REVELATION, AND THE GOD REVEALED IN IT Lesson 2 for October 13, 2012

This week we are going to study the inspiration of the Bible and what it says about the One who inspired it. The inspiration of the Bible What the Bible says about itself. What the Old Testament says. What the New Testament says about the Old Testament. What the New Testament says about itself. What Jesus said. How the Bible was inspired. What’s the Bible for. God revealed in the Bible God’s triune nature. God’s attributes. God’s involvement in human history.

What does the Old Testament say about its author? THE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE What does the Old Testament say about its author? One of the most repeated sentences in the Old Testament is, “Thus says the Lord" (1S. 15:2; 2K. 19:20; Is. 65:8; Jer. 6:22; Eze. 5:5; Am. 1:3; …) Regarding who inspired the psalms, David said, “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue” (2S. 23:2) The Old Testament says that “the word of the Lord came” to people like Abram (Gn. 15:1), Samuel (1S. 15:10), Nathan (2S. 7:4), Gad (2S. 24:11), a Solomon (1K. 6:11), Shemaiah (1K. 12:22), a Jehu (1K. 16:1), Elijah (1K. 17:2), Isaiah (Is. 38:4), Jeremiah (Jer. 1:4), Ezekiel (Ez. 21:1), Hosea (Ho. 1:1), Joel (Joel 1:1), Jonah (Jonah 1:1), Micah (Mic. 1:1), Zephaniah (Zep. 1:1), Haggai (Hag. 1:3), Zechariah (Zec. 1:7) The authors of the Old Testament declared that they were just instruments to transmit God’s instructions.

What does the New Testament say about the Old Testament? THE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE What does the New Testament say about the Old Testament? “And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:19-21) When Peter uses the word “Scripture” he is talking about the Word of God that had been accepted by the Jewish people, the Old Testament. Paul also declares that “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2Tim. 3:16)

What does the New Testament say about itself? THE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE What does the New Testament say about itself? The apostle Paul quoted Jesus’ words in Luke 10:7 as Scripture “For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer is worthy of his wages.”” (1 Timothy 5:18) The apostle Peter treated Paul’s writings like they were as inspired as the Old Testament. “And consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures” (2 Peter 3:15-16)

What did Jesus think about the Scriptures? THE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE What did Jesus think about the Scriptures? He used them to reject temptation (Mt. 4:4, 7, 10) He used them to defend the truth (Mt. 22:41-46) He used them to defend from his enemies (Jn. 10:34-35) He urge people to study them (Jn. 5:39) He said that his ministry was revealed in them (Lk. 24:27) “And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:27)

How was the Bible inspired? THE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE How was the Bible inspired? “The Bible is written by inspired men, but it is not God’s mode of thought and expression. It is that of humanity. God, as a writer, is not represented. Men will often say such an expression is not like God. But God has not put Himself in words, in logic, in rhetoric, on trial in the Bible. The writers of the Bible were God’s penmen, not His pen. Look at the different writers. It is not the words of the Bible that are inspired, but the men that were inspired. Inspiration acts not on the man’s words or his expressions but on the man himself, who, under the influence of the Holy Ghost, is imbued with thoughts. But the words receive the impress of the individual mind. The divine mind is diffused. The divine mind and will is combined with the human mind and will; thus the utterances of the man are the word of God” E.G.W. (Selected Messages, vol. 1, cp. 1, pg. 24)

What is the Bible profitable for? THE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE What is the Bible profitable for? “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

GOD’S TRIUNE NATURE “Let Us make” (Gn. 1:26) GOD REVEALED IN THE BIBLE GOD’S TRIUNE NATURE “Let Us make” (Gn. 1:26) “like one of Us” (Gn. 3:22) “let Us go down and there confuse” (Gn. 11:7) “The Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn. 1:1) “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt. 28:19) Deuteronomy 6:4 is the fundament of the Jewish and Christian religion, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!”. Despite the clear statement of God’s unity, we find many expressions that talk about God’s plurality in the Scriptures: The Old Testament’s suggestion of plurality provides hints about the nature of the inner being of God. When we couple this with the New Testament’s statement about Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, we start to realize that there’s a lot about God’s nature that we don’t fully understand and probably never will. The triune aspect of God is one mystery, among many, with which we will have to learn to live.

God exists God is love Unchanging Boundless Omniscient Omnipresent GOD REVEALED IN THE BIBLE GOD’S ATTRIBUTES God exists This is a fact that the Bible takes for granted from the beginning (Gn. 1:1; Heb. 11:6) God is love God’s nature is love (1Jn. 4:8; Jn. 3:16) Unchanging He does not change (Mal. 3:6) Boundless God cannot be measured nor cannot be contained (2Chr. 6:18) Omniscient God knows everything (Job 42:2) There is nothing impossible for God (Mt. 19:26) He is everywhere (Psalm 139:7-12) Omnipresent Omnipotent

GOD’S INVOLVEMENT IN HUMAN HISTORY GOD REVEALED IN THE BIBLE GOD’S INVOLVEMENT IN HUMAN HISTORY He created man and woman (Gn. 1:26) He takes part in our history (Gn. 11:9) He executes His judgments on the wicked (Gn. 19:24) He reveals Himself to men (Ex. 3:1-14) He became man and died for us (Jn. 3:16) He will come again and give us eternal life (1Thes. 4:16-17) We will live forever with Him (Rev. 22:1-5) “And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever” (Revelation 22:3-5)