“The Bible: Is It Just Another Book?”
There’s a story of a guy on an airplane who was an atheist. He was sitting next to a little girl who was traveling alone, and the little girl brought out a Bible to read during the trip. The man struck up a conversation with the little girl, and after a while, he asked her about her Bible.
“Do you like reading that Bible?” “Yes, I do,” she replied.
“How do you know it’s true?” “Because it’s God’s Word.”
“Yeah, but take Jonah and the Whale. Do you really believe that?” “Yes, I do.”
“How can you explain how God would make a whale swallow a man like that?”
“I don’t know. I guess I’ll ask Jonah when I get to heaven.”
“What if Jonah’s not in heaven?” “Then you can ask him.”
It seems today that everyone has an opinion about the bible… SOME – say that the bible is a pack of lies that it simply meets the needs of weak-minded men & women. AND OTHERS – say that this book is God-breathed and is the hope of the world…
QUESTION - what do you think about this book? How seriously do you take it in your life? I MEAN - in your daily life how seriously do you take it? is it just nice to have around or do you read? Do you follow it’s teachings? Is it a guide? Is it a compass for you?
QUESTION – IF God exists and I think last week we settled that matter – IF this: non-contingent, uncaused by anything else, self-sufficient, self-reliant, powerful, intelligent, always existing, unique, good & moral God who loves us (look at the world/nursery he created for us), were to write a book – what kind of book would it be?
WELL - I think among other things a book written by God would be; Unique (in a class of it’s own), Accurate (we could trust what it says) & Supernatural (it would know some stuff that only God could know)…
QUESTION – is there such a book…. WELL TODAY – I want to make the case for the bible being that kind of book……
I. The Bible Is Unique
Webster must have had the bible in mind when he wrote the definition of the word ‘unique.’ CHECKOUT – this definition of the word unique; 1. one and only; single; sole. 2. Different from all others; having no equal.
OKAY – I want to talk about 7 ways that the bible is different from all other books in the world and how it has no equal…
A) The bible is unique in it’s Composition
The bible was written over a period of 1500 years; in 3 languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek), on 3 continents (Asia, Africa, Europe) and it was written by 40+ different writers from all walks of life; including kings, military leaders, peasants, poets, fisherman, prophets, statesman, priests, scribes, scholars, shepherds, fig pickers and even an IRS agent…
The bible was written in many different places; Moses wrote in the wilderness, Jeremiah in a dungeon, Daniel in a palace, Paul behind prison bars, Luke while traveling, John while in exile on the island of Patmos.
The bible was also written during different moods; some wrote from the heights of joy, others wrote from the depths of sorrow and despair, some wrote during times of certainty and conviction, others during days of confusion and doubt.
AND - the bible was written in a wide variety of literary styles – in this book we have: poetry, song, romance, law, biography, prophecy, historical narrative, parable and allegory.
UNDERSTAND – there is no other book like the bible in it’s composition – it truly stands alone. I challenge anyone to find a book written over a period of 1500 years, in 3 languages, by 40+ men, AND YET fit together so perfectly…(it ain’t happening)
B) The bible is unique in it’s circulation
NOW - it’s not unusual, to hear about books that have hit the best seller list, selling a few hundred thousand copies. BUT - it’s much rarer to come across books that have sold more than a million copies, and rarer still to find books that have passed the 10 million dollar mark in sales.
WELL – the number of bibles sold reaches into the billions (6 billion) It sells about 60-100 million copies every year! The bible is the most published book in history – no other book even comes close.
In 2005 – the total number of bibles distributed by the United Bible Societies (entire bibles; testaments and portions of scripture) totaled 373 million!
C) The bible is unique in it’s circulation – 3rd;
D) The bible is unique in it’s translations
The bible was one of the first books ever translated – in 250 BC the Hebrew Old Testament was translated into the Greek language and given the name Septuagint (LXX). The work was originally produced for Greek-speaking Jews living in Alexandria who could no longer read Hebrew.
AND LISTEN – you need to understand that most books are never translated into another language at all. AND - among those that are, most are published in just 2 or 3 languages. Far fewer books see translations figures rise into the teens. BUT GET THIS - according to the United Bible Societies, the bible (or portions of it), have been translated into more than 2,400 languages…- these languages represent over 90% of the worlds population.
AND – at this very moment an army of thousands are at work to translate the bible into the world’s remaining languages…(~ 4,000) The hope is to reach that goal somewhere between 2007 & 2022…
E) The bible is unique in it’s survival
UNDERSTAND - attempts to destroy the Bible have always been a part of this remarkable book’s history. In 303 A.D., for instance, the Roman Emperor Diocletian issued an edict to destroy all Christians and their Bible. The persecution that followed as a result of this edict was one of the most brutal in Roman history. Toward its end, Diocletian ordered a monument to be erected and on it he had these triumphant words inscribed, "The name Christian is extinguished." Twenty-five years later, however, Diocletian was dead, and his successor Constantine legalized Christianity and ordered 50 Bibles prepared at the government expense.
AND - in 1776, Voltaire, the French philosopher, announced that, "One hundred years from my day, there will not be a Bible on earth except one that is looked upon by an antiquarian curiosity-seeker." Yet, one hundred years later, his very own house and press were being used to print and store Bibles by the Geneva Bible Society. Ironically enough, at a public auction held one hundred years to the day of Voltaire’s prediction, the first edition of his work sold for 11¢ but a Bible manuscript was purchased for over half a million dollars! As Peter put it in 1 Peter 1:24,25;
“All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever…”
“A thousand times over, the death bell of the bible has been sounded, the funeral procession has been formed, the inscription cut on the tombstone, and committal read. But somehow the corpse never stays put.” Bernard Ramm
“Infidels for 1800 years has been refuting and overthrowing this book, and yet it stands today as solid as a rock. It’s circulation increases, and it is more loved and cherished and read today than ever before. Infidels, with all their assaults, make about as much impression on this book as a man with a tack hammer would on the pyramids of Egypt. When the French Monarch proposed the persecution of the Christians in his dominion, an old statesman and warrior said to him, ‘Sire, the church of God is an anvil that has worn out many hammers.’ SO the hammers of infidels have been pecking away at this book for ages, BUT the hammers are worn out, and the anvil still endures. If this book had not been the book of God, men would have destroyed it long ago. Emperors and popes and kings and priests, princes and rulers have tried their hand at it, they die and the book still lives…” H.L. Hastings
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”
- Mt 24:35
F) The bible is unique in it’s influence
UNDERSTAND - the bible is without a doubt – the most influential book the world has ever seen… It has set more pens and brushes in motion then we could even imagine. The bible has influenced such great artists as; Raphael, Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and great Musicians like Bach, Handle, Beethoven…The bible has inspired over 400; great works of art and musical compositions.
AND – not only has the bible had great influence – on the arts, but on nearly every other walk of life…. The bible has influenced governments, philosophy and judicial systems for hundreds of years.. IN FACT, the bible is the foundation of the judicial code of the United States and it’s Declaration of Independence and Constitution…
“The Bible has permeated the literature of the Western world to a degree that cannot be easily measured. More that any other single body of writing, ancient or modern, it has provided writers from the Middle Ages on with a store of symbols, ideas and ways of perceiving reality.”
- Harold Fisch professor emeritus at Barlan University.
Historian Philip Schaff describes the uniqueness of the Bible and the Savior;
This Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander, Caesar, Mohammed and Napoleon; without science and learning, he shed more light on things human and divine than all philosophers and scholars combined; without the eloquence of schools, He spoke such words of life as were never spoken before or since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of orator or poet; without writing a single line, He set more pens in motion, and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art, and songs of praise than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times..”
Kenneth Woodward pointed out in Newsweek magazine, March 1999, that after;
“2000 years…the centuries themselves are measured from the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. At the end of this year, calendars in India, and China, like those in Europe and America, and the Middle East , will register the dawn of the 3rd millennium.”
AND – the bible has influenced many of histories greatest people…
Abraham Lincoln: I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given man.
George Washington: It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible
Napoleon: The Bible is no mere book, but a Living Creature, with a power that conquers all that oppose it.
Patrick Henry: The Bible is worth all other books which have ever been printed.
Charles Dickens: The New Testament is the very best book that ever was or ever will be known in the world.
Benjamin Franklin: A bible in every home is the principle support of virtue, morality and civil liberty.
Woodrow Wilson: When you have read the bible, you will know it is the Word of God, because you will have found in it the key to your own happiness and your own duty. A man has deprived himself of the best there is in the world who has deprived himself of this knowledge of the bible.
Ronald Reagan: I have found that the bible contains an answer to just about everything and every problem that confronts us, and I wonder sometimes why we won’t recognize that one book could solve our problems for us.
And as Sir Walter Scott lay dying, he said to his friend and biographer, John Lockhart, “Read from the book.” “Which book?” asked Lockhart. Scott replied, “There is but one.”
G) The bible is unique in it’s continuing appeal
For centuries – people; young & old, rich & poor, educated & uneducated, male & female, kings & peasants, slave and free - people from all over the world – in different places, from different cultures have read this book…
THINK ABOUT IT – the Psalms are over 3,000 years old… AND – just as these words spoke to people then -- they speak to people today…
QUESTION – how many other books containing 3,000 year old poetry & prophecy do you read on a regular basis? I bet as many as I do – zero!
Finally;
H) The bible is unique with respects to the claims people say it has on their lives
NOW – people read books all the time, all kinds of books, on all kinds of subject matter. AND – most of the time when they are finished with a book they put it away in a closet or on a shelf and then they look for another book… that will entertain them, help them escape or teach them something new.
BUT UNDERSTAND – it’s different with serious bible readers… YOU SEE – serious bible readers never seem to finish the book AND even if they do they are never tempted to put it away for good. RATHER – they start it over again – or they go back over various portions of the bible again & again & again…
AND – listen millions of people unashamedly claim that the information that they have learned in the bible has transformed their lives…altered their world view. It changed their relationships, their values and their view of eternity….
NOT – many books seem to have that kind of effect on people’s lives, wouldn’t you agree?
LISTEN – if God were to write a book – it would be unique [Different from all others; having no equal] - The bible is unique!!!
II. The Bible Is Accurate
We can trust what it says…
A) The bible is accurate historically
QUESTION - is the Bible good history or bad history? Which is it? Do you know?
Let me start with some easy examples of what bad history might be. You listen to these phrases and tell me why it’s bad history.
Number one: World War I was a bitter four-year conflict fought from 1890 to 1894. Good history or bad history? Why is it bad history? What’s wrong? The dates are wrong. (now some of you are bad students. You didn’t think there was anything wrong with that whole statement right there). The dates were wrong. World War I was fought between 1914 and 1918. UNDERSTAND - good history pays attention to dates and gets them right. Bad history doesn’t.
Second statement: World War II was a bloody conflict between Allied and Axis forces fought on the battlefields in Central China from 1939 to 1945. Are the dates right? Yes, the dates are right. What’s wrong? The place. The geography is wrong. World War II was not fought in Central China, but mostly in Europe, the South Pacific, and a few other places. LISTEN - good history gets geography right.
The third statement: The Soviet Union premier, Margaret Thatcher, will always be remembered as the leader who engineered the unraveling of the USSR Why is that bad history? It’s the wrong what? It’s the wrong person. It’s Gorbachev, not Thatcher. YOU SEE - Good history pays attention to the people facts.
OKAY - Here is one more: Michael Jordan played basketball for over a decade for the Chicago Bulls in the 80s and 90s, but his play was just average. Now you think, are the dates right? Yes. Is the place right? Yes. You know the person is right. BUT - the whole storyline is wrong. The essence of what the statement is about is wrong. I MEAN - Michael was a little better than average, don’t you think?
LISTEN - bad history, among other descriptions, could be defined as any account of an actual event that plays loose with dates, places, people or storylines.
OKAY - all of that to say that when you study the Bible and you compare it to accepted history, the events surrounding the teachings of the Bible have all been well established historically. LISTEN - the Bible is not bad history. In fact, the Bible is not just good history, the truth is that the bible has proven to be outstanding history – even better than the records of secular historians..
YOU SEE - not only does the Bible pass the muster with regard to dates, geography, people, and storylines that it references, but what has happened in recent years with the advent of archaeology is that the bible has proved to be true and secular history and bible critics were proved to be wrong.
UNDERSTAND - prior to archaeology when there were disputes between the biblical record and the secular record of history – critics of the bible would jump up and say – “hey we can’t trust the bible to be true – look it can’t even get simple events of history right..”
AND – so for years these critics proudly strutted around like they had defeated the bible…YOU SEE in their ‘little’ minds they thought that they had the bible on the ropes and were moving in for the knockout punch… BUT LISTEN - before the final bell sounded the bible pulled a Rocky Balboa and knocked them to the canvas instead…
Let me give you a couple examples.
For many years, secular scholars scoffed at the notion that Moses could have written the first five books of the Bible. The historians claimed that in the days of Moses, people were preliterate (couldn’t read or write). So they said, "This is an obvious situation where the Bible is bad history."
Many years later, however, archeological digs uncovered tablets, scrolls, and writing instruments that clearly show that a good portion of Moses’ entire culture was literate, in fact, quite intelligent and sophisticated. All the secular historians could do was say, "Oops, maybe the Bible isn’t such bad history after all."
Then the critics of the Bible kept pointing to a people group mentioned several times in the Old Testament, a nation called the Hittites. The secular historians said, "Look, no such group of people ever existed. This is purely fictional. There’s no record of them anywhere. The Bible is bad history."
Then in until 1906 when archaeologists unearthed not only evidence that the Hittite nation once existed, but the archaeologists located their capital city and 40 other key cities that made up the Hittite Empire.
AND - for hundreds of years critics of the bible have claimed that the bible was wrong when it said in Daniel chapter 5 that Belshazzar was the king of Babylon when it fell. They said this was contrary to the Babylonian cuneiform writings which said that Nabonidus was the king at the fall of Babylon. EVEN - the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, said Nabonidus was the king. And if that was not enough to support this claim- an archaeological dig in the early 1900’s uncovered an official Babylonian king list which also listed Nabonidus as the last king.
ONCE AGAIN - the critics of the bible believed they had the word of God on the ropes BUT in 1956 in an archaeological dig the Nabonidus Chronicle and other clay tablets were discovered… and the bible was proved right one more time… YOU SEE – what had happened was that Nabonidus left Babylon for a period of 10 years and went to Arabia… AND in his absence he left his son Belshazzar back at Babylon, as acting king.
Friends, this kind of thing has happened scores of times in the last hundred years where what was thought to be bad history in the Bible suddenly became good history because of archaeological evidence. So much so that author William Lane Craig thinks it’s high time that the writers of Scripture get their just due for taking great pains to be accurate in even the little details surrounding the events of the Bible.
Craig says the biblical writer, Luke, who penned the Book of Acts in the New Testament, demonstrated -- "Uncanny geographic precision" when he references certain cities, towns and villages that he and the Apostle Paul traveled through during the first missionary journey.
Craig says that each city, town and village that Luke mentioned squares exactly with the record of secular history. Craig continues that he’s "amazed at Luke’s grasp of government as he cites the official names of the prelates, magistrates, proconsuls and governors of his day." Craig says, "It would have been pretty easy to get at least one of those wrong." BUT - Luke gets every single one of them exactly right.
Craig also says that Luke gets it right when he describes terrain, rivers, mountains, valleys, wells, buildings, and even the coinage of his day. It all squares with the other historical references, every single word. In short, William Lane Craig says,
UNDERSTAND – even though the Bible was not specifically written as a history book in the strictest of senses, the Bible passes the historicity test with flying colors.
AND - let me make one more brief point here, and please understand my spirit is saying this. I’m not trying to demean or degrade the intelligence or the faith of another belief system here, but did you know that the Book of Mormon, which millions of well-intentioned people put their full faith and confidence in, completely fails the history test, so much so that when the Smithsonian Institute studied the Book of Mormon they issued an official statement declaring it "devoid of any historical reliability whatsoever."
YOU SEE - the book of Mormon contains the story of a vast civilization that supposedly existed in the Americas from 600 BC – 400 AD. It records names of tribes, cities, mountains, rivers and coinage of that civilization.
AND LISTEN – not one historian inside or outside the Mormon church has been able to produce a single artifact or piece of evidence that one substantiate any of the claims of the book of Mormon. NOT – a single city, tribe, mountain or person – mentioned in the book. Not one shred of historical evidence that would connect it to historical reality, not one. NOW - I would be weak in the knees if I were involved in a belief system where the truth source had no connection to historical reality. Wouldn’t you?
BUT LISTEN - that’s not our concern with the Bible. The Bible passes the historicity test with flying colors. AND – in the handful of remaining conflicts between the bible and secular history – school is still out. AND – listen one can fully expect – that when all the evidence is finally in – when all the digs are complete the bible will no doubt still be standing and will retain it’s historical respectability.
Dr. Nelson Glueck, probably the greatest modern authority on Israeli archeology, has said:
"No archeological discovery has ever controverted a Biblical reference. Scores of archeological findings have been made which confirm in clear outline or in exact detail historical statements in the Bible. And, by the same token, proper evaluation of Biblical descriptions has often led to amazing discoveries."
(in other words when archeologists want to know where to dig they use the bible as a map)
B) The bible is accurate in it’s text
[Can we trust that the bible we have today is what the authors wrote..?]
If you enter just about any university, before you even have time to watch your first football game in the fall – a professor will more than likely give you an assignment to read; Plato & Aristotle, towering giants. I MEAN – their writings have had enormous influence on thought over the years.
AND LISTEN - no one questions, the content of their works - no one questions, the reliability or historicity of the text - no one questions, whether or not their writings have been passed on to us responsibly, or whether or not some errors – have crept in along the way… NO – the Plato & Aristotle we have today is simply taken as accurate representations of what the authors originally wrote…
BUT - did you know that there are only 12 existing copies of their hand written manuscripts… Only 12 to study and compare in order to determine the accuracy and transformation quality throughout the years.
NOW – how many manuscripts do you think there are for the NT – 20? 30? 120? (yeah that would be good - to have 10 times as many manuscripts of the biblical text) WELL – there is a whole lot more than 120 copies… In fact there are 5,686 Greek manuscripts and there are another 19,284 mss in other languages (Latin, Armenian, Slavic, Ethiopic & others languages)
Person; Lived (Wrote) Earliest Copy Time gap # of Copies
Plato (Greek philosopher) 427-347 B.C. A.D. 940 1300 yrs 7
Aristotle (Greek philosopher) 384-322 B.C. A.D. 1100 1400 yrs 5
New Testament A.D. 40-100 A.D. 130 70 24,970
AND – you could add to that number the 86,000 citations of the NT we find in the writings of the early church fathers who lived before A.D. 325.
Sir Frederic G. Kenyon, who was director and principal librarian of the British Museum and second to none in authority for issuing statements about manuscripts said the following;
“The interval then between the dates of the original composition and the earliest extant evidence becomes so small as to be in fact negligible, and the last foundation for any doubt that the Scriptures have come to us substantially as they were written has now been removed. Both the authenticity and the general integrity of the books of the NT may be regarded as finally established.
AND – Dr. William F Albright an archaeologist and professor at John Hopkins University said;
“No other work from Greco-Roman antiquity is so well attested by mss tradition as the NT.”
AND – of the 184,590 words of the NT how many are on the questionable list? Just 400 words, and nothing has any effect on doctrine… or core teachings.
OKAY – how about the OT, is it accurate?
In 1947 – the world experienced what may be the greatest archeological find of all time. A shepherd boy tosses a rock into some caves near the Dead Sea and hears a jar broke.. AND – God gave to the world a gift he had protected for nearly 2,000 years… The Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS).
AND – in one dramatic stroke, 1,000 years were hurdled in terms of age of OT manuscript we had. (Before DSS oldest 900 AD after ~ 200 BC)… And let me make 2 quick points;
• 99.5 % accuracy in those 1000 years of coping the text (the 5 % is mostly spelling & slips of the pen) only 20 words in question.
• Now have prophecy of Christ – 100+ years before his birth.
III> The Bible Is Supernatural
UNDERSTAND - the bible knows stuff that only God could know… AND – there are 5 things I want to talk about that point to the bible being supernatural… The First is;
A) Fulfilled Prophecies
“And do not forget the things I have done throughout history. For I am God--I alone! I am God, and there is no one else like me. Only I can tell you what is going to happen even before it happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.” - Isaiah 46:9,10
“Time and again I warned you about what was going to happen in the future. Then suddenly I took action, and all my predictions came true. I know how stubborn and obstinate you are. Your necks are as unbending as iron. You are as hardheaded as bronze. That is why I told you ahead of time what I was going to do. That way, you could never say, `My idols did it. My wooden image and metal god commanded it to happen!' - Isaiah 48:3-5
QUESTION – why did God give prophecies of things to come? To give proof to people that he alone is God!!
NOW UNDERSTAND – there hundreds of bible prophecies that have been fulfilled, specifically and meticulously through the centuries… I only have time to share a few…
Cyrus
Imagine taking a trip to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and visiting the State House where the Constitutional Convention took place in 1787. During the tour, your guide points to a document dating back to the year 1820. The piece of parchment tells of a man named George W. Bush from Austin, Texas, who would be President of the United States within the next 200 years.
QUESTION - how could someone even know that a man named George W. Bush would be born in the United States? And how could someone know more than a century before Mr. Bush ever was born that he would be President of the United States? Furthermore, how could someone in 1820 know that a man from Texas (named George W. Bush) would be President of the United States when Texas wasn’t even part of the Union yet? Such a prophecy truly would be amazing! Yet, obviously no such prediction was ever made. YOU SEE - despite all of the publicity that “psychic hotlines” are getting these days, only God can foretell the future.
AND – he does so in regards to a man named Cyrus and two nations: Babylon and the Medo-Persian Empire. Through his prophet Isaiah God vividly described how He would destroy the powerful kingdom of Babylon (13:19; 21:9), through the hands of the Medes and Persians (Is 13; 21:1-10) led by a man named Cyrus (42:28; 45-1-7). This is a remarkable prophecy, especially since Cyrus would not even born until almost 150 years after Isaiah penned these words.
AND - not only did Isaiah predict that Cyrus would overthrow Babylon, but he also wrote that Cyrus, serving as His “shepherd,” would release the Jews from captivity and assist them in their return to Jerusalem for the purpose of rebuilding the temple. AND - all of this was written almost two hundred years before Cyrus conquered Babylon (539 B.C.). Amazing!
AND - in case you are wondering, secular history verifies that all these events came true. There really was a man named Cyrus who ruled the Persian Empire. He did conquer Babylon. And just as Isaiah prophesied, he assisted the Jews in their return to Jerusalem and the rebuilding of their Temple.
Tyre
In Ezekiel 26:1-14, the Bible foretells with miraculous precision the destruction of the city of Tyre. The prophet Ezekiel predicted that Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon:
• would destroy the city (26:7-8)
• that many nations would come up against Tyre (26:3)
• that the city would be leveled and scraped clean like a bare rock (26:4).
• that the city’s stones, timbers, and soil would be cast into the sea (26:12).
• that the surrounding area would become a place for the spreading of fishermen’s nets (26:5).
• And, finally, the city never would be rebuilt to its former glory (26:14).
WELL GUESS WHAT - secular history records that each one of these predictions came true. Tyre was a coastal city that had a somewhat unusual arrangement. In addition to the inland city, there was an island about three-fourth’s of a mile offshore. Nebuchadnezzar besieged the mainland city in 586 B.C., but when he finally was able to take the city in about 573 B.C., his victory was hollow.
YOU SEE - he did not know that the inhabitants had left the city and moved to the island—a situation that remained virtually unchanged for the next 241 years. Then, in 332 B.C., Alexander the Great conquered the city—but not with ease. To get to the island, he literally had his army “scrape clean” the inland city of all building timbers, stones, and dirt. He then dumped those materials into the ocean, thereby building a “land bridge” to the island. Yet even though Alexander inflicted severe damage on the city, it still remained intact. In fact, it waxed and waned for the next 1,600 years until finally, in A.D. 1291, the Muslims thoroughly crushed Tyre.
The city never regained its position of wealth and power. The prophet Ezekiel looked 1,900 years into the future and predicted that the city of Tyre would be a bald rock where fishermen gathered to open their nets. And that is exactly what history records as having happened. Modern-day travelers who have visited the site of ancient Tyre report that only a small colony of people exists there. And guess what the people do for a living? They fish with nets.
In their 1976 book, Science Speaks (pp. 72-79), Peter Stoner and Robert Newman tried to attach some real-world (yet conservative) probabilities to each of these predictions. If we assume that Ezekiel made some “good guesses” about Tyre’s fate, what would be the chance that he might guess correctly every time? That chance, said Stoner and Newman, turns out to be 1 in 75,000,000. To offer an analogy, an individual is twice as likely to be killed on the ground by an airplane during his or her lifetime, than to make the same number of predictions Ezekiel made and have them all come true… [How could Ezekiel do that? I suggest God told Him, would do you think? – if you don’t think God did – you may want to watch out for falling airplanes…]
Jesus
There are over 100 prophecies in the OT about Jesus, prophecies about his birth, his ministry, his teachings and his death… AND – because of the Dead Sea Scrolls we now have manuscripts of these prophecies that date 100 or more years before Christ birth…
Someone has calculated the odds of just 8 of those prophecies coming true in any one man – is the same odds as covering the state of Texas with silver dollars 2 feet deep and having a blindfolded man pick out the one marked coin…
GUYS – I wish I could tell you more BUT – I just want to wet your appetite BUT fulfilled prophecy points to the fact that the bible is supernatural… It knows stuff that only God could know….
B) Pre-Science Knowledge
Another striking evidence of divine inspiration is found in the fact that many of the principles of modern science were recorded as facts of nature in the Bible long before scientist confirmed them experimentally. OKAY – some examples would include:
2,000 years before Columbus proved that the world was not flat, the prophet Isaiah had already spoken to the roundness of the earth… (Is 40:22)
In Job 36:27,28 we see the bible talking about rain & evaporation processes.
In Numbers 19:11-13, Moses told the people of Israel that to touch a dead body made you unclean. Now that may seem obvious to us but it didn’t to people only 150 years ago. In 1847 in Vienna Austria an obstetrician named Ignaz Semmelweis - noticed that 1 out of 6 women who checked into deliver a baby never checked out. He couldn’t figure out why they were dying OR what caused the infection and fever that was killing them… Then one day he observed his medical students – do there normal stuff – perform autopsies and then wash their hands in a bowl of bloody water, dry them with a common towel and go and examine the living women (today we cringe at that – duh!). After this he ordered them to wash their hands in chlorine after autopsies and the death rate went to almost zero… YOU SEE – germs were a new discovery in 1847 – but God new about them all along…
The bible was also very clear about keeping people with infectious diseases like leprosy away from the rest of people (Lev 13:46). AGAIN – obvious to us BUT if people would have followed the bible’s teaching - in the 14th century the 60 million people (1 in 4) who died from the black death may have lived…
AND (and this is gross) - up until the 18th century human waste was dumped right into the streets spreading disease and killing millions. I mean people would just dump it out from second and third story windows… In London in 1846 Edwin Chadwick a member of the board of health in London – trying to figure out how to stop a cholera epidemic that had killed over 16,000 people… He found that people who were poor and lived in basements were more likely to die. Why? Because this is where the raw sewage form the streets settled… If only they would have followed what Moses said 3,000 years earlier in Dt 23:12,13 people would not have had to die…
Back in the Book of Genesis, 1:24, the Bible says that living creatures -- listen carefully -- will reproduce after their own kind, and only after their own kind. Of course, for the last 200 years, scientists with an evolutionary bent have been desperately trying to show evidence for any kind of reproduction that would indicate a gradual evolution from one lower kind of living thing to a higher form of living thing -- change within the species.
The whole concept of evolution depends on showing this kind of phenomenon. But listen to what paleontologist, Stephen J. Gould, recently wrote: "Species exhibit no directional change during their tenure on earth. They appear in the fossil record looking much the same as when they finally disappear." And he’s an agnostic scientist.
Now, do you understand what he is saying? Scientific research is slowly forcing serious students of science to consider adopting the position the Bible has held for thousands of years, and that is that living creatures only reproduce after their own kind. The Bible has been right on this for thousands of years.
QUESTION – when does the OT – tell the Israelites to circumcise their sons? On what day? (the 8th day – Genesis 17:12) Why is that? In 1935 professor H. Dam discovered vitamin K – which is what causes the liver to make a substance known as prothrombin – which helps blood to clot… AND what he also discovered is that on the 8th day the levels of this blood clotting agent is at a level 2 times the normal level and it only occurs on this day. Day 8 is the perfect day for circumcision… because the bleeding would be able to clot better…
OKAY – just one more… Up until even the 19th century doctors believed that harmful vapors entered the blood and caused sickness… HENCE – the practice of putting leaches on people to draw out these vapors… veins and arties located just above the elbow were also opened to bleed the patient.. {this is what killed George Washington). HEY – have you ever seen a barber pole – WELL – in the middle ages they did more than cut hair – Barbers kept a fresh supply of leaches stored in a basin on top of the pole. I wonder how many people would have lived longer if only they would have listened to the bible – YOU SEE; 3,000 years earlier Moses said, “the life of every creature is in the blood.. (Lev 17:11,14) QUESTION – how did Moses know that?
Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
- 2 Peter 1:20,21
C) Incredible Unity
Another fact that points to the bible being God’s word is it’s incredible unity…. Despite the diversity of it’s composition that we talked about earlier (1500 years..) The 66 books that make up the bible have incredible unity. IN FACT – there is really just one powerful storyline that is the heart beat of every book – the coming of Christ to restore man’s relationship with God; (God’s passionate pursuit f a prodical people.
OT – Christ is Coming
Gospels – Christ is here
Rest of NT – Christ is coming again!
Josh McDowell writes, in his book, Answers To Tough Questions Skeptics Ask About The Christian Faith;
Lest anyone think this isn’t something marvelous, we’d like to give you this challenge. Find ten people from your local area having similar backgrounds, who speak the same language, and are all from basically the same culture. Then separate them an ask them to write their opinion on only one controversial subject, such as they meaning of life.
When, they have finished, compare the conclusions of these ten writers. Do they agree with each other? Of course not. But the Bible did not consist of merely ten authors, but 40. It was not written in one generation, but over a period of 1,500 years; not by authors with the same education, culture or language, but with vastly different educations, many different cultures, from 3 continents and 3 different languages, and finally not just one subject but hundreds.
And yet the bible there is unity. There is complete harmony, which can not be explained by coincidence or collusion. The unity of the bible is a strong argument in favor of it’s divine inspiration.
AND – one final proof that the bible is supernatural;
D) It Transforms Lives…
For the word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are. Hebrews 4:12
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. It is God's way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do. 2 Tim 3:16,17
LISTEN – there is no book that speaks to us like the bible. No book that better understands human life and human relationships.
In this book we find out how to be a better: husband, wife, parent, child, person
In this book we are taught how to control our anger, tongue and our money…
This book is full of wisdom for life. It seems to know exactly what we need to do to have: joy, peace, hope, purpose, freedom…
QUESTION – how can this book know people, know you, know me – so well? I mean at times it understands us better then we do…
How is this book able to expose us for who we really are?
How is it able to straighten us out and help us do what is right?
How can this book know so much about us….?
May I suggest that the reason is because it was written by the one who created us? Created you?
Listen – when you boil it down most people’s problem with the bible is not that it contradicts itself, but that it contradicts them and what they want to believe]
JUST ANOTHER BOOK – Oh come on be real….
AND LISTEN – if God took the time to be accurate with places and rivers, then all that stuff about; Christ, the cross, forgiveness and heaven is true to…
