Study 33 “Who Is Wise?” Part 4

The importance of the written Word in the life of Judaism cannot be overstated. In his ongoing debates with the Jews, Jesus asserted that his message was from God. "Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God" (John 8.46-47). A most telling response to Jesus is found in John 9.29. "We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where He is from." In other words, the law of Moses, written on scrolls was a sure word from God. That the Jews were skeptical of Jesus is an understatement.

How did God speak to Moses? According to Exodus 33.11, "the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face." Numbers 12.8 states, "with [Moses] I speak mouth to mouth, even openly, and not in dark sayings, and he beholds the form of the Lord." Based on Numbers 12.6-8, we must conclude that God spoke to Moses in a unique manner, differently from how he spoke to any other person.

For that reason, the Law of Moses took on incredible significance to Israel. After their return from Babylonian captivity, the people of God made an astounding request. "They asked Ezra the Scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which the Lord had given to Israel" (Neh. 8.1). So, from early morning till midday, Ezra read from the law, and "the people were attentive to the book of the law" (Neh. 8.3).

Now, Ezra was a superb scholar and teacher. He had "set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel" (Ezra 7.10). While Ezra read, others assisted him by reading "from the book, from the law of God, translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading" (Neh. 8.8). What was the response of the people? They wept.

Ezra and the Levites read and taught from Torah, the Law, and the people were convicted of their sinfulness. Few believers today ever hear a sermon out of the law, much less read from it themselves. We tire of "thou shalt not," and the endless genealogies that tell us that so and so begot so and so who begot so and so, and so on. For many believers, most of the OT, and in particular the Pentateuch, remains a mystery, and is of secondary usefulness to them.

In the same manner, God had told Joshua to "be careful to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success (meaning to be prudent, or to act wisely) wherever you go." Further, the law was not to depart from Joshua’s mouth. He was to memorize it, meditate on it, and mind it in all matters personal and public. Thereby, he would insure prosperity (from a word meaning to advance; the word does not mean to become rich) and success for himself and God’s people.

How can any of us do any less than Ezra or Joshua? Should we not also give ourselves diligently to the study and practice of the Word? Paul told Timothy to "continue in the thins he had learned" from childhood. What had he learned? His mother and grandmother had taught him the law of the Lord, the sacred writings. And, those writings were "able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus."

The writings to which Paul referred were the Hebrew Scriptures. He declared them to be inspired by God and profitable, or advantageous, or sufficient within themselves for all doctrine, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness leading to the thorough equipping of every saint for every work. Christians extend that sufficiency to include the New Testament.

Clearly, what Paul was declaring to Timothy was a kind of hierarchy for the work of God in a person’s life. That same structure is found in Romans 12.1-2. God’s first priority for believers is who they are, the nature of their character. Reproof and correction are more about showing character weaknesses and changing them than anything else. God’s second priority is our behavior, or the nature of our conduct. The Lord knows that only as we first become who he wants us to be will we then do what he wants us to do. We can know who God wants us to be only through the diligent study of Scripture. "To the law, and to the testimony."