|
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYS ABOUT ITSELF
I. What Scripture Says About the Old Testament
A. The view of the prophets
$ Exodus 4:15 You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. $ Exodus 7:1 Then the Lord said to Moses, "See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. These two passages define a prophet as one who hears what God says and then communicates that to others. So by definition, the utterances of a true prophet are God's words to men. Here are some specific illustrations of this general principle:
1. Numbers 24:13 [Balaam says] 'Even if Balak gave me his palace filled with silver and gold, I could not do anything of my own accord, good or bad, to go beyond the command of the Lord--and I must say only what the Lord says'.
2. Isaiah 6:8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" 9 He said, "Go and tell this people: "'Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.' 10 Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed." Isaiah is sent from God with a verbal message for the people.
3. Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." 6 "Ah, Sovereign Lord," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child." 7 But the Lord said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the Lord. 9 Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "Now, I have put my words in your mouth. God put His words in Jeremiah's mouth.
4. Ezekiel 2:4 The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says.' Ezekiel 2:7 You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious. Ezekiel 2:9 Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out to me. In it was a scroll, 10 which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe. 3:1 And he said to me, "Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the house of Israel." 2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. 3 Then he said to me, "Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it." So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth. 4 He then said to me: "Son of man, go now to the house of Israel and speak my words to them. Here is a poetic image that powerfully and clearly says that God's words are in Ezekiel's mouth, and what he speaks will be God's words to the people.
5. "Thus says the Lord" is a formula the prophets often use, and often in the present tense, suggesting that He not only said those words to the prophet, but that even now, as he delivers them to the people, God is speaking. Exodus 4:22 (Moses); Joshua 7:13 (Joshua); Judges 6:7ff (unnamed prophet); 1 Samuel 15:1ff (Samuel); 2 Samuel 7:1-17 (Nathan); 1 Kings 22:13,14 (Micaiah); Amos 1:3,6,9,11,13; 2:1,4,6; 3:1; Micah 6:1; Nahum 2:13; Zephaniah 3:8; Haggai 1:2-11; Zechariah 2:8; Malachi 1:1.
B. Jesus' view of the Old Testament
1. Matthew 5:17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. This does not imply necessarily that the Old Testament is inspired, but that it is true, and will come true, and is worthy of very high respect.
2. Mark 7:6 He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: "'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.' 8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men." 9 And he said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! 10 For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.' 11 But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban' (that is, a gift devoted to God), 12 then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. 13 Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that." A careful reading of this passage will show that Jesus equates the commands of the Old Testament with the commands of God. Moses' writings are equated with the command and the word of God.
3. Matthew 19:4 "Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' 5 and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh' ? This passage quotes Genesis 2:24, and attributes it to God. 4. Mark 12:36 David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared: "'The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet." ' Jesus says David was inspired by the Holy Spirit when he wrote Ps 110:1.
5. Matthew 4:1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." 4 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.' " 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: "'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.' " 7 Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.' " 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me." 10 Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.' " 11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. In His temptation, Jesus cites the Old Testament commandments as authoritative for Him personally.
C. The Early Church's view of the Old Testament
1. Acts 1:15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) 16 and said, "Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus-- 17 he was one of our number and shared in this ministry." Peter says that David spoke under inspiration of the Holy Spirit in Ps 41:9.
2. Acts 3:21 He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as He promised long ago through His holy prophets. 22 For Moses said, 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. 23 Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people.' Peter says that Moses' comments in Deuteronomy 18:15,18,19 are God's promise.
3. Acts 4:24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. "Sovereign Lord," they said, "you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. 25 You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: "'Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 26 The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One. ' The believers in the early church understood Psalm 2:1,2 to have been authored ultimately by the Holy Spirit, speaking through David.
4. Acts 7:48 "However, the Most High does not live in houses made by men. As the prophet says: 49 "'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord. Or where will my resting place be? Stephen equates the words of Isaiah in 66:1,2 with the words of the Most High.
5. Acts 13:46 Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: "We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. 47 For this is what the Lord has commanded us: "'I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.' " Paul and Barnabas take the words of Isaiah 49:6 as God's direct command to them.
6. Acts 28:25 They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement: "The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your forefathers when he said through Isaiah the prophet: 26 "'Go to this people and say, "You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving." 27 For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.' Paul says the Holy Spirit spoke through Isaiah in 6:9,10.
D. The view of the New Testament writers about the Old Testament
1. Paul Romans 3:1 What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? 2 Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God. This would be a reference to the whole Old Testament. Ë2Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. The Scripture for Paul consisted of the 39 books of our Old Testament. He says they were all inspired, breathed out by God.
2. Peter Ë2 Peter 1:20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. This is pretty clear.
3. Hebrews 1:1 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, God spoke through the prophets. Hebrews 3:7 So, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, 9 where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did. 10 That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.' 11 So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.'" The Holy Spirit is the originator of the message in Psalm 95:7-11. Hebrews 10:15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: 16 "This is the covenant I will make with them after that Time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds." 17 Then he adds: "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more." The Holy Spirit is the author of the words in Jeremiah 31:33,34.
II. What Scripture Says About the New Testament A. The writing of the New Testament: John 14:25 "All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. John 16:12 "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. The apostles were promised special inspiration from God as the necessary equipping to write His words accurately.
B. The apostles' view of their own teaching 1. 1 Corinthians 2:13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. This says that the very words of the original manuscripts were inspired by the Holy Spirit, not just the general thoughts.
2. 1 Corinthians 7:10 To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. Paul was conscious of the Lord's direct inspiration in his writings, and asserted that this was from God, specifically not just his own ideas.
3. 1 Corinthians 14:37 If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord's command. Another assertion from Paul that He was writing God's thoughts. He also expected that anyone gifted by God with spiritual discernment would be able to tell that he was indeed communicating God's message.
4. Galatians 1:11 I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. 12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. We couldn’t ask for a clearer claim to divine inspiration.
5. Ephesians 3:3 that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. 4 In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets. The Holy Spirit revealed God’s truth to the apostles and prophets of the early Church.
6. 1 Thessalonians 2:13 And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe. The message preached by the apostles was Actually the word of God, not the word of men.
7. 1 Peter 1:22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For, "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25 but the word of the Lord stands forever." And this is the word that was preached to you. The word that was preached to them by the apostles was the word of God.
8. Rev. 1:1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John. John says the book of Revelation was revealed to him by God through an angel.
C. Peter’s view of Paul's writings 2 Peter 3:15 Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. Peter equates Paul's writings with the "other Scriptures", which would be the Old Testament.
CONCLUSION: WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS, GOD SAYS
|