Explore the essence of the Triple I Doctrine—the inspired, infallible, and inerrant Word of God—and its significance for spiritual maturity. Through story and scripture, this episode of ADDBIBLE highlights the transformative power of God’s Word, inviting listeners to deepen their relationship with God. Discover why daily engagement with the Bible is not about information but transformation, as demonstrated through practical lessons and illustrative parables.
Welcome to ADDBIBLE, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. We join Allen J. Huth as he shares Bible passages and comments from over 30 years of his personal Bible reading journals.
SPEAKER 02 :
Today brings us to Micah chapter 5. There’s 15 verses in this chapter, and I’m going to read the chapter, so let’s listen to Micah chapter 5. Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops. Siege is laid against us. With the rod they strike the judge of Israel on the cheek. But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth. Then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel. And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. and he shall be their peace. When the Assyrian comes into our land and treads in our palaces, then we will raise against him seven shepherds and eight princes of men. They shall shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword and the land of Nimrod at its entrances, and he shall deliver us from the Assyrian when he comes into our land and treads within our border. Then the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples, like dew from the Lord, like showers on the grass, which delay not for a man, nor wait for the children of man. And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among the flocks of sheep, which, when it goes through, treads down, and tears in pieces, and there is none to deliver. Your hand shall be lifted up over your adversaries, and all your enemies shall be cut off and in that day declares the lord i will cut off your horses from among you and will destroy your chariots and i will cut off the cities of your land and throw down all your strongholds and i will cut off sorceries from your hand and you shall have no more tellers of fortunes and i will cut off your carved images and your pillars from among you and you shall bow down no more to the work of your hands And I will root out your Asherah images from among you and destroy your cities. And in anger and wrath, I will execute vengeance on the nations that did not obey. Back in 1991, in my personal Bible reading journal, when I read Micah 4 and 5, I just made a note about verse 2. Prophecy of Jesus being born in Bethlehem. In 2006, I was also reading two chapters a day of Micah, and I read 4 and 5 on the same day. And concerning chapter 5, I wrote… 5, 2 through 5 prophesies Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem, and I quote, “…his going forth from long ago, from the days of eternity, and he will rise and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. He will be great to the ends of the earth.” This one will be our peace. In 2015, I also read two chapters a day of Micah. I read chapters 4 and 5 on the same day. And on this chapter, I wrote famous passage that Bethlehem would be the birthplace of Messiah. And I continued to write, Jesus brings peace. He will deliver Israel from its enemies. And there are many. As I referred to in my journals, chapter 5, verse 2 is the very prophecy of Jesus’ birthplace. Let’s read that verse again. But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is of old, from ancient days. Not only does this verse predict the very place the Messiah would be born, and that’s Bethlehem, it says that this was planned from the ancient of days. In other words, from the beginning of time, God knew that Jesus would be born and that he would be born in Bethlehem. God’s plan for salvation of mankind was created well before the foundations of the earth. It goes all the way back to the book of Genesis. In Genesis chapter 3, right after Adam and Eve take from the fruit of the forbidden tree, God speaks. He says this in verse 15, I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring, and he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. Right there in Genesis chapter 3, God predicts the birth, the offspring of a woman. And he says here in Micah, the very place where this will occur, and that’s Bethlehem. Micah 5 verse 4 goes on to say, And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth, and he shall be their peace. We are reminded once again here that Micah is a prophet. He describes not only the situation facing Jerusalem in his day, but he projects the future in these kind of verses. At the time, Israel was facing a real enemy, the Assyrians. Verse 5 and 6 tell us, then we will raise against him seven shepherds and eight princes of men. They shall shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword and the land of Nimrod at its entrances. And he shall deliver us from the Assyrian when he comes into our land and treads within our border. So once again, Israel is facing a real enemy, but God is promising deliverance. It was true in Micah’s day, and it’s true as we face the future that Jesus will be our deliverance when he is born from Bethlehem. This Jesus will be the ruler in Israel. He is coming forth from old, from ancient days. And yes, of course, Micah’s prophecy came true. Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem. God is not a God of surprises. He had his plan from the beginning of time. It unfolded in Genesis in the Garden of Eden. It unfolded in Micah’s day as he predicts the Messiah’s birthplace. And of course it unfolded when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. God always had a plan to save mankind. And that’s worth thinking about today. Lord, we thank you that you are a God with a plan. Nothing in this life surprises you. So, even though Israel faced a real enemy, you always had a plan for their deliverance. And today, some listening to this podcast may be facing a real enemy. Assure them, Lord, that you have a plan for deliverance. You remind us in verse 9, Your hand shall be lifted up over your adversaries, and all your enemies shall be cut off. Lord, we thank you for the hope that we get when we read your word. Defeat the enemies around us. We pray it so, Lord, even as we wait for your second coming when you will bring peace on earth. But until that day, Lord, we pray for your protection from our enemies. We ask it in Jesus’ name. Amen. Thank you for listening to ADDBIBLE, the audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. May I encourage you to pass it on to someone else today. Many of your friends and your family have probably never read books like Micah. But you can encourage them to get into the whole counsel of God by having them tune in to ADDBIBLE, where we cover the books of the Bible chapter by chapter. Spread the word. Spread ADDBIBLE today. Thank you. Thank you for listening to ADDBIBLE. Though the Bible can be read at the speed I’m speaking in about 78 hours, surveys show we don’t read it. How many of you have ever read the Bible cover to cover? How many have tried and failed? I want to encourage you to try it again. I want to share with you what I call the Triple I Doctrine and some powerful reasons to stay in your Bible daily. I begin with a verse from 2 Peter 1.21. But holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. That’s how we got the Bible. The Holy Spirit moved holy men of God to write it, all of it. Because He did, we can now look at the Triple I Doctrine, the inspired, infallible, inerrant Word of God. But what do these terms mean? Inspired means God-breathed. 2 Timothy 3.16 says, What does infallible mean? It means no potential or ability to err. Totally reliable. It cannot contradict itself. And Hebrews 6.18 says, And the last one is inerrant. What does that mean? It means it’s technically correct. It’s free from falsehood and deceit. Wholly true. It’s doctrine. It’s history. It’s science. It’s geography. And Matthew 5.18 says, For assuredly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. And Revelation 22, 18 and 19 say, For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the book of life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. So the Triple I Doctrine is reason enough to be in God’s Word each day. But in case you need more encouragement, here are three more thoughts. First, improve your spiritual maturity. According to Barna Research, of the seven dimensions in which Americans were asked to rate their faith maturity, Bible knowledge ranked dead last. So if you want to improve your spiritual maturity, stay in God’s Word daily. Number two is develop a dynamic relationship with God. Dr. Woodrow Kroll, former president of Back to the Bible, wrote a book called Taking Back the Good Book. He said, When people tire of reading the Bible, it’s because they read it for the wrong reasons or in the wrong way. They read the Bible to gain knowledge, store facts, or pick up a few principles to live by. When you see the Bible as a means to a dynamic relationship with God, you can’t get enough of it because you can’t get enough of Him. And the third thought is to be transformed. Don’t read the Bible to be informed. Read it to be transformed. And I’m going to share a fun little story with you about being transformed by the Word of God. It’s about an old man who lived on a farm in the mountains of Kentucky with his young grandson. Each morning, Grandpa was up early, sitting at the kitchen table reading from his old worn-out Bible. His grandson, who wanted to be just like him, tried to imitate him in any way he could. One day the grandson asked, Papa, I try to read the Bible, just like you, but I don’t understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bible do? The grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and said, Take this coal basket down to the river and bring back a basket of water. The boy did as he was told, even though all the water leaked out before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, You’ll have to move a little faster next time and send him back to the river with the basket to try again. This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket instead. The old man said, I don’t want a bucket of water. I want a basket of water. You can do this. You’re just not trying hard enough. And he went out the door to watch the boy try again. At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got far at all. The boy scooped the water and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather, the basket was again empty. Out of breath, he said, See, Papa, it’s useless. So you think it’s useless, the old man said. Look at the basket. The boy looked at the basket, and for the first time, he realized that the basket looked different. Instead of a dirty old coal basket, it was clean. Son, that’s what happens when you read the Bible. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, it will change you from the inside out. So read the Bible so you can improve your spiritual maturity, develop a dynamic relationship with God, and be transformed, not informed. The Bible came to us from the Holy Spirit, directed by holy men of God. The triple I doctrine reminds us it’s inspired, God-breathed, infallible, without error, and inerrant, technically correct, and wholly true. Read it to grow spiritually, develop a dynamic relationship with God, and be transformed.
