Deuteronomy 31:24-26 (CJB)
I often get asked of my opinion concerning non-canonized historical books and testimonial accounts. Can we rely on them? The official Bible was originally given to Moses, by God, and included the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Later, writings from the prophets were revered and read separately. It is believed by scholars that the Prophets were added to the canon circa 200 BC, and the other writings circa AD 100. God chose to speak to Moses who in turn wrote the Torah and also taught the people orally because back in biblical days there was no paper, pens, pencils, or recording devices like today. This oral teaching was passed down to the generations as the Oral Law (or instruction). It was common to memorize the written and oral Torah. It was the tribe of Levi that was charged to protect the Hebrew Scriptures. Beginning at the time of Moses the priestly religious leaders preserved all the writings. Deuteronomy 31:24-26 (CJB) Moshe kept writing the words of this Torah in a book until he was done. When he had finished, Moshe gave these orders to the L’vi’im who carried the ark with the covenant of Adonai: “Take this book of the Torah and put it next to the ark with the covenant of Adonai your God, so that it can be there to witness against you. God also knew that the Israelites would want to be ruled by a human king, so he gave instructions to the king to write for himself a copy of The Torah to study and to observe what was instructed so He could rule God’s people righteously. Deuteronomy 17:18-19 (CJB) “When he has come to occupy the throne of his kingdom, he is to write a copy of this Torah for himself in a scroll, from the one the cohanim and L’vi’im use. It is to remain with him, and he is to read in it every day, as long as he lives; so that he will learn to fear Adonai his God and keep all the words of this Torah and these laws and obey them; When Solomon’s Temple was destroyed in 587 BC, much of the sacred writings were destroyed while other writings were scattered throughout Judea and Babylonia. Ezra, the prophet and scribe went through out the land collecting these sacred scrolls and copied them. Although it is possible that there could be some conspiracy of the early church or the Jewish spiritual leaders as to the deletion of these books it is more likely in my mind that these manuscripts were lost or destroyed. The Book of Enoch is quite a curious book. Found in Ethiopia in 1768 as well as in Qumran. Yeshua seems to be quoting the ancient book of Enoch as we can see the similarity below: John 5:22 The Father judges no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the son. Enoch 69:27 {68:39} The principal part of the judgment was assigned to him, the Son of man. Jude also quotes Enoch: Enoch 2:1-2 Behold, he comes with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon them, and destroy the wicked, and reprove all the carnal for everything which the sinful and ungodly have done, and committed against him. Jude 1:14-15 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. 2 Many find the book of Enoch helpful in understanding Genesis 6:1-6 and Numbers 13:30-33. The book was not in the original canon but was revered by the ancient teachers, as we, today would respect books written by authors such as Billy Graham or Smith Wigglesworth. Other related books include: The Book of Jasher – This book seems to be a historical book, much like the book of Josephus. Joshua 10:13 instructs readers to refer to another account of a miracle at Jericho as it was recorded in the book of Jasher. This original book, however, seems to be lost. Forgeries of the book have been found over the later centuries – most of which have been fictional. The book of the War of the Lords – Probably a history annul. See Numbers 21:14. The Book of Samuel the Seer, the Book of Nathan the Prophet, and the Book of Gad the Seer- Some scholars believe these books were combined into the books of 1 and 2 Samuel. See 1 Chronicles 29:29 The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah – Probably an annual or historical listing and unlikely to be the divine Word of God 1 Kings 14:29 The Epistle to the Laodiceans – Paul makes mention of this book but it has never been recovered. Because of the constant persecution of Christians in the first- third centuries this book must have been lost or destroyed. See Colossians 4:16. The Apocrypha –Discloses the account of the Maccabbees victory over Antiochus Epiphanies and resulted in what is now the memorialization of the miraculous story called the Feast of Dedication or Chanukah. The New Testament mentions this celebration in John 10:22 “And it was at Jerusalem, the feast of the dedication, and it was Winter”. The various references of these books in the Bible may have been for the purpose of providing resources and back up proof texts, which would have been known by the people and culture of that time. This would be no different than modern writers quoting from other author’s books or writings. Non-canonized books can be beneficial as they agree with the Bible, providing us with important cultural, social and political information of the time. Even if we had no scripture at all to refer to or learn from, Yeshua gives us this most important message: “Rabbi, which of the mitzvot in the Torah is the most important?” He told him, “‘You are to love Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.’ This is the greatest and most important mitzvah. And a second is similar to it, ‘You are to love your neighbor as yourself.’ All of the Torah and the Prophets are dependent on these two mitzvot.” Matthew 22:36-40 (CJB)
