JESUS CHRIST: GOD-MAN - Vital Christianity

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Much of Old Testament historical writing was called "prophecy" by the Jews. The
author's intention was not to record history for its own sake, but to instruct and to build up the
readers in the faith by teaching them about God's dealings in the past, and by interpreting
history. We should not, therefore, demand from biblical historians’ information which it is not
their intention to tell us.
The gospels, for instance, should not be regarded as biography in the modern sense since
the evangelists do not give us details of Jesus' childhood, His appearance, etc. They are bringing
out the theological significance, the "good news" about Jesus, and so they concentrate on what
they see as the most important events and sayings of His ministry and this is why, for example,
they emphasize His death.
The incorporation of whole sections verbatim from other writers without specific
acknowledgement was not regarded as improper plagiarism as it would be today. Also, two
different accounts of the same event may be put alongside each other without any attempt to
reconcile or combine them. As with the parallelism of Hebrew poetry, the two expressions are
not reduced to a single composite picture by the author, but are left side by side so that the reader
can get more from the two together than from one alone.
Prophecy
Today when we think of prophets we tend to think of men who "foretold" the future. But
the prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures were not just men with God-given foresight, they were
men with hindsight and insight into God's past and present activity. They were primarily
"forth-tellers" who spoke about the situation of their day such as the sins of the people and God's
will--His plan and purpose for His people.
Why were the prophets allowed to see and to proclaim God's future purposes and plan? It
was not to satisfy the people's curiosity, but rather to command them to speak of God's future
because of the immediate relevance of that future to the present. It was the revelation that God
was going to act in future judgment that gave urgent force to the prophet's call to the people to
repent. It was the revelation that God would one day redeem His people, which was the basis of
the prophets' message of hope to the faithful.
The predictions of the prophets, then, were extremely relevant to those who heard them.
These predictions enabled those who were willing to prepare for what was coming.
For us who live on the other side of the fulfillment of many of the Old Testament
prophecies, they may not all be a guide to future events, but they still are of value in reminding
us of the nature of our God. He is the Lord of the future and the Lord of history, and He reveals
Himself and His will to His people.