Don’t
Mess with the Scripture
Newsweek, 12/23/2014 ran
an article titled The Bible: So Misunderstood It’s a Sin. https://www.newsweek.com/2015/01/02/thats-not-what-bible-says-294018.html
In this letter the author
skillfully outlined how the bible cannot be trusted. If you look at the evidence they put forward
then it would be easy to convince yourself that there is no reason to put any
trust in the bible, or any of its translators or scribes for that matter.
This is not necessarily a
direct response to this article, but rather it did get me thinking how many
young Christians are attacked with such half-truths and then told that they don’t
have a leg to stand on. Indeed this article goes so far as to start the article
in such a manner as to silence ignorant Christians from the very first few
paragraphs.
The author uses phrases
like, “They are God’s frauds, cafeteria Christians…”. In addition the article states that “clergy
invoke a book they seem to have never read and words they don’t understand”. The only true thing the author reveals is
ignorance of what Christianity is all about.
That is probably our fault. We do
know that not everyone who calls themselves a Christian, is in fact a disciple of
Christ as required in scripture. Despite
the stereo types we have been granted by modern day Nero’s we do have some real
assurances that the Word of God is in fact just that.
Here is the thing. Most critics do not have an issue with the
original scriptures being divinely inspired by God. The reason is that none of
these original text have survived. What
most arguments center on is the accuracy of the text we have received. Here is the fundamental Christian view of
scripture. If God divinely inspired the writers
of the Bible, then he (God) also can preserve it. We have been given warnings
from God, not to alter his revelation of himself to us.
Ye shall not add unto the word which I command
you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God
which I command you. Deuteronomy 4.2
Numerous times the
different authors of the Bible asserted that they received direct guidance from
God on their writings.
- Leviticus 1.1
– the Lord called unto Moses, and spake unto him… “saying”
- Jeremiah 1.4
–(Jeremiah) “the word of the Lord came…. “saying”
- Revelation
1.1 – The Revelation of Jesus Christ … which God gave unto him (John)
Throughout the bible the
authors warn of the dangers of altering the text of the scriptures.
Moses the 1st
author warns against adding or taking away from the Words of God.
What thing soever I command you, observe to do
it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it (Deuteronomy 12.32)
The Apostle John gives a
clear warning with a consequence on adding or taking away from the words of the
prophecy.
For I testify unto every man that heareth the
words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God
shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man
shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take
away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the
things which are written in this book. (Revelation 22:18-19)
This statement tells us:
- Not to add to
the prophecy or you will receive the judgement of God
- Not to take away
from the prophecy or the Lord will take away you part in the book of life, and
the holy city, and from the blessings that are written in this prophecy
- This also
tells us that there is no further revelation to be accepted, because God is not
sending anymore revelation.
Even in the middle of the
Bible God commands us:
Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto
them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove
thee, and thou be found a liar. (Proverbs 30.5-6)
Solomon reminds us that
the word is:
- Pure
- Trustworthy
- There is a
consequence for changing the Word
- God will
reveal you as a liar
The importance of these warnings and
reverence of the word of God is demonstrated in archeological findings. The Isaiah text (700 B.C.) when compared to
the copied text of Isaiah found in the Dead Sea Scrolls (200 B.C.) are almost identical
with only punctuations added. So the
idea that original texts are necessary to get direct inspiration from God is
foolish. God has preserved his message
to us.
Mathew 5:18 – reminds us that not one jot or tittle will be removed until
the law is completely fulfilled.
Some proofs of accuracy
in prophesy Recorded in history:
|
|
|
|
|
Prophecy
|
Book
|
Written
|
Fulfilled
|
Expanse
|
Babylon ruled over Judah
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Jeremiah 25:11-12
|
626-586 B.C.
|
609-539 B.C.
|
~50yrs
|
Babylon’s Gates Open for Cyrus
|
Isaiah 45:1
|
Between 701 and 681 B.C.
|
539 B.C.
|
Hundreds of years after prophecy
|
Babylon permanently overthrown
|
Isaiah 13:19
|
Between 701 and 681 B.C.
|
539 B.C.
|
Hundreds of years after prophecy
|
Babylon Reduced to Swampland
|
Isaiah 14:23
|
Between 701 and 681 B.C.
|
539 B.C. and Archology confirmed in 1800s
|
Hundreds of years after prophecy
|
Jews survive Babylonian Rule
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Jeremiah 32:36-37
|
From 626 and 586 B.C.
|
536 B.C.
|
~90 yrs
|
Add to this over 300
prophecies fulfilled in the birth, death, resurrection, and ascending of Jesus
Christ to the throne room of God.
How can we know what we
received is accurate? Jewish tradition takes place after the fall to Babylon
and Assyria. The scribes located the books of the Law and began making
copies. This custom of copying the text
was a show of extreme respect and detailed scribing of the Word of God. Scott
Manning published an article in March 17, 2017 that gives the following
requirements for copying the Old Testament by Jewish Scribes.[i]
Jewish
requirements for scribes:
- They could only use clean animal skins, both to write
on, and even to bind manuscripts.
- Each column of writing could have no less than
forty-eight, and no more than sixty lines.
- The ink must be black, and of a special recipe.
- They must verbalize each word aloud while they were
writing.
- They must wipe the pen and wash their entire bodies
before writing the word “Jehovah,” every time they wrote it.
- There must be a review within thirty days, and if as
many as three pages required corrections, the entire manuscript had to be
redone.
- The letters, words, and paragraphs had to be counted,
and the document became invalid if two letters touched each other. The
middle paragraph, word and letter must correspond to those of the original
document.
- The documents could be stored only in sacred places
(synagogues, etc).
- As no document containing God’s Word could be destroyed,
they were stored, or buried, in a genizah – a Hebrew term meaning “hiding
place.” These were usually kept in a synagogue or sometimes in a
Jewish cemetery.
Some unique things about
the bible verses other ancient scripts
- Bible’s claim
that God is the author
- Over 1500 statements in the text claim divine
origin
- Bible’s Internal Unity of Message
- Message from cover to cover: God saves through
Jesus Christ
- Historical
Accuracy – some examples
- There has never been any archeological evidence
to dispute any historical claim in the scriptures
- Moabite Stone found in 1868 documents Moab
rebellion against King Jehoram soon after the death of Ahab (2 Kings 3)
- Lachish Letters found in 1930s are documents
found of a communique between two Hebrew commanders concerning the oncoming of
the Babylonians impending invasion under King Nebuchadnezzar
- Hezekiah’s tunnel discovered in 1867 recorded in
(2 Samuel 5:6-8)
- Textual
Accuracy – No other ancient text has as many resources to draw upon to test its
accuracy as the Bible does.
- Over 5300 manuscripts fo the New Testament
- Over 24,000 manuscript copies of portions of the
text
- No other ancient text has close to the amount of
verifiable copies for comparison of accuracy – including Homer’s Iliad (643
surviving manuscripts)
- Concerning
Christ in Archeology
- Codex Mediceus 68 II – Roman historian Tacitus
wrote in a major work titled Annals (116-117 A.D.) giving credit to Pontius
Pilate for executing Jesus.
- Famous and Memorable Works of Josephus (including
Jewish War and Jewish Antiquities Book 20) – Jewish historian Flavius
Josephus’, (37-100 A.D.), account of the martyrdom of James, identifies James
as “the brother of Jesus who-is-called Messiah” being executed by the high
priest Ananus in 62 A.D.
- Tetimonium Flavianum – 15th Century
manuscript contains the testimony of Josephus referring to Jesus as a wise man,
“if one out to call him a man.” It further speaks about his crucifixion, and
resurrection. (authenticity contested – however it is an ancient text that has
been recovered).
- Ossuary of East Talpiot a district in Jerusalem
inscribed, “Jacob, son of Joseph, brother of Yeshua” (published in 2002).
- These tell us:
- His personal name was Jesus (Greek translation)
- He was called Christos (Greek translation)
- He had a brother named James
- His followers multiplied in both Jew and
Hellenistic cultures
- Jewish leaders did not approve of him
- Pilate decided to execute him
- Pilate was the governor of Judea 26-36 A.D.
- Other not so
famous people in history
- Celsus a philosopher thought Jesus was a majician
- Piny the Younger a Roman governor wrote about
worship of Christ as a god.
- Suetonius a Roman writer, lawyer and historian, wrote
of riots in 49 A.D. among Jews in Rome thought to be incited by Christians
- Mara bar Serapion, a POW held by Rome wrote a
letter describing the wise Jewish king, indicating Jesus as the subject.
Why is this so important?
But these are written, that ye might believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life
through his name. (John 32.31)
- We can trust what is written
- We can trust that it came from God
- We can trust that we have the complete
revelation from God
- We know that Jesus Christ is the Son of
God
- We know that we can please God in
obedience through Jesus Christ
- We know that we can believe in Jesus
Christ for salvation
- We know that this belief in Jesus is all
we need to have life
The 1st chapter of John refers to 2
different reactions to the Light (Word).
- Rejection and darkness
- Believe and Life
John 1:10-13 says:
- Some received Him
- Some believed Him
- Those who believe were empowered to be the
sons of God
We cannot determine who will believe our report. However; this must not stop our witness. In the Book of Exodus it speaks of God hardening Pharaoh’s heart. But; if you take a closer look you will see that God in his mercy revealed Himself to Pharaoh multiple times and gave him many chances. The scripture says that first Pharaoh repeatedly hardened his heart toward God. God so then with no other recourse left, let Pharaoh have his way. Pharaoh’s disbelief led to his death, and the death of many others. Unfortunately, those who do not believe and have a public forum will lead many to their own death because of unbelief.
The good thing is that those of us who do believe. To us has been given the message of
redemption. This message is ours and
ours alone to deliver it. Angels are not
given so great an honor as to lead others to Christ. If you have ever wondered what God has for
you to do, it is this, love God (Mark 12:30), love your neighbor (Mark 12:31),
and make disciples of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:18-20).
[i] https://scottmanning.com/content/process-of-copying-the-old-testament-by-jewish-scribes/