Historically, the term "gospel," in the Old Testament is set in the context of war. (euaggelion, euaggelizo - LXX)
The term is used 15 times in the Old Testament. In 11 out of those 15 occurrences the stage is set with a battlefield as the background. We will look at the first three occurrences of this term as it is first conceived in the Bible. We will see that the background scenery of these three references in which this term is set clearly conveys three concepts; the death of an enemy, the subsequent announcement of the victory, and the resultant security of kingdom rule.
1 Samuel 31:8-10
In 1 Samuel 31:9, the term “gospel” is conceived. For the very first time in the Bible, the prophet Samuel uses the term “gospel”. The prophet Samuel-(Acts 3:23) records the death of Saul following a fierce battle with the Philistines. After the Philistines defeated Saul and his men, and routed the Israelite army, they are recorded as beheading Saul and using his severed head as a stage prop, sending messengers throughout the land displaying Saul’s head publicly as a means of proclaiming victory to their countrymen and assuring them that their kingdom is safe.
When the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. They cut off his head and stripped off his armor, and they sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temple of their idols and among their people. They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and fastened his body to the wall of Beth Shan.
Notice the context of “victory in battle,” “death of enemy,” “sending a messenger,” and “publicly proclaiming news of victory.” The context in which the term “gospel” sits is most definitely a battlefield.
So, the conception of the term “gospel” is defined as “the sending of a messenger to make public proclamation of the battlefield defeat and death of an enemy brought by a travelling messenger to those who would consider the news favorable.”
2 Samuel 4:5-10
Also, in 2 Samuel 4:10, the term “gospel” is used in the same context as 1 Samuel 31. Here, in 2 Samuel, the prophet Samuel-(Acts 3:23) records the idea of “good news of victory” as being conveyed at bringing David the news of the death of his enemy, Ish-Bosheth. The partial story is as follows…
Now Rekab and Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, set out for the house of Ish-Bosheth, and they arrived there in the heat of the day while he was taking his noonday rest. They went into the inner part of the house as if to get some wheat, and they stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rekab and his brother Baanah slipped away. They had gone into the house while he was lying on the bed in his bedroom. After they stabbed and killed him, they cut off his head. Taking it with them, they traveled all night by way of the Arabah. They brought the head of Ish-Bosheth to David at Hebron and said to the king, “Here is the head of Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, your enemy, who tried to kill you. This day the Lord has avenged my lord the king against Saul and his offspring.” David answered Rekab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As surely as the Lord lives, who has delivered me out of every trouble, when someone told me, ‘Saul is dead,’ and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and put him to death in Ziklag.
However misguided and mistaken Rekab and Baanan might have been about David considering Ish-Bosheth to be an enemy, they were just as mistaken to believe that David considered his death to be “good news.” In any case, the point to be made here is that the word “gospel,” here translated “good news,” is used in the context of the words, “enemy”, “dead,” “deliverance” and “a proclamation of a victory in battle.” So, here again, the conception of the term “gospel” is defined by “a proclamation of the defeat and death of an enemy brought by a travelling messenger to one who would consider the news favorable.”
2 Samuel 18:19-33
Again, in 2 Samuel 18, the term “gospel” is used for the third time in the same context as 1 Samuel 31 and 2 Samuel 4 above. Here, in 2 Samuel 18, the context of “good news of a battlefield victory” is clearly identifiable. Similar to the above two examples, the word “gospel,” here translated “good news,” is used in the context of the words, “enemy”, “dead,” “deliverance” and “a proclamation of a victory in battle.” So, once more, the conception of the term “gospel” is defined by “a proclamation of the defeat and death of an enemy brought by a travelling messenger to one who would consider the news favorable.”
Now Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, “Let me run and take the news to the king that the Lord has vindicated him by delivering him from the hand of his enemies.”…While David was sitting between the inner and outer gates, the watchman went up to the roof of the gateway by the wall. As he looked out, he saw a man running alone. The watchman called out to the king and reported it. The king said, “If he is alone, he must have good news.” And the runner came closer and closer. Then the watchman saw another runner, and he called down to the gatekeeper, “Look, another man running alone!” The king said, “He must be bringing good news, too.” The watchman said, “It seems to me that the first one runs like Ahimaaz son of Zadok.” “He’s a good man,” the king said. “He comes with good news.”… Then the Cushite arrived and said, “My lord the king, hear the good news! The Lord has vindicated you today by delivering you from the hand of all who rose up against you.” The king asked the Cushite, “Is the young man Absalom safe?”
The Cushite replied, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up to harm you be like that young man.”
Of course, similar to the situation of Rekab and Baanan, David did not take the news of the death of his son Absalom as “good” news as did the rest of the Israelites. However, again the point to be made here is that the word “gospel,” translated “good news,” is used in the context and background of a victor overcoming the enemy and making proclamation that intends to bring joy to the hearers.
Context is everything! In the other four places in the Old Testament where this term is translated “good news,” it is set within a different background and context, other than a battlefield. And it is intended to mean just what it says, “good news” about something.
However, in these first three examples from the prophet Samuel, in which the term is conceived in the Bible, it is clearly discernible that the term is set on a stage with the background and context of a battlefield and the good news of a victory over an enemy and the subsequent public proclamation of that victory by a travelling witness.
There is indication also that, this travelling messenger often climbed to a mountain top and proclaimed his message to the valley below as Isaiah 52:7 and Nahum 1:15 suggest…
Isa 52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
Nah 1:15 Behold, upon the mountains, the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace! Keep your feasts, O Judah; fulfill your vows, for never again shall the worthless pass through you; he is utterly cut off.
As intriguing as all three of Samuel's references may be to the conception of the term “gospel,” if we go back to the Beginning, in Genesis 3:15 we find a very interesting reference to another battle involving two enemies, one a victor and the other, one who is conquered.
In Genesis 3:15, the seed of the “gospel” is planted generations before Samuel, and we see that the entire Bible becomes pregnant with meaning just as we have seen above with the conception of the term in the Samuel passages above.
In my next blog, we will propose that Genesis 3:15 is Pregnant with Meaning through the conception of the “gospel” seed and how the Samuel passages validate that proposal.