Before the Bible, how did people get to know God?

Answer: Even though people did not have the written Word of God, they were not without the ability to receive, understand and obey God. In fact, there are many parts of the world today where Bibles are not available, however people can know and know God. It is revelation: God reveals to man what he wants him to know about him. Although it has not always been a Bible, there have always been means that have allowed man to receive and understand the revelation of God. There are two categories of revelation: general revelation and special revelation.

General revelation has to do with what God universally communicates to all mankind. The outward aspect of general revelation is what God must be the cause or origin of. Since these things exist, and there must be a cause for their existence, God must also exist. Romans 1:20 says: "Indeed his invisible qualities, his eternal power and divinity, having been evident through his works since the creation of the world, are clearly seen, so that they are inexcusable." All men and women in every part of the world can see creation and know that God exists. Psalm 19: 1-4 also states that creation clearly speaks of God in a language understandable to all. “They have no speech or words; their voice is not heard "(verse 3). The revelation of nature is clear. Nobody can justify himself because of ignorance. There is no alibi for the atheist and there is no excuse for the agnostic.

Another aspect of general revelation - that which God has revealed to all - is the presence of our consciousness. This is the inner aspect of revelation. "For what can be known about God is manifest in them." (Romans 1:19). Since people possess an immaterial part, they are aware that God exists. These two aspects of general revelation are illustrated in numerous stories of missionaries who meet indigenous tribes who have never seen a Bible or heard of Jesus, yet when the plan of redemption is presented to them they know that God exists, because they see evidence of His existence. in nature, and they know they need a Savior because their conscience convinces them of their sins and their need for Him.

In addition to the general revelation, there is a special revelation that God uses to show humanity Himself and His will. The special revelation does not come to all people, but only to some at certain times. Examples from Scripture concerning special revelation are drawing lots (Acts 1: 21-26, and also Proverbs 16:33), Urim and Tummim (a special divination technique used by the high priest — see Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; Deuteronomy 33: 8; 1 Samuel 28: 6; and Ezra 2:63), dreams and visions (Genesis 20: 3,6; Genesis 31: 11-13,24; Joel 2:28), apparitions of the Angel of the Lord (Genesis 16: 7-14; Exodus 3: 2; 2 Samuel 24:16; Zechariah 1:12) and the ministry of the prophets (2 Samuel 23: 2; Zechariah 1: 1). These references are not an exhaustive list of each occurrence, but are good examples of this type of revelation.

The Bible as we know it is also a special form of revelation. It is, however, in a category of its own, because it makes the other types of special revelation useless for present times. Even Peter, who together with John had witnessed the conversation between Jesus, Moses and Elijah on the Mount of the Transfiguration (Matthew 17; Luke 9), declared that this special experience was less than "the most certain prophetic word to which you do well to offer attention "(2 Peter 1:19). This is because the Bible is the written form of all the information that God wants us to know about Him and His plan. In fact, the Bible contains everything we need to know to have a relationship with God.

So before the Bible as we know it was available, God used many means to reveal Himself and His will to humanity. It is surprising to think that God did not use only one medium, but many. The fact that God has given us His written Word and has preserved it for us to this day makes us grateful. We are not at the mercy of anyone else who reports to us what God said; we can study for ourselves what He said!

Of course, God's clearest revelation was His Son, Jesus Christ (John 1:14; Hebrews 1: 3). The mere fact that Jesus took on a human form to live on this Earth among us speaks volumes. When He died for our sins on the cross, all doubts were taken away about the fact that God is love (1 John 4:10).