The previous installment of this study considered the implications of the phrase “old testament” in 2 Corinthians 3:14, including Jesus’ acknowledgement of a closed catalogue of inspired books that began with Genesis and ended with Second Chronicles (Matthew 23:35). This installment will consider books outside of this catalogue that some have attempted to add to the canon—those books which measure up to the qualifications of being inspired, thus authoritative and to be included as part of God’s word.

While additional books, sometimes known as the Apocrypha, can be found in Roman Catholic, Russian Orthodox and Greek Orthodox Bibles—each of these differ in what additional books they include—these were not considered inspired Scripture by Jesus or the Jews in general. Josephus, a first-century Jewish historian, mentioned what the Jews considered to be from God:

For we have not an innumerable multitude of books among us, disagreeing from and contradicting one another, [as the Greeks have,] but only twenty-two books, which contain the records of all the past times; which are justly believed to be divine; and of them five belong to Moses, which contain his laws and the traditions of the origin of mankind till his death. This interval of time was little short of three thousand years; but as to the time from the death of Moses till the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, who reigned after Xerxes, the prophets, who were after Moses, wrote down what was done in their times in thirteen books. The remaining four books contain hymns to God, and precepts for the conduct of human life. It is true, our history hath been written since Artaxerxes very particularly, but hath not been esteemed of the like authority with the former by our forefathers, because there hath not been an exact succession of prophets since that time; and how firmly we have given credit to these books of our own nation is evident by what we do; for during so many ages as have already passed, no one has been so bold as either to add any thing to them, to take any thing from them, or to make any change in them; but it is become natural to all Jews immediately, and from their very birth, to esteem these books to contain Divine doctrines, and to persist in them, and, if occasion be willingly to die for them (Against Apion 1:8).

While Josephus mentions 22 books, he is referring to the same content of our 39 books of the Old Testament. The Minor Prophets were all one book known as “The Twelve”; First and Second Samuel were one book; so were First and Second Kings, as well as First and Second Chronicles. Ezra and Nehemiah were together as one book. Ruth was combined with Judges and Lamentations with Jeremiah.

The Apocrypha is not inspired of God. Apocryphal books have errors in them unlike inspired Scripture. Some of them also attest to not being divine. First Maccabees was written during an acknowledged time when God was providing no new revelation, “It was a time of great trouble for Israel, worse than anything that had happened to them since the time prophets ceased to appear among them” (9:27). What a contrast to the first-century apostles and prophets who were revealing the New Testament, inspired of God to replace His former testament. While NT writers often quoted from the OT, they never quoted from the Apocrypha to give any indication that those books were from God. As previously mentioned Jesus did not recognize the Apocrypha as part of God’s word and neither did His apostles.

The OT warnings about adding to God’s Word mentioned at the end of the first installment of this study are complimented by a similar admonition at the end of the last book of the New Testament, “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book” (Rev. 22:18-19). It is clear that God has given us all the written revelation we need (2 Pet. 1:3), and we should not add to it.

-Mark Day

Before the book of Genesis, the publishers of most Bibles include a title page with the designation “Old Testament.” The term “old” is relative, implying there is something newer; the term “testament” involves the expression of one’s will in a contract.  This designation is supported by the words God used in communicating through inspired men. In writing to the Corinthians about how most of his fellow Jews were blind to Jesus Christ’s fulfillment of Scripture, Paul stated, “But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ” (2 Corinthians 3:14). Notice Paul used the phrase “the old testament” with the Corinthians. They were familiar with the expression. There was an understanding even among the earliest Christians that they were living under the New Testament of Jesus Christ and the former testament was thus old (cf. Hebrews 8:13; 9:15-18). The weekly observance of the Lord’s Supper reminds Christians of Jesus’ blood of the New Testament (Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25). Paul had written earlier in this chapter to the Corinthians about how God had selected his work, “Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life” (2 Corinthians 3:6). Thus, Paul and other apostles and prophets were aware that God was using them to reveal a new testament that replaced His former testament (Ephesians 3:4-5; 1 Corinthians 14:37). In this context (2 Corinthians 3), Paul is contrasting their ministry with the ministry of the Old Testament by Moses. It is evident from verses such as 2 Peter 3:16 and 1 Timothy 5:18 that New Testament writers considered each other’s writings Scripture, inspired by God as the Old Testament was (2 Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21).

When Christ came to earth, the Old Testament had been a closed catalogue of books for years. Jews would often refer to it by its twofold division: the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 5:17-18; 7:12; 11:13; 22:40; Luke 16:16-17; John 1:45; Acts 13:15; 24:14; 28:23; Romans 3:21). Christ Himself, in prophesying of the destruction of Jerusalem, said of that generation God would require the blood of all Old Testament martyrs, explaining, “That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar” (Matthew 23:35). The first one murdered was Abel in Genesis 4. The account of king Joash killing Zecharias son of Barachias is found in 2 Chronicles 24:17-22. Second Chronicles is not the latest stage of the recorded history of the Jewish people in the Old Testament; however, even though it was not the last book written, it did occupy the last place in the order of the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew Bible begins with Genesis and ends with Second Chronicles. Jesus is referring to the two ends of the Old Testament library in Matthew 23:35, the first book to the last book. The Jews accepted only these as divine.

Within these Old Testament books, God warned man not to add to His words (Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32; Proverbs 30:5-6). It is obvious that if God has gone to the care of expressing His will to man in a written testament, then He disapproves of anyone tampering with it. Alleged additional books, or lost books, of the Old Testament will be the focus of the second installment of this study on the Old Testament.

-Mark Day

Genesis 4 gives the first record of worship to the Lord through sacrifice. Abel’s offering was “the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof” (Genesis 4:4). Cain, however, “brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD” (Genesis 4:3). God did not just accept any offering, rather, “The LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect” (Genesis 4:4-5). Why was Cain’s offering rejected? The Bible does not tell us God’s instructions to these two brothers. We could speculate that perhaps Cain brought the wrong kind of offering¬–a vegetable offering rather than a blood sacrifice. Leviticus 2 shows that later under the Mosaic law some offerings were flour, oil and corn, so God did not always require a blood sacrifice. The emphasis from the text is that Abel brought the best. Whether Cain’s offering was of the wrong type or quality or both, the point is the same: God does not accept just anything we wish to offer to Him in worship. “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain” (Hebrews 11:4). To do something “by faith” is to take God at His word, heeding His instructions (Romans 10:17). Abel offered what God had prescribed while Cain offered only what pleased himself.

When we come before God in worship today we must offer what is prescribed by His word. We do not need a “thou shalt not” statement in the scriptures for us to know that certain worship practices are unacceptable. Unless God has given us a command, an example, or an implication to warrant employing a practice in worship to Him, we should leave it behind. Even if God formerly allowed a practice under previous covenants, that does not mean He accepts such today. Offering an animal upon an altar, burning incense, and having a special priest class are all characteristics of the law of Moses that are no longer viable in New Testament worship with Jesus Christ as our high priest and each Christian offering sacrifices through Him (Hebrews 9:11; 1 Peter 2:9).

In our worship in song, we are to be speaking to each other, singing and make melody in our hearts (Ephesians 5:19). The song, hymns, and spiritual songs we sing serve the purpose of teaching one another (Colossians 3:16). God has prescribed the instrument: the heart. He has prescribed the kind of music: singing. He has prescribed the kind of songs: psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Singing non-religious songs would not satisfy this prescription. Having a few people playing on mechanical instruments while the rest of the congregation listens does not fit God’s prescription. It turns the atmosphere into a performance of a few rather than the speaking, teaching and admonishing of all in the congregation. It replaces the God-approved instrument of the heart with a mechanical instrument that cannot teach spiritual truths in words.

Answer these questions. Why should we not have a pope? Why should we not handle snakes in our worship? Why should we not have chicken and cherry coke as the elements of the communion supper instead of unleavened bread and fruit of the vine? There are no passages that explicitly say we should not engage in these practices. Thus, to answer these is to answer why our worship in song should be without the addition of mechanical instruments. Let us stick with what God has prescribed in the New Testament, offering the sacrifice of praise, that is the fruit of our lips, rather than adding foreign elements to His worship (Hebrews 13:15).

-Mark Day