The Jews were trusted with the word of God.
Romans 3:1-4
1 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?
2 Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.
3 What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?
4 By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.” – Romans 3:1-4
The Jews were trusted to preserve the word of God. They took that responsibility very seriously. The Scribes were learned guardians of the law. They copied, transcribed, translated and protected the scriptures and were seen as authoritative in being able to teach about the law, the word of God. Ezra was a scribe and he greatly influenced the people of God:
this Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses that the LORD, the God of Israel, had given, and the king granted him all that he asked, for the hand of the LORD his God was on him. – Ezra 7:6
However scribes became bureaucrats, debating and defining the minute details of how the law should be interpreted and fulfilled. In Jeremiah we read:
“How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie. – Jeremiah 8:8
By the time Jesus came they had completely lost the true meanings of the scripture:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. – Matthew 23:23
The Jews did preserve the word of God. Due to their diligence and faithfulness to the preserve the written copies of the scriptures we have the Bible today. But the faithfulness God is looking for comes from the heart toward Him not towards a duty. He is looking for justice, mercy and faithfulness. God is faithful:
6 The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” – Exodus 34:6-7
Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, – Deuteronomy 7:9
He wants us to be faithful. He also wants us to live by faith. Paul quotes from Psalm 51:
Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. – Psalm 51:4
It is a true sign of faith when we submit to the fact that every word of God is true. What He says will happen, will happen. What He says about us is correct. What He promises, He will fulfil.