HOW WE GOT OUR BIBLE“Where did it come from?”

The Old Testament

The Old Testament

God revealed His word to ancient Israel over a thousand-year period (1400-400 BC), and then scribes copied the biblical scrolls and

manuscripts for more than a millennium after that. The process by which the Old Testament books came to be recognized as the Word of God and the history of how these books were preserved and handed

down through the generations enhances our confidence in the credibility of the Old Testament as inspired Scripture (2 Timothy 3:6).

The Old Testament

What books belong in the Old Testament?

The canon of Scripture refers to the list of books recognized as divinely inspired and authoritative for faith and practice. The term came

to mean the standard by which a written work was measured for inclusion in a certain body of literature. The books of the Bible are not inspired because humans gave them canonical status. Rather, the books were recognized as canonical by humans because they were inspired by

God.

The Old Testament

Different Canons

Hebrew•The Law (Torah)•The Prophets (Nevi’im)•The Writings (Kethuvim)

Septuagint

•Pentateuch•Historical Books•Poetical Books•Prophetic Books

Catholic•Tobit•Judith•Wisdom of Solomon•Ecclesiasticus•Sirach•Baruch•Letter of Jeremiah•1 & 2 Maccabees

Orthodox•Same as Catholic•Includes 4 additional compositions (1 Esdras, Psalm 151, 3 and 4 Maccabees and prayer of Manasseh)

The Old Testament

How were the Old Testament books selected?

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the commandments God gave him, the people of Israel immediately recognized their divine authority and promised to obey them as the words of the Lord (Exodus 24:3-8). The writings of Moses were stored at the central sanctuary because of their special status as inspired Scripture

(Exodus 25:16,21; Deuteronomy 10:1-2; 31: 24-26).

In (Deuteronomy 18:15-22), the Lord promised to raise up a succession of prophets “like Moses” to speak His word for subsequent generations, and the

pronouncements of these messengers of God would also be recognized as possessing divine authority.

The Old Testament

How were the Old Testament books selected?

The prophet Samuel wrote down laws of kingship that were deposited before the Lord when the monarchy was established in Israel (1 Samuel 10:25).

David’s extensive writings came to be recognized as inspired Scripture because the Spirit of God spoke through him (2 Samuel 23:1-2), and the words of the prophets

came to be placed alongside the Torah in the Hebrew Scriptures because of the self-authenticating message. Histories, psalms, and wisdom writings recognized as

coming from others speaking with a prophetic voice were also similarly respected and preserved.

The Old Testament

When was the process completed?

Jewish tradition affirmed that prophecy ceased in Israel 400 BC after the ministry of Malachi. 1st Maccabees 9:27 states, “So there was great distress in Israel, such as

had not been since the time that the prophets ceased to appear among them.” Baruch 85:3 makes a similar claim, and the Jewish Talmud states that the Holy Spirit

departed from Israel after the prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi in the early postexilic period. All of the canonical books of the Old Testament, except for

Esther, appear among the copies of the Dead Sea Scrolls (250 BC-AD 70).

The Old Testament

How does the New Testament view the Old Testament?

Jesus and the apostles accepted the inspiration of the Old Testament Scriptures and often referred to or quoted them as authoritative. According to Jesus, the words

written by the human authors of Scripture were the “command of God” and “God’s word” (Mark 7:8-13; Matthew 19:4-5). As God’s Word every part of the Old

Testament would be accomplished and fulfilled (Matthew 5:17-18;54,56; Luke 24:27,44; John 7:38), and nothing it stated could be voided or annulled (Luke 16:17; John 10:35). Jesus described the Old Testament canon extending from Genesis to Chronicles when speaking of the murders of Abel and the prophet

Zachariah in (Matthew 23:34-35; Luke

The Old Testament

NOT FINISHED WITH THIS BIBLE STUDY• Still needs to be updated.

The Old Testament

Notes

• Towns, Elmer L. The Essence of the New Testament: A Survey / Elmer L. Towns, Ben Gutierrez, Editors. Nashville, Tenn.: B & H Academic, 2012. Print.• Hindson, Edward E. The Essence of the Old Testament: A Survey.

Nashville, Tenn.: B & H Academic, 2012. Print.• Holy Bible New King James Version, Black, Imitation Leather, Gift &

Award Bible. Holman Bible Pub, 2013. Print.

The Old Testament

The Old Testament

The Old Testament

The Old Testament

The Old Testament

The Old Testament