[This is one in a series of mid-week Reflections published by Horley Baptist Church during November 2020]
The Biblical book of Hebrews opens with these words:
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He has appointed Heir of all things. [AKJV]
There is some debate about who was the author of this book, and several different theories have been propounded. Although both Peter and Luke have been suggested, the most common argument seems to be that they are the words of the apostle Paul, despite the book differing from the structure of his other epistles.
Perhaps it is a transcript of a sermon that he delivered in person and therefore it omits the personal greetings that Paul usually included. Alternatively, perhaps the text that we have is incomplete and one day, as with the Dead Sea Scrolls, someone will come across the missing information. Either way, God has deemed that it is not necessary for us to know and for nearly two thousand years Christians have accepted these words as having been inspired by the Holy Spirit.
As examples of the ‘diverse’ ways in which God speaks we might consider two people whose birthdays fall on this date. William Hogarth (b. 1697) became a leading English painter during the 18th century. He produced several series of paintings with moral themes, in which he often quoted Biblical passages and brought them to the attention of his contemporaries. Unfortunately his familiarity with the Bible does not appear to have had any lasting impact on his personal life.
Martin Luther (b. 1483) also became very familiar with the Bible. Through his studies, he came to believe that salvation is the free gift of God through faith in Christ as redeemer. He quoted verses that upset the established church and led to the Reformation which started the formation of the protestant church. He wrote the hymn that we know as
“A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing”
Is our familiarity with the Bible just a guide to a moral life or do we see more than that? Are we willing to hear God speaking to us through the records of His dealings with His people and the life of His Son?
“God’s truth abideth still; His kingdom is forever.”
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Contributed by Steve Humphreys; © the Author
