For videos, study guides and other resources, visit Third Millennium Ministries at thirdmill.org.
Building Biblical
Theology
For videos, study guides and other resources, visit Third Millennium Ministries at thirdmill.org.
LESSON
THREE
DIACHRONIC
DEVELOPMENTS IN THE
OLD TESTAMENT
ii.
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© 2012 by Third Millennium Ministries
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iii.
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Contents
I. Introduction .....................................................................................................1
II. Orientation.......................................................................................................2
A. Diachronic 2
1. Contrast 2
2. Interdependence 3
B. Development 3
1. Divine Purposes 3
2. Divine Providence 4
C. Example 5
III. Epochal Developments....................................................................................7
A. Diverse Emphases 8
1. Universal Covenants 8
2. National Covenants 9
3. New Covenant 10
B. Organic Unity 11
1. Kingdom Administration 12
2. Abiding Authority 12
3. Extended Application 13
IV. Topical Developments .....................................................................................14
A. Traditional Topics 15
B. Typology 16
1. Definition 16
2. Features 18
3. Identification 21
V. Conclusion .......................................................................................................25
Building Biblical Theology
Lesson Three
Diachronic Developments in the Old Testament
-1-
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INTRODUCTION
In my country we have a game called, “Who’s the baby?” The hosts of a party
pass out photos of their adult guests from years ago when they were all toddlers and
everyone guesses which picture belongs to which person. Usually, at least some pictures
can be matched with some of the guests. No adults look exactly as they did when they
were that young, but often some facial feature — the shape of our eyes, a bright smile —
continue to be similar enough that we can tell which toddlers grew into which adults.
Something like this is true of the theology of the Old Testament. The Old
Testament covers thousands of years during which its theology changed quite a bit. The
theology, in its more mature stages near the end, is not exactly like the theology of its
earlier, younger stages. But when we look more carefully, we can still see that the Old
Testament actually represents the same faith as it grew over time.
This is the third lesson in our series Building Biblical Theology. We have entitled
this lesson, “Diachronic Developments in the Old Testament.” In this lesson, we will see
that biblical theology focuses on how Old Testament theology developed with the passing
of time.
In our previous lesson, we saw that Christians have used three main strategies for
understanding the Scriptures: literary analysis, looking at the Bible as a literary portrait
designed to convey certain perspectives; thematic analysis, looking at the Bible as a
mirror reflecting traditional or contemporary questions; and historical analysis, looking at
the Bible as a window to the historical events that it reports. We also saw that biblical
theology focuses primarily on historical analysis of the Scriptures, looking especially at
the ways God was involved in historical events reported in the Bible For this reason, we
defined the discipline of biblical theology in this way:
Biblical theology is theological reflection drawn from historical analysis
of acts of God reported in Scripture.
Biblical theology focuses on Scriptural accounts of God’s involvement in history and
draws inferences for Christian theology from those events.
In the preceding lesson, we saw how biblical theologians create “synchronic
syntheses” of Old Testament theology by looking at periods of history as synchronic
units of time, and by discerning the theological structures that resulted from the
intersections of divine act and word revelations during those periods. In this lesson, we’re
turning our attention to a second major concern biblical theologians have with Old
Testament theology: namely, “diachronic development,” the ways theological structures
grew or developed over time.
To explore this subject, we’ll touch on three main issues. First, we’ll gain a basic
orientation toward diachronic development. Second, we’ll explore how epochal
Building Biblical Theology Lesson Three: Diachronic Developments in the Old Testament
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developments took place between major historical periods or epochs. And third, we’ll
look at how specific topics developed over time in the Old Testament. Let’s begin with a
basic orientation toward diachronic development.
ORIENTATION
One of the best ways to introduce the idea of diachronic development is to focus
on what we mean by each of these words. We’ll look first at the term “diachronic.”
Second, we’ll turn to what we mean by “development.” And then third, we’ll look at a
biblical example of assessing diachronic development in the Old Testament. Let’s look
first at the term “diachronic.”
DIACHRONIC
Our English term “diachronic” derives from two Greek words: first, the
preposition dia which often means “through,” or “throughout”; and second, the Greek
noun chronos which means “time.” Diachrony is a concern with the passage of time. In
the case of biblical theology, the term “diachronic” points to the ways Old Testament
theology transformed, changed, or develope
