Why are comparative analyses important? We've been talking about this, and as we wrap up our initial methodological essay, and I do want to kind of hammer home some important realities just as a reiteration on why we should do these things the reason why we do comparative analyses it really stems from the fact that we realize that the Old Testament was written by ancient people in a specific ancient context and therefore they did certain things certain ways and one of those things they did was they produced literature in certain ways they assessed their world in certain ways so when we realize this when we realize that Israel was a real nation and your Old Testament was written by real people in real space and real time addressing real events and experiences in their lives. When we realize that, we really begin to see, okay, we need a baseline. If we want to understand the uniqueness of the Old Testament's message, that is, what separates it from every other message in the ancient Near East, we have to have a baseline. And I think this is why Hayes is correct when he says that we really need We need a cultural literacy. We need to understand the social institutions. We need to understand the standard thought processes. We need to understand the literary conventions. We need to understand the worldview of the ancient Near East, because without that baseline, we really struggle to see the significance. And so that's why it's important when you understand that the Old Testament was written in real space, in real time, in an ancient Near Eastern context. the importance of these types of studies just kind of bubble to the surface. Now, when we do these studies, we need to really remember and we really need to emphasize that we need to ponder the similarities and the differences. And we'll get into this more and more over the next few weeks, but it's not just about talking about where they're the same, because when we do that and we forget about the differences, then our Old Testament merely becomes just another piece of ancient literature. That's not what we want. Likewise, if we just emphasize the differences, then we have the This piece of literature that's completely separated by its context, completely separated, and it's just kind of floating out there. And then we forget and we lose sight of the fact that Israel was a real nation and they were affected by real things and they processed things differently than we did and those types of things. So we have to understand the similarities and the differences and we have to consider how these two are interacting. It's not just one, it's not just the other, they're both. And so when we talk about the flood narrative, what are the specific points of contact. How is the flood narrative similar to the Mesopotamian flood narrative? When we talk about creation texts, how are both texts, both the pagan text and the biblical text, talking about the creation of the world through the similar terms. What are the similar terms using? What are the differences of those terms? Where do they converge? Where do they diverge? And what is the significance of those things? I know it's hard to explain. I know you have to just kind of jump into it and start doing it. So that's what we're going to do moving forward, because when we do this, the revolutionariness of Israel's religion, how it confronted the stereotypes of its day, how it confronted the standard worldview of its day, and We talked about how you think it's this way, but in reality it's this way. You think you have it on straight. You think you understand things, but you don't. Let me tell you about Yahweh. Let me tell you about God Almighty. Because this is the guy, this is the guy that really tells you how it is. And so when you begin to understand the interactions, that whole dynamicness, that whole dynamic aspect, the revolutionariness, if you will, of Old Testament religion really bubbles to the forefront. And without that baseline, we just don't get it. So that's why I'm a big fan of these, and that's the reason why, because it really helps us understand. the uniqueness of Israel's message, the specialness of Israel's message, where Israel's message gets it right and everybody else gets it wrong.