Leadership Application
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Abstract
This paper through the help Interpretive Journey as described by Duvall and Hays will build the validity of the concept which needs to be achieved. Therefore , the paper with carry a detailed in-depth analysis of Genesis 1and 2 to derive informed and beneficial insight which will be intrinsic in knowing God intended message .Again , the paper will stick to the methodology as explained by Duvall and Hays to enhance sound understanding of the biblical text as well as its application in the life of today. Besides, leadership theory will be covered in relation to the quoted verses. The paper will have an Introduction, body, conclusion and references.
Introduction
In most cases, Christian’s have higher expectation of having deeper understanding in God’s word in that they want to see a wider scope as well as understand the biblical text . Additionally, they have a perception of understanding the different ideologies that significantly potray in the Bible so that they can build a confident foundation that can motivate them in pulling the actual truth out of the Bible .In this case , they develop an arbitrary fanciful and correct interpretation (Duvall & Hays, 2013). Therefore, the process of interpreting and grasping the Bible is the same when embarking on a Journey whereby there is thorough and careful reading of the Bible. As a result of this we have the capacity of determining the meaning of the passage not only in the biblical audience but also in the Christian perspective. The congregation of the church today is thirsty for God’s word therefore, various preachers should prepare properly in the deliverance of sound biblical sermons that intensively connect with the respective audience in the easier way.
It is good to know that Christians are separated from the biblical audience by factors such as their culture and customs, vernacular language, situation and also time which facilitates formation if a barrier .In this case, we are referring to the river which separates us from getting a deeper insights of the biblical text. The main aim of this paper is to improve leadership application as well as better understanding of the Bible. According to Lee (2018), leading is a process that entails influencing people to work positively to achieve a specific objective.
Body
The book of Genesis 1and 2 tries not only tell the God’s work of creation but also outlines the story concerning human work .Again, most of the aspects in this Genesis is grounded in creation where God created people in his image and likeness. According to Anchor Bible Dictionary, exegesis is the process where a person carefully analyses a study pertaining biblical passages for the purpose of generating useful interpretations about those passages .In other words, exegesis approach involves the evaluation of the biblical texts originally or earliest available form . In order to achieve a successful exegetical analysis, then one should use Interpretive Journey as explained by Duvall and Hays. Therefore, the Interpretive Journey process consists of five steps but it is also vital that we commemorate that we are not creating our own meaning in relation to our personal understanding depicted in the text; we should look for the meaning that is already there. The five steps include:
- Grasping the text in their town.
- Measuring the text width of the river to cross.
- Crossing the Principlizing Bridge.
- Consulting the Biblical Map.
- Grasping the text in Our Town.
. Therefore, after understanding this process then we are free to carry an exegetical analysis successfully regarding Genesis 1:26-28.
And God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping things that creepth upon the earth (Genesis 1:26) .So God created man in His own image, In the image of God created He Him male and female created He them (Genesis 1:27). And God blessed them and God said unto them , Be faithful ,and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the bird of fowl air and every living thing that moveth upon the earth (Genesis 1:28).
For the purpose of getting significant and deep insight regarding these verses then through the help of Interpretive Journey as described by Duvall and Hays will be very beneficial. Firstly, let us start with the repetitive words in this biblical texts .The word ‘God’ has been repeated three times , the word “man” two times , the word “earth” five times , the word “image” three times , the word “over” seven times .These repetitive words depicts that God created man as a unique creature because he was resembling the image of God. Additionally, he was given the authority over all the creatures and this creation took place on earth. Also, in this verses there is a comparison for instance, God compares man to His own image .For instance God says, “let us make man out if our likeness.” Besides, some items have been listed such as; fish, fowl of the air, cattle and creeping things symbolizes that man has to take charge over these creatures. Another instance where there is depiction of listing is when God gives responsibility to mankind e.g. he was to be fruitful, multiply, replenish and also subduing the earth. In this case, God wanted man to lend other creatures as well as playing a vital role in ensuring continuity in his earthly creation.
Also , the word creeping and moveth are symbolizing figures of speech which helps to create a mental picturing ideology of God’s work .The word ‘our’ here is used by God to represent the Holy Trinity which articulates His self-expression of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit working in solidarity to uphold creation. Nevertheless, inclusio is evident in this verses.Inclusio is a literature technique mostly the passage in Biblical text start with the same word or the similar statement. For example, we see the phrase “and God” start in several sentences and so it means that God is the main contributor who facilitated the creation of the universe.
To summarize what this all meant to the biblical audience we can say the following about Genesis 1: 26-28
- Man was made by God in His image.
- Man was given dominion over fish, the birds, the cattle and creeping things.
- God created male and female.
- God blessed them
- God gave responsibilities.
This completes step 1 in our Interpretive Journey process, we have observed carefully what was happening before the scene and discussed surrounding events that led to Genesis 1:26-28.Therefore, we can proceed to step 2 in relation to this process to help us to measure the width of the river that we are supposed to cross .Hopefully situation time and even covenant. This differences when not put under consideration will hinder us from moving directly from the meaning in their context meaning of current times. Therefore ,we need to find out how wide the river is for us to cross which will help us in understanding how long the bridge is that we need cross if it will be a difficult passage or any easy one to cross over .
Step 2 begins with looking for the differences, this is important differences within the passage in light with our position in history today and they are:
- We were not made by God.
- We were not given responsibilities by God.
- We did not see God creating male and female.
- We were not blessed by God.
Looking at these major distinctions, we realize that the river of time is vast and also the language differences have been dealt with the translators. However, the organizational act that was embraced is still used by churches today hence helping us to see the river which is moderately wide among us, but not so wide that we cannot cross over with ease.
As we continue recognizing the differences we are now ready to move into step 3 which is crossing the principal zing bridge which will help us to identify the specific theological principle within the text and this will be depicted within the understanding of the text that we established in step 1.The insight that was obtained is as follows:
- Man was made by God in his image and likeness.
- Man was given dominion over the fish, the birds, the cattle and creeping things.
- God created male and female.
- God blessed them.
- God gave them responsibilities.
Additionally, when coming up with the theological principle it is important here to observe the similarities between the biblical audience and our situation .We acknowledge that we are all people of God and most importantly we are under new covenant, in most cases, we give leadership to our church and also obey the will of God. Therefore, with this identified similarity we can get different insights in both in the biblical audience and our situation.
Firstly, to the Biblical audience God created mankind in His own image and He gave him power over all creatures. As well as specifying various duties and responsibilities that man had to do. Secondly, as Christians we need to measure the width of the river that we are supposed to cross. Therefore, for Adam and Eve in the biblical context they are supposed to take care of God creation but for our case, we are not involved in any God’s creation. For Adam as depicted by God in his creation account, he should be obedient to God. It is very vivid that God is very loving due to the fact that he took a unique approach when creating man out of His own image and likeness. Again, God delegates duties to mankind if being productive, multiplying and subduing for the purpose of ensuring the perpetuity of His creation on earth. Fourthly, in the New Testament concerning God, He reaffirms his love when he sent His only begotten son to save us from our sins. Finally, based on these verses, we should love one another in every setting despite our differences or our originalities. Again, to our leaders, they should lead with high level of integrity through delegation of duties and responsibilities just like God did to Adam.
And Adam gave names to all cattle and to the fowl of the air ,and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help mate for him (Genesis 2:20) , And the Lord Got caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept. And took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh instead there of ;( Genesis 2:21) And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man (Genesis 2:22). And Adam said, this is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh .She shall be called a woman because she was taken out of man (Genesis 2: 23).
Therefore, through the exegetical analysis , will promote our better captivity of God’s intended message .The most repeated words in these verses are “Adam” four times ,” flesh’’ three times , “man” four times and ‘’ribs’’ two times. The ideology of this repetition is to reveal that God created a woman by extracting a rib from Adam obviously from his flesh and also the name woman was named to because she originated from bone of the man. Most of the verbs in these phrases are in past tense for example, caused, slept, took, closed, made and called. In line to this, these verbs represent actions that have already taken place in the creation of Adam’s helper. Additionally, the pronoun “he” used refers to God revealing that he was the one undertaking the task of creating a woman .Again a woman was created through the means of the rib obtained from Adam when he was asleep . Nevertheless, the purpose of God making Adam into a deep sleep made Him easier to extract one of the ribs resulted to the creation of a woman. Again, there are various actions that God undertook such as making Adam to sleep, closing up the flesh after extracting the rib of Adam signifies intrinsic role that God took in the creation of a woman .In the biblical audience, God created a woman out of the rib of a man by making him fall into a deep sleep. Thereafter, Adam names her a woman because she came out of his bone. For Adam in this story, he realized that God was caring because He brought a co-worker for him. .In the Christian perspective, our situation is different because we are not the one who God created a helper.
In light of this, we see God reaffirming Himself in the New Testament when he sent the Holy Spirit to the disciples to help them carry their salvation work. Again , in the New Testament, God is omnipotent because of His capacity of making anything regardless of the situation . Therefore, as Christians, we should learn to take care of one another for instance, through charity work to the needy people. Besides, leaders should uphold this trait as their basic foundation of delivering their leadership to people efficiently and effectively. Another set of the verses:
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall leave until his wife; and they shall be one flesh.(Genesis 2:24). And they were both naked, the man and his wife and we’re not ashamed (Genesis 2:25).Considering these two verses, the word ‘naked’ is used to represents figure of speech helping us in the creation of ideal picture. Again, emotional aspect is evident in here, for instance, husband father and his mother contains strong emotional energy in this context. Besides, applying the methodology as described by Duvall and Hays in their book of Interpretive Journey, then we will be in a better position of getting a deeper insight of this text. Firstly, in the biblical audience, we realize that both men and women will leave their parents and become one flesh. However, they were both naked and they were not ashamed of each other. For Adam and Eve depicts that there is establishment of a strong bond between them and hence they love each other .To the Christian perspective , we are not involved in any way concerning how Adam and Eve we’re naked .In line to this, In the New Testament, this theological principle reveals when Jesus loved the church and served people. To our situation, we should accord love to our partners and not being ashamed of them. Again to the body of leadership, they should embrace this trait enabling them to influence people without brutality.
Conclusion
The Bible is an intrinsic material of knowing God’s intended message to the biblical audience as well as the Christians. Therefore, Interpretive Journey as described by Duvall and Hays has impacted greatly in understanding God which is quite encouraging in attaining God’s kingdom in the future life. Again, Christians should read and analyze the Bible carefully and critically in order to get a deeper insight of the biblical text and most importantly, they should apply the teachings in their daily lives. This paper has tried to cover leadership and in most cases, leaders are advocated to apply the theological principle. Therefore, leaders should delegate duties, be creative, hardworking and obedient just like God showed in his creation of the universe.
References
Duvall, Scott J., Hays, Daniel J., Grasping Gods Word, Zondervan, 2012
Lee, C.J. (2016). Biblical reading and critical reading : How Do They Inform Each Other in Interpreting the Text? P.144-159.
[1] Duvall, Scott J., Hays, Daniel J. Grasping Gods Word, Zondervan, 2012. P. 41
[2] Duvall, Scott J., Hays, Daniel J. Grasping Gods Word, Zondervan, 2012. P. 42
[3] Duvall, Scott J., Hays, Daniel J. Grasping Gods Word, Zondervan, 2012. P. 43
[4] Duvall, Scott J., Hays, Daniel J. Grasping Gods Word, Zondervan, 2012. P. 44
[5] Duvall, Scott J., Hays, Daniel J. Grasping Gods Word, Zondervan, 2012. P. 44
[6] Duvall, Scott J., Hays, Daniel J. Grasping Gods Word, Zondervan, 2012. P. 45
