The Progressive Mention Principle
a. That principle by which God makes the revelation of any given truth increasingly clear as the Word proceeds to its consummation.
- You will find that the Word of God is a progression. As you study, it will bring added details to truth that God has revealed in the beginning.
- There are two ways of studying Scripture:
a. Canonically: in the order in which the books appear—man’s order.
b. Chronologically: in the order in which they were written, and the events occur—order of revelation. - There is a teaching in the Word of God in the very arrangement of the books. Romans is the foundation on which all the epistles rest. Thessalonians was the first written. The Holy Spirit put it in its place in the Bible because of its teachings.
- Bernard has written a book, “The Progress of Doctrine in the New Testament,” in which he says, “The reality of the progression is very visible, and more especially so when we reach the New Testament—the last stages of this progressive teaching. Glance from the first words of the Bible to the last: ‘In the beginning God’—‘Even so. Lord Jesus.’ There is a progression from one to the other. There is a difference in the rates of progress—in the Old Testament the progress is protracted, languid, sometimes almost obscured, ending with an entire suspension for 400 years. After this, comes the New Testament, and here the progress is rapid. Before, it was centuries, now it is but years. The great scheme unfolds rapidly. Just as a plant grows slowly at first and is barely visible in growth, so is the truth in the Old Testament. But in the New Testament, the plant has budded, and soon the full blossom appears. The growth then is rapid. First the root, then the shoot, and then the fruit.”
a. The thought of progress in Scripture ought to give to us one right method of Bible study, and that method lies right on the surface. The Bible was written by books, and was built up by books, so it ought to be studied by books. It is a Book of books. Follow a certain subject through Scripture. You will find that it becomes complete through a steady growth. There are great highways in Scripture, and we ought to travel them just as we travel other highways. We will thus accumulate knowledge. There are many speakers, but one mind.
a. Examples of the growth of truth. - Predictions that have to do with the Person of the coming One, the Saviour.
a. When sin came into the world, immediately God gave the promise of the Seed of the woman who would bruise the serpent. This promise comes with the fall of man—Gen. 3:15.
b. Several centuries pass, and then comes the man Abraham, with whom Cod makes a covenant—”In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” In looking for a Satan-bruiser, then, we know he is to come from the man Abraham, as a descendant, not from just any family or any part of the earth.
c. The next detail given is the fact that of Abraham’s two sons, Isaac is chosen.
d. Isaac has two sons, and the promise is made definitely to Jacob.
e. Jacob has twelve sons, and again the line is limited—this time to Judah.
f. Judah becomes a great tribe, numbering thousands. Where shall we look for the coming One? The family of David.
g. Not only of the family of David, but in the town of Bethlehem.
h. When He is to be born — Dan. 9:25.
i. Zechariah tells us that He will ride into the city of Jerusalem—9:9.
j. Malachi 3:1 tells of the fore-runner who is John the Baptist.
k. In Zechariah 11:12—He is to be sold for thirty pieces of silver.
l. I ) Psalm 22—His heart is to be broken—description of manner of death.
m. Psalm 34:20—Not a bone of His body shall be broken.
n. To David, God reveals that when the Son is slain. He will not remain in the tomb. David sees the resurrection of Christ. He sees Him placed in the tomb, and yet with the path of life stretching out before Him. He also sees His ascension into the heavens.
o. To Isaiah is revealed God’s part in Christ’s death—Isa. 53:4,5.