expect them to
respond in Act 9 terms. They can’t possibly live out their parts in the
way later actors will do, whose crises, structures, cultures, questions
and blessings are shaped differently than theirs. Their response of
faith will differ in shape and content from those whose times differ
from their own. Why is it that modern believers do not put their babies
in little baskets and set then floating on the rivers?
The obedience of faith is similar in some respects for all believers.
It is actions and attitudes that rise out of the faith of those who
trust in the living God. But depending on where one is in the unfolding
Story that faith will express itself in peculiar ways.
Confronted by a wilderness, the obedience of faith will...
Confronted by the Mosaic Covenant, the obedience of faith will...
Confronted by Jesus Christ and his cross, the obedience of faith will...
The heart that would respond to God in faith at the wilderness would respond in faith to God at the cross of Christ.
The heart that would respond to God in faith via Moses would respond to God in faith via Jesus Christ (compare John 5:46).
In Isaiah 36 & 37 the word of the Lord is that the city of Jerusalem would not
fall to the Assyrians and faith’s response would be to believe that. In
Jeremiah 26 the word of the Lord is that the city of Jerusalem will fall. Faith’s response to that would be to believe that the city will fall to the Babylonians.
Throughout the ages and the changes in covenant structures there are
some things that do not change. One of them is the God who has made a
commitment to bring the human family to glory in eternal life and the
other is the response of faith in the believers. However different their
circumstances or their place in the Story they will live out their
trust in God in appropriate ways.