Articles

The Word Will Endure

By Gil Rugh

A time capsule was buried at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York. As you might imagine, a lot of thought went into choosing which items to include that would best represent life at that time in history.

Only one book was included in the capsule—the Bible! When asked why the Bible was included, a member of the committee said, “The Bible, of all books familiar to us today, will most likely survive through the ages. It will be a link between the past, the present, and the future.”

The capsule is to be opened in 5,000 years, in 6939—should the Lord tarry. I can’t imagine what life will be like then. I don’t know what life will be like in 50 years, let alone 5,000.

One thing I do know, however: God’s Word will endure. Isaiah, the greatest of the Old Testament prophets, wrote: “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever” (Is. 40:8).

People have been trying to disprove the Word for centuries. One common idea is that “everyone has their own interpretation.” As if the infinite God was unable to communicate in a way that mere mortals could understand. That’s an insult to the eternal God.

We are told “God spoke” more than 2,000 times in the Old Testament. God used human instruments with various writing styles to record His Word, but there is no doubt—Scripture has a divine Author.

Jeremiah wrote: “Then the Lord stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, ‘Behold, I have put My words in your mouth’” (Jer. 1:9).

The psalmist wrote: “Thy law is truth” (Psalm 119:142) and “The sum of Thy word is truth” (v. 160). The Bible can be summarized with one word: Truth. From beginning to end, it is eternal truth.

Part of the Bible is fulfilled, and we read it as historical fact. Part of it has yet to be fulfilled. How do we know God will keep His promises? Because He said He would. The psalmist wrote: “Forever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven” (v. 89).

Powerful empires have come and gone. All we do, everything we attain, our homes, cars and bank accounts will bloom and fade because “All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field” (Isaiah 40:6).

Religions, philosophies and psychologies will come and go, but the Word of our God will stand forever.