The Accuracy of the Scriptures
Passing God's Word Down Through the Generations
Article I
Man’s understanding of God
Down through the centuries, man’s understanding of God, heaven and hell, salvation, life or death has come in one of two ways:
- Observation or personal analysis to where man is left to draw his own conclusions.
- Indoctrination of beliefs from another person or organization.
Either way, error is inescapable because the human mind is flawed and imperfect. The only standard of truth comes from one source – the Word of God. How then can man trust that the Scriptures are accurate to point the way to God and the issues of life which are so critical for one to know and understand?
Learning to trust the Word of God as Truth
This series of articles on "The Accuracy of the Scriptures" intends on giving pertinent information that is helpful to understanding and applying the Word of God to your life. This article purposes to show the accuracy of Scripture from its formation to the present. What God once said to the ancients of Adam, Moses, David, the apostles and disciples, He is saying to us today. Once you can fully trust that the Word of God comes directly from God, and it is His Word to you personally, you can then begin to learn and understand the wonderful truths that He has been teaching His people down through the ages, and to know that it is still applicable today.
“Sola Scriptura” is an ancient Latin term meaning “Scripture alone.” It simply is saying that the Bible alone is the only inerrant rule for deciding issues of faith and practice. It is the only source and norm for all Christian knowledge. The Word of God is the final authority!
2 Tim 3:16-17 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
Our Bibles are infallible in that what the authors willed to convey, through the power of the Holy Spirit, with regard to matters of faith (doctrine) and practice (ethics) is truth and will never lead us astray. Our Bibles are inerrant in that what the authors willed to convey with regards to matters of fact (history, geography, science, etc.) are also true and will never lead us astray.
Throughout this, and all other articles in the Online Bible School, the Word of God will be used to validate what is being taught. It is the final authority! It is the intentions of the Online Bible School to keep every verse within the context of its originality, not pulling out obscure verses to prove a point or change a meaning. The Word of God should always speak for itself.
While there are a lot of scripture verses that could be used, only a small portion is necessary to point out biblical truth. The King James or New King James Version of the Bible will be used for all scripture verses, unless otherwise noted.
The accuracy of the Word of God
How we know and understand God, His nature, and ways comes through our knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. If we depended on what other people or institutions, religious or otherwise, say about God, not relying totally on what the Scriptures say about Him, then our view of God can become skewed. It then becomes imperative to know that the Word of God is accurately true as we validate Who God is.
The reliability of the Word of God
There are 66 books in the Bible written by over 40 different men with over 40 different personalities over a span of 3500 years. Each scroll (book) was written on its own, yet every one fits together as one. It was written by such people as kings, prophets, priests, physicians, fisherman, shepherds, tax collectors, and butler. With the exception of one, every scroll (book) was written by a Jew. Each writer was either a prophet of God, or someone closely aligned to one, or an eye witness of Jesus Christ who were all inspired by the power of Holy Spirit.
The Oral Word of God
The Oral Traditions between Adam and Moses
There is no written record of anything before 1450 B.C. Adam, as the first man, passed the oral words of God down to his sons and his son’s sons. Each generation passed what they had been given by their father through rote memorization. Adam lived to be around 900 years of age, and was alive up to the time of Methusalah, the oldest known man on record. Methusalah, in turn, was alive through the birth of Noah – all the way to just before the flood, which are nine generations and a total of 1656 years since Adam. Since people lived to be extremely old before the flood of Noah, the passing down of persons, relationships, and events, therefore, was not as difficult as it would seen. They were known by everyone. What the forefathers passed down became known as oral traditions.
Lifespan chart from Adam to Noah
The lifespan chart below (beginning in 4038 B.C. or 1656 years before the flood of Noah) shows how Adam was capable of communicating with his family all the way to the time of Methuselah, who then in turn communicated to Noah:
From Noah to Abraham
The time from Noah to Abraham was 427 years and was a time scattering and rebuilding. Two of Noah’s sons moved to other parts of the world while his eldest son Shem stayed in the area near his father. It is within the realm of remote possibility that Shem and Abram (later called Abraham) knew one another because they lived within the same time frame. If that were true, the passing down of oral traditions of their forefathers would have been recalled.
From Abraham until the Exodus
From the time of Abraham until the Exodus was another 430 years. Under the influence of Joseph, Abraham’s great-grandson and his entire family of 70 left Canaan and headed to Egypt to escape the famine in their land. There, in Egypt, they settled down to live. What was once a haven away from drought, eventually brought on a slavery that lasted for over 400 years.
As mentioned earlier, before 1450 B.C. there were no historical documentations of God speaking to His people. Everything passed down was from oral tradition that passed from father to son by word of mouth and memorization, and thus preserved as much as possible among the people. It wasn’t until God spoke to Moses did any documentation of people or events get put in print for preservation. God revealed the accuracy of His Word, as given to Adam through that present time like a prophecy. Instead of going forward, however, God went back in time and showed Moses His timeless Word to His people. It is also within the strong realm of possibility that what God told Moses confirmed with some of the memorized oral tradition that had been passed down through the centuries by the forefathers, because the Jewish people are historically noted for their accuracy in carrying tradition for preservation. Sowhat God told Moses was a confirmation of His Truth to His people.
God's written Word
God called Moses to lead His people
The time was about 1450 B.C. when God instructed Moses to go back to Egypt and then lead the Israelites back to their own country. When Moses heard from God atop the mountain in Moab, he asked Him who He should be referred to when he talked to the Hebrew people. God told him, as in Exodus 3:13, “I am Who I am” ( ְי הוה ) . The Hebrew word for “I am” was “ehyeh,” which comes from the English verb “to be.” It can also be translated as “I shall be.” Both words have the sense of “being actively present.” God then told Moses to say to the Israelites that He is the LORD, the God of their fathers…” God’s name was so sacred and holy to the Israelites, that no man was allowed to publicly speak His name. It was considered blasphemous to do so – and considered taking His name in vain.
As foreordained by God, and the obedience of Moses, the Israelites finally left Egypt. They had grown from a family of 70 who entered into that foreign land 400 years earlier to a nation of over two million people when they left. God used Moses as their leader and spokesman to teach them that they must see God as a holy God; they needed to see themselves as a people of God who not only must trust Him for all of their needs, but realize that all blessings come from Him. Trust and obedience were key to knowing their God.
God spoke to Moses on the mountaintop at Mount Sinai while he and the Israelites wandered in the wilderness. God drew His laws in stone, and carved them out for His people in what we know of today as the Decalogue (or Ten Commandments). God also established another 613 laws which would protect His people as they began their new life away from bondage in their promised land. He instructed them to build a tabernacle – a place where they could meet God. The establishment of the high priest, the priesthood, the inner and outer court, the brazen altar of sacrifice, the laver for cleansing, and other utensils were given. The tabernacle became the place where the Israelites could again re-establish themselves as the people of God. When they sinned, they had to bring sacrifices of animal blood to the brazen altar in the outer courts of the tabernacle as an atonement for their sins.
Animal sacrifce was shown as a way of pleasing God before the Israelites went to Egypt.
An example was Abraham's willingness to sarifice his son Isaac, and Go gave him instead a ram for sacrifice.
Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest went into the holy of holies, as a representative of the Hebrew nation, to offer up to God the sacrifices for sin. Inside the holy of holies rested the presence of God and the Decalogue within the Ark of the Covenant. It was only in this sacred place where the divine name of God could be spoken by the high priest.
The prophecies of time past
During the rest of the year, God’s presence rested upon the mountain top where Moses frequented himself. In His presence, God continued to instruct Moses. He told him to document His laws, which became known as the Torah, and then document the history of mankind. God, through the means of prophecy (looking backward to the beginning of time) spoke to Moses to show him how mankind came into being, along with its history of where they had come up to the time of the wandering in the wilderness. That prophesied information was then placed on scrolls, which became known as the Book of Moses, and eventually split up into five books – known as the Pentateuch. These scrolls were meant for preservation of the Jewish people as they continued their lives into the promised land. In conjunction to what Moses taught them, it became an intricate part of their oral traditions and continued to be memorized and passed down from generation to generation.