Ps 19:7 (NKJV – as are all other scriptures)
The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;
The word of God is absolutely perfect and infallible, and we would do well to embrace and accept that inarguable truth. In a recent post, I mentioned my own hesitancy to insert a link to a particular site, not because of some exclusivity or high attitude on my part, but simply because not knowing the writer of that site, I had no absolute assurance of the accuracy of their historical statements. In other words, all other writings other than Scripture pretty much warrant and even dictate careful and prayerful scrutiny as to its truthfulness and infallibility.
Prov 14:15
The simple believes every word, but the prudent considers well his steps.
Meanwhile, our great God provides us with a “BOOK” that is complete, accurate, and proven – time and again. Historical facts that in the past may have been heatedly disputed and contradicted by unbelievers and pundits, skeptics and critics, eventually are proven accurate and true by the weight of new scientific, and archaeological findings and supportive new discoveries of historical writings that simply could never have been “planted”, over thousands of years, to serve as shills in support of the Bible.
The Bible is THE perfect book, and believers would do well, as also save a boatload of time and energy, to embrace that fact. And it is a magical, “revelationary” (new word) book that only God could have breathed into existence, through the writing instruments of submitted and holy men.
1 Pet 1:10-11
10 Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you,
11 searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.
Peter is saying that our salvation, the majesty of our Savior Christ, the glory of His (at that time) still-to-be-revealed salvation was prophesied thousands of years earlier by the writers of the Old Testament.
And then we get to Jesus, Who Himself testifies of the accuracy and permanence of all Old Testament prophesy and writing:
Matt 5:17-18
17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
18 “For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
“Assuredly”, our Lord says. EVERYTHING He said was “assuredly”, so for Him to emphasize the sureness of this particular word, He adds a word that could be placed before everything He said. Assuredly. You can bet on this one, beloved. It’s all going to come to pass, so no sense wondering about its happening. Every jot and every tittle – not only every word, but the smallest written characters, and the punctuation.
Matthew, Mark and Luke all relate the story of the Sadducees who had decided to query Jesus about resurrection – because in their religious and argumentative posture they had conjured up a scenario that they deemed a perfect trap for any proponent of life after death. In other words, they figured if this Jesus-guy was telling truth, there was no way His “philosophy” could coordinate with their theology, which they deemed infallible. They asked Jesus about a woman who had been consecutively married to seven brothers. Feel free to read the whole dialogue, but for now we can come to their conclusive question:
Mark 12:23-31
23 “Therefore, in the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as wife.”
24 Jesus answered and said to them, “Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?
25 “For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
HELLO. And WOW. How amazing an answer is THAT???? First our Lord explains to them that these “masters of scripture” knew nothing. Their question was based on ignorance, bound up by religiosity. Granted, there were revelations yet to be revealed – which the Lord speaks forth during this dialogue – but nonetheless their question was faulty because their scenario was faulty, because their faith was faulty. And here’s the knock-out to me – Jesus goes and quotes a Scripture that on some levels might even appear to be casually (if at all) relating to eternal existence. Jesus is pointing to the “I am” position of God as proof of resurrection!
26 “But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?
27 “He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken.”
See what’s happening here, for US? Jesus, was testifying that His Father God – by declaring Himself the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – was literally confirming resurrection. THAT ought to blow our minds completely. What Jesus was revealing, and continues to reveal by His perfect employment of scripture, is that EVERY word of God is perfectly perfect, and perfectly purposeful and perfectly revelatory. It ALL is intended for Kingdom revelation. NOTHING should be taken casually or carelessly. We’re to be looking deeper, digging deeper – not for the sake of digging itself, and certainly not to become knowledge-banks of biblical trivia. God has provided for us deep and gloriously unfolding revelation, through His Word, that we might know Him better, appreciate Him more, and better understand that glory of the Kingdom plan. He has purposely and gloriously hidden truth in plain sight, and wants to reveal it to those who, by His grace and through His Spirit, have made and continue to make the sincere and humble effort to dig.
Further to this thought (stick with me on this), at the conclusion of this Jesus/Sadducee dialogue (as related to us in Luke) we see that THEY were finished dialoguing with Jesus, but HE wasn’t quite finished dialoguing with them.
Luke 20:40-44
40 But after that they dared not question Him anymore.
41 And He said to them, “How can they say that the Christ is the Son of David?
42 “Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand,
43 Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” ‘
44 “Therefore David calls Him ‘Lord’; how is He then his Son?”
Here we go again! Jesus goes back to Psalm 110 and clearly challenges their perspective of eternity by establishing His own supernatural pre-existence to King David, whose body was long ago deceased and buried. And He accomplishes this by simply asking about how someone yet-to-be (physically born) could prophetically be called LORD by one already born.
So what are we getting to here? We are getting to something a level deeper than the already deep issues of life and death, burial and resurrection.
The revelation that has been sticking with me recently has been the absolute multi-level revelation of all scripture. We are to eat the whole scroll. Absorb it. Ponder. Meditate. Study. Look deep into it, so that our Lord, by His Spirit, might reveal to us way more than simply one layer of truth. It is a treasure chest of layered revelation, available to any and all who will dig in sincerity and humility.
Every single word has eternal purpose.
There is a place in God, in His word, that He reserves for those who will delight in that word, understanding that precious revelation of the King and the Kingdom come from a willingness to dig deep.
Ps 111:2 – The works of the LORD are great, Studied by all who have pleasure in them.
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