God did not reveal everything about Himself all at once. Instead, the story unfolds over centuries, from Genesis through the New Testament.
Why do you think God chose progressive revelation instead of giving humanity the complete picture from the beginning?
Is that true? I will have to think about it.
The whole Bible from beginning to end is about the coming Redeemer, His coming, and His future coming. Some saw it and many didn’t see it. This is why Job could say, “I know that my Redeemer lives and in the end He will stand on earth” Moses knew and talked about His coming. “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him.” The Pharisees would later ask John the Baptist if he was that prophet. Hebrews 11 talks about all those in the OT who died in faith, not having received, but believing and looking forward.
Certainly we know more than the people of the past, but that doesn’t mean it was hidden in the past.
God is love. He revealed that to the Israelites. I dont know about people before that because not much is written about them.
That’s a good point, @Bestill. Perhaps “progressive revelation” does not necessarily mean that God changed or that the promise of the Redeemer was hidden from the beginning, but rather that more details became clear over time.
In a sense, the story unfolds like a relationship. You may know someone truly without knowing everything about them at once. Abraham, Moses, David, the prophets, and the apostles all knew the same God, yet each generation seems to have been given a deeper understanding of His character and purposes.
So maybe progressive revelation is not so much God withholding Himself as God patiently revealing Himself in ways that people could receive and understand in their particular time and circumstances.