“Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you.”
the prophets have inquired
Clearly the prophets wrote more than they knew. The Holy Spirit wrote the Bible as well as the human author.
The two verbs “inquired” and “search” are emphatic. They are first in the Greek sentence placing great emphasis on them.
“Inquired” means seek to out or after, to search for, to examine, inquire thoroughly, to make a careful search, to seek diligently to learn. So then, “inquired” has the idea of making considerable effort and care to learn something.
The New Testament uses the Greek word for “inquired” in different ways:
Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
God rewards those who diligently seek Him by faith.
Hebrews 12:17 “For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.”
It is possible to diligently seek God with great emotion without profit.
PRINCIPLE:
Positive volition is necessary to understand the implications of salvation.
APPLICATION:
The prophets dug into the Word of God like someone who digs for gold to understand salvation. They needed to study the books that they themselves wrote. If it is necessary for the prophets to seriously search their own books, it is true for us as well. Are you serious Bible student?
