Hello and welcome to today's 94:18 Christian Studios Spark of Hope!
5 billion copies. Countless given away for free. The Bible has been proven from time to time to be the most popular book in history, with record breaking numbers of copies sold and read throughout the centuries. But can we trust it? How do we know as Christians that the Bible is reliable and hasn't been completely changed? Looking into the history of those who protected the manuscripts of the Bible will answer that question.
The people chosen to write the Bible (Paul, Moses, David etc.) were ordinary, everyday people who dedicated their life to serving God and writing the Bible. They were extremely close to God and every word they wrote into the Bible is God-breathed, reliable, and inspired by God. 2 Timothy 3:16 states that "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,"
Secondly, the priests who wrote copies of the Bible were a few selected people of high standards who trained their entire life to be able to copy the Bible. Jewish culture gave the Bible a level of respect and honor that we may never be able to experience. The Jewish priests lived by the principle that if you messed up a single "jot or tittle" you would be sent to Hell.
Revelation 22:18-19 affirms,
I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.
If someone who's worked their entire life to get to the position of highest honor in Jewish society believes that they will rot in Hell if they forget even a jot, (the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet), the Bible would be amazingly accurate in their transcriptions throughout time.
This prompts the question:
Is the Bible outdated if it was written and copied and copied and copied and copied?
No. The Bible never will be outdated because it is God-breathed. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The Bible can be applied to the Middle Ages and it can be applied to modern day! Humans have been struggling with the same sins as when the Old Testament was created; lying, cheating, stealing, killing, hurting, blaming, you name it.
The reliability of the Bible is a beautiful concept. The hundreds, even thousands of manuscripts found from thousands of years ago all coordinate with each other perfectly. God truly is the Author of the Bible and protects His Word in a wonderful way.
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
He said, “Go and tell this people: “ ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
Isaiah 6:8-9 NIV
Jiaqi
94:18 Christian Studios
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