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“The Promise That God’s Word Will Never Pass Away – Part 1”
The Promise That God’s Word Will Never Pass Away – Part 1
Wade Webster
Jesus declared, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matt. 24:35). What a promise! The background of this statement is the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. The temple was made of huge stones; some were forty feet by twelve feet by twelve feet. They weighed as much as one hundred tons. Yet Jesus said that the day was coming when one stone would not be left upon another (Matt. 24:2).
In contrast, the smallest stones or parts of God’s word would never be overturned. In the fifth chapter of Matthew, Jesus declared, “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matt. 5:18). The jot refers to iota, the ninth letter, which is the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet. The corresponding letter in Hebrew would be yod, the tenth letter in the Hebrew alphabet; it looks like an apostrophe. There are more than 66,420 of these letters in the Hebrew Scriptures. Tittle refers to “a little horn.” These small distinguishing marks would be the equivalent of dotting an i or crossing a t for us. Jesus was declaring that not even the smallest letter or tiniest part of a letter would pass from the law. The people described in the Bible had the greatest confidence in the Bible they held in their hands. Paul made an argument based on one letter. He based his argument on the fact that the word “seed” didn’t have an “s” on it. Jesus based an argument on the tense of a verb (Mark 12:18-27). Clearly, they had confidence in every jot and tittle of God’s word.I remember one of the first poems I heard quoted from the pulpit. I was a child, and the poem was “The Anvil” by Rudyard Kipling. No doubt, you have heard it.
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 skeptic blows have beat upon;
Yet, though the noise of falling blows was heard,
The anvil is unharmed—the hammers gone.
The message of the poem is clear: God’s word endures. I especially like the line, “The anvil wears the hammers out, you know." It sure does! Most things wax old and perish (Ps.. 102:25-26). Even the ground upon which we stand will one day be gone. However, God, His word, and His kingdom will remain. Our focus in this lesson is on the word of God. Consider the promise that God’s word will never pass away.
