The Word of God is Jesus Christ. In-depth studies of Hebrew lore that stood prior to His birth shows that the Hebrew scholars believed that God’s Word in the Unseen Realm was always a manifestation of His will, an entity that was separate in some sense, but still Him. It defies words and exceeds human mental grasp; the discussion in Hebrew lore rested more on the necessity of practical use. In practice, God’s Word acted separately from Him, yet consistent with Jehovah’s divine moral character.
One of the best explanations is found in the copious footnotes and extra material posted online from Dr. Michael S. Heiser’s various books, starting with the Unseen Realm. His point is that the Word, once expressed, takes on a life of its own. This is actually necessary, since God’s own Presence would dissolve our fallen reality. He sends His Word into our world as the highest possible manifestation of His personality. It’s very personal.
If you are determined to study this for yourself, I’ll offer some links:
- Heiser: “Is the Word of God a Person?“
- Heiser: More Unseen Realm extra material and notes from his book, Unseen Realm.
- An interesting collection of links to Heiser’s materials can be found on this page.
- Heiser’s own personal site still active after his death: Dr. Michael S. Heiser.
- Heiser’s YouTube page.
There is no precis for this question. I’m not going to chase it down for you because, if you don’t read it in context, you’ll miss too much of the necessary background. It’s a graduate level course of study in itself. My point here is that the Bible as a book is not actually “the Word of God” but a record of His Word. The Word Himself is a living being; the Bible is a written record. It came from fallible humans and has been handled and kept by them. It is not perfect in our western absolutist sense of factual detail. That whole idea is asking the wrong question. Rather, we are obliged by faith to take in the broad sweep of the Bible’s message and hold ourselves accountable to what it demands of us as a whole.
Perfection in the message is not a concern, obviously. The real issue is not a matter of human performance, but genuinely loving and submitting to our Creator. He isn’t paying that kind of attention to the details of performance. He wants your heart.
The real issue is the Person of Jesus Christ living in your soul. The flesh is fallen and untrustworthy — indeed, somewhat hostile to this invasive Presence — but can be disciplined. The intellect provided by the fleshly nature is the servant here, working to organize and implement what the Spirit of Christ demands. We can use our minds to serve a divine purpose, so long as we keep in front of us that the mind cannot be wholly trusted.
We can construct for our use a sort of Biblical Law, a mental organization of the message of the Bible. It’s for sure that no two of us would come up with the same results, nor should we expect it. There is no such thing as “propositional truth” in a fake realm of existence. This world is not ultimate reality by any means, but a provisional place with a very limited shelf-life.
Pretend for a moment that we could persuade the whole world to take seriously the need for constructing a Biblical Law, and that we could come up with a substantial agreement on the content. It would not change the fate of this world. This world will still be destroyed when Christ returns. It would still not be worth clinging to this life. A valid Biblical Law starts with a foundation of dismissing this mortal existence as of no great value. The Bible is inherently otherworldly.
If we could bring the whole world under a valid Biblical Law, it would not change that some of us are Elect and eternal, and the majority are eternally doomed. Election stood before mortals were born and mankind populated the earth. Nothing any human can do will change their individual eternal identity. God has chosen not to explain any of this, only to declare it as so.
The whole issue for the Elect is to recognize their election and embrace what is implied by it. We are supposed to live by His Word in order to glorify Him. The whole back story of politics in God’s courts in Heaven explains that our world exists for one purpose: This world is the proof of God’s contention with the rebellious Elohim Council members regarding the Devil. The Devil was confined to this world because he tried to scrape off some of the glory due God. Some of the Elohim Council sided with the Devil. You and I exist in our human form solely to glorify Him and prove His point that all glory is due Him, and no one else.
None of our dreams and goals in human ambition mean a damned thing. It will all be consumed in fire at the Return of Christ. We are nothing more than a proof, a modeling of truth, a simulation to demonstrate something way more important than our puny existence. The only thing we can possibly take with us into Eternity is divine favor, and that favor does not fall on anything rooted in human concerns. This world is trash, and the only treasure is what is inside our souls.
That treasure consists of our desire to please God. Nothing else matters; it is all — at best — mere packaging for carrying around our commitment to Him. It is critical to keep this in mind when we face the rising tribulation of God’s wrath on our world. It’s here and it’s only going to get worse. Somewhere out there ahead of us is a day when His wrath will be spent, but that will come after a majority of the world’s population is dead. It’s a great privilege to watch His hand at work.
