Date: May 2003 Series: How We Got Our Bible (III) Title: Scripture & Inspiration (continued)

Step #2: Scripture – Inspiration (cont’d)

         As we consider how the Bible came to us, I want to focus for a moment on a further discussion of what the Bible asserts about “inspiration” – the Divine influence involved in the development of the story of redemption and its written record.

       Inspiration in the Law of Moses - The five documents that arose in connection with the Sinai covenant and Mosaic Law (Pentateuch/Torah) was early given the highest reverence among Jews.  Moses is presented as having "face to face" communication with God (Exodus 3; 19:3f; 20:21ff; 24:1-3,9ff; 33:1; Deuteronomy 34:10) so much so that his face would shine from being so near God's glory (Exodus 34:29ff).  The two stone tablets of the "10 Commandments" were "written with God's finger" (Exodus 31:18; Deuteronomy 9:10).  We see "inspiration" expressed in two ways: not only allowing one to "speak" God's word, but also to perform special tasks.  In such cases, God "puts it into the hearts" of people to do things that contributed to His plans and purposes (Exodus 35:34; 36:1; Numbers 11:25; 23:5; Deuteronomy 18:18).

       Inspiration in the Judges/Prophets - The "inspiration" of the Judges was based on the influence of the Holy Spirit (Judges 3:10; 6:34; 11:29; 13:25; 14:6,19; 15:14).  Kings were anointed, but they became "prophetic figures" when the Spirit "came upon them" (1Samuel 10:10; 16:13 - Acts 2:30; 4:25).  Another way of showing inspiration is seen when "the word of the Lord" comes to someone.^[1]  "The Word of God/YHWH" is also represented as an authoritative source for prophetic speech (Numbers 3:16; 1Kings 13:1,5; 20:35,36).  "The word which Isaiah... saw..." (Isaiah 2:1).  This is probably the background to John’s explanation of the Incarnation (Jesus) – the “Word was made flesh and dwelt in our midst (John 1:14).  I believe that it was the pre-incarnate Christ who came/spoke to various characters in Hebrew history, then in a real human body to Jews in the early first century A.D.

        God's work of "inspiring" special events (like 1Kings 12:15) to fulfill His purposes is evident in the books of history.  The books of history were "prophetic" to Israel because God had “put wisdom” into Solomon (1Kings 10:24) and the historical records of each king of Judah were made by contemporary prophets.^[2]  God put something into the heart of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 7:5).

        Inspiration in the New Testament Writings - In the New Testament (NT), the "Word of God" is put on the same level as “Scripture, Law, and Gospel.”  The NT idea of inspiration is most clearly expressed in Second Timothy 3:16, where “all Scripture” is said to be “God-breathed,” which places God’s involvement with Scripture on a par with His “breathing” life into Adam (Genesis 2:7).  The other clear mention of inspiration, Second Peter 1:20-21, refers to the impropriety of inventing our own meanings for Scripture on the basis that it was not produced by human will, but by spokesmen who were “pushed along” by God’s Spirit.  There are some other NT references where some type of "inspiration" is stated or inferred.^[3]

        Jesus promised "inspiration" to His apostles (Matthew 10:20; Mark 13:11; John 14:26; 16:13).  It appears that Stephen was inspired (Acts 6:10).  The writer of Hebrews compared the inspiration of Jesus with the OT prophets by saying that "God spoke...in the prophets...in His Son..." (Hebrews 1:1,2).  Jesus, Peter, and Paul accepted the inspiration of the Old Testament writings as they claimed that “the Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:34,35), that “Scripture” spoke to Pharaoh (Romans 9:17), that God spoke “in Hosea” (Romans 9:25), and that the “Spirit of Christ” was in the OT Prophets (1Peter 1:10-12).

        One of the reasons why some do not accept the Bible as a message from God is that they do not want a God who speaks plainly and holds them accountable.  By marginalizing or ignoring the Word of God, they can continue to “do their own thing” in apparent peace.  There are also some who believe in God’s existence, but do not want to be deprived of the joy of writing their own theology (and “doing their own religious thing”).  When God reveals or speaks from heaven, there will always be some who hear only thunder (John 12:29) and, either consciously or unconsciously, choose to “suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (Romans 1:18).

       The Bible as the “Word of God” - It is proper to refer to the Bible as the “Word of God.”  Some have claimed that the Bible is not the Word of God, but contains the Word of God.  If they mean by this that not everything in Scripture is a quotation of something God said, then even the most staunch conservative could agree because the Bible does contain speeches attributed to Satan as well as the inaccurate theology of Job’s friends, etc.  However, if they mean that not everything in Scripture is what God wanted there and proceed to tell us, on their own authority, what parts of the Bible are/are not inspired, then we must reject their claims.  All books are selective collections of information and the Bible does not claim to be an “exhaustive” (complete) record of the past (see: John 20:30,31; 21:25).  However, the Bible, in its entirety, is what God wanted us to know about human history in connection with His plan to offer redemption through Jesus.