Difference between revisions of "Forerunner"

<p> <strong> [[Forerunner]] </strong> . The English word gives the exact sense of the Greek <em> prodromos </em> , which, in its classical usage, signifies ‘one who goes before’; it may be as a scout to reconnoitre, or as a herald to announce the coming of the king and to make ready the way for the royal journey. </p> <p> <strong> 1. </strong> John the [[Baptist]] was our Lord’s ‘forerunner.’ The word is never applied to him in the NT, but he was the ‘messenger’ sent ‘before the face’ of the Lord ‘to prepare his way’ (&nbsp; Matthew 11:10 , &nbsp; Mark 1:2 , &nbsp; Luke 7:27; cf. &nbsp; Malachi 3:1 ), and to exhort others to ‘make his paths straight’ (&nbsp; Mark 1:2; cf. &nbsp; Isaiah 40:3 ff.). </p> <p> <strong> 2. </strong> Only in &nbsp; Hebrews 6:20 is the word ‘forerunner’ found in the EV [Note: English Version.] (Wyclif ‘the bifor goer,’ [[Rheims]] ‘the precursor’). Instead of the AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ‘whither the forerunner has for us entered, even Jesus,’ the RV [Note: Revised Version.] rightly renders: ‘whither as a forerunner Jesus entered for us.’ The change is important. To the readers of this [[Epistle]] it would be a startling announcement that Jesus had entered the [[Holy]] of Holies <em> as a forerunner </em> . [[Thither]] the [[Jewish]] high priest, one day in the year, went alone (&nbsp; Hebrews 9:7 ). He was the people’s representative, but he was not their forerunner, for none might dare to follow him. The key-note of the Epistle is that all believers have access with boldness to the presence of the Most Holy God ‘in the blood of Jesus’; they have this boldness because their High [[Priest]] has inaugurated for them a fresh and living way (&nbsp; Hebrews 10:19 ff.). [[Already]] within the veil hope enters with assurance, for Jesus has ‘gone that we may follow too.’ As the Forerunner of His redeemed He has inaugurated their entrance, He makes intercession for them, and He is preparing for them a place (&nbsp; John 14:2 ). Commenting on the significance of this ‘one word,’ Dr. A. B. [[Bruce]] says that it ‘expresses the whole essential difference between the [[Christian]] and the [[Levitical]] religion between the religion that brings men nigh to God, and the religion that kept or left men standing afar off’ ( <em> Expositor </em> , iii. vii. [1888], p. 167 f.). </p> <p> J. G. Tasker. </p>

<div> '''1: πρόδρομος ''' (Strong'S #4274 — Adjective — prodromos — prod'-rom-os ) </div> <p> an adjective signifying "running forward, going in advance," is used as a noun, of "those who were sent before to take observations," acting as scouts, especially in military matters; or of "one sent before a king" to see that the way was prepared, &nbsp;Isaiah 40:3; (cp. &nbsp;Luke 9:52; and, of John the Baptist, &nbsp;Matthew 11:10 , etc). In the NT it is said of Christ in &nbsp;Hebrews 6:20 , as going in advance of His followers who are to be where He is, when He comes to receive them to Himself. In the Sept., &nbsp;Numbers 13:21 , "forerunners (of the grape);" &nbsp;Isaiah 28:4 , "an early (fig)." </p>

<p> '''''fōr''''' -'''''run´ẽr''''' ( πρόδρομος , <i> '''''pródromos''''' </i> ): This word occurs but once in the Bible: "Whither as a forerunner Jesus entered for us" (&nbsp;Hebrews 6:20 ). The word signifies one who comes in advance to a place where the rest are to follow, or one who is sent on before as a scout to take observations. In this sense Christ is our forerunner for He has gone into heaven to prepare a place for His people into which He will eventually lead them. The idea of a forerunner is peculiar to the Christian dispensation. The Old Testament Levitical economy knew nothing of such. The high priest was a representative, not a forerunner: where he led, namely, into the Holy of Holies, the people could not follow. He was not the pioneer of the people; Christ is. Christ goes nowhere but where His people may follow. He is the <i> file-leader </i> (compare &nbsp; Hebrews 12:2 , "the <i> author ... </i> of faith"). He goeth before His people to prepare the way for them, to open the gates of heaven by His atoning blood and priestly intercession. The believer is led into full fellowship with God through Jesus Christ. See also [[John The Baptist]]; [[Runner]] . </p>

<p> is the literal meaning of πρόδρομος (&nbsp;Hebrews 6:20), a ''Precursor,'' one who not only goes before to a particular place, to lead or prepare the way, but who makes arrangements for those that follow. In this sense it in usually applied to John the Baptist, as the harbinger of Christ. But in the above text (the only one where it occurs in Scripture) it is spoken of Jesus, the high-priest of the new dispensation, as entering before his followers into the heavenly sanctuary, and making expiation of perpetual. efficacy for sinners (comp. &nbsp;John 14:2). </p>