KNOWING THE BIBLE
Chapter 2
THE COMPLETION OF THE BIBLE
WEEK 2 - TUESDAY
Bible Reading: Gal 1:19; 2:9
Read and pray: "All Scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness," (2 Timothy 3:16)
The fourteen books, from Romans to Hebrews, were written by Paul. He, in his origin, was zealous for Judaism and was also a very cultured person. He had ability, skill, and competence, and could accomplish things. He was especially called by the Lord, while still young, to become an apostle to the Gentiles. All his books were written in Gentile lands, and some were written in a Roman prison.
The Epistle of James was written by James. He was a blood brother of the Lord Jesus (Gal 1:19) and was a devoted Christian who became a pillar in the church (2:9), but who was full of Judaism, coming from his past. His book was probably written in Jerusalem.
The First and Second Epistles of Peter were written by Peter. Peter was also an unlearned fisherman, but he was called by the Lord to become the first of the twelve apostles. His books were probably written in a Gentile country.
The three Epistles of John were written by the apostle John. All must have been written in Gentile lands.
The book of Jude was written by Jude. He was also a blood brother of the Lord. He may have written this book in Judea.
The book of Revelation was also written by the apostle John. It was written in Gentile lands, probably on the island of Patmos.
Therefore, there are eight authors of the New Testament. Among them, Paul was a Jewish scholar and Luke a Gentile physician. They were the only ones who had received higher education. The others were all common people, without much learning.
The number of authors of the whole Bible is greater than forty, and most of them were Jews. Luke was a Gentile. This shows that among the authors there were Jews and Gentiles, kings and common people, scribes and soldiers, educated and uneducated people. Some held high positions and others very humble ones; some were rich and others poor. There were all kinds of people.
As for the places where the books were written, some were written in the desert, others in a palace, others on an island, and others in prison.
IV. WHEN THE BIBLE WAS WRITTEN
The first books of the Old Testament, the Pentateuch of Moses, were written around 1500 B.C. The last book, Malachi, was written around 400 B.C.
Therefore, the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament were completed over a period of eleven hundred years.
Matthew, the first book of the New Testament, was written between the years 37 and 40 A.D. Revelation, the last book, was written between 94 and 96 A.D. Therefore, the whole New Testament was completed within approximately fifty years. Thus, the whole Bible was completed in a period of fifteen hundred to sixteen hundred years, from beginning to end, from Genesis to Revelation.
V. THE RECOGNITION
OF THE AUTHORITY OF THE BIBLE
The Old Testament
1. The Pentateuch of Moses
Among the writings of the Old Testament, the Pentateuch was always recognized by the Jews as coming from God and having absolute and divine authority. This was because it was the written revelation of God to Moses, and was passed down by their ancestors.
Although the Jews recognize that the whole Old Testament is from God, they give the Pentateuch of Moses a special position. Today, in all Jewish synagogues throughout the world, there are at least two or three copies of the Pentateuch of Moses. They may not have other books of the Old Testament, but they always have the Pentateuch.
Consequently, the Samaritans recognized only the Pentateuch of Moses. It is clear that the religion of the Samaritans is distorted, but this proves the authority of the Pentateuch of Moses among the ancient worshipers of God.
2. The Other Books
The other books of the Old Testament were gradually recognized by the people of God as coming from God, because of their own value and authority. One author put this matter very well by making the following statement:
"It is not necessary to call a tree by its name. It only needs to grow gradually, blossom, and bear fruit. Then, spontaneously, men will recognize what kind of tree it is. In the same way, whether the other books of the Old Testament came from God or not, the best answer comes from time; no explicit declaration is needed. The values and authority of the books spontaneously manifest themselves."
This is true. All the inspired writers among the people of God, after the Pentateuch, had their writings recognized as coming from God through a long period of testing and by the identification of authority in them.
Around the year 457 B.C., the scribe Ezra compiled the Pentateuch of Moses and the other authorized writings, commonly recognized among the people of God, which would become the Old Testament (the books of Nehemiah and Malachi were not included because they had not yet been written). The Jewish historian Josephus and other Gentile historians confirm this fact.
After Ezra, there was a group of scribes among the Jews called "The Great Synagogue" who continued this work of compilation and verification. In 400 B.C., they completed the compilation of all the books we have today in the Old Testament. However, in their work there were not thirty-nine books, but twenty-four. We will speak about this later.
Therefore, around the year 400 B.C., the Scriptures of the Old Testament were not only complete but also recognized and confirmed.
In any case, around 277 B.C., at the latest, when the translation of the Old Testament into Greek, called the Septuagint, was made, all the books of the Old Testament must already have been recognized.
Enjoy more:
Hymn - Study of the Word - "The Function of the Word"
No comments:
Post a Comment