Systematic Theology (part 3)

God's Decree and Personal Address

Dear God, our loving Father, we thank you for revealing yourself to us in the pages of scripture as a transcendent God, almighty and yet also imminent with us as you draw us closer to you. I pray, Father, that this morning as we open your word that you would illumine our hearts and minds by your Holy Spirit.

In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Okay, so I passed the quiz that we were supposed to have after last time's study. And my goal this morning is very straightforward. I have two things I want to do. One is to show some connecting links in from the scriptures in terms of how to view the word of God.

You know, what does the Bible say about itself as God's word? And secondly, I want us to look at some of these links a little more closely, especially if you have questions. What can motivate our hearts to grow in a deeper love for God's word?

So with that, let's look at the outline of Bibliology. And the last time when we met, we looked at general revelation, how nature, all of creation points to God and speaks of God and his power. We also saw how when we say word of God, what were the things that came to mind?

When you think of word of God, Jesus, John 1 .1 in the beginning was the word. And we saw a couple of other references. And then we started looking at speech or more explicitly words that God speaks. And there we began with God's decree.

Now, can someone just say a blurb? What is God's decree? Excellent. So here is God saying something that it's not like an ongoing communication. God decrees it and it comes to pass. God says things from eternity past, and it will be established in all of time and space.

So when we think of creation, like Genesis 1 .3, God spoke and let God spoke, let there be light. That's a decree. And there was light. It happens. And when we think of the speech, and I want you to be thinking, just file these away as the links in this first element, when we talk about decree, who is the speaker?

God. Who is God speaking to? Yeah, you don't have a human audience, a person that God is engaging in communication with. God is just decreeing, speaking out, and that actually causes things to happen.

That word of God that is breathed out actually makes things happen, but there is no participant. I think, Charlie, you said God speaking to God, and there is a sense in which the eternal covenant, in the council of the Godhead, there is communication, but there is really no one speaking to it.

You may almost want to think of Jesus speaking to the winds and the waves, right? Stop, be still. It's like, okay, who was Jesus speaking to at that time? And there you have created nature that obeys, and here you have nature springing into existence because God spoke.

And so just keep that filed away, the nature of the word of God, what that means in decree. The next one was personal address. And so this is the second element of speech, and here it was God speaking with individuals one-on-one.

Some examples, just throw out a few random examples from the Bible. What are cases where God speaks one-on-one? Cain. So here is Cain. He thinks God hasn't seen, but God is omniscient, and God actually communicates with him, and he reveals something to him, doesn't he?

Before he commits the murder, he says, you know, sin is crouching at your door. I see within your heart. And then afterward, when he said, where is my brother's creeper? Where is my brother's creeper?

Am I my brother's creeper? Oh, I need more coffee. And God reveals the fact that he knows, and he also pronounces the curse on Cain. And we have God speaking both curses as well as blessings on individuals as he meets with them.

Now I want you to keep this thing kind of in the center of your mind as we are going to progress. How many of you would like God to speak to you right now in person? And I'd like you to just think for a moment.

We're going to come back to this when we finish this study. And there is a sense in which, you know, when you think of Adam and Eve walking in the garden and God's communing with them, it's like, wow, you know, that's pretty cool.

Enoch walks with God, and then he goes up to God's place, not back to his home. There is a sense in which you're like, you're looking at some key individuals in the Bible where God actually communicates one on one.

And I'm just going to say a few things here. We'll come back to this in the end. Of God's leaders, of God's key covenant initiators, like you want to think of Abraham or David or people like that, how many people, how many of God's people in the Bible do you think God had this personal one on one communication with right from Adam all the way to, let's say, John in Revelation?

How many people do you think God or how many of God's chosen people, whether it's Israel believers in Israel or the church in the New Testament, how many people do you think God had this personal communication, the second kind where God actually showed up and spoke to individuals?

Just in terms, you think in terms of percentage or numbers, how many do you think? Less than a hundred, quite possibly. You know, when you look at the accounts in the Bible, there's not too many of them.

And there is a sense in which, you know, we desire for that kind of, like, I mean, I was last night, I was praying as I was going to bed and I was thinking of Moses, show me your glory, you know, like stay in that cleft and you really want to commune with God the way that Moses did.

And there is a sense in which it is great. You know, we want that intimacy with God. We want that communion with God. And I think it is also helpful for us to say, while I would desire certain things, how has God chosen to reveal himself?

We've seen his decree. We've seen his personal address, not to everyone who's a believer, but to specific people in the scriptures. Now let's move on to the next one. And this is where we're beginning new here.

God's Speech Through Human Lips

God's speech through human lips. I should probably just say this. Suppose, okay, there's no other elder here. Oh, there is one elder here. So he can pull me up. If I were to come here and I said, thus says the Lord prophet Pradeep at your midst.

I hope I'll get pulled out right there. Yeah, I'm seeing the side. And just imagine for a moment, that's exactly what is happening in the scriptures. When you have a prophet or an apostle coming and speaking, it is, you know, this guy, you know, all, you know, who he was, where he came from, where he's from, but you, there was a recognition among the people of God that this was someone that was speaking God's word.

So here we're going to use of, uh, this is where we're going to get into the scriptures. So I need a lot of hands to take these scriptures. We will spend time on some of them because they're more important to understand how God's comes through agents or prophets.

Um, but others, we will just list them out. So you'll have a broader picture of how God speaks through people. So let's, let me just see some hands. Uh, Deuteronomy 18, 18 to 22. Who'd like to read that?

Thank you, Bob. Um, Jeremiah one nine and Jeremiah one seven mark. Um, Exodus four 12. Thank you. Um, numbers 2238. Thanks Gary. First Samuel 15 three, and then the other two verses 18 verse 18 and 23.

Thank you. Uh, first Kings 20 verse 36. Thanks. Uh, second Chronicles 20, 20. Thank you. Uh, second Chronicles, uh, 25, 15 to 16. Linton, Isaiah 30, 12 to 14. I'm running out of readers. Uh, thank you.

Uh, Jeremiah six, 10 to 12. Thank you, Sam. Jeremiah 36, 29 to 31. Oh, we've got double. First of all, uh, let's, let's make sure we get the singles first. Uh, Ezekiel 13, one to seven, Charlie. Uh, and then, uh, actually the Deuteronomy 18, we'll skip that.

The last one, Deuteronomy 32, uh, 47, uh, Joe. Okay. So the first person who has it, uh, if you can read from Deuteronomy 18 verse 18, all the way to 22, please. Thank you. So here, when it comes to God's word through prophets, you now have the, uh, the question, is this really a prophet or it is not?

Is it my, is it pretty standing and presumptuously saying I'm a prophet from God, or is this actually God speaking through Moses or any of the other prophets in the Bible? Now, when God decrees, we're not even there to see it.

It just happens that we know that God has spoken. When God meets you face to face, you could be sure who's talking to you. This is God himself. And, um, when someone speaks on behalf of God, now, what kind of authority rests upon this person who's speaking on behalf of God?

And I think that's the challenge here in, uh, Deuteronomy 18, 18 through 22. And I want you to just look at that word, uh, closely, uh, here, of course, in verse 18, uh, there is a prediction here. God is speaking with Moses end of the ministry here with Moses finishing up as a great prophet of God, 40 years leading these people.

Uh, they have, people have seen how God has spoken and ministered through Moses. So there's plenty of evidence, you know, from parting of the Red Sea, the, uh, the plagues that God was evident and, uh, evidently working through this man and speaking through him.

And then, uh, he says that is going to be another prophet that is to come. And, uh, there is a, um, messianic prophecy here in terms of the prophet who would come. In fact, I think, um, John Ford, uh, the Samaritan woman would say, you know, we know that the prophet would come referring to this verse and there's other verses too.

Uh, but there is a sense also that the Jewish people were looking at the subsequent prophets from Moses all the way until Jesus. Well, some Jews believed in Jesus, but they recognize that the same way that God had spoken through Moses, he would speak through individuals that he would pick and speak through.

So it's not going to be everybody, but they're going to be prophets. And what is going to be characteristic of them was, uh, actually in, uh, in verse 18, he says, I will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak them all that I command him.

And that's the definition of a prophet. A prophet is someone who has God's words in him put there by God, if you will. And he communicates that faithfully to others. So I want to just, the rest of the verses are going to just build on this with various examples, but I want us to just make sure we get this link.

This is the strongest link in order to get to our destination. If God were to speak to us face to face, how would we respond? Isaiah six. Uh, well, let's put it this way. We are, God speaks to us face to face when we are garbed in the garments of Christ.

And, uh, we are, I don't know, it, it, it, uh, hypothetically, how's that? Hypothetically, if God were to speak to us, it is graciousness, loving kindness. What would we do in response to what God says to us?

What would be the heart response? God says something, you know, my child, something. Yeah. You'd, you'd be like, you know, I'm, I'm on this blocks just ready to jump off of it and do what you say, because God's telling me something.

And I think, you know, I want us to just draw that parallel between what God has said, whether it was to Adam, uh, whether it was, uh, in, in the person of Jesus Christ to the other, uh, people, uh, the same way when the prophets are speaking, they are just taking God's word and communicating it to us.

And I think that's the, that's the key I want us to leave here with. And, and the consequences are given here too. Um, you know, if someone, uh, whoever does not listen, I will require off it. I myself will require it often.

So God is going to be a hold you accountable because if the prophet spoke in his name and you didn't do it, it is as if you disobeyed God himself. And then of course, we have, uh, the test of a prophet as well, a one who would, uh, speak the truth and the word of God always comes to pass.

So let's stop there. I just want that to be an anchor. And we look at the rest of the verses. So who has a Jeremiah one verse nine and verse seven, please. Thank you. Uh, let me state this. So when God spoke going back to personal address, did God do like mind communication?

No, he used language, you know, in the old Testament, he speaks with the Hebrews, he's spoken Hebrew. And when he speaks with, uh, like the reference in, um, Matthew three 17 at the baptism of Jesus, how did he speak in a language?

What did you say? Yeah, possibly Aramaic or Greek. We don't know, uh, because the people that knew both the languages, it could have been either of those. And if it was Aramaic, it was translated for us by the gospel writers under the inspiration to accurately convey the meaning.

And if it was Greek, you would have the exact text here. Now God can communicate verbally in a human language accurately. And now when we come to a Jeremiah, you know, a youth, uh, sinfully tainted, can this guy communicate accurately what God wants us to hear?

Can there be a loss of information between God initiating this and then this person communicating it? And the answer is no. You know, we have more than one. We're going to see the other reference of prophets who don't want to talk because they're like, Oh, who's who can do this mouth piece for God.

But God says, I will put my mouth and you will, you will transmit the information exactly as I intend to. So I just want you to just build these blocks on as you move ahead. Stop me at any time. If you have thoughts or comments, the next verse, uh, Exodus four 12, who has Exodus four 12 and this is, uh, God speaking to Moses and, uh, commissioning him.

Is that, is that right? Yep. Okay. And so let's, let's pick up the pace a little bit. Numbers 2238. Now think for a moment, what is happening in this event? Balaam speaking to Balak, uh, can someone just say the quick story of what's happening when Balaam talks?

Excellent. So here is the, all the multitude, you know, they've come out of Egypt, they're crossing these lands and the people are scared and they want to bring this Balaam who's a prophet qualifiedly, uh, who can curse people and they would be cursed.

And so he calls them, pays them money. And, uh, this guy is not a prophet of God. He is, uh, uh, he's a pagan and God comes and talks to Balaam and says, you better say what I say. No, God doesn't have just exclusive control over the people of Israel who will speak.

He has control over everybody. He made all, and even this Balaam cannot say anything other than what God would ordain or put in his mouth. So here he, you know, and you know, the whole story on the way in, he almost dies.

The donkey starts speaking. Balaam's like, okay, I know what will happen if I don't say what God wants me to be. Uh, Balak brings him up, shows him Israel. He opens his mouth, blessings. You know, he comes in from another angle.

See here, maybe you can curse him, blessings. And then Balak gets so vexed. He just sends him, you know, all the money I was going to give you, you know, forget about it. And the thing is, if God wants to communicate, the agent doesn't matter whether it was Moses, the stutterer, whether it was the donkey who don't normally speak, or even if it is a anti-God person, you know, Balaam, who you have here, who cannot, but reveal what God has placed in his mouth.

And, um, and I, and I, and I just want us to keep that in mind. So when we look at the words that God spoke through individual agents, it communicates accurately as if God himself was speaking. All right, let's pick the next one.

Uh, first Samuel 15 and those three verses. And the things I want to point out here are pretty straightforward. In verse three, if you look at it, um, you know, it actually, you had to go back to verse two to see, thus says the Lord of hosts.

But this is what Samuel is telling Saul. God wants you to do this. What, which is, you know, um, I have seen what Amalek has done. And then you are to do, um, strike Amalek, devote to destruction or harem.

You know, these are all to be destroyed. Man, woman, child, infant, ox, sheep, explicitly listed out. It doesn't matter whether you like this or not, this is God's command to you and spoken through this agent, uh, Samuel.

And then in verse 18, Samuel reminds him after this, Saul has partially fulfilled it. The Lord sent you on a mission and said, go and devote to destruction. So it was, um, Samuel who had told this to Saul, he comes back after the event and says, he reminds him, you know, I may be the, um, mouthpiece if you will, but this was the Lord who had told you what you must do.

And then in verse 23, uh, he gives the judgment for not having done what he was supposed to do. So, uh, as you know, Saul failed to kill Amalek to the, uh, animals that were supposed to be destroyed. He didn't kill.

So Samuel catches him. And then Saul has this nice excuse. The people wanted to, you know, keep this, uh, and do an offering to the Lord. And then, and then what does Samuel say to obey is better than sacrifice.

And what's the point here? God said something. Saul says, I have a better plan. You know, these animals would be much better as a sacrifice to the Lord that just destroyed. And the question is, what has just happened here?

Saul has placed himself over and above God in determining what is good and right. And in doing so he has rejected God. And there's a, and there's the judgment on Saul. The kingdom is taken away from him.

And I think just, just to remember, again, you know, we have God speaking directly. We have God speaking through the prophets and those words have a binding and, uh, and they will judge us because those prophets have spoken in the name of God and given us the word of God.

Okay. Let's move on. First Kings 20 verse 36. You know, this is one of those remarkable events in the Bible. If you want to have, you know, it's like, eh, you know, if God spoke to me face to face, it's okay.

If, if I just read it in the Bible or something, it's not that big of a deal. Uh, you know, the event there it's many of you may not be familiar with it. Here is a prophet, an obscure prophet, not even named who is here to sent by God to talk to the King.

Um, he had, I think the King of Israel and, um, this prophet tells another prophet of his to strike him because the Lord told him to do that. Um, and this prophet just refuses to strike him. Come on. You want me to hit a prophet?

Why would I do that? You would do that because the word of the Lord commanded you to here is a prophet that says, you know, God told God is, uh, the word of the Lord has come to me that you must strike me.

And he doesn't. And the judgment was, he actually loses his life to a lion. And I think, you know, we think, Oh, you know, I wouldn't do that. Well, you better remember who you worship. This is the God of heaven and earth.

He is sovereign. He does exactly as he pleases. Our responsibility is to submit to the word of God. And, um, uh, any questions on this because this was one of those verses I was like, if God, and even the previous was, you know, kill everything, man, woman, child, oxen, sheep, you know, this is what God commanded.

And, you know, I don't have the time to dig into the theology behind it, but I just want to focus on the word of God. And if you have questions, please bring them, bring them up. Let's move to the next one.

Then second chronicles, 2020. And, uh, you want to just see the parallelism there. And again, the event here is again, there's a war. Um, the, uh, the king is under pressure. They are surmounted by enemies.

And then he says, believe in the Lord, your God. And then in parallel believe his prophets and the idea here being, you know, you want to trust God against all these odds. You have no hope in and off yourself.

You need to trust God. And how do you hear from God? It is through his prophets, the ones who would speak in his name and direct our paths as God himself would. Um, and the next verse, uh, 25, 15 to 16, another good example.

Here is the king of Israel, Amaziah. He has just gone to war with Edom. And so he's destroyed Edom. Well, what does he do? He, after he finishes destroying Edom, he's like, Oh, I'll get their idols and I'll start worshiping them.

So he brings that back. And so here is God speaking through this prophet and says, you know, why would you do this? You destroyed this land and you're bringing this, do not do this. And what is Amaziah's response?

His response is I'm this great king. I've just won a victory. I have my military council that gives me, you know, ideas on how I can be successful. And who are you to be on my council and say things just shut up or I'll get, I'll kill you.

And, uh, the prophet then says, you know, here's what the word of the Lord came to you. You have rejected it. And now step back. I see the sovereignty of God that God intends to bring forth. This could have been a great time of repentance.

You could have heard God's word, turned your heart back to him and be preserved from the calamity to come. But because you hardened your heart, not, not against me, I have no military experience, but I'm speaking God's word to you.

And you have said no. And you have, I see that God intends to destroy you. And the rest of the passage, same thing happens. I'm going to say, I goes to the, uh, um, I'm sorry. He's the king of Judah. So he goes to the king of Israel says, Oh, you know, let me now fight you.

And he gets defeated instead. And, um, once again, all of these are just human agents speaking God's word, which communicate the same power and the authority of God himself. Okay. Let's read the rest.

I won't comment on the rest. Uh, so Isaiah 30, who has that? Yes. And Isaiah just poetically describes the consequences of not listening to God's word. The next verse, uh, Jeremiah six, again, the weeping prophet is almost like, um, Genesis three, the curse that is being pronounced.

And, um, here are the people who are closed their eyes years. And I want us to just keep that thought in our minds as believers, we ought not to be a people whose years are closed to the words of God.

When God speaks, we want to be a people who are open-eared attentive. And as we said earlier, eager to do what he commands us to do, um, Jeremiah 36. So here is the prophecy. And I, and this is, we're going to be transitioning from speech to words.

And here is the, uh, an account where, uh, uh, uh, Jeremiah actually, uh, writes it down through his scribe and the King burns it. And so he actually has another copy written to, um, to communicate the judgment that is to come upon the people.

And, uh, again, Jeremiah, the whole book is one of those, um, powerful communication of God as the land is slipping into apostasy and it is going to go off into exile. And, uh, and here we have not just the verbal communication, but also the written word.

So let's, uh, just read the next two verses and we'll move to the next section. Ezekiel 13. That's that's good. And actually that then comes the judgment for all that has happened. And, um, and I want to just focus on this as well.

You know, there is many who would want God, uh, to speak to them directly today. And, uh, others who would say, you know, if I was there in the time of Israel, a lot easier, you know, God is speaking from the mountain and God is speaking through Moses.

You know, it'd be like a lot clearer than, you know, today when I don't know the choices I have to make. And, uh, you know, the confusion of voices that surround. And, uh, when you look at the, in the Bible, you still have people, you know, this very thing that God, uh, warned Moses when he's, uh, want through Moses that those who would presume to speak on my name, you know, I will judge.

There were still people like that. Counselors of Kings who said, you know, no evil will come. Let's just keep doing whatever we were doing. And here is a kill now. Can God through Ezekiel God's word through Ezekiel condemns these men who have said the same thing.

And there are people today in the world, in the false churches who continue to proclaim this in direct and subtle ways. See our responsibility needs to still be to guard our hearts and minds against these false teachings.

The people who would say thus says the Lord, and they do not. And we will, we will see this when you get into the next section, why this is important for us to guard ourselves against just as, just as fervently as we must be.

When God's word comes to us, we give a hundred percent to follow after him. So also we must be watching out against words that are presumably from God, but are not so and reject those councils. So the last one, um, Deuteronomy 32 47.

And so here's the blessing. You know, we've seen a lot of examples of curses, but here's a, uh, here is the nation of Israel, uh, here to go into the promised land. What must you do obey the Lord? You know, he has called you as his chosen people and he is, he's directing you with his eye, with his word.

And you want to make sure you follow him because he intends to bless you. How may you be blessed by seeking the Lord and his word. Now with that, let's just take a moment and then we'll move to the crux of today's, uh, content.

I have a question there. Are God's words spoken through human lips as authoritative and true as God's words of personal address? Well, you know, the answer is yes. Um, but, uh, do we treat it? So what, how, um, ought we to treat it?

Is there ways in which we can be more intentional when God's word has come through one of the prophets in the Bible, as opposed to Genesis one or, or the red letter Bible, you know, Jesus said these things, Paul said this, uh, you know, Paul, I listened to Jesus.

Do we sometimes have that kind of a, an attitude and not maybe not intentionally, but in the way we live our lives, the way we commit ourselves to what God has said. All right, let's move to the next section then.

The Written Word of God

So, because this is the key transition, we, we all know God's decree, God's personal address, you know, inviolate the challenge comes when we start hearing things through a prophet. And then the final step is of course, God's word that's written.

And how do we value this? Now, uh, the section, the verses that we have here are just going to talk about, um, was writing God's word, God's plan. And maybe I'll just give this preface because I don't want to spend time commenting on the verses.

God, if he chose to, he could speak one-on-one with every single believer ever. And I think many of the believers in Israel said, no, Moses, you speak for us. That's enough. You know, this is terrifying when God comes in our midst and, um, and God said, I am going to speak through prophets.

So we've just seen how God has ordained, uh, put his word in people's mouth to communicate to us. So as, uh, his mouthpiece, and now we're going to come to the next section. So now these men are dead.

What is God's plan in terms of writing? And so those, these are the verses that, um, give us that picture. So let's just take that and go from here. Exodus. Let's have a new show of hands. Exodus 24, four, the reset.

Okay. Um, Exodus 31, 18. Thank you. Exodus 32, 16. Thanks. Exodus 34 verse one, 27 and 28. Thank you. Uh, Deuteronomy 31. There's a couple of verses there. Thanks, Brad. Uh, Joshua 24, 26. Thank you. Isaiah.

I think we just read this. Uh, no, Isaiah 38. Thanks, Sam. Um, Jeremiah 30 verse two. Thank you. Um, Jeremiah 36, uh, two to four. And if you can also read the next one, 27 to 31, and then, uh, the next was, uh, Jeremiah 51, 60.

Linton. Uh, we have a few new Testament verses, but we'll read this after we are done with the old Testament. So let's begin with Exodus 24, four. So here we are now seeing the accounts of the writing.

So God, uh, brings these men up to the mountain. He brings Moses up to him and then he communicates to him. And then Moses is to write down the next verse, Exodus 31, 18. Who wrote this? The 10 commandments.

God did. Yeah. How did he write it? Anthropomorphically through his finger. And he wrote those words down on those tablets that Moses was going to take them down. So if you think of written word of God, you have a archetype, if you will, in the 10 commandments, God actually writing down in Hebrew, what these people needed to hear.

And we needed to hear, um, Exodus 32. This is just a poignant way of reminding. This is God's words written down. Again, if you want to just think of that cascading, right? Decree of God, the God's, uh, personal speech to individuals, God speaking through prophets and now God writing.

And I think that was just kind of makes you remember, this is no less important because it is now in a written form that you read, you know, God's not physically there before you are as prophets are not there, thundering their voices, but you are actually reading something.

Uh, this is just as authoritative as everything else before, because these are God's words given by God. Uh, Exodus 34. Thank you again. The first spare, uh, first pair Moses destroys when he sees the people in sin.

God now does that again. Um, Deuteronomy 31, um, it's verse nine through 13. And then I'll tell you the next six. Thank you. And again, you know, here at the end of the ministry of Moses, the people are getting into the promised land.

Moses was like this powerful prophet speaking God's word. People saw the signs, uh, you know, in the, in the tabernacle as the glory of God comes down. And what is it that God gives God has Moses, right?

Everything down and place it in the arc of the covenant. And this is something that will be read to them and remind them of who God is in terms of his holiness, how God requires of his people to worship him.

And, um, uh, let's, let's maybe just take, I didn't realize that out of time. So let's take a Joshua 24, 26, and we'll maybe stop with that. Who has Joshua now? Um, just a comment here and the rest of the verses, maybe you can read at home.

Uh, when in Deuteronomy, when, uh, God speaks to Moses, it said, you know, you should not, whatever is given, you cannot add to it or, or take away from it. These are God's words given explicitly. These are the exact words given to, to you.

And so you ought not to treat it lightly and saying, Oh, this doesn't matter. That doesn't matter. Nor can you add to it and say, Oh, you know, I'll, I'll embellish what God has given. But here, uh, after Moses is gone in the first five books are written by Moses books, two to five, um, uh, explicitly list Moses as the author.

And they, uh, and the first book is understood that it was written by Moses as well. And when you come to the sixth book, Joshua here is the leader. And here in, uh, Joshua 24, the last chapter, you see that God has led Joshua through, he has accomplished his first purpose through this commander Joshua.

And then he has also appointed him to write down God's word. So you here, you want to think, and this is the progression I want you to think of what begins here with Moses continues with Joshua. And then you have the rest of the prophets that were listed out there.