Rather, they were always the touchstone of Israelite duty and the basis for their solidarity as a community. The New Testament documents, therefore, are not directed to that era primarily, but to the new covenant community for all ages until the consummation. The history of redemption shows that the documents themselves are normative for the community while the covenant is in force. This they must do by disregarding redemptive history. To say that the documents are restricted to their age negates the prophetic character of the documents.
Redemptive history reveals that the writers often speak to others in the future.
Likewise, the new covenant revelation speaks beyond its first century milieu. These truths transcend any one generation. In fact, they shape our whole conception of reality. They are organically related, one upon the other, as the purpose of God in Christ became manifest in history and inscripturated in the covenant documents. But there is nothing peculiar to the first century in this view, for it also permeates the Old Testament revelation.