Old Testament Inspiration
God chose men such as Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel to receive His words and to write them down. Their writings became the books of the Old Testament.
Each of the authors of the Old Testament books received God's word in different ways. Some received messages directly from God. While in the presence of God on Mount Sinai, Moses was given the Commandments inscribed on a stone. David received divine inspiration to foretell events relating to Christ's ministry on earth a thousand years later. God told some of His prophets, such as Isaiah and Jeremiah, exactly what to say; so when they gave a message, it was God's word, not their own. The phrase "Thus says the Lord" appears more than two thousand times in the Old Testament. Others received the word of God in visions or dreams. Ezekiel and Daniel recorded exactly what they say, whether they understood it or not. Still others, such as Samuel and Ezra, were directed by God to record events in the history of Israel.
Four hundred years after Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, was written, Jesus Christ came to earth, as prophesied. In His sermons, Christ affirmed the divine authorship of the Old Testament, quoting from it frequently. Moreover, Jesus often pointed to passages in the Old Testament as having predicted events in His own life.
|