One of the undeniable proofs that the Bible is the word of God is the amazing saga of its indestructibility. The Bible has survived despite a myriad of vicious attempts to destroy it. Satan first sought to undermine the authority of God’s word by posing the first question ever asked “Hath God said…” His assaults have continued unrelentingly until the present hour. Yet the devil has never been able to vanquish the power of the word. In the days of the prophet Jeremiah, the wicked king was infuriated at the judgments of the scriptures and thus ordered the inspired page to be burned. But God overturned the king’s edict and re-transmitted the page to Jeremiah. In 167 BC, the Maccabeans miraculously raised a revolt against the Greeks and drove Antiochus and his army in shame out of Jerusalem. In 68 BC, when Pompey routed Jerusalem, he plundered the temple looking for the ark of the covenant. When all he found was the sacred scrolls of Hebrew scriptures, he was intent on burning them but inexplicably he relented and turned them over to the captive priests. The Roman emperor years later – Emperor Constantine – issued an edict of toleration and now offered a reward for any remaining Bibles. In 24 hours, 50 volumes of holy scriptures were presented to the king. It was clear to all that the Bible was uniquely protected by God’s hand.
Satan’s assault would take on a much more subtle approach. If the word could not be destroyed, then keep it from the people. During the ensuing years of church history, the Roman Catholic church meticulously copied the pages of the Bible by the hands of their monks, who spent their lifetime copying the words of God. But they were sure to keep the word in Latin, a language that had died with the Roman Empire. The priests and bishops claimed exclusive rights to the Bible and the Pope considered it an offense punishable by death if anyone dared translate the Bible into a common tongue. John Wycliffe believed the best way to break the grievous yoke of Romanism would be to place the Bible into the hands of the common people. This he did by translating for the first time in history the complete Bible into English. He then organized and sent forth a group of preachers called the Lollards to teach the word of God all across England. In Germany, Martin Luther faced the diet of worms, willing to die for the cause. “I am convinced by scripture and by plain reason and not by Popes and councils, who have so often contradicted themselves. My conscience is captive to the word of God. To go against conscience is neither right nor safe. I cannot and I will not recant. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. After Luther, William Tyndale carried out the same vision for a free Bible to all the English-speaking people printed Bibles after Gutenberg’s printing process was given to the world. And so it has been and forever will be the tyrant, atheist or Pope, they try to stamp out these sacred words. Jesus’ words shall stand the test of time. Heaven and earth shall pass away but my words shall not pass away. The Bible indeed is an indestructible book.