I recently wrote a blog post on telescoping and argued that typology would be a better way of talking about what was to come. I believe I was wrong and I was right.
There is truth in telescoping, in the idea that both author and reader could see beyond the first fulfillment. I did not need to condemn telescoping. They could see the greater mountain peak behind the first fulfillment. Perhaps they could even guess at a greater mountain peak behind that one. In prophetic literature, it is often the Lord himself who gave the prophecy. The prophet would have seen the fulfillment of the Lord’s words, but as he studied those words it is likely he would have seen the promise of greater fulfillment.
The problem with telescoping is that it is a hermeneutical principle that is limited to prophesy.
I want to propose that both typology and telescoping apply to every genre of biblical literature. When David writes in Psalm 110, “The Lord said to my Lord, sit down at my right hand,” he wrote because of what the Lord had done in his time and in his life. At the same time, he guesses at the further mountain peaks, which will fulfill that poetic truth he has written down. This is not a prophecy, it is a poem. When Moses sits down and writes down the story of his early life, he guesses at what further things God will do, based on what God has done in his life. Telescoping is not limited to prophecy. Typology is not limited to narrative. The Word of the Lord, in whatever genre, allows its readers to guess at what is coming in the future and at the same time to recognize the type when it comes.