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-29-
God Hath Spoken
Inerrancy In The Old Testament
Does the Old Testament claim to be inerrant? Let us turn to the book of Exodus, chapter 4, and may the Lord give us grace that we may read with understanding. Beginning at verse 10, we read, "And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?" Note that although the Charismatics argue that the Devil makes the blind, the Lord says He does it.
Continuing: "Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say. And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God" (vs. 12-16). Moses would be his mediator, or go between.
Note how clearly God said "I will be with your mouth, and I will be with Aaron's mouth." This is the testimony of Scripture.
Notice now Exodus chapter 31, verse 18. "And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God." This was the Ten Commandments.
Note first the permanency of the Law: it is written in tables of stone. Second, note that it is written with the finger of God who is Himself eternal. Moses did not contaminate the Ten Commandments.
Let us now consider Exodus chapter 32:15-16. "And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables." The work of God is without error because God is without error. Here is the handiwork of God. We can hold up the Bible with confidence and say, "Thus saith the Lord;" those who cannot are of all men most miserable.
Inerrancy and Inspiration
In the book of Numbers, note chapter 22, verses 27-28. "And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam's anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff. And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?" God did not communicate a thought to Balaam, He communicated words. As Girardeau said, "To communicate thoughts is to communicate words." You cannot communicate one without the other.
See verse 38: "And Balaam said unto Balak, Lo, I am come unto thee: have I now any power at all to say anything? the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak." Balaam declares that he is impotent to say anything but what God gives him to say. That is inspiration. Nor are we inspired like the writers of Scripture: God may impress us as to what we are to preach, and from what Scripture we are to preach it, but we are not without error. Only the Scripture is free from error, and only then because He is free from error.
Turn to Numbers chapter 23, verse 11. "And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether." Balaam answered, "Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD hath put in my mouth?" (vs. 12). God gave the words; the prophet spoke them. "And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus" (vs. 16).
In verse 23, Balaam says, "Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!" Samuel Morse sent as the first telegraph message, "What hath God wrought!"
Note verses 24-25: "Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain. And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all." So Balaam was a prophet of God, and though he had fallen into the vice of avarice, yet he could not speak but what God gave him to speak; and he spoke His very words.
In I Samuel chapter 10 we read of Saul's anointing. Note verse 6: "And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man." Farther on we read, "And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day. And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them" (vs. 9-10).