Erasmus

ERASMUS
Psalm 119:17-24
The Message v.17: “Be generous with me and I’ll live a full life; not for a minute will I take my eyes off Your road.”

Ever since the beginning where men wrote down what God wanted recorded, (around 1446 B.C.), God’s Word was not available for people to read. Then in 1516 A.D., a Dutch scholar named Erasmus gathered up the books of the New Testament, and published it in the Greek language.

We learned how in the late 1880’s, over three hundred fifty years after Erasmus’ New Testament was published, the Rosetta stone was found—and just like that—the mysterious hieroglyphics of Egypt were translated. The whole world seemed to come together with translations between various tongues linking believers as one family. But it took a long time for believers to hold, read, and cherish God’s Word in their native tongue.

These two landmarks launched later publications of the New Testament. Luther’s German Bible, Tyndale’s English Bible, and the King James Version soon followed. For the very first time, the Scriptures became understandable to people around the world.

Erasmus had no idea that his Greek New Testament would affect the entire world. He was lead by his own passion for laypeople—from all walks of life—to get a copy of God’s Word, and read it for themselves. It took roughly 3,560 years since the beginning of the written word, roughly 1915 years since apostle John penned Revelation, the last book of the Bible, to hold a Bible in your hands. Erasmus’ preface said, “I would have [the Gospels and the Epistles] translated into all languages…I long for the plowboy to sing them to himself as he follows the plow [and] the weaver to him them to the tune of his shuttle.”

Having God’s Word in our own language is a privilege. Let us rejoice that God’s Word will always be alive!

Take Home Nugget

The prophet Jeremiah had a passion for God’s Word. He said in Jeremiah 15:16 (The Message—yet another translation of the Holy Bible), “When your words showed up, I ate them—swallowed them whole. What a feast! What a delight I took in being Yours, O God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies!”

Is God’s Word your delight?

J.D. Griffith

More precious than gold is God’s Word to me,
Much better than pearls from deep in the sea;
For in the Lord’s Word I take great delight,
Ant it is my joy each day and each night.

Fitzhugh

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Written for Bible Study for Kids.