THE ORIGIN / SOURCE OF THE BIBLE TESTIMONIES / OPINIONS / BELIEFS Given below are 3 testimonies that illustrate a reality -- that the majority of people on earth today believe / understand that the Bible is a 'book written by men'. In the town of Ararat, Armenia there is a Baptist Church. The pastor's name is Gregor. He was the champion weight lifter in his weight class for the Soviet Union. Gregor was expecting to lift in the Olympics in Moscow in 1984, but sustained injuries that prevented his participation. He has trophies, medallions and pictures as evidence of his weight lifting accomplishments. While in training at the Olympic village near Moscow, Gregor began, as lying in bed one night, to wander if there is a God. As he wandered his room mate came in, went to bed and went to sleep -- as Gregor continued in his thoughts about whether or not there was a God. He said that there no electricity and the room was completely dark. Gregor said, as he lay there an audible voice said, 'Get the book and put it in the window'. He said that he got up -- felt all around the room -- could not find a book and so laid back in bed. Gregor's words were, 'It was like looking for a black cat in a black room, when you did not know there was a black cat in the black room.' After a while the voice said again 'put the book in the window'. Gregor explained that there was a small table between the two beds. He reached over to the table -- his room mate had put his clothes on the table and under the clothes he felt a book. He took the book and put it in the window between the beds. He then went to sleep. The next morning as Gregor awoke, his room mate was dressing and said 'where is that book I bought yesterday'. Grogor replied, 'I put it in the window'. His room mate explained, 'That is a Bible -- I found it in a store yesterday and bought it just to prove what they have taught us -- that it is just a book written by men. His room mate left the room as Gregor remained lying on the bed. Gregor said with great conviction, 'I thought -- a voice spoke to me -- told me twice to put the book in the window -- that book is a Bible'. Then Gregor said, 'THERE IS NOTHING IN THIS WORLD THAT COULD KEEP ME FROM READING THAT BIBLE.' Gregor returned to his home town, Ararat, Armenia as a Bible believing - believer in God. THE SECOND TESTIMONY :: My family and I had returned to our home town, after being gone for some time in ministry. Our local pastor whom we knew and loved had organized a mission with BGCT to take a team to Australia. As we arrived the time was near for the mission and our pastor decided not to go. He ask me to take his place as pastor / leader of the group to fulfil the mission commitment. I agreed -- the team became 2 men from the church whom I had known for many years, our second daughter (20years old) and myself. We were assigned to a very nice small church located in a Sydney suburb. In the course of our mission we were taken to a local High School. We were informed that their curriculum had a once a week 'scripture' class and that we would be their 'scripture' class for that week. They brought the entire school into the gymnasium. We were introduced -- one of our team who worked for the railroad told about Texas -- the other gentleman played guitar and sang a Christian song. My daughter told about young people in USA. Then came my turn. I quoted the 23rd Psalm. I began to speak about --- God our Creator giving to us His word to teach us --. Immediately a young lady raised and waved her hand. I acknowledged her --- she said, we believe that the Bible is a book written by men. I began to explain that God our Creator had inspired different persons to physically write His message. While I was speaking a young man stood up and said quite loudly that -- we be in evolution. I began to explain about evolution -- he strongly replied -- that there is proof of evolution. I replied -- no, evolution is by its own description, a theory. The conversation became confrontational. About that time I felt a tug on my jacket sleeve. I turned -- my daughter had stepped up beside me --- she reached and took the microphone from my hand and said --- If you want to believe that your great - great granddaddy was a gorilla, that's fine , but mine was not. I had no more problem explaining about Psalm 23. THE THIRD TESTIMONY I was looking through the Christian TV channels and came across a discussion about the authorship of Genesis. The discussion involved a leader and 6 panel members. Each person on the panel was introduced as having doctorates in theology and being full time employed in Biblical teaching in their respective circumstances. Moving from person to person they presented a thorough explanation of the Genesis text and theories of who is believed to be the author. In the closing statement the panel leader, with gesture seemingly as an expression of frustration, threw up both his hands and said, 'Well whoever wrote Genesis.' The purpose of the above testimonies is to say that the majority of mankind believes / accepts that the Bible is written / authored by men --- thus it is NOT SEEN as the 'Word of God' from God. This reality is quite tragic because, if men are the authors, if the Bible is the narritive / stories of physical mankind, then the Bible is no different from any other book at the library. But, if the source of the Bible is God the creator of the heavens and the earth, then most of mankind living today has missed the most important message they could know / recieve. THEY MISSED THE INSTRUCTION FOR THE LIFE OF THEIR ETERNAL SOUL / SPIRIT !! MOST TRAGIC of all is that people who profess to be Christian and have spent their entire life studing and teaching the Bible do not understand how to explain that the message of the Bible is from / originated from God Himself. They speak about the JEPD theory, etc which allows more emphesis to be toward men being the authors, thus explaining away the role of God in the process. Certainly physical men wrote the phyical words of the Bible, but the messages, prophesies came from the mind / the intelligence of God. (II Timothy 5:16) But satan uses the words to make a lie. satan, in the garden, told Eve 'you will not really die' --- true -- but sin / disobedience demands separation from God == thus spiritual death in God's vocabulary. IT IS IMPERATIVE / OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE THAT WE, WHO UNDERSTAND THAT THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD / FROM GOD, MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO DECLARE THAT FACT TO ALL MANKIND !!! If there was no explanation in the Bible then we would deal with that as is. BUT THERE IS GREAT EVEDENCE ABOUT THE AUTHOR OF THE BIBLE !! GOD DID NOT SAY THAT HE DICTATED THE BOOK OF GENESIS TO MOSES, BUT HE EXPLAINED EXACTLY HOW HE DID IT. GOD DID IT THIS WAY -- ACCORDING TO HIS PLAN THAT MANKIND'S BELIEF WOULD BE THROUGH FAITH, NOT BY SIGHT -- THUS GUARANTEEING / MAINTAINING COMPLETE FREEDOM FOR MANKIND -- WE MUST CHOOSE TO BELIEVE OR NOT TO BELIEVE. (ll CORINTHIANS 5: 7) GOD'S PLAN TO CREATE MANKIND WITH TOTAL / COMPLETE SPIRITUAL FREEDOM IS THE GREATEST BLESSING WHEN COUPLED WITH THE GREATEST GIFT THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD AND SAVIOR. ORIGIN OF THE BIBLE The origin of the Bible is found in God the creator of all physical things. But--in modern Biblical studies and theological writings there is much study and emphasis made about the authorship of the books of the Bible. In these Biblical Studies there is much about the men who wrote the Bible and very little about the source of origin of the information. In the above sentences are two words (origin and authorship) that set the format and is the understanding that is needed in today's Biblical studies. Origin;--American Heritage Dictionary, " The point at which something comes into existence." A word, thought or message has its origin in the mind. Then, it must be transposed from the mind into a verbal or written message. The one who gives the message is the author. Author;--American Heritage Dictionary, (1)"The writer of a literary work." (2) " One who originates or creates something." Thus, to be an author, there needs to be two processes. The development of the message in the mind and then the proclamation of that message. This process is uniquely present and important in Biblical studies. Because, in regard to the Bible this twofold process involves two different individuals. Every book of the Bible has an author-originator ( God ) and an author-writer ( a man ). From the mind of God came the origin of the message of the Bible. By the writer's pen, as God spoke and as their spirits were inspired by the Spirit of God, men were the author - writers of the Bible. This is of utmost importance to all mankind because if we believe the Bible to be the writings of men, but miss the fact that the message is from the mind of God we have greatly erred. If the Bible were the writings of men then it would be only man's opinions. On the other hand, if the message is from God and we miss that reality, we have, with grave consequences missed our message from our creator. The Bible from the beginning to the end declares that God is the author - orignator. When a person looks at the Bible with the intention of determining its origin and authorship the evidence is overwhelming. The following is some examples that state clearly the origin and authorship of the Bible. Note---The Torah or the first five books of the law, Genesis-Deuteronomy, in most all studies, is believed to have been written by Moses. It can easily be seen that Moses would have written Exodus-Deuteronomy, as they are the life and times of Moses. But the Book of Genesis is different, thus it presents a problem. First--Genesis spans a great length of time. At least a couple of thousand years. Second--Moses certainly was not a witness to any of the events in Genesis. Third--Much of Genesis is written as if the author was there, with quotations and details of life events. Fourth-- There is no record or oral history nor even oral tradition that is presently known of the time of Genesis. Fifth--There is no other known source from that time era. If a person accepts the Bible as being true and as the Word of God, then the above problems fade away completely. But,-- There are many persons who do not accept by faith and believe the Bible to be true and the Word of God. For all, there is clear evidence that God was the author - originator of the message and Moses was the author - writer. In Exodus 17:14, God says to Moses as the Bible states, " Write this for a memorial in the Book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua. " This occasion was very early in their 40 year journey. Within three months of the departure from Egypt there was already a book in which Moses was recording the events that happened. Note-- That Moses recorded what God told him to write in the book. Then in Exodus 19: 1-2, " In the third month after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on the same day, they came to the wilderness of Sinai. For they had departed from Rephidim, had come to the desert of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness. So Israel camped there before the mountain." We are told that in the third month after leaving Egypt they had left Rephidim and came to Sinai. At Sinai, Moses received the 10 Commandments as recorded in chapter 20. In Exodus 20 and following through Chapter 23 are other rules and instructions. In Exodus 24, it is very clear that God has given instructions and Moses wrote those words from God. Verses three and four, " So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, " All the words which the Lord has said we will do. And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord." Then, in Chapter 24:12, God says to Moses, " I will give you the tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written that you may teach them. " Also in Exodus 32:16, " Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets." With the above verses as one example, it is easy to understand who the author - originator is and from whose mind came the message of the Bible. God gave the message to Moses and Moses was to write it and teach it to the people. As the Book of Exodus continues in Chapter 32:19 the tablets of stone written by God are broken. Then in Chapter 34:27-28 Moses is given the second set of tablets replacing those that were broken. Between the receiving of the two sets of tablets, Chapter 32 and chapter 34, we are given a very important message in Chapter 33:7-11. This is important because it shows us that within the first few months of a 40 year journey God is speaking to Moses and instructing him to write in the Book. Here we see that Moses pitched his tent outside the camp and whenever he went there the Lord talked with him " face-to-face, as a man speaks to his friend." Moses had at least 39 years to receive from God the history of the Book of Genesis and to write it as a record of the beginning of mankind. As we put these verses and events together we see that God instructed Moses to write, God wrote the commandments and God spoke with Moses face-to-face. In Genesis 35:20, there is evidence that the record was written long after the events. " And Jacob set a pillar on her grave, which is the pillar of Rachel's grave to this day." As we understand Biblical history it is well over 400 years from Rachel's death to Moses and the tent of meeting in the wilderness. Yet in the context of Rachel's death, in verses 16, 20 and 21, there are detailed explanations of their location, a quote from Rachel's midwife and how Benjamin came to be named. These details are written as though the writer was present at the time of the events. This is one small example to illustrate that the Book of Genesis was written as though the writer was present during all those hundreds of years of mankind's history. The Book of Genesis is full of quotations, explanations of events, attitudes of people, and details of both physical and spiritual events and circumstances. Realizing that Moses wrote Genesis near 400 years after the last events of Genesis and that the story of Genesis covered many hundreds of years before that leaves no doubt that God must have been the author-originator, author-initiator of this unique history of mankind. So, we can see and understand from Moses' writings that under God's instructions he wrote the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. ---God was certainly present during all these hundreds of years and generations of mankind. ---God certainly heard what was said so as to recall direct quotations. ---God certainly understood the feelings and attitudes of those people. ---God certainly knew both the physical and spiritual implications of each event. ---God certainly knew those who followed Him and those who did not. Certainly God was the only one who could have known and instructed Moses to write the Book of Genesis. God spoke to Moses "face-to-face as a man speaks to his friend" for at least 39 years in the wilderness. God is the author! Moses wrote what God told him. So ---, --God dictated to Moses the history of Genesis. --God wrote the 10 commandments. --God instructed Moses what to write in the other four books of law. There remains only a small question in Deuteronomy 34, that tells of the death of Moses. " Then the Lord said to him, " this is the land of which I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, I will give it to your descendants, " I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there." So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor; but no one knows his grave to this day." Deuteronomy 34:4-6. It was obviously written later because Verse 6 says, " but no one knows his grave to this day." The person who wrote Deuteronomy 34 must have gotten the information from God, because --- First--In verse four there is a quote of what God said to Moses, and yet there was no one there at that time and place accept God and Moses. Second--It tells of a place where Moses was buried, but no one knew the place. Third -- " Moses -- died there, according to the Word of the Lord." Thus these events were according to God's word, or testimony, or statement, or knowledge, not a man's knowledge. In the same manner which God had spoken to Moses all those many years He spoke to the author - writer to complete the Book of Deuteronomy with Chapter 34. Only God could have known these things. Also the books of the law of Moses were understood to be from God at the time of Nehemiah and the return from the Babylonian exile. Nehemiah 8:1, " And all the people gathered together as one man in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate; and they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel." Here in the Book of Nehemiah hundreds of years after the time of Moses is given the understandings which are proposed in this writing. First -- The Book of the Law of Moses is that which Moses received from the Lord, wrote and taught to the people of Israel. Second -- The Book of the Law of Moses was the instruction which the Lord God commanded Israel. God is the author - originator. God gave the message to Moses. Moses was the author- writer. The conclusion of the origin of Genesis: Genesis is proof positive that God is the author - originator of the Bible, because, at the time of the writing of Genesis: 1) It was impossible that any living human could have known the history of mankind back to the Garden of Eden. 2) No living human being could have known the many recorded quotations and personal events of those people. 3) No living human being could have known the intimate conversations between God and mankind. 4) No living human being could have known the spiritual implications that are explained in Genesis. 5) No living human being could have known the spiritual lessons that are taught in Genesis. No living human being could have known. Only God could have known!!!!!!!!! Only God could be the author - originator of Genesis. Whereas the first book of the Bible, could only have been authored by God, so also, the last book of the Bible, Revelation. The Book of Revelation is prophecy that approximately 2000 years after its writing, by John the Apostle, is still not understood by mankind. In the 21st century there is still no proof nor evidence of the message of Revelation. The seven years of tribulation described in Revelation have not yet occurred and will not occur until God determines the end of all physical existence has come. The proof of the message of Revelation, written by the Apostle John, will not be known until God's people are in heaven and the rebellious in hell. Thus,----No living human at any time in history could be the author of Revelation. God is the originator-author,--John the Apostle wrote the message from God. The above fact is borne out continuously throughout the Book of Revelation. Revelation 1:1, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave Him,...." Revelation 1:19, "Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this." Revelation 2:1, " To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, ..." Revelation 2:8, " And to the angel of the church of Smyrna write, ...." Revelation 4:1, " After these things I looked, .... " Revelation 5:1, " And I saw, in the right hand of Him .... " Revelation 6:1, " Now I saw when the Lamb ....." Revelation 6:5, " When He opened the third seal I heard the third living creature say, ...." The above quotes are only a few of many in which John explains that what he wrote was that which he received from God. Thus, in regard to the last Book of the Bible, Revelation, the author - originator was and could only have been God. Therefore concluding that, as in Moses' writing of Genesis and also John with Revelation, living humans could not have, of themselves, known these messages. There remains only one conclusion: God the creator of all physical existence has from time to time communicated to those He chose. God gave them His message to write down for His creation. In the same manner the other books of the Bible were written. " All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, . . . " II Timothy 3:16 " Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." II Peter 1: 20-21. All mankind has the privilege and the right to believe, accept and follow the instructions from God their creator --- or to reject His message. Those who believe and obey His will, will receive life eternal with God. Those who reject their creator's message will be separated from God eternally. The message is clear--- the Bible is the Word from God. The choice is yours!!!!!--- Believe, obey and live eternally with your Creator --- or ---- reject GOD'S Word and be separated from Him in hell forever!!!! |