Normally I like to send out emails on the weekend. But this weekend my brain just didn’t want to work. Does that ever happen to you? Every time I wanted to sit down and dash off something profound and witty, it just said “nope, no way.”
So I vegged in front of the tv a lot over the weekend. It’s what I was up to.
I think that sometimes my body or my brain tells me when it’s just full up and can’t take any more. And this was one of those moments. Welcome to middle age, I guess.
But I think I’m back now so I’m going to try to slip something out past my inner censor. Let me know if it’s actually coherent or witty :).
Today I wanted to talk about Theology or Doctrine (now maybe you understand why my brain went on strike over the weekend).
You might think that’s really dry or intimidating stuff. But really it’s a lot of common sense masquerading around in big words.
I want to dip my big toe into the “Doctrine of Progressive Revelation”.
Those are some mighty fine words, if I do say so myself. They sound vaguely stuffy and certainly kind of imposing. But they have a really simple but important meaning. Something that all Christians should know and understand because it completely affects the way we engage with the Bible.
The doctrine really says “things which come later clarify things which came earlier.”
See, that wasn’t so bad when I put it like that. If I had said that and not applied the big label, you wouldn’t have thought twice about it.
What that means is that early in the Bible, God might reveal something, only He won’t reveal all of the details of it. But later in Scripture, He’ll come back to it and share a little bit more. The two passages won’t say the same thing, they’ll have different level of detail. But that doesn’t make one right and the other wrong. It doesn’t make one better and the other dumb.
Here’s an example. In Genesis 3:15, God was talking to Adam, Eve and the Serpent after Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit. God promised that a person would be born of the woman who would be “hurt” by Satan, but would crush Satan’s head.
You and I know who this is talking about and what He did. But at the time it was a bit mysterious. When Moses wrote Genesis for the Children of Israel, they knew that God would do something. But they didn’t really know what. Or how. Or when.
Having said that, Genesis 3:15 is still one of the greatest verses of the Bible. It’s the first promise of a Redeemer. And the first of anything is always special.
For a long time, that was the best knowledge than anyone had of God’s plans. Bruise heel, crush head. Generations of God’s people placed their faith in this promise and it was counted for righteousness.
Later, around 700 BC, a guy named Isaiah got a message from God saying “But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.”
Yes, that’s Isaiah chapter 53. It’s a messianic prophecy talking about the details of the bruising and crushing. Only it doesn’t give all the details. But it definitely gives more than Genesis 3. it speaks of punishment and suffering as part of the transaction God had planned.
Isaiah 53 doesn’t explain away Genesis 3. It progressively reveals more about God’s plan. Anyone studying that passage would want to tie back to the original promise to gain the full perspective on what God was saying.
Of course, we could then look at Matthew 27 as the story of the crucifixion. It gets real clear about what God was doing. It makes the Isaiah passage very clear. After reading the gospels we can really connect the dots on the earlier passages.
This is the Doctrine of Progressive Revelation in action. The farther we go into the Bible, the more details and clarity we get.
It’s tempting to say “great, I’ll just read the Bible backwards”. You could do that. You’d get the fullest picture then delve into all the earlier foreshadowings.
But if you did that you’d really miss out.
- You’d miss out on the promises being fulfilled. It’s always amazing to see how God makes promises that seem impossible then fulfills them. That’s one of the joys of progressive revelation.
- You’d miss out on the layer-by-layer building up of God’s plan. Entire generations of people lived with the lesser knowledge. How did that impact their faith? How did they believe in God through it? These are great questions that can be enormously enriching.
- You’d miss out on the anticipation that was building. As God slowly progressively shared His plans, humanity built anticipation for what He was going to do. Each little progressive revelation shared more and served as a tantalizing tease for what He was going to do. Reading the end first destroys that build-up.
Why am I sharing this doctrinal foundation? It’s because I want to convince you that the Old Testament is worth studying. Not only is it worth studying, it’s ESSENTIAL to study. Without it you won’t appreciate the big reveal in the New Testament. You won’t understand why people responded they way they did. You won’t know why the reveal was such a big deal.
In short, you’ll miss a big part of the point.
This is why I’ve been working on Old Testament studies. My latest book is out on how to study the Old Testament. Because if you don’t approach the Old Testament correctly, you’ll blow up progressive revelation and end up with a bunch of junk.
I hope I’m making my point. You can find my book on my website (or any of the main retailers if you prefer).
https://www.dennis-stevenson.com/product/study-the-bible-old-testament-bundle-paperback/
If you don’t like the way I explain it, then find another book to help you do it. The Old Testament is full of gems – and The Doctrine of Progressive Revelation means they are all true and highly impactful.
If nothing else, try to drop the phrase “Doctrine of Progressive Revelation” on a few church friends. It’ll make you look brilliant.
Until next time.
Dennis
