19. The Repetition Principle

CHAPTER NINETEEN The Repetition Principle or Recurrence Principle. a. Definition. That principle under which God repeats some truth or subject already given, generally with the addition of details not before given. This principle is closely allied to the progressive mention principle. "Repetitions with additions." Repetitions are made for the sake of additional information. b. Examples.

1. Genesis 1:2 – The creation of man recorded in Genesis 1 is a mere statement of fact, but in the second chapter there are added details. A moral aspect is also added. In the first chapter the name of God used is Elohim, the creative title. In the second chapter we have the name LORD or Jehovah, God’s redemptive title. This is the name of God when He enters into covenant relationship with man.

2. "Verily."

(a) The repetition may be of a single word, phrase, or sentence, and that is always significant and of importance – just as if God were saying, "Take note here."

Note how many times the Lord Jesus said, "Verily, verily."

John 5:24 John 6:47 John 5:25 John 6:53 John 6:26 John 8:34

John 6:32 (b) Truth concerning hell. The mind of natural man has always rebelled against the thought of hell. This is treated by the Lord in a three-fold repetition – Mark 9:44; Mark 9:46; Mark 9:48. A simple statement, but one that men need to face.

(c) Judgment of the stubborn nation – Isaiah 6:10. This passage is found in the Bible seven times-six times besides Isaiah 6:10. This concerns the judgment of judicial blindness on Israel.

(1) It was first given in Isaiah.

(2) When the Lord Jesus came and the nation treated Him as they treated God the Father in the Old Testament, and rejected Him, then Jesus pronounced judgment on them and quoted Isaiah 6.

(3) In the Old Testament God the Father dealt with them; in the Gospels, God the Son worked with them; in the Book of Acts the Holy Spirit tried to reach the hearts of the people of Israel. But this could not be done, and in the Book of Acts through the pen of Luke, and the mouth of Paul, the Spirit pronounced the judgment of blindness upon Israel, and quoted Isaiah 6.

(4) Paul in the Epistle to the Romans quotes Isaiah 6, concerning judgment on the nation of Israel. It brings out the amazing fairness of God’s dealings with man. Judgments that men fully deserve are not meted out until sufficient warning has been given.

(5) References: Isaiah 6:10; Matthew 13:14; Mark 4:12; Luke 8:10; John 12:40; Acts 28:25-27; Romans 11:8.

3. The Book of Revelation.

You can never understand this book aside from the Repetition Principle. It is a series of visions with the coming of Christ as the climax. This is repeated three times in the book, each time with added information.

4. The ministry of Paul. In the Book of Acts, which begins with the ministry of Peter, we have a record of Paul’s ministry, and in all of the record he seems to be preaching only to the Jews. Only toward the end of the book Paul says to the Jews that he is now going to preach to the Gentiles. In the Epistles, however, we have the repetition of the record of Paul’s ministry, and in this we find the record of another marvelous activity, the establishing of churches among the Gentiles. It is a repetition with added details. We have the same period, the same preacher, but two lines of ministry.

5. History of Israel.

It is given in the Old Testament, and is repeated in the Book of Acts in the sermon of Stephen, with added details, not contradictions. In Romans we find a record of Israel’s wanderings, which is a repetition of the record in Deuteronomy. c. You will often find that in the repetition, the divine viewpoint is given, while in the first account, man’s viewpoint alone is given.

1. Books of Chronicles and Kings. In the books of I and II Chronicles, and I and II Kings (with I and II Samuel really part of Kings) the same period of history is recorded. Chronicles, however, is II repetition with II spiritual application, spiritual thought, and spiritual information. In Kings, history is recorded from man’s viewpoint. In Kings we have the facts of history; in Chronicles we have God’s thoughts and words about these facts. In Kings God reveals the course of events; in Chronicles God reveals the reason for or meaning of the events. In Kings we see how man ruled; in Chronicles we see how God overruled. Kings is governmental; Chronicles is ecclesiastical. Kings is kingly; Chronicles is priestly. Kings is written from the viewpoint of the natural; Chronicles from the supernatural. Kings, of things earthly; Chronicles, of things heavenly. God’s purpose in Kings is to give the whole history of Israel’s kingdoms in a complete way.

2. Differences between Kings and Chronicles. The priestly aspect of Chronicles compared with kingly and natural aspects of Kings.

(a) Wars vs. revival. In Kings, there are three chapters (88 verses) given over to the wars of Hezekiah – 2 Kings 18:19-20. And there are three verses given to the great revival in Israel during his reign – 2 Kings 18:4-6. Here the emphasis is upon his wars. In Chronicles, there are three chapters given to the great revival under Hezekiah – 2 Chronicles 29, 30, 31. Only one chapter is given to the wars – 2 Chronicles 32.

(b) Ark of the Covenant. In II Samuel one chapter is devoted to the removal of the ark to Jerusalem – 2 Samuel 6. In Chronicles three chapters are given to this event – 2 Chronicles 13, 14, 16. Emphasizes Levites, temple, and religious life.

(c) David’s great sin. In Samuel, two chapters are devoted to it – 2 Samuel 11, 12. In Chronicles, it is not mentioned. When God forgives He forgets.

(d) Reign of Saul. It takes twenty chapters in I Sam. to tell of the long and disastrous reign of the first king, Saul, who was not a man chosen after God’s own heart, but after the eyes of the people. In Chronicles his reign is disposed of in one chapter. He is a type of the flesh and man after the flesh is not important to God.

3. The word "because" in Chronicles. In Chronicles we oftentimes find the word "Because" or a similar word. In King’s the record says, "This happened." In Chronicles, "This happened because." God is be· hind the scenes and showing something not revealed before – the cause of the event.

(a) 2 Chronicles 12:14.

(b) 2 Chronicles 13:18 – Israel prevailed because they relied on the Lord.

(c) 2 Chronicles 14:11-12 – In Kings we read of Asa and his wars, but in Chronicles we find the word "so." There is no "so" in Kings. Asa won his battles because he came to God and prayed to Him.

(d) 2 Chronicles 16:9 – therefore.

4. The temple.

You will find more about the temple in Chronicles than in Kings, because the religious side is being emphasized, Solomon, Ahab, Hezekiah, etc., are not made much of in Chronicles. The cause of their failures is given only to show the result and the working of God. d. The Four Gospels.

1. Reason for having four gospels which are repetitions of the life of Christ. Not, as some think, for a complete biography. The reason above all others is given in John 20:30-31. The New Testament is the outgrowth of the Old. The Old Testament is the root and the New is the shoot. "The New is in the Old contained, and the Old is in the New explained." The Old Testament is filled with prophecies concerning Christ which are fulfilled and explained in the New. The very first verse of the New Testament links up with the Old Testament.

(a) The prophecies concerning Jesus Christ which are recorded in the Old Testament may be classed under four heads:

(1) King – Psalms 2:6; Isaiah 32:1; Daniel 9:25.

(2) Servant – Isaiah 42:1; Isaiah 52:13.

(3) Son of Man – Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 9:6-7; Daniel 7:13-14.

(4) Son of God – Isaiah 9:6-7; Isaiah 40:3-9.

(b) Christ is set forth in the Old Testament as the Branch, and Old Testament name:

(1) Jeremiah 23:5 – The Branch – the king – Lion.

(2) Zechariah 3:8 – The Branch – my servant – Ox.

(3) Zechariah 6:12 – The Branch – the man – man.

(4) Isaiah 4:2 – The Branch – of the Lord – Eagle.

(c) Christ is introduced four times in the Old Testament by the word "behold."

(1) Zechariah 9:9 – Behold the king.

(2) Isaiah 42:1 – Behold, my servant.

(3) Zechariah 6:12 – Behold, the man.

(4) Isaiah 40:9 – Behold your God.

(d) The New Testament

(1) Matthew    – presents Christ as King –    Sovereign –    appeals to Jews.

(2) Mark     – presents Christ as Servant –    Servant –    appeals to Romans.

(3) Luke     – presents Christ as Man –     Seed –     appeals to Greeks.

(4) John     – presents Christ as God –     Son –     appeals to Church.

These are not really four pictures of Christ, but there is one picture presented m four different ways.

2. Another possible reason for writing these four Gospels.

Each would appeal to a different class of people. When Christ was crucified there was an inscription placed over His head, and it was written in three languages; Greek, Hebrew and Latin, the languages of the three principal peoples.

(a) Matthew is the book that would appeal to the Jews. Some say John should be used in dealing with Jews, but this is not true. The Jew does not need proof that the Messiah was to be Deity; what he needs is proof that Jesus was the Messiah. This proof is found in Matthew from the first verse, "The Son of David, the son of Abraham." The only Jew who could prove that He was the son of David and of Abraham was Jesus. The Jews kept their records in the temple, and when the temple was destroyed, the record was destroyed also. The only records of His genealogy are those which God gave in the two gospels.

(b) Rome was not interested in a Jewish King. The keyword of their government was service. Rome worshipped military service in her government. They were not interested in the same things the Greeks were interested in, which were poetry and literature. The gospel of Mark would appeal to the Romans. It is a short Gospel, full of action.

(c) The Greeks were interested in poetry, song, and literature. They also had one high ambition, and that was to produce a perfect man and a perfect race. At one time Greece slew all defective children in order to destroy all defects from the race. Their gods were not made in the form of beasts but in the forms of men. They were interested in the perfect man, and they would find that in Luke. This book has been called, by an agnostic, the most beautiful book ever written.

(d) The fourth group is for the Christian. If you are a Christian your favorite gospel is John. Paul knew how to preach to these different groups. To the Jews he preached Jesus the Messiah, and to the Gentiles he preached Jesus the Son of God.

3. Now these aspects are presented in the four gospels. This does not mean that Matthew, for instance, wrote only of Christ as King, but it was this aspect which is in the foreground.

(a) Matthew. Key verse 1:1.

(1) The expression "kingdom of heaven" is found thirty-two times in Matthew and nowhere else in the New Testament.

(2) John the Baptist’s preaching concerning repentance, "for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," is found only in Matthew.

(3) The wise men came saying, "Where is he that is born king of the Jews?" This is recorded only in Matthew.

(4) When Jesus was tried they charged Him with claiming to be King. When they nailed Him to the cross, the inscription, "T his is the King of the Jews," was nailed over His head.

(5) He was an absolute King, placing His word above the law of Moses. He asserted His authority by the words, "I say unto you," fifty-four times. He demonstrated His authority by pronouncing the Old woes upon them.

(6) The record of His birth in Matthew says He was born King of the Jews. In Luke 2:11 – "Unto you is born a Saviour."

(7) In Matthew, He was crucified because He claimed to be King of the Jews: in John, because He said He was the Son of God. Both are true, for both charges were brought against Him. In the Sanhedrin they charged Him with claiming to be the Son of God, but before Pilate they charged Him with being a seditious king.

(8) Matthew begins with the genealogy of the King-His birth, baptism, and testing. It includes the calling of His cabinet together, the constitution of the Kingdom (set forth in Matthew 5, 6, 7), the credentials of the King (set forth in Matthew 8, 9 – not found in the other Gospels), the messengers sent out, the reception, and rejection of the message. In chapter 11 Christ begins to tell of the change which has come to the kingdom, "It is like." This is followed by the ministry of the rejected King, His trial, and crucifixion, because He said He was King of the Jews.

(9) Ascension. There is no record of the ascension in Matthew because He is to be a King on earth.

(b) Mark. Key verse 10:45.

(1) Christ is set forth as the Servant of Jehovah, not the servant of man. Servant of man – mere humanitarianism.

(2) No genealogy is given. He is only the messenger or servant. No servant holds his position on the basis of ancestry. When one applies for a position, one’s ancestry does not make any difference; it is the recommendations that are required.

(3) Matthew gave the genealogy because it was necessary for a king.

(4) Christ’s recommendation is given at the beginning of the book of Mark, "This is my Son." It is God’s recommendation.

(5) There is no record of His origin, birth, boyhood; no reference to Bethlehem and no account of His youth.

(6) All through the book we find a word which is a servant’s word. It is translated into English in three ways: "straightway," "forthwith," and "immediately." This word is found eighty times in the New Testament, and forty of these in the book of Mark alone.

(7) Jesus is never called "Lord" in Mark until after His ascension, with one exception in 9:24. This should be omitted as in the Revised Version.

(8) There is no "our Father" in Mark.

(9) Jesus is never called King, except in derision, and is called the Son of David only once.

(c) Luke. Key verse 19:10. Opens with wail of bereaved mothers and ends, "woe, woe."

(1) Christ is presented as the Son of Man – "The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."

(2) It is filled with songs and parables. It is the book from which we get some of the old church hymns.

(3) It is the book the artists love. The great majority of the Bible pictures are based on Luke.

(4) Christ’s humanity is emphasized in Luke. His genealogy in the third chapter traces his ancestry back to Adam. Matthew’s genealogy traces Him back to Abraham through David. This is to pro\’e His right to the throne of Israel. In Luke He is the Son of Man, whose ancestry is traced back to Adam. Every man came from Adam. If we have descended from something else; then we are something else, not a man.

(5) The gospel of Luke is the gospel of prayer, and you will find verses here that are not found in the other books. The other gospels tell of His deeds, but Luke says that He prayed before He did them.

(6) As a man, He was dependent upon God. We too often think that we do not need to pray, but if Jesus Christ needed to pray, how much more we?

(7) In Matthew 10 : when Jesus sent out the disciples, He sent them to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, but in Luke 9 : He sent them to all men, His humanity is brought to the front.

(8) There is a difference between the parables. In Matthew they begin with, "The kingdom of heaven is like." In Luke they begin – "A certain man."

(9) It is in Luke you find Him as a man in the garden of Gethsemane. Only here we are told of the drops of blood and of the awful agony in the garden.

(d) John. Key verse 20:30, 3l.

(1) John emphasizes the Deity of Christ, the Son of God. Luke says, "Unto you a child is born," but John says "Unto us a Son is given."

(2) No human genealogy is given. Christ was God Incarnate. In Matthew He was born a king, in Luke He was born into the family circle, but in John He is God Incarnate. A genealogy would be out of place. Who can write the genealogy of God?

(3) You will find no record of the temptation, the transfiguration, the baptism (this is mentioned only by John the Baptist), or of His birth. Very little is said about Nazareth – His home is in the bosom of the Father.

(4) The miracles in the first three gospels are mighty works, but in John they are signs of His deity.

(5) Four times He claimed to be God, and He also claimed omnipresence – John 3:13. He claimed to be one with the Father – John 5:18. He was crucified because He claimed to be the Son of God. They were going to stone Him because He said He was the Son of God, but they did not because He was the Son of God.

(6) No record of ascension because God is omnipresent. THE GENEALOGIES OF CHRIST AS FOUND IN MATTHEW AND LUKE

MATTHEW’S GENEALOGY (Matthew 1) This genealogy starts with Abraham, and it is most interesting. There are some names omitted from this by God, because of sin in that line. Beginning with Abraham, we follow the line to David, Solomon, and Rehoboam. Under Rehoboam the nation was divided into the northern and southern kingdom. Farther down the line we tome to Jehoiakim, and Jehoiakin was his son – Jeremiah 22:24-30; Jeremiah 36:30. How could Jehoiakin be childless? This did not mean that he would have no children, but that his sons were cursed as far as this line was concerned. Not a single son would sit on the throne, although they had the right to the throne.

Joseph was a son of David. That is what the angel called him. He had the title to the throne of David, because Joseph was a descendant of Jeconiah. All of Jeconiah’s sons had a title to the throne, but none of them could sit not on it. Joseph was of the line of David. Apparently God’s promise must come to naught. This must have given the devil great joy, for he must have thought he had succeeded in breaking this line. For even if Joseph did have a son, that son could not use his title because he too would be a son of Jeconiah.

Concerning Zedekiah, the judgment said that Coniah’s sons would not reign. When Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem, he appointed Zedekiah king. (Zedekiah was Coniah’s uncle ... brother of Jehoiakim, the father.) LUKE’S GENEALOGY (Luke 1:1)

Goes back to Adam, but corresponds to Matthew’s genealogy from Abraham to David. Nathan was an elder brother of Solomon and had the same mother and should have been on the throne instead of Solomon – 1 Chronicles 3:5, 2 Samuel 5:14. Solomon had the throne and apparently Nathan did not make any objections. Absalom tried to take the throne but Nathan’s mouth was closed. No doubt his mouth was closed for that same reason that the Lion’s mouths were closed when Daniel was in the den. God closed it. Heli and Joseph were both sons of David, but Joseph had the title to the throne. However, the title did not do him much good because he could not use it. Hell had a daughter named Mary, .a distant cousin to Joseph. These two became engaged. This working out of the two genealogies is one of the most wonderful things in Scripture. God’s curse on Jeconiah is nullified by the other line. An engagement in the Orient is sacred. It is usually about a year in length and cannot be broken without a divorce. Those engaged were considered man and wife.

Two thousand years have made a difference. Mary is now honored, but in that day she was not. Joseph was a just man, and he wanted to do what was right. When Mary was found with child before their marriage, there were three paths open to Him: He could make her a public example and by the law of Moses she would be stoned; be could give her a private bill of divorcement; he could marry the girl and legitimize the child. Joseph, being a just man, must choose between the first two and he decided to divorce her. But God could not allow this to happen, and an angel was sent to Joseph. So when the time came for the marriage, they were married. When Joseph married Mar y and her child was born in wedlock, it meant that in the eyes of the law, Jesus Christ was a son of Joseph, and that was what He was. It does not say that Joseph begat Jesus. Jesus was not the child of Joseph, but He was the son of Joseph in the eyes of the law. Joseph was the legal father of Jesus. Jesus was the literal son of Nathan and the legal son of Solomon, so he received the title to the throne of David. Jesus, the legal son of Joseph, was heir to the title from Jeconiah, but He was not the son of Jeconiah. Suppose that another son of Joseph wanted to claim the throne-Jesus had the title. Joseph had the title, but had no child. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then the Bible would be untrue, for all this proof would be worthless. He had a Father in heaven Who begat Him and a legal father on earth. He had all rights of the first-born. He had the right to the throne through Joseph legally and through Mary He had the right and could rule because not of the seed of Jeconiah. No other Son of Joseph could sit on the throne. There was only one person in the whole universe of God to whom the throne could rightfully come, and that was Jesus. He had the blood of David through Mary. Suppose someone should dispute Solomon’s right to the throne and demand the throne through Nathan’s name – Jesus meets that claim. How the devil fought the line of Solomon and tried to destroy it! He did not know that Jesus was not coming through that line at all. At one time his whole line depended upon one small baby, Joash.

Jehoshaphat was in the regular line. Jehoram slew all his brethren so that he and his lions were all that were left – 2 Chronicles 21:4. The Arabians came and slew all of the sons except Athaliah – 2 Chronicles 21:16-17; 2 Chronicles 22:8-12. Then when Ahaziah was slain, Athaliah slew, as she thought, all of the sons. Joash, however, escaped. There was a period of time when he was the only one in that line. When the time came, that little king who had been hidden in the house of God came forth to take the throne, just as a king will someday come from the house of God – 2 Chronicles 23:11. There is a deeper meaning than the proof of the humanity of Jesus in the genealogy of Luke.