Getting to Know God’s Word, part 2

Introduction

Several years ago, I attempted to talk to a co-worker about the bible and he wasn’t interested. I was trying to tell him it was written by God; even though he had several human writers. His comment to me was, “Are you trying to tell me that God whispered in the ears of these men of what to write?”

At the time, I didn’t have an answer. But it does make one pause and ask the question, who did write the bible? We’ll look at some possibilities below.

Potential Authors

AN UNBELIEVER—How ironic would it be if the scriptures were, in fact, written by an Atheist? He would show how foolish it is to waste time worshipping someone, or something, that doesn’t exist. For sure, he would discuss the worship of idols like in Isa. 44:8-19; how one would spend all this time worshipping an inanimate object, hoping to be rewarded.

But it isn’t written by an Atheist as they wouldn’t include verses like Psalms 14:1, The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good. And again, in Psalms 53:1, The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity; There is none who does good.

No, the writer of the bible would have to be a believer; one who is willing to share God’s message with the world. As it is written in the first Psalm, Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. (Psalms 1:1-2)

A CARNAL MAN—One who sees this mortal life as the only existence that there is. You might recall the old beer commercial from the 1970s with a tagline: You only go around once in life, so you have to grab for all the gusto you can get!” He, like the unbeliever, would talk about the folly of worshipping idols and suchlike.

However, looking in Exodus 20:1-17, he wouldn’t write the Ten Commandments as listed. Do not murder? Do not commit adultery? Do not steal? Surely a carnal man would not put strict limitations on activities like these.

It had to have been written by a spiritual individual. As the apostle Paul wrote, And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? (1 Corinthians 3:1-3)

Further, Paul writes, If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:1-3)

A CATHOLIC PRIEST—One who would be considered a holy man by so many and revered as the protector of the Holy Scriptures. Though he might write of the negative aspect of idolatry by the Jews, he’d downplay such a thing in the New Testament given the amount of idolatrous worship that Catholics partake in.

However, the scriptures do not mention that the apostle Peter went on to become Pope or any such thing. Nor is it mentioned that Peter was chaste. In fact, we know; from Matthew 8:14, that he was married as he had both wife and mother-in-law.

In the same vein, we know that the bible wasn’t written by a denominationalist as Paul tells us that there is only one church (Eph. 4:5), Christ shed His blood for that one church (Acts 20:28). Furthermore, Christ is head of the church (Col. 1:18; Eph. 1:22-23)

God is The Author

We know that God is that author by…

1. Seeing that God spoke the world into existence—Gen. 1

• It is confirmed in Psalms 33:6, By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.

• The Holy Spirit was sent to remind the apostles everything that Jesus had told them. Jn. 14:16-17, 26

• Finally, it is also confirmed by Peter in 2 Peter 1:21, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

Conclusion

Yes, men were used to do the physical writing of the scriptures, but it was God who dictated everything that is written. Think of it as a boss of a company dictating a letter to his secretary. She types it up and sends it out. The people who received said letter know, for a fact, that it wasn’t the secretary who wrote the letter; merely typed up what her boss told her.

Today we serve as God’s instruments of teaching by living our lives according to His words. As the apostle Paul states in 2 Corinthians 3:2-3, You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.