Bible ClinicJ One
A journey into the life, times, and
teachings of the Bible
by Gary D. Strunk
Lesson
7 - How We Got The Bible
The object of this lesson is to
examine what the Bible says about its origin and its purpose. Everyone approaches a topic with what are
called Aa priori assumptions@ which affect the logic and the
outcome of their study. In this study
you are asked to make only one assumption.
It is the same assumption we make about any reputable history text. We assume that the writers are honest in
reporting what they heard, saw, and researched; as honest as any secular
eye-witness or historian. Therefore,
until proven otherwise, the Bible presents an honest historical record of its
own origin.
WHOSE IDEA WAS IT TO WRITE A BIBLE?
1. Who told Moses to write? Ex.
17:14a __________________________
2. For what purpose was Moses to
write? Ex. 17:14a _____________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
3. God gave Moses many ordinances,
judgments, and instructions. What did
Moses do with all these laws?
Ex. 24:4a
__________________________________________________________
4. What is this writing called? v.7
_________________________________________________
Note: In reading Exodus as
translated from Hebrew into your own language, you are reading the very history
and instruction recorded in the original scroll 3500 years ago. You are not reading a book about Exodus. You are reading the actual book of
Exodus. Seldom does a person have an
opportunity to read ancient literature.
But in holding the Bible, you are holding a copy of the most extensive
document of ancient literature ever committed to humankind. AThe Hebrew Scriptures constitute the oldest and most
complete historical record of the human race....@ Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary Vol. 1, p.
586.
5. The books of Exodus and Leviticus
are filled with instructions regarding the covenant (agreement) made between
God and Israel. Who told Moses to write
these words? Ex. 34:27
_____________________________________
Read 2 Peter 1:20,21 from the
following versions and notice how they emphasize that Scripture originated not
from an individual=s initiative or understanding, but
from God Himself.
ABut you must understand this at the
outset, that no prophecy of Scripture arose from an individual=s interpretation of the truth. No prophecy came because a man wanted it to:
men of God spoke because they were inspired by the Holy Spirit.@ -- 2 Peter 1:20,21 The New
Testament in Modern English by Phillips
AFor no prophecy recorded in
Scripture was ever thought up by the prophet himself. It was the Holy Spirit within these godly men who gave them true
messages from God.@ -- 2 Peter 1:20,22 The Living
Bible Paraphrased
AAbove 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.@ -- 2 Peter 1:20,21 New International Version
ABut know this first of all, that no
prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one=s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an
act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.@ -- 2 Peter 1:20, 21 New American
Standard
AKnowing this first, that no prophecy
of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the
will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.@--2 Peter 1:20,21 New King
James Version
Just how inspiration works, i.e. how
God communicated His messages to His prophets, is a complete study in itself
which will be taken up in a later lesson.
The first five books of the Bible
were written by Moses and are referred to as the Law, or Torah, or the
Pentateuch. While at Mt. Sinai God told
Moses to write. Those writings became
the books of Exodus and Leviticus.
Israel was supposed to enter into the APromised Land@ immediately as promised. Ex. 34:10,11ff. But due to their lack of faith in God=s promises to drive out the
Canaanites, they wandered for 40 years in the wilderness. During this time the book of Numbers was
written. Nu. 33:1,2. Then near the end
of their forty years= wanderings the book of Deuteronomy
was written. The word Deuteronomy means
second law. Deuteronomy is an adaptation and expansion
of what was written earlier. Moses was
120 years old as Deuteronomy was finished.
Dt. 31:14; 34:7. It is not clear
when Moses wrote Genesis, probably earlier.
6. Scribes who made copies of the
Law and other Scriptures were under Divine injunction not to emend the
manuscripts in any way. What will
happen to a person who adds to the words of the book of Revelation?
Rev.
22:18_______________________________________________________________________________
7. What will happen to anyone who
takes away from the words of the book of Revelation?
Rev. 22:19
_________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________
cf. Dt. 4:2; 12:32; Proverbs 30:5,6
AIn making copies of Hebrew
manuscripts which are the precious heritage of the Church today, the Jewish
scribes exercised the greatest possible care, even to the point of superstition
-- counting, not only the words, but every letter, noting how many times each
particular letter occurred, and destroying at once the sheet on which a mistake
was detected, in their anxiety to avoid introducing the least error into the
sacred Scriptures, which they prized so highly and held in such reverent awe. Moreover, each new copy had to be made from
an approved manuscript, written with a special kind of ink, upon sheets made
from the skin of a Aclean@ animal. The
writers also had to pronounce aloud each word before writing it, and on no
account was a single word to be written from memory. They were to reverently wipe their pen before writing the name of
God in any form, and to wash their whole body before writing AJehovah,@ lest that holy name should
be tainted even in the writing. The new
copy was then carefully examined with the original almost immediately: and it
is said that if only one incorrect letter were discovered the whole copy was
rejected!@ -- Collett, Sidney, ALL
ABOUT THE BIBLE, Pages 14-15
8. Who were the custodians of the
Law, and those responsible for executing its requirements?
Dt. 31:9 Athe ___________________ , the sons
of _______________ , . . . and to all
the
_____________________________________.@
9. How often was this law to be read
to all Israel? vs. 10,11 _____________________________
10. For what reason was this written
record prepared and read? vs. 12,13 ___________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
11. What do you think is meant by
the phrase Awho have not known it@ in verse 13? ______________________
________________________________________________________________________
No one challenged the discourse of
Dt. 4:32-40 or any other recitation of their stubbornness and faithlessness,
and mighty wonders God had done. Moses
didn=t have to prove the existence of
God. These people had ?been there and done that.@
Following the writing of the Law
came records of the settlement of Israel in Canaan, and the up-and-down
obedience and disobedience and corresponding prosperity and defeats and
captivities recorded in the books of Joshua, Judges, Kings and Chronicles. God sent prophets to warn, reprove, instruct
and encourage His people. Some only
spoke. Others wrote, but their writings
we do not now have. Still others wrote
and preserved their writings. These
were gradually assembled into The Bible.
The word canon, meaning list
or index, refers to the books making up the Bible. Canonicity, i.e., which books should be a part of the
canon was determined for the Old Testament by the general recognition and
acceptance of the authority of the author by the Jewish community of believers,
and for the New Testament by the Christian believers. This was not usually a difficult task. The faithful knew who was a true prophet and who was not. The Old Testament canon was completely set
by the time of Christ, and the New Testament canon was well recognized by the
third century A.D.
The Roman Catholic Bible contains
fifteen extra books called the apocrypha (hidden) which are excluded
from the Protestant Bible for the following reasons from Lightfoot, Neil R., How
We Got The Bible, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI 1965, p. 94.
1. They were never included in the
Hebrew Old Testament.
2. They were never accepted as
canonical by Jesus and His Apostles.
3. They were not accepted by early
Jewish and Christian writers.
4. They do not evidence intrinsic
qualities of inspiration.
5. They have been shrouded with continual
uncertainty.
There is a difference
between the canonicity of a book and the authority of that book. A book=s canonicity depends upon its authority. When Paul, for example, writes to the
Corinthians, his letter is to be acknowledged as possessing divine authority (1
Cor. 14:37). This letter had authority
from the moment he wrote it, yet it could not be referred to as canonical until
it was received in a list of accepted writings formed sometime later. At a later time it was accepted as canonical
because of its inherent authority. A
book first has divine authority based on its inspiration, and then attains
canonicity due to its general acceptance as a divine product. No church council by its decrees can make
the books of the Bible authoritative.
The books of the Bible possess their own authority and indeed had this
authority long before there were any councils of the church. Ibid. p.81,82
12. How much was Jeremiah told to
write? Jer. 36:1,2
____________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
13. Did Jeremiah write on the scroll
all the words God told him to write? v. 4 ___________
14. Who did? ___________________
Note: Apparently, it is acceptable
for a prophet to use a secretary.
15. Who read the prophecies of
Jeremiah to the people? vs. 5-8 __________________________
These sacred writings or
oracles which have thus come down to us through the Jews we call the Bible,
the Scriptures, the Word of God, etc.
The word ABible@ is derived from the Greek biblia,
and means Athe books,@ and is therefore not an
unsuitable title, although ?the Book@ -- for it is one complete whole -- is a far more
correct term. We read of Athe scroll of the book@ in Psa. 40:7 and Heb. 10:
7 quoting from Psa. 40 as Athe volume of the book.@
The word AScriptures@ is derived from the Latin,
and means Athe writings.@ This is a simple and
accurate term. In Dan. 10:21 we read of
Athe Scripture of Truth.@ In Hos. 8:12 God says AI have written unto him the great things of My law;@ and in a very real sense
it may be said of the whole, as it was of the Ten Commandments, AThe writing was the writing
of God@ (Exo. 32:16). Indeed, in 2 Kings 17: 37 we read of Athe statutes and the
ordinances and the law, and the commandments which He [God] wrote.@
But the AWord of God@ is an equally suitable and
reverent title, as it marks out the Book as being something quite distinct from
all the writings or words of man. AThe sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God@ (Eph. 6:17); the ?word of God,@ which is quick and
powerful (Heb.4:12), etc. Both this and
Athe Scriptures@ were favourite titles with
our Lord. -- Collett, Sidney, ALL ABOUT THE BIBLE, Page 12
PURPOSE OF THE BIBLE
16. What benefits would Joshua experience
from obeying the Law? Josh. 1:7,8 ________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
17. How carefully was Joshua to
follow the law? vs. 7,8 __________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
18. What would it take on Joshua=s part to keep (not depart from) the
Law of God? vs. 7,8 _______________
__________________________________________________________________________
19. List three specific benefits
from keeping God=s law from the heart. Proverbs 3:1,2
___________________
___________________________________________________________________________
20.
Besides things to do, what else was written in the Law, the Psalms, and
the Prophets?
Luke 24:44
_________________________________________________________________
21. What indicates that the four
gospels of Jesus, i.e., Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, are not
exhaustive biographies of Jesus? Jo.
21:25 _____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
22. For what purpose were certain
items included in the gospel of John? Jo. 20:30,31 ____________________
________________________________________________________________
23. List four benefits of Scripture
according to 2 Timothy 3:16.
a. _____________________________
b. _____________________________
c. _____________________________
d.
________________________________________________
24. What is the purpose of the Bible
according to v. 17? ___________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Answers:
1. The Lord
2. For a memorial
3. Moses wrote
4. Book of the Covenant
5. The Lord
6. God will add to him the
plagues written in this book (scroll)
7. God will take away his
part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things (promises)
written in this Book (scroll)
8. Priests, Levi, elders of
Israel
9. Every seven years
10. That all may hear and
learn to fear the Lord, and carefully observe all the words of this law as long
as they live in the land.
11. Those born since the
last reading
12. All the words that God
spoke to him against Israel, Judah, and all the nations from the days of Josiah
13. No
14. Baruch
15. Baruch
16. Prosper wherever he
would go, have good success
17. Do no turn from it to
the right hand or to the left
18. Be strong and very
courageous, meditate in it day and night
19. Length of days, long
life, peace
20. Things concerning
Christ
21. World could not contain
the books if everything written
22. That we may believe
that Jesus is the Christ and that we might have life in His name
23. a. profitable for
doctrine, b. for reproof, c. for correction, d. instruction in righteousness
24. That the man of God may
be complete, and thoroughly furnished for every good work
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