Hebrews 1:1 – Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets.

God is a God of words. As humanity obeyed the creation mandate and multiplied across the earth, God revealed Himself to his creation through words. In the Garden of Eden, God interacted with Adam and Eve, walking with them in the garden and speaking to them. After the Fall, although his interaction with man became much less, He still spoke. When Cain killed Abel, God spoke to Cain and confronted him about the murder he had committed. When humanity became the picture of unrestrained evil, God spoke to Noah and commanded him to build the ark. As Noah later exited the ark, God spoke to him again and initiated what is known today as the Noahic Covenant.

Years later, God spoke to Abraham and told him to leave his hometown for a place that God had prepared. Abraham obeyed, and his interactions with God began. Throughout his life, God revealed Himself to Abraham (and us to us through Abraham). This interaction culminated in the Abrahamic Covenant.

Around that time, Job suffered an incredible loss. His friends helpfully informed him that he probably deserved it. His wife, being the picture of grace and love, told him to curse God and die. Yet, in all this, Job did not sin. Finally, Job challenged God to explain why disaster had befallen him. God did not reveal the answer through nature or song. Instead, God spoke to Job. Five chapters in the book of Job contain this discourse.

Throughout Jacob’s life, God spoke to him. God spoke to Jacob in a dream in Bethel, where God reiterated the Abrahamic covenant to Jacob. God spoke to Jacob alongside the Jordan River when Jacob was on his way home, about to meet his angry brother Esau again. And near the end of his life, God spoke to Jacob again and renamed him Israel, for from him nations would rise, and the Messiah would come.

God spoke to Balaam through a donkey, which spoke God’s words. He spoke to Moses from a burning bush. God spoke to Moses on Mt. Sinai, giving him the Law and the Mosaic covenant. God spoke to Gideon on the threshing floor and promised to save Israel from the Midianites. He spoke to Samuel in a still small voice when Samuel was a child. And God continued to talk to Samuel throughout his life. God told Samuel that Saul was rejected and that David was to be anointed. God spoke to Nathan the prophet to convey His covenant with David.

God spoke through Elijah, Elisha, Sampson, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and all the other prophets—each time with words. God is a God of words. And God’s Words matter. When God gave the Law to Israel, he warned them that rejecting God’s Word came with a cost.

While God indeed uses nature to reveal Himself, and at times He had the Old Testament prophets use illustrations (sometimes rather bizarre ones), they are always explained and advanced through His words. Why do the pastors spend so much time talking about God’s Word on Sunday? The Old Testament demonstrates that God reveals Himself primarily through His words.