THE INSPIRATION OF THE PROPHETS

January 24 - 30

The Inspiration of the Prophets

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16, NKJV).
What is the difference between inspiration and revelation? What is the difference between verbal and thought inspiration? Can prophets get help from others when they write? What are some examples of prophets quoting sources outside the Bible?


SUNDAY January 25

Revelation—Inspiration

2 Timothy 3:16 (King James Version)

16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
In 2 Timothy 3:16 Paul says that the Bible is theopneustos (God-breathed)...Through visions and dreams, the Holy Spirit revealed truth to the prophets (revelation); and then He ensured, through His guidance in the writing process (inspiration), that what the prophet wrote was in harmony with what God had revealed.

2 Peter 1:21 (King James Version)

21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

Second Peter 1:21 tells us that “men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit”

Thus, revelation-inspiration refers to that process whereby the Holy Spirit revealed to the prophets what God wanted them to know and then guided them in the proclamation of that message. Some spoke the word; others wrote it down. The written form became the inspired (God-breathed) Scripture.

Paul, for example, wrote, “These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches” (1 Cor. 2:13, NKJV),

Authors in recording their own experiences refer to themselves with personal pronouns (Neh. 1:1–11, Dan. 10:1–9, Gal. 1:12-20); ...In short, though inspired by the Lord, the Bible also reflects the humanness of its penmen.


MONDAY January 26

Verbal or Thought Inspiration

1 Thessalonians 2:13 (King James Version)

13For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

Two important theories of inspiration are:

Verbal Inspiration...All the words are said to be inspired by God, Who chooses from the vocabulary and educational background of the writer. ...This view must be distinguished from the dictation theory of inspiration, in which every word in Scripture is dictated by the Holy Spirit without reference to the vocabulary and educational background of the writer.

Thought Inspiration...Primarily the thoughts, not so much the words of the Bible, are inspired (1 Cor. 7:10-12, 39, 40; 1 Thess. 2:13), except when the words of God or an angel are quoted (Jer. 29:30, 31; Rev. 19:9) or when God speaks directly through a prophet (Num. 22:35; 23:1–12, 26). The writer receives the vision, dream, or thought and puts it down in writing in his own words (Isa. 2:1, 2; Rev. 4:1); the Holy Spirit ensures that the words used convey God’s truth correctly. The Bible, therefore, is declared to be the infallible revelation of God’s will.

...Adventists hold to thought inspiration...Inspiration acts not on the man's words or his expressions but on the man himself, who, under the influence of the Holy Ghost, is imbued with thoughts....In the same vein David wrote, “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue” (2 Sam. 23:2, NKJV). This indicates that inspiration not only imparted thoughts but ensured that the Written Word accurately conveyed God’s thoughts.

In the same vein David wrote, “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue” (2 Sam. 23:2, NKJV). This indicates that inspiration not only imparted thoughts but ensured that the Written Word accurately conveyed God’s thoughts.

TUESDAY January 27

Visions and Physical Phenomena

Revelation 1:17 (King James Version)

17And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:

To stand in the presence of a heavenly being can be a powerful experience. Daniel, Saul (Paul), and John all fell to the ground when they received a heavenly vision.

Ellen White describes her experience with these words: “As inquiries are frequently made as to my state in vision, and after I come out, I would say that when the Lord sees fit to give a vision, I am taken into the presence of Jesus and angels, and am entirely lost to earthly things. I can see no farther than the angel directs me.”—Selected Messages, book 1, p. 36.


WEDNESDAY January 28

Inspiration and Literary Assistants
Prophets were not God’s pens but His penmen. What they saw or heard in visions and dreams they wrote down according to the best of their ability. From Scripture we know that some of the biblical authors had secretaries to help them write down the messages of God.

Jeremiah 36:1-4 (King James Version)

Jeremiah 36
1And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

2Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day.

3It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.

4Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book.

Romans 16:22 (King James Version)

22I Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord.


Thus, both Old Testament and New Testament writers used literary assistants or scribes to write down the messages God had given them.

From New Testament times we know that at times scribes used a wax tablet to take down the gist of what the author wanted to say before they wrote a good copy of the letter. Prior to sending it, the author would go over the letter to make sure it conveyed to the reader what he wanted to say.



THURSDAY January 29

Inspiration and the Book of Luke

Luke 1:1-4 (King James Version)
Luke 1
1Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us,

2Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word;

3It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,

4That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.


In writing his Gospel, Luke doesn’t seem to have relied on dreams or visions. Neither was he an eyewitness to the events he describes. Instead, he worked from what he had learned from others, all, no doubt, under the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit, which ensured that what he wrote down was in harmony with the historical events and God’s will.


FRIDAY January 30

Further Study: Read Ellen G. White, “The Inspiration of the Prophetic Writers,” pp. 15-23 in Selected Messages, book 1.
“Yet now when I send you a testimony of warning and reproof, many of you declare it to be merely the opinion of Sister White. You have thereby insulted the Spirit of God. You know how the Lord has manifested Himself through the Spirit of prophecy. Past, present, and future have passed before me. I have been shown faces that I had never seen, and years afterward I knew them when I saw them. I have been aroused from my sleep with a vivid sense of subjects previously presented to my mind and I have written, at midnight, letters that have gone across the continent, and arriving at a crisis, have saved great disaster to the cause of God. This has been my work for many years. A power has impelled me to reprove and rebuke wrongs that I had not thought of. Is this work of the last thirty-six years from above or from beneath? In these letters which I write, in the testimonies I bear, I am presenting to you that which the Lord has presented to me. I do not write one article in the paper, expressing merely my own ideas. They are what God has opened before me in vision—the precious rays of light shining from the throne.”—Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 1, p. 27.