“…But this is the man to whom I will look. He that is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word” Isaiah 66:2 Before printing and digital storage, Biblical texts were copied by hand. Because of the intense work needed to duplicate a portion of the Bible, the faithful treated these scarce manuscripts with care. Imagine the hand copied texts of Genesis with the stories of Noah, Abraham and Joseph stored securely alongside the love story of Ruth and the book of Joshua telling of the fall of Jericho. Rich treasures indeed. During the Israelite kingdom’s last days these rare copies of Scripture were probably kept in Jerusalem. The secure Jerusalem temple would be a place of safe keeping. Then tragedy struck. The Babylonians invaded, sacked Jerusalem, burned the temple, destroyed Israelite culture, and exiled the leadership. What happened to the ancient Biblical manuscripts? We might easily conclude that the manuscripts were burned into oblivion. But as the smoke cleared, the prophet Isaiah spoke about the days following the destruction of Jerusalem. He wrote that while humans and human institutions come and go like the flowers, ‘the word of our God will stand forever’ (Isaiah 40:8). Scripture survived! Few relics of the Israelite kingdom exist, but millions of people carry Genesis, Ruth, and yes, Isaiah to church every Sunday. God’s word endures! Look Up and Reach Out!
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 13:00:00 +0000
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