The second way we can know God through His book is to take note of what He does and doesn’t value in people. The people of Scripture are there because of their relationship with God—positive or negative. As we observe that relationship, we will learn not only about the Bible characters but also about the Lord—what He likes and doesn’t like, what He loves and hates. Directly or indirectly, the people of God reflect the character of God.

Learning From Literature.

The fictional characters of literature often reflect the concerns of their author. Some, like Oliver Twist, reflect an author’s sensitivity to injustice. Others show an author’s ability to dream lofty dreams or to create characters with the capacity for great good or terrible cruelty.

The People Of The Bible.

The people of the Bible are different from those in fiction because they are real. But like the characters of literature, they also reflect the creative mind of their Author. And they do so in a colorful way. For example, Job was a rich man who lost it all because of a discussion between God and Satan. Samson was a real hero who displayed superhuman strength in overcoming the Philistine army, but he lost his life through the seductions of an unfaithful lover. Then there was Zacchaeus, a little man who climbed down from a tree to meet Jesus—leaving behind his life of shady financial dealings.

There’s no question about the human interest and local color that comes through the personal stories of Bible characters. But how can they also help us to know God? How can we learn to see them as people who lived out their own lives, yet showed how God related to what they thought, said, and did? The following questions will help:

As an example of how this works, let’s ask these questions about Moses, one of the most complex and interesting people in the Bible. First let’s review some of his story. Moses the lawgiver wasn’t always “the man on the mountain.” He started out as “the baby in the bulrushes,” who was pulled out and raised by Pharaoh’s daughter (Ex.1–2). And even though he is characterized as “more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth” (Num. 12:3 NIV), he wasn’t always that way. On two different occasions, once early and another late in life, he expressed a rashness and impulsiveness that caused him great trouble.

In the first instance, his rage at an Egyptian he caught beating a fellow Israelite led to an act of manslaughter and the loss of his place in Pharaoh’s court (Ex. 2:11-15). Because of his actions, this former “somebody” of Egypt spent 40 years learning what it meant to be a “nobody.”

The second time Moses’ anger and willfulness got him in trouble was later in life after God had brought him back to his people to lead them out of Egypt. This time he was so tired of hearing his people complain about their lack of water that he lost his temper and struck a rock that the Lord had told him to speak to (Num. 20:1-13). That might not sound very serious, but it was to God! Moses’ anger caused him to lose his opportunity to enjoy the Promised Land. Still, in spite of his occasional lapses, Moses is characterized in Scripture as a man of God, a giant of faith, who stood out among the people of his day as one who feared God and put his faith in the Holy One of Israel.

What does Moses tell us about God? He shows us that God values and loves the kind of faith that His servant showed when he chose “rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt” (Heb. 11:25-26). Moses shows how God values the qualities of humility (Num. 12:3), holiness (Lev. 19:1-2), and prayerful intercession (Ex. 32:11-14,30-32).

On the other hand, Moses also shows us how God can be angered. The Lord became angry when he repeatedly refused to believe that God could enable him to be His spokesman (Ex.4:11-14). God kept him out of the Promised Land because he lost his temper and dishonored God by his disobedience (Dt. 3:25-27).

When we read the history of Moses, we see how God values those who approach Him in holiness and godly fear. We see a God who loves obedience and hates disobedience. We see a God who is close to those who fear Him, but who moves against those who are willfully unfaithful to Him (Ex. 32).

It’s one thing to know the principles of what God loves and hates, values and doesn’t value. It’s another to see how the Lord actually expresses those thoughts and feelings in a relationship to a person like Moses. Moses was far from perfect, but he possessed characteristics of faith and humility that God used to show us what He is like.

« Previous

Next »

Home »