Lesson 3: Before the Bible was written, God spoke to His people in many different ways.

I had posted two lessons I wrote for children earlier and then just forgot to post the rest, so here is lesson  three.

Lesson 3: Before the Bible was written, God spoke to His people in many different ways.

References: Genesis 3:8, Genesis 35:9-13, Genesis 46:2, Exodus 3:2-4, Genesis 6:2, Acts 3:18-21,  Hebrews 1:1, I Kings 19:11-13

God speaks to us most clearly through His Word, the Bible. But there was a time before the Bible was written down and God chose to speak to His people differently than just through His written words. Because He loved His people, He wanted to protect them and provide for them, so He told the people how they should live and what they should do.  It was still God communicating (talking) with those whom He loved. People actually got to hear God’s voice! I bet that was amazing and scary. To hear the voice of God!

God spoke to some people directly, in a voice they could here. In the garden of Eden God walked and talked with Adam and Eve. (Genesis 3:8) Later on in the Bible, “God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him. And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel. And God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body. The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.” Then God went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him” (Genesis 35:9-13).  In Genesis 6:2, God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord." God also spoke in visions (Genesis 46:2) “And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here am I.”” He spoke through a burning bush (Exodus 3:2-4) “And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.””. God spoke many times through the prophets to His people in Acts 3:18-21 it says, “But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled… that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you… all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.” And also in Hebrews 1:1 we see, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,”. He even spoke in a whisper to the prophet Elijah. (I Kings 19:11-13) “And he [God] said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?””.

God was powerful enough to make the storm and to speak through it, but He chose to speak in a whisper to Elijah. He still speaks to us today, though most of us do not hear His voice like they did in the past, we have His Word- the Bible. God is still the same as He was back then; He just speaks to us differently. We are very fortunate (blessed) to have God’s word so we can always hear from God and know Him.