INSPIRATION DEFINED2 Timothy 3:16

Inspiration

A Comparison for Sake of Brevity• A WORD IS MADE OF TWO PARTS.• The Living Word: Jesus is every bit divine and

every bit human.• The Written Word: The Bible is every bit

divine in origin and yet is still very human.• Inspiration is the process whereby a human

communicates a divinely given message.

Defined

• 2 Timothy 3:16 (KJV) 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 (ESV) All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

• inspiration: divinely breathed

Defined

• The term is only used once in the entire New Testament.

• However, the Old Testament uses very similar terminology.

• In the Old Testament: Something that is God-breathed is given by God’s command.

Divine Command

• Job 37:10• Job 4:9 • Natural law and divine judgment are examples

of God’s breath – His command – in operation.

Divine Command

• Job 33:4 • Genesis 2:7 • God commanded life into man.

Divine Command

• God’s command is all that was required to create the universe …– Genesis 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and

there was light. – Genesis 1:6-7 And God said … and it was so. – Genesis 1:9 And God said … and it was so. – Genesis 1:11 And God said … and it was so. – Genesis 1:14-15 And God said … and it was so. – Genesis 1:24 And God said … and it was so. – Genesis 1:29-30 And God said … and it was so.

God Commanded Words

• Jeremiah 1:7-9 (ESV) But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD.” Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.”

God’s Words, David’s Mouth

• Acts 4:24-25 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain?’”

• Psalm 2 is called God speaking through David’s mouth.

Spoke As They Were Moved

• 2 Peter 1:20-21 (ESV) knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

• They spoke as they were “being borne along” by the Holy Spirit.

Take No Thought

• Matthew 10:19 (ESV) When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour.

• The words given were not the result of human thought. They were provided and commanded by God.

Eat the Book

• Ezekiel 2:8-10 (ESV) “But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.” And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe.

Eat the Book

• Ezekiel 3:1-4 (ESV) And he said to me, “Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey. And he said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them.”

Conclusion

• Mark 4:39-41 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

• The every word of the Bible is from the God whose words part the seas.