A Bible Study on the Word of the Lord in the Old Testament

The Bible uses the phrase the word of the LORD in a way that can be easy to flatten into mere information, like God just dropped a thought into someone’s mind. But in several key places, the wording is more personal than that. God appears, God makes Himself known, and it happens by the word of the LORD. That is especially clear in 1 Samuel 3:21, and it sets you up to understand why John opens his Gospel by naming the Word and then saying the Word became flesh.

The Lord made known

Shiloh and Samuel

Then the LORD appeared again in Shiloh. For the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD. (1 Samuel 3:21)

1 Samuel 3 lands in a hard season for Israel. Eli is old, his sons are corrupt, and the nation is dull toward the things of God. Earlier in the chapter the writer notes that revelation was rare in those days, and then the LORD begins speaking to the boy Samuel. By the end of the chapter, Samuel is established as a prophet, and the LORD’s word is going out again.

Then you get the line in 1 Samuel 3:21. The LORD appeared again in Shiloh, and the verse explains how the LORD made Himself known to Samuel: by the word of the LORD. That is concrete language. The writer ties appearing, making Himself known, and the word of the LORD together in one sentence. In this verse, the word is not treated like a detached memo. It is the stated means by which the LORD is known.

One easy detail to miss is the direction of the sentence. It does not say Samuel found God by chasing an experience. It says the LORD appeared again, and then it explains that the LORD made Himself known by the word of the LORD. God is the active One all the way through. Samuel is receiving, listening, and obeying, but the initiative is the LORD’s.

Made Himself known

The Hebrew verb behind made Himself known is a common word for being known or making something known. In this setting it is not about Samuel learning a new fact like a student in a lesson. It is about the LORD making Himself known, bringing clear recognition of who He is and what He says.

A small word note helps the verse land. The phrase by the word is using the normal Hebrew preposition that often means by means of. The verse is not saying the word of the LORD merely followed the appearance, like a footnote after the real event. It presents the word as the way the LORD made Himself known in that moment.

We do need to keep this straight: not every use of the phrase the word of the LORD means a visible appearance. Many times it simply means God’s message to a prophet. Scripture does not ask us to force every instance into the same mold. But in 1 Samuel 3:21 the word of the LORD is directly linked to the LORD appearing again and making Himself known. In that setting, the word functions as personal divine revelation, not just content.

A steady guardrail

This is where later Scripture helps you read earlier Scripture without guessing. The New Testament says the Father is not the One human beings have seen or heard in a direct, visible way.

No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. (John 1:18)

And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. (John 5:37)

John 1:18 teaches that the Son makes God known. John 5:37 says people have neither heard the Father’s voice nor seen His form. Put those together and you get a clear boundary: when God is made known to people in a direct way, that revelation is mediated through the Son. God is one. The Father and the Son are not divided. The Bible’s pattern is that the Son is the One who makes the unseen God known to us.

That helps you read 1 Samuel 3:21 with steadiness. The LORD made Himself known by the word of the LORD. Later Scripture identifies the Son as the One who uniquely declares God. That prepares you for how John talks about the Word.

The Word speaks as Lord

Not a detached voice

After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward." (Genesis 15:1)

Genesis 15 opens by saying the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision. Then the word speaks in the first person and deals with Abram directly. Abram answers with real questions, and the word of the LORD answers him again. The passage reads like personal dealing, not Abram trying to decode a private impression.

Notice the kind of thing happening there. God is not only giving Abram information. God is committing Himself with a promise that He will carry out. This is the same basic flavor as 1 Samuel 3:21: God making Himself known through His word in a way that is personal and binding.

Jeremiah claimed

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations." Then said I: "Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth." But the LORD said to me: "Do not say, "I am a youth,' For you shall go to all to whom I send you, And whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you," says the LORD. (Jeremiah 1:4-8)

Jeremiah’s call presses the point even harder. The passage begins with the word of the LORD coming to Jeremiah. Then the Speaker speaks as the LORD with rights that belong to God alone: knowing Jeremiah before birth, setting him apart, appointing him, sending him, commanding what he will speak, and promising personal presence to deliver him.

Jeremiah objects because he is young and he knows what it can cost to speak against sin. But the LORD does not bargain. He sends Jeremiah where He chooses and commands what Jeremiah is to say. The scene treats the word of the LORD as the living voice of the LORD putting a man under assignment.

Then the LORD put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me: "Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. (Jeremiah 1:9)

Then the passage adds action, not just speech. The text says the LORD put forth His hand and touched Jeremiah’s mouth. Scripture does not tell us every detail of what Jeremiah saw, so we should not fill in blanks. But the action is plain: this commissioning is personal and direct. The LORD claims the right to put His words in the prophet’s mouth.

Swearing and judging

and said: "By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son– blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. (Genesis 22:16-17)

Genesis 22 adds another feature that shows you the level of authority in view. The LORD swears by Himself. That is not casual religious language. To swear by yourself is to anchor your promise in the highest authority, because there is nothing higher to appeal to. That kind of oath belongs to God alone.

Now the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying, "I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments." And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the LORD all night. (1 Samuel 15:10-11)

Then you see the word of the LORD come with authority over Israel’s king. In 1 Samuel 15, the word of the LORD comes to Samuel about Saul. The verdict is not Samuel’s opinion and it is not a political take. The LORD is judging Saul’s rebellion as sin against the LORD Himself. Israel’s kings answer to the LORD, and the word of the LORD comes as the Judge’s decision.

People sometimes assume the phrase the word of the LORD must always mean a message carried at a distance, like God is far away and the prophet is doing the real talking. But texts like these do not read that way. The word comes, speaks as the LORD, makes promises, sends people, touches people, swears by Himself, and judges kings. The Bible presents the LORD dealing with people through His word.

The Angel of the LORD

Then the Angel of the LORD answered and said, "O LORD of hosts, how long will You not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which You were angry these seventy years?" And the LORD answered the angel who talked to me, with good and comforting words. (Zechariah 1:12-13)

Zechariah shows another category that fits with this. The Angel of the LORD speaks to the LORD of hosts with a plea for mercy, and the LORD answers him. You get real distinction and real conversation in the scene, and the text does not stop to unpack every detail of how that works.

And Manoah said to his wife, "We shall surely die, because we have seen God!" (Judges 13:22)

Judges 13 shows the human reaction. Manoah concludes they have seen God. The narrative does not step in to correct him as if he only saw a created angel and got dramatic. The weight of the account is that this messenger is not like ordinary messengers. That does not mean every angel in the Bible is God. It means Scripture has a category where the LORD is present and known through His messenger in a way that rightly makes people fear they have encountered God Himself.

And again, the New Testament guardrails matter. The Father is not seen or heard in form by men. The Son is the One who makes God known. So when the Old Testament presents the LORD making Himself known by His word, and when that word speaks and acts with divine rights, you are being prepared for John’s opening claim that the Word is personal, eternal, and fully divine.

The Word became flesh

John’s wording

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. (John 1:1-3)

John starts his Gospel by echoing Genesis on purpose. He speaks of the beginning and places the Word already there. John’s claims move in a straight line. The Word already was in the beginning. The Word was with God, so there is real personal distinction. The Word was God, so the Word is fully divine. Then John draws a hard line between Creator and creation: everything that was made came into being through Him.

If everything in the created category came into being through the Word, then the Word is not part of the created category. He is on the Creator side of the line. That matters because later John will say the Word became flesh. John is not talking about a great creature becoming human. He is talking about the eternal Creator entering real human life.

The Word and creation

By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. (Psalm 33:6)

Psalm 33 connects God’s word with God’s creating. The psalm does not explain mechanics. It states the fact: God speaks, and creation happens. John is showing you that the Word tied to creation is not an impersonal force. The Word is Someone.

For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. (Colossians 1:16-17)

Paul speaks the same way about the Son. All things were created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. That is Creator language. John and Paul agree on who the Son is.

Became flesh

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

John 1:14 is the climax. The Word became flesh. John does not present the incarnation as the beginning of the Word’s existence. He presents it as a new way the eternal Word entered our world. He did not stop being what He was. He took on what He was not: real humanity.

The verb became means there was a real change in what the Word took on, not a costume or a passing appearance. And dwelt has an Old Testament feel. The Greek verb has the idea of pitching a tent. John’s point is simple: God came near and lived among His people in a real human life.

That ties back to 1 Samuel 3:21 in a clean way. In Shiloh, the LORD made Himself known by the word of the LORD. In the Gospel, the Word does not only bring revelation. He is God’s revelation in person, because He is the Son who came in flesh.

The Son reveals God

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, (Hebrews 1:1-3)

Hebrews says God spoke in many times and ways in the past, and now He has spoken in the Son. That does not downgrade the Old Testament. It tells you where that whole stream of revelation was headed. The Son is the exact representation of God’s nature. He is also the One through whom God made the worlds. And He is the One who made purification for sins and then sat down at the right hand of God.

When Jesus died for our sins, the Trinity was not split. Scripture does not teach that the Father abandoned the Son in a way that breaks God’s own being. The Bible’s center is that the sinless God-man suffered and died to pay for sins and rose again. Salvation is by grace through faith in Christ alone. Works do not earn it. They follow after as fruit of new life.

My Final Thoughts

Keep the Bible’s wording in front of you when you read phrases like the word of the LORD. Sometimes it means the message God gave. Other times, like 1 Samuel 3:21, the text ties the word to the LORD appearing and making Himself known. Then the New Testament gives you clear boundaries: the Son is the One who makes the unseen God known.

When you open the Scriptures, you are not chasing hidden codes. You are hearing the voice of the living God who made the world, who made Himself known, and who came in the flesh in Jesus Christ to save sinners. Believe what He says, obey what He commands, and when His Word corrects you, do not argue with Him. Turn back and follow the Lord Jesus with a clean conscience.