Acts 6:4 says, “But we will continue steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the word.” The phrase ministry of the word can be translated as “service of the word.” The work of serving men with God’s word is known as the ministry of the word, and the persons who are involved in this service are called ministers of the word. Ministry refers to the work, while minister refers to the person. The ministry of the word occupies a very important place in God’s work. The announcing of God’s word and the ministry of this word to men follow specific principles, and God’s servants should learn these principles well.
Throughout the Old and New Testaments, God spoke. He spoke in the Old Testament. He also spoke in the New Testament at the time of the Lord Jesus and through the church. The Bible shows us that the most important work of God on earth is the speaking out of His word. If we remove His word from His work, there is practically nothing left of His work. The main item of His work in this world is His speaking. Without the word, there would be no work. As soon as His word is removed, His work becomes a void. We must realize the place that God’s word occupies in His work. As soon as we remove His word from His work, the latter ceases. God’s work is carried out through His word. In fact, His word is His work. His work is occupied with nothing but His word.
How did God release His word? It is amazing and unusual to realize that God’s word is released through man’s mouth. This is why the Bible speaks not only of God’s word but also of the ministers of the word. If God did all of His speaking directly, there would be no need of any ministers of the word. However, He chose to speak through man. This brings in the matter of the ministers. We must be clear before the Lord that God’s work is conveyed through His word and His word is released through man. This immediately brings us to the crucial place of man in God’s work. God does not release His word through any means other than man’s mouth. He needs ministers of the word, and He needs men to convey His word.
Throughout the Old and New Testaments, we find three kinds of people. Simply put, three kinds of ministers of the word are involved in spreading God’s word. In the Old Testament God’s word was released through the prophets, that is, through the ministry of the prophets. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, God’s word became flesh, and there was the ministry of the Lord Jesus. In the remainder of the New Testament, God’s word was released through the apostles, that is, through the ministry of the apostles.
In the Old Testament God selected many prophets to speak His word. These prophets received visions and spoke. Even men like Balaam spoke for God. Balaam was a prophet. His prophecy was one of the greatest prophecies in the Old Testament (Num. 23—24). The prophets in the Old Testament, who were the ministers of God’s word, spoke when God’s word came upon them. Balaam prophesied when the Spirit of God came upon him; that is, he involuntarily spoke what the Spirit told him to speak. His own feelings and thoughts were temporarily suspended by God. The revelation and utterance that he received from God were totally unrelated to his own condition; they were simply spoken out from his mouth. He had no share in God’s word. His opinions, feelings, and thoughts were not involved at all. In other words, God used his mouth as if it were His own. Balaam is a typical example of an Old Testament minister of the word. The Holy Spirit would give words, and God would give the utterance. Under the constraining and restraining power of the Holy Spirit, God’s word was released through the Old Testament minister’s mouth. There was no possibility of a mistake. God used men, but these men were merely conveyers of the word. The human element was kept to a minimum in these revelations. Nothing of man was added to the divine utterance. Man’s role was merely that of being a mouthpiece.
In the Old Testament we also see men like Moses, David, Isaiah, and Jeremiah, who were used by God to speak for Him in their work. However, they were more than just mouthpieces for God; they were slightly more advanced than Balaam or some of the other prophets. Most of Moses’ writings were words given by God. He spoke according to the instructions of God, but in a sense his speaking was in the same principle as Balaam’s speaking. When Isaiah saw vision after vision, he recorded these visions in his writings. In a sense his writings also were in the same principle as Balaam’s speaking. God put words in Balaam’s mouth, and God also put words in the mouths of Moses and Isaiah. In principle they all experienced the same thing, but there was also a difference between Moses and Isaiah on one side and Balaam on the other side. When Balaam spoke on his own behalf, he uttered something according to his own sentiments. This kind of speaking was wrong, and it was condemned by God. When he spoke under divine inspiration, he spoke God’s word. When he spoke out of himself, the result was sin, error, and darkness. Moses was different. Even though most of his speaking was ordered by God, when he nevertheless spoke according to his own feeling in the presence of the Lord, his speaking was acknowledged by God and recognized as part of the divine speaking. This means that Moses was more of an instrument of God than Balaam. The same can be said of Isaiah. Most of Isaiah’s prophecies came from visions he received directly from the Lord. However, there are instances in the book of Isaiah which indicate that he was speaking out of himself. David and Jeremiah spoke according to their own feelings even more than Moses and Isaiah. They were more akin to the ministers of the New Testament. In principle, however, they were the same as the Old Testament prophets who spoke only when God’s word came upon them.