Sunday: The Divine Revelation of the Bible
Read 2 Peter 1:19-21. How does Peter express his conviction about the origin of the biblical prophetic message?
The Bible is not like any other book. According to the apostle Peter, the prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit in such a way that the content of their message came from God. They did not invent it themselves. Rather than being “cunningly devised fables” (2 Pet. 1:16), the prophetic message of the Bible is of divine origin, and thus it is truthful and trustworthy.
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“Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:21, NKJV). God was at work in the process of revelation, where He made known His will to selected human beings.
Direct verbal communication between God and particular human beings is an inescapable fact of the Scriptures. This is why the Bible has special, divine authority, and we need to take the divine element into consideration in our interpretation of the Scriptures. Having our holy God as their ultimate author, the biblical books are aptly called “holy Scriptures” (Rom. 1:2, 2 Tim. 3:15).
They were given for practical purposes, too. They are “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that all God’s people may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17, TNIV).
We also need the help of the Holy Spirit to apply to our lives what God has revealed in His Word. According to the apostle Peter, the interpretation of the divinely revealed Word of God is not a matter of our own opinions. We need God’s Word and the Holy Spirit to rightly understand its meaning.
Scripture also says, “Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7, NKJV). The biblical words for “revelation” (in its various forms) express the idea that something previously hidden has now been disclosed or unveiled and thus becomes known and made manifest. As human beings, we need such an uncovering, or revelation, for we are sinful beings, separated from God because of our sin, and therefore dependent upon Him to know His will.
| It’s hard enough obeying the Bible even when we believe in its divine origin. What would happen if we come to distrust or even question that divine origin? |
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We often think of Holiness being associated with individuals who live in some kind of isolation from the real world, spending time in prayer and contemplation and writing down their thoughts on parchment as God reveals them. However we find that God is using real people, murders, polygamists, scheming politicians, religious zealots, and naked crackpots as authors of the Bible. I am not being facetious or trying to cast doubt on the process of Biblical writing, but rather we need to perhaps redefine what we mean by "Holy". 😇
It may be worth thinking about some of the individual authors, writing down some of what we know about then, and thinking about why God chose them. Then perhaps we can redefine "Holy"!
Agreed Maurice,
Holy means to be set apart for a special holy use. With that definition it encapsulates the murderers, polygamists, scheming politicians, religious zealots and naked crackpots you mention.
Holy is also where God is. His presence made the ground Holy when He appeared in the burning bush because that ground was now being used for a holy purpose.
God also gave messages via a great fish, a crowing rooster and a donkey. Faithfulness to deliver the message is priority when a Holy God speaks through and to sinners.
Interesting and thought provoking message brother.
Amen Maurice. All the Bible writers were flawed but they had common traits, humility, contrition and their deep conviction and gratitude for the Christ who saves them.
1) No other religion in the world talks about God lowering himself to the level of humanity for the redemption of humanity. In HIs weakness He was victorious over evil.
2) Bible teaches there is no inherited good exists in humanity. It is the power of God alone wills for us to do good. This statement directly contradicts human pride.
3) The battle is at the mind of humanity to take control or possess the soul to do evil. Greatest battle ever fought in the world is self-control.
These things cannot be taught unless it has been revealed unto us. There is a cosmic conflict in the universe we are caught in the storm. The beacon and the anchor in the midst of the storm is Christ.
I can be bold in saying choose any world religion the ultimate end will be self-glorification.
Christ alone emptied himself for humanity. He has never turned away from us. He has given us the choice of accepting or rejecgting him.
Today’s lesson states “Direct verbal communication between God and particular human beings is an inescapable fact of the Scriptures”.
I am not sure how the authors jumped from 2 Peter 1:21 where Peter states that Bible writers were “moved”/motivated by God to proposing the idea of “direct verbal communication”. Ellen White unpacked well how God moved/motivated the Bible writers when she wrote:
Being aware of the human element informs us that we need to go beyond merely surface reading of scripture to instead studying it by comparing scripture with scripture - and with nature/reality (Romans 1:20).
There are many apparent inconsistencies in scripture. How do we interpret scripture such that these apparent inconsistencies are reconciled?
Here is one example to investigate. The author of 1 Kings 22:23 proposes that God put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of the prophets in the situation at hand. But the authors of Numbers 23:19 and 1 Samuel 15:29 propose that God does not and cannot lie/deceive.
“Being aware of the human element informs us that we need to go beyond merely surface reading of scripture to instead studying it by comparing scripture with scripture - and with nature/reality (Romans 1:20).”
Language and culture evolve over time. Many people who read the Bible, read its words as if God spoke them in our time and to our culture, and take them literally in that sense as The Word of God. As you point out, God has used human instrumentalities to write the scriptures, but further, human beings also translated those writings, which we call the Holy Bible. And further yet, we as human beings are reading these translations and interpreting them.
Anyone who knows the history of the English translation of the Bible, will understand that politics played a role in the translation process, and this was especially true of the KJV. Nevertheless, many view this version as if it was the textus receptus, spoken directly from the mouth of God. I am not writing this to say there is no value in the study of this version, but to point out the reality of our human condition.
This is why I believe it is critical that to understand the words of the Bible, that is, the principles God is communicating in its pages, we must know the One of whom it testifies and pray that his Spirit will reveal him to us as the Way, the Truth and the Life. This is a supernatural process. (John 16:12-14.)
Just some thoughts.
The power of the Holy Spirit. He woes people to him by the Word.
I truly believes the Bible. Why? If humans were not inspired to write, humans would have written in a certain twisted way to let some people look nice if they were rich, educated, had some good soc-economic background, or leaders of religious organizations.
Was once reading Genesis 37, then 38. I had to double check to see if I was reading right. I then saw Gen 39 was the continuation from Genesis 37. That was eye opening for me.
Another was Judges 16, a mighty man of valor falling for, then falling to a harlot, Judges 19- a woman was dishonored by a group of Benjamites.
There is a never ending list in the Bible.
Inspiration faithfully records the faults of good men, those who were distinguished by the favor of God; indeed, their faults are more fully presented than their virtues. This has been a subject of wonder to many, and has given the infidel occasion to scoff at the Bible. But it is one of the strongest evidences of the truth of Scripture, that facts are not glossed over, nor the sins of its chief characters suppressed. The minds of men are so subject to prejudice that it is not possible for human histories to be absolutely impartial. Had the Bible been written by uninspired persons, it would no doubt have presented the character of its honored men in a more flattering light. But as it is, we have a correct record of their experiences. PP 238.
Thank you Jesus for not being like men.
Isn't the LORD wonderful as Heb 1:1 tells us "God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets" and then by Jesus, and then the Apostles and now through His written Word.
Note the repetition of the word "various", to some it was verbally, others visions or dreams and others by thought inspiration, but the point is twice Paul uses the term "God spoke" which in context, I believe, means God communicated in various ways.
the Bible begins with " IN THE BEGINNING GOD" its form here that all the deductions for life comes; note: God in his creation spoke order into it place, man was made in order, man 1st women 2nd ,after all of the "amazing display" of infinite wisdom and power , man was told do not do so so, if you do so so will happen, Man was persuaded that to do other than you were told would be better. you have to love GOD, He spoke to man & women before they Sin and He spoke to them after they sin, here is the thing God told them about the consequences of the choice they made, in on breath in the same breath HE told them of the plan of redemption, { women was design to be seed carrier for Adam , in
genesis 3 v 15 , The CHRIST had to be born of a women , why ? answer to the sin problem}
the plan of redemption was not an after thought ,
" BY faith we may look to the hereafter, and grasp the pledge of God for growth of intellect, the human facilities uniting with the divine ,and every power in the soul being brought into direct contact with the source of light. We may rejoice that all which has perplexed us in the providence of God will then be made plan: things hard to understand will find and explanation; and where finite minds discovered only confusion and broken purposes, we shall see the most perfect and beautiful harmony." Now we see through a glass , darkly, but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." 1 Cor 13:12
Step to Christ page 145 chap What to do with doubt
I also questioned the line about "Direct verbal" communication. Yes, it happened, (Moses and the law, for instance)but it was not the dominant way scripture was communicated. I see this as evidence of a creeping fundamentalism within our faith community. If we accept verbal inspiration or divine dictation as the sentence seems to imply, as the dominant method of inspiration it naturally follows that we must accept inerrancy.
This opens the door for doubt and skepticism. Ellen White has given us a much better model in Selected Messages Book 1, chapter 1. I recommend this passage as a balance to the Study Guide's apparent drift into Neo-fundamentalism.
I think there was slip up in the paragraph breaks in the lesson, para 2 and 3 should be combined to read - men were inspired by the Holy Spirit and God actually spoke to some so together it shows the Bible is of divine origin.
I wish we could clarify this with the author's original script, as we are aware changes are made in the editorial process.
It is my belief that we question what is of divine origin because of unbelief. Unbelief is the result of reasoning against the conviction brought by the Holy Spirit(John 16:8) when we know our duty is to yield to it. Personal pride is our greatest foe, and if given life, will lead us to unbelief.
Also, what makes obedience “hard enough”? Isn't it pointed out in scripture that we struggle due to finding “pleasure in unrighteousness” which leads us to "love not the Truth"? Only by searching the scriptures with honesty will we be made wise to our own true need and find the Sure Remedy for the soul.
But the more I question and dig, the more I am finding and learning. The more I am finding and learning, the more my faith is growing, the more my life is being transformed, the more my heart to serve others is growing, the more hope I have to share with others to help them in their struggles. And the result of this is that others are (without me asking soliciting feedback) telling me their faith-walk is growing too. All of this is to the praise and glory of God. I only describe this because otherwise you can't see me and don't know me or what's happening in my life and world-context that I live within...
Or is this a different kind of questioning than you were referring to?
Yes Phil, I was referring to the quarterly question at the end of today's lesson. The questioning of Divine inspiration which has led many to doubt the Bible as Divine. This doubt is spreading like a virus among "believers".
There is a healthy questioning, as we see with Habakkuk, which God will answer if we ask in faith, with a sincere desire to know the will of God that we might live in harmony with it.
No prophecy in scripture is of private interpretation nor by the will of man.
But holy men of God spake as they are moved by the holy ghost