Lesson 3
God Preserved His Words
STUDY VERSES – PSALM 12:6-7
“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.”
God’s words are so important to Him that He tells us He will preserve them. God promised to keep the inspired text safe without error or loss.
God Promised to Preserve His Words For Ever
READ PSALM 12:6-7
“Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt _____________________ them from this generation __________________” (verse 7).
READ PSALM 119:89
“________ __________, O LORD, thy __________ is settled in heaven.”
READ 1 PETER 1:25
“But the ________ of the Lord ______________ _______ ___________. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.”
Without Error or Loss
READ MATTHEW 5:18
“...Till heaven and earth pass, one _______ or one _____________ shall in ______ wise pass from the law, till _________ be fulfilled.”
READ MATTHEW 24:35
“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my __________ shall not ________ _________.”
(Note: God put these exact same words in Mark 13:31 and Luke 21:33! That is how important these words are to God.)
READ ISAIAH 30:8
“Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come _______ _________ and _________.”
God promised to preserve His words for ever. And He promised that not one single letter would be lost! Is God able to keep His promise?
(Circle the correct answer.)
Yes / No
God kept His promise to preserve His words.
How Important Are God’s Words?
READ PSALM 138:2
“...for thou hast magnified thy ___________ above all thy name.”
Obviously, God’s words are very important to Him.
READ JOB 23:12
“...I have esteemed the _______________ of his mouth more than my necessary food.”
Job was right. God’s words are more important than the food we need to live. Food keeps us alive for a day. But God’s words help us live forever.
What have we learned so far?
But now we need to ask:
How did God Preserve His Words?
In Books
READ DEUTERONOMY 31:24
“And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the ___________ of this law in a ___________, until they were finished,”
READ VERSE 26
“Take this __________ of the law, and put it in the __________ of the __________of the ___________________ of the LORD...”
The Lord had Moses write His words in a book and put it in a safe place, so His words would be read and copied faithfully by future generations.
READ AGAIN ISAIAH 30:8
“Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it _____ ____ __________, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever.”
READ JEREMIAH 30:2
“Thus speaketh the LORD God of Israel, saying, Write thee _______ the ____________ that I have ______________ unto thee ______ ____ ____________.”
READ REVELATION 1:11
“Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write ______ ____ ____________, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia...”
66 Books: One Bible
We have all 66 books that God gave by inspiration combined in one book, called the Bible. But remember: the 66 original books were never combined in one book! It was perfect copies of those books that were brought together.
The first 39 of those books are called the Old Testament. The last 27 are called the New Testament.
In Faithful Copies
READ DEUTERONOMY 17:18
“And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall ____________ him a __________ of __________ ________ in a ___________ out of that which is before the priests the Levites:”
God preserved His words by having His people make faithful copies of them. Even the king of Israel had to make his own copy of Moses’ writings!
In Accurate Translations
Once the Bible was finished, God’s people carefully translated His words into many different languages. These translations were so accurate that the Bibles said the same thing in each language. They were God’s words in their languages.
God’s words were so precious to them that many people gave their lives rather than give up their Bibles.
Only What God Wants Us to Know
Old Testament
READ ROMANS 15:4
“For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written _________ __________ __________________, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have ___________.”
READ 1 CORINTHIANS 10:11
“Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples (examples): and they are written ______ ______ _____________________ (warning), upon whom the ends of the world are come.”
New Testament
READ JOHN 20:31
“But these are written, that ye might __________ that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that ______________________ ye might have ___________ through his name.”
READ JOHN 21:25
“And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the ______________ that should be __________________. Amen.”
Summary
God promised to preserve His words for ever and ever, without one single error or one missing word or letter. And God always keeps His promises.
God’s words are very important to Him. He preserved His words in 66 books that make up the Bible. The 39 books of the Old Testament were written as examples and warnings. Each book points us to hope in God.
The 27 books of the New Testament were written to bring us to trust in Jesus Christ, who is God the Son and Son of God.
The Lord made sure that godly believers made faithful copies and accurate translations of the Bible. That way people all over the world could have God’s words in their language.
Praise God that we have His preserved words in our language, the King James Bible!