Michigan Camp Meeting 2025: He Must Increase

Bible Manuscripts and Translations

Thomas Shepherd

Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

06 Which Bible Translation is the Best?

You're about to enjoy a presentation recorded at the 2025 Michigan Conference Camp, held at Cedar Lake, Michigan.

We pray that the Lord will bless you as you listen.

Lord, we thank you for this opportunity to once again open your word.

We pray for your spirit to be with us today as we talk about Bible translations.

Well, I mentioned again, I apologize I don't have a coat on, it's a little informal.

I'm not usually the way I dress for giving a lecture or giving a sermon or anything like that.

But I went home, picked up my dear wife, 50 years, and I forgot my coat at home.

That's 2 and a half hours away, so I'm not getting my coat until I go home.

Now, the other thing that you may have noticed is you probably noticed that I wear athletic shoes, and you wonder, does he preach in those?

But most other times when I teach, and even when I'm around here in Camp Meem, I wear these shoes, shoes like this.

Well, I believe that every day, every day you should talk to your 2 doctors.

You have your 2 doctors with you every day.

Yes, you have your 2 doctors with you every day.

And you should talk to your 2 doctors every day.

And I began aerobic exercise about 55 years ago and 1 of the best decisions ever made in my life, very thankful.

All right, today we are talking about Bible translation.

I'm going to give you the quick short answer, but we'll have more to say.

The quick short answer, the best translation, the best translation is the 1 you will keep on reading.

It's no good if you say, oh it's a great translation but I don't read it.

Then that's not the best translation for you.

The best translation is the 1 that you will keep on reading because the Word of God is the sword that cuts away from our life that which doesn't belong.

It's valuable for instruction, valuable for correction, valuable for putting us on and keeping us on the right road.

Learn from the Word of God and it will bless your life.

Okay, so let's look at various translations and think about their usage for spiritual growth.

We want our life to be spiritually strong.

We don't want to be spiritually weaklings.

So we will start with a bit of history about the famous King James Version, but we won't end there.

The background of the King James Version is rather interesting.

Before the King James version, there were translations into English.

The Geneva Bible, which was produced in 1560.

Now if you remember, the King James Version was finished or published in what year?

You realize that's, what's that, 400 years?

But before the King James Bible, there was the Geneva Bible, published in 1560.

It was produced in Geneva, of course, that makes sense, where reformers fled during the five-year reign of Mary, the Queen Mary, who was a Catholic.

Now, if you know anything about the history of the church in England and of the English monarchy, it kind of went back and forth.

The big switch happened under Henry VIII, who was a character.

He had like I think 8 wives and he left the Catholic Church because they wouldn't approve his divorce.

Catholics are not big on divorce to this day.

And so he declared himself the head of what became the Church of England, the Anglican Church.

So it became, it's Protestant really, but it's got a lot of linkages into Catholicism.

And this Geneva Bible is where reformers fled during Mary's reign, and she was a Catholic.

So England was going back and forth between Catholic and Protestant as far as the monarchy goes, and of course the monarchs had a tremendous amount of impact.

I'm right now reading a book about the history of religious liberty in the United States and its linkage to Roger Williams.

And Some of the stories revolving around King James and some of these other people, Mary and some of the other monarchs, is amazing.

The anti-Catholic notes prevented it from getting universal acceptance.

And it was the most popular Bible for nearly a hundred years.

Here's a picture of the front page of the Geneva Bible.

Then there was in 1568, just a little bit later, the Bishop's Bible, supported by the clergy.

King James was unhappy with it because of passages that appeared to be against the monarchy.

Now, King James himself was a little bit of a character and he had, I think, a lavish lifestyle and he was always looking for money.

And he had to call Parliament to be able to raise money.

They didn't keep Parliament in session all the time.

And he was selling things off and different kinds of things.

And he wasn't the most popular king around.

So the Bishop's Bible was supported by the clergy, which is the second Bible to be authorized.

Then came King James Bible, which is the famous Bible published in 1611.

Its basis for its Greek text was the Greek New Testament as published by Erasmus, which eventually became known, Erasmus' Greek text became known as the Textus Receptus.

If you were with us a few days ago, You know that the Textus Receptus or Erasmus' Greek New Testament was based only on a handful of Byzantine manuscripts, not our strongest manuscripts, but late manuscripts.

And Erasmus didn't even have the last verses of Revelation he translated back from Latin.

So that was the basis for the King James Version, that's what they had available.

The King James Version was published in 1611, but it did not replace the Geneva Bible for 100 years.

So, it was published, but it wasn't popular right away.

Here's Erasmus' Greek text, eventually known as Textus Receptus.

Eventually, it wasn't called that at first.

Talking Points 3rd Quarter 2025: Exodus

Kameron DeVasher

Mark Howard

11 Apostasy and Intercession

I'm Cameron DeVasier and I'm Mark Howard and this is Talking Points.

We are now on the 11th lesson of our Exodus study this quarter all through the book of Exodus and all the things that the Lord is leading his people out of Egyptian bondage and into well, I'd love to say directly to the promised land, but a lot of lessons we were on the way Yeah, this week is like I said lesson 11 titled apostasy and intercession so if this is probably a passage we're looking all it's all found in Exodus chapter 32 and I would assume that most Christians, especially Seventh-day Adventist Christians, are probably familiar with this passage, at least superficially, and we're going to dive into a little bit more of the detail of what are some of the lessons we can learn.

It should be because it is referenced in the New Testament.

So New Testamental Christians should be familiar with this 1 too.

Before we get started, I also wanted to mention sometimes we're on here and we'll have like a water bottle or like shirts with logos and ministries, you know, stickers on them or something.

Bible Study Offer is a wonderful ministry tool for your local church to help you have a Bible study ministry outreach to your community.

So if you don't have something going on or even if you do and you want to improve it, I would encourage you go get a free account at oneaccord.cc and sign up for BibleStudyOffer.com and start putting every member of your church to use in Bible study ministry.

Just to be clear BibleStudyOffer.com is not another online Bible school.

BibleStudyOffer.com is a tool for the local church to help local members get Bible studies in their community that they personally go to.

That's right, and that's what we wanna see is not just make it available a generic way, but personally engaging in soul winning work and leading others into the truth.

That's right, so that within Sabbath School, and we should be inviting people to Sabbath School, and sharing these wonderful truths that we're studying, we also can get beyond our Sabbath School and share them with others.

Let's make our church an evangelistic endeavor.

All right, Well, we need to get into our lesson this week.

I actually put the talking points together So would you be so kind as to lead us off with a word of grace?

Yes Father in heaven we thank you for Sabbath school we thank you for the testimony of your word and the promise of your Holy Spirit to lead us into your truth we pray Lord now that as we study this lesson, as teachers are preparing, as church members are preparing to be active participants in their local Sabbath schools, that you would bless all of our thoughts and discussion, that we would be able to edify 1 another and forward your work in this earth for we ask it in Jesus name.

Well again our little lesson intro said this week's lesson examines the golden calf incident of Exodus 32 and as is our custom here we have 3 talking points we're gonna draw out from this week's lesson.

Talking point number 1 is idolatry is deadly to the Christian life.

Not just was deadly, it is current and present and still a thing and that comes from Monday and Tuesday's lesson primarily.

Talking point number 2, God's cause needs leaders like Moses, not Aaron.

And that's in fact not just then, it's now too.

And then our final talking point comes from Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

Talking point number 3, God's response to sin is both just and merciful.

And let me just tell you right now, Pastor Howard and those listening, there is a lot of content that you can draw out of this single chapter and tons of relevant applications, so I wouldn't be surprised if you, Even if you say, I'm not gonna do all 7 days, I'm gonna do 3 talking points.

You might only get through 1 or 2 of those talking points.

Praise the Lord, it's gonna be a good lesson.

You could have a part 2 after lunch, after fellowship.

Yeah, come back and we're gonna do the rest of our lesson.

Well, let's look at talking point number 1.

Idolatry is deadly to the Christian life.

Why don't you read for us, if you would please, Exodus chapter 32, verse 1.

Just the introductory chapter 32, verse 1 of this golden calf incident, and start us off with what's the little context there.

Okay, the Bible says, now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, he had gone up to be with the Lord in the mountain, received the 10 Commandments, etc.

The people gathered together to Aaron and said to him, come make us gods that shall go before us for as for this man Moses or this Moses the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt we do not know what's become of him okay so let's give a little context here says now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain.

So Moses up in the mountain, as you illustrated, you referred to it, in Exodus 20, he got the 10 commandments.

Now he's back up, he's getting the plans for the sanctuary and the other ordinances that, you know, after the 10 commandments, he had 20 of the 10 commandments, the other ordinances, now the sanctuary.

There's a lot of conversation that Moses is having with the Lord, and he's been up there for days, now he's moving into weeks.

And so while- For sure he'd be back by now.

Exactly, so while all that's going up on the mountaintop we just read about, down on the valley below, there's this restlessness.

Well, and the implication is he's not coming back.

Maybe the thunderings and lightnings didn't, you know.

So they had, so they had in their possession the law of God that they were supposed to be meditating on and starting to put into practice and and instead they're going restless and they've lost sight of Moses.

Now interestingly or ironically, they had heard the law of God but as Moses brought it down and then had to break the tablets when he saw what was going on.

So the context is they've heard the law of God, they know the voice, they know why they're there, and while they should be thinking about, and not just the law of God generally, but even just the first 2 commandments.

So You shall know other gods before me and don't make any graven image.

And so maybe you say I don't remember all 10 but maybe those first 2 would really stick out.

And those are the very ones that they say when they lose sight of Moses, their faith gets weak, and they immediately turn to what's comfortable for them, which ends up being a violation of God's 10 Commandment law.

So right at the foot of the 10 Commandment mountain, right, they start breaking the 10 Commandment law.

There was this interesting thing as to why it's so, why idolatry is so pernicious and so dangerous for the Christian life.

From Monday, paragraph 3, if you'd read that please.

Yeah, it says, Idolatry denies the theological understanding that God is God and man is man.

Idolatry erases the gap between God and man and breaks the connection with him.

Whether it is blatant and open or something concealed in the heart, idolatry quickly ruptures our relationship with the Lord and leads in a downward moral spiral.

So it's interesting that the no other gods and no carved images is how the 10 Commandments start off if God's moral law because apparently that's the starting place.

You have to understand that there is a God and a direct relationship with him and anything that leads away from that is going to rupture that relationship and have what they call a downward moral spiral.

So it makes sense that the 10 Commandments start with idolatry, and this ends up being their first response is to go into idolatry when there's a lack of faith.

So this is kind of the headwaters of decision, whether you're going to be faithful to God or to wander off.

So there's a striking similarity, and I'm glad the lesson brought this out, between the experience we read about, the Israelites in Exodus 32 here, and in Romans chapter 1, you have the experience of the Gentile world who had a generic knowledge of God, but didn't honor God, didn't give him glory, and ended up making things in the image of themselves or other animals and things and worshipping them.

And that's exactly what we see here in Exodus 32.

The people cry out for God to go before them.

So they make images, and we haven't studied it out yet, but we know how the story goes.

They make the images and then they rise up to play and they're unrestrained and their morality follows this decision.

So really the idolatrous intuition that God had forbidden in his law you see manifest downstream in their behavior.

So, for example, let's take a look at that.

Exodus 32, why don't you read verse 6 and then 17 to 19.

When they make this golden calf, yeah, go ahead, verse 6.

Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings, and the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play." So they did some sort of worship thing related to this, but their behavior afterwards was not holy.

So and then we're picking up in verse 17.

And it says, and when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, There is noise of war in the camp.

But he said, it is not the noise of the shout of victory, nor the noise of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing I hear.

So it was as soon as he came near the camp that he saw the calf and the dancing.

So Moses' anger became hot and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.

So we could go on and on about that, but essentially their behavior, you know, they were like, we just heard, we'd seen God deliver us, we'd, you know, witnessed his, you know, appearance on the mountain, we heard his voice, we understood his law, but as soon as we lost sight of Moses, we went right back to the old habits, made a calf, started dancing around it.

They probably had an assurance of salvation, if you want to say, like, oh good, we've got this calf here, everything's okay now, now we can relax and just ease back into whatever lifestyle we want to have.

And Moses sees it and is like, what are we doing here, right?

Sabbath School 3rd Quarter 2025: Exodus

Eric Flickinger

Jiřί Moskala

It Is Written

♪ Welcome to Sabbath School brought to you by It Is Written.

We're studying the book of Exodus and this week it is lesson 11, Apostasy and Intercession.

Father, we ask that you will bless us today as we once again open your Word and seek for guidance and instruction from you.

As we look at Moses and the trials and challenges that he went through with your people, we ask that you would bless us with an understanding of how we can face challenges and difficulties and temptations as well and come out as victors.

So we're glad that you are here, but we are also glad to have the author of this quarter's Sabbath school lesson with us.

Mascala, once again, thank you for being here with us.

Well, I am enjoying it to be with you and to study the Word of God.

We've seen the ebb and flow of the faithfulness of God's people during the course of the Exodus, and sometimes it ebbs more than it flows.

This week, we're looking at a major lapse that they had.

How was it possible for Aaron's leadership to fail so spectacularly with respect to this golden calf incident.

Well, it is really a very dark chapter in the history of Israel.

He is spending with the Lord 40 days and 40 nights, as we know from the context.

And now when he's away, Aaron is there in order to care for people.

He's like a high priest, you know, in that priesthood.

And now people are coming to him and asking him, well, you know, we don't know what this fellow Moses is doing.

And it's very interesting that they are like degrading him very much, you know, for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt.

So You see, first of all, they, in their mind, is that he brought them out of Egypt.

Suddenly, the picture of this beautiful, holy, powerful, loving, caring God is disappearing.

You know, when Moses is gone, like from the mind of people, of many of them also God is gone.

And in that situation, when they are thinking so widely, they are coming to Aaron and pushing him, even threatening him with death, that they want to have something visible, tangible.

These gods who brought them out of Egypt.

And we really are now crying because Aaron, instead of standing for God and against all these terrible demands, he's yielding down and he's saying, all right, so if you insist, so bring me the gold of your wives and your sons and daughters.

And he's putting there and molding it as we with the tools as the golden calf.

This was bad enough, but he even saw how people are happy with that.

So he made an altar in front of this idol and then he said, next day we will have a feast.

And then we are reading, you know, that people were sacrificing as we have it in verse 6 of chapter 32, the next day people rose early and sacrificed, burned offerings, and presented fellowship offerings.

Afterward, they sat down to eat and drink and got up, indulged in revelry.

And what is really striking is what they are saying actually.

They are saying these are your gods or Israel who brought you up out of Egypt.

So this is now a contrast between what God said, I am the Lord your God who took you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

And they said, no, no, no, no, God, we don't know who you are and where are you.

And your servant Moses is not now with us.

It's for long, you know, several weeks, it's gone, we don't know.

And you see by that action the thinking of people.

This is completely distortion of relationship with God.

And of course, when you are making your gods, you fabricate your idol.

So this idol is to your image, and you are degrading yourself.

And this is why morality is going down and then the revelry is there and we don't know what else was going on in the situation.

And in that time when Moses is up, God is telling him, it's time for you really to go down, to go down.

And chapter 32 is telling us how God is communicating with him and he's telling him Moses, but Moses sought the favor of the Lord.

He said, Oh Lord, he said, why should your anger burn against your people whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?

Why should the Egyptians say it was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountain and to wipe them off the face of the earth?

Because before God, because He knows what is going on in the camp of Israel, is actually telling him, you know, go down Moses, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have become corrupt.

They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them, and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf.

They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it, and have said, These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.

I have seen these people, the Lord has said to Moses, and they are stiff-necked.

Now leave me alone, so that my anger may burn against them, so that I may destroy them.

Then I will make you into a great nation." So this is a great temptation now even for Moses.

And Moses saying, OK, you were fed with these people.

Now rebelling, of course, against me, the Lord is saying, so I will wipe them out.

Back to Menu

All Teachings

06 Which Bible Translation is the Best?

1h 6m

11 Apostasy and Intercession

30m

11 Apostasy and Intercession

28m

10 The Covenant and the Blueprint

27m

06 Keeping Sabbath Happy

36m

05 How Did Books Get into the Bible?

1h 2m

Church and Faith, Not Church and State

53m

05 Home: The Disciple Center

43m

04 Which Variant is Original?

1h 1m

3 Beasts 1 Remnant

1h

04 Building Family Worship

54m

03 What Variants Do Our Manuscripts Have? Part 02

1h 2m

Sound Doctrine