Bible:Revelation or Ravings

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Jeanette

IS The Bible From God

All Bible Believing Christians glory in a Bible they believe is the infallibly (free from error) inspired and totally authoritative Word of God. Do these Christians have to commit intellectual suicide to hold such a belief? No, far from it. Jesus said, "and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:32 Paul wrote, "…for I know whom I have believed and I am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that day." 2nd Timothy 1:12. John wrote, "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life...." 1st John 5:13.

The Bible Asserts It Is The Word of God

     Admittedly, this proves nothing in and of itself. But can you imagine any human saying, "Everything I speak is perfect truth without any error." No, because that person would know that the most brilliant minds among us would make it a project to find and point out every error in their statements.
      In the first five books of the Bible (written by Moses) the claim is made 500 times that these writings are the words of God. "So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord…" "And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord…" Exodus 24:3,4 is an example.
     King David wrote most of the psalms –the hymn book of Israel. We have his testimony as to how these psalms came to him in 2 Samuel 23:2 "The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, And His word was on my tongue."
      There are some beautiful statements about God’s word in the Psalms. Look up Psalm 12:6; 19:7; 30:5 and 40:8. Perhaps the most striking is the 119^th Psalm. It has 176 verses and all but one verse praises God’s word.
     In the prophets there are 1,111 times the prophets claim that what they wrote was the word of God:
          "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; For the Lord has spoken..." Isaiah 1:2
          "…Jeremiah…to whom the word of the Lord came…" Jeremiah 1:1,2
          "…the word of the Lord came expressly to Ezekiel the priest…" Ezekiel 1:3

      In all, the Hebrew scriptures make the claim to be the word of God 3,808 times.
     Jesus endorsed the Hebrew scriptures twenty-two times in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John:
          Adam and Eve - Matthew 19:4,5
          The writings of Moses - Matthew 4:4; 5:17, etc.
          Jonah - Matthew 12:40, 41, etc.
          Daniel - Matthew 24:15, etc.
          Isaiah - Matthew 8:17; 12:18-21; 15:7-9; 13:14; etc.
          The account of Noah’s flood - Matthew 24:37-39; Luke 17:26-27
          The entire Old Testament - Luke 24:25-27, 44.
     Jesus also stated that the Holy Spirit would bring all things back to the remembrance of the Apostles in order for them to write the New Testament scriptures - John 14:26; 16:13,14

The Bible’s Accuracy Has Stood The Test of the Ages

The Bible’s Unity
     The Bible is not Just "a book", but a library of 66 books written over a period of some 1500+ years. There were some forty human authors who wrote in three languages, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. These writers came from a myriad of cultural backgrounds:
          Moses was raised by the royal family of Egypt, taught in the university of Egypt, then lived as a
            sheepherder.
          Joshua was a military general.
          Nehemiah was a cupbearer to a Persian king.
          Ezra, Ezekiel, and Zechariah were priests.
          David was a shepherd, a soldier, a musician, and a king.
          Isaiah was a cultured court prophet.
          Amos was a fruit picker and shepherd.
          Daniel was a captive boy who rose to prime minister.
          Andrew, Peter and John were fishermen.
          Matthew was a Roman tax collector.
          Luke was a physician.
          Paul was a Rabbi of the Pharisaical party.
          James and Jude were carpenters…stepbrothers of Jesus.
     These men wrote on virtually every known subject to man…history, biography, law, theology, prophecy, geology, botany, biology, astronomy, poetry, philosophy, genealogy, meteorology, hygiene, psychology, and even romance. They spoke correctly and they spoke in harmony without contradiction. Try that with any other 40 men over 1500 years, speaking on any subject, and you have clashing discord.

The Bible’s History
     There is much history in the Bible…not only in its history books but even in poetry and prophecy. What better way could there be to reveal how God deals with mankind in different situations?
     The Bible speaks of people, events, cities, and nations. It is true that some have not been confirmed from secular records. It is also true that over 5000 places mentioned in the Bible have been definitely identified by archaeologists. Hundreds of individuals and the events with which they have been associated have been documented by secular historical records…even the fact that the walls of Jericho did fall down.
     Nelson Glueck, a Jewish archaeologist, wrote, "It may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a Biblical reference." ("Rivers In The Desert: History of Netag", pg 31)

The Bible’s Prophecy
     There are hundreds of prophecies in the Bible about nations, people, and events. For those who have sufficient sincerity, patience and perseverance, we refer to "Evidence That Demands A Verdict", I, and II by Joshua McDowell. He lists the prophecies and the fulfillments. We can only share some of the most striking, but brief, ones.
     Through an unnamed prophet God called King Josiah by name over 300 years before he was born and nearly 360 years before he fulfilled the prophesy spoken of him. I Kings 13:1-3 and II Kings 23:15-16.
     Through Isaiah God called Cyrus of Medo-Persia by name 250 years before he fulfilled the prophecy spoken of him. Isaiah 44:28 - 45:4.
     The Hebrew scriptures made 198 direct prophecies and 333 indirect prophecies of Jesus Christ. They were all fulfilled. Even the most committed doubter ought to admit that’s one whale of a coincidence. I can remember the New York Herald Tribune publishing in their evening newspaper, "DEWEY ELECTED PRESIDENT". The next morning revealed Harry Truman was the victor.

The Bible’s Savior
     The great event to which all Old Testament scripture moves is the coming of the Messiah ("the anointed one"). In the Greek language of our New Testament the word is Christos or Christ.
     Jesus said to those seeking to kill Him, "…there is one who accuses you---Moses, in whom you trust. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me." John 5:45b, 46. To the Emmaus disciples He said, "O foolish ones and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?": And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." Luke 24:25-27.
     Through Moses God gave the law, the priesthood and the sacrifices. The law revealed (1) God is holy, (2) Man is sinful, and (3) Man, therefore needs a Savior. The priesthood sacrifices pointed toward how God’s Savior would provide salvation… through sacrificial death for the people’s sins.
     The prophecies spoke of the coming Savior. Psalm 22 describes the sufferings Jesus experienced on the cross. Isaiah 53 described the satisfaction of God’s justice by Jesus on the cross. Psalm 16:9,10 described the bodily resurrection of Jesus. Psalm 110 described Christ’s ascension; His being seated at the right hand of God the Father to intercede as Great High Priest for believers and to wait for the day of victory over His enemies.
     Every time you read the word "salvation" in the Hebrew scriptures and translate it into the Greek language in which our New Testament was written it becomes "Jesus".
     Think again of those 198 direct prophecies and 333 indirect prophecies of the Hebrew scriptures that are documented as being fulfilled in Jesus.
     Jesus is the one and only Savior presented to us in the Bible (John14:6; Acts 4:12)

The Bible’s Accomplishments Identify It As The Word Of God

John G. Paton believed God wanted him to go to the New Hebrides Islands as a missionary. The British government refused to give him permission to go because the tribesmen on these islands were the worst of cannibals. Paton continued to appeal until the British government gave in. After he and his wife arrived she died. He had to stand guard over her body for ten days with gun in hand to keep them from eating her. Thirty years later there was an official visit to New Hebrides by representatives of the British government. They wrote in their report that the former cannibals of the New Hebrides had become the most advanced and cultured of all native tribes under the British flag.
     I personally heard Dr. Wendell Zimmerman tell how he slept and ate with a chief of head hunters. This man had personally killed 40 men and had shrunk 17 heads down in the nation of Peru. Dr. Zimmerman testified, "I didn’t have to worry about him glancing at my bald head and wondering how it would look on the top of a stick. The message of the gospel from the blessed word of God had preceded me and transformed him from a heartless killer to a loving saint."
     Transformations like the ones described above are taking place every day in virtually every nation on earth. No other piece of literature has produced such results.
     The transforming accomplishments of the Bible identify it as the Word of God.