Our Bible Part 4

V. Here are some “bullet-points” of review and for further investigation concerning the giving and preserving of the written scriptures. A. God writes. EXO 31:18; HEB 8:10. B. God intends differing languages. GEN 11:6-9. C. God intends translation. ACT 2:1-11. D. God intends copies. DEU 17:18-20. E. God inspires originals, copies and translations. 2TI 3:15-16. F. God inspires flawed men to deliver His words: prophets, apostles, scribes, even translators. 1. Revelatory inspiration was needed for the giving of the words. 2. Scripture speaks of secondary inspiration (JOB 32:7-8) that would have been helpful in transmitting the words. a. There is a spirit of wisdom and understanding which God gives. ISA 11:2; 1KI 3:12; DAN 1:17. b. Godly scribes/copyists and translators would not be creating revelation yet divine superintendence of their efforts would bless the existing revelation to Our Bible 12-1-24 Page 8  be transmitted. Trances or visions, etc. would not be necessary but wisdom, understanding and humility would be necessary. 1CO 4:6-7; JAM 4:5-6. G. God may even use civil authority for the transmission and preservation of His written words. 1. In Israel, the king himself was to make an apograph (exact copy) of the law “...in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life...” (DEU 17:18-19). a. This copy was what “...is written in the law of Moses” (1KI 2:3), showing the transmission of original authority to the copy. b. The king would have been therefore enjoined to regularly read the law of Moses as rendered in the copy without having to return to the priests who were the caretakers of the original autograph. DEU 31:9, 26. c. This official copy (bearing original authority) would have of itself served as “the word of God” if the original writings stored in the side of the ark of the covenant were to disappear. d. Even though each new king may well have had an authentic copy (or copies) handed down to him as part of his royal inheritance, he would have also been expected to fulfil DEU 17:18. Thus, over time, numerous royal authentic copies of the word of God could have accumulated. 2. The line of English Bibles that began with Wycliffe included the Great Bible authorized by King Henry VIII, the Bishop’s Bible authorized by Queen Elizabeth I and the King James Version which he authorized although he was not a supporter of the Puritans who desired a new English version of the Bible. 3. James “...did not like the English Puritans, and they’re the ones who asked for a new English translation of the Bible that resulted in what’s known as the King James Bible. The Puritan movement arose among the faculty and student body at Cambridge University in the 16th century, and while they did not want to break away from the Church of England, they did want to reform it from what they believed were unbiblical practices. They thought that they might have a friend on the throne when James I succeeded Queen Elizabeth, but they soon learned otherwise. King James was anything but a Puritan. “He did agree to meet with Puritan leaders at what became known as the Hampton Court Conference in 1604. They asked for numerous reforms to the Church, and he rejected all of them. However, he did agree with their request for a new English translation of the Bible, but for his own reasons. Out of that came the King James Bible which, of course, would become the most beloved English language Bible in history. It could have become known as the Puritan Bible (it was their idea after all), but since James I authorized it, it became famous as the King James Bible.” (Rod Gragg, author of THE WORD, The History of The Bible and How It Came To Us, in an interview) G. God will preserve His words. ISA 40:8. H. God seals His law among His disciples. ISA 8:16; 1TI 3:15. I. Sinners may corrupt God’s words but not eliminate them. 2CO 2:17; MAT 24:35. J. God intends the Scriptures to be the universal highest authority, the gold standard. Even the invisible powers of heaven are subject to them. DAN 10:21; GAL 1:8; 1PE 1:12. K. Records even in heaven are kept in books. REV 5:1; 20:12. Our Bible 12-1-24 Page 9 VI. The case of Jeremiah v. Jehoiakim is a textbook case of God giving His words, commanding them to be written, and of His overruling and overcoming the rejection and attempted elimination of inspired scripture. JER 36. A. vs. 1-4. Here is the pattern of Scripture's delivery: 1. God told the prophet His words. 2. Jeremiah spoke them under Divine direction. c/w 2PE 1:21. 3. A scribe wrote down ALL that Jeremiah said and it became Scripture. B. vs. 20-26. Here, the Textual Review Committee goes to work. 1. Jehudi and/or Jehoiakim typify what men do with God's word when they don't like what it says: mutilate it to justify their error and unrepentance. 2. In these footsteps follow the likes of: a. Adamantius Origen, textual critic of the 3rd century A.D., who didn't believe in the Deity of Christ, but did believe in an eternally-begotten god. He simply amended text to suit his presuppositions. b. The Catholic Catechism, which curiously cut out the second of the Ten Commandments which forbids religious images and then makes two commandments out of #10. c. Westcott and Hort, 19th C. revisers. They had sympathies towards Catholicism and occult spiritism and relied upon the gnostic works of Origen and Catholic Rome to make a new bible for a “new age.” d. Modern Bible revisers like the heavily aspersionist-infected NIV translating committee, who when faced with verses that taught belief as a requirement for baptism, conveniently assigned a “Yea, hath God said...?” footnote to them or cut them out. See MAR 16:9-20 and ACT 8:37. e. Virginia Mollenkott, language stylist on the NIV committee, a confessed lesbian. Curiously, the NIV reflects her contention that effeminacy, homosexuality and lesbianism are not wrong. Rather she/it contends that it is only abuses of these “alternative lifestyles” that are sinful. See DEU 23:17; 1KI 15:12, 22:46; 2KI 23:7; 1CO 6:9. C. vs. 27-32. The “original autograph” had been destroyed, but God overruled that by giving it again and adding to it. 1. NOTE: This is a pattern of our carnal hearts’ folly. When we reject some of God’s words because we don’t like their implications, the judgment we despised will not be erased and more judgments will be added against us. 2TH 2:10-12. 2. God’s words can survive the loss of original autographs. JER 51:59-63. 3. The Law of Moses (Ten Commandments) which we have is not from the originals either. EXO 34:1. a. Mind that Moses’ original writing would have included the words of the Ten Commandments in stone which were ensconced within the ark. His inspired original autograph would have consisted (in part) of an inspired copy of what was written in the stone tablets by God. b. The king, therefore, when writing his copy in obedience to DEU 17:18 would have been perpetuating an inspired copy of an inspired copy. 4. Whereas the Davidic throne and the temple did not survive the Babylonian conquest, the law of the Lord did, and a “ready scribe” of “the words of the commandments of the LORD” proclaimed it from a written book. EZR 7:6, 10-11; NEH 8:1, 5, 8. Our Bible 12-1-24 Page 10