The Spoken Word And The Written Word

In the Bible, beginning from the book of Genesis through the book of Revelation, we notice that God speaks and everything manifests. The Bible consists of what the Lord had revealed to the men and women of God. In other words, the Bible is a written documentation of the Lord's spoken words. Jesus said:

"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away" - Matthew 24:35

The Greek word used for "words in the above verse is "logos", referring to the written Word of God. In the New Testament we would notice that our Lord Jesus was always consistent with the written Word of God. Jesus Christ alone fulfilled over 300 Old Testament prophesies which were prophesied several years before Jesus was born, out of which 50 of them were fulfilled in one single day. This shows that the spoken Word and the written Word of God are always consistent. The best way to identify false prophets and heresies, is to check whether whatever is being preached is consistent with the written Word of God. For example, when the pharisees were teaching man made doctrines, our Lord Jesus rebuked them saying:

"Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye" - Mark 7:13

Again the Greek word used for "word in the above verse is "logos", referring to the written Word of God. Jesus did so because, even though Moses had mentioned to "honor your father and mother" (Exodus 20:12 and Deuteronomy 5:16) and "anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death" (Exodus 21:17 and Leviticus 20:9), the Pharisees and the Sadducees said that if a person is not able to honor their parents, then as an alternative what might have been used to help their father or mother, either monetarily or in the form of substances, can be offered to God by giving to the temple treasury by calling it corban. This word is used in the book of Leviticus. The Hebrew word "corban" means "to set aside something by dedicting to God". This way the Pharisees and the Sadducees were adding to scripture and twisting God's Word by coming up with their own man made traditions and doctrines where ultimately they were nullifying God's Word. In other words, these people were proclaiming a religion rather than a relationship with the Lord. Jesus is actually pointing out the futility of seeking spiritual salvation by means of man made ritual observances which are incapable of purifying the heart, and therefore by rebuking He was showing them the need for Jesus who is the only way to salvation. Try examining the lifestyle of people who give excuses and make remarks saying only theologians can understand the Bible. You will see that these are people who commit adultery and call it as having fun, who commit idolatry and call it as venerate, who steal and call it as borrowing, and so on. Such people try to justify their actions by quoting scripture out of context and rely on people's lack of understanding of the scripture. On the other hand, when such people encounter individuals who are aware of God's Word, they tend to flee or avoid conversations related to scripture. I remember a preacher at our church in one of the sermons saying "the reason people do not want to read the Bible is because it challenges their lifestyle". This is so true, for more detailed explanation on traditions outside of scripture, click here to go through my article titled "God's Word and Traditions".

In another instance, we can notice a woman coming to our Lord Jesus and trying to shift the focus from Jesus, to His earthly mother Mary by calling her blessed in Luke 11:27. Jesus never denied the fact that Mary is blessed because of Jesus, but He said:

"Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it" - Luke 11:28

In other words, our Lord Jesus was instructing this woman to stick to God's Word and not to deviate from the Word. In fact, our Lord Jesus has never ever addressed Mary as "mother", but rather He has always addressed her as "woman" throughout the Gospels, thereby showing that Jesus is the creator, the Almighty God in the flesh. The Greek word used for "word in the above verse is "logos" referring to the written Word of God. The main reason we come across people who are unable to walk under the New Covenant blessings which Christ has purchased for us through His precious Blood is because, people practice a religion by following an angel or a person instead of focusing on Jesus and being within the confines of God's Word. The main reason the pharisees and the sadducees were unable to believe in Jesus is because they practiced a religion rather than a relationship with the Lord, which is why Jesus said:

"For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?" - John 5:46

Beginning from the book of Genesis, through the book of Revelation, the central theme of the Bible is Jesus Christ alone and not an angel or a saint. Remember, during the acts of the apostles, the New Testament was not yet written, the scriptures which the people used was the Old Testament (Tanakh). This shows that the Old Testament speaks about Jesus. Apostle Paul proclaimed Jesus from the Old Testament and wrote 2/3rd of the New Testament. People back then always verified whatever was being preached using scriptures. When the apostles proclaimed the Gospel of Jesus Christ, people verified using the written Word of God. The Bible says:

"These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were" - Acts 17:11

We can read about our Lord Jesus hidden in the Old Testament. For example, in Numbers 21:4-9 when Moses made a bronze serpent and put it on a pole, whoever that was bitten by serpents, when they looked at the bronze serpent on the pole, that person lived, whereas whoever did not look upon the bronze serpent on the pole, but rather looked at their own wounds, they perished. This is a picture of our Lord Jesus on the cross. "Bronze" in Biblical symbology represents "judgement". "Serpent" in Biblical symbology represents "sin". In the New Testament we see our sins being judged by God the Father in Jesus's Body when He hung on the cross. For this reason the Bible says:

"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" - 2 Corinthians 5:21

Moreover, our Lord Jesus Himself said:

"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life" - John 3:14-15

In Numbers 21:4-9 we see that people lived not because they attended to their wounds by their own efforts, but rather they lived because they looked upon the bronze serpent on the pole. This is consistent with the New Testament John 3:14-15 which explains justification by faith, and henceforth apostle Paul had written to the Church at Ephesus saying:

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast " - Ephesians 2:8-9

In Exodus 17:8-15, we see the people of Israel fighting against the Amalekites. As long as Moses held up his hands, the people of Israel prevailed in the battle. But whenever Moses lowered his hands, the Amalekites prevailed. Firstly, we need to notice that Moses was standing upon a hill. Secondly, we need to notice that when Moses's hands were tired, Aron and Hur supported his hand, one on one side and one on the other, thereby making Moses to be in the midst. So when the people of Israel looked up the hill, they saw 3 people, Moses being at the center. When Jesus was crucified, He was crucified on top of mount Calvary in the midst of two others. Thirdly, Exodus 17:12 in the English translation says that "Moses hands remained steady till sunset". The Hebrew word for "steady" used here is "emunah", which means "faith". So when we read Exodus 17:12 in the Hebrew, it would say that "Moses's hands remained faith till sunset". The people of Israel won the battle not because of their own efforts, strength, or strategy, but because they saw Moses on top of the hill in the midst of Aron and Hur holding Moses's hands, in other words, they saw a picture of the cross. The Bible says:

"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" - Romans 10:17

For this very reason, when we listen to Christ centered sermons, which causes us to see Jesus's hands nailed to the cross, our faith grows. The Greek word used for "God" in the above verse is "Christos" referring to Jesus. Does this mean that we should only hear Matthew, Mark, Luke and John being preached? Remember, the apostles used the Old Testament to preach about Jesus, as the Bible from the book of Genesis through the book of Revelation proclaims Jesus Christ. The Lord is done writing the Bible, He is not giving any new revelations. The Old Testament is the New Testament hidden. Whereas the New Testament is the Old Testament fulfilled. In fact, all of the Lord's visions, dreams, prophecies, etc., would always be consistent with the written Word of God with Christ being the center. All of which shows that the spoken Word of God, and the written Word of God are always consistent and they never contradict one another.