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Monday Morning Prophecy #36 – The Messiah Would be Revealed to People Not Seeking Him

Wayne — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 13:00:57 +0000

Introduction

The Jews waited hundreds and thousands of years for their promised Messiah, but the Old Testament prophecies indicate that the Messiah would be revealed to a people not even seeking him.

Old Testament Prophecy

“I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me;
I was found by those who did not seek me.
To a nation that did not call on my name,
I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’ [Isaiah 65:1 NIV]

New Testament Fulfillment

A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demonpossession.” Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.” “Yes, Lord,” she said, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour. [Matthew 15:22-28 NIV]

But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did: “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says, “I will make you envious by those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding.” And Isaiah boldly says, “I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.” [Romans 10:18-20 NIV]

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Monday Morning Prophecy #35 – The Messiah Would be Rejected by The Jews

Wayne — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 13:00:25 +0000

Introduction

Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve looked at a number of people who rejected Jesus. The Old Testament also clearly prophesies that the Jewish people would reject their Messiah.

Old Testament Prophecy

But I said, “I have labored to no purpose;
I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing.
Yet what is due me is in the LORD’s hand,
and my reward is with my God.” [Isaiah 49:4 NIV]

All day long I have held out my hands
to an obstinate people,
who walk in ways not good,
pursuing their own imaginations- [Isaiah 65:2 NIV]

New Testament Fulfillment

When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there. Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? they asked. Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things? And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor. And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith. [Matthew 13:53-58 NIV]

Haven’t you read this scripture: “ ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; [Mark 12:10 NIV]

Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews? asked Pilate, knowing it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead. What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews? Pilate asked them. Crucify him! they shouted. Why? What crime has he committed? asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, Crucify him! Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. [Mark 15:9-15 NIV]

All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. [Luke 4:28-29 NIV]

But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. [Luke 17:25 NIV]

He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. [John 1:11 NIV]

So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. [John 5:16 NIV]

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Monday Morning Prophecy #34 – The Messiah Would Be Rejected by His Own

Wayne — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 13:00:53 +0000

Introduction

Not only would the Messiah be rejected by his own family, the Old Testament also prophesied that the Messiah would be rejected by his own people.

Old Testament Prophecy

But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by men and despised by the people. [Psalm 22:6 NIV]

I am a stranger to my brothers,
an alien to my own mother’s sons; [Psalm 69:8 NIV]

New Testament Fulfillment

But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus. [Matthew 12:14 NIV]

But they were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus. [Luke 6:11 NIV]

The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil. [John 7:7 NIV]

As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!” But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.” [John
19:6 NIV]

But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.” But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. [Luke 23:21-23 NIV]

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Monday Morning Prophecy #33 – The Messiah Would be Rejected by Family

Wayne — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 13:00:42 +0000

Introduction

Last week, we looked at the attempts against the Messiah’s life predicted in the Old Testament, but the Old Testament also prophesied that the Messiah would be rejected by his very own family.

Old Testament Prophecy

I am a stranger to my brothers,
an alien to my own mother’s sons; [Psalm 69:8 NIV]

New Testament Fulfillment

Jesus’ brothers said to him, “You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” For even his own brothers did not believe in him. [John 7:3-5 NIV]

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Monday Morning Prophecy #32 – Many Would Conspire to Kill the Messiah

Wayne — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 13:00:35 +0000

Introduction

When Jesus walked the earth, there were a number of attempts to take his life. The Old Testament predicted thousands of years earlier that that would be the case.

Old Testament Prophecy

For I hear the slander of many;
there is terror on every side;
they conspire against me
and plot to take my life. [Psalm 31:13]

New Testament Fulfillment

Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people came to the decision to put Jesus to death. [Matthew 27:1]

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Monday Morning Prophecy #31 – The Messiah Would Come Incarnate as a Man

Wayne — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 13:00:49 +0000

Introduction

Last week we looked at the prophecies that the Messiah would dwell amongst God’s creation. The Old Testament also indicates that God would condescend himself and come in the form of a man.

Old Testament Prophecy

I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God;
I myself will see him
with my own eyes-I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me! [Job 19:25-27]

New Testament Fulfillment

“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.

“Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out–those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. [John 5:24-29]

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Monday Morning Prophecy #30 – The Messiah Would Dwell Amongst His People

Wayne — Mon, 31 May 2010 13:00:06 +0000

Introduction

Unlike many so called gods of other religions, the Old Testament prophesied that the Messiah would come to earth and dwell among God’s people.

Old Testament Prophecy

“Shout and be glad, O Daughter of Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,” declares the LORD. “Many nations will be joined with the LORD in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you. [Zechariah 2:10-11]

New Testament Fulfillment

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. [John 1:14]

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Monday Morning Prophecy #29 – Children Would Praise Him

Wayne — Mon, 24 May 2010 13:00:17 +0000

This morning, I am introducing a couple of changes to the format of Monday Morning Prophecy. First, in previous installments, the verses included were from the English Standard Version of the Bible. Going forward, quotes are taken from the New International Version. Although I prefer the ESV for my reading and study, the database of Old Testament prophecy I has previously accumulated included verses from the NIV. In order allow me more time to spend with my family, I have opted not to update these to the ESV version. Secondly, I intend to go with a more streamlined approach to presenting these prophecies which includes much less verbiage from me. For the most part, these verses speak for themselves, and it does not seem necessary to include a lot of my own thoughts to further explain the prophecies. Henceforth, my intent is to include a one or two sentence introduction simply followed by the verse(s) reflecting the Old Testament Prophecy and the verse(s) representing the New Testament fulfillment.

Introduction

One of the many prophecies of the Old Testament fulfilled in Jesus was that children would praise him. On a personal note, as someone who works with kids, this is one of my favorite prophecies. The idea that the Messiah would forego the praise of royalty and dignitaries for the praise of children says a lot about the special affection God has for kids.

Old Testament Prophecy

From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise
because of your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
[Psalm 8:2]

New Testament Fulfillment

But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant. “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him. “Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read, “ ‘From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise’?” [Matthew 21:15-16]

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Monday Morning Prophecy #28 – The Messiah Would Heal the Lame

Wayne — Mon, 03 May 2010 13:00:02 +0000

Welcome back to the Monday Morning Prophecy. It’s been months since this series went on hiatus for a couple of other longs running series, but now it makes its triumphant return. In this series, we are working through the Old Testament prophecies of the coming Messiah and their New Testament fulfillment. This week marks the end of the prophecies related to the miracles the Messiah would perform during his earthly ministry.

In Isaiah, we read that, amongst other things, the coming Messiah would heal the lame:

Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.” Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; [Isaiah 35:4-6 ESV]

The New Testament records numerous instances of the fulfillment of this prophecy. In Matthew we read of the time John the Baptist’s disciples came and questioned Jesus about whether or not he was the Messiah. Jesus’ reply speaks to the miracles he performed:

Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” [Matthew 11:2-6 ESV]

Matthew records at least two other instances of Jesus healing the lame:

And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them, [Matthew 15:30 ESV]

And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. [Matthew 21:14 ESV]

Luke shares the story of a lame woman healed by Jesus on the Sabbath:

Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. [Luke 13:10-13 ESV]

John also recounts a story of Jesus healing the lame:

One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath. [John 5:5-9 ESV]

The Old Testament is clear that one of the signs of the coming Messiah would be the miracles he would perform including healing the lame. The New Testament is clear that Jesus fulfilled these prophecies.

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Why I Believe the Bible #11 (The Honesty of the Bible About Its Authors and Heroes)

Wayne — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:00:45 +0000

The Bible is a brutally honest book. One of the things that it is most honest and forthright about is the character flaws of its authors and main characters. The Bible focuses on reality and how God works through the weaknesses of those he created to accomplish his plan. It does not concentrate on fantasy.

If the Bible were strictly a human endeavor, one would have expected its authors to exclude their own flaws from the story and the flaws of their patriarchs. Far from excluding such information the Bible is replete with the sins of its writers. It reveals both the good and the evil, the best and the worst, the hope and despair and the joy and pain of its authors.

The exhaustive look at the examples of this honest treatment of its characters would be way to long for this article, but let’s look a number of examples.

Old Testament Examples

When Adam and Eve eat the fruit from the forbidden tree and are confronted by God, they go immediately into blames-shifting mode with Eve blaming the whole thing on the serpent, Adam blaming it on Eve, and eventually even blaming the whole thing on God. (Genesis 3)
After being one of only eight people on earth saved by God from the flood, Noah gets so drunk that he passes out and is unaware of what is going on around him. (Genesis 9)
Rather than relying on God, Abraham succumbs to cowardice and instructs his wife to tell foreign rulers that she is his sister.

When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.” [Genesis 12:11-13 ESV]

Abraham ignores the promise of God and has a son by his wife’s servant Hagar. (Genesis 16)
Isaac and Rebekah played favorites with their kids leading to all kinds of family strife. (Genesis 25:28)
Jacob tricked his father with the help of his mother. (Genesis 27)
Simeon and Levi killed an entire people in a jealous rage. (Genesis 34)
Joseph’s brothers sold in him to slavery and told their Dad he was dead. (Genesis 37)
Judah slept with his daughter-in-law. (Genesis 38)
The Israelites worshiped a golden calf while Moses was getting the ten commandments.
Moses was disobedient to God and was not allowed to enter the promised land.
The sins of the people of Israel were constantly revealed and denounced:

You have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you. [Deuteronomy 9:24 ESV]

David impregnates a married woman and had her husband killed in battle to try to cover it up (2 Samuel 11-12)
David did not effectively run his family which resulted in one son raping his daughter, another son killing his brother for revenge and another son trying to wrestle the kingdom from his father.
Solomon, the wisest man alive, married multitudes of women who led him to worship other Gods

New Testament Examples

The trend considered with the New Testament. Consider:

Matthew was a tax collector named Levi before being called by Jesus
Jesus dined with prostitutes
Saul persecuted and killed Christian before meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus.
Jesus rebuked Peter and called him “Satan.”
Peter denied the Lord three times on the night of his crucifixion.
John overzealously and impulsively asked Jesus to allow him to call down thunder on a group of people.
The disciples argued over who was the greatest.
Jesus was constantly rebuking his disciples for their actions and lack of understanding.
The Bible reveals the early church was divided, arrogant and materialistic.

For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. [1 Corinthians 1:11 ESV]

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? [1 Corinthians 15:12 ESV]

For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you. [2 Corinthians 2:4 ESV]

It’s clear that far from trying to hide their flaws and failures, the Bible actual highlights those. In the words of Lewis S. Chafer (founder of Dallas Theological Seminary),

“The Bible is not such a man would write if he could, or could write if he would.”

Return to the Why I Believe The Bible index page.

Monday Morning Prophecy #27 – The Messiah Would Heal the Mute

Wayne — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:00:03 +0000

We’ve covered the prophecies concerning the coming Messiah healing the blind and deaf in earlier weeks. This week we will look at the prophecies that the Messiah would also heal the mute. If you have been following this series, by now the following prophecy from the book of Isaiah, written hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus, should be familiar:

Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.” Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; [Isaiah 35:4-6 ESV]

We’re going slightly out of order as we should probably handle the healing of the lame first, but we’ll take care of that in a later installment. The point is that God let his people know hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus that the Messiah would accomplish the following miracles:

Heal the blind
Heal the deaf
Heal the lame
Heal the mute

We turn once again to the book of Matthew for examples of Jesus healing the mute:

As they were going away, behold, a demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to him. And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled, saying, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.” [Matthew 9:32-33 ESV]

Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?” [Matthew 12:22-23 ESV]

Once again, we see the miracles of Jesus forecast hundreds of years before his birth and recorded by a prophet of God.

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Image courtesy of Abby Reed

Why I Believe the Bible #10 (Eyewitness Evidence)

Wayne — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:00:47 +0000

At the time it was written, the Bible was widely circulated and viewed by eyewitnesses to the events it records. As regards the New Testament, fragments of 5 books have been found from within 35 years of Jesus’ death. These eyewitnesses would have been in a position to refute what the authors had written and the lack of any such refutation provides further evidence for the reliability of the Bible.

In his letter to the church in Corinth, Paul explains that Jesus appeared to 500 and disciples and makes a point that many of them are still alive.

Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. [1 Corinthians 15:6-8 ESV]

The point is clear, these eyewitnesses were there when the event in question happened, and Paul invites his readers to go corroborate what he is saying. Rather than shy away from historical figures and events which can easily be proven or disproven, the Bible if chocked full of such events. Paul is so certain that what he is writing is truth that he invites people to go check it out.

Further support for the reliability of the claims of the Bible, particularly the claims made by the apostles in the New Testament, rests in the persecution they faced from the Roman government and Jewish authorities. Despite rebuke, beatings, prison, attempts on their lives, and eventual martyrdom, not one of the apostles ever recounted on their story. It is hard to believe that every man in that group would have been willing to be persecuted and eventually die for a lie. Furthermore, the Jewish authorities and Roman officials were concerned with the growth of this “sect.” If they had any evidence to disprove the claims of the apostles and disciples, they certainly would have produced it. No such evidence exists!

Finally, there are a number of verses in the Bible where the apostles reiterate that they story they are recording is not something they learned second hand but something which they were eyewitnesses to.

Peter explains:

For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. [2 Peter 1:16 ESV]

In the introduction to his famous epistle, John explains that they were witnesses to the Jesus Christ which they proclaimed. They had seen him and heard him firsthand:

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life– the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us– that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. [1 John 1:1-3 ESV]

In compiling his gospel, Luke relied on numerous eyewitness accounts:

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, [Luke 1:1-3 ESV]

In the sequel to the Gospel of Luke, Luke explains in Acts that Jesus appeared to his disciples and taught them for the forty days prior to his ascension:

In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. [Acts 1:1-3 ESV]

In the Gospel of John, John explains that Jesus performed miracles and signs in the presence of the disciples so that people would believe he was the Christ. Jesus’ plan included the use of eyewitness testimony to his divinity:

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. [John 20:30-31 ESV]

This sentiment is echoed in the book of Acts:

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know–[Acts 2:22 ESV]

Peter, in exhorting his fellow elders, reminds them that he was an eyewitness:

So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: [1 Peter 5:1 ESV]

Finally, in his defense before Festus and King Agrippa, Paul reminds the rulers that Jesus’ miracles and ministry were not done in secret. Rather, they were done in plain view as a testimony to who Jesus was and to allow those eyewitnesses to accurately record what they had seen:

And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.” But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words. For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?” [Acts 26:24-28 ESV]

In conclusion, the eyewitness evidence is overwhelming. Jesus intentionally created eyewitnesses to attest to what he had done. Those eyewitnesses accurately recorded what they had seen. Those writings were done when other eyewitnesses were still around and could have refuted the Biblical account. Despite this, there is no record of this happening. Finally, the Jewish and Roman authorities could easily have squashed this “sect” by producing evidence that the accounts of Jesus were untrue. They were never able to produce such evidence.

Return to the Why I Believe The Bible index page.

Monday Morning Prophecy #26 – The Messiah Would Heal the Deaf

Wayne — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:00:18 +0000

Last week we looked at the prophecies which indicated that the Messiah would heal the blind. Those prophecies were recorded in the book of Isaiah hundreds of years before the birth of Christ. In that same book, we find a number of prophecies indicating that the Messiah would also heal the deaf:

In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. [Isaiah 29:18 ESV]

Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.” Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; [Isaiah 35:4-6 ESV]

The book of Mark records the events in the region of the Decapolis when Jesus healed a deaf man with a speech impediment:

Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. [Mark 7:31-35 ESV]

Finally, when John the Baptist’s disciples inquired of Jesus as to whether or not he was the Messiah, he pointed to the healing of the deaf as one of the things indicating that he was:

Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” [Matthew 11:2-6 ESV]

Like the healing of the blind, God prophesied through Isaiah hundreds of years before Jesus’ birth that he would heal the deaf. This was given to us by God as another sign of the coming Messiah and would be fulfilled by a carpenter from Nazareth named Jesus.

Return to the Monday Morning Prophecy index page.

Image courtesy of Abby Reed

Monday Morning Prophecy #25 – The Messiah Would Heal The Blind

Wayne — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:00:24 +0000

Last week we looked at the prophecy that the coming Messiah would calm the seas. This week we will look at the prophecy that the Messiah would also heal the blind.

Old Testament Prophecy

Hundreds of years before the birth of Christ, the prophet Isaiah made it clear that the coming Messiah would give sight to the blind:

In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. [Isaiah 29:18 ESV]

Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.” Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; [Isaiah 35:4-6 ESV]

“I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. [Isaiah 42:6-7 ESV]

In addition to all his other miracles, these passages make it clear that one of the signs of the coming Messiah would be bringing sight to the blind.

New Testament Fulfillment

The New Testament records numerous examples of instances where Jesus healed the blind in fulfillment of this prophecy. The following are some examples from the book of Matthew:

And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.” When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.” And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about it.” [Matthew 9:27-30 ESV]

Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?” [Matthew 12:22-23 ESV]

And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him. [Matthew 20:29-34 ESV]

Jesus referred to the fulfillment of this specific prophecy when John the Baptist’s disciples came asking if he was the Messiah:

Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” [Matthew 11:2-6 ESV]

Finally, there is the famous story from the book of John:

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.” [John 9:1-11 ESV]

Jesus clearly fulfilled the Old Testament prophecy that the coming Messiah would heal the blind, and these miracles bear witness to the fact that he was the Son of God.

Return to the Monday Morning Prophecy index page.

Image courtesy of Abby Reed

Why I Believe the Bible #09B (The Process of Canonization – The New Testament)

Wayne — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:00:15 +0000

Like the Old Testament, the canon of the New Testament was not determined by man. Rather the Canon of the New Testament was determined by God, generally accepted by the church, and finally confirmed by man.

The Test of Apostleship

In order for a book to become part of the New Testament, one of the criteria was that the book had to be authored either directly by an apostle (like Matthew, John and Paul’s Epistles) or by someone close to an apostle (like Luke or Mark or Jude). The authority of the apostles to deliver God’s Word was recognized by many and is acknowledged in the New Testament itself.

In the book of Acts, we are told of Cornelius sent to Peter in order to hear the word of God:

And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say.” [Acts 10:22 ESV]

In the book of Ephesians, Paul groups the apostles with the prophets who recorded much of the Old Testament:

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, [Ephesians 2:19-20 ESV]

Further, in 1 Thessalonians, Paul refers to his teaching as the Word of God:

And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. [1 Thessalonians 2:13 ESV]

Jude also refers to the apostles as prophets:

But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” [Jude 1:17-18 ESV]

Early Acceptance of the Canon

The New Testament Canon was accepted shortly after the time the original books were written. By the latter part of the 2^nd century, the core collection of the New Testament was generally recognized within the church. By the early 200’s AD, Origen listed all 27 books that are in the New Testament Canon today. In that work he questioned only six of the books. He did not indicate that they were not part of the Canon but noted that there were some unknowns regarding those books. They were as follows (an indication of the reason for the question is included in parentheses):

Hebrews (author unknown)
James (dispute over misperceived conflict between faith and works)
2 Peter (style different than 1 Peter. A scribe was used for 1 Peter who may have helped Peter with his Greek.)
2 & 3 John – (Because the author calls himself elder instead of apostle. Interestingly, Peter also referred to himself as an elder)
Jude – (Dispute because it refers to Book of Enoch and the assumption of Moses. Notably the book does not refer to either of these works as scripture)
Revelation – (because the 1,000 year reign of Christ which is referred to in the book was also taught by a certain cult at that time)

Because of the early controversies, these books were not as attested to in the writings of the early church fathers. This led to the expansion of doubts by later fathers. Interestingly, the four gospel gained universal acceptance very early on with little controversy.

By A.D. 372, in the Festal letter of Athanasius, the Bishop of Alexandria, he lists all 27 New Testament books in exactly the same order as the current New Testament without any reservations. This order was affirmed by the Synod of Hippo in 393 A.D.

Tests of New Testament Canonicity

Like the Old Testament, the New Testament books had to meet a series of criteria in order to be considered scripture. Those included:

Was it written by a prophet of God?
Was the prophet confirmed by an act of God?
Does it tell the truth about God?
Does it have the power of God? (transforming power)
Was it accepted by people of God?

It is important to remember that this criteria was not used to autonomously judge scripture. To the contrary the church saw itself not as the determiner of scripture but merely as empowered only to receive and recognize what God has spoken through his apostles and their immediate companions.

New Testament Proof of Authority of Apostles to Write Scripture

New Testament books had to have apostolic authority in order to be considered part of the canon of scripture. Jesus created a limited group of authorized apostles:

In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles: [Luke 6:12-13 ESV]

Indeed, the authorized ministry of this small group of apostles actually began under the oversight of Jesus during his life:

And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. [Luke 9:1-2 ESV]

Before he departed this Earth, Jesus promised the Apostles that they would have the authority and divine guidance to write scripture:

“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. [John 14:25-26 ESV]

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. [John 16:12-14 ESV]

Jesus provided orders and proof to the apostles after he rose from the dead:

In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; [Acts 1:1-4 ESV]

Based on this, the Apostles saw themselves as authorized by God to be the witnesses to his bodily resurrection:

In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” [Acts 1:15-17 ESV]

They also saw themselves as qualified (within limits) to appoint a “replacement” for Judas:

So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us–one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. [Acts 1:21-26 ESV]

As indicated earlier, Paul also viewed the apostles at the foundation for the church and made them equal to the Old Testament Prophets:

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, [Ephesians 2:19-20 ESV]

God gave the apostles miracles to attest to their authority:

Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. [Acts 5:12 ESV]

And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. [Acts 2:43 ESV]

Paul viewed himself as an apostle with equal authority to the original 12:

Paul, an apostle–not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead– [Galatians 1:1 ESV]

On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), [Galatians 2:7-8 ESV]

Like the other apostles, Paul learned directly from Jesus:

Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” [Acts 9:3-6 ESV]

He was appointed an Apostle by Jesus:

But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles–to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ [Acts 26:16-18 ESV]

Paul understood that his words were not his own but “taught by Spirit:”

Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. [1 Corinthians 2:12-14 ESV]

Next time we will look more at how this rag tag group of men were chosen by God to record his word and how that lends more credibility to the Bible.

Return to the Why I Believe The Bible index page.

Monday Morning Prophecy #24 – The Messiah Would Calm the Seas

Wayne — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:00:36 +0000

We just finished up a number of weeks looking at the Old Testament prophecies regarding the genealogy of the coming Messiah and the fulfillment of those prophecies in the family line of Jesus Christ. In addition to predicting which family the Messiah would be born into, the Old Testament also includes a number of prophecies regarding the miracles that would be performed by the coming Messiah to prove that he came from God. In the next few installments of Monday Morning Prophecy, we will look at several of these prophecies beginning with a prophecy from Psalms about the time the Messiah would calm the seas.

In Psalm 107, we read the prophecy regarding the coming the Messiah calming the seas:

Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven. [Psalms 107:28-30 ESV]

To anyone familiar with the gospel accounts, reading this account from Psalms is sure to bring up images of the time the apostles were crossing choppy seas and Jesus slept. The story is recounted in Matthew 8:

And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?” [Matthew 8:23-27 ESV]

Despite the fear of the apostles, Jesus was quick to remind them to have faith and he quieted the seas around them consistent with the prophecy made hundreds of years earlier. This is just the first of many miracles prophesied in the Old Testament.

Return to the Monday Morning Prophecy index page.

Image courtesy of Abby Reed

Why I Believe the Bible #09A (The Process of Canonization – The Old Testament)

Wayne — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:00:31 +0000

Canon means “standardized.” In terms of the Bible, the Canon is the accepted list of books included in the Bible. Many have argued that a group of men got together at some point in history to determine which books should and should not be included in the Bible. To the contrary, God determined which books would be included in his Word and man simply confirmed what was already accepted as the canon of Scripture.

Due to differences between the Old and New Testaments and the authority by which they were canonized, I am splitting this section into two parts:

9A – Deals with the Canonization of the Old Testament
9B – Deals with the Canonization of the New Testament

The Process of Recording the Old Testament

One of the graces God has extended to mankind is to have his revealed Word recorded and passed down through the generations. From the very beginning, God was clear that his Word should be written down.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” [Exodus 17:14 ESV]

Indeed, God himself started the process of writing his Word when he gave Moses the Ten Commandments:

The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. [Exodus 32:16 ESV]

He was also clear that his Word should be preserved. Following his recording of the God’s revelation Moses made sure that it would be protected:

When Moses had finished writing the words of this law in a book to the very end, Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, “Take this Book of the Law and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against you. [Deuteronomy 31:24-26 ESV]

In the wisdom literature of the Bible and the prophets God was very clear about why his word must be written:

Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD: [Psalms 102:18 ESV]

And now, go, write it before them on a tablet and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come as a witness forever. [Isaiah 30:8 ESV]

God commanded that his word must be written in order to be preserved for future generations.

Explanation of the Hebrew Canon

Although it was set up slightly differently than the Old Testament we use today, the Hebrew version of the Old Testament contained the same books as we have today hundreds of years prior to the birth of Jesus. The Old Testament Hebrew Canon consisted of three distinct parts.

Part 1 – The law consisted of the first five books of our Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Number, and Deuteronomy) and contains the chronological account from creation through the death of Moses.

Part 2 – The Prophets contain narrative books which account for the time from entry into the promised land to the Babylonian exile. These include Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. In our current Bibles, the books of Samuel and Kings have both been divided into two parts. The Prophets section also includes oracle books including the prophetic literature in descending order of size. These include Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and The Book of the Twelve. The Book of the Twelve is generally known as the minor prophets based on the size of the books compared to the other prophetic literature.

Part 3 – The Writings sections (known as the Hagiographa) contain the lyrical and wisdom books in descending order of size. These include Psalms (with the book of Ruth as a prefix), Job, Proverbs, Sons of Solomon and Lamentation. Finally, the Writings section includes narrative books from the period of exile to the return. These include Daniel, Esther, Ezra-Nehemiah and Chronicles. In our current Bibles, Chronicles is split into two parts and Ezra-Nehemiah is included as two separate books.

By 130 B.C., all three sections of the Bible were mentioned in the Greek prologue to Sirach – a book in the Apocrypha in some Bibles. The Apocrypha is a collection of non-canonical books included in some versions of the Bible. The Apocrypha is not considered to be inspired by God and is not considered Scripture.

The Test of Canonization

Now that we have some understanding of why the Bible was written down and how the Hebrew Old Testament was compiled, let’s have a look at how it came to be that the books we currently called the Old Testament became part of the canon of Scripture.

The books written by Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) and Joshua (Joshua) were immediately accepted as being from God. The remainder of the books were tested to see if they met the qualifications of scripture. Those were:

Was the book authored by a recognized prophet of God or a leader in Israel?
Was there internal evidence of inspiration? In other words, was the authenticity of the book confirmed by God?
Did the book contain anything with obvious doctrinal or factual errors which would eliminate it from being part of the Canon?

The entire Old Testament was accepted by the Jewish people in its current state by no later than 167 B.C.

Evidence for the Canonization of the Old Testament

Many people, even those who accept the authority of Jesus Christ, question the authenticity of the Old Testament. Notably, Jesus and the other New Testament writers quote the Old Testament approximately 300 times. Additionally, while the New Testament records a number of disagreements between the Pharisees and Jesus, Jesus never argued with the Pharisees over which books should or should not be included in the Old Testament. Despite claims about men choosing which books to include and exclude from the Bible, there is very little doubt that the books of the Old Testament and New Testament together represent the complete revealed Word of God. Next week we will look at the process of canonization related to the New Testament text.

Return to the Why I Believe The Bible index page.

Why I Believe the Bible #08 (Bibliographic Evidence For The New Testament)

Wayne — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:00:13 +0000

Last week we looked in depth at the proof for the authenticity and accuracy of the Old Testament including the excruciating process for transmitting the Bible from one generation to the next. This week we will look at the bibliographic evidence for the New Testament.

Number of Ancient Manuscripts of the New Testament

The number of ancient copies of the New Testament which have been discovered to date is staggering. Compared to all other books of antiquity, the number of existing copies of the New Testament is amazing. The survival of the number of manuscripts alone would lead you to believe that there is some supernatural element.

The following chart shows the number of Greek Copies of the New Testament compared to other ancient texts:

Author	Book	Written	Earliest Copy	Gap	# of Copies
New Testament		A.D. 50-100	c. 114 (fragment) c. 200 (books) c. 250 (most) c. 325 (complete)	+50 yrs. 100 yrs. 150 yrs. 225 yrs.	5,686 (Greek Only)
Homer	Illiad	800 B.C.	c. 400 B.C.	c. 400 yrs.	643
Herodotus	History	480-425 B.C.	c. A.D. 900	c. 1350 yrs.	8
Thucydides	History	460-400 B.C.	c. A.D. 900	c. 1350 yrs.	8
Plato		400 B.C.	c. A.D. 900	c. 1350 yrs.	7
Demostenes		300 B.C.	c. A.D. 1100	c. 1400 yrs.	200
Ceaser	Gallic Wars	100-44 B.C.	c. A.D. 900	c. 1000 yrs.	10
Livy	History of Rome	59 B.C. – A.D. 17	4^th century (partial) 10^th century (mostly)	c. 400-1000 yrs.	1 partial 19 copies
Tacitus	Annals	A.D. 100	c. A.D. 1100	c. 1000 yrs.	20
Piny Secondus	Natural History	A.D. 61-113	c. A.D. 850	c. 750 yrs.	7

Compared to other books, the number of existing new testaments in the original Greek is astounding. Furthermore, the Bible also far surpasses other ancient books in terms of the proximity of the copies discovered to the original autographs. The earliest copies of the New Testament currently known are dated to within 50 years of the originals. The first complete copy is within 225 years. By contrast, Homer’s Illiad is the second most authenticated book of antiquity. The Bible has 5,686 Greek copies dated within 25 to 225 years. The Illiad has 643 copies with the earliest dated to 400 years after the original manuscript. Despite this, no one seriously questions that the text we now have of the Illiad does not match the original.

Sir Frederic Kenyon, director of the British Museum and manuscript authority, concludes based on number and proximity to autographs, that:

“…both the authenticity and the general integrity of the books of the New Testament may be regarded as finally established.”

In addition to the Greek manuscripts cited above, a significant number of ancient non-Greek copies of the manuscript have also been located including:

Latin Vulgate	10,000 +
Ethiopic	2,000 +
Slavic	4,101
Aremenian	2,587
Syriac Pashette	350 +
Bohairic	100
Arabic	75
Old Latin	50
Anglo Saxon	7
Gothic	6
Sogdian	3
Old Syriac	2
Persian	2
Frankish	1
TOTAL	19,284 +

Combined with the 5,686 Greek copies, that amounts to nearly 25,000 copies of the New Testament known to date. The ESV study Bible sums it up well:

“In comparison with the remaining manuscripts of any other ancient Greek or Latin literature, the New Testament suffers from an embarrassment of riches.”

Textual Variants

Because of the “embarrassment of riches” afforded by the overwhelming number of copies of New Testaments, scholars have been able to compare the numerous copies to discover any differences and determine what the most accurate rendering of the New Testament is.

The Greek New Testament today contains approximately 138,000 words. Due to the large number of copies in existence, scholars have identified roughly 400,000 textual variant. A textual variant is any time one of the manuscript varies in any way from another. For example, if there was a slip of the pen and “a” became “an” in one known version of the New Testament, every time that differed from a version that said “a” would count as one textual variant. In other words, if 4,000 copies read “a” and one read “an” that would count as 4,000 textual variants. Accordingly, despite the seemingly large number of variants at 400,000, that is mostly due to the large number of copies in existence.

Textual variants are grouped into four categories:

Spelling and non-sense errors
Minor changes, including synonyms and alterations that do not affect the translation
Meaningful changes that are not viable
Meaningful changes that are viable

The fourth category makes up less than 1% of the textual variants. Effectively, of the 400,000 variants virtually all amount to typos or stylistic differences, and none change the meaning of the passage. Based on cross-checking the thousands of copies of the New Testament, scholars have determined it to be 99.5% textually accurate. Of the remaining 0.5%, only one-eighth (1/8) amounts anything more than a stylistic different or misspelling. In fact, there are only 40 places in the New Testament where we are unsure what the original reading was.

Norman Geisler explains in his book When Skeptics Ask:

“Note: the problem is not that we don’t know what the text is, but we are not certain which text has the right reading.”

There are only two large variants which are missing from the earliest and best manuscripts. Those are Mark 16:9-20 and John 7:53-8:11. Far from hiding or covering up these variants, most modern translations note these variants and give the different possibilities. As indicated earlier, none of these variants affects a significant doctrine of the Christian faith.

With regards to differences in the New Testament text, Dockery, Matthew & Sloan (as cited by Josh McDowell in the book Evidence That Demands a Verdict) state:

“Although there are certain differences in many of the New Testament manuscripts, not one fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith rests on a disputed reading.”

Reconstruction of the New Testament

Even if none of the ancient manuscripts had survived to present times, virtually the entire New Testament could be reconstructed from sermons, tracts and commentaries written by church fathers prior to the end of the third century. Over 32,000 quotes of the New Testament have been discovered which can be dated prior to the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. Only 11 verses from the entire New Testament are missing from those quotes. Most are from 2 John and 3 John.

Over 1 million total Patristic quotations have been catalogued with over 36,000 of those coming from just seven church fathers as follows:

Justin Martyr	330
Iraneaus	1,819
Clement (Alexandria)	2,406
Origen	17,992
Tertullian	7,258
Hippolytus	1,378
Eusebius	5,176
TOTAL	36,289

Additionally, there are quotations of the New Testament in thousands of early Lectionaries (worship books).

Conclusion

The bibliographic evidence for the accuracy of the New Testament we have today is astounding. Furthermore, the wealth of available copies adds to the near certainty that the New Testament we read today is the same as it was when originally recorded. Of all the variations in the thousands of copies of the New Testament discovered to date, not one effects a fundamental belief of the Christian faith! Next week we will look at the process by which certain books became part of the Bible we have today and refute claims that people chose to exclude certain books because it did not further their agenda.

Return to the Why I Believe The Bible index page.

Why I Believe the Bible #07 (Reliability of Transmission of Old Testament)

Wayne — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:00:22 +0000

Many people who try to discredit the reliability of the Bible like to throw out the argument that goes something like this:

“The Bible we have today isn’t even close to the original version! How can you rely on it?”

The fact of the matter is, there is plenty of evidence to indicate that the Old Testament and New Testament that we have today does not differ significantly from the original manuscripts. This week we will look at the reliability of the transmission of the Old Testament which provides evidence that the version we read today is not significantly different than the original. Next week we will look at the bibliographic evidence for the reliability of the New Testament.

The Problem

As we discussed in the last entry in this series on the supernatural survival of the text, the Bible was recorded on a number of materials which do not have a long life span. Those included:

Papyrus
Leather
Parchment
Clay tablets
Wooden tablets

These copies regularly wore out and deteriorated over time and with exposure to the elements. However, the Bible contains the history of the nation of Israel and records that people’s interactions with their God. It was therefore of critical importance to them as a nation and as a people.

The Solution

Due to its importance, the Israelites were very serious about preserving the text of the Old Testament. Indeed, they viewed the Bible as the very Word of God, and as a result, not only were they very serious about preserving it, but they were also very careful about transmitting and preserving it! So, how did the Israelites ensure that the Bible was accurately transmitted from generation to generation?

Memorization

First, they memorized large chunks of the Bible. Many times they memorized entire books. In order for someone to change the text of the Bible, they would have to change the memories of multitudes of Jewish boys and men who had memorized those scriptures. Changing the Bible was not as simple as adding a couple of extra words here or losing a couple there. A change in the Bible would require a “reprogramming” of the minds of an entire nation!

The Transmission Process

The Jewish nation was very serious about the preservation and transmission of the Bible. Indeed, there was a whole group of individuals called scribes who were trained for years to copy to the Bible. These scribes has a very rigorous set of routines and rules for that process. Those rules included:

Only master scrolls were used for duplicating. A copy was never made from a copy.
Scribes were highly and rigorously trained until they were 30 years old before they were allowed to begin copying. Being a scribe was a highly esteemed role in the Jewish society.
Scribes had to wash ceremonially before working.
Any time name of God was written a prayer of sanctification was said.
The name of God was written with missing letter to avoid any possibility of using the Lord’s name in vain. In a culture where they would not write out the full name of God, it is hard to imagine that they would change what he had to say!
Each letter was visually confirmed despite the fact that vast portions of scripture were memorized.
A thread was often placed between letters when copying to ensure accurate spacing.
Each letter was counted and compared to the master scroll for accuracy.
Each word was counted and compared to the master scroll. In fact, the Hebrew word for scribe means “counter.”
The middle letter in each scroll was located and compared to the master scroll.
If a single mistake was made or found, the entire scroll was destroyed.
Master scrolls were ceremonially burned.

Given the training of the scribes, the general reverence shown to the Word of God, and the stringent rules and procedures used for copying, it is hard to imagine that the Bible could have effectively been altered even if they had desired to do so.

The Motivation of the Jews

Many argue that the Bible was intentionally changed in transmission. The arguments presented above demonstrate that this is not accurate or plausible, but there is one more important point to consider. The Jewish people had no reason to deceive themselves about their own God. They had nothing to gain by altering the Bible to depict their own interpretation. The Jews as a nation have never been evangelistic. Their goal, throughout history, has never been to gain converts to their religion. Consider that Israel was one of the few ancient nations to never have an Armada.

Proof of Reliability

In addition to the meticulous nature of transmission, there are additional proofs which point to the reliability of the Old Testament we have today.

Number of Copies

Despite the age of the Old Testament, there are still a large number of ancient copies of the text. The following table indicates that number of ancient copies of each version discovered to date:

Version	# of Copies
Hebrew Manuscripts	Over 3,000
Latin Vulgate	8,000
Septuagint	1,500
Syriac Peshitta	65

The Bible we have today is based on scholarship which looks at all of these discovered version and comparisons of the text to determine the most likely wording of the originals. The scientific term for the practice is textual criticism which simply means “the science and art that seeks to determine the most reliable original wording of a text.”

The agreement between the various copies of the Old Testament which have been discovered, as well as the agreement between numerous copies discovered from various geographic areas, suggests a strong original tradition and lends credence to the fact that the Bible we read today is substantially the same as it was in its original form.

The Septuagint

The Septuagint has been a valuable tool for scholars in determining the accuracy of the Old Testament. The Septuagint was a translation of the Old Testament Scriptures from Hebrew to Greek that was done around 280 B.C. by a team of approximately 70 scholars. The Septuagint is the version of the Bible often used by the Apostles in quoting scripture and provides translators with a Jewish understanding of the Old Testament well prior to the birth of Jesus. The Greek Septuagint often helps with the translation of the Hebrew Old Testament further ensuring the accuracy of the text we have today.

The Dead Sea Scrolls

The single most important event of the last century in verifying the accuracy of our current Old Testament was the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947. Prior to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest complete copy of the Old Testament which had been discovered was the Masoretic text from approximately 900 A.D. This gave rise to all kinds of claims that Christians had altered the Old Testament to fit their view of scripture.

That all changed in 1947 when 931 documents were located in series of caves outside of Jerusalem. Those documents included portions of all of the Old Testament books (with the exception of Esther) and included a copy of the whole book of Isaiah. The Old Testament books date to 200 B.C. well before the birth of Christ and agree virtually letter for letter with newer copies of the Old Testament like the Masoretic text. Indeed, the degree of accuracy was amazing and deflated arguments that the text had been altered. The book of Isaiah, which is sometimes called the fifth gospel because it includes so much information about the coming birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, matched 95% when compared to other earliest copies. And, the 5% which did not match was determined to primarily be slips of the pen and spelling alteration which did not impact the meaning of the text!

Conclusion

The Hebrew nation went to amazing lengths to ensure the accuracy of the transmission of the Old Testament. Furthermore, discoveries like the Dead Sea Scrolls have confirmed the Old Testament we read today is substantially the same as the original. All of this provides confirmation of the reliability of the Bible. Next week we will look at the overwhelming evidence for the accuracy of the New Testament!

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Why I Believe the Bible #06 (The Supernatural Survival of the Text)

Wayne — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:00:19 +0000

In addition to all of the other evidence the survival of the Bible itself through persecution, time and criticism is in indication of some sort of supernatural protection of the text.

The Bible is the most persecuted literary work in human history. Multitudes of its human authors were killed. In many cases, God worked through the death of those human writers to provide strength to the argument for the validity of scripture. Later in this study we will look at the 12 apostles chosen by Jesus. All but one died a violent death because of their insistence of the truth of the story told by scripture – namely the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. While some may be willing to suffer for a lie, it is impossible to believe that all would go to their deaths in order to perpetuate a lie.

Shortly following the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Roman Empire began to persecute Christians, and vast numbers of Bibles were destroyed prior to Constantine declaring Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire in 313 A.D. Indeed, in 303 A/D the Roman Emperor Diocletian declared that anyone found possessing a Bible would be executed. Those who possess the Bible are routinely killed even today in countries around the world. Communist regimes in the former Soviet Union and China outlawed possession of Bibles and destroyed copies which they found. Albert Baird Cummins offers the following summary:

“The empire of Caesar is gone; the legions of Rome are smouldering in the dust; the avalanches of Napoleon hurled upon Europe have melted away, the prince of the pharoahs is fallen; the pyramids they raised to be their tombs are sinking every day in the desert sands; Tyre is a rock for bleaching fisherman’s nets; Sidon has scarcely left a wreck behind; but the WORD OF God still survives: All things that threatened to extinguish it have only aided it; and it proves every day how transient is the noblest monument that men can build, how enduring is the least Word that God has spoken.”

Despite overwhelming resistance throughout history and the persecution of those who believe in Christ, the Bible has not only survived through it all but thrived and has been passed down to us today.

In addition to surviving harsh and consistent persecution, the Bible has also survived the elements. Against all human odds, numerous of copies (we’ll look at exactly how many in a later post) have survived despite the fragile mediums it was recorded on and the elements the Bible has outlived and out-survived all other literature. When it was originally recorded, the Bible was recorded on a variety of fragile materials such as:

Papyrus (sheep and goats skins)
Parchment
Leather
Clay
Stone
Vellum (Antelope Skin)

None of these medium are prone to surviving thousands of years. Furthermore, the years through which the Bible has survived were, for the most part, devoid of modern conveniences and storage mechanism such as climate control and protection from the weather. Again, despite the overwhelming odds against survival based on its means of transmission and exposure to the elements, the Bible has thrived providing further indication of supernatural protection.

Finally, and we will look at this more as our study progresses, the Bible has been more maligned and more criticized than other book in human history. Despite the constant barrage, it has consistently withstood those attacks and remains the core document in the Christian faith. Chuck Colson offers the following observation on the endurance and impact of the Bible:

“The Bible — banned, burned, beloved. More widely read, more frequently attacked than any other book in history. Generations of intellectuals have attempted to discredit it, dictators of every age have outlawed it and executed those who read it. Yet soldiers carry it into battle believing it more powerful than their weapons. Fragments of it smuggled into solitary prison cells have transformed ruthless killers into gentle saints.”

W.E. Sangster summarizes:

“Centuries of experience have tested the Bible. It has passed through critical fires no other volume has suffered, and its spiritual truth has endured the flames and come out without so much as the smell of burning.”

Despite vast attempts at destruction, through relentless persecution, across the ages and through the elements, and in spite of attacks from alleged scholars, the Bible has survived it all. It reminds me of Isaiah 40:8:

“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” [Isaiah 40:8]

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