Titus 1:2 KJV: "In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began."
My question is: where in other Scripture, mainly Old Testament Scripture (as opposed to other Scripture of Paul), does it specifically say that God made this promise "before the world began?"
Paul had been deeply schooled in reading, memorizing, and understanding the ancient Hebrew scriptures, being "taught at the feet of Gamaliel" (Acts 22:3). All that before he had his vision of the risen Christ, leading to his conversion to faith in Christ. Thereafter, everything quickly fell into place, once Christ was given his proper place.
Due to Paul's meticulous explanations about Christ being, for example, the everlasting Son of God, showing his theology based on those Hebrew scriptures, his Christian understanding of the opening chapters of Genesis would provide a basis for saying what he said in Titus 1:2.
Paul would know, and believe, the promise God made to Adam and Eve at the point when they had just come under the condemnation of sin and death. After cursing the serpent, God said this to the serpent:
"And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel" Genesis 3:15 K.J.V.
This might well be said to be the first prophecy in the Bible; pointing to deliverance from condemnation to sin and death - to overcoming the hopelessness of their lost estate via one who would deal with all that brought in the devastation of sin and death. Note that this one is called "he" - and his symbolic 'heel' would be bruised but he would not be overcome or destroyed. On the contrary, he would overcome and destroy the serpent and his 'seed'.
When Paul's theology is examined, he often refers to the first Adam, and the last Adam - Christ. He often provides the Hebraic theology for showing the triumph unto life everlasting. This is the Christian's hope. And that Paul says God gave this sure promise "before the world began" indicates his understanding that, for God to instantly give that promise before the couple were put out of Eden shows God was not "caught on the hop"; God knew full well what he would need to do to keep his purpose in creation on track for its glorious outcome:
"Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." K.J.V. emphasis mine
This will be the fulfilment of the promise, when God brings in the new creation and the new humanity, in Christ. Therefore the Bible speaks of the 'woman' bringing forth a man-child, caught away to God in heaven, to defeat the attempts of the serpent (there called the great red dragon, 'that old serpent', called the devil and Satan - Revelation chapter 12 which details the outworking of the promise given in Genesis 3:15).
Then, at the end of that prophetic book, the Tree of Life appears once more, but this time in Heaven. Until then, the way to it, and the everlasting life it gives, has been debarred by God's flaming sword. That appeared in Eden, to prevent the sinning couple from partaking of it and so living forever. But because God knows the end from the beginning (Mat.28:20, Isaiah 46:10), he declared his eternal purposes back in Eden, and Paul then discovered the amazing extent of God's foreknowledge, and his eternal purposes that cannot be thwarted by anyone or anything. First stated to the first humanity in Eden. Fulfilled in the last Adam who 'owns' the second humanity, in Christ.
The world had only just begun when God showed he had decided to proceed with a material creation despite knowing what Satan would do. And he already knew how he would overcome all that to restore to perfection the corruption brought in by sin and death. He declared that glorious hope in his glorious promises, as recorded in Genesis 3:14, but every last, minute detail of that promise had to be determined by God before creation began; which is what the rest of the entire Bible demonstrates. And didn't Paul know it!
My literal translation of Titus 1:2 reads:
in hope of life eternal, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time eternal
Note the word "eternal", αἰώνιος, can mean "eternal" or "the worlds as a spatial concept" (BDAG), but we will not consider this here.
Before answering this question let me observe that if God promised something before the "time eternal", that promise cannot be found in Scripture because that was well before the any Scripture was written!
Ellicott says this nicely when he observes:
Promised before the world began.—More accurately rendered, from eternal ages. The promise of eternal life was the result of a divine purpose fixed from eternity.
Indeed, Paul says in 1 Tim 1:9 -
He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,
However, first time this promise of salvation is recorded in Scripture is famously found in Gen 3:15 -
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Benson also succinctly observes in his comments about Titus 1:2 alluding to Gen 3:15 -
That this included a promise of eternal life to all believers has frequently been shown.
This promise of the Great messiah to come was repeated many times in Scripture beginning with Abraham who was promised that:
Gen 12:3 - I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” See also Gen 18:18, 22;18, Gal 3:8, etc.
Answer
The answer is given in the very next verse itself.
“on hope of eternal life which the God who does not lie promised before the eternal times, BUT REVEALED in its own times in a proclamation of His Word” (Titus 1:2-3).
Explanation
So, we see that God made the promise to Himself (i.e., He planned it) before the eternal times, that is, to scientifically speak, ‘before time began’.
But this promise was revealed later, that is, again to use the scientific jargon, ‘after time began’, in the due time, especially when He started to proclaim His Word through Moses and the prophets.
Do we see any mention of such promise?
Yes.
“It is like the dew from Mount Hermon, falling on Zion's mountains, where the LORD has promised to bless his people with LIFE forevermore.” (Psalms 133:3).
Zion is the representative figure of Jerusalem that is the capital of the Promised Land. So God made His promise of eternal life to His people in the mountains near Jerusalem.
Again, do we see any such incident in the Old Testament (which the OP insists to find out)?
Yes.
“I call Heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you LIFE and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore, choose LIFE, that you may LIVE, you and your seed” (Deut 30:19).
Oh, where are the mountains of Zion involved here?
“And it shall be when Jehovah your God shall bring you into the land (of Zion) to which you go to possess it, that you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim, and the curse on Mount Ebal” (Deut 11:29).
There it is.
God gave a promise and a choice to Israel.
[The details of how to do it are given in Deuteronomy 27:12-26. The actual thing took place in Joshua 8:30-35.]
Same Promise to Adam & Eve
The same God has given the same promise to the first human beings also:
“And out of the ground Jehovah God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food. The Tree of LIFE (life eternal) was also in the middle of the garden; also the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (death)” (Gen 2:9).
The same God gave the same choice to them too.
“And Jehovah God commanded the man, saying, Eating you may eat of every tree in the garden; but of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil you may not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, dying you shall die” (Gen 2:16-17).
Adam and Eve could eat from every tree including the “Tree of LIFE” which was a blessing. The only prohibited tree was the tree of curse. But unfortunately, human history took a cursed turn.
But God’s promise is open still to human beings. God renews it through Prophet Jeremiah:
“And you shall say to this people, So says Jehovah, Behold, I set before you the way of LIFE and the way of death” (Jer 21:8).
Conclusion
So God planned (promised Himself) the eternal life for humans before time began but He revealed it later when He started to write down His Word through His prophets.
We see the promise right from the Garden of Eden and onwards continuing in the New Testament through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Here is a different translation of the same verse to help get a grasp on something God promised before the ages commenced.
in hope of the Life of the Ages which God, who is never false to His word, promised before the commencement of the Ages.
There are things that Paul wrote about that you will never find in the Old Testament. That is because God kept some things secret until He revealed them through the apostle Paul, they were mysteries hidden in God, not in the scriptures.
we speak the hidden wisdom of God in a secret, that God foreordained BEFORE the AGES to our glory, which no one of the rulers of this age did know, for if they had known, the Lord of the glory they would not have crucified; 1: Corinthians 2:7
So it looks like God kept some thing secret otherwise the Lord of glory may not have been crucified.
Now to Him who is able to strengthen you by my gospel and by the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery concealed for ages past Roman's 16:25
This particular mystery had been concealed in the past ages. It never showed up in the old Testament.
I became its servant by the commission God gave me to fully proclaim to you the word of God, the mystery that was hidden for ages and generations but is now revealed to His saints. Colossians 1:26
To proclaim good news—the untraceable riches of the Christ, and to cause all to see what [is] the fellowship of the secret that has been hid from the ages in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ, that there might be made known now to the principalities and the authorities in the heavenly [places], through the Assembly, the manifold wisdom of God, according to the purpose of the ages, which He made in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 3:8-12
In verse eight above, we see there are some things that are untraceable.
◄ 421. anexichniastos ►
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance past finding out; unsearchable. From a (as a negative particle) and a presumed derivative of a compound of ekand a derivative of ichnos; not tracked out, i.e. (by implication) untraceable -- past finding out; unsearchable. see GREEK a
The OP brought up Acts 17:11 where the people examined the Scriptures to see if Paul's message was in accord with the Old Testament scriptures. They did not rely on Jewish tradition and teaching of the elders but studied scriptures themselves. Paul had been showing them from scriptures that Christ must suffer and rise from among the dead and that this one is Christ, the Jesus who he was announcing to them.
explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” Acts 17:3
The apostle Paul received revelations from the ascended glorified Christ and He showed him things that had never been seen, written or revealed before.
I received my message from no human source, and no one taught me. Instead, I received it by direct revelation from Jesus Christ. Galatians 1:12
Paul received revelations in installments and they went from glory to glory.
Acts 26:15 And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. 16 But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;
In conclusion Paul use many Old Testament scriptures to verify who Christ was. He also was given revelations that are untraceable that you could never find in the Old Testament.
To validate Paul's statement in Titus 1:2 which emphasizes the hope of eternal life as promised by God and preached by the prophets a pertinent Old Testament reference is Isaiah 52:7. This passage highlights the proclamation of good news, aligning directly with the message Paul conveys.
Titus 1:2 (NASB)
"in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago,"
Isaiah 52:7 (NASB)
"How delightful on the mountains Are the feet of one who brings good news, Who announces peace And brings good news of happiness, Who announces salvation, And says to Zion, 'Your God reigns!'"
Connection to Titus 1:2
In Titus 1:2, Paul refers to the hope of eternal life that God promised "long ages ago." This promise of salvation is a recurring theme in the prophetic writings of the Old Testament. Isaiah 52:7 ties in with this idea, depicting messengers who announce salvation and the reign of God. This "good news" is the foundation for the hope of eternal life that Paul speaks of in his letter to Titus.
Additional Supporting Old Testament References (NASB)
This prophecy speaks of the suffering servant, widely interpreted as a reference to Jesus, whose sacrifice offers eternal life.
This passage speaks to the internal transformation promised by God, which aligns with the hope of eternal life through the new covenant.
This also reflects the messianic mission of proclaiming the good news, echoing the promise of salvation.
Conclusion
Isaiah 52:7 (NASB) reinforces Paul's assertion in Titus 1:2 (NASB) by showing that the promise of salvation and eternal life was foretold by the prophets. The good news announced in Isaiah is directly related to the eternal life God promised long ago, as Paul writes to Titus.
Young's translates this as:
upon hope of life age-during, which God, who doth not lie, did promise before times of ages, (Titus 1:2, YLT)
There is an Hebraic concept in the phrase "before the world began" or "before the foundation of the world" which does not translate literally in the English. That phrase to the Jews meant before the Law was given. Their world, their culture, their beliefs were centered in the Law thereby their existence was counted from their Exodus from Egypt and the giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai.
From Clarke's Commentary at Titus 1:2:
Which God, that cannot lie, promised — We have often seen that the phrase, the foundation of the world, means the Jewish economy, and, before the foundation of the world, the times antecedent to the giving of the law. This is evidently the meaning here. See 2 Timothy 1:9-11.
Supposing the word αιωνιων in this verse to signify eternal, says Dr. Macknight, the literal translation of προ χρονων αιωνιων would be, before eternal times; but that being a contradiction in terms, our translators, contrary to the propriety of the Greek language, have rendered it before the world began, as Mr. Locke observes on Romans 16:25. The true literal translation is before the secular times, referring us to the Jewish jubilees, by which times were computed among the Hebrews, as among the Gentiles they were computed by generations of men. Hence, Colossians 1:26, The mystery which was kept hid απο των αιωνων και απο των γενεων, from the ages and from the generations, signifies the mystery which was kept hid from the Jews and from the Gentiles. Source: Clarke's
In addition to the prophesy of Christ in Gen. 3:15, we have the promise of the savior Yeshua to Abraham:
and God saith unto Abraham, `Let it not be wrong in thine eyes because of the youth, and because of thy handmaid: all that Sarah saith unto thee -- hearken to her voice, for in Isaac is a seed called to thee. (Gen. 21:12, YLT)
that blessing I bless thee, and multiplying I multiply thy seed as stars of the heavens, and as sand which [is] on the sea-shore; and thy seed doth possess the gate of his enemies; (Gen. 22:17, YLT) also
The sceptre turneth not aside from Judah, And a lawgiver from between his feet, Till his Seed come; And his [is] the obedience of peoples. (Gen. 49:10, YLT)
Summed up in Gal. 3:16,
and to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed; He doth not say,
And to seeds,' as of many, but as of one,And to thy seed,' which is Christ; (YLT)
Does not God wish us to share His eternal Kingdom with us? Yes, He wishes that, and that is the purpose why He sent His only-begotten, co-eternal God-Son to us, who having become man, suffered and died on cross, and has risen from dead.
Now, was this purpose not purposed by Him before He created the world? Impossible! So, that is what Paul says. He does not refer to any specific quote from the Holy Scriptures, but to something greater and more principal: a theological common sense.
