A SOUND OF MUSIC
1 Chronicles 25:7
“So the number of them, with their brethren that were instructed in the songs of the LORD, even all that were cunning, was two hundred fourscore and eight.”
Sometimes, when I have seen beautiful works of visual art, I have felt a pang of jealousy, wishing I was able to paint or to draw as well as that. Then God reminds me that He gave me gifts in another art form. As long as I can remember, music has been a part of my life, both in performance and in composition.
Music is a uniquely biblical art form. The psalmists left instructions for musicians as part of the inspired text, often emphasizing that the performers must play skillfully. Mediocre music does not seem to be the order of the day. Music is expected to be good!
Music is the art form most closely associated with worship. We have already mentioned the Psalms. This is the biggest book of the Bible. One hundred fifty songs, of every style possible, with musical comments that might, today, be difficult for us to understand, but which clearly have an important meaning. One of the psalmists was a man called Asaph. We read that he and his brothers were in charge of worship because they were skillful at it. (1 Chronicles 25:7)
But music is not always an influence for good. We note that the first musician mentioned in the Bible was one of the sons of Lamech, the descendant of Cain. Music can mold the emotions like no other art form, and this power can be used for sin or for worship of God.
We know that one day, in the new heaven and new earth, we will look forward to singing praises to God the King forever.
We long to sing praises to Your Name all the day long, Holy God. Thank You that in the world to come, we will all be able to sing Your praises for eternity. Amen.
1 Chronicles 25:7
“So the number of them, with their brethren that were instructed in the songs of the LORD, even all that were cunning, was two hundred fourscore and eight.”
Sometimes, when I have seen beautiful works of visual art, I have felt a pang of jealousy, wishing I was able to paint or to draw as well as that. Then God reminds me that He gave me gifts in another art form. As long as I can remember, music has been a part of my life, both in performance and in composition.
Music is a uniquely biblical art form. The psalmists left instructions for musicians as part of the inspired text, often emphasizing that the performers must play skillfully. Mediocre music does not seem to be the order of the day. Music is expected to be good!
Music is the art form most closely associated with worship. We have already mentioned the Psalms. This is the biggest book of the Bible. One hundred fifty songs, of every style possible, with musical comments that might, today, be difficult for us to understand, but which clearly have an important meaning. One of the psalmists was a man called Asaph. We read that he and his brothers were in charge of worship because they were skillful at it. (1 Chronicles 25:7)
But music is not always an influence for good. We note that the first musician mentioned in the Bible was one of the sons of Lamech, the descendant of Cain. Music can mold the emotions like no other art form, and this power can be used for sin or for worship of God.
We know that one day, in the new heaven and new earth, we will look forward to singing praises to God the King forever.
We long to sing praises to Your Name all the day long, Holy God. Thank You that in the world to come, we will all be able to sing Your praises for eternity. Amen.
CLEAN TEACHING
2 Timothy 4:3
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;”
“The time is coming,” said the Apostle Paul to his young protegé, Timothy, “when people will not endure sound teaching.”
There are many who would say – and I would not disagree – that the time has now come. The church often seems to be full of aberrant teaching on a whole manner of subjects. The reason for unsound doctrine (an older word for teaching) is a failure to ground ideas in the truth of Scripture. Pioneers of the creation movement have often remarked that a failure to accept the early chapters of Genesis as literal truth is one of the major contributing factors to opening the door to other unbiblical errors.
The Greek word that is translated as sound in the phrase “sound teaching” is hugiano (υγιαινω), from which we get the English word hygienic. The implication in the apostle’s letter is that there is something unhygienic and unhealthy in doctrines which are not derived from Scripture.
“How can a young man keep his way pure?” the Psalmist asks rhetorically. “By guarding it according to your word.” Purity is evaluated by comparing it against what Scripture says. Therefore, the Scripture is a preventative medicine for tackling the issue of unhygienic doctrine.
Those who live in unhygienic conditions will get ill. Our spiritual health depends on us clinging to clean teaching from God’s word.
Thank You again, Lord God, for Your wonderful, inspired word. Make all our doctrine, we pray, clean, hygienic, and sound, according to Your Holy word. Amen.
2 Timothy 4:3
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;”
“The time is coming,” said the Apostle Paul to his young protegé, Timothy, “when people will not endure sound teaching.”
There are many who would say – and I would not disagree – that the time has now come. The church often seems to be full of aberrant teaching on a whole manner of subjects. The reason for unsound doctrine (an older word for teaching) is a failure to ground ideas in the truth of Scripture. Pioneers of the creation movement have often remarked that a failure to accept the early chapters of Genesis as literal truth is one of the major contributing factors to opening the door to other unbiblical errors.
The Greek word that is translated as sound in the phrase “sound teaching” is hugiano (υγιαινω), from which we get the English word hygienic. The implication in the apostle’s letter is that there is something unhygienic and unhealthy in doctrines which are not derived from Scripture.
“How can a young man keep his way pure?” the Psalmist asks rhetorically. “By guarding it according to your word.” Purity is evaluated by comparing it against what Scripture says. Therefore, the Scripture is a preventative medicine for tackling the issue of unhygienic doctrine.
Those who live in unhygienic conditions will get ill. Our spiritual health depends on us clinging to clean teaching from God’s word.
Thank You again, Lord God, for Your wonderful, inspired word. Make all our doctrine, we pray, clean, hygienic, and sound, according to Your Holy word. Amen.
DEFINITIONS OF GENDER
Genesis 1:27-28a
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them…”
Recently, a schoolteacher from a government school in England was suspended for referring to a child by the wrong gender pronoun. The pronouns used to be he or she. Now there is a bewildering number of other pronouns, such as per, ve, xe, ze, and many more. These are designed to indicate various levels of masculinity or femininity depending on how the user defines themselves. Gender is, in many circles today, considered to be fluid and aligns with whatever gender we say we are.
It is true that in the past, there were certain gender stereotypes in schools which should not have been adopted. I remember in the 1970s, my nephew taking cooking (or domestic science, as it was called then) for one of his examination subjects at school. This caused quite a stir in the family, and he was the only boy in his class. But this in no way indicated a lack of masculinity on his part, and, in my opinion, it was something to be encouraged.
There is nothing unbiblical about a boy learning to cook or a girl learning car maintenance. But this is not the agenda that modern schoolteachers are facing. They are facing biologically male students who self-identify as girls, or vice versa.
The Bible is very clear on this subject. We read “male and female [God] created them”. A person’s gender is defined by the way that God has made them, not by one’s own opinion.
Thank You, Lord, for the way that You created me. In a world affected by sin, the way we are is not perfect, but thank You for Your gracious help in our every need. Amen.
Genesis 1:27-28a
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them…”
Recently, a schoolteacher from a government school in England was suspended for referring to a child by the wrong gender pronoun. The pronouns used to be he or she. Now there is a bewildering number of other pronouns, such as per, ve, xe, ze, and many more. These are designed to indicate various levels of masculinity or femininity depending on how the user defines themselves. Gender is, in many circles today, considered to be fluid and aligns with whatever gender we say we are.
It is true that in the past, there were certain gender stereotypes in schools which should not have been adopted. I remember in the 1970s, my nephew taking cooking (or domestic science, as it was called then) for one of his examination subjects at school. This caused quite a stir in the family, and he was the only boy in his class. But this in no way indicated a lack of masculinity on his part, and, in my opinion, it was something to be encouraged.
There is nothing unbiblical about a boy learning to cook or a girl learning car maintenance. But this is not the agenda that modern schoolteachers are facing. They are facing biologically male students who self-identify as girls, or vice versa.
The Bible is very clear on this subject. We read “male and female [God] created them”. A person’s gender is defined by the way that God has made them, not by one’s own opinion.
Thank You, Lord, for the way that You created me. In a world affected by sin, the way we are is not perfect, but thank You for Your gracious help in our every need. Amen.
FLYING
Isaiah 40:31
“But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
The concept of flying has inspired so much in the way of art – visual, musical, and literary. “One day, I’ll fly away,” sang Randy Crawford, evoking a view of flying as a metaphor for freedom. Other songs have taken up the same theme. “You are the wind beneath my wings”. “Love lift us up where we belong”. “Come fly with me, come fly, let’s fly away”.
The Bible also uses this metaphor. “They who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31). We instinctively know that Isaiah is referring to a sense of strength, produced by the power of the Lord, by waiting on Him.
Being free from the clutches of sin is like being free of gravity! And this freedom evokes images of eagles soaring without even flapping their wings as they ride the thermal air currents.
An evolutionist has to believe that the ability to fly has evolved. Not only that, but they must believe that this ability has evolved at least three times, and maybe four – birds, bats, flying insects, and pteradactyls being the four groups of animals which fly.
In contrast, the Bible tells us that flight was a deliberate design of God. Flying creatures were created on Day Five of the creation week. God designed flight, and the Bible says that He pronounced it “good”.
Lord, it is my prayer that I might soar on wings like eagles. Praise You that it is You who provide the freedom for us to do this. Amen.
Isaiah 40:31
“But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
The concept of flying has inspired so much in the way of art – visual, musical, and literary. “One day, I’ll fly away,” sang Randy Crawford, evoking a view of flying as a metaphor for freedom. Other songs have taken up the same theme. “You are the wind beneath my wings”. “Love lift us up where we belong”. “Come fly with me, come fly, let’s fly away”.
The Bible also uses this metaphor. “They who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31). We instinctively know that Isaiah is referring to a sense of strength, produced by the power of the Lord, by waiting on Him.
Being free from the clutches of sin is like being free of gravity! And this freedom evokes images of eagles soaring without even flapping their wings as they ride the thermal air currents.
An evolutionist has to believe that the ability to fly has evolved. Not only that, but they must believe that this ability has evolved at least three times, and maybe four – birds, bats, flying insects, and pteradactyls being the four groups of animals which fly.
In contrast, the Bible tells us that flight was a deliberate design of God. Flying creatures were created on Day Five of the creation week. God designed flight, and the Bible says that He pronounced it “good”.
Lord, it is my prayer that I might soar on wings like eagles. Praise You that it is You who provide the freedom for us to do this. Amen.
IS IT REWRITTEN?
Psalm 119:103
“How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”
Perhaps you played the telephone game at children’s parties. The participants are seated in a line, or maybe a ring. One person starts by whispering a phrase to his or her neighbor. That neighbor whispers the message to the next person. Eventually, the message has gone around the room. But when the final person speaks the message out loud, it usually does not bear too much resemblance to the original. Successive participants have misheard, or misinterpreted.
There are many people who suppose that Bible translation has happened in a similar manner. Every time the Bible was translated from one language to another, it lost something in its meaning. What we have today, states this argument, is substantially different from the intention of the original.
However, this is not actually how Bible translation happens. We do not translate from language to language to language. We have manuscripts in the original languages. The Old Testament was written mostly in Hebrew, with a little in Aramaic. The New Testament was written in Greek. These are known languages, widely studied, and we have numerous manuscripts of biblical books in these languages. So, for example, an English Bible has not been translated from Hebrew to Greek to Latin to German to English. It has been translated directly, in one step, from the original languages. When a Bible is translated into a new language, it is not translated from English to that new language; it is translated directly from the original languages. The Bible is not the product of a telephone game. We can have confidence that we are reading God’s word.
How sweet indeed are Your words, Lord. There is no other book like Your book, which brings us closer to You. Thank You so much for the Bible. Amen.
Psalm 119:103
“How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”
Perhaps you played the telephone game at children’s parties. The participants are seated in a line, or maybe a ring. One person starts by whispering a phrase to his or her neighbor. That neighbor whispers the message to the next person. Eventually, the message has gone around the room. But when the final person speaks the message out loud, it usually does not bear too much resemblance to the original. Successive participants have misheard, or misinterpreted.
There are many people who suppose that Bible translation has happened in a similar manner. Every time the Bible was translated from one language to another, it lost something in its meaning. What we have today, states this argument, is substantially different from the intention of the original.
However, this is not actually how Bible translation happens. We do not translate from language to language to language. We have manuscripts in the original languages. The Old Testament was written mostly in Hebrew, with a little in Aramaic. The New Testament was written in Greek. These are known languages, widely studied, and we have numerous manuscripts of biblical books in these languages. So, for example, an English Bible has not been translated from Hebrew to Greek to Latin to German to English. It has been translated directly, in one step, from the original languages. When a Bible is translated into a new language, it is not translated from English to that new language; it is translated directly from the original languages. The Bible is not the product of a telephone game. We can have confidence that we are reading God’s word.
How sweet indeed are Your words, Lord. There is no other book like Your book, which brings us closer to You. Thank You so much for the Bible. Amen.
ITCHING EARS
2 Timothy 4:3-4
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”
In a previous Creation Moment, we saw how people often do not want hygienic teaching. The Greek word translated “sound”, in the phrase “sound teaching”, is actually hugiano, from which we derive our word hygienic.
If people do not want the clean teaching that comes from God’s word, then the apostle Paul says that they have “itching ears”. We hear things with our ears, so the apostle is telling us that there are certain teachings which will satisfy our ears that do not come from God’s word. The itching of the ears suggests that we want our own felt needs satisfied; we want to suit our own passions.
Where would people find such teachers who will give them the teaching that they want? In fact, they are not hard to find. The Scripture says that they can be “accumulated”. Listening to such comfortable preachers causes one to turn away from truth. Listening to the truth can sometimes be hard. It can sometimes be uncomfortable. Modern people do not like to be uncomfortable. We prefer to have our itching ears scratched. The apostle refers to this as “wandering off into myths”. Very few Christians deliberately set out to seek after false teaching. But instead, they wander into it because it is more comfortable. When something feels too comfortable, the alarm bells should start ringing for us to direct us back to the clean teaching from God’s word.
Direct our paths, Lord, by the light of Your word. May Your word be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, for the honor of Your Name. Amen.
2 Timothy 4:3-4
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”
In a previous Creation Moment, we saw how people often do not want hygienic teaching. The Greek word translated “sound”, in the phrase “sound teaching”, is actually hugiano, from which we derive our word hygienic.
If people do not want the clean teaching that comes from God’s word, then the apostle Paul says that they have “itching ears”. We hear things with our ears, so the apostle is telling us that there are certain teachings which will satisfy our ears that do not come from God’s word. The itching of the ears suggests that we want our own felt needs satisfied; we want to suit our own passions.
Where would people find such teachers who will give them the teaching that they want? In fact, they are not hard to find. The Scripture says that they can be “accumulated”. Listening to such comfortable preachers causes one to turn away from truth. Listening to the truth can sometimes be hard. It can sometimes be uncomfortable. Modern people do not like to be uncomfortable. We prefer to have our itching ears scratched. The apostle refers to this as “wandering off into myths”. Very few Christians deliberately set out to seek after false teaching. But instead, they wander into it because it is more comfortable. When something feels too comfortable, the alarm bells should start ringing for us to direct us back to the clean teaching from God’s word.
Direct our paths, Lord, by the light of Your word. May Your word be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, for the honor of Your Name. Amen.
THE DEAD OCEANS OF ENCELADUS
Psalm 147:4
“He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.”
In a previous Creation Moment, I referred to the Cassini space program studying Enceladus – a moon of Saturn. Two interesting new studies about ocean-covered worlds like Enceladus have recently been published, giving conflicting information.
New Scientist reported that a Russian billionaire, Yuri Milner, was hoping to fund a private space program to Enceladus in order to investigate its oceans more fully. Cassini had noted that there might be hydrothermal vents on Enceladus. Such vents on earth produce fountains of hot water rich in minerals such as sulfur and phosphorus. Milner’s team would hope to find evidence of such minerals in the vents on Enceladus. It is the belief of many scientists that such mineral-rich vents on earth could be where life itself originally evolved. Such evolutionists think, therefore, that worlds like Enceladus offer the best chance of discovering life in our solar system.
Yet, the day before this news article was released, another New Scientist article was casting doubt on the candidacy of such ocean worlds being able to support life. It is thought that phosphorus, being locked away inside rocks, would not be able to leech out into salty sea. The New Scientist article suggests that any phosphorus getting into the water would be quickly washed away. We would not have strong enough solutions to produce an appreciable concentration of phosphorus. So this method of production would not work. With a biblical worldview, we know that life cannot arise from non-life, but even if it could, it seems that whatever phosphorus was produced would be washed away before it could do anyone any good. Ocean-covered worlds would be dead.
We realize the truth, Lord, that without turning to You, we come up with the strangest of ideas. Thank You that You have given us a better basis for knowledge and wisdom, which should begin with the fear of the Lord. Amen.
Psalm 147:4
“He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.”
In a previous Creation Moment, I referred to the Cassini space program studying Enceladus – a moon of Saturn. Two interesting new studies about ocean-covered worlds like Enceladus have recently been published, giving conflicting information.
New Scientist reported that a Russian billionaire, Yuri Milner, was hoping to fund a private space program to Enceladus in order to investigate its oceans more fully. Cassini had noted that there might be hydrothermal vents on Enceladus. Such vents on earth produce fountains of hot water rich in minerals such as sulfur and phosphorus. Milner’s team would hope to find evidence of such minerals in the vents on Enceladus. It is the belief of many scientists that such mineral-rich vents on earth could be where life itself originally evolved. Such evolutionists think, therefore, that worlds like Enceladus offer the best chance of discovering life in our solar system.
Yet, the day before this news article was released, another New Scientist article was casting doubt on the candidacy of such ocean worlds being able to support life. It is thought that phosphorus, being locked away inside rocks, would not be able to leech out into salty sea. The New Scientist article suggests that any phosphorus getting into the water would be quickly washed away. We would not have strong enough solutions to produce an appreciable concentration of phosphorus. So this method of production would not work. With a biblical worldview, we know that life cannot arise from non-life, but even if it could, it seems that whatever phosphorus was produced would be washed away before it could do anyone any good. Ocean-covered worlds would be dead.
We realize the truth, Lord, that without turning to You, we come up with the strangest of ideas. Thank You that You have given us a better basis for knowledge and wisdom, which should begin with the fear of the Lord. Amen.
THE ORIGINALS MIGHT BE DIFFERENT
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.”
“How can you possibly believe the Bible to be inerrant?” the argument goes. “We don’t even have the originals. The originals might be different from the Bible we have today.”
This is a common enough argument against inerrancy but is born out of a misunderstanding about the nature of original documents.
It is true that we do not have the original documents, penned by the biblical authors. These original documents are called autographs. We do, however, have contemporary manuscripts. These manuscripts are copies of the autographs, or, perhaps, copies of other manuscripts which are copies of the autographs.
“Well, there’s the problem!” the skeptic could remark. “The manuscripts could have changed the meaning of the autographs.”
One way we could check whether or not this is true is to compare manuscripts with each other. When we do so, we find that they differ from each other only by a very small amount. The level of disagreement is 0.5%. That is a tiny amount and is smaller than the disagreement between differing manuscripts of other ancient books. And when we examine those 0.5% differences closer, we find that the overwhelming majority of them are simply typographical errors. The minuscule number of differences left does not make any difference whatsoever to any biblical doctrines.
It is instructive to look at charts of manuscripts of other ancient books. For example, there are 643 manuscripts of Homer’s Iliad. For most books, the number is far less. There are just seven manuscripts of Plato, for example. But there are about 6,000 manuscripts of the New Testament alone.
God has truly inspired and preserved His word!
Thank You, Lord, for Your inspired word. Thank You that we can have confidence that every word we read is true. Amen.
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.”
“How can you possibly believe the Bible to be inerrant?” the argument goes. “We don’t even have the originals. The originals might be different from the Bible we have today.”
This is a common enough argument against inerrancy but is born out of a misunderstanding about the nature of original documents.
It is true that we do not have the original documents, penned by the biblical authors. These original documents are called autographs. We do, however, have contemporary manuscripts. These manuscripts are copies of the autographs, or, perhaps, copies of other manuscripts which are copies of the autographs.
“Well, there’s the problem!” the skeptic could remark. “The manuscripts could have changed the meaning of the autographs.”
One way we could check whether or not this is true is to compare manuscripts with each other. When we do so, we find that they differ from each other only by a very small amount. The level of disagreement is 0.5%. That is a tiny amount and is smaller than the disagreement between differing manuscripts of other ancient books. And when we examine those 0.5% differences closer, we find that the overwhelming majority of them are simply typographical errors. The minuscule number of differences left does not make any difference whatsoever to any biblical doctrines.
It is instructive to look at charts of manuscripts of other ancient books. For example, there are 643 manuscripts of Homer’s Iliad. For most books, the number is far less. There are just seven manuscripts of Plato, for example. But there are about 6,000 manuscripts of the New Testament alone.
God has truly inspired and preserved His word!
Thank You, Lord, for Your inspired word. Thank You that we can have confidence that every word we read is true. Amen.
GOD-BREATHED
2 Timothy 3:16-17
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
The Apostle Paul wrote: “All Scripture is breathed out by God.” Some versions have: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God.” This means the same thing because the word inspiration has changed its meaning somewhat over the centuries. Colloquially, we remark that a brilliant inventor had an inspired idea, but that is not really what is meant by inspiration in this context. Look closely at the word, and you will see that it is as if it contains the word spirit. The Greek word usually translated spirit is pneustos. This can mean breath or air. For example, compare it to the word pneumatic, which refers to a machine powered by compressed air.
2 Timothy 3:16 contains a slightly longer word – theopneustos (θεοπνευστος), which means breathed by God. So, all of Scripture is breathed out by God. Time does not permit me here to justify why the term all Scripture should include all 66 books of the Bible, but it does. So all these books were personally breathed out by God. This means that the authors of the Bible books were not robots or dictation experts. They were not “forced” by some hidden hand to write text against their will. They wrote with their own styles and personalities, but the words were breathed out by God.
God would not have breathed out something that was untrue. In our own sphere of ministry, we are frequently in the book of Genesis. The early chapters of Genesis were also theopneustos – breathed out by God. That is why they are not optional add-ons. They are words of truth from God Himself.
All of Your wonderful word, the Bible, was breathed out by You. Thank You for this true inspiration. Thank You that we can, therefore, trust every word in our Bibles. Amen.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
The Apostle Paul wrote: “All Scripture is breathed out by God.” Some versions have: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God.” This means the same thing because the word inspiration has changed its meaning somewhat over the centuries. Colloquially, we remark that a brilliant inventor had an inspired idea, but that is not really what is meant by inspiration in this context. Look closely at the word, and you will see that it is as if it contains the word spirit. The Greek word usually translated spirit is pneustos. This can mean breath or air. For example, compare it to the word pneumatic, which refers to a machine powered by compressed air.
2 Timothy 3:16 contains a slightly longer word – theopneustos (θεοπνευστος), which means breathed by God. So, all of Scripture is breathed out by God. Time does not permit me here to justify why the term all Scripture should include all 66 books of the Bible, but it does. So all these books were personally breathed out by God. This means that the authors of the Bible books were not robots or dictation experts. They were not “forced” by some hidden hand to write text against their will. They wrote with their own styles and personalities, but the words were breathed out by God.
God would not have breathed out something that was untrue. In our own sphere of ministry, we are frequently in the book of Genesis. The early chapters of Genesis were also theopneustos – breathed out by God. That is why they are not optional add-ons. They are words of truth from God Himself.
All of Your wonderful word, the Bible, was breathed out by You. Thank You for this true inspiration. Thank You that we can, therefore, trust every word in our Bibles. Amen.
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