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OUTLINE OF THE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE by Ernest L. Martin I. DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE OLD
TESTAMENT A. Does the position of the O. T. books make any difference? 1. Even if all the books are there,
their position in the O. T. does make a difference. a. God designed O. T. to be read in an intentional order. b. Man
has followed unauthorized MSS. from tian Septuagint Version) and Latin MSS. (accredited by the Roman Catholic Church) in shifting the books around. 2. Would it be right for an author to
put his concluding chapters in the middle of his book and the middle chapters
at the end ? That is what has happened by men tampering with O.T. and thus
much of the message is lost. 3. The Jews, however, since Ezra, have kept
the books in the inspired order.
a. The Law division: Genesis Exodus
Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy b. The Prophets division (which is divided and subdivided as indicated): Joshua Judges "The
Former Prophets" Samuel Kings Isaiah -"The
Major Prophets" Jeremiah "The
Latter Prophets" Ezekiel The Twelve - --"The Minor Prophets" c. The Writings (Psalms) division (which
is divided into three parts): Psalms_____ Proverbs Job Books"
Song of Songs Ruth Lamentations ' The Megillot or Festival Books" Ecclesiastes Esther Daniel Ezra-Nehemiah Chronicles "The Former Poetic (or Metre) "The Latter Restoration Books" C. Christ
authorizes Jewish Canon and arrangement. 1. J. C. authorized the Jewish method of
dividing O. T. into three sections (Lk. 24:44-45). Egyptian Septuagint Version
was never divided into the Tripartite Division. 2. Why does Luke mention this verse? The
Jews would not have to be told which version was correct. But the Gentiles
might. They might not be sure whether they wanted to follow the
"Jewish" version or not. Therefore Luke put this in to show which
version was correct. Remem ber Luke was probably written to a. Gentile. It was also the
Gospel that was to accompany Paul' s teachings who was the apostle to the
Gentiles. (It was also written at the behest of Paul). D. Other N. T.
evidence 1. Rom. 3:2 shows that Jewish officials
had been charged with the protection and preservation of the oracles
of God. a. "committed" means "put in charge of". b.
"oracles" means the Old Testament Scriptures. See Heb. prove this. 1) "Oracle" could also mean
"divine utterance" either by God or by His officially commissioned
representative -- especially the High Priest. 2) Holy of Holies came to be represented
as the "oracle" (I Kg. 2. Jesus and apostles knew Jews had
proper scriptures. Following are verses proving this: a. Mat. b. Mat. 26:54, 56 c. Lk. 24:27 -- "prophet" is any inspired writer. d. Acts 17:9 -- official Jewish synagogue copy. e. Jn. II Tim. to WHICH scriptures were referred to. Thus it must have been those always circulated in the synagogues. E. The 1. "Holy scriptures" in II
Tim. 3:15, actually means in Greek, "Sacred Scriptures".
"Sacred" meant " 2. The " F. The history
of the 1. Moses gave the law to the priests to keep (Deut. 31:24-25).
2. Kept in 3. 4. Scriptures in 5. Ezra, after Babylonian captivity and
resettlement by Jews of Palestine, again placed the authorized scrolls in
Holy Place and put priests in charge of them and copying them. 6. Remained in G. Thus we see that all synagogues maintained
the same canon of scripture throughout the Roman world. II. CHRIST -- THE REAL PROOF OF THE OLD
TESTAMENT A. Are the Gospels truthful? So far our
proof of the correct version of O. T. has been based on Christ and the
apostles. But can we use them as proof? Are the Gospels really divinely inspired?
Let' s therefore apply briefly to the Gospels the basic rules that scholars
subject all historic literature to, in order to prove reliability. 1. Contemporary witness of others
to the historic events. You know 2. Historic personage. Alexander the
Great lived 2200 years ago. No one doubts his existence. But no history was
ever written of him until 400 years after his death. B. But what about the Gospels ? 1. Matthew was composed about 25 years
or 30 after the death of Christ. 2. Thousands of eye witnesses
of the events Matthew described were still alive. 3. These people knew whether or not
Jesus lived and was crucified. 4. Thousands of these same people
believed and gave their lives for the Gospel message. Would they have done
this if the Gospel were untrue? 5. At least 22 books of N. T. were composed before 66 A. D. - within 35 years of Christ's death. 6. Therefore there is more reason for accepting the veracity of the Gospels than works on the life of Alexander the Great. C. Christ's resurrection is the central
event of the Gospels. Since we've proved that the Gospels are true and they
all speak of this event then we must conclude that this was also true. D. Witness of the apostles. 1. Remember that the crucifixion was just at the time of the Passover -- a time when 2. These people witnessed the
crucifixion and fleeing of the disciples. 3. Then on Pentecost (50 days later)
these people (probably most of them came for this Feast as well) did not meet
the cowering disciples they had seen before but dynamic apostles boldly
proclaiming the resurrection of Christ -- risking their lives for it. 4. In his preachings Paul challenged
people if they did not believe in the resurrection to speak with one of the
500 witnesses that the gospels claimed Jesus Christ had appeared to them
after His resurrection. If this were a lie and these people never saw Jesus,
then Paul was leaving himself wide open for discovery. 5. The apostles must have had absolute
conviction in the truth of the resurrection and preached with great
enthusiasm, for by the end of the first century the entire E. The Apostle
Paul -- a tremendous witness to the resurrection. 1. Paul thoroughly understood Judaic
theology. Also, living in 2. Was the chief antagonist of the early Church. No one was more unconvinced of the resurrection than he. 3. Yet he changed his mind (had it changed for him) and
preached the resurrection. 4. This was an absolute miracle and
proof positive that the resurrection took place. Paul was convinced! He gave
his life for it! ! F. What this
means towards Canonization. 1. Evidence of the resurrection proves
Christ was God' s direct representative. Therefore we MUST accept what He
said as absolute TRUTH! 2. Therefore His sanctioning of the Holy
Scriptures kept by the Jews must be valid. 3. Therefore
all contained in the O. T. must be factual whether there is external evidence
available to prove it or not. III. THE ORIGINAL NUMBER OF THE OLD
TESTAMENT BOOKS A. There are 39 books in the KJV. But the actual number of books in the original canon was 22 books. No new books have been added;
some of the original has been divided into several books. 1. Nothing
essentially wrong with this. 2. Real difficulty comes in however when you dislocate the books from their original order as the KJV has done -- following Catholic influence. B. Ancient official view. 1. Josephus claims the official canon had 22 books. 2. The Pseudopigrapha book, the Book of Jubilees,
written 150 B. C. , says there are 22 books in the O. T. It also mentions: a. God made 22 things on 6 days of creation. b. There are 22 generations from Adam to c. There are 22 books in Holy Scripture. 3. Because of the number 22 the Jews felt they had the complete revelation from God. a.. Adam was the final (22nd
creation) and most perfect physical creation of God. b. Jacob (22nd generation from Adam) was
the creation of His spiritual nation. c. Hebrew (which has 22 letters) was Jacob' s sacred tongue. d.
So it was logical that God' s final and perfect spiritual revelation should be in 22 books. 4. Sextus Senensis (1520 A . D.) an
early Jewish scholar said: "As with the Hebrew there are 22 letters, in
which ALL that can be said and written are comprehended, so there are
22 books in which are contained ALL there can be known and uttered of
divine things". (Green, Intro, to the O. T. , p. 87).
D. From this overwhelming evidence we
see that even the early Christian leaders believed that the O. T. was divided
into 22 books. E. Sometimes 27
books. 1. Epiphanius and Jerome both mention O.
T. as having 27 books (as well as claiming they had 22 books). 2. This was done by dividing some of the
original 22 books bringing total to 27 books. No new books were added. 3. Not done haphazardly. Five of the
Hebrew letters (Caph, Mem, Nun, Pe, Tsade) take a different shape when they
are used at the ends of words. Therefore there are 27 differently shaped
letters. 4. This 27 numbering is merely done by a
few "Christian" writers. It is still based on the 22 original
books. F. The reason
behind the 22 numbering. 1. With all of the (Sec. B)
circumstances surrounding the number 22 it can easily be seen that the early
Jews observed a type of alphabetic ACROSTIC running through the 22 O. T. books. 2. An acrostic has the first letter
of the first sentence beginning with the first letter
of the alphabet; second letter of the alphabet begins the second sentence,
etc. A complete acrostic has 22 sentences or multiples of 22. 3. An example of a complete inspired
acrostic is Psa.. 119. a. Divided into 22 sections. b. Each section has 8 verses. c. First 8 verses of the psalm begin
with the first Hebrew letter aleph. d. Second section begins with the second letter beth for each of the 8 verses in the section, etc. 4. When all 22 letters are utilized in a
Biblical acrostic God is showing that we must put an accent of completeness
or perfection on that set of scripture. 5. In Psa. 119 God is speaking about His
perfect and complete Law and a perfect and complete acrostic is used to emphasize
that completeness. 6. A complete set of acrostics is used
in the 5 sections of Book of Lamentations -- emphasized the completeness of
God' s destruction of 7. Psa. 111
and 112 are complete acrostics -- show God will completely and permanently redeem His people. 8. Prov. 31:10-31 is a. complete acrostic
describing a com plete and perfect woman. 9. Examples of incomplete or broken acrostics
in Bible. a. A broken acrostic is found running through Psa. 9
and 10. b. Seven letters methodically left out. Thus it must have been purposely intended by God. c. This emphasized the broken and irregular condition which will occur on the earth during the period these two psalms predict. 10. God uses the acrostic design to
emphasize His message. The Bible is consistent in the usage of these two
acrostical designs. 11. By using 22 books in O. T. God shows
that His revelation in the Hebrew tongue is now complete. Thus the O. T. is
complete. 12. For further revelation God uses another language -- Greek.
13. Since an acrostic is only a. sign of completion when all let ters are in perfect order, then the O. T. books should be left in perfect order as inspired. G. What the 22
numbering means. 1. Important when you add it to the 27
books of N. T. That gives you 49 books. That shows absolute completion. 2. Following the Catholics the
Protestants have 66 books in their Bible. The Catholics recognized the
significance of this and added 11 apocrypha books which made a. total of 77
books. Protestants still have 66 books. If you divide it man' s way God
forces man' s number on it. H. Present
Jewish numbering. 1. Today the Jews claim there are 24 books in O. T. a. This numbering began in late 100' s and early 200' s A. D. b. First appeared among Babylonian Jews.
Almost all the teachings of modern Judaism have come from the Babylonian
school. 2. Why Jews
made the change from 22 to 24. a. Claim it was for convenience
(uniformity). But this isn't true. Actually by the 2nd century the N. T. was
being accepted in many portions of b. What authority did they have to
change the number to 24 in the first place? Sextet Senensis states that there
were 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet with only one yodh. By his time
the Jews started writing God' s name YHVH with three yodh' s.
It was therefore necessary to renumerate the O. T. by two more books. This
was to "honor God just that much more. " But there isn't the
slightest authority in the Bible to do this and also the use of three yodh'
s to write God' s name was their own idea -- not ordained by God. 3. The spurious work of II Esdras is the
only 1st century work that mentions the canon as having 24 books. a. But
Josephus, in 90 A.D. still says the canon had 22 books. (N. T.' s 27 books had not as yet been grouped together). b. Other texts in II Esdras contradict
this particular verse by stating there are 94, 204, 84 or 974 books in O. T.
These numbers in II Esdras could have been tampered with by later scribes
(since it wasn't canonical) to prove whatever they wanted it to. Couldn't do
that with the books in the Canon. 4. Why some
Gentiles may have later preferred the 24 numbering. a. Greek alphabet has 24 letters, not
22. Therefore they would have wanted 24 books in Greek Septuagint Version. b. Since there are 24 Elders around God' s throne some Greek Christians thought 24 O. T. books were permissable. c. Major reason: Greeks and Romans alike
reverenced Homer and his Iliad and Odyssey were considered
divine works. Aristarchus had divided each into 24 parts -- a sign of
divinity among Greeks. Thus the Bible should be divided into 24 to show
divinity. IV. THE TRIPARTITE DIVISIONS A. Why third division called "Psalms". 1. Custom of Jews to call books of Law
by Hebrew names or words that introduced them. Genesis is called "In the
beginning". Exodus is "These are the names". 2. Since the third division of the O. T.
was not given an official name -- simply called "The Writings, "
they simply called it by the name of the book which introduced it -- the
Psalms. B. History of the tripartite divisions. 1. II Maccabees 2:12-15 states that
Nehemiah collected in a library "the books about the kings, and the
prophets and the works of David. " Of course he commissioned Ezra to do
this. Thus Ezra was the one who gathered the books and divided them into
three sections. 2. Other supporters showing the three
divisions are correct: a. Grandson of Sirach (130 B.C.) b. The Targums of Onkelos and Johnathan (app. 50 A. D . ) c.
Philo Judaeus (about time of Christ's birth). d. Apostolic Constitution (200
A. D. ) 3. The best witness is that of the Talmud.
Beginning with their time onward the Jews have called the O. T. TANAK.
This name is derived from the names of the tripartite division. a. TORAH -- name for the Law. b. NEBEE-EEM -- name for the Prophets. c. KETHUVEEM -- name for
the Writings. d. By taking the initial letters of the three titles (T, N, K) they form the word TANAK. Thus the Bible of the Jews was named for the three divisions. This shows they were accepted as true divisions. V. THE PROPER
DISPOSITION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT BOOKS A. Book of Ecclesiasticus (app. 200 B.
C.) gives same order of O. T. books as Jewish canon of today. B. Targums of Onkelos and Johnathan
(represent the official views of Palestinian Judaism just about the time of
Christ.) C. Mat. D. The false order of the books. 1. Some Jews have re-arranged books at
times (in 2nd and 3rd divisions -- Prophets and Psalms). But they have always
been within a division -- never changing from one division to another. 2. Early Jews had complete disgust for
Egyptian Septuagint Version which completely re-arranged 2nd and 3rd
divisions. This version is followed by King James Version. Also by the
Catholics. E. Talmudical order of the books. 1. Puts Ruth before Psalms in 3rd division. 2. Puts Isaiah behind Ezekiel in 2nd division. 3. These, however, were only suggestions and were never done as God had not given them right to do so nor was there any rea son to follow such suggestions. VI. JOSEPHUS AND HIS TESTIMONY TO THE CANON A. Because of his position, his
testimony is second only to Christ and the apostles. B. Says there are 22 books -- 5 books of
Moses; 13 books of prophets; 4 books of hymns or precepts (Contra Apion, I,
8). C. What Josephus meant. 1. Not referring to the 3 divisions. 2. Is showing the 3 subjective types of books in the
Canon. - 12 - 3. As a matter of fact, Josephus
purposely doesn't speak of the 3 divisions anywhere. a. He wets writing to Gentiles who could
not appreciate the significance of the arrangement of the various books. b. Context shows he was showing mainly
the ancientness of the Jewish nation. His immediate subject was not about the
Canon. c. Also written to show the stability of the Jewish people. d. He did not want to bewilder his audience by giving. the actual revealed listing of the order of books. It would have
taken much time to explain the "odd" design to the Gentiles who
would never have laid it out in such a way. Certainly Chronicles should go
with Kings to most Gentile thinkers, etc. (Note that when Gentiles had Bible
translated they rearranged them in order of subject.) D. How to count
the 22 books. 1. On page one of this outline we notice
there are 24 books listed in the O. T. 2. Josephus and all others show the inspired number is 22 books. 3. Thus, 4 books must be combined to
make 2. The only logical choice is Joshua/Judges and Samuel/Kings. 4. Joshua/Judges discusses the time when
a. Samuel/Kings had been shown in early
MSS that it was the "Book of the Kingdoms". b. Other supporters: Apostolic
Constitution (200 A. D. ); Melito (170 A. D. ). c. Internal evidence shows J./J. should
be one book if S./K. are to be one. 5. By combining these books no violation of the 3 divisions is
made. 6. Now, what of Josephus' "13 Prophets" (Sec. B)? a. 4 hymns and moral teachings must have been: Psalms, Song of Songs (the hymns); Proverbs, Ecclesiastes (moral teachings). b. Thus the 13
prophets (all authors of inspired writings are called prophets): Joshua/Judges Ruth Book of Kingdoms Lamentations Isaiah Esther Jeremiah Daniel Ezekiel Ezra The Twelve Chronicles Job VII. HISTORY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
CANONIZATION A. Ezra, the Priest. 1. Universal testimony has it that Ezra
was the man responsible for the final formation of the O. T. 2. Accepted of 1st century that the
prophetic spirit had died with Ezra. B. Why Canon effected in the days of Ezra. 1. 50, 000 Jews returned from Babylonian Captivity to rebuild 2. But they took little interest in religious matters. 3. Plagued because weren't obeying God and intermarried with idolatrous Gentiles. Became more and
more corrupt. 4. 457 -- Ezra comes to rectify the situation. C. Ezra goes to 1. Was high priest of Jews in 2. Was a scribe and so righteous was his
character that Jews say he would have been the lawgiver had not Moses
preceded him. 3. Was well trained in the Law (Ez. 4. Came with 2000 priests, Levites and
servants of the temple to restore the worship of God. 5. It took 13 years to make all the Jews completely return to
God. D. Nehemiah comes to 1. Was a high government official in E. Jews sign covenant with God. 1. Ezra. and Nehemia.h summoned all
leaders of Jews to meeting and all signed a special covenant that they would
henceforth obey the Commandments of God (Neh. 2. This meeting was the beginning of the
new Jewish society in 3. Was headed by Ezra and Nehemiah along
with all the principle priests and elders of the Jews. It was the religious
supreme court -- the governing body of 4. It not only convened to insure
observance of laws of Moses but also to define what was the correct books to
be included in the Old Testament. F. The members of the Great Assembly. 1.
Had 120 members. 2. Ezra said at his death the high
priest was to become head of the Great Assembly. 3. Important to note here that Eliashib
the High Priest had not signed the covenant with God (Sec. E). See Neh.
13:4-7. a. He had not fully agreed with the covenant. b. His grandson,
Manasseh, was married to a Samaritan princess. This represented a political-religious alli ance between the top families of 1) Manasseh was excommunicated from went to ther -- made him high priest of the Samaritans. 2) Note -- the reason Manasseh was thrown out of the Jewish community was because one of the points covered in the Covenant was that all Gentile wives must be sent away. Many had intermarried. Manas seh refused to give up his wife. 3) This was the real beginning of the Samaritan form of religion and beginning of reasons for the later anta gonism which developed between
Samaritans and Jews. c. Manasseh' s further rebellion. 1) Built a temple on O. T. the prophets stated that the to be built on 2) Manasseh therefore had to reject their writings as being sacred. He accepted only the Pentateuch. 4. So, in order to show the people just
what were the inspired books, the Great Assembly assembled them all and put
them in proper order. Divided it into 3 divisions and 22 books. 5. Ezra is called a "Second
Moses" because Moses gave the first part of God' s revelation but Ezra
gave us the final and complete O. T. G. Ezraa
authorized the square Hebrew script. 1. Ezra changed Jewish script to square
script they had used in 2. This, of course, did not change the
meaning of words but only how each letter was formed. 3. Why the change? a. Samaritans had not gone into
captivity so their present writing was same form as old style Hebrew script.
Ezraa knew they used this to show they had the original text and would not
change. So he wrote -- after canonization -- the entire O. T. in square
Babylonian Hebrew so all Judeans would know whether they had an O. T. from
the hands of Ezra or not. 4. Mat. hornlike projections found predominantly in the square script. H. Since the Samaritans had corrupted
the Sacred Calendar as well, Ezra changed the names of the months to the
names of the ones they had learned in 1. Why
Chronicles was written. 1 . It was written mainly by Ezra. 2. Though Book of Kingdoms was already
written, Ezra added Chronicles. But he had an entire different reason for
giving the history of 3. Throughout Ezra endeavors to show
that Terusalem has always been-the headquarters of God's political and
religious government and that no other area has any right to be the H.Q. but
4. This was done to show that the
Samaritans had no grounds for claiming they were the center of God' s
religion. 5. Ezra mentions 15 ancient secular
books to support his claim while Book of Kingdoms hardly mentions any secular
books. Reason was at the time Book of Kingdoms was written there was no
controversy going on. Ezra was not making his readers take his word for what
Chronicles said about J. Chronicles is the guide to all Canonizations. 1. Chronicles gives proof that
canonization should take place and it should take place in 2. We can thank God for the
steadfastness of Ezra and Nehemiah in countering the Samaritans of that day.
Just as the Samaritans forced Ezra to canonize the O. T., their descendants
under Simon Magus, forced the Apostles to canonize the N. T. VIII. THE FIVE CANONIZATION PERIODS OF
THE OLD TESTAMENT A. Moses (Luke 1. All five books of Pentateuch written
during the 40 years wandering in wilderness. 2. Moses used other books as sources
such as pre-flood documents for Genesis. 3. Genesis, Exodus and Leviticus were
written within the first year out of 4. Numbers was Moses' continuous record
of the wilderness journeys. The last chapter -- 36 -- was written at the end
of 40 years in wilderness. 5 Deut. written within last 60 days of
the 40 years (see Deut. 1:3 with chapter 34). a. Deut. written to teach when they reached the Promised Land. Pertains to land economy and not a desert or wilderness one. b. Note different animals mentioned in Lev. 11 and Deut. 14. Leviticus shows animals of wilderness while those men tioned in Deut. are those found in 6. Deut. 31:9 -- just before his death,
Moses finished all the books and gave them to the priesthood of 7. Placed in compartment attached to Ark
of Covenant. High Priest could consult it when needed. Was called the
"Standard Scroll" though made up of several scrolls. 8. Deut. 9. Ezra placed the new standard copy,
written in square script, in B. David
and Solomon. 1. Chronicles mentions 3 periods of
canonization as eluded to before ( Ch. VII, Sec. J). a. David and Solomon. b. King Hezekiah. c. King Josiah. 2. Chronicles also shows that each
canonization period came at time when temple services were being revitalized
in C. 1. By time of David the whole Tabernacle
system had become ineffective in handling the religious requirements of
millions of Israelites. 2. The temple was established (actually built later). 3. David divided the priests into 24
courses (I Chron. 4. David divided the Levites and singers
into 24 courses each (I Chron. 25). 5. This new religious system required definite liturgies. D.
Authoritative liturgies needed for temple services. 1. David arranged the songs (psalms) the
singers would sing and in what order. 2. Most of Psalms were written by David. 3. Book of Psalms is divided into 5 books. 4. 1-72 were written by David. a. Psa. 72 -- "Prayers of David --
are ended" means that all the preceding psalms were written by him.
Others are found in the other psalms also. b. Also, Psa. 72 -- "for Solomon" -- David wrote it to
him. c. Psalms entitled "Korah"
(42, 44-49) and "Asaph" (50) were written by David in honor or for
them. Both were Levites who sung in the temple (I Chron. 16:7, 25:2). 5. Psa. 1-72 compose first two books of Psalms. a. This is 3 times 24. There were 24
courses of singers. These were the official psalms to be sung over period of
one and one-half years in temple. b. About twenty verses of the law were
read each Sabbath taking 3 years to complete (called Triennial Cycle Readings
-see Vo. 12 of Jewish Encyclopedia under article by same name). c. Add 72 more Psalms and we have 144 --
enough to last 3 years -- one a week. d. Remaining 6 Psalms act as extra Psalms for the extra month that occurred about every 3rd year. 6. The first 72 were authorized for
temple services. The official singing of these Psalms involved canonization
in an official capacity. E. Other works also canonized at this period. 1. Ecc. 12:9
(Prov. 1:6; 22:7; 24:22; 2. Agur of Prov. 30 and Lemuel (Prov. 31) are both referring to Solomon. Lemuel can mean "The king who rejected God. (II
Kgs. 11:1-8 shows Solomon did just that.) 3. Other books -- Ruth, Song of Songs,
Ecclesiastes were possibly considered divine at that time but were not made
part of the Canon until Ezra came on the scene. Other books by David and
Solomon were read as being authoritative to the Jews at time of David and
Solomon. (No major canonization was needed because there was no Samaritan
problem at that time as was true at time of Ezra.) But Ezra. chose these alone
as important and inspired for all of us. IX. CANONIZATION BY KING HEZEKIAH A. During time of Moses there was no great controversy between
him and the Samaritans. He just told the priests which books to keep and they
did. B. At time of David and Solomon the
coming of the permanent temple (a.s opposed to the temporary tabernacle) with
all of its elaborate services and the establishment of a new type of
religious society were the only reasons necessary for adding certain books to
the already existing books. David and Solomon supplied C. Neither of these 3 men were forced to
canonize works because of pretention of heretics. D. During the time of Hezekiah, King of Judah (same time Isaiah
was prophet), an attack from 1. Hezekiah and Isaiah felt it
absolutely necessary, by this emergency, to put their authoritative approval
on certain books which 2. Due to righteous acts of Hezekiah God
spared E. Hezekiah re-established true worship of God. 1. Ahaz his father had stripped the
temple (II Chron. 28:21-24) and shut it up. 2. Hezekiah immediately started to
re-institute worship of God (II Chron. 29:3-4; 31:2). Ahaz had instituted the
Syrian religion as 3. Also saw that Psalms were sung as
before. Only by this time the 3rd book of Psalms was either aa part of the
Word of God or else Hezekiah added it then (II Chron. 29:30 -Psalms of Asaph
are 73-83 and begins the 3rd book). 4. God had so much esteem for Hezekiah
that he ranks him among the most righteous of all kings -- including David!
! (II Kgs. 18:5). 5. Studied God' s Word intensely (II
Chron. 31:21) -- a man fit to help canonize the O.T. F. Re-establishing true worship involved some canonization. 1. Hezekiah canonized a whole section of
Proverbs (Prov. 25:1). They were chapters 25-29. 2. Jews maintain tlat the "Men of
Hezekiah" were a group like the Great Assembly which was formed for
exact purpose of canonization. G. Sign-manual of Hezekiah. 1 . The letters j7 (Kheth), r (Za-yin),
j) (Kuph) spell out basic name of "Hezekiah" (the "yah"
at end of name is left off. It means "God's property. ") -20- 2. This "Tri-grammaton" or sign-manual is found at the
end of every O. T. book except for those of the Meggilot (5 in all). 3. These letters mean "to bind
firmly together" or "bound" "confirmed". Thus it
signifies that Hezekiah had confirmed that book to be inspired and the Word
of God is therefore officially canonized. 4. The books of the Festival Scroll
(Meggilot) are the very ones that were least likely to require a sign-manual
a.s a witness of their sacredness. They were read on all the regular annual
gatherings or celebrations of the Jews. 5. Thus the people heard them read every
year and knew they were sacred and the Word of God. H. Sign-manual appears on books written
after time of Hezekiah. 1. After Hezekiah, the sign-manual became the
recognized seal of canonization. 2. Therefore, Ezra put it after each
book but Festival Scroll books. But instead of the 3 letters, he put two
words. They mean "Be bound, and we will bind. " At end of
Chronicles we have "Be bound! ! So we will bind. The Lawgiver is not
straitened (or powerless). " God had now completed the O. T. I. Other works
canonized by Hezekiah. 1. Hezekiah also wrote some Psalms (Isa. 38:9-21). 2. His Psalms (pl.) were used in temple services (Isa. 38:20). They took their place beside David' s and Asa.ph' s Psalms. "The father to the children" (vs. 19) shows Hezekiah'
s Psalms were to be sung from generation to generation. J. Which Psalms
are Hezekiah' s? 1. There are many without names and they
could be any of those. We should look for those that deal with circumstances
and times of Hezekiah. 2. One idea. (remember this is not necessarily true) is
that the "15 degree Psalms" are from Hezekiah. a. Original Hebrew of each Psalm should
start "A Psalm of THE degrees. " Instead of just
"degrees" as it now reads. This points that these degrees represent
definite degrees. Only degrees mentioned in Bible are those on sun-dia.l
of Ahaz. b. Note also
that there are 15 degree Psalms -- these correspond to the 15 years God
added to Hezekiah' s life. 10 of the Psalms were written by Hezekiah (as four were written
by David and one by Solomon) -- corresponding to the 10 degrees the sun moved
on the sun-dial. (II Kgs. 20:8-11). 3. Concerning these "degree"
Psalms, some Jews say that they were read starting on the Day of Trumpets and
that one was read every succeeding day until the first day of Tabernacles.
The priest would read each one from the steps leading to the K. Another
reason for canonization during Hezekiah' s time. 1. Movement of sun 10 degrees threw off the Jewish calendar. 2.
Thus the calendar, based on a 360-day year (30-day months) now had to be rearranged to compensate for a 365.25-day year (29.5-day months). 3. Jews say present calendar came from hands of Hezekiah. 4. David's Psalms were set up for regular year. Now there were perhaps 5.25 extra days. So the whole temple services had to be rearranged. L. Isaiah
helped in canonization. 1. II Chron. 32:32 -- in original Hebrew
indicates Isaiah wrote the Book of Kingdoms. Proper translation: "The
remainder of the actions of Hezekiah and his beneficent rule, are recorded
in the visions of Isaiah-ben-Amotz, the prophet, upon the history of the
Kings of 2. Does not include Joshua/Judges among
prophets as Acts 3:24 shows. The prophets section starts with Samuel. 3. I Sam. 9:9 -- Samuel was a prophet
(1st since Moses). Since Joshua/Judges is actually located in "the
Prophets" division (See list VI, Sec. D, part 6) it is highly logical
Samuel wrote them. 4. In other words, Joshua/Judges is
reckoned among the Prophets because aa prophet wrote them. 5. Samuel established Prophetic Order of
Schools throughout M. Why would Isaiah write Book of Kingdoms? 1. Comes just before Isaiah in correct canon. 2. Are an introduction to the prophecies of Isaiah. 3. He first tells them of the failure of their forefathers and then in his prophecies, relates what will happen if they persist in disobeying. X. THE IMPORTANT PERIOD OF KING JOSIAH A. Period similar to Hezekia.h' s. 1 Babylonian attack threatened 2. Kings Manasseh and Amon who preceded Josiah were worse than heathens (II Chron. 33:9). Manasseh stripped the temple (II Chron. 34:8-11). Amon was even worse (II Chron. 33:21-25). B. Josiah, in some ways excelled both
David and Hezekiah (II Kgs. C. He re-established the temple services
and a pure religious society. 1. Cleared out pagan idols from Judah (II
Chron. 34:3). 2. Restored temple to former splendor. Priestly functions re established. D. The finding of the Law. 1. During restoration of temple, the
Standard Copy of God' s Law was rediscovered. Josiah wanted to follow the Law
(II Chron. 34:19). 2. Peace promised as long as Josiah lived (II Chron. 34:27-28).
3. Died in battle and phesied events of Lev. 26 would now come upon them. (II Chron. 35:24). 4. After Josiah' s death, Jeremiah prophesied of the coming
fall. 5. II Chron. 35:25 shows Book of Lamentations being written. It was mourning the death of Josiah ("for" in 35:24
should be "because of"). 6. "Ordinance" shows
Lamentations was to be sung from then on in the temple. Ezra was writing
Chronicles 100 years later showing they were still being sung. 7. Read to this day on 9th of Ab. E. Canonization of Josiah and Jeremiah. 1. Lamentations was canonized by Jeremiah. 2. Also prophecies of Jeremiah and some of minor prophets. F. Daniel was placed in charge of
keeping the books together by God. 1. Dan. 1:4 -- implies Daniel was top
librarian of Babylonian palace. 2. In this position all the Holy Books
of Judah would come to him (to be placed in the library). 3. This explains how he had access to
Law of Moses ( XI. FINAL CANONIZATION BY EZRA A. Remember all canonization preceding
the one by Ezra are relatively unimportant to us today. B. Ezra was the one who gathered all the
books and made final canonization of O. T. C. Edited whole O. T. 1 Ezra
added a, few simple editions to law to elucidate what Moses actually said. 2. Mainly editoral notes telling 5th
century B. C. Jews the current names for towns mentioned in the law. 3. Reason for this was God' s principle
of not hiding the truth from His people. Pagan mystery religions hid things
from their followers. 4. Examples of Ezra' s editorial
remarks: Gen. 14:17, 7; 23:2, 19; 36:31-39. D. Moses also edited some too. Gen.
2:13-14; 12:8 ( E. Samuel added to the Law (I Sam. 1. "The book" indicates Samuel
wrote a book that was already in existence. 2. Only book laid up before the Lord at
that time was the Law of Moses. 3. Deut. 17 is the chapter Samuel probably added. 4. Note that when the people wanted a king they made no men tion of Deut. 17 to support their ideas. So this must have been added later. 5. Deut. 34:5-6, 10 were added by Ezra. XII. THE DESIGN AND TEACHING OF THE OLD
TESTAMENT BOOKS
Former
(Earlier) Prophets Counted as one book -- according to tradition it was _Joshua written
by Samuel. Peter Judges mentions that the writings
of Samuel commence the prophetical section of O. T. (Acts Samuel --Kings Also counted as
one book -Book of Kingdoms. Perhaps written by Isaiah (up to his time) as a
preface to his prophecies (II Chron. 32:32.) Latter (Later)
Prophets *Isaiah Jeremiah Major or longer prophets. Ezekiel The Twelve- Minor or shorter prophets. *Counted as four books by Ezra. These
books reveal their authors by their titles. a. All 6 books are set in chronological
order -- order of events they foretell as well as time they were written. 1)
Joshua/Judges speaks of history just after Deut. 2) Book of Kingdoms
continues the story. 3) Isaiah -- written just before and during the Assyr ian invasion. 4) Jeremiah -- written during the Babylonian captiv ity 100 years or so after Isaiah. 5) All 12 books making up the Twelve are also arranged in chronological order. (In reverse order.) a) Hosea-Nahum -- written during Assyrian period. b) Habakkuk-Zephaniah -- Chaldean period. c) Hagga.i-Malachi -- Post-exile period. 6) Proof of chronological order. a) Malachi -- last written. It was
written during time of Ezra -- subject material is same as that in Ezra and
Nehemiah. b) Zecha.riah -- written 8th month of
2nd year of Darius. See Zech. 1:1. c) Hagga.i -- written in days of Darius
-- 6th month of 2nd year -- See Haggai 1:1. d) Zephaniah -- written in days of
Josiah. He ruled just prior to Babylonian invasion of e) Habakkuk -- also speaks of the
Chaldean invasion that would come (1:6). This was written before that
invasion just as Zephaniah and since we see that all other books have been in
order, it can be seen that Hab akkuk must have been written just prior to
Zephaniah. f) Nahum -- speaks of coming destruction
of Ninevah. This occurred in 612 B. C. - speaks of g) Micah -- written just before the
Assyrian invasion. See Micah 1:1. h) Jonah -- written before the invasion.
He knew i) Obediah-Amos was written in time of
Uzziah. Micah had been active just after that in days of Jotham. Thus Obediah
must have been written just at end of Uzziah' s reign or the beginning of
Jotham' s. 1a) Critics
deny this and say his description of 2a.) They use vs. 11 to substantiate
their eyewitness hypothesis about Obediah. But this speaks of Edomites
casting lots over j) Amos -- See above. k) Joel -- since Hosea and Amos lived at same time during reigns of Uzziah and Jereboam, then it follows that Joel lived at this time too. 1) Hosea. -- lived at the same time as those above. Comes first because he was given "The beginning
c. All of this shows that these books
were not just put together in a haphazard order by Ezraa and the Great Assembly. d. Why the former prophets in the prophetical division? 1) They were written by prophets. 2) This historical section acts as a preface to the Major and Minor Prophets. XIII. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE WRITINGS
DIVISION A. God has design in His Bible just like
He has design in the universe (Psa. 19). In that design He has teaching. B. The order of the 11 books is
subjective and liturgical and only vaguely chronological. There are striking
similarities in regard to their authors or to what the authors are speaking
of. An analysis of this similarity will help us learn a great lesson about
how God' s government works. C. The Statemen' s Section. This is what
the writings are known by also. Either the author or subject matter of each
book has to do with government matters -- matters pertaining to statesmanship. 1. Psalms -- all were written by kings. 2. Proverbs -- all
written by kings. 3. Job -- describes the tribulations of
King Job (Job 29:25) -Cheops of Dynasty IV of Egypt -- and how he was later
restored to his kingdom. 4. Song of Songs -- written by Solomon. 5. Ruth -- gives the history of part of King David' s family. 6.
Lamentations -- written for King Josiah or because of his death (II Chron. 35:24-25). 7. Ecclesiastes -- written by Solomon. 8. Esther -- speaks of Esther becoming Queen of Persia. 9. Daniel -- Daniel was a prince (1:3) and the book speaks of God' s Kingdom
taking over this world' s kingdoms. 10. Ezra-Nehemiah -- Subject matter is re-establishment of a Jewish civil and religious society in may have been a king (Neh. 6:5-9) and Ezra was a religious governor (Ezra. 7). 11. Chronicles -- written by Ezra and
speaks of history of Judah and Davidic Dynasty. D. Now note the
order of the three grand divisions of 0. T. 1. Law section comes first. Written by
one of most important men of Bible. 2. Prophets section comes next. Prophets
are God' s spokesmen and reveal the Word of God. Could be called the
"Church Section". Their authority comes before that of the kings. 3. Psalms comes last. They were written
by kings and statesmen. Deal with the secular side of people' s lives. 4. All of this order shows that the E. Why the
order of the eleven books? 1. In proper order the 11 books divide into 3 clear-cut parts. Song of Songs Ruth The
Festival Lamentations Scroll (i. e. The Megillot] Ecclesiastes Esther I Psalms, Proverbs Job Poetical Books Daniel________ Ezra-Nehemiah
Chronicles Post-exilic Books 2. Again, there is a special reason for
the order these books are placed in the Bible. F. Let' s note the order of these books as we did with the
prophets. 1. Daniel -- one of the last books. It
is a book of hope -- showing that after the Gentile kingdoms have reigned a
certain time God' s kingdom would be set up on earth. It also told that
Christ would come in a few years ( 2. Ezra-Nehemiah -- explains occurrences
after the time of Daniel. 3. Chronicles -- last because it speaks of the conspiracy in time of Ezra. Remember Ezra and associates were final
canonizers. 4. Why wasn' t Daniel listed among the prophet section of Bible? a. It is different from the others in
that Daniel received almost all his divine information from visions or by
interpreting dreams. Others of the prophets didn' t. b. His mission was different from other
prophets. The others dealt mainly with c. Daniel was in vision in Gentile
capital cities but never in d. Chapters 2-7 were written in the
"International" Babylonian language. G. The
significance of the Festival Scroll. 1. Song of Songs -- read during Passover season. a. Passover occurs in spring. This book
has aa springtime setting ( b. Spiritually and typically the love
drama is that of the Church being prepared for the marriage with Christ. c. Christ died at Passover. He had been
married before to physical d. Spiritual Israel who is now mature and ready to take part in the marriage has a little sister who is not ready (8:8). She will be ready later in the time of the autumn harvest when she will also become the bride of Christ. This fits in with the teaching of the Holy Days. 2. Ruth -- read at Pentecost. Has late
springtime theme to it ( 3. Lamentations -- Read on 9th and 10th
of Ab (5th month), anniversary of the destruction of the temple and the city
of 4. Ecclesiastes -- Read at Feast of
Tabernacles. Written by Solomon in which he shows how physical things are
only vanity and cannot give lasting job and peace and happiness. During
Solomon's time the world had peace. 5. Esther --
Read at Feast of Purim on 13th and 14th of Adar. Like Thanksgiving Day in The Festival
Scroll Design -- tells a story. 1. Song of
Songs -- Church is preparing herself to marry Christ. 2. Ruth -- Speaks of the harvest of
firstfruits -- harvest of God's Church. Now going on until 2nd coming of
Christ. 3. Lamentations
-- 4. Note: Pentecost is backwardly
attached to Passover -- it sort of completes Passover as there are 50 days of
harvest between them. Now this Memorial Day of Ab is forwardly attached to
Trumpets as it comes 50 days before Trumpets which typifies the 2nd coming of
Christ. So just as Pentecost completes the spiritual harvest begun at
Passover time so the Memorial Day of Ab typifies the Great Tribulation which
will be completed and finished at the 2nd coming of Christ. 5. Ecclesiastes
-- After and Christ's return (Trumpets) now the Millennium will be set up. 6. Esther --
Pictures the enemies of God are destroyed. ~---- BACKWARD ----I Passover Pentecost --- 50 days
----i ~---- FORWARD ----J Memorial Trumpets
of Ab ~---- 50 days
----i Resurrection of Christ < > Return of Christ I.
In
summary we see the entire plan of God in the Megillot. Christ is now able to
marry the Church (Songs). He is now working in the firstfruits harvest (Ruth)
which will be just about over when the complete destruction of XIV. THE BOOK OF PSALMS A. Why first? All three books in this
section are together because they are written in verse -- Hebrew poetry. They
are first in the Writings section because they contain material from much
earlier times. 1. Psalms first because its material
goes back even to Moses (Psa. 90) 2. Proverbs comes next (written by David's son). 3. Job goes back even farther than Moses
but was not first for job was not considered an Israelite but a Gentile. B. Book of Psalms was divided into 5 books to correspond with
the
C. When each section was canonized. 1. Books One and Two -- Time of David. 2. Book Three -- Time of
Hezekiah. 3. Book Four -- Time of David. 4. Book Five -- Time of E zra. D. The five books of Psalms parallel the
five books of the Festival Scroll. 1. The third book parallels Lamentations
(the third book of Festival Scroll). These Psalms are just like
Lamentations. Psa. 89:38-52 was added by Jeremiah who wrote it as a result of - 32 - King Josiah's death just like Lamentations was. Josiah is the
only king that was of the four kings (there were only four who were cast down
from the throne) cast down that was killed at an early age in battle. Both
Book 3 and Lamentations deal with destruction and both have as their time of
complete composition the death of King Josiah. Now note how they parallel
Leviticus. 3rd book of Law 3rd book of Psalms 3rd book of
Festival Scroll Leviticus: written to give instructions for the priests.
The Law concerns itself with the CONSTRUCTION of the religious system in Written mainly
by priests and general themes concern temple. Major subject of book is
DESTRUCTION. Lamentations: Written by a priest, Jeremiah.
Major subject is DESTRUCTION. Read regularly on anniversary of destruction
of temple and 2. The fourth book of Psalms. Parallels
the book of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes speaks of the time of the Feast of
Tabernacles. During the Feast the Israelites were to remember the wanderings
.of tecting His people during the Day of the Lord. And on and on it goes. Even Paul refers to this fourth book when referring to the Millennium (Heb. b. The last six Psalms (6 is man's number) describe man's frail ness showing that even in the Millennium man is frail and weak of himself. c. Following is a recap of the fourth
book of Psalms discussed in point 2 above. 4th book of 4th book of Law 4th book of Psalms Festival Scroll Numbers: This book These Psalms describe Ecclesiastes: This - 33 - nium God says
"dwell in booths" to remind them of the "boothliving" in
the WILDERNESS, where they had to depend upon God for sustenance. 3. 5th book of
Law Deuteronomy:
A summing up of what was covered in first four books of the Law. Specific
laws for Israel IN THE PROMISED LAND. book describes
the vanity of trusting in the great abundance which God can and will be
giving to mankind. Read at Tabernacles to warn 5th book of Festival Scroll Esther:
Read after Tabernacles. It speaks about the complete salvation coming
to describes the WILD- the Millennial condition ERNESS journey. Is-
which will come to Israrael needs to recall el
and to the earth. Manthis time at Tabernac- kind needs to be remindles and
in the Millen- ed, however, that he is weak, frail and mortal during the Millennium. The latter Psalms have this as their theme. 5th book of Psalms Summing up of
what was covered in first four books of Psalms. Finally leads up to
Hallelujah Psalms which show Israel IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD and praising Him. 4. Second book
of Psalms. a. Parallels Exodus and Ruth. Ruth speaks of Pentecost. b. Exodus describes the beginning of the
O. T. Church. c. 2nd book of Psalms shifts from personal happenings of David to what happens to 5. First book
of Psalms. a. Parallels Genesis and Song of Songs which is read at
Passover. b. Genesis shows origin of man. Song
shows the commencement of the redemption of that human race. 1st book of
Psalms shows David in the role of Christ who was to come. The human side of
Christ's ministry is found here. E. Books of
Proverbs and Job. 1. Follows Psalms chronologically. Proverbs does - not Job. 2. Psalms also precedes because of David's authority. David was one nearer to God's ideal than any other man. 3. Job was considered to be Gentile. There are too many difficulties (mainly chronological and historical in nature) which make it very difficult to equate job with the job of Genesis 46:13, an Israelite. Some try to prove this. XV. THE CONCLUSIONS TO
OLD TESTAMENT DISCUSSION A. How do we know we have the same O. T. that Ezra canonized? B. Think about the way official records,
especially those which represent laws, are kept today. They are guarded with
the utmost security. There are many reproductions of the Declaration of
Independence for example. If original was destroyed no one could get away
with changing one word without it being discovered. C. Same is true with O. T. which was the
secular as well as the religious law of the land. You can be sure lawyers
were very familiar with every word of it to help their clients. D. It is also true that once the
physical nation ceased (70 A. D.) the national courts disappeared. 1. Preservation of law became more the responsibility of the re ligious leaders instead of the state. 2. Again there were several Jewish denominations and each made sure the other did not change the text. 3. 4th and 5th centuries saw some Jews try to correct the
official text with spurious ones. 4. To stop this, officials restored the
old authoritative MSS. handed down since pre-Roman days and made the standard
text -- the Massoretic Text. This is the one followed today and is the one
Ezra canonized. XVI. THE APOCRYPHA AND SEPTUAGINT
VERSION A. The
Apocrypha could not be part of the O. T. as they were written - 35 - in Greek not Hebrew. Read again about the significance of the 22
books being in the O. T. The 49 books of the Bible plus the 14 of the Apocrypha
make 63 books. B. Christ and
official Judaism rejected the Apocrypha. 1. Christ doesn't mention the Apocrypha being a part of the division of the O. T. in Luke 24:44-45. 2. Jews were to keep the Oracles of God ( Greeks. 3. There are 263 direct quotations from
and about 370 allusions to passages in the O. T. (found in the N. T.) but
none are from the Apocryphal writings. 4. Josephus says: "From the time of
Artaxerxes, all occurrences have been written down; but they are not regarded
as entitled to the like credit with those which precede them, because there
was no certain succession of prophets." (Contra Apion, 5. Even the Apocryphal books themselves
mention the Bible as being apart from their own writings. (See I Maccabees
4:46; C. Addition of
the Apocrypha comes from 1. Over a period of 150 years just
before Christ, the Egyptians wanted the literature of the Jews translated
into the Greek language so all people could read the works. 2. Their object was to translate what
scholars considered the divine literature of the Jews, not necessarily the
Divine Canon. 3. By the beginning of the 1st century
B. C. they translated any literature of the Jews. 4. By the 1st century A. D. certain
Apocryphal works were being associated with the canon though still not
considered a part of it. 5. The Jews hated the Septuagint so
badly that they considered the day it was translated, the worst day in
Jewish history. 6. Jesus and Apostles never quoted from
Apocrypha regardless of what historians say for they would have been banished
for even quoting it. 7. Of the 263 direct quotes of the O.T.
used by the Apostles, only 88 verbally agree with the Septuagint MSS. we have
today. a. Why do they? Origen who is
responsible for giving us the Septuagint Version we have today had several
copies of the Septuagint. But each one differed in places from the other. b. Origen attributed this to "the
carelessness of the scribes, or rash and mischievious correction of the text
by others. " c. How to correct them and have a good
version? "By the help of God, using our own criterion with the other
versions. " d. In other words he used the N.T. which
he highly esteemed. That is why in 88 quotes the Septuagint Version agrees
with the Apostles -- the Apostles agreed with it or quoted it? Origen made
the Septuagint agree with Paul. gint agree with Paul. e. As far as Paul using the Septuagint, he did not need it as he knew Greek and Hebrew equally well and could translate
from the Hebrew directly into the Greek by himself. He didn't need the
Septuagint. D. Why the
Septuagint cannot be officially accepted. 1. The law portion of the Septuagint was
without question translated from the Samaritan Pentateuch not the official
Jewish Version. They agree in 2000 places where they disagree with the Jewish
official version. 2. The "Jews" used in
translating the Septuagint were "Samaritan Jews " ? 3. As a matter of fact even the
Catholics did not accept the Apocrypha until the Council of Trent in 1646 A.
D. They did it then to be distinct from the Protestants and to show their
supposed authority over all spiritual matters. The Protestants were saying
they were spurious books. 4. This also brought their Bible up to
77 books while the Protestant Bible has 66 -- man's number times 11. E. Lost books
of the Old Testament? 1. Jude 14 -- is this speaking about a
book of Enoch that should be in the Bible? a. Jude doesn't say he quoted from a book of Enoch. In reality Jude is quoting an oral prophecy handed
down by the holy men of b. Another example of a spoken prophecy is Matt. 2:23. c.
There is a book of Enoch written in the 1st century A.D. that has this verse in it but it is a spurious work doing away with God's Sacred Calendar. Jude would have quoted from it? And even if he had that would not have made it part of the canon as Paul also quoted Greek poets (Acts 2. Other so-called lost books of the O. T. a. Book of the Wars of the -Lord (Num. f. Prophecy of Ahijah the Shiloite (II Chron. 3. Note that the last 4 books were
quoted in the works that Ezra canonized. Why didn't he add these books to the
canon? The answer is he wasn't authorized to do so. 4. There are no lost books of the Bible. XVII. DESIGN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT BOOKS A. Christ's way does not change (Heb.
13:8, James 1. Thus He used
same system to canonize both O. T. and N. T. a. Used highest ranking men in They were the high ranking priests (Deut. 91:9) or righteous kings of the House of David (see list of 7 periods of canonization to follow later). b. Therefore He would use the apostles in the N. T. 2. Roman Catholic Church had nothing to
do with canonization. They admit that canon was already complete when their
church ever discussed certain books should be in it. Synod, 397 A. D. , is
first. B. Moses was a
type of Christ. 1. Moses given
rank of God (Ex. 2. Given this office because he was to
give the people the written and codified Law of God for the first
time. The Law was known before (Gen. 26:5) but never written down. Moses was
the only man used to reveal God's law to man. 3. All prophets
that followed merely commented on these laws but never revealed any other laws. 4. Therefore, Moses was the Lawgiver of 18-19; Acts 3:22-24). a. Was to magnify the law -- to
bring out law' s true significance (Isa. 42:21). b. Was to bring the final
Spiritual law. C. Jesus gave
the New Testament. 1. He intended new literature to be
added to the 0. T. (Matt. a. "fulfill the law" means
"to fill up" the revelation of God. b. N. T. was to be added to 0. T. to complete the Bible - the revelation of God. c. Did not mean He Himself would personally write the N. T. but His disciples would do it for Him. Princi ple is that covered in John 4:1-2. 2. Disciples were to write N. T. See
Isa. vealed in the N. T. (This is Isa. meaning). b. "Bind" means to "canonize". c. The disciples would know all truth
and the Church would not have to wait centuries for the complete truth to be
revealed by Augustine and other church "fathers" (Jn. D. Disciples
knew they were to canonize the N. T. 1. All writers of the Bible are called
prophets. See Luke 16:29; 24:27; Rom. 1:2; Acts 26:27; 28:23. 2. II Peter 3. Paul knew he was helping to write
scripture (Rom. 16:2526; II Cor. 12:7; Eph. 3:3, 5; Col. 1:25-26; I Cor. XVIII. CANON NOT NEEDED AT FIRST A. Apostles felt Jesus Christ would come
in their lifetime. Here's why: 1. Dan. 9 --
the 70 weeks prophecy gives no indication that the final half week would be
delayed over 1900 years. 2. Dan. 11 -- no apparent long period of
time from Antiochus Epiphanes to the second coming of Christ. 3. They did not understand the 7 times
or times of the Gentiles. But there was no need for them to understand them
yet. 4. Christ never told them when the
Kingdom would come (Matt. 24:42; 25:13; Mk. 5. Some of Christ's statements could
have led disciples to believe the Kingdom would be set up soon (Matt. 3:2; 6. Matt. 24:34 -- even Olivet prophecy
sounded like it would be for them. 7. Paul thought coming would be in his
lifetime (I Thes. 4:1516; II Thes. 2:1-2; I Cor. B. But about 60 A. D. the disciples
realized that the coming would be much later (Heb. 4:9; II Pet. 3:8) and
realized the need for a New Testament canon. XIX. THE FIRST
CANONIZATION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT A. II Peter was
writen by Peter to explain why he was canonizing - 40 - the New Testament. Read this section in the thesis
for complete detail). B. John and Peter were both to be used
in canonizing the New Testament. 1. Peter canonized 22 books (probably)
-- all but John's books. He followed the O. T. as a guide but knowing John's
were to come (II Pet. 2. John added his 5 books making the
total number of N. T. books 27. C. Then the Bible had 49 books (7x7).
There were also 7 canonization periods in completely canonizing the entire
Bible: 1. Moses 2. David and Solomon 3. Isaiah and Hezekiah 4. Jeremiah and Josiah 5. E zra and Nehemiah 6. Peter 7. John XX. THE PROPER ARRANGEMENT OF THE NEW
TESTAMENT A. The
canonizers put the 7 General Epistles before Paul's Epistles.. B. Paul himself shows that other
apostles were before him. See Gal. 1:17. It was the Western
"Fathers" who put the 7 general epistles (Jewish books) behind
Paul's. This put Romans first. C. The East agreed with the original
canonization but the West did not. XXI. ROMAN EXCUSE FOR EXHALTING PAUL A. Gnostics up to the second century claimed
the Christian Church had two divisions: One for the Jews and one for the
Gentiles. 1. Acts 15 is said to make this distinction. Gentiles were told not to bother being circumcized. 2. But Paul did not just teach Gentiles from that time on. He always taught the Jews first and then went to the Gentiles. B. The arrangement of the books of the
N. T. by John (final canonizer was considered the "early Jewish
arrangement. " It was designed for the Jewish "section" of the
Church. C. This was all part of the Gnostic plan
to remove church leadership from the Jewish men in authority. D. The Bible itself proves that this
2-church theory actually existed among these Gnostics. III John was written
to prevent such an idea from spreading. (Read this section in
the thesis for complete detail). E. When Polycarp (disciple of John)
disputed with Anicetus (Bishop of Rome) about the date of Passover, Anicetus rejected
John's authority in the matter and changed the date. Anicetus respected his
authority over the Jewish Church but not over the F. Finally in the latter part of the
second century the Gentiles rejected the Jewish Christians as Christians at
all. Gentiles were the leaders of the Church. Peter the apostle to the Jews
could now be considered one of their own -- since the entire church was now
Gentile -- and they made him to be head of the church. G. The West considered the book of
Hebrews non-Pauline as it was too Jewish. One reason why they do not accept
it as being Paul's. XXII. NEW TESTAMENT
EVIDENCE THAT GENERAL EPISTLES MUST PRECEDE PAUL'S A. They are general and not written to
specific churches as Paul's were. B. Contain only general information. You
must feed spiritual infants on general teaching in order for them to learn
properly. James is the most general in the whole N, T. besides the Gospels.
I Pet. 2:2. C. God always went to the Jews first
(Rom. D. All authors of general epistles had seniority over Paul
(Gal.. 1:7). E. All had greater administrative authority (Gal. 2:2, 9; Acts F. General epistles give a proper
orientation to the understanding of Paul's letters. G. Peter mentions his, James and John's
works before Paul's (II Peter XXIII. PROPER ORDER OF THE SEVEN GENERAL EPISTLES A. Rank of authority (Gal. 2:9). B. Subject matter. 1. James writes about first principles of Christian living - getting along with each other (4:1). 2. Peter is a little stronger meat, especially about here tics. 3. John spoke of keeping the Commandments. 4. Jude was the
strongest against the heretics. C. Follow order of attributes of I Cor.
13:13. 1. James speaks of faith. 2. Peter speaks of hope. 3. John speaks of
love. XXIV. THE FOUR GOSPELS They are in proper order. 1. Matthew is first. a. Written first. b. Contents. Connects O. T. with N. T. Transition book. Was written to the Jews. "To the Jew first." c. Rank. Matthew was a Levite. Quite possible, he was a high priest. High priests at that time often had more than one job
thus Matthew was a tax collector. 2. Mark second because he wrote this
gospel at behest of Peter. He was Peter's secretary so to speak. 3. Luke third because he wrote at behest
of Paul who was of lesser authority than Peter. 4. John is last despite authority over
Paul. Reason is that when Peter canonized his 22 books of N. T. , John hadn't
written the Gospel of John yet. When John canonized the N. T. he added his gospel
with the others. And since it dealt with matters the others left out (tieing up the loose ends
of Christ's teachings) he put it in fourth position. B. Notice why the four divisions of the N. T. are where they
are: 1. First are the four Gospels. a. Contain the most basic of all Christ's teachings. b. Sayings
to disciples while yet unconverted. c. Mature teaching promised to come later (Jn. 2. Second are the general epistles. The
Christian who has mastered the Gospels and Acts is now ready for "milk"
doctrines. 3. Third are the Epistles of Paul -- the real "meat".
4. Fourth is the Revelation. C. The one major
principle surrounding the positioning of the books is the principle of
PROGRESSIVE TEACHING. XXV. THE EPISTLES OF PAUL A. Hebrews is
only epistle of Paul that is out of position. 1. Should come after II Thes. 2. Western (Roman) Church couldn't believe it was Paul's epistle as it was speaking of Jewish subjects. So they put it at the end of all Paul's epistles. B. Design of Paul's epistles -- divided into 3 sections. 1. First 9 written to 7 churches ( a. Paul wrote to only 7 churches as they covered the general information of N. T. which concerns "church" matters. b. Tells of major doctrines and how to
keep the Holy Days. 2. Hebrews -- a general letter to all Christians. 3. Pastoral epistles (private letters)
-- Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. C. Why this order? Same as the Gospels.
Teaches in progressive teaching method. We learn God's message in a step-bystep
manner. 1. Romans -- contains instructions for
those who had only learned the first principles of the Gospels. It is an introduction
book to the teachings of doctrines. Heb. 6:1-3 shows the basic doctrines and
Romans covers them all and in the same order. a. Repentance (1-2). b. Faith (3-5). c. Baptism (6). d. Holy Spirit (8). e. Resurrection and judgment (9-11). 2. I Corinthians also written to babes
(3:1-2) and is same as Romans. a. Repentance and faith (first few chapters). b. Baptism (10). c. Holy Spirit (12-14). d. Resurrection and judgment (15). 3. II Corinthians is a little more mature (II Cor. 4. Galations written to immature Christians (1:6) who were spiritually weak (3:1). 5. Ephesians is for the spiritually
mature. From here on Paul's epistles are for the mature (Eph. 6. Philippians
is for the mature. Colossians the same. 7. I and II Thessalonians are even more
mature. Speak of second coming; resurrection; judgment upon Man of Sin and
the Beast System. Christians aren't ready for all the information about the
second coming and resurrection until they have mastered all preceding
epistles. 8. Hebrews is most mature doctrinally.
It deals with what will happen after 'the Resurrection. a. The
Millennium (4, 12). b. Day of Atonement -- Satan bound (9).
c. Man's purpose fulfilled (2:5-9). d. 6:5. e. Lamb marries f. 9:11;
10:1,37; D. Holy Day parallels in- Paul's
epistles. 1. 2. 3. 23-24, 4. Galatian-- speaks of Days of
Unleavened Bread. He speaks of circumcision which was always associated by
Jews with first day of Unleavened Bread (5:6-9). So Paul is giving a
Christian interpretation of the significance of Days of Unleavened Bread. 5. I Corinthians 12-14 and II
Corinthians 3 also discuss Holy Spirit. Jewish tradition places giving of the
law on Day of Pentecost. 6. Romans = beginning teaching for Church = Passover. E. Pastoral epistles of Paul (personal
letters to ministers in the churches.) Therefore should be considered most
mature of all epistles. Note the order they are in and why they are in that
order:
a. Timothy -- one half Jew (Acts 16:1).
b. Titus and Philemon -- both Gentile.
XXVI. CANONIZATION OF PAUL'S EPISTLES A. How did Peter get all of Paul's
epistles and who arranged them? 1. First realize that Paul knew he would
help complete the Bible (Rom. - 47 - 2. Paul, seeing death near (II Tim.
4:6-7), may have arranged and set apart his own letters and given them to
Peter. a. Paul called for Mark to perform a particular service ("for the ministry" in II Tim. 4:9-11 means "for
a service"). b. The Parchments spoken of in 4:13 are Paul's epistles (Read
pages 493-497 in Thesis for complete detail).
3. Mark's role. a. Immediately
after Paul's death (app. 66 A. D.) Mark goes to Peter in Babylon (I Pet. 5:13). b. Mark's "service" (II Tim. 4:9-11) was therefore to bring Paul's letters to Peter for canonization. Im mediately after this we find Peter referring to Paul's epistles as Holy Scripture (II Pet. 3:16). 4. Paul arranged his epistles in proper
order and Peter placed them in proper sequence in the New Testament, B. Did Paul edit
his epistles before his death? 1. Ezra edited certain sections of O.T.
So Paul certainly could have edited his epistles to give them more universal
appeal. 2. An example of Paul's editing is Rom. 16:25-27. When Paul was placing his books in proper order for canonization he
knew Romans would be the first book and an .introduction to the rest of his
works. So in editing his epistles before sending them to Peter, Paul added
these 3 verses to introduce the subject of the "mystery" covered
in Ephesians and Colossians. Could be at the end of Rom. 14 however. Old
manuscripts have it that way. It is OK where it is. C. What
difference does it make if edited by Paul? 1. Shows that Paul was preparing his epistles for a different purpose than what they were originally intended. 2. Paul had a personal hand in canonizing his own letters. No need for
addition except it was to be referred to by later Christians whom he couldn't talk to personally. 3. "At Ephesus" (Eph. 1:1) was added later by Paul.
Some manuscripts have a blank space there. a. Ephesians was a circular letter. First sent to Ephesus and then sent to all churches en route
ending at Laodicea. b. The letter to Laodicea (Col. 4:16) may be the Ephesian one. Both written at same time and
resemble each other. c. Paul at time of editing added "at Ephesus"
to fill the blank. It was the first church to receive it. 4. Mark 16:9-20 is a possible addition
by Peter who had Mark write that gospel. D. End of Acts deleted. 1. Does not end with "Amen". 2. Brings us up to 62 A. D. and leaves us "hanging". 3. Luke was with Paul in 66 A. D. (II Tim. 4:11) when the parch ments were edited and arranged. He could have completed the book of Acts then. He might have, but if so the inspired editors deleted it. Otherwise it was never completed in the first place. 4. John who could have written the whole
history in the 90's added nothing to Acts. 5. Why "unfinished"? Possibly
to hide the real history of Gnosticism seeping in and taking over the
"Christian" church thus giving the prophesied apostasy opportunity
to occur. E. Early church
"Fathers" are absolutely silent on editing of N. T. XXVII. DISPOSITION OF OTHER APOSTOLIC
LITERATURE A. Paul as well as all other apostles probably
wrote hundreds of letters to the churches (I Cor. 5:9). B. All others not used in New Testament
must have been destroyed by Peter, other wise there could be no real canon. XXVIII. JOHN'S FINAL CANONIZATION A. John was told he would live to see
Christ's second coming in vision (Jn. 21:22 -- compared with Matt. 16:28). B. John fulfilled John 16:13. C. One reason for John's gospel was to
sum up his authority to canonize the New Testament. 1. John 21:22 was written to show John's authority to canonize.
2. At this time some were questioning the book of Revelation and John's authority in general. So John says he is fulfil ling John 16:13. D. Last verses of John are the summation
of the gospels and show we have all that is necessary for us today. E. Book of Revelation. 1. Completes canon (Rev. 20:12-15). a. "Books" is same word (Gk.) used for the
"Sacred Writings" (Jn. substituted for "the Books". b. Article "the" in from of "Books" shows
Word of God was complete now. c. When Dan. 7:10 written this was not so. "the Books" in Dan. original (See Companion Bible). 2. Rev. 21:5-6 shows God's Word now complete. XXIV. WESTERN ASIA
MINOR -- CENTER OF NEW TESTAMENT CANONIZATION A. Scholars have no guide lines in
choosing which ancient manuscript to follow as the original. They believe
that the older the manuscripts the better. But the Bible does give guidelines
as to who was given charge over the canon. B. John sent Revelation to the seven
churches. They were to keep it. 1. Ephesus was the chief church of the seven. 2. It is clear that the complete New Testament was given to the Christian churches in in the entire area covered by books of N. T. in Ephesus. 4. 27 books sent to Greek-speaking Christians in Asia Minor. C. Could the Egyptian Sinaiticus
Manuscripts be the correct one? There is complete lack of interest shown of D. What of the Vaticanus
Manuscripts from North Africa. This is the home area of many church
"Fathers" of the R. C. C. But not one Church of God is mentioned as
being in that area in the N. T. E. Thus we see that the logical place to
look for the proper N. T. Canon is in XXX. REMARKABLE SIGNS OF COMPLETE
CANONIZATION A. "7" shows completion.
7 x 7 is 49 "completion times completion". 1. There are 49 books in the Bible as
compiled by E zra and John. 2. The whole accent is upon our Bible
being the COMPLETE Bible. B. There are
seven parts to the O. T. 1. There are 3 great divisions in the O.
T. but they have divisions within them: Law, Prophets, Psalms (Writings).
This is how they are divided: a. The Law. b. The Prophets (divided into two sections). 1) Former Prophets. 2) Latter Prophets (divided into two parts). a) Major Prophets. b) Minor Prophets. c. Psalms (divided into three sections). 1) Meggilot (middle 5 books) -- or Festival Scroll. 2) Poetic type books -- Psalms, Proverbs, Job. 3) Restoration type books -- Ezra-Nehemiah, Chroni cles. (Written about and during the restoration of Jews returning from Babylon.) 2. This gives us seven parts in the O.
T. a. Law. b. Former Prophets. c. Major Prophets.
d. Minor Prophets. e. Meggilot. f. Poetic type. g. Restoration type. C. There are seven parts to the New
Testament. 1. Gospels. 2. Acts. 3. General epistles. 4. Nine Church epistles (to the seven churches). 5. Hebrews
(meant for all Christians). 6. Four Pastoral epistles. 7. Revelation. D. How to
divide the N. T. books into overall divisions. 1. Gospels and
Acts should be considered one historical division. a. All 5 are historical books -- first
four speak of Christ and fifth speaks of Christ -- the Church. b. In almost all early manuscripts the
Gospels and Acts are together in one section on one scroll. c. To force the general epistles and
Paul into one section (making Gospels and Acts two sections) makes 21
Epistles instead of a group of 7 and 14. In the official manuscripts it has
been noted that this is an unusual and unnatural arrangement. They always
(where it is possible to note divisions) separate the general epistles from
Paul's. d. The five together (Gospels + Acts)
represent the Pentateuch of the New Testament. 1) All N. T. law based on this Pentateuch (-as O. T. on its first five books.) 2) The fifth book of the O. T. (Deut.) is different from preceding four books as Acts is -- but both Deuteronomy and Acts are historical. e. Together they are the center of the whole Bible. 1) 22 books in O. T. ---- Gospel/Acts ---- 22 N. T. books. 2) This puts Christ's teachings while
physical (Gospels) and teachings in spiritual body through the Church (Acts)
as the CENTER OF THE ENTIRE BIBLE!! f. There are also three greater
divisions on either side of the Gospel/Acts division making the seven
divisions of the Bible have as their center revelation the central teachings
of Christ. 1) Law. 2) Prophets. 3) Psalms. 4) Gospel/Acts. 5) General epistles. 6) Paul's epistles 7) Revelation. 2. The preceding were the seven major
divisions of the Bible. -53 E. There were
seven canonization periods (as discussed before). F. Other
"7's" of the Bible. 1. 66 books in the Bible (reducing each section to highest number of books). But there are 5 books in the book of Psalms. Thus 65 books plus 5 books equal 70 books. This is 10 x 7. 2. 7 general epistles. 3. 14 Pauline epistles. 4. Paul wrote 7 churches (the 7 churches in Revelation represent the entire history of the church). These church
epistles represent all (7 signifies "complete") universal doctrines
needed to teach the Church. G. Delete or add one book to the Bible
and you have chaos. Truly this is the COMPLETE WORD OF GOD!!! |
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