Progressive Revelation - Part 2: More Than Dictation: The Necessity of Context in Understanding God's Inspired Word

Introduction: Our Responsibility to Progressive Revelation

Read Part 1 here. 

The Holy Bible is a unique library, a compilation of books written by approximately 40 different people over a period of 1,600 years. Like any written work, these books act like time machines, transporting us to the times and circumstances of the writers—but we must actively endeavor to go there to understand the context.

God has been revealing Himself to humanity in a progressive manner from time to time. While God overlooked "times of ignorance", today, when God has given us so much revelation, He is expecting us to respond to that, to act according to it. This is our profound responsibility.

We are cautioned against ignoring the immediate truth revealed:

• Acts 17:30 (ESV): "The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent".
• Luke 12:56 (ESV): "You hypocrites who know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky but do not know how to interpret the present time".

The Critical Need for Context

To respond rightly to God's word, we must avoid reading Scripture in a hasty manner, which often leads to misunderstanding.

Let me narrate a story. A police officer was walking down a road when he heard a voice that commanded someone to die, saying, "You go and die. No use of you. If you die, it is better for us".

Because of his police instinct, the officer immediately thought that this situation amounted to abetting to suicide. His initial thought was to determine what legal section this offense fell into and how he could bring the man into the law.

The officer walked further and approached the house, hearing a few more words. He looked into the window to understand what was happening inside.

He observed three people: an elderly man, a woman who appeared to be his wife, and a young man in his early 20s, standing before them. The two elderly people were speaking to the young man. The faces of the elderly people were sad, disappointed, and full of anger.

The officer became more interested and went inside the house to inquire what was taking place. The elderly people, who were the young man's parents, explained the situation. They began narrating all the "evil deeds" the young person was doing, describing the shame he was bringing to them and the pain they were experiencing in their lives, which was why they were shouting at him.

When the officer heard the painful situation of the parents, his heart melted. He sat down with them, counseled the young man, and managed to bring the situation to a "peaceable condition".

This story of the police officer illustrates the danger of hasty judgment without context: he initially reacted negatively but changed his response when he understood who was speaking, to whom, why, and how. Likewise, understanding God's word requires us to understand the context and situation.

Distinguishing Inspiration from Dictation

We face a similar danger when reading Scripture without context. We possess a wealth of revelation and resources today. Yet, many times we wrongly pick up words spoken by individuals in the Bible—such as Job’s friends, who held a wrong understanding of God and whose words God Himself condemned—and wrongly take them as direct promises of God for us.

We must recognize that the Bible is a collection of voices. For example, the book of Job contains words spoken by God, words spoken by Satan, and words spoken by people like Job, Job's wife, and Job's friends. If we take every word in God's word as a direct promise from God, we will definitely misunderstand it.

This clarifies the difference between God's inspiration and God's dictation. We affirm the authority of Scripture:

• 2 Timothy 3:16 (ESV): "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness".

Scripture is inspired by God. God inspired the writers to write, but this does not mean that every single word recorded came directly from the mouth of God. The writers often recorded events or dialogue based on the revelation they had at that time.

The Foundation: The Teaching of the Torah

Though the Book of Job was chronologically the first book written (around the time of Genesis/Abraham), the set of books that constitutes the first direct revelation of God by Himself are the five books of Moses: Genesis to Deuteronomy.

Authorship and Audience: Moses wrote these five books during the 40 years the Israelites spent in the wilderness (around 1500 BC, 3,500 years ago). The primary audience was the Israelites who had just been redeemed from 400 years of slavery in Egypt. They were mostly uneducated, surrounded by pagan culture, and had only a few stories about their forefathers (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob).

The Purpose of the Teaching: After their deliverance, God started teaching them who He is (the God of their fathers), how He created the world, and how they must now serve Him as their Master. This teaching covered everything about their lives and culture, including building a house for God, offering sacrifices, treating neighbors, walking, resting, and wearing clothes.

These five books address the fundamental problems of life: Why death? Why marriage? Why pain in birth/labor? Why must we work hard to earn our living?. Jesus often referred back to these first five books when addressing fundamental problems, such as divorce (referencing Genesis 2:24) and resurrection (referencing God appearing to Moses in the bush).

Torah: Wisdom, Not Science: In Hebrew, these books are called Torah, the meaning of which is teaching. The purpose of this teaching was not to bring them into restrictions, but to instruct them to live righteously.

• Deuteronomy 4:6-8 (ESV): "Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who when they hear all these statutes will say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.' For what great nation is there that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today".

The goal was to raise them above all other nations, making them wise and understanding. It is important to remember that these books are not written to teach science, nor do they talk in terms of scientific development; their purpose is foundational theology and instruction on how to live.

These first five books lay the foundation for the whole theology and the identity of the nation of Israel. For Christians, who are heirs of the promise of Abraham through Christ, these books remain highly important for us to meditate upon and understand God's rich wisdom.

The Faithful Remnant and David’s Devotion

Following the Torah, the historical books (like Judges and Ruth) show the nation’s decline and failure to follow the covenant. While the first promise to Abraham (the land) was fulfilled in Joshua, they lost it soon after.

Despite the national failure, God always found a faithful remnant—people who stood for Him personally (e.g., Samuel in the days of Eli, David in the days of Saul). This teaches us that even when the environment around us is declining, God looks to see if we are standing for Him personally.

King David, a man after God's own heart, modeled profound devotion with limited revelation. His "Bible" consisted only of the first five books. Out of his love for God’s word, he wrote Psalm 119, which can be called a love letter to God’s word.

We can compare this devotion to his son, Solomon, who wrote a love letter to a woman (Song of Solomon, 117 verses). David’s love letter to God's word contains 176 verses. David expressed this immense love repeatedly:

• Psalm 119:97 (ESV): "Oh, how I love your law! It is my meditation all day". (this means he thought about it all day, just as a lover thinks of their beloved).
• Psalm 119:113: "I love your law".
• Psalm 119:127 (ESV): "Therefore, I love your commandments above gold and above fine gold".
• Psalm 119:167 (ESV): "My soul keeps your testimonies; I love them exceedingly".

Conclusion: Our Greater Accountability

David’s intense faithfulness with only the Torah should challenge us. We should not excuse our own failures by focusing on David’s weaknesses, but rather follow his faithfulness.

We now possess the complete revelation of God. If David was so faithful with just the Torah, our responsibility toward God's complete word is vastly greater. If we are negligent toward God’s words and fail to give them the necessary value, we will be responsible before God and experience loss. It is our duty to meditate on the rich wisdom of God's word and dig out its riches.

(To be continued...)