by David Gibson<\/p>\n
My dad kept a small notebook in his pocket for writing reminders of appointments and things to do.<\/p>\nWhy do we write notes to ourselves? Because we all know how fallible human memory is.
\nWhen Israel was at Sinai, Moses would climb the mountain to receive God’s instructions, then come down and tell the people what God said. But Moses did not leave it in oral form.\n
“And Moses wrote down<\/strong> all the words of the LORD . . . . Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, ‘All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient’<\/em>” (Exodus 24:4, 7; see Deuteronomy 31:24-27).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This has been called the beginning of Scripture. Note the order:<\/p>\n
\n
- God spoke to Moses,<\/li>\n
- Moses wrote what God said,<\/li>\n
- Moses read this to the people,<\/li>\n
- the people promised to obey.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Although they didn’t always live up to their promise, at least they knew God’s word was meant to be practiced (James 1:22-25).<\/p>\n
“The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Write in a book<\/strong>\u00a0all the words that I have spoken to you’<\/em>” (Jeremiah 30:1-2). (For a fascinating illustration of how God’s word continues to survive repeated attempts to destroy it, read the 36th chapter of Jeremiah.)<\/p>\n
“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written so that you may believe<\/strong>\u00a0that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name<\/em>” (John 20:30-31).<\/p>\n
“I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, ‘Write what you see in a book<\/strong>\u00a0and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea’<\/em>” (Revelation 1:10).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Wasn’t God wise to preserve His truth in an objective, unchanging form: the written word for all time?<\/p>\n
Repeatedly, Jesus challenged His audience, “Have you not read…?<\/em>” (Matthew 12:3, 5; 19:4; 22:31; Mark 12:10; Luke 6:3).<\/p>\n
His question lingers still.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by David Gibson My dad kept a small notebook in his pocket for writing reminders of appointments and things to do. Why do we write notes to ourselves? Because we all know how fallible human memory is. When Israel was at Sinai, Moses would climb the mountain to receive God’s instructions, then come down and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[78,1458],"class_list":["post-83701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-authority","tag-remembering"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10902,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-did-the-second-set-of-ten-commandments-come-from\/","url_meta":{"origin":83701,"position":0},"title":"Where did the second set of Ten Commandments come from?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 24, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Where did the second set of Ten Commandments come from, after Moses broke the first set? Answer: The Ten Commandments, recorded in Exodus 20, were originally spoken to the people by God, but the people found this too disturbing and asked Moses to intercede between God and them (Exodus\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":86043,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-prophet-who-is-he\/","url_meta":{"origin":83701,"position":1},"title":"The Prophet: Who Is He?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 25, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Gibson Who was Moses pointing toward when he said, \"The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me . . . you shall listen to him\" (Deuteronomy 18:15 NASB)? The Jews of the first century were expecting this Prophet (John 1:19-21; 6:14; 7:40). Whoever\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29814,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-are-the-commandments-mentioned-in-exodus-34-different-from-those-mentioned-in-exodus-20\/","url_meta":{"origin":83701,"position":2},"title":"Why are the commandments mentioned in Exodus 34 different from those mentioned in Exodus 20?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 3, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have been reading the Old Testament and I am confused as to Exodus 20 and Exodus 34 where there are two sets of the ten commandments God gave Moses. The second set is different from the first set.\u00a0 In Exodus 34 God said to use the same words\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2120,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/will-you-explain-exodus-3230-to-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":83701,"position":3},"title":"Will you explain Exodus 32:30 to me?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 1, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Will you explain\u00a0Exodus 32:30\u00a0to me? Answer: \"On the next day Moses said to the people, \"You yourselves have committed a great sin; and now I am going up to the LORD, perhaps I can make atonement for your sin\"\" (Exodus 32:30). Israel had broken the first two commandments God\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7855,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-nehushtan\/","url_meta":{"origin":83701,"position":4},"title":"What is Nehushtan?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 21, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What is 'Nehushtan'? Is that some sort of ancient idea of a god or deity worshiped at that time? I have read about the 'bronze serpent' but don't understand what this means. Why did Moses make it? What did it signify? \u00a0 Answer: \"He removed the high places and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28621,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-god-kill-the-amalekites\/","url_meta":{"origin":83701,"position":5},"title":"Why did God kill the Amalekites?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 27, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was wondering, for example, when the Israelites were attacked or they attacked someone else, Moses held up his staff and it helped Joshua's army, but if the staff was held down then the war went for the enemy. 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