Blog
“The Promise That God’s Word Will Never Pass Away – Part 3”
The Promise That God’s Word Will Never Pass Away – Part 3
Wade Webster
It Is A Confirmed Promise
God’s promise alone is enough for us. We know that God keeps His promises (1 Kings 8: 56). We know that He cannot lie (Num. 23:19; Titus 1:2). We know that time after time, God has been found to be faithful. This is especially clear in the case of this promise. Through the centuries, men have tried to destroy the word of God, without success. Someone has well said, “His words have passed into laws, they have passed into doctrines, they have passed into proverbs, they have passed into consolations, but they have never ‘passed away.’” Bernard Ramm said, “A thousand times over, the death knell of the Bible has been sounded, the funeral procession formed, the inscription cut on the tombstone, and committal read. But somehow the corpse never stays put.” Consider just few of the failed attempts to destroy God’s word:
- Jehoikim: Johoikim slashed and burned the word of God because he did not like the prediction that the king of Babylon would certainly come and destroy the land (Jer. 36:29). Though he cut out the unwanted prophecy and cast it into the fire, it still came to pass. God’s word lived on. At the instruction of God, the destroyed section was restored and additional words were added to it. What happened to Jehoikim? According to Jeremiah’s prediction, Jehoikim died and was “buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem” (Jer. 22:19).
- Antiochus Epiphanes: Antiochus Epiphanes was a Syrian ruler who came to power during the period between the testaments. When he became ruler in Syria in 175 B.C., he destroyed the temple, sold the people of Jerusalem into slavery, forced Greek culture upon the people, and sought to do away with the sacred writings. He wanted to break their morale and substitute the worship of Zeus for the worship of God. Once a month, houses were searched, and whoever was found with a copy of the law or had observed the practice of circumcision was condemned to death. Yet the sacred writings survived his reign and persecution.
- Emperor Diocletian: Diocletian was a Roman emperor during the early part of the fourth century A.D. He decreed death for anyone who possessed a copy of the Bible. He took great pleasure in burning Bibles. After two years, he boasted that he had completely “exterminated the Christian writings from the face of the earth.” He even erected a monument over the ashes of burned Bibles. However, just twenty years later, when Constantine came to the throne and offered a substantial reward for copies of the word, the law of God was found in abundance (2 Kings 22-23). In fact, within twenty-five hours, fifty copies had been offered to him. Like those before him, Diocletian had failed.
- Voltaire (1694-1778): Voltaire was a well-known French infidel. In 1778, he boasted, “One hundred years from my day there will not be a Bible in the earth except one that is looked upon by an antiquarian curiosity-seeker.” He further boasted, “It took twelve men to build Christianity. One will destroy it.” Only fifty years after his death, the Geneva Bible Society used this very printing press to print Bibles. Furthermore, the house in which Voltaire had lived was used to store and distribute Bibles. Approximately two hundred years after this prediction, a first edition of Voltaire’s work sold in Paris for a few cents. On that very same day, December 24, 1933, the British government purchased an ancient New Testament manuscript, Codex Sinaiticus, from the Soviets for half a million dollars. The highly-prized manuscript, dated about 350 A.D., is still on display in the British Musuem.
- Thomas Paine: Many remember Paine as the author whose writings were influential in moving the colonists to declare their independence. However, in his book The Age of Reason, he ridiculed the Bible and its claims. His book became known as The Atheists’ Bible. In boasting of the demise of the Bible, Paine declared, “In five years from now there will not be a Bible in America. I have gone through the Bible with an axe and cut down all its trees.” However, it was Paine who was eventually cut down. He spent the last part of his life in bitter isolation, and his dying words were filled with regret. Dying, he declared, “I would give worlds if I had them, had The Age of Reason never been written . . . . O Lord, help me! Christ help me! . . . . Send even a child to stay with me, for it is hell to be alone. If ever the devil had an agent, I have been that one.” Fittingly, Paine’s printing press was also later used to print Bibles and biblical materials.
Although we need no confirmation to take God at His word, much confirmation can be found relative to this promise. Amazingly, in trying to destroy God’s word, God’s enemies have confirmed it!
