Canon of the OT

I.       There are 39 books in the OT Bible.

A.    There is not much left for us to study about the Canon and how it took place, because when it took place.

B.    Some principles can be learned from the books them selves.

C.    When the Dead Sea Scrolls where found, this help us a lot.

II.     Christ himself proved that the OT was God's word.

A.    Christ in the NT accepted the 39 books of the OT.

B.    In the Book of Matthew, Christ spoke of the OT some 31 times.

1.     Referring to them as the authoritive Scriptures.

C.    In the whole NT, the OT is quoted 250 times.

D.    Christ talks about Adam and Eve as well as Noah’s flood and Jonah and the fish.

E.     Christ refers to the OT that must be fulfilled.

1.      Matthew 26:54, But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?

2.     Luke 24:44, And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

F.     Christ said in Luke 16:17, And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.

G.    There are only 4 books in the OT that are not quited in the NT.

III.    Josephus a Historian at the time of Christ proves the Canon.

A.    He tells us that the Jews held only 22 books of the OT, which became the 39 we have today.

B.    The 12 Minor Prophets were counted as one book back in the OT.

IV.   The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in 1947.

A.    They contain all the books of the OT except Easter.

B.    The dates range from 3BC to 1AD after Christ.

1.     Most of which fell in the 1AD after Christ.

V.    Other Books that Scripture were quoted.

A.    Manual of Discipline, the Thanksgiving Hymns, the Damascus Document (previously known but now authenticated by portions found in the caves), and the Rule for the Final War. Further information comes from commentaries on sacred texts and on testimonial booklets stringing together messianic passages.[1]

B.    Many other documents have been found that quoted OT.

VI.   Finally we end up with this.

A.    By and large the testimony of the Holy Spirit confirms the canonization of the 39 OT books. The apocryphal books have many good points and have been accepted as Scripture by many Christian people. But they will not stand all the tests or indeed any one of them—prophetic authorship, approval of Christ, acceptance by the church universal, or the testimony of the Holy Spirit. The 39 canonical books will pass them all.[2]

B.    We need to realize that God by the Holy Spirit is going to keep the books to the Bible together.

Bikers Bible Study 8/29/06

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[1]Pfeiffer, C. F., Vos, H. F., & Rea, J. (1975; 2005). The Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia. Moody Press.

OT Old Testament

[2]Pfeiffer, C. F., Vos, H. F., & Rea, J. (1975; 2005). The Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia. Moody Press.