The Bible: God’s Word or Man’s Word? Pt. 2

by Dr. Jeff Kaplan, Senior Pastor of Shepherd of the Hills

 

      Last time, we learned that we should believe that the Bible is inspired by God. We observed three proofs for biblical inspiration. First, biblical inspiration is clearly taught in the scriptures.  One of the most powerful verses that supports biblical inspiration is 2 Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God . . .” That word for inspiration is theopneustos.  It literally means God-spirited or breathed out.  When we say that scripture is inspired, we are saying that God is the author of scripture and it is the result of God’s creative breath.

 

Second, not only is biblical inspiration clearly taught in scripture, but it was taught by the Lord Jesus.  When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, Jesus countered the enemy’s attack by saying:  Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). When Jesus gave the greatest sermon of all time, He affirmed how inspiration applies to the very words of scripture. In Matthew 5:18, He said, “Until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke of the law shall pass away until all things are fulfilled”. Jesus was extending inspiration to the very letters of scripture, even down to the smallest stroke of Hebrew, i.e., the yode. To deny inspiration, one must deny the teaching of Jesus, and that is not a wise choice.

 

Third, biblical inspiration has always been supported by God’s people. The rabbis taught that God’s Spirit rested on and in the prophets and spoke through them. They explained that the words of the prophets did not come from themselves, but from the mouth of God. They believed that God’s messengers spoke and wrote while inspired by the Holy Spirit. The early church was also in total agreement with that view. Paul taught that God was the source of inspiration (2 Timothy 3:16). In 2 Peter 1:21, Peter tells us “No prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. It was the Holy Spirit who moved upon the hearts and minds of men. It was the Holy Spirit who led them and carried them along to accomplish His purpose”.

 

            The following story touches on why Bible inspiration is so important. At a young people’s meeting, a fresh out of seminary youth pastor attempted to impress his group with the wonder of the divine inspiration of Scripture.  He gathered the teens in a circle, put a chair in the middle, and handed out Bible verses to everyone in the circle.  The idea was to blindfold someone sitting in the middle chair, have them tell the group some problem they were experiencing, and then have someone in the group read an applicable Bible verse as though God Himself were answering through the words of Scripture. The whole thing went miserably. The kids thought the whole idea was dumb. No one would talk about a problem more significant than how to get an A on Mrs. Bailey’s math quizzes. Giggles rather than the voice of God predominated.

Then a new girl who had been sitting on the periphery volunteered to sit in the middle chair. The giggling subsided a bit as they blindfolded her because no one knew her well enough to know how she would take it.  Then she spoke: `I don’t know if I want to keep on with my life.  I just can’t stand it anymore.’  Everything dropped to a dead silence.  No one knew what to say or do and most just looked down in embarrassment or confusion.  Then one boy read his verse, `I am faithful; I will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted, I will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.’  `No one cares about me,’ said the girl.  Then another girl in the circle read, `I have loved you with an everlasting love and drawn you with loving kindness.’  “`You don’t understand,’ said the girl in the blindfold with a voice now desperate. `My mother kicked me out of the house today!’  Someone said, `But Jesus says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”‘

That was all.  They took the blindfold off the girl, and through her tears she asked, `Why doesn’t God really talk to me just that way?’  The youth pastor placed a Bible in her hands, put his arm around her shoulder, and tenderly said to her and to the whole group: `The great thing about God’s Word being inspired is knowing that He is talking to you just that way. God doesn’t write in the clouds of the sky that blow away or speak in the night where only prophets can hear.  He put His words right here in your hands where you can always read them and know that He is talking to you just that way.’ ”  (Using Illustrations to Preach with Power by Bryan Chapell.  Zondervan, 1992.  Pages 123-124)

 

Our loving Father always wants to communicate with each of us, especially through His inspired word . . .