Page 50 - Doctrine and History of the Preservation of the Bible revised

The History of the Revelation

The first recorded instance of God’s Word being written down was when the Lord Himself wrote it down
in the form of Ten Commandments on the stone tablets delivered to Moses at the top of Mount Sinai.
This occurred between 1400 BC and 1500 BC, almost 3500 years ago. The language: Hebrew (probably
the language of Adam).

Pentateuch.
The writings of the books were passed down from generation to generation for thousands of years on
scrolls made of animal skins, usually sheep, but sometimes deer or cow. Animals considered unclean by
Jews were never used to make scrolls.

The Pentateuch on a scroll was called the “Torah.” An entire Torah scroll, if
completely unraveled is over 150 feet long! As most sheep are only about two
or three feet long, it took an entire flock of sheep to make one Torah scroll. The
scroll was broken into leaves (about one sheep long (2-3 ft.)) and sewn together
to form the scroll. If a scribe made the slightest mistake in copying, such as
allowing two letters of a word to touch, they destroyed that entire panel and
the panel before it, because it touched the panel with the mistake! This demonstrates the level of
faithfulness to accuracy applied to the preservation of God’s Word throughout the first couple thousand
years of Biblical transmission. All scrolls that were damaged or began to show wear were copied, then
destroyed to show reverence to God’s Word.

English and Hebrew are similar in that both languages are “picture languages.” Their words form a clear
picture in your mind.

By 500 BC, the 39 books that make up the OT were completed and were preserved on scrolls. Between
400 BC and 30 A.D., the books of the Apocrypha were completed, but were recorded in Greek rather
than Hebrew. By 100 A.D., all the books of the New Testament were completed.

Who decided which of these books were to be included in God’s Word? Remember, the books that God
wrote were inspired by the Holy Spirit. No person or persons decided which books
to include. No meeting was ever convened to vote on which books to include and
which to exclude. The books came together as they were RECOGNIZED by all that
they were Scripture. God determines whether a book is inspired and thus
canonical—churches and councils do not. God gives the books of the Bible their
divine authority. God’s people recognize this authority, but they do not determine its
authority. As J. I. Packer has said, “The Church no more gave us the New Testament
canon than Sir Isaac Newton gave us the force of gravity” (God Speaks to Man, p.
81). Newton recognized the force of gravity. God’s people recognized those books
that were inspired by God.

Canon determined immediately. The books of the Bible became canon the moment they were
written. They did not need to wait for the church’s sanction to become canon.

Some factors made it clear which to recognize and which not to. Was the book written by a clearly
acknowledged prophet of God? Does the writing declare its own spiritual authority? Does the book

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