INTRODUCTION
Shadow Figures
History, secular or sacred, is not told in terms of
statistics, programmatic statements, tables, or figures. It
often is told through stories. Jesus Himself was a
storyteller, and He told them with great power, too (Matt.
7:28; 13:3).
This quarter’s lessons are all about stories but
not always the common and well-known ones with the
“stars,” such as Abraham and Isaac on Mount
Moriah, Daniel in the lions’ den, or David and
Goliath. We will look, instead, at characters who did not
make the headlines but who existed in the background, the
ones easily overlooked and forgotten.
Our focus this quarter will be on background characters in
the Old Testament. Some are the good guys of the story, some
not so good. Though not much is written about them, enough is
written that the careful reader can learn from these
characters—which include women, power brokers,
servants, and royalty.
In their stories, the challenges that confront these
characters are not very different, in principle, from the
challenges that we face today. However different their
culture and background from ours, they, too, felt the pain of
living in a sin-stained world, a world struggling amid the
great controversy between good and evil. What makes this
battle even more difficult is that it’s not always
easy to discern just what is the good and what is the evil,
for sometimes the line between them can appear blurry.
Often, in the context of the big picture, the lives of
these background characters might not seem so important. This
is a feeling that many of us can identify with. How easy to
think: After all, in the scheme of things, what do any of
us, as individuals, matter? In the end, however, these
“minor” characters made it into God’s
master story, and from their stories we can learn things that
can help us write a different and better story for
ourselves.
Of course, it is not always easy to pay attention to the
supporting cast. Instinctively, when we read or listen to a
story, we tend to follow the main storyline and focus on the
main characters. That’s common and understandable,
which is why this quarter we are going to look at the so-
called “little people” and thus get a fuller
understanding of the biblical text.
Unfortunately, in our contemporary world, we are beginning
to lose our capacity to listen carefully: too much action on
the screen, too many quick cuts in the video clip, too much
noise from the radio. We miss so much. Through focusing on
the shadow characters of the Old Testament, we will read
Scripture afresh, looking beyond the obvious to discover the
joy of learning new truths from God’s Word.
Finally, as we look over the shoulders of the biblical
authors and at the supporting cast, it is good to remember
the power of our own lives and examples. More than anything
else, people in the twenty-first century want to see
something work before they consider all the intricate ins and
outs of a particular cause. Our neighbors, our friends, and
our family first want to see our personal story before they
are ready to listen to our testimony and to biblical
doctrines and beliefs.
In this sense, our stories can become powerful tools in
our witness to others about what God has done for us. As with
these background figures, we can become part of the great
story of salvation, even if we might not be the main
characters in the grander scheme of the cosmic drama that
unfolds around us.
Gerald and Chantal Klingbeil, together with their
three daughters, Hannah, Sarah, and Jemima, have lived in
Africa, South America, Europe, and Asia. Currently, Gerald
Klingbeil is an associate editor of the Adventist
Review.
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