And since the manifestation of God in the flesh is the culminating point of revelation, it follows that the Lord Jesus and his apostles, whom he authoritatively commissioned to unfold the doctrines of the gospel, must be, in a special sense, the expositors of the Old Testament, from whose interpretations, when once fairly ascertained, there is no appeal.  The attempt of some to make a distinction between Christ’s authority and that of his apostles is nugatory.  As it is certain that our Lord himself could not have been in error, so it is certain also that he would not have commanded his apostles to teach all nations concerning himself and his doctrines, and have further given them, in the possession of miraculous powers, the broad seal of their commission, only to leave them subject to the common prejudices and errors of their age.  See further in Chap. 7, Nos. 3, 4.

11. The extent of meaning contained in a given revelation must be that which the Holy Spirit intended. It is not to be limited, then, by the apprehension of those to whom it was originally made.  Earlier prophecy is, at least in many cases, framed with a view to the subsequent development of its meaning.  Until such development is made by God himself, either in the way of further revelations, or indirectly by the course of his providence, men’s apprehension of its meaning, though it may be true as far as it goes, must yet be inadequate.  To cite a single passage from one of the Old Testament prophecies:  “It hath pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief; when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.”  Isa. 53:10.  No one will maintain that the Jews before our Lord’s advent (all carnal prejudices aside) could have had that apprehension of its deep meaning which it is our privilege to enjoy.  This meaning was contained in the promise from the first, but in an undeveloped form.  Accordingly the prophets themselves “inquired and searched diligently” concerning the import of their utterances and the time of their fulfilment. 1 Pet. 1:11.  They who deny the reality of prophetic inspiration are necessitated, for consistency’s sake, to deny also the principle now laid down.  But if revelation be a true communication from God to men, it is reasonable to believe that it should have contained from the beginning the germs of mighty events in the distant future, the realization of which in history should be, in connection with further revelations from God, its true expositor.

12. The more obscure declarations of Scripture are to be interpreted from the clearer. A single passage of God’s word occasionally gives us a glimpse of some great truth nowhere else referred to in Scripture.  Of this we have a remarkable example in what the apostle says of Christ’s delivering up the kingdom to the Father upon the completion of the work of redemption. 1 Cor. 15:24-28.  But