We serve a God who loves to communicate with His people. Today, the main way that God communicates with us is through His written word the Bible. But why did God choose written revelation and not some other type of communication to mainly speak to us? After all God is sovereign and He could have used a number of other ways to communicate with us. Let’s look at some of the other ways first and see why the written word of God is definitely the best choice.
Oral
God could have chosen to speak directly to us in an audible voice. After all we know from Scripture that on occasion God did communicate with His people audibly. For example, God spoke directly to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:1-6). The problem with this type of communication is that it only benefits the person to whom God speaks with and is not subject to objective validation by others.
Nature
One way that God does reveal Himself to us is called natural revelation. When we look at the universe it is hard to deny that it cries out for a Creator. But if all we had was nature then we would not know much about God, except perhaps His great creative power. Nature would not tells us anything about our human sin nature and our need for a Savior. Dr. Jason Lisle adds the following observation: “The main drawback of such natural revelation is that it is non-propositional; nature is not composed of words that can be objectively read. People therefore can draw different and incorrect conclusions from their observations of nature. For example, when seeing an animal that is well-designed to kill other animals, some people might conclude that the Creator is cruel, rather than recognizing that the world is cursed because of man’s sin; it was not originally created this way.”1
Conscience
Another way that God does partially reveal Himself to us is through our conscience. We all know God in some fashion. We can see this in (Romans 1:18-19): “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.” We can see the problem with such internal knowledge of God because it is subject to suppression since many people hate God and don’t want to know the God of the Bible. Again, this type of internal knowledge is not subject to objective validation by others.
Dreams and Visions
God does on occasion, I believe, uses dreams and visions to communicate about Jesus, especially in places where there is limited or no religious freedoms and the Gospel is banned from being outwardly preached; such as in some Arab countries. And we know that God often used this method in the Bible. While there is a place for this method, in limited circumstances today, it lends itself to the same problems as oral communication in that it only benefits the person to whom God uses this method with and is not subject to objective validation by others.
Why the written word?
Written revelation is the perfect form for God to mainly communicate with us today for several reasons. First, we need special revelation, which is the Bible, to teach us that we are sinners and in need of a Savior – Jesus Christ. Natural revelation can’t tells us this. But the word of God can. Second, God knew that the passing of oral communication would be subject to plenty of confusion, misunderstanding, and misinterpretation. Once God wrote it down it would not be subject to change and could be preserved. Third, the Bible groups all the messages that God wants us to know together. Fourth, the Bible becomes mobile and it can travel to all parts of the globe easily; whether in book form or over the internet. And fifth, the written word, once we read it, makes all of us responsible for its message.
We need to be so grateful that God has chosen to reveal Himself to us by means of His written word. This mode of communication transcends time, cultures, and geographies and allows us to get to know the author of the book – Jesus Christ. We need to cherish and read the Bible so we can glorify God and become more like Jesus.
1 The Bible vs. other Holy Books | Biblical Science Institute
While it is true that the Bible is the objective, infallible and authoritative Word of God, there is another place His character has been revealed to us in written form. No, it’s not the Koran or the Book of Mormon. You probably thought about this other writing after reading this devotion. Jeremiah’s prophecy must have come to mind with its fulfillment in Hebrews 8 and again in 10.
God has written the law on the hearts and minds of His people, new covenant believers.
“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws into their minds,
and write them on their hearts,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor
and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
for they shall all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.”Heb. 8
But His law is not only in the hearts of believers but the whole world is under this Law and will be judged by it.
“Now we know that whatever the Law says, it says to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.” Romans 3
Now would be a good time to read Psalm 119 and sing with the psalmist, “Oh, how love I thy law.”
Hi Curt…I had a vision from God once. If/when we ever meet, I’ll tell you about it, or I can write you about it. Jesus was in it and He spoke my name!
Elaine