Principle No. 5 The First Occurrence Principle
By Clifton L. Fowler
Taken from Grace and Truth Magazine 1923
The First Occurrence Principle is the principle which comes before us in this study. The presence of this principle in the Word of God has been frequently noted by Bible students during the years that have gone by. A. T. Pierson refers to this principle calling it “the Divine Law of Firsts.” Today, however, this important law lying embedded in. the Word of the living God is given virtually no attention by the men who write books. We do not find Christian writers denouncing this principle, but it has fallen into disuse which to all intents and purposes, is quite as bad as falling into disrepute.
The definition of the First Occurrence Principle is:
THE FIRST OCCURRENCE PRINCIPLE IS THAT PRINCIPLE OF DIVINE REVELATION
(a) Wherein God indicates by the
context of the first occurrence, that truth
or fact wherewith a subject of thought
stands connected in the divine mind. The use of the First Occurrence
Principle unlocks many hidden treasures in God’s
Holy Book. This is the peculiarity of the
principle—that when it is
accurately employed it uncovers the most
amazing wealth of unguessed meanings. It makes the
Bible a surprise box. Passages that abound in symbols
the significance of which are utterly unknown to the soul,
yield up messages of unsurpassed beauty where the
First Occurrence Principle is employed and the meanings of
the symbols drawn forth from the Word of God. The First
Occurrence Principle makes the Bible
self-explanatory. In the study of the Direct
Statement Principle which appeared in the March issue of
“Grace and Truth,” it was shown that one of the most.
remarkable illustrations of the activity of the Direct
Statement Principle is in the revelation of the meaning of the
symbols. This is indeed quite true but by far the larger
number of symbols in the Word of God may be explained by
the use of the First Occurrence Principle. Often when
no direct statement setting forth the meaning of a
symbol exists in the Scripture, the First Occurrence will
carry the suggestion and implication which will lead the
mind into satisfying confidence as to what a given
symbol may mean in the mind of God. Because of the presence
of this remarkable principle, together with the Direct
Statement Principle, it is no flight of the imagination to
say that not only is the Bible God’s revelation, but
because the Bible is self-interpreting,
the Bible is indeed and in truth
it’s own Unabridged Dictionary.
Mere human
mentality not interpret Bible symbols. If
the symbols employed in the Word of God actually possess a specific meaning, then there could be no absurdity quite so complete as
the absurdity of seeking the
significance of these symbols in the books
produced by the intelligence of
man, no matter how creditable or
highly respected that intelligence may
be. The only logical place to seek
for the significance of the symbols which occur in God’s Word is in God's Word itself. Where is there the man, who, outside of God's own revelation, could have any knowledge of the meaning of
celestial symbology?
So vast is the field of
possibility which opens up under the
consideration of the First Occurrence Principle that it is
impossible to do more than simply present a few beautiful
and easily discerned illustrations of its activity in the
Word of the living God, leaving the individual student
to carry his studies forth into unexplored vistas of
wondrous blessing.
The First Occurrence Principle
Illustrated by the Symbol “Sword” The sword is one of the most
familiar symbols of the Bible. That student who does
not know the meaning of this symbol is rare.
‘This fact makes the sword an especially valuable
symbol: with which to illustrate our principle. The
First Occurrence of the symbol sword is in Gen. 3:24.
‘The passage reads:
“So he drove out the man; and he
placed at the east of the garden of Eden
cherubims, and a flaming: sword which turned every way, to
keep the way of the tree of life.” What is the Biblical
significance of the sword? With what does the sword stand
connected in this, its first occurrence? The narrative is so
plain that little question need arise. Adam, because of
sin, has been expelled from the Garden of Eden, in which God
had placed the Tree of Life. God says that the
purpose of this expulsion is to debar man from eating of the
Tree of Life. ‘Then God placed the cherubim and the
flaming sword to keep the way of the Tree of Life, On the
surface, it looks like a contradiction to say that man is
driven forth to prevent his eating of the tree, then
when man is out of the garden to say God is keeping the way of
the tree with a flaming sword. But it is not a
contradiction, For man to have had access to the Tree of Life
on the ground of his own efforts would have been contrary
to God's honor. ‘There is no restoration to favor with
God on the ground of human deeds. Ah, no, God has a
plan which will reveal to man the depths of his need
and at the same time bring honor to His own Name and show
forth the beauty of His matchless grace. God expels the
man from the blessedness of the garden thus
revealing to the man the
enormity of his sin of rebellion and
unbelief. But God does not strip the man of hope. He now
offers a new way of access to the Tree of Life, not by
works, but by the way of the flaming sword. The task
of the sword was to keep the way of the Tree of Life.
What is it which through the years has “kept the way” to
life? The veriest novice in the things of Jesus knows
that it is the Bible which has kept the way of the Tree of Life. Man's philosophies would have long since obscured the way, but the Word of God has kept the way clear. In the First Occurrence of the symbol sword, it stands connected with that which keeps the way of the Tree of Life. It is God’s Word which for every soul, Keeps the way. The sword stands connected with the Word in the symbology of the Scripture.
It is most
valuable in ‘order to test the accuracy of the conclusions arrived at by the use of the First Occurrence Principle, to use if possible, the Direct Statement Principle. As has been shown in a former discussion, the Direct Statement Principle also reaches into the realm of God’s Unabridged Dictionary in which most of the illustrations of the First Occurrence Principle are found. There is an example of the Direct Statement Principle which gives us the meaning of the symbol “sword” in Eph. 6:17:
“The sword of the Spirit which
is the Word of God” This passage alone would give us
by direct statement and without further study, the
Biblical significance of this symbol whose meaning we are
investigating. Its testimony takes on special, value
because we see it to be in perfect harmony with the
significance of the symbol as
clearly indicated by the First
Occurrence Principle. ‘The Direct Statement Principle and
the First Occurrence Principle lead us to the same
conclusion. They agree. The harmony of the Word is
indicated and the accuracy of the First Occurrence
Principle demonstrated. It is most enlightening to
follow the passages of the Scripture bearing upon this
symbol. ‘The eyes of the student are greeted with the
most perfect symmetry and agreement everywhere. As the
Word of God is that instrumentality through which God
judges the world and blesses His own, so we find
throughout the Bible the “sword” becomes an instrument of
judgment and blessing. The last time that we meet
this symbol in the Bible is in the nineteenth chapter of
the Revelation. It is represented as going out of the
mouth of our Lord Jesus. At first thought the statement
is almost an absurdity for anyone knows that swords do not
go out of the mouths of men, but when one remembers the
significance of this symbol, the passage becomes
radiant with light, for it is out of the mouth of our blessed
Lord that His miraculous Word has gone forth. ‘That
passage which at first glance might have seemed ridiculous
becomes only another convincing proof of the uniformity
of Scripture testimony on the significance of the symbol
“sword.”
The First Occurrence Principle
Illustrated by the Symbol “Trumpet”
This symbol is not quite so familiar to the ordinary student of the Word as the one which we have just considered, but we will not have to seek very far before we will discover that so clear is the testimony of the Word of God as to this symbol’s significance that there can be no question left in the mind. The first occurrence of trumpet in the Scripture is Ex. 19:13:
“When the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount.” The passage
occurs in connection with the historical events which transpired when Israel was encamped at the foot of Sinai. It takes but one glance at the passage to reveal to the prayerful student of God's Word that the trumpet in the Bible stands connected with a gathering of God's people. It may be a gathering for blessing; a
gathering for war; or a gathering for judgment, but the
Divine Law of Firsts here indicates that the significance
of the trumpet is a gathering. Does the balance of
Scripture bear out this conclusion? The answer of the Word
of God is most definite. In I Kings 1:39 the
trumpet was blown at the time that the people had
GATHERED for the anointing of Solomon. In Matt. 24:31 the
Saviour declares that there shall he the sound of a
trumpet when the angels GATHER His
elect from the four
winds of heaven from one end of heaven to the other.
In I Thes, 4:16, where the Holy Spirit is describing
the Rapture of the Church, it is declared that the trump of
God shall sound and the dead in Christ shall rise first
and by a mighty miracle of God, shall be GATHERED
unto Him in the air. The Word of
God does not leave the mind of
God’s child questioning. Perfect
agreement is spread from end to
end or the sacred revelation.
Thus it is seen. that when once
the significance of a symbol is
discovered it can be counted on
with absolute certainty that
wherever or whenever that symbol
appears throughout the Word of
God it will always carry the
same significance.
The two illustrations which we
have given showing forth the
value of the First Occurrence
Principle in determining the meaning of a Bible
symbol are sufficient to give the earnest student a start
in investigating this most interesting and fascinating line
of study. The student whose whole soul is suffused
with the burning desire to know God’s Book can begin to
have a sense of assurance, which he never before
experienced. Bible study is not» an illusive thing. The God of
the Bible does not fluctuate. He changes not. His very
use of the symbols “in the Bible is a picture of
His own steadfastness for when once the meaning of a symbol is
learned it may be confidently depended upon that the
meaning of that symbol remains the same, no matter how
many different writers” may employ the symbol, nor how
many centuries may intervene between its appearances
on the page of divine revelation. This brings calm and
assurance to the soul that ~ would otherwise be too dejected
to continue Bible study, and produces the courage to
press steadfastly on to larger and fuller knowledge. These great facts of Bible study
fill the soul with awe and deepen the conviction
that “the Bible is not only the Book of God, but the God of
Books.” Copyright 1923, Clifton L. Fowler
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