When Moses descended from Mount Sinai, he had two tablets of stone with words written on the front and the back of the tablets. We know those words as the Ten Commandments. They were placed in a golden container called the Ark of the Covenant. Nearly six hundred years later, Solomon brought that container into the beautiful temple he had built. There was nothing inside that ark but these two tablets (1 Kings 8:9). If you had been there to look at the tablets, there is one thing you would not find there. There was no “whiteout” on the tablets! There were no changes to be made in the wording. God knew the needs of the Jews, and He gave a perfect message that did not need amendments. God does not need editors of His words.
Fifteen hundred years after Moses delivered the Ten Commandments Jesus came to this earth. He was the only man who was at Mount Sinai and also present in the first century. When a young man asked Him about the commandments, Jesus quoted some of them. “You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, honor your father and your mother” (Matt. 19:18-19). These are precisely the same words given by God and written by Him on the tablets of stone. No changes, no rewrites, no revisions, no whiteout. God knew man’s needs and He made no provisions for anyone to change what He gave. God does not need editors.
Think of how drastically the world changed in the fifteen hundred years from Moses to Jesus. The Jews were no longer a nomadic people in a wilderness. They were in cities with thousands and thousands of residents. They no longer were isolated from the world but were part of the economic world of the first century. They were likely more educated and had greater wealth, but God’s words were still applicable. Culture changes, but God does not need editors to make cultural changes to His words.
Yet, far too many in our day see the words of God needing to be edited and updated because of culture or other changes. Every word on the tablets of stone came from God; they were written by His hand. From the beginning of Christianity, on Pentecost, this had not changed. Those men that spoke words and the Spirit decided every word which was spoken (Acts 2:4).
God forbade any man to edit the words of the Old Testament (Deut. 4:2; 12:32). He forbids any man editing the words of the New Testament (1 Cor. 14:37; Gal. 1:8-9; Phil. 3:16-18: Rev. 22:18-19). So, when you hold in your hands the words of God, rest assured that you hold the precise words He gave. He makes no provisions for editors. He said it perfectly and it needs no amendments or editing!