Bible history is inseparable from Bible doctrine, and constitutes its setting or foundation. Divine revelations concerning moral, ethical, and legal truths, as well as revelations concerning the sphere of nature, history, and the supernatural have usually been given on occasions of historical experiences, whether individual or national. Sometimes a certain series of events presented the need of new instruction, or perhaps a new teaching was given by way of anticipating a new development. Thus, in any case, God's teachings concerning most phases of life were given to man through channels of historical experience.
Sometimes the specific teaching was not at once apparent in the setting in which it first appeared, and only reflection upon the experience, its causes and results, led to the recognition of the lesson which was intended to be learned from it. In any event, the doctrine or system of doctrine was then a crystallization of thought, under divine direction, concerning the meaning of the historical experiences in which the lessons originally were embodied. It follows, then, that Bible history is not only the foundation or the origin of Bible doctrine, but that it is itself the textbook in which the doctrines are taught historically.
These preliminary considerations are amply borne out by the place which Bible history occupies in the Old and New Testament canons, and in the writings of the Spirit of prophecy, as well as by the very nature and purpose of the historical writings in the Bible. The importance of the historical writings in the Old Testament—can -be recognized —more clearly in the original arrangement of its books. The Hebrews had arranged their canonical writings in three groups called the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. The Law was composed of five books, of which Genesis and Exodus especially, and to a lesser degree, Deuteronomy, are historical narratives, and the books of Leviticus and Numbers also contain a large percentage of historical narrative material. And then within these books, which, it should be remembered, compose the Torah, many of the laws themselves and other items of instruction and warning are definitely presented with the appeal of past or present experiences, that is, as lessons from history.
The second group, called the Prophets, has more than one third of its entire material in the out-and-out historical records of Joshua, Judges, and the books of Samuel and of the Kings. It is interesting and very instructive to observe that thus these historical books are included among the prophets. The reason for this is apparent in the fact that the sources of those historical writings, as well as the books themselves as they now stand in the Old Testament, were written by prophets. The prophets were perforce interested in history not only because history aided them, giving an effective basis for their warnings and appeals for their own or for future times, but also because history was in itself an inseparable part of prophecy.
Finally, the third part of the Old Testament canon, called the Writings, was likewise composed in large part of out-and-out historical narratives, such as Ruth, Esther, Ezra, Nehemiah, the books of Chronicles, and a portion of the book of Daniel. Thus, indeed, the very composition of the Old Testament canon testifies to the importance of Bible history and even to the fact that it was for the Hebrews and the Jews the textbook of divine doctrine.
In the New Testament canon the same situation confronts us. Approximately half, and that the first half, of the New Testament is occupied by the historical writings of the gospels and the book of Acts, and the Pauline epistles are in themselves first-class historical sources, and the book of Revelation is, after all, history prophetically unrolled.
When we come to the writings of the Spirit of prophecy we are again impressed by the doctrinal significance of Bible history, for the bulk of doctrinal instruction to the church from the pen of Mrs. E. G. White is embodied in the Conflict Series ("Patriarchs and Prophets," "Prophets and Kings," "The Desire of Ages," "Acts of the Apostles," and "The Great Controversy"), which is obviously Bible history retold. To that we might add numerous other titles, to say nothing about the "Testimonies" themselves, which all have the historical basis.
When we come to the inner nature and purpose of the Biblico-historical writings, we see without difficulty that these books are really textbooks of Bible doctrine, that is, of theology. We have seen that the Old Testament histories were commonly "prophetic," because they were written by prophets, and because they set forth God's teachings to man, and pointed lessons for the future. They embraced past, present, and future. They were not confined merely to prediction.
Inasmuch as Biblical history is prophetic in this sense, it does not follow that it is biased and distorted history in the interest of a preconceived doctrine. On the contrary, the very nature of the writers and the purpose of their writing guaranteed the dependable recording of historical facts. This is at once seen in the fact that no attempt is made to conceal any facts uncomplimentary to Israel and its religion. The divine lesson of history was the main purpose of these records, and all facts which contributed toward the presentation of the intended lessons had to be included, whether they were complimentary or uncomplimentary to the people.
A careful study of the historical books of the Old Testament will make it evident that Hebrew history was involved in theology, and was written, in fact, more for a theological purpose than for the purpose of constructing historical archives. Not only the Old Testament, but the Bible as a whole, considers Jehovah as the Master of human history, and the historical narratives are revelations of His nature, His will, and His working.
The historical scope of the Bible, in both its narrative and its predictive aspects, embraces the span of world history. In fact, it teaches the doctrine of the divine plan of salvation. The ancient Hebrew histories were written in the consciousness that the experiences of the Hebrew kingdoms were merely episodes in the working out of a divine plan, and when those kingdoms came to an end, the prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah showed that the divine plan could not be defeated, for God's program would continue to unroll itself very much as the successive scenes or acts of a drama are revealed.
As other nations came more definitely under the purview of the Biblical writers, the doctrine of Providence took on universal proportions, though always setting forth the same lessons—"that the course of events in the life of individuals and of nations is determined not by outward circumstances, but by the attitudes which people take toward the laws of God." This interpretation of Biblical history as theology is set forth in many passages in the writings of the Spirit of prophecy. They are so numerous that it is perhaps unnecessary for our immediate purpose to make any specific quotations, but the reader will do well to read again that excellent chapter "History and Prophecy" in the book "Education."
(To be continued)
