THE BIBLE
A SUPERNATURAL BOOK, Part II
The Bible is a supernatural book not only because the Spirit of God breathed it into the hearts and minds of ready pens held by scores of men from diverse backgrounds separated by thousands of years in a continuous flow of thought and purpose, but it is also supernatural in its Divine design. The inspiration of content and the harmonious underlying theme could only be written and maintained by an Almighty God. The greatest minds of man could never have conceived such a God as the One revealed to us by Himself through His Holy Word.
The very best that the natural and carnal astuteness of writers and thinkers from ages past could invent about a god or gods depict myths of god-men with sexual appetites, creatures worshiped above the created, ideas of nothingness, and gods of platitudes and philosophies throughout all ages are the totality of human thought and wisdom. The greatest philosophers from all ages, and from all national influences could never had envisioned the message of Scripture, nor the character and attributes of the God of Scripture. That is why it should be obvious that mere man could not design, create or write this supernatural book outside of the moving of the Spirit of God.
There is a parlor game that is quite familiar to most, and that is when one individual is given a sentence, or one thought and then passes that sentence or thought as a whisper on to the next person, and then that gets passed on to the next person, and so forth — when the last person in this circle loudly declares the sentence or thought, it is amusingly totally different from the first person’s sentence. How could men thousands and thousands of years apart from each other unknowingly and unwittingly write over hundreds of controversial subjects with continuity? How could any book written during war and peace, joy and sorrow, despair and hope over a 1600 year span, harmonize chronologically, historically, doctrinally, dispensationally, and prophetically? How could over 60 generations of 40 authors from diverse backgrounds, occupations and financial circumstances pen sixty-six books with harmony? How could this book written from different locations contain one goal; whether penned in the wilderness by Moses, or from a dungeon by Jeremiah, or by Daniel in a palace, or by Paul in a prison, or by John while exiled on a remote island? How could men of diverse or non existent educational backgrounds pen words to describe God, man, nature, the universe, things seen and unseen with such harmony and majesty? How could men who lived thousands of years past describe what they could not see – “the circle of the earth,” Isaiah 40:22, describe the earth as in Job 26:7, describe the weather patterns, the axis of the earth, the hydraulical cycle, the climatic aftereffects of the flood, the division of light rays, and that things which we see were created from things that we cannot see. (I am deliberately not going to give you all the references for the above statements — do your own research!) How could these men know all these things and much more? The answer is simple . . . because the Bible is a supernatural book written by the Spirit of God!
Although this book was penned on 3 continents: Asia, Africa and Europe and written in 3 languages: Hebrew, Chaldee, and Greek it is one book unified and interwoven by a common thread. From such differences in personalities, character and background, from such span of time, from such a range of man’s place in history, God has given mankind a book, a book with one main theme — it is the unfolding theme of God’s redemption to man. Within this one theme there are many revelations: God is revealed to man, the heart of man is revealed — allowing man to see his true sinful state and condition before God, and Jesus Christ is revealed as Messiah, Christ, Saviour, Redeemer, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, Truth, and Lord of Lords and King of Kings.
God’s desire has always been to communicate and draw man close to Himself. What better means than the written Word, whether by reading or hearing, all men would have access to God’s words and God’s thoughts. The galley slave and the tyrant who enslaved him there would have the same message, one through hearing and the other through reading. Before the printing press, before the actual written parchment or skins, there was the Word. God Himself walked with Adam and communicated, God spoke to Noah, God appeared to Abraham many times and in many forms, God was seen by Moses, God directed David and all His prophets. God has never left any man; pagan, uneducated, educated, simple, wise, slave, herdsman, aboriginal, poet, pre flood, post flood, Roman senator, or Caesar’s household without a witness of Himself.
Acts 14:17 Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.
His very creation shouts with God’s message — death, resurrection, decay, life, promise, re-birth, love, care, redemption — these are not accidents of nature, but a design within nature and creatures. Yes, God has not left man without a witness of Himself. Creation, conscience, the written Word (the Bible) and the Living Word (Christ) have been given to mankind to bring us to the understanding and knowledge of God. Hebrews 2:3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; Romans 2:15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another. . The very first chapter of Romans shows us the full extent of the revealing of God to those outside the personal relationship to God.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.
Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. (Romans 1:16 -25)
God not only holds those who have or had access to His written Word or to His Living Word responsible towards His revelation of Him, but all are judged according to the measure of truth within the scope of His revelation whether through conscience or through creation. All are found guilty before a Righteous God.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.
They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (Psalm 14: 1, 2, 3)
There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
Their feet are swift to shed blood:
Destruction and misery are in their ways:
And the way of peace have they not known:
There is no fear of God before their eyes. (Romans 3:11-18)
The God of the Bible is not a God that men seek or even want. They desire a God that can be defined and controlled. God cannot be defined, controlled or limited. There is no time, or space, nor dimension wherein He cannot move or act. (Read the article – Things That God Cannot Do) Could mortals write such words as those above from their own thoughts and philosophies — I think not!
Even in our present age men cannot bear words that condemn them — they cannot tolerate the truth — there is a line from a movie script that says — “you can’t handle the truth.” That is where mankind is today and has always been — unable to accept the God of the Bible. It is only through the moving of God’s Spirit in the individual whereby man agrees with God that he deserves death, that he is at enmity with the God of the Universe — and this repentance is called being born again by the Spirit of God. To think that men alone, without the moving of God, wrote this book is totally absurd. Man is not only not willing, but he also doesn’t have the intelligence or the aptitude to reach beyond his bias and write a book that has such beauty, such scope of time and history, such understanding of eternity and timelessness, present such a vast range of fulfilled prophecies, such unity of thought all with such harmonious content — the Bible is a Supernatural book!
Throughout all of scripture, God not only uses words forcefully, tenderly, in anger, in grace, in pleading, and in judgement, but His supernatural design flows through the meaning of names, His finger projects prophetic types, the significance of colors, the harmonious use of symbols and parables. The Word of God has a unified structure formed by our Creator, in that, all names of people and places, and numbers are connected and have spiritual meaning. All within the Bible is perfect because it was originated by Him who is Perfection. The Bible is a Supernatural book!
Someone once said that the Bible wasn’t merely a book, but that it was a library. To acquire its treasures requires not merely a surface study, but a consistent digging led by the Spirit of God. To reach the diamonds and gold under the surface of the earth requires digging. Successfully reaching these precious jewels and metals demands tenacity, persistence, determination, the correct tools, and a deep desire that cannot be influenced to cease or to turn from the goal. Studying requires eagerness, effort, time, diligence, labor, and prayer; and understanding comes through the Spirit of God. The unsaved can never understand the Word of God because in order to enter into this library does not require a library pass, nor a document of ordination; but one must possess the indwelling of the Spirit of God to enter into the library of the Word of God.
The treasures within the pages of scripture are there for all who desire to know more about our God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Spiritual understanding is not head knowledge, but heart and spirit given over to the Greatest Teacher – God the Father revealing God the Son through God the Spirit.
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)
© Copyright 2015, Mary Haigh
This article may be used, but not for gain. Freely ye have received, freely give.
All scripture references are from the King James Bible. (KJV)