BLOOD ON THE BIBLE!

Wednesday, May 8, 2019

BLOOD ON THE BIBLE!

Acts 15:25-26

25 It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,

26 Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

           Like the first of the Ford automobiles, you could get a Bible in any color you wanted as long as it was black! Then came browns and tans for Bible covers. Now there are so many Bible versions and translations that it precipitates arguments. But what if you did not have a Bible in your own language?

           It took a great many years for the Bible, as we know it, to be available. From AD 600 to 100 there were handwritten copies of the Psalms and later, in c. 735, the Gospel of John was produced. It took another 500 years before Wycliffe translated the English version from Latin. The reason it was translated from Latin was that the Hebrew and Greek was generally unknown. The Catholic Bible was withheld from the common man and was read to and interpreted for the people.

           Both Wycliffe and Tyndale were burnt at the stake for their efforts in producing a Bible that the common man could read. What we call the King James Version was completed by a team of scholars in 1611 but the one you have in your hands was revised as late as 1994.

           Two things struck me as I sat in a workshop yesterday regarding HOW THE BIBLE CAME TO BE IN ENGLISH. First, I was struck with the persistence with which God was determined to disseminate His Word. Secondarily, I realized that what we are doing these days is trying to wrap the Word around our culture instead of trying to wrap the culture around the Word.

Matt 24:35

35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Ps 119:89

89 For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.

Dear Lord, help me to understand that my Bible is precious because of its truth and because of the sacrifice that made it possible. AMEN