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Exodus 24:4
“Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord.”
Over the course of redemptive history—God’s work in time to reveal Himself to His people and to save them from their sin—our Creator spoke in various ways (Heb. 1:1–4). As we have seen, these ways included dreams, revelation through objects, miracles, and angelic visitations. To that list we may add the words of the prophets, Jesus Himself, and the Apostles, who delivered their message first in oral form through oracles, parables, and sermons (e.g., see 1 Kings 14:18; Matt. 13:34; Acts 2:14–41).
While the Lord was speaking in those various ways, however, He also moved people to write. The prophets and Apostles committed to written form what God intended for His church to have for all time. We find references to this writing throughout the Scriptures. Exodus 24:4 provides us with one of the first accounts of a prophet’s recording divine revelation; it tells us specifically that Moses wrote down all the words that the Lord had given in the Book of the Covenant (Ex. 20:22–23:33). In fact, writing down divine revelation was so important that God even involved Himself in the process, inscribing the Ten Commandments on the stone tablets at Mount Sinai (31:18). We also have written revelation from God through the unnamed authors of the Historical Books, David (many psalms), Solomon (much of the Wisdom Literature), the writing prophets (Isaiah–Malachi), and the Apostles (the New Testament). This work of writing down the words of God is called inscripturation, with the result that the Bible is what we may call inscripturated special revelation.
Lest we think that the writing of Scripture was incidental to God’s purposes of salvation, we should understand that our God makes covenants and that covenants entail certain things (see Ps. 25:14). We noted a few days ago that for us to know our Creator, He had to bridge the distance between Himself and us by speaking to us in a way that we can understand. God revealed Himself in the context of the ancient Near East, where nations routinely made covenants with one another that involved promises of loyalty from a lesser king to a greater king and promises of protection from a greater king to a lesser king. These nations produced written documents that outlined the terms of the covenant and the responsibilities of each party. By having prophets and Apostles commit His covenant to writing in Scripture, God accommodated Himself to His people, demonstrating that He makes and keeps His covenants.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
God wants His people to know what He requires of them—faith that demonstrates itself outwardly through repentance and obedience—and that He is faithful to His covenant promises. Thus, He has given the Scriptures to His church. In them, we learn of God’s covenants and are reminded that He always keeps His promises. When we doubt that the Lord is faithful to His Word, we should turn to the Scriptures to be reminded of His faithfulness.
For further study
- Ecclesiastes 12:10
- Jeremiah 36:4
- 2 Peter 3:15
- 1 John 2:12–14
The bible in a year
- Genesis 23–24
- Matthew 8