facts or events may serve as symbols of spiritual truth. A symbol
God revealed himself not only in words, but also in facts. The two go together and are mutually complementary. The words explain the facts, and the facts give concrete embodiment to the words. The perfect synthesis of the two is found in Christ, for in Him the Word was made flesh. All the facts of the redemptive history that is recorded in the Bible center in that great fact. The various lines of the Old Testament revelation converge towards it, and those of the New Testament revelation radiate from it. It is only in their binding center, Jesus Christ, that the narratives of Scripture find their explanation. The interpreter will truly understand them only insofar as he discerns their connection with the great central fact of Sacred History.
It follows from the preceding that the expositor may not rest satisfied with a mere understanding of the Scripture narratives as such. He must discover the underlying meaning of such facts as the call of Abraham, the wrestling of Jacob, Israel's deliverance out of Egypt, the deep humiliation through which David passed before he ascended the throne. Full justice must be done to the symbolical and typical character of Israel's history. Moreover, in the interpretation of the biblical miracles, it should not be forgotten that they are closely connected with the work of redemption. In some cases, they symbolize the redemptive work of Christ; in others they prefigure the blessings of the coming age. In a word, the interpreter must determine the significance of the facts of history as a part of God's revelation of redemption.
1. FACTS MAY HAVE SYMBOLICAL SIGNIFICANCE. Historical facts or events may serve as symbols of spiritual truth. A symbol (from sun and ballo) is not an image, but a sign of something else. And that is what the narratives of Scripture are in many instances. A couple of examples may illustrate this. Take the wrestling of Jacob, revealed in Gen. 32:24–32, and referred to in Hosea 12:2–4. What is the meaning of this incident? This is not understood until it is contemplated as a symbol of the fact that Jacob, though heir of the promises of God, had all along wrestled with God and sought to