Featured Preservation passages

I thought it might be beneficial to create a separate thread to specifically address the texts in the scripture where preservation is taught or believed to be taught. Below are some of the verses that are discussed pro and con on the topic. This is not an exhaustive list, but I think it catches the main ones. Feel free to suggest and discuss others as well.

• Psalms 12:6-7
• Psalms 78:5-7
• Psalms 105:8
• Psalms 119:89
• Psalms 119:150-152
• Psalms 119:160
• Isaiah 30:8
• Isaiah 34:16
• Isaiah 40:8
• Matthew 5:17–18
• Matthew 24:35
• Luke 24:27
• John 10:35
• 1 Peter 1:23–25
• Jude 1:3
• Revelation 22:18-19

Does the Bible, in these or some other places -- directly or by implication -- teach that God will preserve the Scriptures?

 

I must confess that I am predisposed to think of most of these as passages as teaching the preservation of scripture. Most of my teachers believed in the preservation of scripture, though they might not have agreed that all these texts do so -- and many could not be described as MT/TR or KJVO men.

That said, it seems like the main point of some of the texts is something like God saying, "I AM. What I say is truth. It does not matter what you think or what you say. Whatever I say will stand. Depend on it!!"

The first one on the list in Psalm 12:6-7. Here is the 12th Psalm.

Psalm 12 King James Version
1 Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.
2 They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.
3 The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things:
4 Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?
5 For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the Lord; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.
6 The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
7 Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
8 The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.

Viewed in the whole context of the song, I see verse 6 stating a general truth about God's words, and one that stands in contrast to speaking of men (as in vv. 2, 4). The words of the Lord are stated -- what he will do for the poor oppressed and needy. Because God's words are pure, they are dependable. You can believe the promise he makes in defense of the oppressed and needy toward those who are against them. The "them" in verse 7 then is most likely the oppressed and needy to whom he will keep his promise through the generations. If so, this text speaks of the general nature of God's words/promises, but the 7th verse wouldn't specifically apply to the preservation of the text of scripture. This is not to say that the purity of God's words has no implications on the idea of preservation.

(I just referenced this text a few days ago in arguing against Peter Ruckman's view of double inspiration and advanced revelation; I still think I am right and he is wrong, but I don't now think this text is applicable in the way I used it.)

By the way, I thought to look back at older commentators that lived before the version debate wars existed. Both John Gill and Matthew Henry thought the "them" in verse 7 applied to the people God would preserve and not the Bible. Interestingly, Gill's comments indicate he believes in preservation of the Bible, but not that this text teaches it:

And at an even earlier date and in a different language (though what I give is translated to English), John Calvin:

There are other issues that relate to this that need fair examination as well. What does the loss of the book of the law in the house of God have to teach us about preservation (2 Kings 22)? What about Jehoiakim cutting up Jeremiah's prophecy and tossing it in the fire (Jeremiah 36)? I mention these because I think they militate against some of the ways we argue for preservation.

 

Psalm 78:5-7 For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:

The context refers to the scriptures, that is, the law -- the law was a written testimony that was established in Jacob/Israel. If this law is established for the purpose of teaching the present and future generations, then there is some form of preservation implicit in the establishment of it. While there is not a direct statement -- such as, "I will preserve the written word" -- there is reason to believe that God has an interest in preserving it (from the context) that they "might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments."

 

Psalm 105:8 is the next one on the list: He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations.

While this has implications that can be derived from God's faithfulness, I don't see much here that directly addressed the preservation of the written word. The covenant addressed is an oral one made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. (Of course, it was written down in the scriptures later, and was written at the time the Psalmist wrote, but it seems to me we would be stretching to get something into the text that isn't exactly there.)

 

For the moment I'm going to skip over the other Psalm passages, which all seem somewhat in the same vein. Next cometh Isaiah 30:8 - Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever:

Just briefly before I go to bed. We see the context here is clearly a written word, a prophecy of Isaiah that is written as a standing testimony against the rebellious ones who will not hear the word of the Lord. One might argue it only applies to this writing, but it at least applies to it -- and it is written.

Matthew Henry writes:

The Pulpit Commentary says:

Just saying, I'm not out here on a limb all by myself on this one (although the extra weight is not always good for the limb; and what's not good for the limb might not be good for those on it).

 

The next verse in the list above is Isaiah 34:16 - Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.

Here we have another text that is dealing with the written word -- a book, or scroll if you prefer -- the prophecy of Isaiah that is written down and can be referred back to see what was written has not failed but came to pass as God said. I agree with Gill that "it seems best to understand it of this book of the prophecy of Isaiah; which being sought to, and read at the time when these predictions will be fulfilled, it will be easily seen, by comparing events with prophecies, how everything will be exactly accomplished; from whence may be concluded, this book being called the book of the Lord, that it was written by divine inspiration, as all other parts of the Bible are..."

It seems that the Bible believer has to here admit to the preservation of the prophecy of Isaiah, at least this portion of it. And does not "nature itself" tell us that it has been preserved as God said, since we are reading it. Surely this has some implications for the broader topic of preservation, does it not?

 

If we look to the authority of God's word to discuss whether or not his word has been preserved, don't we do it on the presupposition that it has been preserved?

 

Isaiah 40:8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

This text occurs within the context of what the New Testament identifies as a prophecy of John the Baptist -- the voice of one crying in the wilderness. It speaks of the broad fact of the truth and immutability of whatever God says, not directly to the preservation of written words. Peter quotes this and also ties it to the gospel.

1 Peter 1:24-25 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

We have the gospel. It has been preserved orally and in writing. So this has implications on what has been preserved or passed down to us.

 

I don't disagree, Hank. But I think we realize that (for most of us) all doctrines grow out of two basic foundational truths -- that God is and that He has revealed Himself in the sixty-six books we call the Bible. If there is not some kind of preservation of that revelation, other points become pointless.

 

Matthew 5:17–18 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

Also Luke 16:17 is similar: And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.

This should have some implications to the preservation of the written word -- since the law was written -- but the point of Jesus is about the veracity and immutability of what God says. these are not a verses in which Jesus is directly saying he will preserve printed words. The implication (to my way of understanding) is, how can we know God's word is true and dependable if it is not passed down to us so we can know about it in the first place?

 

Did God ever promise to preserve His Word or His words in the original languages in the exact words given to the prophets and apostles?

Do you interpret Matthew 5:17 as a promise to preserve the Old Testament scriptures?

 

Next on the list is Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

This is another text that is not focused on the written word but about the veracity and immutability of what Jesus is says. Heaven and earth as we know them will not stand; what Jesus is saying will stand. Things will happen just as he says. These is not a verse in which Jesus is saying he will preserve printed words. But if these words were not passed down to us in some way we would not know about what he said in the first place.

 

Luke 24:27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

Verses 44 and 45 are related: And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures

The scriptures are mentioned 3 times in Luke 24. This is the written word, which could be read and searched (Cf. Mark 12:10; John 5:29). It is not suggested that the written text was in front of them at this time, but it appears rather that Jesus spoke the scripture to them. Nevertheless the full account indicates that the written word of the Old Testament in its 3 divisions (see v. 44), with its teachings on the Messiah, were both preserved and accessible at the time of Jesus's resurrection. While this only directly speaks to the preservation of the Old Testament, it indicates the work of God in this regard and suggests it would be consistent for Him to also preserve the writings of the New Covenant, which speaks better things than the Old.