Yesterday Linda and I watched the that old TV show called “The Waltons” and today I came across this black and white picture of them. Now, the episode we watched was entitled “The Typewriter”. John Boy (top center row) wanted to be an author, but the publishing companies would not accept a hand written story, so he borrowed one from the Baldwin sisters that had belonged to their father. John Boy lost this precious typewriter, but it was eventually recovered and later on in the series he became a professional author.
The typewriter he used was an ancient one and I never have seen a picture of that one, but it did remind me of our own 1929 Underwood that we used until about 1980, and fortunately, I did find a picture of that.
Writing is hard work, but sometimes words flow swiftly but at others times “writers block” can become an almost insurmountable obstacle. When someone writes, the words that are eventually put on paper (or into a computer) reflect the character and nature of the person writing them. At this point I thought of something Job wrote…
Job 19 ( World English Bible )
23 “Oh that my words were now written!
Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
24 That with an iron pen and lead
they were engraved in the rock forever!
Imagine writing with an iron pen and being engraved on a rock? Sounds a bit barbaric, but whether you do write this way or with with pen and ink or crayons or magic marker or even a modern computer, the character of the author comes through. Having said this, I thought of God’s words and their communication.
The Words of God
Exodus 34 ( WEB )
27 Yahweh said to Moses, “Write you these words: for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”
28 He was there with Yahweh forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread, nor drank water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
God, communicated with human beings in all sorts of ways; through visions, dreams and direct communication. Moses is a prime example of direct communication with the Almighty and just think about this – God not only spoke with Moses, but in fact he wrote his will (His Ten Commandments) on tablets of STONE.
Words written in a different way
2 Corinthians 3 ( WEB )
1 Are we beginning again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as do some, letters of commendation to you or from you?
2 You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men;
3 being revealed that you are a letter of Christ, served by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tablets of stone, but in tablets that are hearts of flesh.
4 Such confidence we have through Christ toward God;
5 not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God;
6 who also made us sufficient as servants of a new covenant; not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
7 But if the service of death, written engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look steadfastly on the face of Moses for the glory of his face; which was passing away:
8 won’t service of the Spirit be with much more glory?
9 For if the service of condemnation has glory, the service of righteousness exceeds much more in glory.
10 For most certainly that which has been made glorious has not been made glorious in this respect, by reason of the glory that surpasses.
11 For if that which passes away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.
12 Having therefore such a hope, we use great boldness of speech,
13 and not as Moses, who put a veil on his face, that the children of Israel wouldn’t look steadfastly on the end of that which was passing away.
14 But their minds were hardened, for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains, because in Christ it passes away.
15 But to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart.
16 But whenever one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
Revelation 3 ( WEB )
12 "He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will go out from there no more. I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and my own new name. "
But God did not only write on tablets of stone, He communicated His word through his son Jesus, then Jesus’ Apostles and eventually through the Holy Spirit giving life to the Holy Scriptures we read today. This word becomes written in an entirely new way- written on our hearts. One last thing – eventually God will write his own name on us in heaven. I don’t know about you, but I can hardly wait for that one!