By Bobby Holmes
Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them (Psa. 119:129, KJV).
The psalmist declares the precious word of God to be filled with wonderful things and thus an encouragement to keep them. I would like to note with you “seven wonders” of the book we call the Bible.
1. The antiquity of the Word. Note the following passages of Scripture, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matt. 24:3 5, KJV). “For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower there of falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you” (1 Pet. 1:24-25, KJV). We are told that the Bible was completed about 95 A.D. That the last book of the Old Testament (Malachi) was written about 400 B.C. and that Moses’ books date about 1500 B.C. Just think of all the hand written books of old time to make it possible to have the Bible in its completed form today.
2. The Word needs no modernization. It is just as relevant today as it was when it was written hundreds of years ago. As an example, look at the following passage, “In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array” (1 Tim. 2:9, KJV). Not to go into a detailed study but let us note that “modest” means “with decor,” “shamefacedness” means “having the ability to blush ” and “sobriety ” means “with sanity. ” The “styles” were determined by God. They wore robes then. Later dresses for women and pants for men were the it style.” The dresses were of ankle length at first but “style” brought the hem line higher. Where is the limit? The words “shamefacedness” (ability to blush) and “sobriety” (with sanity) will govern what is right in the sight of God. The word of God needs no “up-dating” in order to fill modern man’s needs. It is always current and up to date.
3. The diversity of the Word. Some people claim the Bible is boring and seek the novels of un-inspired men for reading. I submit to you that the Bible is the most interesting book you have ever picked up. Certainly, one would not read it to fill curiosity but it is rich in reading. The book of Genesis contains the history of creation and the birth of the nation of Israel. The book of Acts records the history of the birth of the church of Jesus Christ and the acts of the early Christians in establishing several congregations. There is literature to be found in the reading of Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and others. There are love stories as we read the book of Ruth and the story of Samson and Delilah. There is adventure to be found in many places such as the story of the twelve spies who entered Canaan to seek out the land. There is biography to be found in the four gospel stories describing the birth and life of Jesus. Who can deny the diversity of the Word?
4. The unity of the Word. There are some forty authors who were involved in the writing of the Bible. The Bible contains sixty-six books written in three languages, some 1500-1600 years in the writing and yet – no contradictions! Not a single one! Some of these men who wrote lived hundreds of years apart and yet they all wrote in perfect harmony with each other. Should we decide to have our house redecorated and had forty different interior decorators come in to give their advice we would probably get forty different suggestions but these forty different authors wrote of the same things. Just one example. Isaiah wrote 700 years before Jesus Christ was born of Mary. Note what he wrote, “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isa. 7:14, KJV). This very thing was fulfilled in Matthew 1:22-23. The unity of the word in describing the place of Jesus’ birth, his life he lived, the way he died, his place of burial and his resurrection is without flaw.
5. The theme of the Word. Some people claim the theme of the Bible is the Jews but the theme of the Bible is salvation for all mankind. The Old Testament’s theme was “someone is coming” – the Gospel theme is that “someone is here” and the theme of the rest of the Bible is “someone is coming again. ” Salvation is promised to the believing penitent, confessing, baptized one who remains faithful until he comes to take him home to glory. Oh, what a wonderful hope we have in Christ!
6. The power of the Word. Note the following, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (Rorn. 1:16, KJV). “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb. 4:12, KJV). These passages tell us that the gospel is power of God to lead us to the Lord and salvation and that it has the power to examine our lives and keep us in the way of Truth (see Acts 2:36-41). Man has the ability to produce power today such as the splitting of the atom, production of explosives and rockets to send man to the moon but, none of this can be compared to the power of God that reaches into the heart and life of ungodly people and changes them into God fearing, loving, obedient souls.
7. The comfort of the Word. The book of God is filled with beautiful words of comfort (see the following: 1 Thess. 4:17-18; Jn. 14:1-3; 2 Cor. 5:1; 2 Tim. 4:6-8; 1 Pet. 1:3-5). Yes indeed, David’s words still ring true today. “The testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them” (Psa. 119:129).
Guardian of Truth XXXV: 23, pp. 710-711
December 5, 1991