“Ancient Words, Ever True” – 4

 

 

                                                          BECOMING A BOOK

 

1.                  Two interesting things about the writings which are mentioned in the Bible may be observed as we begin to read through it.

 

a.                   One is that things which were written began to be kept and were consulted by succeeding generations (Deut. 31:9-11, 24-26; Dan. 9:2; Neh. 8:1; 2 Pet. 3:15-16).  This is not surprising; it is what we would have expected.

 

b.                  The other is that we run across references to a number of works which are not in the Bible and have not been preserved (2 Sam. 1:18; 1 Kings 11:41; 1 Chron. 29:29; Col. 4:16).  This is perhaps not what we would have thought, and it makes us wonder if things we need have been lost.

 

2.                  It will help if we remember that the books of the Bible were written for specific purposes to fulfill specific needs.

 

a.                   The book Moses wrote, for example, was to serve as a witness to the covenant into which Israel had entered with God (Deut. 31:24-26).

 

b.                  The Gospel of John was written, not to describe everything Jesus did, but to offer an account of enough of the signs that he did to cause readers to believe that Jesus is the Christ (Jn. 20:30-31).

 

c.                   Short letters like 2 and 3 John or Philemon were obviously sent to provide guidance to individual Christians in particular circumstances.

 

3.                  The people of God obviously recognized the value of these writings and kept them because they had a message for a wider audience than just their original readers, but this was not always the case.

 

a.                   The very early church may not have thought of keeping all their letters, particularly when the apostles were alive and could be consulted.

 

b.                  Not everything that was written may have been needed, thus not all of it was preserved.

 

c.                   Bear in mind that the revelation of God in the Bible is very selective.

 

4.                  The collection of writings which has come to us as the Old Testament developed gradually and over time.

 

a.                   If it began with Moses, it was collected in its ultimate form in the time of Ezra, about 400 B.C.

 

b.                  The books have been arranged in different orders and even in different forms at various stages of development.

 

c.                   Luke 24:44 describes it as consisting of three sections or of three kinds of material:

 

i.                    The _________ of Moses

 

ii.                  And the ________________

 

iii.                And the _____________

 

d.                  Notice that Jesus said that all three of these sections of the Scriptures were about him and the blessings of the gospel that are available through him (Lk. 24:44-47).

 

5.                  Though it happened over a much shorter period of time, the New Testament also developed and was collected gradually.

 

a.                   The writing took place roughly between 50 and 100 A.D.

 

b.                  These writings, too, are about Jesus and the blessings that are to be enjoyed in him.

 

c.                   The New Testament also may be said to consist of three kinds of material:

 

i.                    Narratives, or books of ________________

 

ii.                  Epistles, or books of ________________

 

iii.                One book of __________________

 

d.                  All the books of both the Old and New Testaments together tell one united story of what God has done for us through his Son.