The bulk of the Bible is narrative, stories told to make a point. It is quite common to ask the question, “What’s the moral of the story?” This question begs you to compare your life with the characters in the story.

The characters become life examples to follow. Be bold like Daniel. Be faithful like Abraham. Exercise patience like Job. Be courageous like David. Persevere like Paul. Yes, the Bible uses such examples. Paul uses himself as an example: “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1). He also uses Christ as an example: “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5).

In each case, though, the primary purpose is much greater and higher than that of ordering your life to be like Paul or even like Jesus. The moralizing tendency too often neglects the main character in the stories of the Bible, the narrator.

Except in only a couple of cases, the stories of the Bible are what we call third-person narratives. The narrator uses the third person, with pronouns such as “he” and “they,” to talk about the characters. And the narrator has a unique position. He stands above the story rather than being down in it. From his position above the story, the narrator sees the end from the beginning. He sometimes tells us what the characters are thinking. He reveals their motives. Who is this narrator? In the ultimate sense, God is the Narrator of the stories in the Bible. He is the storytelling God.

Since this is the case, when you read the stories of the Bible, God lifts you up so that you see the characters in the story through His eyes. You can see how the stories in the Bible play out from His perspective. When you have God’s perspective on the stories of the Bible, it changes your perspective on life, on how you live.

The children’s song, “Dare to Be a Daniel,” is based on Daniel 1:8: “Daniel resolved not to defile himself.” Here is the first stanza and refrain:

Standing by a purpose true,

Heeding God’s command,

Honor them, the faithful few!

All hail to Daniel’s band!

Dare to be a Daniel,

Dare to stand alone!

Dare to have a purpose firm!

Dare to make it known.

You certainly can read the story of Daniel by taking Daniel’s ground-level perspective. But the primary purpose of these stories is not to set Daniel before you as an example. When you read the stories from the position of the narrator, God Himself, you see Daniel’s purpose. Daniel shows you that God is the ruler of both men and nations.

Before Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown into the fiery furnace, they confessed, “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king” (Dan. 3:17). After King Nebuchadnezzar lived like an animal and then regained his senses, he confessed of God, “His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and His dominion is from generation to generation” (Dan. 4:3). When Darius threw Daniel into the Lion’s den, he was constrained to confess of God, “He is the living God and enduring forever, and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed, And His dominion will be forever” (Dan. 6:26).

Getting God’s perspective on the stories of the Bible can change your perspective on how you live. God is the ruler of both men and nations. Entrust yourself to his sovereign care. Look over at Daniel; but first, look up to God.

—Denny Prutow

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