Question: Hello I have a question. Before the Bible was written down as we have it today. How did people way way before the Bible was written how did they know about God, Jesus or anything about heaven or the afterlife? It was passed down as oral teaching, but oral teaching raises red flags. People can make up stuff. I'm not saying it isn't the word of God it just raises concerns in my mind. Because orally you can say anything, change anything, add new details, so it raises red flags to me.
Answer: Greetings and thank you for your question.
Consider what the author of the book of Hebrews says as he opens his letter:
[1] God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, [2] has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; (Hebrews 1:1-2 NKJV)
God has been speaking with His people, as the author say, at various times and in various ways. From the very beginning at creation, God spoke to Adam. God spoke to Abraham to call him from his home. God spoke to the patriarchs, He spoke to Moses, He spoke to the prophets, and at last He spoke through His Son, Jesus Christ.
From this, we see that revelation (God speaking to His people) is both progressive and organic. We mustn't think of the Bible as something that dropped out of heaven in its final form. Revelation is progressive. What we mean by this is God reveals Himself and His will to His people in stages throughout history. The very first written words of the Bible are the Pentateuch, or the five books of Moses. Notice how revelation progresses through the Pentateuch:
- God gives a command to Adam not to eat the forbidden fruit promising death if he disobeys and (by implication) life if he obeys.
- After Adam fails the test, God makes a promise (Genesis 3:15) of the Seed of the Woman (Jesus) who would come and crush the head of the serpent (this is the first promise of the gospel).
- God calls Abraham and makes a promise to him of blessing, descendants, and land (promises which are repeated to Isaac and Jacob).
- God reveals Himself to Moses and commissions him to be a savior figure for Israel. He institutes the Passover and leads them through the Red Sea. All of this is pointing to the ultimate salvation that is found in Christ, including Passover being a precursor to the Lord's Supper, and the Red Sea crossing being a precursor to baptism.
- God gives the law at Sinai and the sacrificial system. All of which, again, points forward to Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice on the cross.
- God brings His people to the edge of the Promised Land and leads them on the conquest through Moses' assistant, Joshua. Again, a picture of the salvation of Christ and His bringing us into our eternal Sabbath rest in the New Heavens and New Earth.
There's more that can be said, but I've traced a good deal of the history of revelation found just in the first five books of the Bible, and already there's more than enough that speaks of God, Jesus, Heaven, and the after-life. That brings us to the second thing about God's revelation and that's the fact it is organic. By organic I mean that at each stage of revelation, there is enough for the people of God to place their trust in the promises of God, all of which find their "yes, and amen" in Jesus. Now, we need to be clear, those who believed in the promise of Genesis 3:15 didn't know this was pointing to Jesus. The point is that at each stage of revelation, there is enough to go on that God's people can trust in His deliverance. The promise of Genesis 3:15 meant that God's people were looking for the one who would come and crush the serpents head. The promise of Abraham meant God's people were looking forward to the blessed Seed of Abraham through whom all the families of the earth would be blessed. The revelation given to Moses pointed the people of God to look for the Prophet who would come in fulfillment of Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15).
So, the point is, by saying that God's revelation is both progressive and organic, we're saying that as God was revealing Himself to His people throughout history, there was enough revelation available for God's people to trust and believe that God would keep His promises. That's the point behind Hebrews saying, "God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets." But the OT is just part of the story that has its ending in Jesus Christ. Hence, the author of Hebrews can continues by saying, "[God] has in these last days spoken to us by His Son." The Son, Jesus Christ, is the final and complete revelation of God. In John 1:18, Jesus says He came to make the Father known. Paul can say in Galatians 4:4, in the fullness of time, Christ was born of a woman (Seed of the woman), born under the law. With the coming of Jesus Christ, we see the fulfillment of all the OT promises. Paul often speaks of mysteries in his letters. By that, he means something that was concealed in the OT, but is now made fully known in the NT.
So, it's not like all we had was oral tradition until we had the Bible in its final form. There has always been a written tradition for God's people ever since the exodus. Before the written word, God had been speaking to His people at "various times and in various ways." If you feel as if there are "red flags" in oral tradition, consider this: we believe in a God who spoke the world into existence. We believe in a God who spoke to His people in times past, and who spoke to us through His Son. Is it really that much of a stretch to believe that the same God who spoke could not also make sure His revelation was kept intact? Consider what Jesus says to His disciples:
- [26] "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. (John 14:26 NKJV)
- [13] "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. (John 16:13 NKJV)
The very same Holy Spirit who inspired the Scriptures, superintends the process of preserving the Scriptures. If you believe in the doctrine of inspiration, then the doctrine of preservation not only follows, but easier to accomplish than inspiration. If the Spirit can work through the human authors to ensure His word is without error, then the Spirit can work through man to make sure His word is preserved.
I hope this helps.
