A Study of the Bible (Part One) - Why The Bible Was Written

“Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise; For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue. They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause. For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer. And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love. ¶ Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand. (Psalm 109:1-6)










O Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high.

Behold, God exalteth by his power: who teacheth like him?


LESSON I. WHY THE BIBLE WAS WRITTEN

The eyes of the LORD preserve knowledge, and he overthroweth the words of the transgressor. (Proverbs 22:12)

There are two questions that must be answered first in the study of Bible history, Bible texts, and Bible manuscripts & translations. The first of these questions is: “Why did God give us his knowledge? The answer to this, of course, must be found in God’s book of knowledge, the Holy Bible.

Ҧ Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge. For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips. That thy trust may be in the LORD, I have made known to thee this day,
even to thee.” (Proverbs 22:17-19)

God gave his knowledge to man “that thy trust may be in the LORD”. God wants us to trust him and that is why he gave us knowledge of himself, of the creation, of his grace, and of the Saviour, etc. The word of God puts a lot of emphasis on trusting in the LORD.

Rule number one: Don’t put your confidence in man. Trust in the LORD and confidence in man are opposite each other. Confidence in man will hinder your trust in the LORD. “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.” (Psalm 118:8)

Rule number two: Don’t respect the proud and don’t turn aside unto lies. “Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.” (Psalm 40:4)

Rule number three: Don’t be proud yourself. “He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife: but he that putteth his trust in the LORD shall be made fat.” (Proverbs 28:25)

Rule number four: Don’t fear man. “The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.” (Proverbs 29:25)

Rule number five: Trust in the Lord. “When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them: but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain;” (Isaiah 57:13)

Rule number six: Get your heart fixed. Trusting in the Lord will fix your heart. In Bible study, the study of the Bible, and in your Christian life, you need a fixed heart. “He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD.” (Psalm 112:7)

Rule number seven: Don’t trust in the world (or Egypt), worldly wisdom, or vanity. “Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin: That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt! Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.” (Isaiah 30:1-3) “Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence.” (Job 15:31)

The second question is: Why did God put his words into writing? And again, the answer to this must be found in the Bible. [(But before answering this question, think about this for a moment: Why would you let anybody teach you that your King James Bible is corrupt and has errors without first telling you why God spoke and why God wrote his words.) The reason for God giving his knowledge and writing his words and its purpose determines the answer to some other questions that come after.]

“Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge, That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?” (Proverbs 22:20-21)

God put his words into writing to make us certain of the words of truth. God wants us to be certain of the truth and to be able to answer with words of truth. This, of course, ties in with preservation of the words of the Lord.

It is verses like Psalm 12:6-7; Proverbs 22:20-21; Psalm 119:41-43 that gives us the doctrine of scripture preservation.
“The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.” Psalm 12:6-7

Now, notice what these verses say. “The words of the LORD are pure words.” If you have the words of the LORD, then, you have his pure words. If you don’t have his pure words, then you don’t have his words.

“as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.” This phrase definitely puts the preservation of the pure words of the LORD on the earth.

“tried in a furnace”. What could that mean? Obviously, somebody has tried to destroy God’s pure words. In spite of that, David said that God would preserve them for ever.

“Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge. For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips. That thy trust may be in the LORD, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee. Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge, That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?” Proverbs 22:17-21

Aren't God's words wise words?

Not your head --- apply your heart to God's knowledge.
[“Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." Psalm 119:11]

God made his knowledge known to you "That thy trust may be in the LORD".

God wrote his knowledge to make you "know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth".

Now if you have any doubts about the above and to be sure not to do injustice to the scripture, let's follow the Holy Spirit's directions for Bible interpretation, that is, compare scripture with scripture (spiritual words with spiritual words) [1 Corinthians 2:12-13].

Notice that according to Psalm 119:41-43, According to God's word (the word of truth) shall we have to answer reproach just as in Proverbs 22:21, with the words of truth we have to answer reproach.

In Acts 26:25, Paul refers to the word of God as "the words of truth". [I hope you would agree that what Paul said in Acts 26:1-25 is the word of God.]

The last reference is Eccl 12:9-11. There's that knowledge in verse nine. Compare also "he gave good heed" to "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word." ( Psalms 119:9)

"The preacher sought to find out acceptable words" (verse 10). Isn't that what a preacher does when he studies for a sermon? "that which was written was upright". (Although he may use other sources,) isn't the word of God "that which was written" what he should study and preach? Isn't the word of God upright?

And there again are "The words of the wise". These words of the wise are "as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies" when they are preached. These wise words, these words of truth, are words "which are given from one shepherd". That "one shepherd" would be God. These words must be the words of God.
[Now we have seen all three places in the Bible where the phrase "words of truth" is.]

Now, my dear brother, after the above study, why would you not believe that Proverbs 22:20-21 is referring to being certain of the words of God?



Now, seeing that the purpose for God putting his words in writing is to make us certain of the truth, we then know that God’s words must be available to us in an infallible book. For if we have no infallible authority, how can we be certain of the words of truth?

Whatever men may say, there is only one honest answer to this. The truth is that without an infallible authority, we can’t be certain of anything.