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NASB | Hebrews 1:1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Hebrews 1:1 God, having spoken to the fathers long ago in [the voices and writings of] the prophets in many separate revelations [each of which set forth a portion of the truth], and in many ways, |
Subject: How does God speak to us? |
Bible Note: I am inspired by the Holy Spirit, I think, to look into the way that he works, using the word of God to guide us. The word of God includes direct revelations and explicit, universal commandments from God. It also includes history, showing how people responded to what God had said. The Spirit reminds people of God's will, again recording their responses. But the historical account often includes the first clear indication that we have of the mind of God on a matter. Did anyone know, before Cain, that “sin lies at the door” and we must resist it? Did anyone understand, before King Saul, that “to obey is better than sacrifice”? The matter was not clear to the casual hearer, since it was God who had commanded sacrifice. It would take a closer examination, as Koukl would say, to see exactly who was to do what. One may suppose that all of the commandments and precedents had been set in the Old Testament, and that people in the New Testament, and in our day, have those scriptures to go by. But it is not quite that simple. Some of the commandments, including the command to offer animal sacrifices, have been annulled, superceded, nailed to the cross (Colossians 2). And there are new commandments, such as the one to preach the gospel, that do not appear, or are not clear, in the Old Testament. Still there is no doubt that we are to be guided by scripture, and the Holy Spirit here to help us with that. He guided Jesus. He was filled with the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:1) and the Spirit led him (Matthew 4:1). When he was tempted, the Spirit brought to his mind the scriptures appropriate to the specific situation. Tempted to turn stones into bread, he was reminded that the scriptures had said, man shall not live by bread alone, from Deuteronomy 8. When he was asked to worship Satan, the Spirit reminded him of what had been written, that we should worship only the Lord our God, and that he is the only one we should serve” from Deuteronomy 6 and 10. Etc. There were times when people remembered scripture, and we are not told that the Holy Spirit was involved. Herod asked where Christ should be born, and they recalled what Micah had written, "Bethlehem of Judaea". They could search the Scriptures for those things (John 5:39). When Jesus cleansed the temple, in John 2, his disciples remembered that it had been written, “The zeal of your house has eaten me up“. In Acts 1, Peter referred to scriptures (in Psalms 41 and 109) which led him to seek a replacement for Judas. It is not clear to this writer whether the Holy Spirit was the one prompting those memories and leading him in that action. Some would say that only the Lord himself could choose an apostle, and that he would do that in Acts 9. Jesus had said the Spirit, when he came, would guide them (John 16) but the had not yet come when Peter was taking that action. Because he was filled with the Holy Ghost, I assume that he was guided aright in Acts 2, recalling the prophecy of Joel, and Psalms 16 and 110. A person may recall the scriptures of his own accord. But Jesus said the Holy Spirit would bring to the mind things that he had spoken to them (John 14). So, Peter recalls (Acts 11) what Jesus had said about baptism with the Holy Spirit. We may say it was the Spirit himself bringing that to his remembrance. When Paul recalls Jesus saying it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20) we understand that it was the Holy Spirit reminding him, even though he had not caused it to be recorded in the gospels. But several New Testament passages speak of the Holy Spirit’s guidance without any reference to the Scriptures. The Spirit tells Philip to go to the Ethiopian’s chariot (Acts 8) and afterwards, he catches him away. He tells Peter to go with the visitors from Cornelius (Acts 11) and forbids Paul to preach the word in Asia. How he communicated those things, we are not told, nor do we know whether he made reference to any scripture. In the end, one would like to say two things. The first is, that the Spirit seems to give specifics (“Go to Macedonia”) where the scriptures are more general (“Go into all the world”). But then we wonder how he could possibly indicate ”Not Asia” when Asia is in the world and “all the world” is in Mark 16:15. There is no recorded scripture that would indicate (as in Matthew 10:5) that certain places were to be left out or left for later after the Gentiles had been brought into the scheme. The second observation is that the Holy Spirit seems to be using tools, not in place of, but in addition to Scripture, to guide the apostles. This should not give any comfort to anyone seeking guidance from God apart from Scripture. But some are new to the faith, and some still have no Bible. And we still misinterpret and misunderstand the Scriptures sometimes. Even here, we may read the same passages and disagree. May the Lord guide each of us as we seek him in his word, and with our whole heart. |