Sunday February 21, 2021 PM

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The Bible as Both Divine and Human

Returning to our study, coming to the Bible, and we are asking basic questions of the Bible and doing our best to answer them from the Scriptures. Conviction of, just a conviction that God would not leave us with unclear understanding about His Word, that He would tell us what we're supposed to know about the Bible in the very Word that He has given to us.

And so, we've been asking the question, who wrote it?

Who wrote it?

We've already answered the question, which translation, thinking about the importance of that and the principles of that, but now we're asking, who wrote the Bible? And last time, we began with the double answer, God and men wrote the Bible.

And we have plenty of examples of that in the Scripture where it's not so much that they're taking the time to explain the fact that both God and man wrote it, but the assumptions are made. They mentioned that in passing, the authors of Scripture.

God said through His servant, David, and David said in the Spirit, those kinds of expressions that we have in the Scriptures. And so, we understand that we are to believe that both God and men wrote the Bible.

And we talked about a model for understanding that in terms of the incarnation, that Jesus is fully God and fully man. And there is no contradiction in that, that He has two natures in one person, this mystery of the incarnation, which is at the heart of everything.

But when we look at the Scriptures, we are not wrong in saying this is God's Word. These are God's words. These holy Scriptures are the very words of God Himself. We're not wrong in saying that. And we're also not wrong in saying that men wrote these words and that this is a very human book.

And we're not wrong in saying that either. And the one side does not contradict the other. And the other side does not draw away from the former, even in the same way that we hold to the doctrine of the incarnation.

And so, with that in mind, we focused on the divine side of the consideration that this is God is the author of the Bible. God wrote the Bible. And considering what evidence we have, obviously all throughout the Bible, thus saith the Lord, and so on.

But then also considering what that means, we thought about how the Word of God bears the very character of God. And so it is true. It is unfailing. It's everlasting. When we consider about who God is, see how His Word bears that character, and how that is trustworthy and authoritative, and so on.

So when we say that this is a thoroughly divine book, we should remember all that the character of God then comes through with that. There's a quote from Bavink. I've included it on this handout tonight.

As the Word of God, it stands at a level high above all human authority and state and society, science and art. Before it, all else must yield. For people must obey God rather than other people. All other human authority is restricted to its own circle and applies only to its own.

Area.

But the authority of Scripture extends to the whole person and over all humankind. It is above the intellect and the will, the heart and the conscience, and cannot be compared with any other authority.

Its authority being divine is absolute. It is entitled to be believed and obeyed by everyone at all times. In majesty, it far transcends all other powers. But in order to gain recognition and dominion, it asks for no one assistance, does not need the strong arm of the government, does not need the support of the church, and does not conscript anyone's sword and inquisition.

It does not desire to rule by coercion and violence, but seeks free and willing recognition. For that reason, it brings its own recognition by the working of the Holy Spirit. Scripture guards its own authority.

All of that is entirely dependent on us understanding that the author of the Scripture is God, it's God's words. And thus, the authority of it matters a very great deal. Later on in our study, we're going to talk about some of the practical applications of that, the outworking of that, and so on.

The Human Authors of Scripture: Languages, Time, and Diversity

For now, we're going to go on to the other side of the equation. Yes, it's a fully divine book, but it's also a fully human book. And we have the expression, holy men moved by the Holy Spirit, wrote down the very words of God.

But men were involved. There are over 40 different authors in the Scriptures on the human side of it. And of course, it's sometimes helpful, many books are just named after their authors, so that's easy, that's an easy understanding.

But what other authors can we think of besides the obvious, you know, Matthew, Mark, Luke,.

John?

Yes, I know. But what other authors in Scripture can we name?

Moses?

Yeah, he got it started. Ezra? You see, the books that are named after him, those are easy.

Right?

Samuel? Kings wrote a book, didn't he?

Or two books?

No, I'm just kidding.

Yeah.

Whoever Chronicles was.

But we think of Ezra writing several books, probably, and we have David writing most of the Psalms, and Solomon writing. And some of the authors, we're just kind of guessing at. How much did Nathan write?

How much did Gad write? You know, how much did other authors that were not named contribute to some of these.

Books?

And one of the questions that we have is, why so many different authors? You know, why so many different authors? And, you know, but what alternative do we find, especially in the cults?

Right?

Think about one of the very first and most successful cults of Christianity called Islam. Islam is a cult, as much as Mormonism is. Angel of Light appears in Muhammad is pretty similar to Angel of Light appearing to Joseph.

Smith.

And then, you know, using Christianity as a foil to pervert Charles Taze Russell, right?

Jehovah's Witnesses.

It's also seen in the Hindu cult of Buddhism, right? You know, one particular focal point.

There's a church universal in trials.

Oh, wow.

That's where they got their information.

So, if you want to know about cults in Montana, you need to consult with Red. He's got the down low on the variety. There's one very interesting one he just mentioned. So, we notice there's 40 different authors.

That's a lot. Well, God has raised up a cloud of witnesses, right? God has raised up a cloud of witnesses. And they wrote in three different languages. Ezra and Daniel have some Aramaic portions. But in the main, it's Hebrew and Greek.

The New Testament, obviously, written in Greek. But the later parts of...but Aramaic is important even in the fact that the later portions of the Old Testament show Aramaic influence. You know, once Aramaic was introduced to the children of Israel in their writings, some of the latter writings, some of the spellings changed, some of the word choices changed, and so on.

And there was some influence there. There have been some proposals that parts of the New Testament may have first been written in Aramaic before they were written down in Greek. So, that's an important thing to mention and recognize, three different languages.

And it was written over a 1 ,500-year period. That's one reason why you have so many different authors. You know, same reason why you had to have a lot of priests. They kept dying. It's a very human book.

These authors died. It's a very human book.

They didn't live forever.

Moses finished writing his books of the Bible 445 years before David wrote his Psalms. Moses...and we have Solomon writing his Proverbs a generation after David wrote his Psalms. Daniel...Daniel wrote his historical accounts and prophecies 900 years after Moses.

And Malachi wrote his work about 1 ,000 years after. That's a little bit difficult for us to fathom in our culture. We just passed the 400-year mark of the Pilgrim's Landing at Plymouth. 400 years. I mean, that seems vast to us.

But in the course of reading different parts of the Bible, we're jumping 1 ,500 years from reading in Genesis to going to the New Testament. So, the New Testament was written in a little bit more compact flurry of Holy Spirit activity between the ascension of Christ and the destruction of Jerusalem.

And I take very conservative early dates on human authorship all the way around. Pick the earliest date that somebody proposes that a book was written. I'll go 10 years prior. Usually, a lot of the assumptions are, well, it couldn't have possibly been.

And I'm thinking, yes, in terms of humanity, but also remember that God was involved. So, the scriptures themselves actually testify to those conclusions, but over a 1 ,500-year time period. So, you have all these different authors, different languages.

Of course, they were writing from three different continents and a 1 ,500-year time period. What kind of men were these authors?

Who were they?

What kind of people were they? They were sinners. They were sinners. And in this, this is a very human book. We read about their sins. We read about the things they did wrong. We read about sometimes their wrongheadedness.

We read about things going on in their hearts that were not correct, that were not right. And we read, you know, David, Psalm 51, he says, Have mercy upon me, O God, according to your love and kindness, according to the multitude of your tender mercies.

Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity. And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only have I sinned, and done this evil in your sight, that you may be found just when you speak, and blameless when you judge.

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. This is David. This is King David who wrote so many of the Psalms, whom Jesus called a prophet. But he's a sinner. And we find in the writings of these human authors, they had common struggles as we have.

There is an immediate recognition that they understood what it was like to love Jesus, but still struggle with sin. We immediately relate to that. It's a very human book. Paul writes in Romans 7, verse 21 and following, I find in a law that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.

For I delight in the law of God, according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members.

O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind, I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin.

Describing the struggle. In 2 Peter, Peter makes a note of saying, I'm writing again to remind you of what's most important. Why? He says, because I'm about to die. I suspect I'm not going to be around much longer.

So I want to tell you what I think is most important for you to remember. This is a very human book. We have Paul saying something similar to Timothy. There was a recognition of Moses getting to the end of his life.

We're reading in Deuteronomy. He's like, I'm coming to the end. I'm going to say these last few things that are so vitally important. So we see this very human, but because they were sinful, they had struggles like we did.

Because they had sin, they were mortal as we are. And limited in ability. They themselves, on their own, they didn't know everything. They couldn't see how it was all going to turn out. In fact, Peter says some of them were writing things down by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and then saying, what?

How's that going to work out? What exactly does that mean? And tried to ponder the mysteries that they couldn't come to a full understanding of without the incarnation right in front of them. Job 42, 1 -4,.

Then Job answered the Lord, and said, I know that you can do everything, and that no purpose of yours can be withheld from you. You asked, Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me which I did not know.

Please listen, please, and let me speak. You said, I will question you, and you shall answer me. And Job's saying, I don't know. You know, and I don't. And these writers of Scripture, being sinful and mortal and limited and so on, they are in need of a Savior.

They're in need of a Savior. And Paul writes about that more than once. Many of the authors of Scripture do, in need of a Savior. Well, not only were they sinful, but they were also holy. Is that a contradiction?

They were set apart by God. They were redeemed by God. They were being sanctified by God. And being set apart for a special purpose, these prophets and apostles and the writers of Scripture were specially apprehended by God for the task in the times in which they lived.

And the way that God worked in their lives through the relationships that they had and the experiences that they had, the talents and the skills that they had, God worked in their life to bring about the word that he wanted all of his people to have.

We see this in the life of Jeremiah, that he was apprehended by God, anointed by God, and born along by God to bring the word exactly what he wanted. You see this in Jeremiah 1, verse 1. And the words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Amathoth, in the land of Benjamin, to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah, the son of Ammon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign, came also in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the very end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the carrying away of Jerusalem, captive in the fifth month.

In Jeremiah, who God took hold of and he preached for forty years, he was specially set apart, anointed for the task. Verses 4 and 5,. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.

Before you were born, I sanctified you. I ordained you a prophet to the nations. These are human authors. Yes, they were sinful, they were mortal, and they had struggles that we have, but they were holy, because God set them apart for this task.

He apprehended and anointed and bore them along. In verses 6 -8, Jeremiah says, Then I said, Ah, Lord God, behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth. But the Lord said to me, Do not say, I am a youth. For you shall go to all to whom I send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak.

Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord. One example in which we see how God takes a real person, a human being, takes a man who's a sinner. He's not all-knowing and perfect or anything else, but God takes this bent stick and hits a straight shot, because that's how God does it.

But that doesn't take away from the fact that Jeremiah was as human as we are. And when we think about that, then we notice some things about these different authors of Scripture, that they were varied.

They weren't all the same. They weren't the same copycat over and over again. The authors of Scriptures were not clones of each other. They are varied in skill. Peter's writing ability was not as good as Paul's.

And this has been observed in terms of his employment of the Greek. He just was not as good as Paul. Paul had a lot of training. Paul had a lot of education. He was highly skilled. Paul was probably a lot smarter than Peter was.

They were varied. They weren't the same. They didn't have all the same level of education. They were different. They were varied in experience. Think about the difference of experience that, let's say, Nahum had versus James, the brother of Jesus.

What a difference in experience of one person living in the Old Covenant, in those circumstances, and somebody living with the Lord Jesus himself, growing up with him. What a difference in experience authors of Scripture had.

And even thinking about the history of the Old Testament, someone living before there was a monarchy, before Saul and David and Solomon, or living during that time, or living maybe after the exile. This is a difference in experience.

They weren't all the same. And they were varied in rank in what they did with their lives. What kinds of vocations did the authors of Scripture have?

Farmer.

Shepherd.

Fisherman. Tent maker. Tent bearer.

King.

Prophets, priests, kings, wise men, tax collector, shepherds, warriors, fishermen, physician, farmer, gardener, carpenter, tent maker. That's a wide variety of vocations. And God used all these different men to write his word.

And they were varied in contribution. Some of them barely wrote a sheet of papyrus, and yet they're an author of Scripture. And some of them wrote vast tomes. Some had a scribe to write it all down, and some did it themselves.

It was varied. It was varied in style as well. Not everybody wrote in the same kinds of literature, wrote the very same kinds of things. There's, you know, laws and rules and history and poetry and songs and wisdom sayings, proverbs, gospels and letters, apocalyptic writings.

Within books there's narrative stories, you know, prayers and parables and prophecies and long lists, genealogies and then geographies. There's a wide variety in Scripture. This, too, is reminding us of just the humanity of the book because of all their different contexts, all their different situations.

It's thoroughly the word of God, and it's thoroughly a human book written by men, moved by the Holy Spirit. And the one doesn't take away from the other. We hold them together. We recognize what a treasure we've been given.

Jonah's a good example, yes. He was stressed out, yes. Yeah, Jonah was a good example of the kind of bent stick God hits a straight shot with. So when we think about the humanity of Scripture, it's often been a snare for many who have noticed how human this book is, that they do not feel that they can then fully affirm the fact that this is God's word, too.

And leaning too heavily on the fact that this is a very human book, they go off into heresy. So we need to affirm the humanity of the word of God without heresy.

Phenomenological Language and Accommodating Speech

Okay.

One of the things about this human book is the phenomenological language, which is it is not a lie or an error to talk about the sun rising from the east. You know, these ancient pagans got it all wrong.

The earth rotates. The sun doesn't move, which you're really reaching at that point. But there is a lot of phenomenological language in the Bible because it's a human book. It's written from a human perspective.

The way you see things is you're two feet on the ground and you're looking about how things work, and you use that language to describe that. That doesn't mean that this book is full of errors and wrongheadedness.

And also there's accommodating language as God speaks to our level. As God, as Calvin put it, gets down on one knee and talks to us like a toddler to reveal himself in a level that we can understand. So there's some accommodating language in the book because it's a human book.

God is speaking. He knows our frame. He knows who we are, and he's talking to us on our level. And it is not only this, but it's also true in authoritative language. There are no reasons at all to reject the truth and the authority of Scripture, the veracity and the necessity of Scripture, based on its humanity.

No reasons to reject it for its humanity any more than we would reject the humanity of Christ or reject the divinity of Christ because he died on the cross. Jesus got sick. He got tired. He got weary.

He had to sleep. He got hungry. He was thirsty. He had a full range of human emotions. He was born. He developed. He grew up, and he died.

Okay.

He was thoroughly human. Do we then have to reject his divinity because he was thoroughly human? No, we don't. And we don't have to reject the divinity of Scripture, the fact that it's God's word, the divine side of Scripture, because we also notice how human a book it is.

And in that way, again, the doctrine of the incarnations with the heart of everything keeps us where we need to be in our thoughts, keeps us from straying off into error, straying off into heresy. Any thoughts or questions or observations about the Bible being the word of God and a human word as well?

Scripture, the Imperishable Seed, and Closing Exhortation

It's just amazing.

Yes.

You know, there are all sorts of ways that you can try to make the Bible contradict itself, right? People try all sorts of ways all the time to get the Bible to contradict itself. But when Scripture is interpreting Scripture viewing Christ, there's no contradictions.

There's no errors. There's no….

Yes.

I would say I used to hate black coffee too until I tried it. You know, it's…. You know, if I had a split second, that's all I had, I would encourage them to try it because we have the promises in the word that the word of God is imperishable seed.

So if I only had a split second, I would want to do whatever I could to, hopefully, my speech seasoned with grace to push them to get that word into their life.

All right.

Well, let's close by singing the doxology together. Praise God for….