By Martin Morrison
This is one of our top devotions of 2020 published on the 28th of May 2020. Find the full article here
Do you know that there is one page in the Bible that is not inspired by God? Trust me, it’s in every Bible I have ever opened. In my ESV Bible it is an empty page between the end of Malachi and the beginning of Matthew. It is empty but for three words, “The New Testament”. In older printings, there is a fuller statement, “The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ”. Those words werewas never inspired by God. The publishers of Bibles have included the pageit from time immemorial. And no-one seems to protest!
Now here is a childish game invented by Alec Motyer, but it’s actually very serious. You won’t actually want to do it, so just try it in your mind. The game is this:; suppose you tore that page out, where would you put it back? Well, for a start, not between Malachi and Matthew! Just think: Malachi foretells the coming of a forerunner (Malachi 3:1; 4:5). Matthew then announces that the forerunner has arrived (Matthew 3:1). Plainly, it is mistaken to insert a page holding these two books apart! In fact, there’s nowhere suitable to put it. This dividing page is a waste of paper and ink! It is separating the inseparable, dividing the indivisible. The Bible is one book.
Many years ago, Alec Motyer a British Old Testament scholar was speaking at a conference hosted by R C Sproul. At the end of a session, Motyer was asked about the relationship between Old Testament Israel and the church. After saying something about the discontinuities, he insisted that we are all one people of God. Then he asked his audience to imagine how an Israelite under Moses would give their “testimony”. Motyer respondedcontinued, and said that they would have probably have said something like this:
“We were in a foreign land, in bondage, under the sentence of death. But our mediator, the one who stands between us and God, came to us with the promise of deliverance. We trusted in the promises of God, took shelter under the blood of the lamb, and he led us out. Now we are on our way to the Promised Land. We are not there yet, of course, but we have the law to guide us, and through blood sacrifice we also have his presence in our midst. So he will stay with us until we get to our true country, our everlasting home”.
Then Dr Motyer concluded, “Now think about it. A Christian today could say the same thing, almost word for word”…Keep Reading