One of the amazing things about the Bible we have today that has been passed down & recognized for almost 2000 years--is this: it already gives us almost all the books of the Bible within it at the time of the apostles! It also shows when the OT canon was closed by Jesus Himself.
Jesus several times gives the Hebrew divisions of the Tenakh or Old Testament, including all the Hebrew Scriptures. They had them all in Jesus' day! Sometimes it takes awhile for the rest of mankind to realize it--we are so slow of heart to believe & dull of hearing.
The Dead Sea Scrolls are an amazing collection of all the OT books except Esther. They even have an almost 22 foot scroll of Isaiah, which is 99% accurate to the Isaiah scrolls that Jews have that were almost 1000 years older.
Jesus spoke of the 3 divisions of the Jewish OT: the Torah (Pentateuch or Law of Moses), the Nevi'im or the Prophets & the Ketuvim or the Writings.
They had ALL the Scriptures up until then, at the time of Christ! Jesus taught that Himself. And He should know. He is the living Word of God.
Luke 24:25-27 Then Jesus said to them, “O foolish ones, how slow are your hearts to believe all that THE PROPHETS have spoken. 26Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things & then to enter His glory?” 27And BEGINNING WITH MOSES then ALL THE PROPHETS, He explained to them what was WRITTEN IN ALL THE SCRIPTURES about Himself.
32 They asked one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us as He spoke with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
44Jesus said to them, “These are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in THE LAW OF MOSES, THE PROPHETS & THE PSALMS.” 45Then He opened their minds to understand THE SCRIPTURES.
All the Scriptures (at that time): the Torah, the Nevi'im & the Writings (Psalms represented the Writings).
Jesus did it another time:
Matt 23:27ff Woe to you! You build tombs for the prophets, but it was your fathers who killed them. So you are witnesses who consent to the deeds of your fathers: They killed the prophets, and you build their tombs. Because of this, the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles; some of them they will kill and others they will persecute. As a result, this generation will be charged with the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar & the sanctuary.
Jesus covers again from the beginning (since the foundation of the world), starting with Abel in the first book of the OT Scriptures, Genesis & then ending the Tenakh with Zechariah (mentioned in the last book of the Hebrew Tenakh, 2 Chronicles). From Genesis to 2 Chronicles.
Luke 18:31 Then Jesus took the Twelve aside & said to them, "Look, we are going up to Jerusalem & everything the prophets have written about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.
Heb 12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
Heb 1:1,2 In the past God spoke to our ancestors THROUGH THE PROPHETS at many times & in various ways, but in these LAST DAYS HE HAS SPOKEN to us BY HIS SON, whom He appointed heir of all things & through whom He made the universe.
2 Pet 1:18-21 And we ourselves heard this voice from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. We also have the word of the prophets as fully confirmed beyond doubt. And you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns & the morning star rises in your hearts.
Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own private interpretation of things. For no such prophecy was ever brought about (came) through human initiative (will of man), but men spoke from God as they were carried along (borne along, moved) by the Holy Spirit.
John 16:12-15 I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will GUIDE YOU INTO ALL THE TRUTH. For He will not speak on His own authority, but will speak whatever He hears & will tell you WHAT IS TO COME 14He will glorify Me, because He will RECEIVE FROM ME what is Mine & will tell it to you. 15Everything that the Father has is Mine; that is why I said the Spirit will receive from Me what is Mine and will tell it to you.
Matt 23:8,10, But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher & you are all brothers...for you have one Instructor, the Christ...Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your fathers. 33You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell (Gehenna)? 34BECAUSE OF THIS, I am sending you PROPHETS & WISE MEN AND SCRIBES... Some of them you will kill & crucify & others you will FLOG in your synagogues & persecute in town after town.
The books of the New Testament (NT) were written a short time later:
#1 because Jesus had many more things to say to the apostles & also the apostles were not yet ready to bear them yet (16:12)
#2 because the apostles had to go through persecution & even flogging (the Apostle Paul is an example) before they & those associated with them would write down the NT books AS CHRIST'S SENT SCRIBES TO WRITE DOWN HIS SPOKEN WORDS THROUGH THE MOVING & GUIDANCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT & NOT COMING FROM THEIR OWN PRIVATE, HUMAN SELF INTERPRETATION.
#3 Because of the danger of hell, the apostles were too busy at first preaching the gospel, seeing people saved & establishing the church.
#4 because the gospel had to be preached to the Gentiles, the nations & thus for example, the 4 gospels were written at different times & ways to reach a certain audience. Remember again how the OT was given (Heb 1:1). So it was with these last days, when Jesus would give to the Holy Spirit the words of the NT (Heb 1:2) & He would bring it to Jesus' SCRIBES (those who wrote down the Scriptures), bringing to their remembrance what Jesus said.
#5 because Jesus had at the right time revealed Himself to the Apostle Paul & used him as 'His instrument' of word & writing to see the gospel proclaimed to the nations.
#6 because the timing had to coincide with writing it in the well known trade language of Greek & with the ability to rapidly spread the written NT gospels & epistles over the large Roman empire.
Jesus does a beautiful job of tying the OT to the NT & covering the gap of the 400 years of intertestamental time. Since Malachi no prophet spoke. There was a silence. Jesus now ties His forerunner, John the Baptist, with Malachi's final prophecy of a forerunner coming in the spirit & power of Elijah--to open the way for the Messiah & the proclamation of the good news of His coming kingdom.
Thus all the OT was until John. It was closed with John being that last one of the OT type.
Thus, Jesus Christ effectively CLOSES THE OT CANON! He has that authority & in order to make the way for the New Covenant & the NT writings concerning the gospel of the the kingdom of the gracious God.
Luke 16:16,17 "THE LAW & THE PROPHETS WERE PROCLAIMED UNTIL JOHN. Since that time, the GOSPEL of the kingdom of God IS BEING PREACHED & everyone is forcing his way into it. But it is easier for heaven & earth to pass away than for a single stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law."
Listen to Rabbi Singer describe the findings of the Dead Sea Scrolls & the accuracy of the OT Tenakh.
John 1:16-18 From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace & truth came through Jesus Christ.
Matt 11:7-15 After Jesus had finished instructing His twelve disciples, He went on from there to teach & preach in the nearby towns. 2Meanwhile, John heard in prison about the works of Christ, and he sent two of his disciples 3to ask Him, “Are You the One who was to come, or should we look for someone else?”
4Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepersa are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and GOOD NEWS IS PREACHED to the poor. 6Blessed is the one who does not fall away on account of Me.”
As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the wind? 8Otherwise, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? Look, those who wear fine clothing are found in kings’ palaces. 9What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you & MORE THAN A PROPHET. 10This is the one about whom it is written: ‘Behold, I will send My messenger ahead of You, who will PREPARE YOUR WAY before You.’
11Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least in the kingdom of heaven is GREATER than he. 12From the days of John the Baptist UNTIL NOW, the kingdom of heaven has been subject to violence & the violent lay claim to it. 13 FOR ALL THE PROPHETS & THE LAW PROPHESIED UNTIL JOHN. 14And if you are willing to accept it, he is THE ELIJAH WHO WAS TO COME. 15He who has ears, let him hear.
"Up to the period of John the Baptist," said the Master, "the old state of things may be said to have continued in force. With Him began a new era; no longer were the old privileges to be confined to Israel exclusively; gradually the kingdom of God was to be enlarged, the old wall of separation was to be taken down. See, every man is pressing into it; the new state of things has already begun; you see it in the crowds of publicans, sinners, Samaritans & others pressing round me when I speak of the kingdom of God."
Luke 16:16-18. The law & the prophets were in force until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached — The gospel dispensation takes place & humble, upright men, receive it with inexpressible earnestness.(continued)
