When someone mentions the book of Proverbs, what is your first thought or reaction? Many would say, “I love Proverbs, it has 31 chapters, that is perfect for me, I can read a chapter a day for the whole month!”, or “wisdom, lots of practical wisdom!”, or some women might say, “I want to be like the Proverbs 31 woman!”, these are all good things that can be said of this wonderful covenant document, named Proverbs.  However, would you be surprised to learn that it was written to one of King Solomon’s sons?

The Spoken Word

To communicate with someone today, we use our phones. Texting or talking to that special someone through email or text is our main form of communication. On increasingly rare occasions, we handwrite a letter and send it through the post office. In ancient times, they did not have cell phones.  Cell phones are a newer invention made to help with our oral (spoken) communication. Throughout history, humans have primarily communicated through oral (spoken) means. Writing and reading were considered skills that only the elite had. Our need for oral communication goes back to the start of creation. God, in His covenant documents, which are the scriptures, began correspondence with His creatures first by word of mouth. The first humans were created in His image. He spoke face-to-face, Genesis 2:15-17, cf. Exodus 33:11; Deuteronomy 34:10.   

It is because of sin and no longer living in the presence of God that God communicates with His rebellious people through the means of theophanies and dreams, and visions to communicate His will. It was not until Job or Moses that we have a written communication from God. The first five books of the Old Covenant scriptures are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. They were written as a testimony to God’s faithfulness to ancient Israel. This written testimony (nowadays called the Old Testament) shows God’s faithfulness to the promises He had made with their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  

In these written messages of the Old Testament, God also set forth His will for His people and what He requires of them. Then, for obeying His commands, there is a rich blessing and communion with Him in the promised land.  However, for transgression of His commands, there are devastating curses not unlike the curses that Adam and Eve suffered for their disobedience. These covenant documents were written by Moses, well after the creation of the world. God most often orally communicated to a specific messenger. Here are some references that point us in this direction:  

Psalm 34:11, “Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD”. 

Proverbs 4:1, “Hear, my son, and attend to my words; for they will prolong your days”. 

Proverbs 1:8, “Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.”

2 Timothy 1:13, “Hold on to the example of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.” 

These are just a sampling in the Bible that point to oral instruction of the covenant documents.  However, this is only a part of the pattern of how we receive God’s word.  The other part of the pattern comes to us in written form. 

The Written Word

In the Bible, when God is dealing with His image bearers, He does so through what is called “covenants”. When God made agreements throughout the Bible, in order to aid in the remembrance of the oaths of fealty that were sworn, the Sovereign LORD had the agreements written down in what are called “covenant documents”.  Hence, we have the Old Testament or the Old Covenant documents and the New Testament or the New Covenant documents.

Covenants are agreements initiated by God. They establish a special relationship between God and those He initiates the covenant. The covenants establish God as the sovereign LORD and we as vassals.  The Sovereign LORD promises to protect and care for every need of His subjects, and we promise to serve, spread our Sovereign’s kingdom, and serve Him faithfully, etc.  These covenant promises and stipulations are agreed to, and oaths are taken.  If the servants of the sovereign LORD are faithful to their oaths, He will bless them abundantly; if, however, they rebel or break any of the precepts agreed upon, the penalty is severe! The curse of death!

Let us look at a few passages that show us that God’s word is written for our instruction:

Exodus 31:18, “When He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God.”

Jeremiah 30:2, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book.”

Isaiah 8:1, “Then the LORD said to me, “Take a large tablet and write on it in common characters,…”

2 Thessalonians 3:17, “I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand, which is the distinguishing mark in all my letters. This is how I write”

Philemon 19, “I, Paul, write this with my own hand.”

2 Peter 3:16, “He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.” 

Summary

    As we have just seen, God communicates His will and purpose for us in speaking and then in writing.  This is the pattern we see before us from the Old and New covenant documents. It is how we have received what we now call the Bible (See Hebrews 1:1-2).  Today, we have the completed form of God’s will and purpose in written form. God communicates to us today through our Bibles when we open and begin reading. We aren’t reading a work of fiction, or a work of the imagination, or observations of humanity. When we read the Bible, we are reading God’s covenant documents for His image bearers.

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