Discerning the Will of God - Part 9

References: (1) Wisdom in Scripture always means knowledge of the course of ACTION that will PLEASE God. (2) You may know already that the whole of the Bible gives the unfolding story of redemption. But another great theme of the Bible is the will of God. I intend to show that each testament portrays that theme throughout. (3) In the OT several groups of books are distinguishable partly by their SUBSTANCE, and partly by their LITERARY FORM. Those groups are (1) LAW, the five books from Genesis to Deuteronomy, known as the Pentateuch; (2) HISTORY, 12 books from Joshua to Esther; (3) POETRY AND WISDOM, 5 books from Job to Song of Solomon; (4) PROPHECY, 17 books from Isaiah to Malachi. This last division is not completely accurate because Lamentations is not prophetic, Daniel is partly historical and partly prophetic, and Jonah is a history of a prophet rather than prophecy. (4) When the music for the psalm becomes a DIRGE, however, it is because in individual and national life, God has been FORGOTTEN. (5) Nations that had forgotten God were called back to ALLEGIANCE. Those nations persisting in their DISOBEDIENCE were told of their DOOM. (6) Every major section of the NT — the Gospels, Acts, the Epistles, and Revelation — refers supremely to the will of God. (7) Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is the Magna Charta of the WILL of God. (8) Once we KNOW the will of God, we must OBEY despite opposition. This is episode 157.