By Pastor Dave Farmer
Summary
Special Revelation is for all people, but it was not given to all people. General Revelation reaches everyone, everywhere. It is universal. Special Revelation is the transference of the truth of God to certain men. Who were they?
The Recipients of the Old Testament Canon:
The Prophets
In the Old Testament, there were certain men selected to put God’s word into written form. God’s spokesmen during this period were the prophets. Moses was the first of the writing prophets, and Malachi was the last. The writer of Hebrews summarizes the pattern for the formation of the Old Testament Canon 1 of Scripture:
God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets [by means of the prophets] in many portions [the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings] and in many ways [direct communication, dreams, and visions], (Hebrews 1:1)
God spoke to the fathers
The fathers represent Israel during the Old Testament period. Special Revelation was progressive. 2 He spoke in different ways; sometimes through direct discourse and other times through dreams or visions. Little by little God gave His Word to the prophets with instructions to write them down. In General Biblical Introduction, H.S. Miller demonstrates that “what the writers of Scripture said they wrote, what they wrote they said.” (Miller, pg 39) 3
By means of the prophets
The phrase “by means of the prophets” 4 gives us the story of how we got our Old Testament. In the Hebrew arrangement of the Old Testament, every book was written by those who held the Office of Prophet or had the gift of prophecy. The Bible itself clearly testifies that it is the very Word of God given to man through the prophets (2 Peter 1:19-21).
One of the most noticeable differences between our English Old Testament compared to the Hebrew Old Testament is in the number of books. The Jewish Old Testament has 24 books, whereas our English Bible has 39 books. The difference in number is only in the arrangement. For instance, they combine 1 and 2 Kings into one book, the same with Samuel and Chronicles. Our minor prophet section of 12 books is combined into one book in the Hebrew Bible. The threefold division of the Hebrew Old Testament follows this form:
The First Section is called THE TORAH:
The first five books: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. This is the Law. It is often described as the Law of Moses. This section of the Scripture was written by Moses, and although he is most noted as the Lawgiver, he is a prophet. Moses possessed the gift of prophecy and held the Office of Prophet. (Deuteronomy 18:15) God spoke by means of the prophets and Moses was the first of the writing prophets.
The Second Section is called: THE NABIIM
The word "NABI" is the Hebrew word for prophet. Each of these men either had the gift of prophecy or held the Office of Prophet and sometimes both. This section contains two groups of prophets:
1. The Former Prophets: These are the prophets who lived and wrote their books before the Babylonian Captivity (before B.C. 586). The books that are included in this section are Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. Note that in the Jewish arrangement Samuel and Kings are one book, not two as in our Bible.
2. The Latter Prophets: These are the prophets who lived and wrote their books after the Babylonian Captivity, and they are divided into two groups, the Major Prophets, and the Minor Prophets. I want to say this about the designation, major and minor. The difference is in the length of the writings not in importance.
The Major Prophets are Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. The Minor Prophets also called "the twelve" and correspond to all of our minor prophets from Hosea to Malachi.
The Third Section is called THE KETHUBIM:
The KETHUBIM are "the Writings." The writers of these books were not appointed to the prophetic office, but all had the gift of prophecy. This spiritual gift enabled them to receive God's Revelation, and they wrote what He communicated to them. The three sections of the writings are:
1. The Poetical Books - Psalms, Proverbs, Job
2. The Five Rolls (each read at the different holidays)
Song of Solomon read at Passover
Ruth read on the Day of Pentecost
Ecclesiastes read on the Feast of Tabernacles
Esther read on the Feast of Purim
Lamentations read on the anniversary of the Babylonian Captivity.
3. The Historical Books- Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Chronicles
I don't want to be misunderstood as teaching an "inspired arrangement" for the order of the books, but this is how they arranged the books of the Old Testament. This threefold arrangement was recognized by Jesus:
Now He said to them, "These are my words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law (TORAH) of Moses and the Prophets (NABIIM) and the Psalms (KETHUVIM) must be fulfilled. (Luke 24:44)
The Recipients of The New Testament Canon: Apostles
The formation of the New Testament Scriptures followed a similar pattern. It came through different means: Direct communication (Revelation 1:1, 2; John 16:12-15; 1 Corinthians 2:10-13) and vision and dreams (Acts 9:4; 10:10; 22:17, 18).
The recipients of the New Testament were the apostles. There were many things that the Lord wanted to teach His disciples, but they were not prepared for this while He was with them. Later, He would make known to them this truth through the ministry of the Holy Spirit (John 16:13-15). With the advent of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2), the writing of the New Testament began. The Apostles gave the official, authoritative explanation of Christ's death and resurrection. They spoke and wrote this Revelation under the control of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:10-13; Galatians 1:11, 12).
Four Characteristics of the Canon of Scripture
It is final
The sixty-six books of the Bible are God's final Revelation. Special Revelation did not occur after the New Testament was completed. When John the Apostle wrote the last book, he pronounced a curse on anyone who would subtract or add to the Bible. (Revelation 22:18, 19) Special Revelation occurs for a specific period. God is not giving His word to anyone today. It has ceased! (1 Corinthians 13:8-12; Jude 3).
The Bible is objective truth, not subjective truth. It is written down.
Without God's own interpretation of His works and actions, they might not have been regarded as important, been misunderstood, and even forgotten. Even our Lord teaches, if Scripture is not written down, it would not be remembered (John 14:26; 16:12-15. Only fragments would be handed down orally and how dependable would they be? God's word must be inscripurated to be made permanent.
The Bible is factual. It deals with the facts of history.
God reveals His redemptive purpose through the ebb and flow of history and in a historical setting.
Complete – the canon of Scripture is closed.
We do not have all knowledge, but we have complete knowledge, that is, all that God intended for us to know. Since A.D. 99, when the last Book of the Bible was written, there has been no prophets or apostles, no visions, and dreams from God, nor direct communications with God. The Scripture is God's final and complete message to us until Christ returns.
God spoke, and men wrote. Over the last six issues, we looked at how God reveals Himself to us. In General Revelation, He reveals Himself through His Works. In Special Revelation, He reveals Himself to us through His Words. How did we get our Bibles? God communicated His Word and commanded it be written down. Now we turn to the subject of Inspiration.
ENDNOTES
1 Canon is derived from the Greek word KANON which originally meant a rod or a ruler, then was used for a measuring stick or a norm. In this study, Canon means the collection of 66 books into one book, our Bible. It is the divine and absolute norm and standard for all matters of faith and practice.
2 The main verb is LALEO which is an aorist active participle meaning to speak or to communicate. The aorist tense indicates what takes place at a point of time. This is a constantive aorist meaning that during the Old Testament God spoke at different points of time. God revealed His plan progressively. He spoke to Moses. He spoke to Isaiah. Each time part of His will was declared. It did not come all at once. It is important to note that he does not use the present tense. He is not referring to General Revelation which comes to all people continually. The emphasis is on the Word of God being communicated.
3 Miller, H.S., General Biblical Introduction, Houghton: Word-Bearer’s Press, 2nd edition 1940. As far as Biblical records and New Testament expressions are concerned, “saying,” “speaking,” “commanding” are equivalent to “writing.” For example Jehovah commanded and Moses wrote (Exodus 17:14; 24:4; 34:27, 28; Numbers 17:2, 3; Deuteronomy 31:9, 19, 22, 24; John 1:45; 5:46, 47). Moses said (Mark 7:10), God commanded and said, and Moses wrote it (Matthew 22:24; Mark 12:19; Luke 20:28). Isaiah spoke and wrote the words of Isaiah 40:3,4 (Matthew 3:3, Luke 3:4). It is written; it is said (Matthew 4:7; Luke 4:12). That which Moses, David, Isaiah, and the others said in the written Old Testament, the Old Testament Scriptures, and God said, the Holy Spirit said.
4 EN plus the instrumental of means plus the plural object of the preposition PROPHETOS is to be translated “by means of the prophets.”