It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from Heaven–things into which angels long to look. (First Peter 1:12).
There’s nothing else like this passage in Scripture, a text informing us that prophets and angels did their work without understanding the big picture. Here is the whole passage, from a different translation–
Concerning this salvation, the prophets who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care,
Trying to find out the time and circumstances in which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.
It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from Heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.”
One of the bedrock principles of biblical scholarship states that in order to understand a prophecy, a student should go back and try to learn what the prophet who announced it understood it to mean.
As if the spokesman was the ultimate authority on his prophecy.
Oh, really?
This principle–clearly erroneous, according to this passage from the Apostle Peter–has given rise to the undermining of some of the great doctrines of the Christian faith.
The plain fact is, Peter says, the prophets said more than they knew. They were the instruments of the Spirit of Christ within them.
God knew what He was doing; the prophets often didn’t.