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Consider carefully the record in the book of Judges, noting how human pride is abased (4:9; 9:50-54) and reliance on God stressed (6:13,14; 7:2-7).
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THE BIBLE is very much a historical book. Much of the Old Testament is historical record, the history of God’s people Israel set against the background of the history of other nations. Much of the New Testament is also historical record, the accounts of the ministry of Jesus and of the preaching of the apostles, set against the background of the Roman Empire in the first century A.D.
Biblical history
It is easy to dismiss the historical records as the simple, straightforward side of the Bible, to be learnt at Sunday School before one goes on to deeper things. This is not so, however. There are a number of approaches to the study of the historical records of the Old Testament beyond the simple level of the story. Here are some ways of looking at them.
| 1 | The historical records of Scripture show us the unfolding purpose of God. They provide a framework into which the great men and women of the Old Testament (many of whom are referred to in the New) fit. They give the setting of the promises of God which form the basis of the gospel. |
| 2 | The Psalms and the prophetic books are far more meaningful when their historical background is understood. The historical books give us that background and therefore need to be studied in conjunction with the Psalms and the prophetic books. Likewise, the Acts of the Apostles provides the historical setting for the New Testament letters. |
| 3 | The historical records themselves provide many important lessons. This applies most obviously to the lessons that can be learned, good and bad, from the records of the lives of the various characters of Scripture. The records themselves are clearly constructed to present lessons, however. The records of David’s military exploits are brief (2 Sam. 5, 8–10) compared with the records of his sin over Bathsheba and its consequences (chs. 11–20), showing where the main lessons are to be learned. Where detailed accounts are given of heroic exploits, the reason they are given is not to exalt human pride but to stress faith in God and reliance upon Him; for example, 1 Samuel 14 and 17. |
| 4 | Biblical narratives often provide types of aspects of the life of Jesus Christ and of God’s purpose through him. The prime example is Joseph; the Genesis record contains scores of details which can be related to Christ. In considering Scripture history from this point of view, it is best to try to discern a pattern, rather than just accumulate lists of connections. In the case of the record of Joseph, the theme is that of the righteous one rejected by his brethren, who goes to a far-off place, is exalted to the second highest position, and saves his brethren whilst his true identity is initially hidden. |
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The Bible and history
The Bible is sometimes referred to as being ‘a closed system of truth’. This is true, in the sense that the Bible is for us the complete revelation of God to man, needing no further act of revelation by God in order for us to understand or interpret it. We claim no supernatural guidance as to what the Scriptures mean, nor do we accept that any person, or body, is empowered by God to interpret it for us.
Whilst the Bible is complete as a work of revelation from God, our ability to understand it is limited without a knowledge of matters outside the Bible. We accept this to be the case in some matters; the Bible frequently refers to weather and climate, geographical features, plants and animals, and so on, and we need to know about these to understand the record. It is sometimes a difficulty to people when it comes to history. The events recorded in the Bible really happened, they are not myths invented to teach lessons. These events at times link with events which occurred outside of Israel; other people, places and nations are often referred to and must therefore have had a real existence. It is often instructive to get to know the wider historical background of the books of the Bible; a knowledge of Assyrian and Babylonian history is very helpful as the background to later chapters of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles, for example. We appreciate all the more the faith of Hezekiah in the face of the Assyrian invasion when we know more about the might of this great empire.
Here, of course, is where archaeological discoveries have broadened our knowledge of the history of ancient times. We are used to thinking of archaeological discoveries confirming the accuracy of the Biblical records, and so they do. We must not overlook the way the huge number of discoveries which have been made, and still are being made, in the Middle East illuminate the Scriptures, bringing them more to life (see the box, "Archaeology Illuminates the Bible", below).
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| ARCHAEOLOGY ILLUMINATES THE BIBLE
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History — God at work
At school we were taught that there were two main schools of thought about history. One said that the main force behind history was great individuals; men such as Alexander the Great, Martin Luther and Napoleon emerged and completely changed the shape of history. The other school of thought was that the real force behind history was in fact economic and social movements; Napoleon could never have come to power had not economic and social forces brought about the French Revolution.
Later we became aware of other ideas. Some historians draw attention to the significance of weather and climate: a storm changes the course of a battle; drought results in poor harvests, which result in mass discontent, which results in revolution; long-term climatic changes cause nomads to leave the steppes and the deserts and invade and destroy neighbouring civilisations. Yet others look at medical factors: a king struck down by illness in his prime; an outbreak of plague weakening a nation; malaria weakening the Roman Empire.
We believe that all of these ideas are partly true, and none is entirely true. The historians in fact miss out the real force behind history: God. As shown in the previous article, Bible prophecy is not just a matter of God predicting the future; Bible prophecy is God declaring what He will do. In addition to the verses quoted in that article, we can cite Acts 17:26: "[God] hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation".
We know that God works through great men, because He raised up Nebuchadnezzar, whom He describes as His servant (Jer. 25:9), and Cyrus, who is actually called God’s shepherd and His anointed (Isa. 44:28; 45:1).
We know, too, that God uses weather and climate, for we read of "stormy wind fulfilling His word" (Ps. 148:8), and of snow and hail being used by Him in battle (Job 38:22,23), whilst in the longer term He reduced the rainfall in the Middle East as part of His judgements on Israel (Isa. 5:6). We know too that God sometimes strikes a ruler down with disease (Acts 12:23), and brings plagues upon people (1 Sam. 5:9-12).
In fact, of course, it is the angels who work out God’s purpose in history, as Daniel 10 shows in relation to events in the Persian Empire. In Ezra 1–6 we see how this worked out in practice, whilst in the book of Esther, a few years later, we have depicted what can only have been the work of the angels in saving the Jews from destruction by their enemies, even though neither God nor His angels are mentioned, and events appear to work out quite naturally. Taking Daniel 10 and the historical records together, we are enabled to see how in practice it can be true that God is controlling history, even though events appear to move along quite naturally, with no open Divine intervention.
Just as the angels were in reality controlling events in the Persian Empire about 2,500 years ago, so it has been since. Daniel 10–12 is one prophecy. Daniel 10 introduces it with its depiction of the angels at work. Daniel 11 is mostly a very detailed prophecy of wars between the Greek kingdoms to the north and south of Israel, showing how detailed is God’s plan and purpose in history. In Daniel 12 we are in the last days, with, significantly, Michael, one of the angels referred to in chapter 10, playing a key role in working on behalf of God’s people Israel (v. 1).
This link between Daniel 10 and 12 shows us that the angels have been just as much at work in the twentieth century as they were in the far-off years of the Persian and Greek Empires. The remarkable way in which the Jews have returned to their ancient land, and the State of Israel has come into being, did not just happen, it was caused to happen by God through His angels (see the box, "God at Work in Israel’s Recent Past", below).
| GOD AT WORK IN ISRAEL'S RECENT PAST
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History and the Apocalypse
The application of the book of Revelation to events during the 2,000 years from the first century to the present day is a problem to some. How can we be expected to know so much history in order to understand God’s Word? And so the book is applied by some to events to happen in a short period of time before Christ returns.
There are a number of points that can be advanced against this view and for what is often known as the continuous-historic view. Here are three:
| 1 | The Apocalypse, however it is fulfilled, must be fulfilled by events not recorded in Scripture. If such a detailed prophecy is to be fulfilled in a short time just before Christ’s return then a considerable knowledge of what is going on in the world, that is, current affairs, will be needed to understand it. History and current affairs are the same thing from a different angle: what was current affairs yesterday is history today. There can thus be no fundamental reason why the Apocalypse should not be fulfilled over many years of history. |
| 2 | To claim that the Apocalypse is fulfilled in a short period of time before Christ’s return means that it is a prophecy only for those living at that time. Yet there is no indication in the book that this is so. Instead the opening verse states that it is for the servants of Christ, to show them "things which must shortly come to pass". It can only be this if it applies to events down the ages from the first century to Christ’s return, so that all believers have had prophecies applicable to their own times. |
| 3 | Daniel and the Apocalypse are closely linked because of the similarities between the fourth beast of Daniel 7 and the dragon of Revelation 12, and the beasts of Revelation 13 and 17. The prophecies of Daniel were fulfilled over long periods of time, and one would therefore expect those of the Apocalypse to be also. |
Sometimes it is argued that the continuous-historic interpretation of the Apocalypse does not take into account the vast number of links that can be made between the Apocalypse and the Old Testament.
Those who have pursued this line have not come up with interpretations of the book which are broadly comparable, however, as one would expect, but with widely different interpretations. Here are two examples:
| 1 | The first four seals are applied to:
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| 2 | The first beast of Revelation 13 is applied to:
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No new interpretation of the Apocalypse has been presented in recent years which satisfies everyone, though many have tried. No interpretation of the Apocalypse can be right which ignores the many links with previous Scriptures to be found there. However, the fact that similar language is used in two different passages does not prove that they are both referring to the same event, only to the same kind of event, and figurative language applying to Israel in one context can apply to a Gentile power in another context, as long as the symbology is used consistently.
The principles of the interpretation of Scripture prophecy indicate, we believe, a continuous-historic fulfilment, not one in a short time in the latter days. The abundance of references back to the Old Testament, when considered correctly, are never inconsistent with this view, and in many cases support it.
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