Principle 25

HERMENEUTICS

PRINCIPLE 25

Realize That Not All Truth Has Been Revealed

Deuteronomy 29:29

“The Lord our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions.”

This principle of hermeneutics is taught in the Bible itself.  Deuteronomy 29:29 tells us there are secret things that only God can understand. God hasn’t revealed everything to us, so we shouldn’t go beyond Scripture trying to figure out something that God hasn’t revealed.

The goal of hermeneutics isn’t to speculate on what God has not revealed, but rather to interpret what He has revealed. Our responsibility, as believers, is not only to interpret what God has revealed, but to act appropriately on the meaning. 

Proverbs 25:2

“It is God’s privilege to conceal things and the king’s privilege to discover them.”

King Solomon, who wrote this proverb, was the wisest man who ever lived (apart, of course, from the Lord Jesus Christ). Even Solomon acknowledged that there were some things that God had concealed and not revealed. The fact that God has not revealed everything to man emphasizes that God’s superiority. God knows everything. 

Let’s consider several things that aren’t revealed in Scripture. Angels would be a good example. We know some things about angels, but not everything.

When did Satan fall? Why is there no plan of redemption for fallen angels? The Bible does not answer these questions.

We don’t know what happened to the saints mentioned in Matthew 27:52. Did they die again, like Lazarus, or were they resurrected and received into heaven?

Where are the bodies of Moses, Enoch, and Elijah?

Where is hell?

We’d love to know detailed answers to these questions, and many more, but we must realize and accept the fact that some truth has not been revealed. When it comes to hermeneutics, we need to be careful about speculating about what might be an answer, and limit our interpretation to what God has revealed.