The Bible translation movement recently celebrated a remarkable milestone: the completion of the 800th full Bible translation. The first 400 full Bible translations took nearly two thousand years. The next 400 have been completed in just a few decades.
As we approach Shavuot and Pentecost Sunday, we remember both the giving of the Word in the wilderness and the Holy Spirit poured out at Pentecost, when the apostles were empowered to proclaim God’s Word in many languages.
God is making a straight path for the whole Word to reach Bibleless people, leading into a broad place of growth, local leadership, and the light of His love.
I’ve been reflecting on the Passover story this week as we look toward Resurrection Day.
“The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him.” —Exodus 15:2
This song comes after God makes a way where there was none, a worshipful response to deliverance that could only come from Him. From Passover to the Resurrection, Scripture tells the story of God bringing His people out of bondage and into new life.
You and I know God’s Word as a love letter—spoken, breathed, and shared from generation to generation. In Exodus God introduces himself as “The Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love to the thousandth generation.” Through the prophet Jeremiah He reminds His people, “I have loved you with an everlasting love.”
Poleg was familiar with the New Testament but still struggled with understanding the depth of “God with us.” Then when he read Genesis for the first time in his own language, he said:
“Now I see that God never abandoned humanity. Even when people disobeyed him, he still loved them and had already planned a way of salvation (through Jesus).”
”For the first time, I truly understood the story without confusion. God’s Word spoke directly to my heart.” This was the moment a translator could finally have Genesis in his own language, translated directly from Biblical Hebrew.
I’ve just returned to Jerusalem from Thailand, where I was meeting with Bible translation partners to plan how to complete the task of providing the needed thousands of whole Bible translations for Southeast Asia. Sharon joined me here in Jerusalem, and we have the joy of seeing yet more Biblical Hebrew instructors and translators ready to begin programs in Bibleless regions.
“Everyone wonders what road their dreams will take,” Ariel shared with us as we gathered for staff prayer. “Even when we’re in the middle of what we feel is God’s calling, things don’t always go the way we expect. But He is guiding our path. God has a plan for us—and it’s not about us, but about Him, and about preparing the way for His Word.”