There’s a buzz going round as people are becoming aware of the existence of biblical books previously thought to be non-canonical (in other words they don’t belong in the bible). People are quoting Revelation 22:18-19 to say that to read amazing books like the book of Jubilees and Enoch means that we are adding to the Scriptures:
“For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book”
What these people don’t realise is that these books were originally part of the canon. History tells us clearly the names and motives of the ones who took authority upon themselves to decide which books should be removed. They are the culprits who, over different periods of history, removed priceless information from our bibles, and ‘took away’ parts of the book of life. Just a small amount of research quickly uncovers this as documented fact.
The fact is that different eastern countries have different books that they consider canon, which are included in their bibles. Even the British Pilgrim Fathers that sailed to America had more books in their bibles than we have!
Thank YHWH that in our day He is restoring ‘the Ancient Paths’ and putting into place more Biblical understanding. We thank Him for the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. We thank Him that the writings of the Scrolls are easily accessible and we have the privilege of being able to read and enjoy them. We also thank Him that their teaching fills in so many interesting and important facts that are missing from the standard biblical text.
We are certainly privileged to be living in such days. We need to take advantage of the resources He has made available to us. We have no excuse.