Colossians 1:1-14
First, let’s note some reoccurring words and phrases. We see the words “thanks,” “praying” or “pray,” and “bearing fruit” repeated. Therefore, we know that this passage has something to do with prayer, thankfulness, and fruit bearing. Also, we take notice that “bearing fruit” is used as a figure of speech to refer to the spread of the gospel and the spiritual works of the Colossians.
We also see Paul moving from general-specific to specific-general. He starts off talking about how he and Timothy pray for the church, and then, in verses 9-12, he mentions specifically what they pray.
Now, let’s look at the sequence of each major paragraph (1:3-8 and 1:9-14). In both paragraphs Paul refers to having heard about the Colossian conversions (1:4;9)
In both paragraphs Paul and Timothy are praying for the Colossians (1:3;9)
In the first paragraph Paul and Timothy are thanking God in their prayer because they have heard of the Colossians faith and love (1:4).
In the second paragraph Paul and Timothy are petitioning God in their prayer to fill the Colossian Christians with the knowledge of his will (1:9). Thus the first paragraph is the cause for prayer, while the second paragraph is the content of the prayer.
In the first paragraph Paul and Timothy are thanking God (1:3), but in the second paragraph they want the Colossians to thank God (1:12)
In the first paragraph the gospel is producing fruit and growing (1:6). This is a figure of speech, referring to the spread of the gospel. The fruit is the new church in Colossae. Paul uses the same figure of speech (fruit and growing) in the second paragraph (1:10), but with different referents. Here the Colossians are the ones producing fruit and they are the ones who are growing. Their fruit is “every good work” and their growth is in “the knowledge God.”
Therefore, what we have is that in the 1st paragraph, Paul and Timothy have heard of the Colossians’ initial saving faith and love, and they are thanking God for this. However, they do not stop there. They continue in the second paragraph to pray that these new believers will move on to maturity, being filled with the knowledge of God’s will, doing good works, and continuing to grow in the knowledge of God.
2 Samuel
In this section of scripture, I want to focus on how to identify story shifts, or major pivot points in the narratives. 2 Samuel is a great example to use. The book itself opens with a major shift in verse 1, “Now it came about after the death of Saul…” The story is now going to shift from the death of Saul to the rise of David as king. In chapters 1-8, we read that all is going well for David. He is made king over Judah, his house is strengthened, he has success, and he eventually becomes king over all Israel. He is triumphant in battle and makes plans to build God a temple. Chapter 8 then closes out this section of the narrative with a list of all of David’s triumphs.
Then, chapters 9-10 transition us to David’s major failure with Bathsheba and Uriah. The first verse of chapter 11 indicates to the reader that something is about to happen, “Then it happened…” David was supposed to be out in battle, but instead he is at home. Though David repents, we see that because of his sin, major family problems arise. Thus, in chapter 13, we have another major story shift. Verse 1 reads, “Now after this…” that is, after David’s sin and all the things that played out, family issues arise. Thus, what we see is that from chapter 13-21 David has major family problems. In closing, examining the book as a whole, we see that there are three major story shifts in the life of David that have significant impact on the direction of the narrative.
Genesis 11:1-9
Yesterday, I talked about how a chiasm was one of the most difficult literary devises to identify. Therefore, today, I want to point one out to you so you can see how it works. In the opening verses of Genesis 11, we have a chiastic structure in the narrative. After reading the passage, take note of the structure (to review what a chiasm is, see yesterdays post):
A the whole world (11:10)
B had one language (11:1)
C Shinar, and settled there (11:2)
D Come let us make bricks (11:3)
E come let us build (11:4)
F a city with a tower
G but the LORD came down (11:5)
F ‘ to see the city and the tower (11:5)
E ‘ that men were building (11:5)
D ‘ Come, let us go down and confuse their language (11:7)
C ‘ Babel – because there (11:9)
B ‘ the Lord confused the language (11:9)
A ‘ the whole earth (11:9)
The pivotal point in the chiastic structure is the middle, which is represented by the letter G. In verse 5, Yahweh comes down, then the reverse happens- the one language becomes many. What we see is that the chiastic structure is highlighting the significant event of Yahweh coming down, because it is here that things take a major turning point in the narrative. As we will see shortly, when we consider the historical and cultural context of this passage, the emphasis of Yahweh coming down is paramount.
Tomorrow, we will talk about the importance of context both in the flow of the passage and in terms of literary, cultural, and historical setting.