Part 2: The Old Testament Demonstrates God's Preservation of His Word.

God has not just promised to preserve the Scriptures for future generations, He has also given a convincing demonstration to prove that He has kept and will keep this promise. This demonstration is the Old Testament.

A. Note the Parallels in the Background of the Two Testaments.

1. Both testaments were given by inspiration of God.

For both Old and New Testaments, we have already cited Scriptures showing that the Holy Spirit gave inspired men the very words they should write down.

2. Both testaments were collected, copied, circulated, studied, and translated over a period of year.

Some critics have questioned the accuracy of the New Testament, because it was written by different men in different places. The writings were gradually collected and determined to be canonical, then they were translated to other languages. Some say we cannot be confident all this was done accurately, since uninspired men were involved.

But the same can be said for the Old Testament as for the New. Both testaments were gradually written, collected, copied, and lists of canonical books were developed. Both were translated so people of other languages could know them. For example, the Septuagint is a translation of the Old Testament from Hebrew to Greek, which was made several centuries before Jesus' time.

If it turns out that the Old Testament was accurately preserved though these methods were used, who can doubt that the New Testament has been accurately preserved when the same methods were used for it?

3. Both testaments were intended to serve as a standard of authority even for future generations.

We have cited Scriptures showing that God intended for people to keep the inspired writings, study them, obey them, and pass them on to future generations. The very reason why people copied, circulated, and translated the Scriptures was so that they would be available to the people who needed them.

4. Both testaments passed through generations in which no new revelations were added, and generations in which people neglected the Scriptures.

Some people say we cannot be sure we today have accurate New Testaments, because it has been so long since inspired men were alive to confirm it. Others claim that parts of the New Testament may have been perverted or lost during the generations when people generally neglected the Bible or were guilty of widespread apostasy.

But the Old Testament also passed through many generations when God’s people neglected it and were guilty of wholesale apostasy. Many generations passed in which no prophets lived and no new Scriptures were written. Specifically, there were over 400 years from the time the last Old Testament book was written till the birth of Jesus.

If it can be shown that the Old Testament was accurately preserved despite these problems, who can doubt that the same would be true of the New Testament?

5. Both testaments contain promises that God would preserve them.

We have already cited passages where God promised, both for the Old Testament and for the New Testament Scriptures, that He would preserve them forever. What He promised for one Testament, He also promised for the other. In this sense, the New Testament is as fully “Scripture” as is the Old Testament.

Now if we can clearly demonstrate that God did in fact keep His promise and accurately preserved the Old Testament for multiplied centuries, surely we must conclude that He has and will likewise keep His promise to preserve the whole Bible, including the New Testament. So let us consider the evidence for God’s preservation of the Old Testament.