Reflections on Truthናሙና

His word is forever. Many have tried to destroy it throughout history. King Jehoiakim, Antiochus IV, and Emperor Diocletian burnt it. It has been banned and mocked by many people.

In 1776 Voltaire predicted “One hundred years from my day, there will not be a Bible on earth except one that is looked upon by an antiquarian curiosity seeker”. Fifty years after his death the house which he lived in became a storehouse for Bibles and his printing presses were used to print Bibles and tracts.

Many have tried to discredit it, without success.

Today the Bible is the most printed, translated, studied, shop-lifted, and best-selling book of all time. Nearly 100 million Bibles are being printed each year and in the last 50 years, nearly 4 billion copies have been sold. So, His word is alive and it’s spread is growing day by day with over a quarter of a million Bibles being printed daily.

The Bible has survived because it contains the truth, the truth about God, the truth about His works, and the truth about Jesus. Many have tried to discredit it, but they have failed. Many will continue to try and prove it false, but they too will fail, because truth endures forever.

Psalm 100:5 reinforces Isaiah’s words “For Yahweh is good, and His love is eternal:

His faithfulness endures through all generations.”

His word, like His love and His faithfulness, is for you and me, and we will go with them into our future but also, they will guide us into eternity.

The Anvil

Last eve I passed beside a blacksmith’s door,
And heard the anvil ring the vesper chime;
Then, looking in, I saw upon the floor,
Old hammers, worn with beating years of time.

“How many anvils have you had,” said I,
“To wear and batter all these hammers so?”
“Just one,” said he, and then, with twinkling eye,
“The anvil wears the hammers out you know.”

And so, thought I the anvil of God’s Word,
For ages sceptic blows have beat upon;
Yet, though the noise of falling blows was heard,
The anvil is unharmed – the hammers gone!

A poem by John Clifford.