Basic Bible Doctrine (Part 02) - God's Word (Part 1)

II. God's Word 1. Throughout time, God has spoken to men by various and different means (Heb 1:1). A. Sundry - Having an existence, position, or status apart; separate, distinct. B. Divers - Different or not alike in character or quality; not of the same kind. 2. God spoke by the prophets in the Old Testament times (Heb 1:1). A. The law that God gave by the prophets was spoken by means of angels (Heb 2:2). i. The law of Moses was ordained by angels (Gal 3:19). ii. Ordain - v. I. To put in order, arrange, make ready, prepare. 1. trans. To arrange in rows or ranks, or other regular order; esp. to draw up in order of battle; to set in array; to array, marshal, order. iii. It was given by the disposition of angels (Act 7:53). iv. Disposition - 1. a. The action of setting in order, or condition of being set in order; arrangement, order; relative position of the parts or elements of a whole. B. The prophets were under the control and influence of the Holy Spirit who moved them to speak and write God's word (2Pe 1:21). i. Balaam was a good example of this, whom God caused to speak words contrary to what he wanted to speak (Num 23:1-12 c/w 2Pe 2:15-16). ii. All scripture is given by inspiration of God (2Ti 3:16). a. Inspiration - I. Literal (physical) senses. 1. The action of blowing on or into. II. Figurative senses. 3. The action of inspiring; the fact or condition of being inspired (in sense 4 or 5 of inspire v.); a breathing or infusion into the mind or soul. a. spec. (Theol., etc.) A special immediate action or influence of the Spirit of God (or of some divinity or supernatural being) upon the human mind or soul; said esp. of that divine influence under which the books of Scripture are held to have been written. b. If a book is held to be scripture then it is inspired by God, since ALL scripture is inspired by God. c. To say that a translation of the Bible is not inspired is to say that it is not scripture. iii. This method of inspiration has been called mechanical inspiration or dictation theory (God dictated the books of the Bible word by word). Other theories of inspiration are: a. Verbal Plenary Inspiration: The effect of inspiration was to move the authors so as to produce the words God wanted. In this view the human writers' "individual backgrounds, personal traits, and literary styles were authentically theirs, but had been providentially prepared by God for use as his instrument in producing Scripture." - Wikipedia b. Dynamic Inspiration: The thoughts contained in the Bible are inspired, but the words used were left to the individual writers. - Wikipedia iv. The Holy Spirit literally spoke by the prophets using their mouths (2Sa 23:2 c/w Psa 45:1). David was a prophet (Act 2:29-30). v. God put His words in their mouths (Jer 1:9). vi. When a prophet spoke in the word of the Lord, it was God's voice (1Ki 20:35-36). vii. God inspired His prophets to write down His words as well as speak them (Jer 36:1-6). a. The words that the prophets wrote down were God's words, not theirs (Jer 32:6). b. This method of inspiration is very simple, but very confusing to scholars (Jer 36:17-18). 3. God spoke in the New Testament times by His Son, Jesus Christ (Heb 1:2). A. Jesus gave to the church apostles, prophets, and scribes (Eph 4:11; Mat 23:34). B. Jesus gave His word to the apostles by revelation. i. He did so for Paul (Gal 1:11-12; Eph 3:3). ii. Revelation - 1. The disclosure or communication of knowledge to man by a divine or supernatural agency. iii. He did likewise for John (Rev 1:1-3). iv. Prophecy - 1. The action, function, or faculty of a prophet; divinely inspired utterance or discourse; spec. in Christian theology, utterance flowing from the revelation and impulse of the Holy Spirit. v. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy (Rev 19:10). 4. The preservation of the word of God. A. God's word is preserved forever (Psa 12:6-7). i. Preserve - v. 1. trans. To keep safe from harm or injury; to keep in safety, save, take care of, guard. ii. God's truth, His word (Joh 17:17), endures forever (Psa 100:5; Isa 30:8). iii. Endure - v. To last, continue in existence. iv. The word of God shall stand forever (Isa 40:8). B. Jesus said that not even a jot or a tittle would pass from the law till heaven and earth passed away (Mat 5:18). i. A jot (JOD) is the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet: see (Psa 119:73). ii. A tittle is a tiny mark on a Hebrew letter that distinguishes one letter from another: see (Psa 119:9) (BETH has a tittle on the lower right corner) c/w (Psa 119:81 (CAPH is nearly identical to BETH, except for not having a tittle). iii. This verse proves that Jesus was using the Hebrew scriptures, not the Greek Septuagint which has no jots and tittles. C. Jesus said that although heaven and earth would pass away, His words (the New Testament) wouldn't (Mat 24:35).