Past, Present, Future

Today we continue our series all about the Bible covering things like what it is, who wrote it, and ultimately its relevance to us and our time. 

Some believe that the Bible was written and compiled over a very long period of time and was sometimes shared orally, but this would mean that the likelihood of mistakes and inconsistencies could be greater.

Exodus 34:27 says, “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Write down these words for in accordance with these words, I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.’” Now, it’s not unreasonable to believe that the Bible was written at or near the time the events recorded actually happened. This would mean that the patriarchs who were the heads of the families mentioned early in the Bible, wrote down their own histories. Moses, living not long after the patriarchs, compiled all these histories into one long account of early Earth history.

From there, the prophets largely wrote down what God wanted to communicate to the people, and this took place from the time of Moses until the time of Jesus who scholars believe was born in 4 BC. That would mean that the bulk of the Old Testament was formally written over a period of maybe 1500 years from Egypt to Judea, which is modern Israel. By the time the last letters and histories were written down in the New Testament times, the Jewish writers of the Bible were still under the control of the Roman Empire, which was at its height.

The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew, the language of the Jewish people. The New Testament was written in Greek, one of the major powers in the times of Jesus. The first council of the church was held in 325 AD at Nicea, which is in modern Turkey. It was there that church leaders put into a final form the Bible that we have today. In this way, we have the same books that were available to Christians who actually knew Jesus. There are tens of thousands of manuscripts from the earliest church that match the Bibles we can buy in stores or get online today.

Let’s pray. 

Father God, you are not a God of confusion. You’ve made our past, present, and future knowable. Thank you for making sure that history is accurate, including the future, when you will reign over your kingdom in glory. In Jesus’ name, amen.