Sabbath School

Adult Sabbath School Bible study guide.

Read 2 Peter 1:18–21. What assurance do we have that the oral messages delivered by God’s prophets were as inspired and reliable as the written ones?

God spoke to Adam and Eve before the Fall (Gen. 2:16, 17) and after (Gen. 3:9–19). In both cases, they perfectly understood His words. His voice was heard in clear terms also at Sinai (Exod. 20:1–20), as well as at the baptism and the transfiguration of Jesus (Matt. 3:17, Matt. 17:5). We might misinterpret when other people talk to us. But, surely, when God talks to anyone, there will be no mis­communication or deception.

The Bible affirms that “God spoke to Moses and said to him: ‘I am the Lord’ ” (Exod. 6:2, NKJV). Many Bible writers acknowledged hearing the voice of God as He spoke to them. This was the case, for example, with Isaiah (Isa. 8:1, 11), Jeremiah (Jer. 1:4, 9, 11), and Ezekiel (Ezek. 3:16, Ezek. 6:1). Any attempt to deny these and other similar claims ends up questioning the honesty of the prophets and the reliability of the Bible itself.

As God spoke to the prophets in an intelligible human language, so did the prophets to their respective audiences. For instance, Noah was a true prophet of God and a faithful “preacher of righteousness” (2 Pet. 2:5). He did not write any portion of the Bible, but he delivered God’s message orally to his contemporaries, and his message was no less inspired than the writings of the canonical prophets.

Several other prophets, including Nathan, Elijah, Elisha, and John the Baptist, never wrote any portion of the Bible; instead, they delivered their message orally.

And what about Jesus Christ Himself? The Gospel record mentions that, during His earthly ministry, He “wrote on the ground with His finger” (John 8:6, NKJV). That’s it. We have no record of Jesus’ writing anything else. But He taught and preached orally “as one having authority” (Matt. 7:29, NKJV). Some of His listeners even confessed, “No man ever spoke like this Man” (John 7:40, 46, NKJV). Jesus was primarily an oral communicator of God’s messages. His messages were no less authoritative or binding simply because He Himself did not write any books of the Bible.

How fascinating that God has prophets who had no writings in the Bible. Why do these noncanonical prophets also carry authority?

Supplemental EGW Notes

Nathan fixed his eyes upon the king; then, lifting his right hand to heaven, he solemnly declared, “Thou art the man.” “Wherefore,” he continued, “hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight?” The guilty may attempt, as David had done, to conceal their crime from men; they may seek to bury the evil deed forever from human sight or knowledge; but “all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” Hebrews 4:13. “There is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.” Matthew 10:26. Nathan declared: “Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul. . . . Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house. . . . Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbor. . . . For thou didst it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.” The prophet’s rebuke touched the heart of David; conscience was aroused; his guilt appeared in all its enormity. His soul was bowed in penitence before God. With trembling lips he said, “I have sinned against the Lord.” All wrong done to others reaches back from the injured one to God. David had committed a grievous sin, toward both Uriah and Bathsheba, and he keenly felt this. But infinitely greater was his sin against God. . . . Very many, reading the history of David’s fall, have inquired, “Why has this record been made public? Why did God see fit to throw open to the world this dark passage in the life of one so highly honored of Heaven?” The prophet, in his reproof to David, had declared concerning his sin, “By this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme.” Through successive generations infidels have pointed to the character of David, bearing this dark stain, and have exclaimed in triumph and derision, “This is the man after God’s own heart!” Thus a reproach has been brought upon religion, God and His word have been blasphemed, souls have been hardened in unbelief, and many, under a cloak of piety, have become bold in sin. But the history of David furnishes no countenance to sin. It was when he was walking in the counsel of God that he was called a man after God’s own heart. When he sinned, this ceased to be true of him until by repentance he had returned to the Lord. The word of God plainly declares, “The thing that David had done was evil in the eyes of the Lord.” 2 Samuel 11:27, margin. And the Lord said to David by the prophet, “Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? . . . Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised Me.” Though David repented of his sin and was forgiven and accepted by the Lord, he reaped the baleful harvest of the seed he himself had sown. The judgments upon him and upon his house testify to God’s abhorrence of the sin. . . . David’s repentance was sincere and deep. There was no effort to palliate his crime. No desire to escape the judgments threatened, inspired his prayer. But he saw the enormity of his transgression against God; he saw the defilement of his soul; he loathed his sin. It was not for pardon only that he prayed, but for purity of heart. David did not in despair give over the struggle. In the promises of God to repentant sinners he saw the evidence of his pardon and acceptance.—Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 721–723, 725.

The above quotations are taken from Ellen G. White Notes for the Sabbath School Lessons, published by Pacific Press Publishing Association. Used by permission.