God’s Providence and The Preservation of Scripture

God has never asked the human race to serve him without fully knowing his will. He purposefully and fully reveals his will and leaves man with the choice of whether to follow. However, throughout time, God has reached into the lives of people and nations to rescue his living Word from threatened destruction. Think of just one example from Jeremiah 36.

            Jeremiah (and thus the relevant word of God) had been banned from the house of the Lord. In Jeremiah 36:2, God instructed Jeremiah to dictate to Baruch, the scribe, all of his words, past and present, to the people of Judah through Jeremiah. God was, if you will, archiving his words to the prophet. God then instructed the words to be read on the fasting day to the people, urging repentance and restoration. Baruch faithfully read the words in the high court, then in the scribe’s chamber, and then (Baruch having been hidden away for fear of his life), the words were read by Jehudi in the hearing of the wicked king himself, along with all the princes. God was transmitting the Word that man had tried to endanger and ban. The king, on hearing the message, meticulously cut it up with his penknife—three or four leaves at a time—and threw it in the fire, until it was all burned up.

            But God is not to be outdone by and king or nation when it comes to preserving his words. He saved the lives of his faithful prophet and scribe and instructed those brave men to dictate, write, and archive once more. Today, we are still reading the words of God though Jeremiah. God simply has not, and will not, leave mankind without his clear message for our repentance and restoration to Him. Redemption’s story is not and has never been at risk. No banning, imprisonment, penknife, or fire will impede God’s transmission of his complete and clear will to man.

            One wide path to losing faith is the acceptance of this heresy: “Too much time has passed for us to reasonably believe that we still have a dependable Bible.” That sentiment implies that God revealed his will at one time, but then backed away, leaving his Word susceptible to change and decay, and became the uninvolved god of deism. That we would hunger to please our God but could not know for sure how to do that, is a frightening concept—and it is wrong.

            To accept even some of this idea cracks the door for ungodly living, A man may believe the Bible is the truth, except for passages which forbid his favorite sin. Further, how would any of us have good reason to anticipate heaven if we had nothing more than an undependable Bible to show us the way? Our efforts to please God through worship and daily service to him would be, at best, a roll of the dice, if God has not preserved his Word for each successive generation.

            To deny that God has preserved and will always preserve his word, in fact, questions his very character. What is the purpose of the Scriptures? To illuminate our path to heaven: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psa. 119:105). As long as time shall last, until the trumpets blow

to signal the end of time and the judgement day (Psa. 119:89-90). If God has not preserved his holy Word, then we must concede that either he does not have the ability to preserve it, or that he does not care enough about the human race to preserve it. He is either inept or apathetic. Neither is a reasonable view. The cross shows his unspeakable love for man. Apathy is not in his character. The resurrection shows his limitless power. There is no ineptitude where God is concerned.

To be continued...

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The Spiritual Sword

By Glenn Colley