Dispensational Proof 4

4. Progressive Revelation

            The Dispensational understanding of progressive revelation is a solid proof for its veracity. It is a part of a literal hermeneutical approach to reading scripture. When we take God’s revelation to man as it was given, dispensationalism makes the most sense of the historical narratives and prophetic texts of the entire Bible. When we build precept upon precept as the Scripture was revealed, the future for Israel and the distinct nature of the church will be clearly understood. The dispensational approach will not use the New Testament to create a retrospective theology taking away God’s clear communication. Nor will the dispensational approach remove what the listener and reader of the text would clearly hear and understand. A simple search on the phrase “reading the Bible backwards” will reveal a whole host of covenant theologians who claim the best way to read the Bible is to read it backwards using the New Testament to unlock the mystical, dark sayings of the Old Testament. Grant that there are hard passages to interpret but to place all the prophetic material into a “mystery” category is not necessary. Daniel and many Jews clearly understood Jeremiah’s prophecy about a 70-year captivity. To place prophecy into “dark sayings” is clearly a presupposition that drastically reduces God’s literal promises to figures and allegory.