How God Provides Us With His Word

1. How God Provides Us With His Word

2. Questions We Will Answer in This Series: • Where do our Bibles come from? • How do we know that our Bibles are reliable? • How can we better understand and study our Bibles? • How do we handle attacks from those who make false claims about the Bible? • The DaVinci Code • Anti-Christian College Professors and Curriculum • Unbelievers, Skeptics, and Followers of False Religions • Liberal News Media (e.g. National Public Radio)

3. Vocabulary • Revelation • The way God gave information directly to the prophets and apostles • Prophet • A man used by God to write the Old Testament Scriptures based on revelation given to them by God • Apostle • A man used by God to write the New Testament scriptures based on revelation given to them by God • Inspiration • The process where God uses imperfect men (prophets and apostles) writing in their own words to produce the perfect Word of God. • Manuscript • A book or document written before the invention of printing. • Preservation • The process God used to preserve manuscript copies of His Word for use by His people throughout all ages • Illumination • The work God does in the heart of a Christian to cause them to rightly understand and apply God’s Word

4. Vocabulary - Quiz • Revelation is (choose one of the following): • When a group of rebels get together and try to overthrow the government • When an object goes through a complete 360 degree circle • The way God gave information directly to the prophets and apostles

5. Vocabulary - Quiz • Revelation is (choose one of the following): • When a group of rebels get together and try to overthrow the government • When an object goes through a complete 360 degree circle • The way God gave information directly to the prophets and apostles

6. Vocabulary - Quiz • A Prophet is (choose one of the following): • The amount of money that a business makes on a product that it sells • A man used by God to write the Old Testament Scriptures based on revelation given to them by God • A funny looking hat worn by women in the Middle Ages

7. Vocabulary - Quiz • A Prophet is (choose one of the following): • The amount of money that a business makes on a product that it sells • A man used by God to write the Old Testament Scriptures based on revelation given to them by God • A funny looking hat worn by women in the Middle Ages

8. Vocabulary - Quiz • An Apostle is (choose one of the following): • The husband of an Epistle • A man used by God to write the New Testament scriptures based on revelation given to them by God • A hole for a fence post

9. Vocabulary - Quiz • An Apostle is (choose one of the following): • The husband of an Epistle • A man used by God to write the New Testament scriptures based on revelation given to them by God • A hole for a fence post

10. Vocabulary - Quiz • Inspiration is (choose one of the following): • A flavor of gum that was especially popular during the 1950s • A salty substance given off by the human body in order to prevent overheating • The process where God uses imperfect men (prophets and apostles) writing in their own words to produce the perfect Word of God.

11. Vocabulary - Quiz • Inspiration is (choose one of the following): • A flavor of gum that was especially popular during the 1950s • A salty substance given off by the human body in order to prevent overheating • The process where God uses imperfect men (prophets and apostles) writing in their own words to produce the perfect Word of God.

12. Vocabulary - Quiz • A Manuscript is (choose one of the following): • Lines that an actor must learn for a movie or play • What the boy said to the teacher that he thought was being too hard on him. • A book or document written before the invention of printing.

13. Vocabulary - Quiz • A Manuscript is (choose one of the following): • Lines that an actor must learn for a movie or play • What the boy said to the teacher that he thought was being too hard on him. • A book or document written before the invention of printing.

14. Vocabulary - Quiz • Preservation is (choose one of the following): • A tract of public land set apart for a special purpose, as for the use of an Indian tribe. • The process God used to preserve manuscript copies of His Word for use by His people throughout all ages • An arrangement to secure accommodations at a restaurant or hotel

15. Vocabulary - Quiz • Preservation is (choose one of the following): • A tract of public land set apart for a special purpose, as for the use of an Indian tribe. • The process God used to preserve manuscript copies of His Word for use by His people throughout all ages • An arrangement to secure accommodations at a restaurant or hotel

16. Vocabulary - Quiz • Illumination is (choose one of the following): • Shiny metal siding used on mobile homes in the southern United Sates • A type of tournament in which an individual or team is eliminated from the competition after one defeat • The work God does in the heart of a Christian to cause them to rightly understand and apply God’s Word

17. Vocabulary - Quiz • Illumination is (choose one of the following): • Shiny metal siding used on mobile homes in the southern United Sates • A type of tournament in which an individual or team is eliminated from the competition after one defeat • The work God does in the heart of a Christian to cause them to rightly understand and apply God’s Word

18. Revelation Prophet or Apostle Illumination Application Inspiration Observationand Interpretation Original Manuscript Manuscript Copies Preservation Translation God Christians Today

19. Revelation How did God reveal Himself to man?

20. Hebrews 1:1-2 - In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways . . . • God sometimes spoke in a voice from heaven: • Genesis 22:11 - But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" • God sometimes spoke to men in a dream: • Genesis 28:12-13 – [Jacob] had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the LORD, and he said: "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. • God sometimes spoke to men in a vision: • Isaiah 1:1 - The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. • God sometime spoke with men “face to face”: • Exodus 33:11 - The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. • God sometimes spoke with men through angel(s): • Zechariah 1:14 - Then the angel who was speaking to me said, "Proclaim this word: This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion,

21. The Bible was written here You are here Timeline of All History Creation B.C. A.D. 4000 B.C. 3000 B.C 2000 B.C 1000 B.C. A.D. 1000 A.D. 2000

22. Bible Timeline 400 Years of Silence Old Testament Written New Testament Written Moses Malachi B.C. A.D. 1400 B.C 400 B.C. A.D. 45 A.D. 90

23. Inspiration All Scripture is God-Breathed

24. Inspiration • As we have already seen, inspiration is the process where God uses imperfect men (prophets and apostles) writing in their own words to produce the perfect Word of God. •  2 Timothy 3:16-17 - All scripture is given by inspiration of God [the Greek here literally means “God breathed”], and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. •  2 Peter 1:20-21 - Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

25. Inspiration • When the apostles and prophets wrote inspired, God-breathed, scripture, what they wrote was considered to be the very words of God! • Matthew 22:41-44 - While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” “The son of David,” they replied. He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him 'Lord'? For he says [in Psalm 110], “The Lord said to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.’” • Matthew 22:31-32 -But about the resurrection of the dead-- have you not read what God said to you[in Exodus 3:6], 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? • Acts 1:16 - Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas • Acts 2:17 - [Peter quoting from the OT book of Joel 2:28ff says:]"'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. • Acts 4:25 -You[God]spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David[in Psalm 2]: "Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?”

26. The Canon = • The collection of all “God breathed” writings which we have in our Bibles is sometimes referred to as the “canon of Scripture ”. • The word “canon” is from a Greek word meaning “measuring rod, rule or norm of faith”. • The Biblical writings are called a “canon” because they are the standard by which all other writings measured. • How did these writings become a part of our Bibles? In other words, where did the 66 books of the Bible come from and how were they gathered together in one book as we have them today? • To answer this question, we will now look at the process that God used to give us His Word.

27. How Christians Today Receive the Word of God Revelation Prophet or Apostle Illumination Application Inspiration Observationand Interpretation Original Manuscript Manuscript Copies Preservation Translation God Christians Today

28. Bible Timeline 400 Years of Silence Old Testament Written New Testament Written Moses Malachi B.C. A.D. 1400 B.C 400 B.C. A.D. 45 A.D. 90

29. How God Produced the Old Testament

30. How God Produced the Old Testament • During the time of the Exodus (1400 B.C.) God told Moses to create a written record (in Hebrew) of what He had communicated to him on Mount Sinai:  • Exodus 34:27 - Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel." • Later other Jewish prophets were instructed by God to do likewise:  • Isaiah 30:8 - Go now, write it on a tablet for them, inscribe it on a scroll, that for the days to come it may be an everlasting witness. • Jeremiah 30:2 - This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: “Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you.” • From the time of Moses to the time of Christ, God gave the Jews His written Word in a collection of writings that continued to grow throughout much of their history. These writings make up what we now know as the Old Testament:  • Romans 3:1-2 - What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew . . . Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.

31. How God Produced the Old Testament • The Jews recognized from the very beginning that these writings were the very words of God in written form! Consequently they read them and studied them both publicly and privately.  • Deuteronomy 6:6-9 - These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. • 2 Kings 23:2 – [King Josiah] went up to the temple of the LORD with the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets-- all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the LORD. • Jeremiah 36:6 - So you go to the house of the LORD on a day of fasting and read to the people from the scroll the words of the LORD that you wrote as I dictated. Read them to all the people of Judah who come in from their towns.

32. How God Produced the Old Testament • Because they did not have copy machines, when the Jews needed to make a copy of these writings (because either a particular copy was wearing out or they needed an extra one) they had to make a hand-written copy! • Deuteronomy 17:18-19 -When [a king] takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees. • Because the significance of these writings, the Jews tried to be very careful when making these copies so as to avoid making mistakes. 

33. How God Kept His Word From Being Corrupted by False Prophets • At times, false prophets would arise in Israel. The Israelites were to carefully test men who claimed to speak for God as prophets. • Prophets would have to demonstrate they were true prophets from God by predicting near future events. • If a so-called prophet made a prediction, and the predicted event did not happen, then he proved that he was a false prophet was to be put to death! • Deuteronomy 18:19-22 -If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account. But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death." You may say to yourselves, "How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD?" If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.

34. How God Kept His Word From Being Corrupted by False Prophets • Even if the prophet’s prediction came true, but the prophet was enticing them to follow other gods they were still to be put to death! • Deuteronomy 13:1-5 - If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, "Let us follow other gods" (gods you have not known) "and let us worship them," you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he preached rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way the LORD your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you.

35. God Affirmed the Old Testament through His Son, Jesus

36. God Affirmed the Old Testament through His Son, Jesus • During His earthly ministry, Jesus confirmed that the Old Testament scriptures that existed at that time were the inspired Word of God: • Matthew 22:29, 31-32 - Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. . . But about the resurrection of the dead-- have you not read what God said to you[in Exodus 3:6], 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?” • Matthew 26:53-54 - Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?" • Luke24:27 - And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. • John 10:35 -  . . . the Scripture cannot be broken—

37. How Christians Today Receive the Word of God Revelation Prophet or Apostle Illumination Application Inspiration Observationand Interpretation Original Manuscript Manuscript Copies Preservation Translation God Christians Today

38. Bible Timeline 400 Years of Silence Old Testament Written New Testament Written Moses Malachi B.C. A.D. 1400 B.C 400 B.C. A.D. 45 A.D. 90

39. The 400 Year Period of Silence Between the Old and New Testaments • Between the last writings of the Old Testament (Malachi being one of the last Old Testament books written) and the birth of Christ, there was a 400-year “period of silence” in which no inspired writings were added to the canon. • Nevertheless there were some significant events that took place during this period of time.

40. The Septuagint The 72 translators receiving gifts from Ptolemy

41. The Septuagint • It was during this “period of silence” (between the Old and New Testaments) that the first translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into another language was done. • A letter written in the second century B.C. (the Letter of Aristeas), claims that 72 Jewish translators sent from Jerusalem produced a Greek version of the Old Testament for Ptolemy II for his library.*  • Because of this, the translation has been called the Septuagint (abbreviated LXX) for the seventy plus scholars that supposedly translated it. • Many scholars question some of the details given in this letter concerning the translation of the Septuagint. *Dictionary of the Christian Church, J. D. Douglas General Editor, Zondervan Publishing, 1978, Septuagint, p.897

42. The Septuagint • But scholars generally agree that the Septuagint owes its origin to Jewish settlers living in Alexandria, Egypt who were forced by circumstances to abandon the Hebrew language and to speak Greek, yet continued to embrace the Jewish faith. • Thus a need arose for a translation of the Hebrew scriptures into Greek so that these Jews could read the scriptures in their own language, which was now Greek rather than Hebrew. • It appears that to meet this need, a team of scholars began the Septuagint (beginning with the Pentateuch) in the first part of the third century B.C. • There is evidence that the Septuagint was completed around 132 B.C.* *International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE), G.W. Bromiley General Editor , Eerdmans Publishing, 1988, Septuagint, pp. 402-403

43. The Septuagint • The Septuagint translation later became widely used by Greek speaking Jews throughout the Roman Empire, including the writers of the New Testament.

44. Example of How It Helps to Know About the Septuagint Footnote on Ezekiel 21:15(Found in the NIV Study Bible) Ezekiel 21:15 So that hearts may melt and the fallen be many, I have stationed the sword for slaughters at all their gates. Oh! It is made to flash like lightning, it is grasped for slaughter.

45. The Old Testament Apocrypha The Archangel Leaving the Family of Tobias - by Rembrandt (1606-1669)

46. The Old Testament Apocrypha • During the 400 year “period of silence” a group of historical and religious books were written which came to be known as the Old Testament Apocrypha. • Some of the books of the Apocrypha contain helpful historical information (such as 1 Maccabees). • But unfortunately a number of these books contain historical errors (e.g. the book of Judith 1:1 teaches that Nebuchadnezzar reigned in Nineveh, but he was ruler of Babylon) and religious teachings that contradict Biblical teaching. • Roman Catholics mistakenly teach that the books of the Apocrypha should be included in the Bible.

47. The Books of the Apocrypha

48. The Books of the Apocrypha

49. The Books of the Apocrypha

50. Reasons to Exclude the Apocrypha from the OT Canon • The Jews did not include the Apocrypha in the Hebrew canon • The Apocrypha was never included as a part of the Hebrew Bible. • Philo (20 B.C. – A.D. 40) Alexandrian Jewish philosopher - quoted the Old Testament often, but he never quoted from the Apocrypha • Josephus (A.D. 30 – 100) Jewish historian – excluded the Apocrypha when he listed the books of the Old Testament. Also Josephus never quotes from the Apocrypha as scripture. • Jewish scholars of Jamnia (A.D.90) rejected the Apocrypha • Jesus and the writers of the New Testament never quote from the Apocrypha as Scripture • The Apocrypha never claims to be inspired • In a few places the Apocrypha seems to actually deny inspiration • Prologue to Ecclesiasticus • 2 Maccabees 15:37b-38 • The Apocrypha contains doctrinal errors • Prayers and Offerings for the Dead (2 Maccabees 12:43-46) • Forgiveness and Salvation by Almsgiving (Tobit 4:11;12:9) • Suicide spoken of as noble (2 Maccabees 14:41-42)