2024-04-28 Doctrine 6b - Preservation of Scripture 2

Affirmation, we all want to be affirmed in something good every now and again. During WW2, Germany instituted the use of the Enigma Machine to encode their Morse Code. Through Spies, Secret Service, Brilliant Mathematicians, the codes were eventually cracked. Germany eventually didn't get the AFFIRMATION that their code machine was unbreakable. towards the end of what Britian called “Project X”, mathematician Alan Turing was Affirmed as he and his teams genius went on to build the computer machine that would crack the code.

Link: Feeling affirmation feels good but knowing that God’s Word is affirmed so many different ways and so many different times feels even more amazing, because it directly impacts us and our loved ones in a just, loving, merciful and gracious way.

Review of Doctrines:

Today: We will continue looking at the last doctrine in the section of “God’s Revelation.” Preservation of the Scripture.

Preservation of Scripture - Definition : God has chosen to reveal Himself to humanity through the text of Scripture, having inspired it and directed it to be free from error. God has also acted providentially throughout the course of history to ensure the biblical text is faithfully preserved for future generations. Our belief in the preservation of Scripture is supported by investigation into how the canon of Scripture was formed and how manuscripts were faithfully transmitted throughout the centuries.

REVIEW OF LAST WEEK

I. The O.T. Prophets prophesied God’s Word would last forever

Psalm 119:89 “Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven.”

Psalm 119:152 “Concerning Your testimonies, I have known of old that You have founded them forever.”

Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”

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II. Jesus' Affirmations of God’s Word

A. Permanence of God's Word -

Matthew 5:18 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.

1. Not even the smallest detail will disappear.

B. Enduring Nature of God's Word -

Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

Mark 13:31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

Luke 21:33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

1. God's Word will outlast everything.

AIG: Jesus Christ made an amazing prophesy about this preservation of His Word: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Mark 13:31; also Matthew 24:35). He believed that God’s Word is indestructible (“And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle (small mark in Hebrew lettering) of the law to fail” Luke 16:17 And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail. ).

Moreover, Jesus believed His words would spread around the world: Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. ; Mark 13:10 And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations. And that is what we find today. God’s Word has been preserved.

How the Bible was copied and preserved over the years:

Scribes

• When the Old Testament writers finished their scrolls, there were no copying machines or printing presses to duplicate their writing for the public. They depended on scribes - men who patiently copied the Scriptures by hand when extra copies were needed and when the original scrolls became too worn to use any longer. The scribes attempted to make exact copies of the original scrolls, and the scribes who followed them attempted to make exact copies of the copies.

• By the time Jesus was born, the most recent Old Testament book (Malachi) had been copied and recopied over a span of more than four hundred years; the books that Moses wrote had been copied this way for more than fourteen hundred years. Yet during that time the scribes guarded the Old Testament text very well.

Sopherim

Jeremiah is the first to mention the scribes as a professional group in Jeremiah 8:8 “How can you say, ‘We are wise, And the law of the Lord is with us’? Look, the false pen of the scribe certainly works falsehood.”

• The Hebrew word sopherim (so-fur-im) literally means "the counters”; the early scribes earned this title because they counted every letter of every book of Scripture to make sure they didn't leave out anything.

• Before he began his work each day, the scribe would test his reed pen by dipping it in ink and writing the name Amalek, then crossing it out (cf. Deut. 25:19 - God told them to blot out the name of Amalek, their enemies). Then he would say, "I am writing the Torah in the name of its sanctity and the name of God in its sanctity."

• The scribe would read a sentence in the manuscript he was copying, repeat it aloud, and then write it. Each time he came to the name of God, he would say, "I am writing the name of God for the holiness of His name." If he made an error in writing God's name, he had to destroy the entire sheet of papyrus or vellum that he was using.

• After the scribe finished copying a particular book, he would count all of the words and letters it contained. Then he checked this tally against the count for the manuscript that he was copying. He counted the number of times a particular word occurred in the book, and he noted the middle word and the middle letter in the book, comparing all of these with his original. By making these careful checks, he hoped to avoid any scribal errors.

Several Manuscripts have been found over the years

In 1890, In the Cairo Synagogue attic store room alone were discovered some 200,000 MSS and fragments. 10,000 of these are Biblical.

In Cairo Egypt

The attic room for many years was only accessible by a latter put on a woman’s balcony.

For many years the building was not used as a Synagogue.

In 2023 it was restored and is once being used again.

The Dead Sea Scrolls discovered between 1947 and 1960 in a cave on the western Dead Sea shore near a ruin called Khirbet Qumran. Eleven caves from the Qumran area have since yielded manuscripts, mostly in small fragments. These date between 200 B.C. and A.D. 70, mostly around the lifetime of Jesus.

Both discovered historical documents comprise of three main kinds of literature:

1. Copies of Old Testament books, the oldest we now possess;

2. Some non-biblical Jewish books known from elsewhere (such as First Enoch and Jubilees);

3. The Essenes community's own compositions, including: biblical commentaries (for example, on Habakkuk and Nahum), which interpret biblical prophecies as applying to the community and its times; rules of community conduct; and liturgical writings such as prayers and hymns.

The new is in the old contained, the old is in the new explained.

Fulfilled Prophecy (Examples below)

Genesis 3:15 “Seed of a woman” Luke 2:7 & Galatians 4:4

Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.” “Humble entry on a donkey” John 12:13–14 “took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ The King of Israel!” 14 Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:”

Psalm 22:16 “For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet;” Hands & Feet Pierced” John 19:23-24 “Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. 24 They said therefore among themselves, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,” that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says: “They divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.” Therefore the soldiers did these things.”

Of course there are many more examples but just in these three we can see how the OT predicted the NT. AS MENTIONED EARLIER: Jesus validated the OT in his words and in his actions.

Matthew 5:18 “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.”

Again as we saw 2 months ago as we studded this, not one jot or tittle will pass away until the law is fulfilled.

Even the smallest markings in the original language, they won’t pass away.

We should respect Gods Word by:

Respecting the Book itself

Reading it

Obeying it

Allowing the H.S. to challenge and change us by it.

To share it

III. God wanted His word to be Accessible to all - HIS LOVE FOR US

A. Purpose of Scripture - Teaching and Encouragement

Romans 15:4 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.

1. God's Word is meant to be used by humanity.

Ask the audience: “FOR WHAT REASONS do we use God’s Word?”

Importance of the Gospel Message in Scripture

1 Corinthians 15:3–4 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.

1. Salvation is linked to the message in God's Word.

Spreading the Gospel Message

Acts 13:47 For so the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.

1. Scripture's message needs preservation for global reach.

Edification of the Saints

Ephesians 4:11-13 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

This is done by Men of God using the Word of God.

Conclusion:

God has shown to us that He promises to preserve His Word, He has and we can see that through evidence, both factual and physical.

If we can believe this then we can believe the Words and Promises within the pages of the Bible.

Unsaved: That God loves you in spite of your sin, that He made a perfect way by sending God the Son, Jesus to die for you so that you won’t have to die in your sins. That He will forgive you if you believe in Him and confess your need for Him and that you trust Him as your Savior.

Saved: Have you trusted Christ already? What is the next step in your walk with Jesus then?

This week I want to encourage you to focus on the goodness of God and His wonderful gift of the Bible. Take time to spend with Him in His Word. Pray, asking God what is my next step with you?

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