More Than a Book
At the end of the About page, there is a completed Vertiwords™ example that introduces this concept and framework. Although the word itself does not appear in the Bible, it comes from the Greek phrase ta biblia, meaning “the books.” In the King James Version, there are 66 books. The Bible has both a beginning and an end, and God’s Word has journeyed through writing, copying, collecting, and translating into modern language. This process can be understood in four phases and is a worthwhile subject of study. Some describe the Bible as “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth,” a backronym that suggests God gave His Word mainly as guidance for living. To me, that view can reduce faith to a list of rules rather than reveal the Living God, who expresses Himself in three forms throughout The Word and invites people into a loving, communal relationship. As a Father, He shares with His family the deeper purpose behind the Bible’s design as a means of communicating His will, His ways and the giving love He invites us to behold.
Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you;……. And it was so.
Genesis 1:29-30 (NASB)
See What Follows
The word behold appears more than 1,000 times in the Old Testament and just over 200 times in the New, depending on the translation. That difference—about 4.8 times more frequent in the Old Testament—suggests that God often calls attention to His works as a witness, preparing readers to consider what will come next or ‘see what follows’. In this way, He continually directs attention to His plan of salvation through Christ.
For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through encouragement from the Scriptures.
Romans 15:4 (NASB)
“These things happened as examples, and they were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the ages have come.
1 Corinthians 10:11
Believe What is to Come
As God the Father, He closes the first chapter of Genesis with His finished creation on the sixth day and a spoken gift of provision with “every plant yielding seed.” That is something to behold—and it was so. Now, through the lens of agricultural history passed down through generations of tribes and peoples, we know this to be true: when a seed is planted, it takes root, grows, and in its appointed season produces a harvest. We may not see the harvest when the seed first disappears beneath the soil, but we believe it will come. And that is something to behold and believe.
Then he (Abram) believed in the LORD; and He credited it to him as righteousness.
Genesis 15:6 (NASB)
Received by Faith
The first mention of believe in the Bible appears in Genesis 15:6, where the Lord God establishes one of His great covenant moments with Abram, later called Abraham. God brings him outside and directs his attention to the stars, using their countless number to reveal the promise of descendants beyond measure—another top-down revelation. Abram responds in faith, trusting what God has spoken, and Scripture tells us that he believed the Lord, and it was counted to him as righteousness.
What makes this moment so remarkable is that Abram believed before he could see the fulfillment. The promise existed in the word of God before it existed in visible form. Abram could look upward at the stars, but what he was really being asked to see was something that could only be understood by faith. He believed the promise with confidence—not because the circumstances around him could prove it, but because the One who gave the promise was faithful.
Belief in Scripture is never merely passive; it carries with it a response of trust that is expressed through action—he received it then obeyed. In that way, belief is much like a seed received by the soil—hidden at first yet destined to bear fruit in its season. What Abram received by faith would continue through generations, carried forward through his seed, Isaac then Jacob, and the covenant promises given to Israel.
Fullness of Time
Then, in the fullness of time, what had been spoken and believed began to take visible form. The birth of Jesus marked the arrival of the promised Seed through whom the blessing given to Abraham would extend to the nations. What Abram had believed while looking upward at the stars was now being revealed on earth in the person of Jesus Christ and His arrival marked by one star. The promise that had once been unseen was beginning to be seen.
By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and set out for a place that he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents as did Isaac and Jacob, coheirs of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Hebrews 11:8 (CSB)
In Its Season
And Jesus’ birth was only the beginning. His ministry revealed the covenant promise in action. He came announcing the kingdom of God, calling people to repentance and faith, healing the broken, restoring the outcast, and extending God’s mercy beyond the boundaries of Israel.
This is where the language of “bearing fruit in its season” becomes especially meaningful. John the Baptist appeared at the appointed time, preparing the way for the Messiah. The seed of promise had been planted generations earlier, but now its season had arrived. John called the people to prepare their hearts, and then Jesus stepped into the earthly story as the fulfillment toward which the promise had been pointing all along.
The one who comes from above is above all. The one who is from the earth is earthly and speaks in earthly terms. The one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, and yet no one accepts his testimony. The one who has accepted his testimony has affirmed that God is true. For the one whom God sent speaks God’s words, since he gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hands. The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who rejects the Son will not see life; instead, the wrath of God remains on him.
John 3:31-36 (CSB)
The Living Revelation
Abram believed what he could not yet see. Generations waited. Prophets spoke. The word was carried forward. And then, in the fullness of time, faith became sight—not merely in an idea or an event, but in a Person. Jesus Christ stood as the living revelation of God’s faithfulness.
What began with Abram looking upward at the stars ultimately brought God’s word downward into human history. The word was spoken from above, believed by faith below, carried through generations, and finally revealed in the coming of Christ.
Behold and Believe His Glory!