HE Bible which our Lord possessed was the Book we know and love as the Old Testament. Before His crucifixion there was not a single book of the New Testament in existence. The Bible which Jesus was taught to read as a child by that marvelous mother of His who knew the religious writings of her people, was the same old Book which our pious mothers teach their children to read in these days. The stories of Joseph and his coat of many colors, his slave and prison life in Egypt, and his exaltation to the place of command; of Samuel in the Tabernacle at Shiloh called up in the night by the voice of God; of David and his sling and stone with which he brought down the giant Goliath of Gath. These stories filled the young mind and heart of Jesus of Nazareth just as they interest boys of to-day all over the world wherever our Bible is known. [66]

      The fact that the books which form our Old Testament are the same which composed the Bible of the age in which Christ lived and died would be sufficient evidence to convince millions that it must have come from the inspired prophets of ancient days. For them it would be enough to know that it was read and honored and approved by their Divine Lord. If it had His sanction and that of His holy apostles, nothing else could be wanting. If it could be traced no farther back than the hands of Jesus Christ, His possession of it would furnish all the proof they would need.

      I shall, however, ask the reader to go with me much beyond the first of the Christian centuries; but we must take one step at a time, and make as sure as we can of our footing at each stride we take.

      I want now to show that the Old Testament which we have was the Bible of our Lord and His Apostles.

      "Ye search the Scriptures," said our Savior to the men of His time, "because ye think that in them ye have eternal life; and these are they which bear witness of me."¹ The Bereans are commended because "They searched the Scriptures daily."² Paul says that "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God."³ St. Luke tells us that our Lord, "Beginning at Moses [67] and all the prophets, expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself."⁴ And he tells us how the hearts of two disciples "Burned within them while He opened to them the Scriptures."⁵

      The question at once arises, What Scriptures were they to which such frequent reference is made by our Lord and His Apostles? Did they mean the Old Testament we have, or some other?

      Any one who will take up a Reference Bible will very soon find out that Jesus, John, Luke, Mark, Paul, and the rest of the New Testament writers, had the same Old Testament which we prize. They are constantly referring to it and quoting from it. Let us see what use they made of it.

      It would occupy too much space to mention all their quotations; and if we were to specify all their references, direct and indirect, we should find them to be very numerous. Each of the writers of the New Testament refers to the Old Testament, and they quote from most of its books. There are in the New Testament 190 references to the five books of Moses, 101 references to the book of Psalms; 104 references to the book of Isaiah; and 30 references to minor prophets. There are in the New Testament [68] some 639 references to the Old. These 639 references are spread over the entire New Testament, for all the Gospels and all but three of the Epistles contain quotations from or references to the Old Testament in some shape. In the four Gospels there are 191 references; 52 in the Acts; 67 in Romans; and so on.⁶

      It will at once be obvious that when we take up our Bible, and turn to read in the Old Testament portion of it, our eyes fall upon the same histories, prophecies, and poems that Christ's eyes rested upon.

      When we hear passages read from Genesis, Isaiah, or the Psalms, we listen to the same truths which the Apostles and their Divine Master read and expounded in the ancient Jewish synagogues. We may with safety conclude that the Old Testament we have is the same which the Lord Himself used.

      It matters but little to us that the original Hebrew manuscripts have perished, It will not in the least affect the object we have in view to say that the oldest existing Hebrew document does not date back more than a thousand years. We know beyond all possibility of doubt that nearly two thousand years ago the Old Testament was in existence. Our Lord could not have read it had it not been there. It [69] would have been impossible for Him to expound the Scriptures from Moses and the prophets, if Moses and the prophets had not been in His hands and accessible to His hearers. [70]

[HWGI 66-70]