The Living Word, the Bible

        The Bible or the Christian Holy Scriptures is incomparable, no other book can be classed with it.  This is not boastful, nor is it a ‘racist’ or prejudicial statement as much as many people would like to make it so. 

        You see, my friends, God is the creator of this earth and the universe irrespective of what anyone says; every aspect of human learning and knowledge, you may call it science, attests to this fact.  Again, this is not boastful, racial, or prejudicial speech.  As long as other nations and cultures rightly claim to be human then they are the product of God’s hands.  The only book that rightly lays the claim to this origin of life in the universe is the Christian Bible.  The book of Genesis 1:1 makes this claim right off the bat unabashedly. The Gospel of John in the New Testament in its opening verses confirms what Genesis says of earth’s origin, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”  Therefore, when it comes to the Bible we are immediately in touch with ‘previous’ history, known also as Ancient History; we also find history in the making, where present circumstances become anti-typical items of history; along with this, we find future history.  Yes, the Bible reveals as no other book has or can, man’s final destiny, we read of God saying, I create new heavens, Isaiah 65:15 and Revelation 21:1.

        In the Bible, we find the story of a dear father in pursuit of his runaway children.  He respects every decision they make but He shows them the consequences of these decisions.  God treats His delinquent people as adults.  He knows that love cannot be forced, but He also knows as no other, that only love can awaken love.  The hurt of unrequited love can only be experienced, and only God has sounded the depths of unrequited love.  This tragedy started way before the earth was created.  It started with the most beautiful, wise, and elegant being right in the Courts of the heavenly beings.  This story has been replayed on earth ever do dimly, yet so movingly in the deep musings of the human heart.  As such we have the ”Lord of the Rings”, Stark Wars, and other such documentaries all written so dimly to describe what took place in ages well beyond human existence.  This strange account found in Isaiah 14:12 and onwards states: “Isaiah 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!” Ezekiel 28:1-3 tell us: The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
² Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God, Ezekiel 28:1-2.  From his perspective, Dr Subodth Pandit gives an interesting philosophical perspective on this episode.

        Wrapped in every page of the Bible, hidden in many etymologies we find the story of God’s pursuit of His truant children!  And this is what sets the Bible apart from every other book on earth.  The Bible is not just a ‘history’ or a depiction of man’s departure from his God and Maker, but it is in verity an enactment of human wretchedness and God’s restoration of those that return to Him.  In other words, the acts of God are seen in the very names of people, the very location of events and the very actions of individuals, man or beast, they are written in plain sight that the enlightened can grasp, and oh how are their faces lighted up when these enigmas are unravelled before their very eyes.  What other book has such living, dynamic and pedagogic lessons in its pages? I know of no other. Often one hears, erroneously, that the constitution (USA, Canada) is a living document to justify the fetishes of lawmakers, but this cannot be said of the Bible. While the Bible is indeed a living document it is unchangeable; it is a love letter from the Father we have turned our backs on. 

         This love letter is of such potency that it can change the vilest sinner and make him a sinless member of the commonwealth of God’s universe.  Praise God for that wonderful restorative gesture so gratuitously offered to human beings.

        Let’s look at a few of these prophetic, narrative-interactive accounts found in the Bible as researched by Dr Reagan.[1] Accordingly, we are told that after all repetitive prophecies are winnowed out in the First Division of the Bible we are left with a little more than 100 distinctively different, specific prophecies about the Messiah’s First Advent.  In addition to these different prophecies, there are many prophecies in type that point to various aspects of the first advent.  A prophecy in ‘type’ is symbolic prophecy.  Symbolic prophecy is when an object, human or otherwise, points to aspects of the first Advent of God to earth.  An example of this is in Romans 5:14 where Paul calls Adam a type of Him who was to come.  Another example is in Hebrews 8:5 where both the high priest and the tabernacle are said to be a ‘shadow of heavenly things.’  And finally, Jesus points to Jonah as a prophetic type, Mat. 12:38-40.  

        No other book I know of is composed not just of the divine thoughts of its author but is itself dependent on the author’s life without which it would lose its divine and soteriological intent. That, my friends, is how the Bible exists, by precept and by example; such a concept would be classed esoteric, mysterious and spiritual bordering on incredulity.  No wonder John 1:1 confirms the picture of the Bible as not just the written word, but the spoken word and the living word! 

        Another feature of our Bible is that of ‘anti-type.’  While one assumes that ‘anti’ stands in apposition to ‘type’, Dr Reagan gives additional insight by stating that ‘anti-type’ can be defined as a negative symbol that points to positive truth.[2]  Here are examples. Satan is a being that God made without any trace of sin (Isa. 14:12-14 vs. Jesus who is the epitome of humility, the very opposite of satan). In the process of time, this being turns against God and represents everything that stands in opposition to God, he becomes in verity the antichrist. Human beings are not just reading about the antichrist in the Bible but are actually in contact for weal or woe with this antichrist in their daily lives and ironically, the only defence we have against this fiendish being is found in the Bible itself.

        Here are some other examples of the negative antitypical, prophetic nature de Adam.  

        Apart from the anti-type, there were ceremonial types.  Even the ceremonial types pointed to the function of the Messiah who would fulfil all of these in His earthly life, even touching how He will return to this earth, and nowhere is this seen most fully as in the Tabernacle, its structure, its composition and its function.  When we compare the Tabernacle and all that pertained to it we are amazed at how the life of Jesus matched this place of worship.  Some examples: The gate of the tabernacle represented Jesus, John 10:9; the altar represents Jesus as the sacrificial lamb, John 1:29.  The shewbread represents Jesus as the bread of life, John 6:35; the candlestick represents Jesus as the light of the world, John 8:12.  The incense represents Jesus’ intersession for us through the Holy Spirit, Heb. 4:14-16; the veil represents Jesus through whom we have access to the father, Mat. 27:5; and the High Priest represents Jesus, Heb. 8:1, 2; and Heb. 9:24.

         Even the life, existence, and experience of the Jewish nation is a prophetic type of the life, existence and experience of Jesus the Messiah. For example, the nascent nation of Israel was born in Israel, went down into Egypt, and emerged through the Red Sea (baptism of Moses, 1 Cor. 10:1, 2. Similarly, Jesus, was born in Israel (itself prophetic for both entities, Isa. 7:14 v. Mat. 2:5, 6) and went down into Egypt (Mat. 2:13, 14), emerged publicly through his baptism (Jn 1:29, 31); was in the wilderness being tempted by Satan, (Mark 1:13), and led the way to God and heaven (John 14:6).  Nowhere in literature have we seen where a book is not just the biography of someone but is the actual expression, prophetic anti-type and fulfilment of the life of the author himself.  

        The reason we have this sort of revelation in the Bible is that it is no ordinary book.  The Bible is a book that comes from God to humans, written by humans for sure, but over which humans, in general, have no power nor ability to destroy.  Any destruction or distortion of the Bible is governed by God’s permissive will.  Another reason for the importance of God’s word is that the objective of the Bible is the salvation of humans and the planet.  In God’s permissive will it is He that directs events; he will have all men saved and restored to the divine image and to citizenship of God’s universe which no man can prevent; a person may freely reject this offer of pardon, forgiveness and restoration, God will not force humans one way or another.  Man’s destiny is in his own hands, and he has all the power and help available from God to make the right choice, but the choice to accept this by sharing his will with God is his alone.  Once again, the Bible is the written Word, the spoken Word, and the living Word that transforms the one that surrenders himself to God. 

        No other book has this objective. The Bible is God’s communication with man in the language of humans.  The Holy Spirit accompanies the Word of God to give humanity the insight into godly perception and intuition that it lost to sin.  This insight is the ability to understand good and evil, how to shun evil and how to accept and maintain the good so that God might restore humanity to holiness.  May God grant us the wisdom to know that He is the only being that can reverse the power of evil in humanity.  Blessings in 2023.

[1] Reagan, Dr David R. “Christ in Prophecy”.  Pub.: Lamb & Lion Ministries, McKinney, TX 75070, 2006; 3d. Printing, (2015).  I am heavily indebted to Dr Reagan for the concepts used in this article.

[2] Reagan, p. 8

If you have any comments or questions please contact Pr. Ron Henderson at ronhende@outlook.com.

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