Bible teacher Chad Bird has note-worthy advice for all Bible readers, and he tells them to pay attention to the physical descriptions of Bible characters because they have something to do with the Biblical narrative.
Bible Teacher
The Bible is the only book that always has fresh revelations once read again. New perspectives taught by Bible scholars also add fresh insights.
One insight readers can glean from the Bible is shown by Chad Bird. He tells them to pay attention when the Bible describes a person physically.
Pay Attention to Physical Descriptions
He said, “When you’re reading the Old Testament, any physical description of a character, whether it’s their hair, their eyes, their hand, or overall appearance; anything because that rarely happens. So, when it does happen when we’re told something about the physical appearance of an individual, it is going to work its way into the Biblical narrative. Sometimes, in fact, it’s prophetic of what is to come.”
Chad proceeded to point out Joseph as an example. According to the Bible scholar, out of Jacob’s 12 sons, the Bible only described Joseph’s physical appearance. And it said that Joseph was a very handsome guy.
“Why are we told that? Because that way, we understand why he was sexually desirable by Potiphar’s wife,” he said.
In addition, Chad gave Saul as another example. “How is he described? Well, he’s handsome, but he’s also tall…taller than any other Israelite.”
“Why is that important? Because in the Biblical narrative, no other Israelite is described that way as tall. But you know who is repeatedly described as tall? The adversaries of Israel.”
Chad explained that Israel’s enemies, including Goliath, are the only characters in the Bible that were repeatedly described as tall. Thereby, he concluded that the narrator’s inclusion of Saul’s height is a foresight of what Saul will turn out.
What became of Saul? “He rebelled against God. He became a persecutor. And so, this physical description early in the narrative is prophetic, is alerting us of what is to come,” Chad shared.
View this post on Instagram
