The Word
Is The Bible God's Book Or Man's Book?
'I'hat is, did God write it, or is it simply a collection of the writings of men? if it is simply a collection of the writings of men, without any divine guidance, then it is no more reliable than are the writings of men; but if God wrote it, then it must be true, and we can depend upon its statements. It is clear from the character of the Bible that it is not the work of man, for man could not have written it if he would. and would not have written it if he could.It details with scathing and unsparing severity the sins of its greatest men, as Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David and Solomon, charging them with falsehood, treachery, pride, adultery, cowardice, murder and gross licentiousness, and presents the history of the Children of Israel as a humiliating record of ingratitude, idolatry, unbelief and rebellion, and it is safe to say, that the Jews, unguided and undirected by the Holy Spirit, would never have chronicled the sinful history of their nation.
How then was the Bible written? The Bible itself gives the answer.
"ALL Scripture Is Given By INSPIRATION OF GOD." 2Tim. 3:16.
I. What Are We To Understand By the "INSPIRATION" of the Scriptures?
We are to understand that God directed men, chosen by Himself, to put into writing such messages, laws, doctrines, historical facts, and revelations, as He wished men to know.
All Scripture (the Graphe writing), is given by inspiration (The op-neu-stos), that is, is-
GOD BREATHED.
That is, God Himself or through the Holy Spirit told holy men of old just what to write. The Bible , then, ISthe Word of God, and does not simply here and there contain it. God is a Person and can both Write andSpeak. He wrote the two "Tables of Testimony" on stone. Ex. 31:18; Ex. 32:16, and on the wall of Belshazzar's Palace. Dan. 5:5, Dan. 5:24-26. He talked with Moses on the Mount when He gave him the Specifications for the Tabernacle and its furnishings, and all the Levitical Law and order of service. He spoke at the Baptism of Jesus (Matt. 3:17), and on the Mount of Transfiguration.
Matt. 17:5, and one day when Jesus was talking to the multitude. John 12:27-29. But God not only spoke directly to men, He spoke to them in the person of Jesus, for Jesus was God Manifest In The Flesh. John 1:1-3, John 1:14. 1Tim. 3:16. Matthew and John's Gospels contain 49 chapters, 1950 verses, 1140 of which, almost three-fifths, were spoken by Jesus, and He claimed that what He spake, He spake not of Himself, but that the Father which sent Him, gave Him commandment What He Should Speak. John 12:49, John 12:50. We see then that God can both write and speak, and therefore can tell others what to write and speak.
II. Does the Inspiration of the Bible Extend to Every Part?
When Jesus said in Matt. 5:17, Matt. 5:18, That not one "jot" or "tittle" should pass from the Law until all be fulfilled, he referred to the smallest letter (jot) and the smallest mark (tittle), of the Hebrew language, thus indicating that even they were inspired, and were necessary for a complete understanding of God's meaning in His Word.
But how about the words of Satan, and wicked and uninspired men, the genealogical tables, and the account of the Fall of Man, the Flood and other historical portions of the Bible. They were inspired of Record.
That is, the inspired penman or historian was told what historical facts to record and what to omit. To one who has read the Old Testament, and also profane history covering the same period, with its legends and traditions, and detailed descriptions, it is very clear that the writers of the Old Testament were divinely inspired to record only those things that would throw light on God's Plan and Purpose in the Ages.
III. HOW Were These Men Inspired to Write the Scriptures?
Were they simply thrown into a kind of "spell, " or "ecstasy, " or "trance, " and wrote under its influence whatever came into their mind. or did God through the Holy Spirit, dictate to them the exact words to use?We know that thought can only be expressed in words and those words must express the exact thoughtof the speaker or writer, otherwise his exact thought is not expressed. We see then that inerrancy demands that the sacred writer be simply an amanuensis. This we see is what the Scriptures claim for themselves. In 11 Pet. 1:20, Pet. 1:21, we read that-"No prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation." That is, no man has a right to say what the Scriptures, according to his opinion, means. Why? Because-
"The Prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were Moved by the HOLY GHOST."
And this is confirmed by the fact that much that the Old Testament Prophets wrote they did not themselves understand 1Pet. 1:10, 1Pet. 1:11. They must then have seen mere amanuenses, recoding words that needed an interpreter. That they were mere instruments is shown by the fact that not all of them were good or holy men, as Balaam (Num. 22:38; Num. 23:26), King Saul (1Sam. 10:10- 1Sam. 10:12;1Sam. 19:20-22), the Prophet of Bethel (1Kings 13:7-9; 1Kings 20:22; 1Kings 20:26), and Caiaphas, John 11:49-51.That the Old Testament writers spake and wrote the exact words that God gave to them is clear from their own statements.. Moses declares that the Lord said unto him-"Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say."- Ex. 4:10-12. The Prophet Jeremiah says-"Then the Lord put forth His hand, and touched my mouth, And the Lord said unto me,
Behold, I have put My Words In Thy Mouth." Jer. 1:6-8.
Ezekiel, Daniel, and all the prophets make the same claim. The expressions-"The Lord Said, " "The Lord Spake Saying, " "Thus Saith the Lord, " etc., etc., occur 560 times in the Pentateuch, 300 times in the Historical and Prophetical books, 1200 times in the Prophets (24 times in Malachi alone), in all over 2000 times in the Old Testament, thus proving the statement of Peter, that Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
But you say-"If this be true how do you account for the difference of style of the writers; for Isaiah's style is different from Fzekiel's or Daniel's, and Peter's from that of John or Paul? " This is easily explained. On the principle that when we wish a legal document written we choose a lawyer, or a poetical article a poet, etc., so God when He wanted to speak in symbols chose an Ezekiel, a Daniel, a John, or in poetry a David.
How are we to explain the fact that sometimes a New Testament writer in quoting from the Old Testament, instead of quoting literally paraphrases the quotation?
For instance in Amos 9:11 we read:
"In that day will I raise up the Tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old."
But when the Apostle James, in the First Church Council at Jerusalem, quotes this passage, he paraphrases it, saying-
"After this I will return, and will build again the Tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up." Acts 15:16.
Why the change in the wording? Simply because the author of both passages was not Amos or James, but the Holy Spirit, and an author has a perfect right to change the phraseology of a statement he may make in the first chapter of his book, in the tenth chapter, if by so doing, without contradicting himself, he can make his meaning clearer.
That is an illuminating statement in 1Pet. 1:11, where the Apostle tells us that it was the "Spirit of Christ" that testified through the Prophets of His "Sufferings." That is, the "Spirit of Christ" took possession of the Prophets and through them forecast or prophesied his "Sufferings" on the Cross, as in Isa. 53:1-3.
The question is often asked, "Is there any difference between Bible Inspiration and the so-called 'inspiration' of Poets, Orators, Preachers, and Writers of today? " In answering the question we must distinguish between "Inspiration, " "Revelation, " and "Illumination."
As we have seen "Bible Inspiration" is something totally different and unique from the inspiration of Poets, Writers and Public Speakers. It is an inspiration in which the Exact Words of God Are Imparted to the Speaker or Writer by the Holy Spirit.
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