Revelation of God in Prophecy and Scripture

1. Revelation of God in Prophecy and Scripture 2 Peter 1:21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

2. The logic of special revelation… • Consider for a moment about why direct, special revelation took place. • We see the evidence of general revelation found in abundance in nature. • It is therefore clear from this that God wished to communicate through the creation something about himself and his mind in and through his creative endeavors. • If that is so, then would not further communication from him be expected? Would he not want his creatures to know more than just the barest essentials? • But, that message could not be mundane: it must be so special as not to be confused with phony “revelations.” There must be something distinctive about them which in a sense makes them stand out as genuine and genuinely “supernatural.”

3. The logic of special revelation… • If the universe as we experience it is complicated, systematic, formulaic, and purposive, showing evidence of planning and genius – then what was the Mind behind it hoping to tell us? • General revelation only speaks to God’s existence, power, genius, and of his moral law written in the hearts of men. • Special revelation, must of necessity go beyond this, must reveal more than merely this or it would not be special. • Too, in its own way it must be as remarkable in its nature as the amazingly complicated web of life around us, or it would not be marked off clearly enough as the work of the creative genius of God.

4. Methods of special revelation • Authors of Scripture frequently claim to have had God speak to them in the form of theophanies, visions, dreams, angelic visits, and various types of super-natural events or miracles. • All forms of special revelation lead eventually and inexorably to one phenomenal, fantastic end: the revelation of God in Jesus Christ, God becoming flesh for man’s redemption and salvation. • This is the purpose and goal of special revelation in written Scripture.

5. Essence of the Message • Love of God for humanity is uppermost: Jer. 31:3; John 3:16; 1 Jn. 3:1 • God desires love from his children in return: Deut. 6:5; Matt. 22:36-37 • God directs that his children imitate his nature: Lev. 19:2; 1 Pet. 1:16; 2:9

6. The Bible’s Claim • The Bible claims to be inspired of God and dependable: 2 Tim. 3:16-17 • The Bible’s authors claim to be reporting God’s words to them: Gen. 24:7; Deut. 5:22, 28; Isa. 8:5; Jer. 26:12; etc. • Their words have been transmitted to us through many centuries; and yet have retained their integrity” Jn. 10:35

7. Method of the Message • Here is where “the rubber meets the road” as regards the genuineness of the message. • Anyone can make a claim; it is quite another thing to establish an extraordinary claim with proof which cannot be successfully refuted. • Such is the nature of the Bible’s claim to be the revelation of deity through a process of divine inspiration and divine providence and care: 1 Peter 1:24, 25

8. Earmarks of God’s Method • 1. The “air of infallibility” of the literature: • The writers were often unlearned and ignorant men, farmers, fishermen, tax-collectors, and the like. How could such ordinary men come to know such great truths and write them down for posterity such that every age since theirs would universally appreciate and marvel at its central story and appreciate its central figure, almost without exception?

9. Earmarks of God’s Method • “How could uninspired men write a book that commands all duty, forbids all sin, including the sin of hypocrisy and lying, denounces all human merit as insufficient for salvation, holds out as man’s only hope faith in the atoning death, physical resurrection, and present intercession of Christ, and condemns to hell for all eternity those who reject this one way of salvation and persist in sin?” (H. Thiessen, Intro. To the NT, 85). • For no prophecy ever came by the will of man; but men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21).

10. Earmarks of God’s Method • 2. Unusual style of the material suggests divine inspiration: • Brevity of entire books • Brevity of Bible incidents • Omissions that occur • Impartiality of reports • Calmness of the narratives

11. Earmarks of God’s Method • 3. Over-arching unity of the Bible is convincing: • 66 different books • 40 different writers • Lived in different countries and spoke several different languages • At least 1500 years and different cultures reflected

12. Earmarks of God’s Method • By simple comparison, James Orr reflected on Mohammedan, Zoroastrian, and Buddhist “scriptures”: • “They are destitute of beginning, middle or end. They are, for the most part, collections of heterogeneous material, loosely placed together. How different everyone must acknowledge it to be with the Bible! From Genesis to Revelation we feel that this book is in a real sense a unity. It is not a collection of fragments, but has as we say, an organic character…there is nothing exactly resembling it, or even approaching it, in all literature.”

13. Earmarks of God’s Method • 4. Unique nature of biblical prophecy: • Prophecy is both forth-telling and fore-telling. • Most is of the first order; but the second order over time has proven most intriguing and offers proof of the divine nature of the first as well as the second. • So, at its heart prophecy is a declaration of future events, such as no human wisdom or forecast is sufficient to make, depending on knowledge of the innumerable contingencies of human affairs, and thus belong exclusively to the realm of the omniscience of God. • Thus, given its very nature, prophecy must of necessity be a form of divine revelation, and at the same time proof of the divine origin of the revelation.

14. Earmarks of God’s Method • 5. Scientific foreknowledge of the Bible is impressive: • Does not share in the superstitions of the ancient peoples or religions. • Does not represent the wrong notions of scientific ideas found at the time of writing. • Does seem at times to indicate a view beyond what ancient authors would have known.

15. Earmarks of God’s Method • 6. The influence of the Bible is salutary and positive on civilization generally: • Western countries most influenced by the Bible are most civilized, most developed economically, educationally, and exhibit the highest moral tone. • It has made better husbands and wives, sons and daughters, employers and employees: honesty, integrity, courage, patriotism, good citizenship, etc. • What ancient book has had a comparable influence? There is none!!! • We would not want to live in a world without the Bible, the Judeo-Christian ethic, and Jesus Christ as powerful influences for good and righteousness!

16. Earmarks of God’s Method • 7. The enduring legacy of the Bible on civilization. • The Bible is perennially the best seller, translated into more languages than any other book. • It has survived numerous attempts to destroy it: Antiochus IV Epiphanes, Diocletion, Voltaire, etc. • Diocletion boasted, “I have completely exterminated the Christian writings from the face of the earth!”

17. Earmarks of God’s Method • And yet we still have it! What is to be credited with this amazing survivability??? • “The word of the Lord endureth for ever” (1 Peter 1:25; “shall stand for ever” Isaiah 40:8).