From God to Man

The Story of How We Got the BiblePart 2 – Documentation

How We Got the Bible“the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah” – Isaiah 11:9

1. Revelation

2. Inspiration

3. Documentation

4. Formation

5. Preservation

6. Translation

7. Application

8. Propagation

From God

ToMan

Documentation

OT Documentation

• “Scripture” (Gr. graphia) is what is written; a written document

• God’s word was not limited to oral revelation or oral tradition passed down

• Using a Bible concordance, notice how many times the following words appear in the OT and NT: “write,” “writing,” “written,” “wrote”, “scripture(s)”, and “book(s)”

OT Documentation• Moses wrote God’s word in a book (Ex. 17:14;

24:4, 7; 34:1, 27; Num. 33:2; Deut. 28:58, 61; 29:20-27; 30:10; 31:9-13, 19, 22, 24-26; 31:24, 26)

• There are many references in the OT to the “book of the Law” or the “book of Moses” (Deut. 28:61; 29:21; 30:10; 31;26; Josh. 1:8; 8:31, 34; 22:11; 23:6; 2 K. 14:6; 2 Chron. 17:9; 34;14; Ezra 6:18; Neh. 8:1, 3, 18; 9:3; 13:1; Mk. 12:26; Gal. 3:10)

“And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished,that Moses commanded the Levites, that bare the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, saying, Take this book of the law, and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of Jehovah your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee” (Deuteronomy 31:24-26)

OT Documentation

• Joshua wrote God’s word in a book (Josh. 24:26)

• Early prophets like Samuel, Nathan, and Gad wrote God’s word in a book (1 Sam. 10:25; 1 Chron. 29:29; 2 Chron. 9:29; 12:15; 13:22; 20:34; 26:22; 32:32; 33:18ff)

“So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a great stone, and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of Jehovah. (Joshua 24:25-26)

“Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the history of Samuel the seer, and in the history of Nathan the prophet, and in the history of Gad the seer” (1 Chronicles 29:29)

OT Documentation• David (2 Sam. 23:1-2; Psa. 72:20), Solomon

(Prov. 25:1), and Hezekiah (Isa. 38:9) wrote God’s word in a book (Lk. 20:42; Acts 1:20)

• Latter prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel wrote God’s word in a book (2 Chron. 21:12; 26:22; Isa. 30:8; Jer. 25:13; 29:1; 30:2; 36:2, 17, 28; 51:60-64; Ezek. 43:11; Dan. 7:1; 12:1-4; Nah. 1:1; Hab. 2:2; Lk. 4:17; Jn. 1:45; Ac. 7:42)

“Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever” (Isaiah 30:8)

“The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, Thus speaketh Jehovah, the God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book” (Jeremiah 30:1-2)

NT Documentation

• Luke wrote God’s word (Luke 1:3; Acts 1:1)

• John wrote God’s word (Jn. 20:30-31; 21:24-25)

• Paul wrote God’s word (1 Cor. 4:14; 14:27; 2 Cor. 1:13; 2:9; 9:1; 13:2, 10; Gal. 1:20; Phil. 3:1; 1 Thess. 4:9; 5:1; 2 Thess. 3:17; 1 Tim. 3:14; 2 Pet. 3:15-16)

“Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to draw up a narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled among us, even as they delivered them unto us, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus; that thou mightest know the certainty concerning the things wherein thou wast instructed” (Luke 1:1-4)

NT Documentation

• Peter wrote God’s word (2 Pet. 3:1)

• John wrote God’s word (1 Jn. 1:4; 2:1; 2 Jn. 12; 3 Jn. 13)

• Jude wrote God’s word (Jude 3)

• John is told to write the revelation in a book (Rev. 1:11, 19; 2:1; 22:9-10, 18-19)

From God to ManDocumentation

The Results of Documentation

1. God’s word was recorded for others to read at the time (2 Chron. 21:12; Jer. 29:1; 36:1-8; 51:60ff) and for future generations to know (Ex. 17:14; Deut. 31:9-13, 24-26; Isa. 30:8)

“And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day. It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin” (Jeremiah 36:1-3)

“And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, that bare the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and unto all the elders of Israel.  And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the set time of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles,  when all Israel is come to appear before Jehovah thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little ones, and thy sojourner that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear Jehovah your God, and observe to do all the words of this law; and that their children, who have not known, may hear, and learn to fear Jehovah your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over the Jordan to possess it” (Deuteronomy 31:9-13)

Three Results of Documentation

2. God’s word was recorded to have a written standard or pattern to return to

– The pattern for the temple for Solomon (1 Chron. 28:11-12, 19; 2 Chron. 35:4)

– The pattern for restoration for Josiah (2 K. 22:8; 2 Chron. 34:14-15)

“Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch of the temple, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper rooms thereof, and of the inner chambers thereof, and of the place of the mercy-seat; and the pattern of all that he had by the Spirit, for the courts of the house of Jehovah, and for all the chambers round about, for the treasuries of the house of God, and for the treasuries of the dedicated things” (1 Chronicles 28:11-12) … All this, said David, have I been made to understand in writing from the hand of Jehovah, even all the works of this pattern” (1 Chronicles 28:19)

“ And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of Jehovah. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan, and he read it. And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Thy servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen that have the oversight of the house of Jehovah. And Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes” (2 Kings 22:8-11)

Three Results of Documentation

3. The books of God’s word will be opened to judge all mankind in the last day (Rev. 20:12-15)

“ And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; and books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead that were in it; and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, even the lake of fire. And if any was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:11-15)