Biblical Origins of Publishing

History of Publishing Series

Since the beginning, God communicated through speaking. We call this the “Word of God.”

• God created all things through speaking — “Then God said…” appears multiple times in Genesis 1. (Genesis 1:3)
• “the word of the Lord came to Abram” (Genesis 15:1)
• “And God spoke all these words, saying…” — the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1)
• “the word of the Lord came to Samuel” (1 Samuel 15:10)

God created Adam with a perfectly balanced mind. His brain was fully developed. He understood and remembered what God told him. His memory was strong and efficient. But after sin contaminated him, his mind was weakened.

Through disobedience to God, his powers were perverted, his affections misplaced, his high and holy purposes were lowered, and selfishness took the place of love. The fall did not create in man a new set of faculties, but worked the perversion of all that was good in his character. ST October 6, 1890, par. 1.

Even though this weakening process began with Adam and continued gradually through each generation, people's brains and memories remained relatively strong compared to ours today. For about 2,500 years after the fall, God's law was transmitted orally before anything was written down.

Man came from the hand of God perfect in every faculty of mind and body; in perfect soundness, therefore in perfect health. It took more than two thousand years of indulgence of appetite and lustful passions to create such a state of things in the human organism as would lessen vital force. Through successive generations the tendency was more swiftly downward. Indulgence of appetite and passion combined led to excess and violence; debauchery and abominations of every kind weakened the energies and brought upon the race diseases of every type, until the vigor and glory of the first generations passed away, and, in the third generation from Adam, man began to show signs of decay. Successive generations after the Flood degenerated more rapidly. 4T 29

For hundreds of years, even for the first approximately one-third of human history, messages and information were transmitted orally. Then we begin to find something new recorded in Exodus 17 and 20.

• The first mention of writing in the Bible: “The Lord said to Moses, 'Write this for a memorial in the book…'” (Exodus 17:14)
• The Ten Commandments were “written with the finger of God.” (Exodus 31:18; 32:16)
• The Ten Commandments were produced in duplex format: “The tablets were written on both sides.” (Exodus 32:15)

Why this change? Why did writing begin to be used when oral transmission had been effective for such a long time?

Roughly 600 years after the flood, Joseph's family went to Egypt because of a severe famine in Canaan. They knew about the covenant God had made with Abraham and His command to remain separate from the heathen people. But through successive generations being surrounded with idolatry, they forgot more and more of God's law and became more and more familiar with the heathen lifestyle. Their ideas of God's law became increasingly confused. (See SR 147).

When the time was right, God miraculously freed them from slavery in Egypt and started leading them toward Canaan. But they often disagreed with God's plan and frequently grumbled. Their confused minds thought that returning to Egypt would be better than continuing to Canaan.

How could they desire slavery above freedom? Their twisted thinking was because they were familiar with idolatry and had forgotten God's law. Without habitually meditating on God's law as a barrier against sin in their lives, they left their minds to reflect on pagan ideas, which only encouraged their pagan desires.

God decided to teach them His law in a most unforgettable manner. In a thundering voice framed in lightning and smoke and earthquake, He spoke His law distinctly and clearly. Everybody paid attention. Everybody heard. But God recognized the weakening memory of each generation would cause most of them to forget what they heard. He wisely decided to supplement oral tradition by beginning to write things down. He started by writing the Ten Commandments with His own finger into slabs of stone. With His law permanently engraved in stone, there would be no possibility of confusing it or mixing it with other human laws or traditions. To be unmistakably clear in His instructions, God commanded Moses to write many specific laws to help the people understand how to apply the Ten Commandments in a practical way. (See SR 148.)

If man had kept the law of God, as given to Adam after his fall, preserved in the ark by Noah, and observed by Abraham, there would have been no necessity for the ordinance of circumcision. And if the descendants of Abraham had kept the covenant, of which circumcision was a token or pledge, they would never have gone into idolatry or been suffered to go down into Egypt, and there would have been no necessity of God’s proclaiming His law from Sinai and engraving it upon tables of stone and guarding it by definite directions in the judgments and statutes of Moses. SR 148

By this time in history, Egyptians had developed their own written language. Papyrus, a plant, was used in ancient Egypt to make parchment.

Writing was not simply a clever invention of man. God inspired humans to develop systems of writing. Multiple times throughout Scripture, we find God commanding His servants to write down His messages. The reason we have the Bible is that messages were written down.

When God gives a message and commands that it be written down, it shows that the message is important and not to be forgotten. The writer may write with authority, knowing that God is the Source of his message. The writer must not write something different than what God has said.

God first spoke the Ten Commandments and then wrote them down. Combining the spoken word and the written word is a Divine idea. See Preacher-Paper Duo.

• After writing the Ten Commandments in stone with His own finger, God instructed Moses to write laws in more detail.
• God spoke a message and then commanded that it be written down. (Jeremiah 30:2; 36:2)
• The Lord commanded to write the vision and make it plain on tablets. (Habakkuk 2:2)
• A voice from heaven commanded John to write. (Revelation 14:13)
• He Who sat on the throne said, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” (Revelation 21:5)
• It is important that writers write to preserve the messages from God. If nobody had taken the time to write, we would not have the Bible today. (Joshua 24:26)
• In Kings and Chronicles, many verses mention that the acts of this king and that king are recorded in the chronicles of the kings — written history was important in Bible times.

God's law was to be written where it would not be forgotten:

“You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.” (2 Corinthians 3:2-3)

• Overcomers get God's name, the name of His city, and God's new name written on them. (Revelation 3:12)
• The 144,000 have the Father's name written on their foreheads. (Revelation 14:1)

New kings were instructed to write a copy of the law themselves — no copy and paste, and no printer. (Deuteronomy 17:18) By copying the law with their own hand, they were forced to become familiar with the law.

As much as possible, we should also be familiar with what we print and practice what we learn in our lives.

When the Israelites crossed over the Jordan, they were commanded to prepare large stones, whitewash them, and “write on them all the words of the law,” then set them up on the mountain where the people would worship God. (Deuteronomy 27:3) Joshua did build an altar on Mount Ebal and wrote a copy of the law. (Joshua 8:32)

They were instructed to “write very plainly on the stones all the words of this law.” (Deuteronomy 27:8)

Two publishing principles emerge here:

1. Write plainly — let things be arranged on the page so that people can read it well.
2. Write completely — they were not to pick what truth they liked and publish only that. They were to publish the complete truth.

• Moses completed writing the words of the law and commanded (by God's authority) that the written law be placed beside the ark of the covenant, to serve as a witness remaining after his death. (Deuteronomy 31:24, 26)
• Certain messages were written for a time to come. (Isaiah 30:8)
• The works of the Lord were written for future generations, that they would praise the Lord. (Psalm 102:18)

Meditating on the Book of the Law day and night leads to prosperity and success. (Joshua 1:8)

• Words are written to be read. Joshua read everything to the people — the whole message, hiding nothing. He read it to everybody, including women, little ones, and strangers. (Joshua 8:34-35)
• “Read the words that were written in this scroll to the people.” (Jeremiah 36:6)

Publishing is an essential tool in God's plan. As you study the points below, think about what we might miss if we neglect the publishing work.

• “These things were written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20:31)

The progression is simple, but profound. Things that are written (publications) lead to belief, and belief leads to eternal life.

Things written → believe → life

What if there are no things written, or if the things written are not reproduced so that they may be read?

• “Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” (1 Corinthians 10:11)
• “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” (Romans 15:4)

• “Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the authority which the Lord has given me for edification and not for destruction.” (2 Corinthians 13:10)

• “How that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already), by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ.” (Ephesians 3:3–4)
• “It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account… that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.” (Luke 1:3–4)

• “Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and note it on a scroll, that it may be for time to come, forever and ever.” (Isaiah 30:8)
• “Take a scroll of a book and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you.” (Jeremiah 36:2)

• “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.” (Habakkuk 2:2)
• “Take a scroll of a book and read from it the words of the Lord in the hearing of the people.” (Jeremiah 36:6)
• “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy.” (Revelation 1:3)
• “Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.” (Revelation 1:19)

• “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” (1 John 2:1)
• “These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you.” (1 John 2:26)
• “And I wrote this very thing to you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow over those from whom I ought to have joy.” (2 Corinthians 2:3–4)

• “And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.” (1 John 1:4)
• “I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.” (1 John 2:12)
• “I write to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, little children, because you have known the Father.” (1 John 2:13)
• “I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one.” (1 John 2:14)
• “I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.” (1 John 2:21)
• “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:13)

• “Now therefore, write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of Israel… that this song may be a witness for Me.” (Deuteronomy 31:19)
• “Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle… that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets.” (2 Peter 3:1–2)

“The word of our God shall stand forever.” “All His commandments are sure. They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.” Isaiah 40:8; Psalm 111:7, 8. Whatever is built upon the authority of man will be overthrown; but that which is founded upon the rock of God’s immutable word shall stand forever. GC 288

• A curse for anyone who adds to God's Word. (Revelation 22:18)
• A curse for taking away from God's Word. (Revelation 22:19)
• All the words which the Lord had spoken were written on the two tablets of stone. (Deuteronomy 9:10)
• They were instructed to write “all the words of this law” on whitewashed stones. (Deuteronomy 27:8)

• God promises a blessing to those who read what has been written. (Revelation 1:3)
• There is blessing in obeying what is written. “The Lord will again rejoice” (Deuteronomy 30:9) over those who obey the voice of the Lord as written in the law. (Deuteronomy 30:10)

• There are curses in disobeying what is written.
• Curses might seem offensive to some people, but they were faithfully recorded in the Bible alongside the blessings — as a warning, so that when a group of people receive the curses, it would be understood that they had been clearly forewarned but had chosen to disobey. (Deuteronomy 29:20, 27)

David wrote a letter decreeing the death of Uriah. We need to be careful what we write, as it has an influence on others. (2 Samuel 11:15)

Moses wrote a copy of the law and distributed it to various people before his death. (Deuteronomy 31:9)

In both the school and the home much of the teaching was oral; but the youth also learned to read the Hebrew writings, and the parchment rolls of the Old Testament Scriptures were open to their study. The chief subjects of study in these schools were the law of God, with the instruction given to Moses, sacred history, sacred music, and poetry. In the records of sacred history were traced the footsteps of Jehovah. The great truths set forth by the types in the service of the sanctuary were brought to view, and faith grasped the central object of all that system—the Lamb of God, that was to take away the sin of the world. A spirit of devotion was cherished. Not only were the students taught the duty of prayer, but they were taught how to pray, how to approach their Creator, how to exercise faith in Him, and how to understand and obey the teachings of His Spirit. Sanctified intellect brought forth from the treasure house of God things new and old, and the Spirit of God was manifested in prophecy and sacred song.
These schools proved to be one of the means most effective in promoting that righteousness which “exalteth a nation.” Proverbs 14:34. In no small degree they aided in laying the foundation of that marvelous prosperity which distinguished the reigns of David and Solomon. (Ed 47)

The apostles wrote many letters — sometimes instruction, reproof, encouragement:

• Peter suggested writing tracts or letters to send to the Gentiles to show them how they should abstain from unclean things. (Acts 15:20)
• The brethren followed his advice and wrote a letter and delivered it to the Gentiles. (Acts 15:30)
• They rejoiced over the encouragement found in this letter. (Acts 15:31)
• The written letter was accompanied by further words in preaching. (Acts 15:32)

• “Write down this song.” (Deuteronomy 31:19) Moses wrote this song. (Deuteronomy 31:22)
• Purpose: that it would be a witness for God. (Deuteronomy 31:22)

King Jehoiakim did not like the message that had been written, so he took a knife and cut the scroll into pieces and burned it in the fire. (Jeremiah 36:23)

While God's Word may be burned, it may not be destroyed. God instructed Jeremiah to make another duplicate copy of the scroll that was burned. (Jeremiah 36:28)