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July 17, 2011 Part 4

THE SECOND QUESTION (PART 2 OLD TESTAMENT)Are you sure the original manuscripts of the Bible were copied

accurately from generation to generation?

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass

away (Mark 13:31 ESV).

The integrity of the text of the Old Testament is incredibly important. One of

the main reasons we know Jesus is the Son of God, our Savior is the way his

birth, life, death and resurrection fulfills the more than 300 Old Testament

Messianic prophecies. From the Middle-Ages to the 20 th Century, the Hebrew

source for our Old Testaments was only the Masoretic text which dates to the 9 th

Century A.D. This led many skeptics to doubt the authenticity of our Old

Testaments. Then the Dead Sea Scrolls were found which date to as old as 200

B.C.

One of the most important contributions of the Dead Sea Scrolls is the

numerous Biblical manuscripts which have been discovered. Until those

discoveries at Qumran, the oldest manuscripts of the Hebrew Scriptures were

copies from the 9th and 10th centuries AD by a group of Jewish scribes called

the Masoretes. Now we have manuscripts around a thousand years older than

those. The amazing truth is that these manuscripts are almost identical! Here is a

strong example of the tender care which the Jewish scribes down through the

centuries took in an effort to accurately copy the sacred Scriptures. We can

have confidence that our Old Testament Scriptures faithfully represent the

words given to Moses, David and the prophets.

Over six hundred scrolls and thousands of fragments have been discovered

in the 11 caves of the Qumran area. Fragments of every Biblical book except

Estherhave been found, as well as many other non-Biblical texts.

Other sources of evidence for the integrity of our Old Testaments come from

ancient versions like the Septuagint (named for the seventy Alexandrian Jews

who translated it from the Hebrew), other ancient translations, and the

accuracy of the claims of the text itself.

There is no good reason to

doubt the accuracy of any part of

your Bible. There is no denying the

Old Testament predates Jesus by

centuries. The details of

prophecies concerning him form a

convincing reason to put faith in

him.

(Source of quotes: christiananswers.net)

SUMMER QUARTER COUPLES/FAMILY CLASS - 2011

THE TRUSTWORTHY WORD

ARE YOU SURE?

Are you sure our Old

Testament is the same as

written by Moses and the

prophets?

Three types of evidence

backing the Old

Testament: (1) Hebrew

texts (Masoretic & Dead

Sea Scrolls); (2) The

Septuagint (LXX) & other

ancient versions; (3)

Accurate historical

information in the books.

The Septuagint (or the

LXX) is a translation of

the Old Testament into

ancient Greek. It dates

to the couple of

centuries before Christ &

is the version quoted by

the NT writers.

Even in texts like

Daniel 5, doubted for

centuries, have been

proven historically

accurate.

Are you sure?

WE AFFIRM THE BIBLE

HAS BEEN COPIED

ACCURATELY FROM

GENERATION TO

GENERATION.

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