7. You Can Know the Author

The Revised Standard Version translates the same passage, "No prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men were moved by the Holy Spirit who spoke from God."

Elsewhere Peter describes the letters of Paul as being written "with his inspired wisdom," 2 Peter 3:15, N.E.B.

Paul reminds Timothy not to forget the God-inspired Scriptures that had led him to faith in Jesus Christ. See 2 Timothy 3:14-17.

The letter to the Hebrews refers to the "many and various ways" in which "God spoke to our fathers by the prophets." Hebrews 1:1, R.S.V.

All these men knew God. Like Abraham they were God's friends (2 Chronicles 20:7) and so were able to recognize His voice.

Moses was one of these, and "the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend." Exodus 33:11, R.S.V.

This is why their writings have proved so consistent and reliable. They all knew and worshiped the same God. And through the records they have left, we may know Him too.

On one of Paul's visits to the city of Athens he was "exasperated beyond endurance at the sight of a city so completely idolatrous. He felt compelled to discuss the matter with the Jews in the synagogue as well as with God-fearing Gentiles, and he even argued daily in the open market place with the passers-by." Acts 17:16, 17, Phillips.

Eventually he attracted the attention of some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. When they discovered that Paul seemed to be "trying to proclaim some more gods to us, and outlandish ones at that!" they persuaded him to address their whole council. Acts 17:18, Phillips.

So Paul went with them to the Court of Areopagus and began his memorable speech.

"Men of Athens, I see that in everything that concerns religion you are uncommonly scrupulous. For as I was going round looking at the objects of your worship, I noticed among other things an altar bearing the inscription 'To an Unknown God.' What you worship but do not know–this is what I now proclaim." Acts 17:22, 23, N.E.B.

Because men have not known God, they have found it possible through the centuries to worship an unbelievable variety of objects.

In the first chapter of Romans Paul describes the common worship of his day. He speaks of people whose senseless minds have been so darkened by the rejection of truth that they have been able to worship "birds, beasts, and creeping things." Romans 1:23, N.E.B.

The Egyptians worshiped the crocodile. They even worshiped beetles!

When the priests of Baal worshiped on Mount Carmel, they "cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them." 1 Kings 18:28, R.S.V. They believed that their god would be moved by such behavior.

When the followers of Moloch met to worship, they sacrificed their own babies in the burning hot hands of their hollow idols (see Leviticus 18:21). They thought their god would be pleased.

Today the way we worship God, in public or private, reveals the kind of Person we believe our God to be.

What kind of God do you worship?

The Bible teaches that worship is not to be based on fear born of ignorance. Rather it is to be an expression of love, trust, and admiration–because we know God so well.

Jesus said to the woman of Samaria, "You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know." John 4:22, R.S.V. And the more we know about God, the greater reason there is for reverence and worship.

There need be no fear in worship. As John explained, "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and he who fears is not perfected in love." 1 John 4:18, R.S.V.

On the basis of all you know about God, can you say that you genuinely admire Him?

Can you honestly say that you love Him?

Would you be pleased to learn than He was coming to live in your community–perhaps next door?

How could one be sure?

Can one even be sure that there is a God at all? Or is this something that one should accept by faith only?

Does having faith in something make it so? If it does, then everything people have faith in must be so. In that case we would have to join the ancient Egyptians in their worship of crocodiles and beetles.

Many theologians have acknowledged that if there is a God at all, we could never know Him unless He, the infinite One, should choose to reveal Himself to us finite humans. In what direction would you point your rocket if you wished to find the Creator of this vast universe?

I have many friends, trained in science and history, who share the conviction that God has indeed revealed Himself.

He has done this in a variety of ways. Paul asserts that so much may be known simply from the things that God has made that the man who refuses to honor the Creator is "without excuse." See Romans 1:19, 20.

But the clearest evidence of all has come through Jesus Christ.

God Himself came to this earth and lived among men and said, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father." John 14:9, R.S.V.

"God, who gave to our forefathers many different glimpses of truth in the words of the prophets, has now, at the end of the present age, given us the truth in the Son.... This Son, radiance of the glory of God, flawless expression of the nature of God, Himself the upholding principle of all that is, effected in person the reconciliation between God and man." Hebrews 1:1-4, Phillips.

The chapter goes on to cite evidence for believing that the One who came to reveal God was God Himself.

"When He brings His First-born into this world of men, He says: Let all the angels of God worship Him.... When He speaks of the Son, He says: Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever." Hebrews 1:6-8, Phillips.

In his letter to the church at Philippi, Paul clearly recognized that when Jesus was born among us as a human being, it was actually God who so humbled Himself. "For He, who had always been God by nature, did not cling to His prerogatives as God's equal, but stripped Himself of all privilege by consenting to be a slave by nature and being born as mortal man." Philippians 2:6, 7, Phillips.

To Nicodemus Jesus gave the simplest reason why He had to come. "No one has ever been up to heaven except the Son of Man who came down from heaven." John 3:13, Phillips. None of us has ever gone up to bring back the truth about God.

John in his Gospel offers a similar explanation. "No one has ever seen God at any time. Yet the divine and only Son, who lives in the closest intimacy with the Father, has made Him known." John 1:18, Phillips. Or as the New English Bible puts it so beautifully, "God's only Son, He who is nearest the Father's heart, He has made Him known."

Now that Jesus has returned to heaven, our primary source of information about God is the Bible.

Does your study of the Bible give you confidence to say, We worship what we know?

Within the covers of that ancient Book we find God described so variously; we see Him involved in human affairs in such a variety of ways.

Early in the Biblical record God is pictured as descending upon Mount Sinai to speak to His people. On that awesome day the mountain was covered with smoke and fire. Lightning flashed, thunder rolled, and a great earthquake shook the ground.

And God said to Moses, Keep the people back. If anyone even touches the mountain he must die. Whether man or beast, he must be stoned or shot. Moses set a boundary around the mountain. If anyone breaks through, I shall consume him! See Exodus 19:10-25.

The people were terrified. "And they stood afar off, and said to Moses, 'You speak to us, and we will hear; but let not God speak to us, lest we die.'" Exodus 20:18, 19, R.S.V.

Many years later, God came to the Mount of Olives. This time the people saw nothing to make them afraid.

As Jesus looked down to Jerusalem He began to cry. Oh, I'm so sorry, He said. I wanted to do so much for you, but you wouldn't even listen. See Luke 19:28-44.

On another occasion He mourned, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem...! How often have I longed to gather your children, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings; but you would not let Me." Luke 13:34, N.E.B.

Which do you prefer? The God of Mount Sinai or the God of Olivet?

Do you prefer a thundering God or a weeping God?

The God of the Bible is both. An understanding of why the same God would act in these different ways under differing circumstances is a basis for profound admiration and trust.

One day in Old Testament times a foolish and rebellious fellow stole some items from the ruins of Jericho and buried them in the floor of his tent. And God said to Joshua, Go and get that man. Stand him up outside the camp. Put his wife and children beside him. Now stone that whole family to death.

"And all Israel stoned him with stones; they burned them with fire, and stoned them with stones." Joshua 7:25, R.S.V.

Years later the Son of God was confronted with another sinner.

Some very religious but very cruel men–and the two all too often go together–brought to Jesus a woman they claimed to have caught in the very act of adultery.

What shall we do with her? they inquired. God told Moses that we should stone such sinners. You claim to be God's Son. Shall we stone her as God said we should?

They were not, of course, asking the Lord for advice. "They put the question as a test, hoping to frame a charge against Him." John 8:6, N.E.B.

Jesus said nothing in reply. He simply bent down and began to write some significant items in the sand.

Then He looked up and said, "Let the one among you who has never sinned throw the first stone at her." Once more he bent down and continued writing on the ground.

"And when they heard what He said, they were convicted by their own consciences and went out, one by one, beginning with the eldest until they had all gone.

"Jesus was left alone, with the woman still standing where they had put her. So He stood up and said to her, 'Where are they all–did no one condemn you?'

"And she said, 'No one, Sir.'

"'Neither do I condemn you,' said Jesus to her. 'God home and do not sin again.'" John 8:9-11, Phillips.

It is easy to love and worship such a God.

But it was the same God who ordered the execution of Achan and his family. And that story is just as much a part of the Inspired Record.

That it is the same God who is pictured in the Old and New Testaments is a matter of vital importance to the understanding of the Biblical record.

Paul seems to teach this when he refers to God's care of Israel in the wilderness. Using the familiar Biblical symbol of the rock, Paul writes, "They all drank from the supernatural Rock that accompanied their travels–and that Rock was Christ." 1 Corinthians 10:4, N.E.B.

But the clearest statement came from Jesus Himself.

Philip had just said, "Show us the Father, Lord, and we shall be satisfied."

"'Have I been such a long time with you,' returned Jesus, 'without your really knowing Me, Philip? The man who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, "Show us the Father"? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me?'" John 14:8-10, Phillips.

The Father is just as gracious and loving as the Son. He is just as understanding and willing to forgive. This is why Jesus was able to tell His disciples that it never would be necessary for Him to beg the Father to do good things for them. "I need make no promise to plead to the Father for you, for the Father Himself loves you." John 16:26, 27, Phillips.

Knowing all this about our God, we can only begin to imagine how His heart must have recoiled from that scene of execution in Joshua's day. As the stones were finding their target, how the One who even sees the little sparrow fall must have hated every horrible moment!

But in His infinite wisdom and ultimate concern for the good of all His people–standing there as they were on the borders of Canaan–He knew it had to be done. And the discipline had to be sufficiently awful and dramatic to make an adequate impression upon the people of that day.

One night the Son of God invited some of His closest followers to supper. The atmosphere that evening was very tense. There was no servant available to perform the customary washing of the feet. No one was willing to get up and serve his fellow guests. None was willing to wash the feet of even the Lord Himself!

Finally Jesus quietly went and fetched a towel and a basin of water. And the stunned disciples had to watch as the great Creator of the vast universe knelt down and washed a dozen pairs of dirty feet! See Luke 22:24-27; John 13:1-18.

Do you admire a God who would do such a thing?

Eleven of the disciples did.

But one did not. Judas despised Jesus for so humiliating Himself. The god he believed in would never degrade himself in such a manner. The Lord's gracious act only served to confirm the betrayer's decision to turn the Master over to His enemies.

Even after this memorable experience in the upper room, Peter still had a great deal to learn about God. One of the clearest revelations came to him in the courtyard during Jesus' trial.

Peter had just denied three times that he knew his Saviour. He had even cursed and sworn to prove it.

Then the cock crowed–just as Jesus had predicted in the upper room.

Stung with guilt, Peter looked fearfully to see if Jesus had noticed.

Indeed He had!

Though He was on trial for His own life and was being beaten and insulted by the cruel mob, Jesus was even more concerned about His erring disciple–now so covered with shame.

"The Lord turned His head and looked straight at Peter." Luke 22:61, Phillips.

As Peter understood God so far, he expected to see in the Lord's face an expression of anger, reproof, and offended justice.

Instead he saw only sympathy and loving disappointment–the face of the One who a few hours before had knelt down and washed his dirty feet.

"And Peter went out, and wept bitterly." Luke 22:62.

As you continue studying the Biblical record do you find yourself despising the God revealed–or admiring Him ever more deeply?

Of course, everything depends upon our continuing to study. Life today is so busy that we are all faced with the temptation to abandon earlier habits of regular Bible reading.

"Someday when I have more time I'll take it up again," we promise ourselves.

Famous last words!

In self-justification, and as an excuse for not studying further, some even come to the place where they regard it as a Christian virtue to hold fast stubbornly to a fixed and final system of belief about God.

Far from being a virtue, this is idolatry. For the essence of idolatry is the worship of a limited image of the unlimited God. When a man loses his eagerness to know his infinite Creator ever more fully, he becomes all too prone to accept tradition, and worship he knows not what.

But as Jesus said to the woman of Samaria, "We worship what we know."

–A Graham Maxwell, excerpt from You Can Trust the Bible © 1967, Pacific Press Publishing Association.