Progressive Revelation

by FRANK JEWELL | Category: General | Feb 1963

In process of time it pleased God to give further revelation of Himself to chosen men and to unfold to them more fully concerning His purposes in mankind This is indicated in the beginning of the epistle to the Hebrews where we read God having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in diverse manners hath at the end of these days spoken unt6 us in His Son" (Hebrews 1.1, 2 See also Exodus 6, 2-8)

Believers accept that God is infinite, infallible, omniscient, and omnipotent. Nothing is impossible with Him, nothing casual, or accidental. He knows the end from the beginning. He does not need to consult any being outside the Godhead as to His ways. It is impossible for any power, seen or unseen, to prevent Him completing His sovereign will, or even to negative His plans.

Paul, the greatest of all theologians, as he pondered over God's ways wrote, "How unsearchable are His judgements, and His ways past tracing out!" and again, "Who hath known the mind of the Lord?" that he should instruct Him (Romans 11.33-86).

Creation came into being as the result of previous design. The work of the six days (Genesis 1) proceeded minutely according to plan. There were no delays or mistakes. God saw that it was good. All the work reflected the wisdom, power and glory of its Creator and "He rested and was refreshed" (Exodus 31.17).

God's purpose in Redemption was also with foreknowledge and careful planning, and the Lord's sufferings both at the hands of God and man are given in great detail in the Old Testament, hundreds of years before He came to earth. Nothing is clearer in the Scriptures than this. Even in eternal times, God's plan was already complete. Let us consider a few scriptures

"For whom He foreknew, He also foreordained to be conformed to the image of His Son ... and whom He foreordained, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified" (Romans 8.29, 80).

"(God) who saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before times eternal" (2 Timothy 1.9; see also Ephesians 1,17-23).

The unfolding of the plan was a gradual process.

Part of God's plan was in connexion with His eternal purposes in Christ Jesus relative to the Church, the Body of Christ, which was not revealed until the present dispensation of grace, though the Lord made an allusion to it in Matthew 16.17, 18, where He revealed His will clearly that He was going to build the Church upon Himself, the Rock. The revelation of this purpose shows clearly the gradual unfolding of God's plan in regard to mankind (See Ephesians 3.141, particularly verses 9, 10, also Colossians 1.24-27).

The cross of Christ and all that it meant to man did not take place until some four thousand years after the fall of man. That fall had been foreseen and provided for by God in His infinite wisdom. The Saviour had been promised, but before He came it was in the purposes of God to reveal Himself to man in stages and in various ways. Man must learn many lessons, as his sinful state, resulting from the Fall, placed him sadly out of touch with the God of infinite holiness.

Let us consider the revealing of the triune God, as to His being and attributes. In Genesis 1-3 He is revealed as the all-wise Creator. He required obedience from man, whom He had created in His own image. The sentence of death fell on man for his disobedience, but mercy was also shown in the promise of a Saviour in the Seed of the woman. From the expulsion of man from the garden of Eden up to the time of the flood, events are not revealed in detail. We have His dealings with Cain and Abel, and the multiplication of the human race; and the melancholy repetition of the words, "And he died," in Genesis 5, gives weight to God's word to Adam, "Thou shalt surely die". "Death reigned from Adam until Moses" is the Holy Spirit's commentary in regard to this period (Romans 5.14). Further light is given to us by Paul (See Romans 1.18-28 and Hebrews 11.1-7).

The judgement that fell on the guilty pair now fell on all mankind, save on righteous Noah and his family at the flood God will not pass over sin unrepented of, but mercy is seen in the salvation of Noah and his family. God said of Noah that he was a righteous man perfect in his generations and that he walked with God as also did Enoch Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD He came out of the ark into a resurrected creation and God 5 promise has remained stead fast concerning seedtime and harvest A further development m God's purposes is seen in the call of Abraham. He directs the steps 6f Abraham to the land of Canaan, where, eventually, Christ was to -be born. He said to him, "In thee [and in thy Seed] shall all the families of the earth be blessed." No greater promise has ever been made to mankind, nor indeed could be. For all things in the dispensation of the fulness of the times will be summed up in Christ (See Ephesians 1.9, 10). Further unfoldings are revealed to Abraham. God says, "I am thy Shield, and thy exceeding great Reward" (Genesis 15.1), and 17.1, "I am God Almighty" (El Shaddai). The hallowed name of God is being disclosed, also the great blessings in store for man. Abraham stands out as a man whose faith was reckoned to him for righteousness, and it is also recorded of him that "he looked for the city which hath the foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God" (Romans 4.8, Hebrews 11.10).

The next great move in the divine plan is in the call to Moses to lead the seed of Abraham out of Egypt to the land of promise. God now reveals Himself as "I AM THAT I AM" (Exodus 3.14), the ever-existing God whose will is paramount, and again as "I am Jehovah," which has the same meaning (Exodus 6.2). The power of Pharaoh is unable to hold Israel because they are claimed by Jehovah as His own. The emancipated Israel become the people of God. As His people they were to learn more of God and His ways. "He made known His ways unto Moses, His doings unto the children of Israel" (Psalm 103.7). He led them in a right way and taught them in the desert that they should rely on their God. It was no easy path through the waste and howling wilderness, but Jehovah cared for them. Moreover He dwelt amongst them behind the veil of the Sanctuary. They were His people. He gave them laws according to His righteousness. Those laws, including the ten commandments, remain a moral standard for all nations, and embodied in these is the divine claim that Jehovah alone must be worshipped.

From the beginning God indicated the way man could approach Him acceptably, that is on the ground of the shed blood. "The life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls" (Leviticus 17.11). Any other way is futile. The continual sacrifices which had to be offered on the altar by the children of Israel typified the sacrifice of Christ.

Passing on in our thoughts through the records in Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings and Chronicles, we trace God revealing Himself and His purposes with rulers and kings and through prophets.

The books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs, Ezra and Nehemiah record experiences of men who knew much of God and His ways. We can discern in these writings an increasing knowledge of God, which often called forth from thankful hearts a volume of praise. Men were learning, bit by bit, how unfit and unholy they were in God's sight.

The prophetical books disclose an amazing foreknowledge of the future, a knowledge which only an infinite, omnipotent Being could reveal, but every detail was foreseen from the beginning. It is impossible for any other being in heaven or on earth to conceive a plan of such wisdom and magnitude save God Himself.

In these prophetical books God declares Himself in such words as these,

"I am the LORD, and there is none else ; beside Me there is no God" (Isaiah 45.5).

"A just God and a Saviour" (Isaiah 45.21).

"By Myself have I sworn, the word is gone forth from My mouth in righteousness that unto Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear"

(Isaiah 45.23).

Further, in these writings there are made known things concerning Christ; in Isaiah 9.6, His Deity, and in verse 7, His Sovereignty. Then the place where He was to be born is announced in Micah 5.2. His humiliation, sufferings and the atonement He made for sin are foretold in Isaiah 53. Much more is revealed in these books concerning Christ. Many of these prophecies were fulfilled, as the writers of the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, clearly point out. The millennial reign of Christ which will bring peace and true righteousness to the world is also fully foretold. The restoration of Israel to their own land after centuries of suffering inflicted by Gentile nations is foretold and sworn to by God.

So far our thoughts have been confined mostly to revelations made by God to men of the Hebrew race. The oracles of God were entrusted to the Jew. No great revelation was given to Gentile nations, so the question may arise, " What is their position in respect to progressive revelation?" Light and knowledge must have reached them through Israel as the latter learned of God and His purposes. Men have never been left altogether in the dark, nor outside the bounds of God's mercy. Take into account the mighty works of creation which declare the glory of God and His wonderful provision for man's temporal needs, not only the food he eats, but the beauties of nature seen by the natural eye. God is thus revealed to man as an all-wise and beneficent Creator. But "the fool hath said in his heart, There is no God" (Psalm 53.1). We have clear evidence of persons outside Israel who feared God. Take, for instance, Ruth, the young Moabitess, who insisted on going with Naomi, her mother-in-law, when she returned to her own land and people. Moreover, Ruth declared, "Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God" (Ruth 1. 16). Then we have Naaman, the Syrian captain who was cured of his leprosy and returned to give thanks to Elisha, the prophet, and said, "Now, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel" (2 Kings 5.15). When the queen of Sheba heard of the wisdom and glory of king Solomon, she came to see for herself and said, "Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighteth in thee" (1 Kings 10.9). Further, Rahab the harlot received the Israelite spies and put in her window the scarlet cord, and thus she and all in her house were saved from death.

Another example is that of Cyrus, the Persian king whom God raised up to give liberty to Jews in bondage and to return to the land of Israel. The nations who showed kindness to and helped Israel were blessed by God. It is however clear from the Scriptures that Israel failed to realize their responsibilities to the nations, as custodians of divine revelation, as also they failed as God's people to serve Him and Him alone. Thus, Israel's failures and grievous sins in going after false gods brought on themselves God's judgement. Sovereignty passed from them into the hands of the Gentiles. There was no king of Israel after Zedekiah; the Herods were subordinates to Rome.

The rule of the Gentiles had lasted several hundred years when God sent His Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but to save it (John 3.17). "When the fulness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, that He might redeem them which were under the law" (Galatians 4. 4, 5). This further revelation of God to man in Christ is beyond anything man could possibly conceive. It passes knowledge the love of Christ for sinful man. His lowly birth, His rejection by the rulers in Jerusalem, the insolent language used at His trial, the injustice of Pontius Pilate in delivering Him to death though believing in Christ's innocency, surely leave us amazed that He, the eternal Son of God should bear it all, and die to save guilty man! This is the great climax of revelation. God can go no further than this on man's behalf. The door of salvation is open wide. It is open to all. None is outside mercy's call. His atoning death, resurrection and exaltation were all in the Scriptures and were fulfilled in every detail. The

glorious truth of the Church which is His (Christ's) Body is revealed, as recorded in Paul's epistles to the Ephesians and the Colossians.

Every believer in Christ, whether Jew or Gentile, is built into the Church the Body by being baptized by Christ in the Holy Spirit. There is no difference, all are saved and safe for eternity. The gates of hell cannot prevail against the Church. It is also the will of God that believers should be in a unity which expresses God's will being done on earth as in heaven. This further purpose is clearly defined in the teaching of Christ and the apostles in the New Testament. For the Lord Jesus Christ has a way for the children of God to be together in collective testimony. This divine unity of believers is taught in the truth concerning the churches of God. Worship, service and testimony are seen in a God-given order.

Eternity will reveal the purposes of love and grace in their fulness. Now we know in part and see dimly, then the glory of Christ in heaven will be fully realized by every blood-bought child of God.

Outside of that scene of love and grace and glory, as the Book of Revelation shows, are the dogs, the sorcerers, the fornicators, the murderers, the idolaters and every one that loveth and maketh a lie (Revelation 22, ~5). Also, "the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolators, and all liars, their part shall be in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death" (Revelation 21.8).

God wills that all men should be saved and come to a know]edge of the truth, but if a man spurns His offer of salvation, after all that Christ suffered to save him, he must be eternally banished from the favour of God, and suffer the second death which is the lake of fire. The judgement of the unbeliever and wicked is presented in the same divine book that tells of the glories that await all believers.

FRANK JEWELL | Feb 1963
General