This morning on the way to church I was driving in my car alone, all by myself, and ruminated on the following. This is a post somewhat thinking out loud, and I'm interested in your opinions. Be gentle!
I believe that God has given and preserved his word in written form, although I think sometimes we get overly balled up on that thought. If every copy of every Bible translation, original language manuscript, fragment, and whatever else were physically destroyed (and I don't think they will be) God's word would still be intact. Even though I believe God has preserved his word in written form, I don't tie the "forever" of God's word to that form. When King Jehoiakim cut and then burned God's word from Jeremiah, that word did not cease to exist (Jeremiah 36:21-24).
Nevertheless, I began to think that the preservation of the written word is in some ways more critical to the church age than to the kingdom of Israel. (Early in the days of Josiah, and prior, the book of the law was misplaced, unremembered, and unused; 2 Kings 22:8-20.) So here is my thought process.
The kingdom of Israel was built on the law of God, but was also a continuing national, legal, political, and geographically recognizable entity. Some continuity of the entity was obvious and knowable from the time of Moses forward, even in times of loss or little knowledge of the written words of God.
The churches on the other hand are spiritual entities, built on the word of God and would seem to be unrecognizable as the Lord's churches without the word of God. Those who enter it do so by faith; no national or regional origin will testify to a church being one of the Lord's churches. We are only able to recognize that relationship through their faith and practice according to the written word of God. For example, a king sitting on the throne in Jerusalem some 400 years later had a physical tie that went back to David, while a Gentile church in East Texas in 2018 has no recognizable tie to the first church at Jerusalem save what we can recognize through the word of God.
I hope most of this makes sense. Comments? Agree or disagree? Earlier I quipped, "Be gentle." But, actually, if this logic can't be supported by the Bible itself, feel free to cut it up and throw it in the fire!
Thanks.
I believe that God has given and preserved his word in written form, although I think sometimes we get overly balled up on that thought. If every copy of every Bible translation, original language manuscript, fragment, and whatever else were physically destroyed (and I don't think they will be) God's word would still be intact. Even though I believe God has preserved his word in written form, I don't tie the "forever" of God's word to that form. When King Jehoiakim cut and then burned God's word from Jeremiah, that word did not cease to exist (Jeremiah 36:21-24).
Nevertheless, I began to think that the preservation of the written word is in some ways more critical to the church age than to the kingdom of Israel. (Early in the days of Josiah, and prior, the book of the law was misplaced, unremembered, and unused; 2 Kings 22:8-20.) So here is my thought process.
The kingdom of Israel was built on the law of God, but was also a continuing national, legal, political, and geographically recognizable entity. Some continuity of the entity was obvious and knowable from the time of Moses forward, even in times of loss or little knowledge of the written words of God.
The churches on the other hand are spiritual entities, built on the word of God and would seem to be unrecognizable as the Lord's churches without the word of God. Those who enter it do so by faith; no national or regional origin will testify to a church being one of the Lord's churches. We are only able to recognize that relationship through their faith and practice according to the written word of God. For example, a king sitting on the throne in Jerusalem some 400 years later had a physical tie that went back to David, while a Gentile church in East Texas in 2018 has no recognizable tie to the first church at Jerusalem save what we can recognize through the word of God.
I hope most of this makes sense. Comments? Agree or disagree? Earlier I quipped, "Be gentle." But, actually, if this logic can't be supported by the Bible itself, feel free to cut it up and throw it in the fire!
Thanks.