The large city of Babylon,
with its massive high double walls, appeared impregnable from the outside. When
Cyrus' Medo-Persian army encamped around the city, the Babylonians only laughed
as they could survive a siege for years. Unknown to the Babylonians, Cyrus' army
were able to divert most of the water of the Euphrates River which flowed under
the walls through the city. Cyrus had also gotten a spy into the city to open
“the double doors” mentioned in Isaiah's prophecy. With the river level
lowered and the gates opened the army was able to invade the city and conquer
Babylon in 539 BC.
In Daniel
2 we read about a great dream that Nebuchadnezzar,
king of Babylon, had that Daniel interpreted for him. God had given him a vision
about the great empires to come right up until the return of Jesus Christ. It
was a prophecy of four great kingdoms to rule the ancient world. Daniel explained
the meaning of his dream this way:
These four great
ancient empires are plainly identified from history as -:The details of these empires
are a perfect fit with the prophecies in the book of Daniel. The third kingdom
is described as a leopard with four heads. This is a perfect description of
the Greek empire. Around 200 years after Daniel had this vision, Alexander the
Great, with the swiftness of a leopard, conquered all the world from Greece
to India around 330 BC. On his return home from his conquest he died
suddenly and his empire was divided between his four generals pictured by the
four heads of the leopard.
Daniel had another vision in Daniel
8 of a male goat with a big horn defeating
a ram. “The ram which you saw, having the two horns—they are
the kings of Media and Persia. And the male goat is the kingdom of Greece.
The large horn that is between its eyes is the first king. As
for the broken horn and the four that stood up in its place, four kingdoms
shall arise out of that nation, but not with its power” (Daniel
8:20-22). Again, this is a perfect prophecy
of Alexander the Great defeating the Persians, then dying prematurely and his
kingdom being divided up between his four generals – a prophecy given
to Daniel 200 years before it came to happen.
In Daniel 11
we find the longest prophecy or collection of prophecies in the Bible. This
series of prophecies describes the course of history from the time of Daniel
to the time of Jesus Christ's second coming. They cover some 2500 years of history
of events to occur in the Middle East. It starts off with by saying that the
fourth Persian king from when this prophecy was given would invade Greece (verse
2) and this is what happened when Xerxes
(the fourth Persian king after Daniel's time) conquered Greece.
It then says a mighty king will conquer all before him and, in his prime, his
kingdom would be broken up four ways amongst men who were not among his posterity
or his sons (verses
3-4). This is exactly what happened when
Alexander the Great conquered the Persian empire and his kingdom was split amongst
his four generals, since he had no sons. If you'd like to read about all the
other amazing prophecies in this chapter which have exactly come to pass be
sure to read pages
19 to 22 of the UCG booklet “Is the Bible
True?”.
The Roman Empire (which came after the Greek empire) was represented by the
two legs of the great statue of Nebuchadnezzar's dream. This pictured the two
divisions of the mighty Roman Empire – its east and western divisions.
About the fourth beast of Daniel 7, which
also pictured the Roman Empire, Daniel wrote: “The fourth beast shall be
a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all other kingdoms,
and shall devour the whole earth, trample it and break it in pieces. The ten
horns are ten kings who shall arise from this kingdom” (Daniel
7:23-24). This prophecy shows that there
will be ten resurrections of the Roman Empire. We have seen many resurrections
of the Roman Empire in Europe over the last 2000 years as was predicted here
in the book of nd also in the book of Revelation which we will look
at in more detail in lesson 10 of the course on the subject of the Great Tribulation.
· The
birthright promises to Abraham's descendants.
Professing agnostic Robert Ingersoll in his book “Some Mistakes of
Moses” wrote: “God made a great number of promises to Abraham, but
few of them were ever kept. He agreed to make him the father of a great nation
but he did not. He solemnly promised to give him a great country, including
all the land between the river of Egypt and the Euphrates but He did not…He
was always promising, but never performed.” Is this true? If one believes
that the Jews are all there are to the people of Israel then one could easily
believe that he was right but the Bible and history prove otherwise.
God chose Abraham and promised to develop his descendants into a group of influential
nations chosen for the purpose of teaching and illustrating His values and way
of life to the rest of the world (Genesis
12:1-3, 17:5-6).
These promises were passed down through Isaac and Jacob. All of Jacob's 12 sons
would share in the blessings promised to Abraham but the double portion of this
birthright was passed onto Joseph sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.
In Genesis
35:11 God said to Jacob: “I am
God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall
proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body.” This part of the
birthright promise was passed onto Joseph's sons, Ephraim and Manasseh in Genesis
48:19: “He (Manasseh) also shall become
a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother (Ephraim)
shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.”
In Genesis 49
Jacob gave prophecies about what the descendants of each of his 12 sons would
be like in the end-time before Christ's return. About Joseph he said: "Joseph
is like a grapevine that produces much fruit, a healthy vine watered by a spring,
whose branches grow over the wall. Archers attack him violently and shoot at
him angrily, but he aims his bow well. His arms are made strong. He gets his
power from the Mighty God of Jacob and his strength from the Shepherd, the Rock
of Israel. Your father's God helps you. God Almighty blesses you. He blesses
you with rain from above, with water from springs below, with many babies born
to your wives, and many young ones born to your animals. The blessings of your
father are greater than the blessings of the oldest mountains, greater than
the good things of the long-lasting hills. May these blessings rest on the head
of Joseph" (Genesis
49:22-26, New Century Version).
“This prophetic passage tells us that Joseph's descendants 'in the last
days' will live in a productive, well-watered and fruitful land. They will be
a people who have greatly expanded their territory and influence - politically,
militarily, economically and culturally - a people 'whose branches grow over
the wall,' or beyond their natural borders. They will be a people that, on occasion,
will be attacked by other nations but will generally be victorious. Their triumphs
will sometimes seem 'miraculous' or 'providential' because the Almighty God
is their helper and source of blessings. They will be a people who live in an
unusually favourable climate that easily supports their steadily expanding population.
They will enjoy the blessing of good crops, vast herds of livestock and extensive
natural resources such as fine stands of timber and valuable minerals mined
from their soil” (The
United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy, p.10-11).
In the days soon after King Solomon, the nation of Israel split into two nations,
the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah (from whom the Jews descend).
The northern Kingdom of Israel were eventually conquered by Assyria around 722
BC and carried away to Mesopotamia, and have never returned to Palestine,
as a nation. They included the birthright tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh and
eventually became known as the “Lost Tribes of Israel”.
The UCG booklet,
“The
United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy”
goes into much detail showing how they eventually migrated to North-West Europe
and how the birthright tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim can be identified as the
great nation of America and the company of nations known as the British Commonwealth,
just as God had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob thousands of years earlier.
In this end-time age before the return of Jesus Christ, they suddenly became
the greatest and most influential nations the world has ever seen, just when
Jacob said they would in Genesis
49.
· The
prophecies about Jesus Christ.
There are a great many prophecies in the Old Testament which speak about
the first coming of Jesus Christ. Let's look quickly at just a few. In Daniel
9:25 we read of a prophecy that tells us
when Christ ministry would begin: “Know therefore and understand, that
from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah
the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks”.
Adding 7 and 62 weeks gives us 69 weeks. A principle that is often used in prophecy
is the day-for-a-year principle (Numbers
14:34, Ezekiel 4:6).
Now 69 weeks is 483 days. Using the day-for-a-year principle that gives us 483
years from the time of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem until the arrival of
the Messiah. The commandment to rebuild Jerusalem occurred in the seventh year
of the Persian king, Artaxerxes I, in the year 457 BC. If we add 483
years to that date (and account for the fact that 1 BC was followed by 1 AD)
then we arrive at a date of 27 AD, the very year that Christ began His
3 ½ year ministry at 30 years old.
Bethlehem was prophesied in Micah
5:2 to be the birthplace of the Messiah:
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands
of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in
Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.” Though
Joseph and Mary lived in Nazareth in northern Israel they had to travel to Bethlehem
in the south of Israel to register for the Roman census since Joseph had originally
come from there (Luke
2:1-5). Mary gave birth to Jesus when they
arrived in Bethlehem.
In Isaiah
7:14 we read, “Therefore the Lord
Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son,
and shall call His name Immanuel.” Immanuel means “God is with us”
and Jesus was born of the virgin Mary (Matthew
1:18-25). He was also to be a descendant
of the House of David (Isaiah
9:6-7) and so He was (Luke
2:4). He was to be betrayed for 30 pieces
of silver (Zechariah
11:12-13) and Judas did just that (Matthew
27:3-10). His garments were to parted and
lots cast for them (Psalm
22:18). The Roman soldiers gambled for
his clothes as He was being crucified (Matthew
27:35).
Over 700 years before Jesus Christ was born God gave this prophecy through Isaiah:
“Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed
Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our
transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement
for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we
like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and
the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was
afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth”
(Isaiah
53:4-7). How accurate a prophecy that was
describing the death of Jesus and the way that He paid for our sins on the cross!
He died from being pierced in the side with a spear (Zechariah
12:10, John 19:34-37)
but His body did not see corruption (Psalm
16:10). Instead he was raised from the
dead 3 days and 3 nights after His death (Matthew
28:6-7) as He said He would be in Matthew
12:40, “For as Jonah was three days
and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three
days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
2] Answering the doubting questions over the Book of Genesis:
· Is
all of the Book of Genesis inspired?
Many people believe in the Book of Genesis only
up to a point. Some believe the stories from Abraham on are factual but dismiss
the stories before Abraham back to Adam and Eve believing them to be fables
only designed to teach moral lessons given how fantastic some of the stories
are.
Jesus Christ quoted the Garden of Eden story in Matthew
19:4-5 when He spoke about marriage and
two becoming one flesh. He acknowledged the real existence of Adam's first son,
Abel, who was murdered (Matthew 23:35).
He also spoke of the Flood as a factual account when he said: “…as
the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying
and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark” (Matthew
24:37-38).
Luke treated all of the Book of Genesis as totally true when he included Adam
in the genealogy of Jesus Christ (Luke
3:38). The Book of Genesis itself contains
many specific details of ages of all the ancestors back to Adam and is written
like a factual account, not as fables designed to teach moral lessons. The apostle
Paul spoke of Adam as a real person (1
Corinthians 15:45) and said that, “all
Scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2
Timothy 3:16) and that includes the Book
of Genesis.
· How
old is the Earth and the Universe according to the Book of Genesis?
A major reason why many people dismiss the Bible
is a misunderstanding of how old the Bible says the universe is. They, and many
professing christians, believe the Bible says the earth and the universe were
created at the same time as Adam and Eve only 6000 years ago. There is no way
that this can be true as we would never be able to see any of the stars that
are over 6000 light years away since there would not have been enough time for
their light to reach the earth by now. In fact, the furthest objects in the
universe so far detected are around 13 billion light years away. Our universe
would have to be that old for us to be able to detect them.
Genesis 1:1-2
simply says: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The
earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the
deep.” Many scholars believe that it should be better translated as “the
earth became without form and void” as the same Hebrew word is translated
“became” in a number of other verses in Genesis (Genesis
2:7, 3:20, 4:20).
In
the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. This could have happened
10 to 20 billion years ago as scientists say. Then the earth became without
form and void, evidently the result of destruction done to it by Satan and the
demons. This could have been some time shortly before 6000 years ago. After
the destruction which made the earth without form and covered with water God
renewed the face of the earth (Psalm
104:30) and created Adam and Eve 6000 years
ago.
In Ezekiel 28 we read that God created
Lucifer as a cherub and he, in time, became proud and turned from God's ways,
thus becoming Satan (meaning prosecutor or enemy). Isaiah shows that God gave
him a throne on earth AND he was on the earth at the time he rebelled against
God. Lucifer said: "I will exalt my throne…[AND] ascend above the heights of
the clouds" (Isaiah 14:13-14).
It had to have taken a great deal of time for him to turn against God and for
him to also turn a third of the angels (Revelation
12:4) against God. At the time of Adam and Eve, Satan is already an
evil being (Genesis 3:1-16).
· How
could people really live to 900 years before the Flood?
It is believed by many scientists that most aging is not from wear and tear
but caused by genetic degradation. The cells in our body are dying regularly
and are being replaced by new ones. When you keep making a copy of a copy of
a copy and so on, the quality of the cells continues to degrade. Cosmic radiation
can accelerate this process. Genesis
1:7 says that God “divided the waters
which were under the firmament from the waters which were above
the firmament”. Many believe that the waters above the firmament was a
water canopy that surrounded the earth before the Flood like a greenhouse shielding
the earth from cosmic radiation. This extra protection from cosmic radiation
may have been the reason why the aging process was much slower before the Flood
allowing people to live hundreds of years.
· Where
did the races come from if we all descended from Adam and Eve?
In Acts
17:26 we read that God “has made
from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth,
and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings.”
It is evident from this verse that when God created Adam and Eve He put in them
genes that would allow them to produce children with different racial characteristics.
Jewish tradition indicates that Cain was black and that Abel was reddish in
skin colour (Book of Enoch 84:5). Seth was white in skin colour (Genesis
5:3).
A similar thing must have happened with Noah and his wife. If Ham was white
and he married a Negro woman there is no way naturally that any of their children
could have been Aboriginal or Indian. There had to have been some supernatural
injection of genetic material from God into Noah and his family. Evidence for
this can be found in the name of Ham which literally means “burnt”
or black. Also, without such an injection of extra genes into the family of
Noah, marriage between brothers and sisters or between first cousins would have
become genetically dangerous for their children a lot earlier than when God
finally forbid it at the time of the Exodus.
· Where
did Adam and Eve's sons get their wives from?
Genesis
5:4 says, “After he begot Seth, the
days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons and daughters.”
Jewish tradition recorded by Josephus says that Adam and Eve had 33 sons and
23 daughters. As mentioned above marriage between brothers and sisters was allowed
by God before the Exodus. God forbid such marriages only later when the chances
of birth defects became much greater for the children produced in such marriages.
· Where
did all the water come from to cover the whole earth during the Flood?
Genesis
7:11-12 states that “all the fountains
of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And
the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.” One source could
have been a collapse of the water canopy (Genesis
1:7) suggested earlier. The other source
mentioned in Genesis
7:11 is the release of subterranean water
such as the Great Artesian Basin under Australia.
Genesis 8:2-3
indicates that the waters continued to rise for 150 days before beginning to
recede. Since it rained for only 40 days and it appears that the water rose
for another 110 days, the water that made the waters continue to rise would
have to have been underground water – “the fountains of the great
deep”. At the end of the Flood God would have directed much of that water
back underground. Sea level before the Flood may have been much lower. Instead
of 71% of the earth's surface being covered with water like now, it may have
been much less than that. Given that mankind generally lives close to sea level,
this could be why we have so little record of human civilization prior to the
Flood.
3] Historical accuracy:
· The
Bible's Creation Story compared to other Creation myths.
Every ancient people had their own story about how the world was created.
These have come to be called creation myths and are full of bizarre ideas with
multiple gods fighting each other. Is Genesis
1 just another creation myth that borrowed
ideas from other creation myths of the Babylonians or the Egyptians?
Comparing the Bible to other creation myths, astrophysicist Hugh Ross wrote:
“The [Bible's] distinctives struck me immediately. It was simple, direct
and specific…Instead of just another bizarre creation myth, here was a
journal-like record of the earth's initial conditions – correctly
described from the standpoint of astrophysics and geophysics – followed
by a summary of the sequence of changes through which Earth came to be inhabited
by living things and ultimately by humans. The account was simple, elegant and
scientifically accurate” (The Creator and the Cosmos, p.15).
· The
Temptation Seal and the Adam and Eve Seal.
In his article
series entitled “The Bible and Archaeology” Mario Seiglie tells us
of some discoveries found in Sumer, one of the most ancient of all civilizations:
“Seals…were used to certify documents, to show authority and, on occasion,
as amulets…Archaeology has unearthed, not in biblical Israel, but in the
site of most ancient civilization known, Sumer, a seal depicting…events
described in the book of Genesis. This find, known as the Temptation Seal, is
in the British Museum. It dates to the third millennium before Christ, some
5000 years ago. This artifact shows a man and a woman viewing a tree, and behind
the woman is a serpent. The man and woman are both reaching for the fruit of
the tree…
“Another Sumerian seal, dated ca. 3500 BC and now housed in the
museum of the University of Pennsylvania shows events that took place after
the man and woman ate the forbidden fruit. This seal depicts the naked figures
of a male and a female, bowed in humiliation, being driven out, followed by
a serpent” (Archaeology and Genesis, Good News, September-October 1996,
p.21)
· Flood
stories found all over the world.
In his book “Secrets of the Lost Races”, Rene Noorbergen writes:
“The noted 19th century Scottish
geologist Hugh Miller, an ardent collector of the world's most haunting traditions
writes, 'There is, however, one special tradition which seems to be more deeply
impressed and more widely spread than any of the others. The destruction of
well-nigh the whole human race, in an early age of the world's history, by a
great deluge, appears to have impressed the minds of the few survivors, and
seems to have been handed down to their children, in consequence, with such
terror-struck impressiveness that their remote descendants of the present day
have not even yet forgotten it. It appears in almost every mythology, and
lives in the most distant countries and among the most barbarous tribes'”(p.
5).
The most famous of the non-biblical stories of the Flood is the Gilgamesh Epic
from Babylon that is housed in the British Museum which, though distorted and
coloured with a local flavour, has quite a number of similarities with the Biblical
record. David Down writes: “Rene Noorbergen has written a book called 'The
Ark File' in which he reports 80 such legends and traditions. Legends on mainland
China maintain that the Chinese are direct descendants of an ancient ancestor
called Nu-Wah. He escaped the destruction, along with his wife, his three sons
and three daughters…
“Traces of a similar story can be found among the Maoris of New Zealand,
the Aborigines of Australia, the Adivasi tribes of India and others. The story
has come down in somewhat distorted form over thousands of years through the
descendants of that family that survived the tremendous ordeal. All this would
suggest that mankind has a common origin and that the Flood story is based on
historical fact” (Digging up the Past, Lesson 5, p.4).
· Sodom
and Gomorrah.
In the mid-1970's excavations began in Syria which uncovered the ancient city
of Ebla which was a large city with around 250 000 people about the time of
Abraham (around 1850 BC). Some 20 000 clay tablets were unearthed at
this site which shed much light on what life was like around the time of Abraham.
David Down makes these comments about how the Ebla tablets confirmed the existence
of Sodom and Gomorrah: “The place names were significant. One text mentioned
Sedom and Amorah, which Pettinato identified as Sodom and Gomorrah. Until recently,
critics have regarded the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah recorded
in Genesis 19
as fictitious. There was no mention of these names in any literature outside
the Bible and most scholars wrote them off as legendary. But not only are Sodom
and Gomorrah mentioned in the Ebla tablets, but in the same context, Pettinato
identified the names of Admah, Zeboiim and Belah in that order. Now that is
how these cities are listed in the story of Abraham and the five kings in Genesis
14” (Digging up the Past, Lesson 4,
p.4).
· Joseph's
canal.
There is
a very long canal over 200 miles long that is fed from the Nile in Middle Egypt
and feeds into an enormous lake known as the Faiyum. This canal is known by
the name “Bahr Yusef” which is an Egyptian name meaning the Canal
of Joseph.
Donovan Courville writes: “An incident is recorded for us in the early
12th dynasty [of Egypt], which…finds
its logical place in the era just before the famine…Reference is here made
to the initiation of a vast project which had for its purpose the increasing
of the available irrigation water and expanding the tillable soil of the Nile
Valley. An artificial canal was dug which ran parallel to the Nile by means
of a second shorter canal…This canal which served to turn the waters
of the Nile into this natural basin is still known to this day among the natives
as the Canal of Joseph and is so named on modern maps” (The Exodus
Problem and its Ramifications, Vol.1, p.142-143).
There are also two famine inscriptions in the tombs of officials by the names
of Ameni and Bebi which speak of a famine of many years and also speak of food
being collected in advance of the famine. Courville dates these two inscriptions
to the time of Joseph and the 12th dynasty
of Egypt (ibid, p.134-136).
· Proof
of the Israelites being in Egypt and the plagues of the Exodus.
Sir Flinders Petrie excavated in the Faiyum from 1880 onwards near the mud-brick
pyramids of the 12thdynasty. Dr Rosalie David
reviewed his work there and wrote: “It is apparent that the Asiatics were
present in the town (Kahun) in some numbers and this may have reflected the
situation elsewhere in Egypt…their exact homeland in Syria or Palestine
cannot be determined…The reason for their presence remains unclear…[Petrie
discovered] wooden boxes…underneath the floors of many houses at Kahun.
They contained babies, sometimes buried two or three to a box and aged only
a few months at death” (The Pyramid Builders of Ancient Egypt, p.191).
This is consistent with the decree of Pharaoh that all male children were to
be killed at birth (Exodus
1:16).
David also wrote the following about their sudden disappearance from Egypt:
“The quantity, range and type of articles of everyday use which were left
behind in the houses may indeed suggest that the departure was sudden and unpremeditated”
(ibid, p.199). Other evidence of the Israelites being in Egypt is the frequency
of Egyptian names among the Israelites. Moses is an abbreviated Egyptian name,
meaning drawn or born from. It is seen in the names of pharaohs such as Thutmoses
and Ra-moses or Ramses, meaning they were born from the gods Thoth and Ra. Moses
may well have originally been named Hapi-moses, meaning drawn from the Nile
god Hapi. Ernest Wright tells us: “Other Levite names apparently from the
Egyptian language are Phineas, Hophni, Pashur and perhaps Hur and Merari”
(Biblical Archaeology, p.53).
The plagues absolutely
devastated Egypt. There is an Egyptian record of the plagues that was found
at Memphis and now is housed in the Leiden Museum in Holland. It is called the
Ipuwer papyrus and it is in perfect agreement with the Biblical record of the
plagues of Egypt. Here are a few excerpts: “Plague stalks through the
land and blood is everywhere…Nay, but dead men are buried in the river…Nay,
but the river is blood… Men shrink from tasting…and thirst after water…
That is our water! That is our happiness! What shall we do in respect thereof?
All is ruin!… Trees are destroyed… No fruit nor herbs are found...Nay,
but corn hath perished everywhere…Forsooth, gates, columns and walls
are consumed by fire… The land is not light... He who places
his brother in the ground is everywhere…the stranger people from without
are come into Egypt.”
· The
“Mythical” Hittites.
“Bible critics had long scoffed at references
in the biblical record to a people called the Hittites (Genesis
15:20, Exodus 3:8, 17,
Numbers 13:29,
Joshua 1:4, Judges 1:26).
Their evaluation was that the Hittites were simply 'one of the many mythical
peoples' fabricated by Bible writers – or, at best, a small and unimportant
tribe. But the critics were wrong!
“In the latter half of the 19th century, Hittite monuments were discovered
at Carchemish on the Euphrates River in Syria, amply vindicating the Bible narrative.
Later, in 1906, excavations at Boghazkoy (ancient Hattusas, capital of the Hittite
empire) in Turkey uncovered thousands of Hittite documents, revealing a wealth
of information, about Hittite history and culture. The Hittites, it is now known,
were a very real and formidable power. They were once one of the dominant peoples
of Asia Minor and the Near East, at times exercising control over Syria and
parts of Palestine” (The Authority of the Bible, p.24).
· Confirmation
of King David's existence.
Mario
Seiglie wrote in the January/February 1998 issue of the Good News (p.29): “In
1993 archaeologists discovered the names of David and Israel in an inscription
carved in stone only 100 years after David's death. Reports Biblical Archaeological
Review: 'It's not often that an archaeological find makes the front page of
the New York Times (to say nothing of Time magazine). But that is what happened
last summer to a discovery at Tel Dan, a beautiful mound in northern Galilee,
at the foot of Mt Hermon beside one of the headwaters of the Jordan River. There
Avraham Biran and his team of archaeologists found a remarkable inscription
from the ninth century BCE that refers to the House of David and to the King
of Israel. This is the first time that the name David has been found in any
ancient inscription outside the Bible' (Biblical Archaeological Review, March-April
1994, p.26)”.
· Pharaoh
Shishak's conquest of Jerusalem.
In
2 Chronicles 12,
shortly after the split of Israel into two kingdoms during the reign of Solomon's
son Rehoboam, the pharaoh of Egypt (called Shishak in the Bible) invaded Palestine
and conquered 119 cities. Instead of fighting against Shishak in a war they
would have lost and suffered a great loss of life, they threw the gates of Jerusalem
open, surrended and allowed Shishak to take whatever he wanted. Shishak took
away all the fabulous treasures in the Temple in Jerusalem. The Egyptian name
for Shishak was Thutmose III and a list of all the cities in Palestine he conquered
is recorded in the Temple of Amun-Ra in Karnak. At the top of the list are the
cities of Kadesh and Megiddo. Megiddo is the ancient fort in northern Israel
from which we get the word Armageddon. Kadesh is Hebrew for holy. Kadesh, therefore,
is the holy city of Jerusalem.
On another wall in the Karnak temple is a record of all the treasures that
Thutmose III brought back to Egypt. The record of gold, silver and other precious
objects he took fills the wall. Underneath each object is a numerical symbol
that uses arches for ten of the same items and spirals for 100 of the same item.
The wall would need to be a mile long if he recorded everything without that
system, such was the wealth of Israel under Solomon. Immanuel Velikovsky in
his book Ages in Chaos (p.148-157) has done a painstaking comparison of all
the objects on the wall and compared them to the biblical record and they make
an astounding match of all the furniture and vessels that were in the Temple
in Jerusalem.
· Historical
proof of Jesus Christ
Is there any proof outside the Bible that Jesus
really lived? Justin Martyr, a second-century theologian, wrote: “Now
there is a village in the land of the Jews, 35 stadia from Jerusalem, in which
Christ was born, as you can ascertain also from the registries of the taxing
under Cyrenius your first procurator in Judea (First Apology, chapter 34).
Justin was referring to public records that existed in his day to demonstrate
that Jesus was born in Judea.
Cornelius Tacitus, Roman historian, senator, consul and governor of the province
of Asia, wrote concerning Jesus and Christians: “Nero…punished with
every refinement the notoriously depraved Christians (as they were popularly
called). Their originator Christ, had been executed in Tiberius' reign by
the governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate. But in spite of this temporary setback,
the deadly superstition had broken out afresh, not only in Judea (where the
mischief had started) but even in Rome" (The Annals of Imperial Rome, xv,
44).
Julian the Apostate wrote a major against Christianity in which he said this:
"Jesus, whom you celebrate, was one of Caesar's subjects. If you dispute
it, I will prove it by and by; but it may as well be done now. For yourselves
allow that he was enrolled with his father and mother in the time of Cyrenius…But
Jesus having persuaded a few among you, and those the worst of men, has now
been celebrated about 300 years having done nothing in his lifetime worthy of
remembrance unless anyone thinks it a mighty matter to heal lame and blind people,
and exorcise demoniacs in the villages of Bethsaida and Bethany (quoted in the
polemic of Cyril of Alexandria against Julian, Cyril Condria Julian, vi pages
213, 191).
Josephus, a Jewish historian of the first century A.D., regarded the life of
Jesus Christ as an established fact. In Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus wrote:
"There was about this time, Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call
him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, - a teacher of such men as
receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews,
and many of the Gentiles. He was Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion
of the principle men among us, had condemned him to the cross...he appeared
to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these
and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians,
so named from him, are not extinct at this day."
A
second mention of Jesus by Josephus is seldom disputed by scholars. It concerns
the martyrdom of James, His half brother: "Festus was now dead, and Albinus
was but upon the road; so he assembled the sanhedrin of the judges, and brought
before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was
James, and some others [or some of his companions;] and when he had formed an
accusation against them as breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned..."
(Antiquities of the Jews, Book 20, chapter 9, section 1).
4] Scientific accuracy:
· Rain
cycle.
In Ecclesiastes
1:6-7 we read, “The wind goes toward
the south, and turns around to the north. The wind whirls about continually,
and comes again on its circuit. All the rivers run into the sea, yet the
sea is not full; To the place from which the rivers come, there they
return again.” Here King Solomon gives a perfect description of the
earth's air currents and the rain cycle. He describes water being evaporated
from the seas and falling on the land and into the rivers which flow into the
sea where the cycle begins yet again.
· Circle
of the earth.
In Isaiah
40:22 we read: “He who sits above
the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent
to dwell in”. Long before Christopher Columbus, the Bible spoke of the
earth as a circle or sphere, not as a flat earth as believed by many in ancient
times.
· The
earth hangs on nothing.
In Job
26:7 we read: “He stretches out the
north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing”.
The earth is held in orbit around the sun by the force of gravity and is not
fastened to anything material.
· Psychosomatic
stress illness.
Many doctors believe that over 50% of illnesses
such as heart disease, ulcers, hypertension and even many colds and cancers
can be brought on by stress and are emotionally induced. Our mental outlook,
whether it is positive or negative, affects our physical health. When we are
depressed or we are too stressed our resistance to disease is lowered and our
body can be hurt by the overload of chemicals, such as adrenalin, released into
our bloodstream. This principle of health can be seen in many verses in the
book of Proverbs. Here are just a few: -
“A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries
the bones” (Proverbs
17:22).
“A sound heart is life to the body,
but envy is rottenness to the bones” (Proverbs
14:30).
“Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul
and health to the bones” (Proverbs
16:24).
· God's
health laws.
The Black Death killed millions of people in the
Middle Ages in Europe. Once Europeans started to apply the biblical laws of
sanitation and quarantine (Leviticus
13) that the Jews were applying at the
time the results were quite spectacular in halting the disease in Europe.
Most of the animals that God forbid man to eat in Leviticus
11 are scavengers and are not designed
for human consumption. About these laws Dr Louis Lasagna writes: “Many
of these make good medical sense…The prohibition of hare and swine [pigs]
as sources of food certainly must have diminished the incidence of disease…The
transmission of gastrointestinal infections (including typhoid fever) via polluted
shellfish or water also testifies to the apparent wisdom of the Hebrews in warning
against such seafood and impure water” (The Doctors' Dilemmas, p.85). Leviticus
7:23 forbids the eating of animal fats
which are high in cholesterol. Keeping God's sexual laws against adultery, fornication
and incest would also cut the spread of venereal disease in our society if obeyed.
5] Has the Bible been
preserved accurately?:
The books of the Old Testament were split into three divisions called the law,
the prophets and the writings. Christ backed up the authority of the books which
were recognized as the scriptures in the first century by regularly quoting
from them. In Luke
24:44-45 we read: “Then He said to
them, 'These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with
you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses
and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me. And He opened their
understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures."
The apostles also verified the authority of the Old Testament scriptures. Verses
from virtually every book of the Old Testament are quoted by the apostles in
the New Testament. The apostle Paul wrote the following to Timothy: “But
you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of,
knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you
have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation
through faith which is in Christ Jesus. ALL Scripture is
given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof,
for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2
Timothy 3:14-16).
In Isaiah 8:16 we read: "Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples." The prophecy implies that the testimony and law of the Word of God would be sealed up and completed by the disciples of the Lord. It is evident that the apostles were very aware of the fact that God was using them as instruments through divine inspiration to add more books to the existing canon of scriptures that the Jewish community had at the time.
There are a couple of places in the New Testament that refer to already existing New Testament writings as Scripture. In 1 Timothy 5:18 the apostle Paul writes: "For the Scripture says, 'You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,' and, 'The laborer is worthy of his wages.'" Both verses quoted are referred to as Scripture. The first one comes from the Old Testament and is from Deuteronomy 25:4. The second one is from Luke's already existing gospel and is a quotation from Luke 10:7.
"In 2 Peter 3:15-16, Peter speaks of the writings of 'our beloved brother Paul'. He says 'in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.' Paul's writings are here placed on an equal level with the Old Testament Scriptures" (The Authority of the Bible, Colin Peckham, p. 44).
It's only logical that if God came and dwelt with mankind in the person of Jesus Christ that there would be some extension of the existing canon of Scripture to record the vital details of the life and teachings of Jesus. When we get down to the end of the apostle John's life, who was the last surviving of the twelve apostles, we have the perfect conclusion to the Scriptures with the visions that form the Book of Revelation. The Book of Revelation dramatically foretell the end of the story with the millennium and new heavens and new earth in great detail. It also is a perfect complement to the Book of Genesis which begins the Bible.
When Jewish scribes made copies of the books
of the Old Testament it was done by a strict discipline that ensured absolute
accuracy. There were cross checks designed to prevent the loss or misplacement
of a single word or letter. An example of this accuracy can be seen in comparing
a Dead Sea Scrolls copy of the book of Isaiah dated to 125 BC to the
next oldest manuscript of the book of Isaiah written a thousand years later.
In all that time there is only one three letter word in question. Other than
that they are exactly word-for-word.
How reliable has the New Testament been preserved? We can get some idea by comparing
it to other ancient writings. “For Caesar's Gallic Wars (composed between
58 and 50 BC) only 9 or 10 [manuscripts] are good, and the oldest is
some 900 years later than Caesar's day…Of the 14 books of Tacitus (c.
100 AD)…the text of these historical works depends entirely on two
manuscripts, one of the ninth century and one of the 11th.
The History of Thucydides (c. 460-400 BC) is known to us from eight manuscripts,
the earliest belonging to AD 900…The same is true of the history
of Herodotus (488-428 BC). Yet no classical scholar would listen to an
argument that the authenticity of Herodotus or Thucydides is in doubt because
the earliest manuscripts of their works of any use to us are over 1 000 years
later than the originals” (The New Testament Documents, p.16-17).
How many manuscripts are
there to support the 27 books of the New Testament and clarify any differences
between them? “There are 8 000 manuscripts of the Latin Vulgate and at
least 1 000 for other early versions. Add over 4 000 Greek manuscripts (some
say 5 000) and we have 13 000 manuscript copies of portions of the New Testament”
(Introduction to the Textual Criticism of the New Testament, p.29).
There are over 13 000 copies of New Testament manuscripts compared to 10 copies
of Caesar's Gallic Wars and about 8 copies of the history of Herodotus. It is
far easier to verify the New Testament's accuracy than any other ancient writing
of the same era.
The apostles preached about Christ's death and resurrection to live audiences
which were often composed of hostile enemies eager to disprove what they were
saying. The apostles appealed to facts that could be proven by those who had
their doubts (like doubting Thomas). The apostle Paul wrote: “For I delivered
to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins
according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again
the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then
by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once,
of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep”
(1 Corinthians
15:3-6). Paul said that there were over
500 witnesses who saw Him at the same time after He was risen, many who could
give their eyewitness testimony to those who had questions.
Who today could write a biography about America's president at the time of World
War 2, Roosevelt, and claim that he rose from the dead in 1945? Such
a hoax could easily be refuted by relatives and witnesses still living. Who
would believe such a hoax, stick with it for a lifetime and even be willing
to die for such a belief? Maybe one person who was mentally unstable might,
yet almost all of the apostles were eventually martyred for believing Christ
rose from the dead. This bunch of fishermen and commoners “turned the world
upside down” (Acts
17:6) with their unswerving loyalty to
the belief that Christ died and rose again.
The apostle Peter wrote that “No prophecy of Scripture is of any private
interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of
God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2
Peter 1:20-21). The Bible's consistency
and balance points to one Divine author who conveyed His instruction manual
to mankind through the different styles and personalities of different writers
who were inspired by God's spirit. The Bible is truly an incredible book. It
begins with a garden, a tree of life and an invitation to enjoy it (Genesis
2-3) and
it ends with that same theme of a garden and the tree of life and man and God
ultimately enjoying an intimate relationship living peacefully together (Revelation
22).
6] The Unity of the Bible
In a sermon on the Word of God
for UCG's Fundamentals of Belief tape series, Graemme Marshall makes these comments:
“[The Bible was] written by not just one author but by 40 people. It
stretches over a period of 1500 years out of different places and situations.
What book ever extended over such an enormous writing period yet has such uniformity,
exactness and consistency? How likely is it that different authors could write
hundreds of years apart under different situations in different languages and
still be consistent with their message?
“The Bible's authors come from diverse walks of life –
kings like David and Solomon, national leaders like Moses, a prime minister
( ), former Pharisee (the apostle Paul), a military general (Joshua),
a shepherd (Amos), a tax collector (Matthew), fishermen (Peter, James and John),
a doctor (Luke), an emperor's cupbearer (Nehemiah) and prophets like Jeremiah.
What an unlikely assembly of characters to write this revered book. This one
volume miraculously ties together the same theme and the same message while
presenting history, prophecy, law, poetry, proverbs, songs and pastoral letters.
This was accomplished by Divine consistency. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday,
today and forever (Hebrews
13:8)”.
The apostle Peter wrote that “No prophecy of Scripture is
of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but
holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit”
(2
Peter 1:20-21). The Bible's consistency
and balance points to one Divine author who conveyed His instruction manual
to mankind through the different styles and personalities of different writers
who were inspired by God's spirit.
In his excellent book “The Authority of the Bible” Colin Peckham describes
many of the wonderful shadows and types of New Testament events in the Old Testament:
“The history of the Israelites pictures the New Testament plan of salvation
showing that the Old Testament and the New Testament present one message. In
the Old Testament it is the shadows and types, and in the New Testament we have
the reality of an accomplished salvation.
“The Israelites were in bondage to the Egyptians. Egypt is a picture of
the old life of sin in which all are held under the domination of Pharaoh, who
represents the devil. The only way to be rescued from Egypt's bondage and God's
judgement was through the blood of the lamb. They were to be spared from the
judgement of God, which rested on the whole land, only by applying the blood
to their doorposts. This, of course, is a picture of God's judgement on the
sinful world, from which we can escape solely by applying the blood of the Lamb
of God to our hearts. The judgement passed from the people to the lamb. The
slain lamb is the substitute for the first-born, and God's Lamb is our substitute.
He dies in our place, and we are free from the old life of bondage, sorrow and
sin through the blood of the Lamb [1
Corinthians 5:7].
“On their journey they were immediately fed on manna from heaven, a picture
of Jesus nourishing His people, as He Himself explains when they said to Him:
'Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread
from heaven to eat. Then Jesus said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses
did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread
from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives
life unto the world...I am the bread of life' (John
6:31-35).
“They needed water, and when Moses struck the rock the water flowed for
all to quench their thirst. Paul tells us that 'they drank of that spiritual
Rock...and that Rock was Christ' (1
Corinthians 10:4)…Their eventful journey
from Egypt had one objective, to bring them to Canaan; 'Then He brought us out
from there, that He might bring us in, to give us the land of which He swore
to ou fathers' (Deuteronomy
6:23). As many able commentators have affirmed,
the picture of Canaan is that of the life of Christian victory and [entering
His kingdom]…
“Abraham and Isaac are clear Old Testament types of New Testament truths.
Like Jesus, Isaac was born contrary to the laws of nature. Isaac was mocked
by his brother (Genesis
21:9), and Jesus was rejected by the Jews.
Isaac was the sole heir of all that his father possessed (Genesis
24:36), and Jesus is 'appointed heir of
all things' (Hebrews
1:2).
“Abraham and Isaac walked up the hill of sacrifice with Isaac carrying
the wood upon which he was to die (Genesis
22:6), a picture of Calvary, where Jesus
carried the Cross. Abraham, the father, was to kill his beloved son. Of Jesus
it is written that he was 'stricken, smitten of God' (Isaiah
53:4). God, the Father, smote His beloved
Son. Isaac rose from this virtual death and entered into his inheritance. When
Jesus rose from the dead all the riches of heaven were His. This whole story
is a beautiful picture of the sacrificing Father and the submissive Son. The
ram caught in the thicket and sacrificed instead of Isaac is another aspect
of the substitutionary death of Christ.
“Joseph is an enthralling picture of Christ. He, the first-born son of
Rachel, was sent on a long journey by his father to his brothers, who, on his
arrival, held him prisoner and then sold him to foreigners for twenty pieces
of silver. Jesus, the first-born, came all the way from heaven to earth to His
own people, but they did not receive Him (John
1:11). instead they rejected Him, selling
Him for thirty pieces of silver and handing Him over to a foreign power to be
crucified.
“Joseph died figuratively in the prisons of Egypt but eventually returned
as the conquering ruler, with a plan of salvation for all the starving multitudes
of the world. There was food enough to feed them all. Although he had disappeared
from public view, having been wrongly accused, he returned as the saviour of
the world. Jesus, too, was wrongly accused and put to death, but He returned
from the dead with a plan of salvation that has been published to the ends of
the earth. He is the mighty Saviour of all who will come and receive the salvation
He offers. He brings life and health to the starving multitudes of earth.
“Moses is a picture of Christ, for immediately after his birth the evil
rulers sought to kill him. He escaped but they killed many other little boys
at that time. Mary and Joseph fled with their precious child to Egypt whilst
the slaughter of the innocent children took place in Israel (Matthew
2:16-18).
“He instituted the Passover (Exodus
12:14-28), that wonderful picture of Calvary
where the blood of the lamb was struck on the doorposts of Israelite homes,
saving them from the wrath of Yahweh. The lamb was the substitute for their
first-born. The New Testament affirms, 'Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed
for us' (1
Corinthians 5:7). He was our substitute
Lamb.
“Moses became the wonderful leader, saving them from the yoke of bondage
in Egypt and leading them out on an untried way. Delivered from the old life
of slavery, they now had to depend on God for their very existence. There was
no food in the desert. It had to come from heaven, and on that heavenly food
they lived. Jesus saves from Satan's cruel bondage, separating us from the old
life of sorrow and sin and leading us out in the wilderness of this world where
there is no food for the soul. He is our very life, for we live in Him and feed
on Him, the heavenly Manna, the living Bread.
“Joshua was the great leader and conqueror of the land of Canaan. He took
them over the Jordan and led them in their central, southern and northern campaigns
until the land was subdued. He brought them peace and stability instead of their
restles ings in the wilderness - again a picture of Christ leading us
to a life of victory and rest.
“David the shepherd boy became Israel's greatest king. He killed Goliath
with one of his five chosen stones. When Jesus was tempted by the devil, He
quoted three times from Deuteronomy, one of the five books of Moses, and emerged
victorious from the temptation.
“When David finally came to the throne he looked for those of the house
of Saul that he might show them kindness 'for Jonathan's sake' (2
Samuel 9). Mephibosheth was found and he
ate at David's table continually in Jerusalem. God shows us kindness for Jesus'
sake and accepts us into His family where we partake of the delicacies of heaven
in the presence of the King.
“When David was established as king, Absalom his son conspired against
him, eventually overthrowing him and driving him into the wilderness. In this
rebellion, David was betrayed by those in his inner circle. Ahithophel, David's
influential counsellor (2
Samuel 15:12), and wonderful friend,
(Psalm 55:12-14, 21),
became one of the conspirators and joined the
revolt. His later counsel to Absalom was not followed, and, in sorrow of heart,
he hanged himself (2
Samuel 17:23). Jesus, too, was betrayed
by one in the inner circle. Zechariah, in his prophecy, asks about the wounds
in his hands, and receives the reply that they are 'those with which I was wounded
in the house of my friends' (Zechariah
13:6). Judas Iscariot was one of Christ's
closest associates on earth and he betrayed Him. He too, like Ahithophel, was
filled with sorrow, and in remorse he hanged himself (Matthew
27:5).
“Above all, David was the warrior king who subdued all his enemies and
brought peace to the land, a wonderful picture of our all-conquering Lord. David's
sure trust and close relationship with God is woven into all his writings. The
Psalms breathe an intimacy of communion with the Lord. Jesus, too, enjoyed that
closeness and oneness with the Father…
“Solomon instituted the brightest age of Israel's history. It was Israel's
golden age when the nation rose to its highest fame and achieved its greatest
influence, extending its borders to the furthest limits. It is a picture of
Christ in His great glory…
“In the book of Exodus we read how the Israelites journeyed from Egypt
to Canaan. On the journey they constructed a tabernacle where God dwelt among
His people. It was erected in the centre of the camp. The outward covering was
of badger skins…
“Beneath the badger skins were the coverings of rams' skins dyed red, signifying
Christ's death. Beneath the rams' skins were the curtains of goats' hair, speaking
of the prophets' clothing, and signifying Christ's prophetic role. Beneath the
goats' hair were the beautiful curtains of fine twined linen, signifying Christ's
righteousness - embroidered with blue (His heavenly character), purple (His
regal character), and red (His earthly character).
“In the Holy Place was the Table of Shewbread ('I am the bread of life'
- John
6:48), the Golden Candlestick ('I am the
light of the world' - John
8:12), and the Golden Altar of incense
('He ever lives to make intercession for them' - Hebrews
7:25).
“In the Holiest of all was the Ark - a box made of shittim wood, signifying
Christ's humanity, and completely covered with gold, speaking of His deity,
and all beautifully blended in one unit. Here we have typified the deity and
manhood of Jesus Christ. 'God was manifested in the flesh' (1
Timothy 3:16). God and man - one Christ,
one glorious Person, is presented to us here. The wood and the gold were ed
together. At the heart of the place where God met with man is a revelation of
the incarnation. God deigned to identify with man by actually uniting with him
in this intensely intricate, personal and mysterious way. God and man blended
together in Jesus Christ. 'God was in Christ.'
“The Ark was covered by the Mercy Seat, which was a slab of pure gold.
It formed the lid of the Ark. Only once a year the high priest entered the Holy
of Holies to make atonement for the sins of the people. When he did so, on the
Day of Atonement, he sprinkled blood on that gold slab. The blood from the earth
trickled on to the gold, which represented deity. Again there is this strange
and marvellous union. This is where God meets man! 'There I will meet with you'
(Exodus
25:17-22). Here is Christ's sacrifice.
Here is God in Christ shedding His precious blood as an offering for our sins.
Here is Calvary.
“Here, then, is the Incarnation and the Crucifixion typified in one item
of furniture - the Ark. It is here, in Christ typified, that God meets man.
His incarnation and His crucifixion are inextricably linked together. Bethlehem
and Calvary are inseparable.
“In the Ark were three things:
“1. The golden pot containing manna - a picture of Christ's life and provision
for His people.
“2. The tables of the Covenant with the Ten Commandments, which Christ
alone kept perfectly.
“3. Aaron's rod that budded, a picture of Christ's resurrection.
“The Veil of blue, purple and red, separating the Holy Place and the Holy
of Holies illustrates again in its three colours, the Divinity, Kingship and
Humanity of Christ. The veil was His flesh (Hebrews
10:20). When Christ died, God rent the
veil from top to bottom. He was 'smitten of God'. 'It pleased the Lord to bruise
Him' (Isaiah 53:4, 10).
When the veil was torn asunder, the way into the Holy of Holies stood wide open.
Man could now enter God's presence. When Jesus died, He became the way to God.
Through His rent body, through His death, the way into the presence of God was
at last open. We have access through Christ's death into the very presence of
God.
“Therefore, whilst the external appearance of the Tabernacle was merely
that of a tent (the humanity of Christ disguises His deity), inside, the glory
of God and His marvellous plan of salvation were portrayed. It spoke of the
Incarnation, of the Crucifixion, of God meeting man in Christ. Only in Jesus
Christ does God meet man, and the Tabernacle is a beautiful type of His person
and work.
“The system of the Levitical
priesthood and its offerings is described in Leviticus
1-7. There are five offerings; the first
three are called sweet-savour offerings, and the last two, non sweet-savour
offerings. The first three typify Christ in His perfection and devotion to the
will of God.
“They are the Whole Burnt Offering [pictures us offering our lives
totally to God like Christ did], the Meal Offering [pictures our service
to God and providing for our fellow man since most of this offering went to
the priests] and the Peace Offering [a festive offering shared between
the offerer, the priest and God picturing the unity and fellowship that we are
working towards and living at peace with God and man]. The last two are the
Sin Offering [for unintentional sins] and the Trespass Offering
[for specified sins], and typify Christ as bearing the failure, sin and punishment
of the sinner” (p. 68-79).
We also have the annual festivals that God gave to Israel in Leviticus
23 which not only symbolize key events
in Israel's history and civil life but also symbolize the great plan of salvation
that God is working out through humanity.
Passover symbolizes the slain lamb that signified who would be spared
of Israel in Egypt from the death angel which typified Christ paying for our
sins. The Feast of Unleavened Bread symbolizes both Israel's exodus and
the christian's coming out of sin and the world. Pentecost symbolized
the firstfruits of the harvest and the firstfruits of God's harvest of humanity
– the church.
The Feast of Trumpets symbolizes the trumpet plagues of the Day of the
Lord and the return of Jesus Christ at the Last Trumpet. The Day of Atonement
symbolized the atonement of Israel each year to God and through the atonement
ceremony symbolized the putting away of Satan in the future into the abyss.
The Feast of Tabernacles reminded Israel of the time when they dwelt
in tabernacles in the wilderness which pictures the christian life and looking
forward to the Kingdom of God on earth. The Last Great Day symbolizes
the Judgment when all the unsaved dead will be resurrected to receive their
chance at salvation.
We also see many shadows and types in the great many prophecies for the end-time
set to occur in our near future. Many events that occurred in ancient Israel
were a type of events prophesied for the end time.
The book of Isaiah opens up with a snapshot of the sins of Israel which are
common to both ancient Israel and the modern descendants of the 12 tribes of
Israel (America, Britain, NW Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jewish
state of Israel).
He speaks of Israel not knowing God (Isaiah
1:3) through idolatry and today accepting
evolution, practicing only a form of religion with words and ceremony but living
lives contrary to His law of love for other people (1:10-15),
rulers and judges who are corrupt and have become rich at the expense of others
(1:23),
becoming filled with eastern ways and turning to eastern religions and astrology
(2:6),
obsession with materialism (2:7-8),
declaring their sins like Sodom (3:9)
and of children ruling over them and being their oppressors with juvenile delinquency
and gang violence on the rise (3:4-5,
12), women ruling over them with the rise
of feminist ideologies (3:12),
htiness of young women who are self-centered and deliberately provocative
sexually (3:16-24),
alcoholism (5:11,
22) in our lands as well as speaking against
those who call evil good and good evil (5:20).
Following on from those early chapters Isaiah declares that Assyria will be
the rod of God's anger in punishing His people Israel (Isaiah
10:5-6). Israel had split into two kingdoms
after the death of Solomon – the northern ten-tribed Kingdom of Israel
and the southern Kingdom of Judah (the Jews). The northern Kingdom of Israel
were eventually conquered by Assyria around 722 BC. The southern Kingdom
of Judah was conquered and taken into exile by the Babylonians around 585
BC.
In the end-time the Beast power that conquers modern Israel (compare
Revelation 18:7-8 with Isaiah 47:5-9
and Isaiah 10:5, 20)
is referred to as both Assyria and Babylon because the United European power
that will be a final revival of the Roman Empire will be composed of the ethnic
peoples who descend from both the ancient Assyrian and Babylonian empires.
The Beast power in Revelation
13 (with 7 heads, 10 horns, the mouth of
a lion, the feet of a bear and is like a leopard) is clearly a composite of
the four beasts in Daniel
7. The Roman Empire conquered the territory
and had the power and speed of the previous three Gentile kingdoms and the end-time
Beast power will be a resurrection of that empire. They will repeat the abomination
of desolation by desecrating an end-time Temple (Daniel
12:11) just as Antiochus Epiphanes did
in 168 BC (Daniel
8:11-14).
Typologically, the defeat of Babylon at the hands of the Medes (Isaiah
13:17) did occur in 539 BC when
the Medo-Persian empire conquered the city of Babylon but it also has an end-time
fulfillment when an Asiatic alliance, including the modern descendants of the
Medes, will defeat the beast power.
In Isaiah
14:22-23 God says that He will destroy
Babylon and then in the next verse in Isaiah
14:24 He says that He will break the Assyrian
in God's land at the time He breaks the yoke of slavery Assyria has placed on
His people implying Babylon and Assyria are the same. In ancient times Assyria
and Babylon were different empires that conquered Israel and Judah at different
times. In the end-time they are merged as one. Assyria anciently was defeated
in its own land but in the end-time it will be broken by God in the land of
Israel when Jesus Christ returns to earth.
God's way of life found in the Bible from front to back is remarkably consistent
and profound. Herbert W. Armstrong summarizes God's way of life in the Bible
this way:
“There exist, overall, only TWO BASIC WAYS OF LIFE -- two divergent
philo s. They travel in opposite directions. I state them very simply:
One is the way of GIVE -- the other of GET” (Why Were You Born,
p. 10).
In Romans
13:8-10 the apostle Paul wrote: “Owe
no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled
the law. For the commandments, 'You shall not commit adultery,' 'You shall not
murder,' 'You shall not steal,' 'You shall not bear false witness,' 'You shall
not covet,' and if there is any other commandment, are all
summed up in this saying, namely, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'
Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of
the law.”
The first four show us how to love God and the last six how to love our neighbour.
Of the Ten Commandments, seven of them begin with “Thou shalt not”
and this has led to the idea that the Ten Commandments are negative and restrictive.
Why do seven of them start with “Thou shalt not”?
Well, you have to think about it in terms of how a parent gradually teaches
a child how to behave and live a moral life. Because of the limited comprehension
of an infant a parent has to be very specific and, more often than not, they
have to tell them not to touch something or do something because infants do
whatever they feel like or what comes naturally. As the child grows the instructions
from the parent are still mostly specific actions but there is more of a balance
between positive directions and negative ones.
As the child gets older still the parent explains more of why they are asked
to do things or not do certain actions. The parent teaches the child more about
the principles of why things are right and wrong. The more they grasp those
principles of why things are right and wrong, the more the directions from the
parents move from specific actions to principles and attitudes.
The way that God teaches us His way of life in the Bible is much the same way.
We, like the Israelites when they came out of Egypt, are like spiritual infants
when we first start to learn about God's way of life. The Ten Commandments are
mostly specific actions where God tells us not to do certain things. The statutes
and the judgments again mostly deal with specific actions rather than principles
and there is more of a balance between positive actions and negative ones.
As the people of Israel did not have God's spirit and were spiritually immature
God had to be very specific and tell them what they could and couldn't do. The
Torah (the laws in the first five books of the Bible) formed the spiritual consititution
of Israel and those laws are the foundation of the rest of the Bible (Matthew
22:40).
When we get to the New Testament most of the new teaching introduced about God's
way of life focuses on attitudes like the fruits of God's spirit and the principles
behind the laws of God. This is clearly evident in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew
5-7) where Jesus Christ develops the spirit
of the law and shows us the attitudes and intent behind the laws of God.
The Bible is truly an incredible book. It begins with a garden, a tree of
life and an invitation to enjoy it (Genesis
2-3) and it ends with that same theme of a
garden and the tree of life and man and God ultimately enjoying an intimate
relationship living peacefully together (Revelation
22).
The following is an appendix from E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible showing the
remarkable symmetry between the first book of the Bible, Genesis with the last
book of the Bible, the book of Revelation:
|
GENESIS 1. Genesis, the book
of beginning. |
REVELATION 1. Revelation, the
book of the end. |
7] Christianity
and the Bible compared to other religions
How does the Bible compare
with the sacred writings of some of the other major religions of the world?
“Mohammed received visions for twenty-two years before his death in 632
AD, and these he recited to his followers who wrote them down. This eventually
became the Qur'an (Koran), the sacred book of the Muslims.
“It combines elements from Judaism and Christianity and accepts Noah, Abraham,
Moses, David, Jesus, John and others as prophets of Allah. It is a little shorter
than the New Testament. All the sects within Islam use the Koran which teaches
a strict monotheism and denounces all forms of idol worship. It is the authoritative
scripture of Islam divided into 114 surahs (chapters). Muslims believe that
all earlier forms of revelation are in corrupted form and the Koran supersedes
them. Whenever there is a conflict between the Koran and the Bible, Muslims
say that the Bible is not accurate and has been changed by men, whereas the
Koran is eternal…They reject the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
“'Mohammed, writing in the Koran, refers to the Old and New Testaments
as the truth, but his doctrines often contradict their teachings.
“Islam certainly does not emphasize the problem of sin and has very
little consciousness of it. In contrast to Christianity which calls for inward
holiness not outward form, Islam proposes self righteous works as a means of
salvation. It is externalistic [focusing on doing certain outward actions without
any focus on having purity in one's thoughts and motives] with no vital personal
relationship with God.
“The five pillars of Islam are:
1. The Recitation of the Creed.
2. Prayer - five times a day.
3. Almsgiving.
4. The month of fasting - Ramadan.
5. Pilgrimage to Mecca.
“In addition to these a sixth is often added - the holy War - Jihad. The
use of force is sanctioned in the Koran and soldiers who die in such a war to
spread Islam are assured of their entry into heaven which is a place of sensuous
enjoyment.
“Copleston points out that there are a number of absurdities in the Koran.
Allah commands Satan to worship Adam (Sura 15:28-39, 20:114, 115 etc.). In this
instance therefore Allah joins Adam to him to receive Satan's worship, but in
Sura 18:110 and Sura 4:116, he says 'God truly will not forgive the joining
of other gods with Himself.'
“Allah is seen to be a misleader. In Sura 6:39, we read: 'God will mislead
whom he pleases.' In several other suras we find this same concept (e.g. Suras
7:176 and 7:185). In Sura 28:14, Satan is declared to be a misleader. So both
Satan and Allah are misleadersl
“In Sura 51:57, we read: 'I have not created jinn and men but that they
should worship me.' In Sura 7:176, however, we read: 'Moreover many of the jinn
and men we have created for Hell.' This is a direct contradiction.
“Despite the declaration that there is to be no compulsion in religion,
and Mohammed is only a warner, in grossest contradiction we have commands to
destroy the infidels. In Sura 2:258, we read, 'Let there be no compulsion in
religion', and in Sura 22:48, we read, 'Say O man! I am only a warner'. But
in Sura 47:4, we read, 'When ye encounter infidels, strike off their heads till
ye have made a great slaughter among them'.
“Mohammed commands his disciples to kill those who oppose his claims.
Christ commands His disciples to bless those who curse them and to do good to
those who hate them (Matthew 5:43-44).
'The absolute contrast of hate and love is sufficient of itself to prove the
falsity of Islam.'
“The Koran reveals Allah to be so transcendent that he is practically unknowable.
Even though he is all-powerful he is arbitrary in his decisions and actions.
The Koran makes no provision for sin's forgiveness. There is no certainty of
salvation because it is based on a works system. All will be revealed at the
day of judgment.
“It appeals to the motives of fear and reward, and it relies upon the
method of force. It is pervaded by a great sense of fatalism [predetermination].
Its heaven is excessively sensuous and carnal [Such as the idea of 70 virgins
awaiting martyrs in heaven when they die]. In practice its estimate of woman
is low and in Muslim countries women have few rights.
“The Koran fails to speak of God's holiness which requires His punishment
for sin, for the life will be weighed and assessed at the judgment. It fails
to speak of the expiation of transgression by the sacrifice which God in His
great love initiated; of the assurance of pardon for sin; of the marvellous
regeneration by the indwelling Spirit of God which transforms men and women
and makes them new. The Koran fails to meet man's need and give him communion
with the living God.
“The Koran is therefore unfitted to become a book of a universal religion.
Allah does not enter into humanity and therefore cannot render to humanity the
highest service.
“The writings of the world's religions in comparison with the Bible,
are seen to be unhistorical. Their teachings are not worked out step by step
in the life of a people.
“Their doctrines are announced, explained and circumscribed by comment
and ritual, but they have no prophets to apply the words to the circumstances
in the nation which would have clarified their meaning. In addition, ritual
and ceremony have overpowered the strivings of the human heart after a personal
and spiritual fellowship with God, and externalism has in many cases taken the
place of intimate communion. The teachings fail to introduce men to God”
(p. 111-119).
In Romans 1:20 we read: “For
since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly
seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal
power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.” Even if we didn't
have the Bible we can learn a lot about God just by observing the world around
us.
When we look at nature and the universe all around us three qualities of
God leap out at us if we are paying attention – the Creator is a God who
values individuality, freedom to choose and is logical.
When we observe the incredible amount of variety in all of nature to the thousands
and thousands of species and the incredible amount of variations in each species
we see that the Creator loves variety and individuality. Even in litters of
kittens and puppies there are different personalities amongst those animals
that look similar.
We see that the Creator must value free moral agency for Him to allow men to
do some of the awful things that they do to one another. In his book “Between
Two Truths” Klyne Snodgrass writes the following: “We may question
why God values free will so much, but there is no doubt that he does…God
created the world, willing to chance what free human beings would do. God may
be responsible for allowing such a world to exist, but He is not directly responsible
for all the events that take place” (p.146).
God does not want automatons. He wants children who will love Him freely and,
even against temptation, choose to love Him and His way of life because they
want to, not because they have to!
When you look at all the laws of nature and all the engineering marvels of our
body and the world around us you see evidence of not only design but of a Creator
who is logical.
When we compare the Bible with other sacred writings do they reflect those three
qualities of the Creator we see all around us? The Koran's concept of jihad
and conversion by the edge of a sword violates the principle of freedom of choice.
Its contradictions noted above and its inaccurate lunar calendar (with no leap
months to keep the months in the right season) goes against the principle of
a logical Creator.
The Bible shows God as a God who loves individuality (with unity not forced
uniformity). It speaks of great diversity of gifts but one Spirit in the church
(1 Corinthians 12:4). The Bible's
consistency and balance points to one Divine author who conveyed His instruction
manual to mankind through the different styles and personalities of different
writers who were inspired by God's spirit.
In “The Authority of the Bible” Colin Peckham writes:
“Each writer was in a sense left to choose his own words, preserving their
individual characteristics… William Evans states: 'The Spirit employed
the attention, the investigation the memory, the fancy, the logic, in a word,
all the faculties of the writer, and wrought through them. He guided the writer
to choose the narrative and materials, speeches of others, imperial decrees,
genealogies, official letters, state papers or historical matters he might find
necessary for the recording of the divine message of salvation. He wrought in,
with, and through their spirits, so as to preserve their individuality to others.
He used the men themselves and spoke through their individualities. The gold
was His; the was theirs.'
“From God's side, therefore, He gave to and through His servants truths
which He wished to communicate, but from the human side, they communicated those
truths in language which they in their individuality would have chosen. God
works in and through human freedom. Each writer's character is individually
preserved, and each style and type of spiritual understanding is distinct yet
parallel. The Bible is therefore the Word of God in the language of men, altogether
divine and yet at the same time altogether human” (p.45-46).
We see God's logic in all the wonderful shadows and types we have just looked
at. His laws built on the principles of love for all mankind, even one's enemies
are profound and logical. We see God's love in the profound wisdom of His laws
and the wisdom of the book of Proverbs and we see it in the profound acts of
love shown in the gospels in the life of Jesus Christ – acts of love so
much greater than man shows toward His fellowman.
There is mercy but mercy that does not violate the principle of justice. A penalty
has to be paid for sin and God chose to have that penalty paid through the violent
scourging and death of His Son, Jesus Christ, so we can be forgiven upon our
repentance. By allowing His Son to pay that for us it rams home to us how terrible
our sins are rather than treating sin lightly if we were simply given mercy
without any penalty paid.
Colin Peckham in “The Authority of the Bible” make these concluding
comments on the superiority of the Bible when compared to other sacred writings:
“The Bible is sufficient as a moral and spiritual guide. It reveals God
as a God of love and of holiness. It reveals man as a sinner condemned by the
righteousness of God but loved by the God who is love. It reveals that God in
His love executed a plan by which He projected Himself into this world in the
person of His Son who became the Substitute for man in his sin and condemnation.
He, Jesus, identified Himself with our sin and bore our punishment so that we
could be forgiven and released from sinful bondage to live for the One who saved
us. To all who trust Him, He is found to be an abundant Saviour. The deepest
needs in the heart of man are met.
“In whatever nation or culture, and under whatever teaching or philosophy,
sin is wrong, and evil is hurtful and destructive. Envy, jealousy, pride, impurity,
hatred and a host of other evils surge within humanity, and pain and hurt are
the result. There are broken hearts, broken lives and broken homes everywhere.
Sin has destroyed beautiful relationships, has damaged lives irreparably and
has left its trail of sorrow everywhere. Man has a conscience which records
such hurt, and a life which feels the cuts and bruises, the pain and grief of
wrong in its numerous forms. That open wound must be healed, that hurt must
be relieved, that breach repaired, the pain removed, the enmity reconciled,
the sin forgiven, the attitudes righted, the damaged soul retrieved and repaired.
These are the common needs of all men.
“What book can tell us how to rid ourselves of the intolerable burden of
sin and wrong but the Bible? What book can offer peace from a troubled conscience,
peace from the burden of guilt and sin, but the Bible? There is no other book
which can offer salvation from the heavy burden and cruel grief of sin. Buddhism
with its meditation and ethics, Confucianism with its philo s and idealism,
Hinduism with its synchronised religion and its extreme idolatry, Shintoism
with its variety and mythology, Islam with its rigidity, its distant god, its
lack of provision for sin - they all fail to bring the relief and joy of forgiveness,
and the peace of a soul rightly related to God. The deepest need of man remains
unfulfilled and the hurt and sin live on to sear and damage the whole personality.
Sin has not been removed and there is no forgiveness to bring relief, peace
and joy to man's seeking heart.
“Only the Bible has the answer. 'You shall call His name Jesus, for He
will save His people from their sins' (Matthew
1:21). God has a plan, a method, whereby I can be rid of my sin for
ever! Jesus, my Saviour, has taken my sin upon Himself and has taken my punishment
so that I can be free from sin's oppressive load, from sin's enslaving power,
from sin's defilement. I can be healed. The relief and joy of salvation are
mine in Jesus. He is the way back to God” (p. 124-125).
8] How can we truly
know that God is always true and a God of love? :
We have seen in the first
section on fulfilled prophecy that God has kept His word and fulfilled His promises
on many times. What other proof is there that God is perfect, that He is, not
just some of the time, but always true to His word? What proof is there that
He is not part good, part bad but totally good – that He truly is a God
of love? These things are important for us to prove to ourselves.
Part of the answer is to read the Bible in depth and see what His track record
has been like. What is God really like? Titus
1:2 talks about “God, who cannot lie”.
1 John 4:8
says that “God is love”. In Exodus
34:6-7 we find how He prefers to describe
Himself: “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering,
and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving
iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty”.
From the beginning of the Bible we see that He has had a loving plan to redeem
all mankind and bring us into His family. From the foundation of the world (1
Peter 1:19-20) there was a plan for Christ
to die for the sins of all mankind. The violent painful death He voluntarily
suffered shows the depth of God's love for mankind.
We
see God's mercy in how God allowed the Amorites in Palestine in Abraham's day
more time to repent of their terrible sins in Genesis
15:16. We see it in God changing His mind
to destroy Nineveh when they repented after Jonah's warning (Jonah
3:5-10). We see it in how God was willing
to spare Sodom and Gomorrah when Abraham bargained with God not to destroy it
if there were 10 righteous men in the cities (Genesis
18:22-23). We see it in how Moses persuaded
God to change His mind from destroying Israel when they worshipped the golden
calf (Exodus
32:7-14).
We see God's love in the profound wisdom of His laws and the wisdom of the book
of Proverbs and we see it in the profound acts of love shown in the gospels
in the life of Jesus Christ – acts of love so much greater than man shows
toward His fellowman (Philippians 2:5-8).
By reading the Bible regularly you will gain a deeper sense of how great and
loving God really is.
The other part of the answer is to live by His way of life and prove that only
His way works. You can prove that He is always a good God by building a friendship
with Him and seeing how faithful He is to you personally and testing the fruits
of obedience to His way of life. If anybody will put the Bible into practice
and lives by it He will know it is of God. That is truly one of the greatest
proofs of the Bible.
9] What are Some Keys to Better
Understand the Bible?
Now that we have proved that God exists and that the Bible is true we can begin to look at what the Bible teaches. Before we do, let's finish off this lesson with a few points to keep in mind to help us understand the Bible as we go through the rest of the lessons in the course. The following seven keys to understand the Bible come from the UCG booklet "How to Understand the Bible".
"First key: Ask for God's Guidance in a Proper Attitude
"Curiously enough, we find that the Bible is not a book that can be readily understood by everyone. How, then, can we come to understand it? Our first step is to humbly ask God for help. Prayer, coming to God to humbly ask for His help, is the first vital key to understanding His Word. God describes the kind of attitude and approach He respects: 'But on this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word' (Isaiah 66:2)…
"James 1:5 says: 'If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach and it will be given him'… An example of a proper, humble, godly approach is that of the Bereans, mentioned in Acts 17:10-12: '[The Bereans] were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men.'
"Unlike others, the Bereans did not immediately reject what Paul was saying, even though many things they heard contradicted their own long-held beliefs. They carefully reviewed the Scriptures with an open mind and saw that what Paul had said made sense. Then, after diligently searching the Scriptures, they verified that what he taught was indeed the truth, and they humbly accepted his teachings…
"Second key: Obedience Brings Understanding
"A second key follows logically from the first: A right attitude leads to a proper obedience of God's laws, which form much of the foundation of the Bible…For us to understand the Bible, we must first learn about and respect God's law.
"We read a summary of this principle in Psalm 111:10, 'The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments...' Paul emphasizes this point in Romans 2:13, 'For not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified.' If a person studies the Bible just to hear what it says, but not to do what it commands, he is not pleasing God and cannot expect His help…
"Third key: Accept the Inspiration of All the Bible
"The third key involves the way we view the Scriptures. To understand them, we must accept the authority over us of all the Bible. All the books of the Bible in both the Old and New Testaments are inspired by God.
"God assures us that we can absolutely trust the Holy Scriptures. 'All Scripture is given by inspiration of God,' wrote Paul, 'and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work' (2 Timothy 3:16-17)…
"Fourth key: Consider the Context
"As with the great unifying principles, the Bible reveals another key to unlocking the meaning of the Scriptures: context. Keeping in mind the context of the examples and teachings in the Bible can help us avoid misunderstandings.
"In fact, most misunderstandings of Scripture come from taking verses out of their context. Reading in context simply means to carefully consider the verses before and after the text being studied. 'Out of context' means trying to understanding the verses with little or no regard for the surrounding subject matter. Studying the context includes analyzing the verses within the framework of the paragraph, chapter and book and in a larger sense the entirety of the author's writings and the Bible as a whole.
"Fifth key: Consider All the Scriptures on the Subject
[Another vital key to understanding Scripture is taking the time to look up all the related verses on a subject before coming to a conclusion. The Bible is like a jigsaw puzzle. The Bible becomes clear and interprets itself when you put all the scriptures on a subject "here a little and there a little" (Isaiah 28:10) together in just the right way. The best way to understand verses that are hard to understand and unclear is to compare them with the easier and clear verses on the same subject. Be willing to diligently search all the verses on each subject like the Bereans did with a right spirit (Acts 17:10-12).]
"Sixth key: Use Bible Helps Properly
"Can we understand all aspects of Scripture from the Bible alone? Certainly a good grasp of the Bible is possible through applying the keys discussed earlier. However, our understanding can be by taking advantage of the work of scholars who have studied culture, language, history and archaeology as they relate to biblical events and characters.
"We live 2,000 to 3,500 years removed from the time the Scriptures were originally written. The Bible's authors wrote in the languages and settings of their times. Culture and language were different from todayís culture and language. Since the original languages of Scripture (Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic) are so different from our modern languages, Bible helps are useful to enable us to better to grasp the Scriptures as they were written and understood.
[As we go through the lessons in this course we will discover that many common teachings in mainstream Christianity differ from what is actually taught in the Bible so take care as you use the many Bible helps out there to prove all things with the Bible and not take everything written by commentators at face value.]
"Seventh key: We Need the Guidance of God's Church
"All the biblical keys and helps in the world are no substitute for the guidance of qualified teachers in our quest for Bible truths. A faithful servant of God can help us tremendously to properly understand the Scriptures.
"As Paul asks: 'And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things?' (Romans 10:14-15)… God tells us to 'test all things; hold fast what is good' (1 Thessalonians 5:21). We have a part to do, but He has provided His Church, which is 'the pillar and ground of the truth' (1 Timothy 3:15)" (p.3-15).
God
has put the Bible together in such a way that it takes a little bit of work
to understand it but for those who are prepared to study it with a diligent
heart, its rewards of understanding are wonderful and life-changing!
· The
Bible can be proven to be the Word of God because of its accurate prophecies
such as God naming Cyrus 200 years ahead of time as the conqueror of Babylon
and the one who would allow the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem (Isaiah
44:28-45:3).
· Other
accurate prophecies that have come to pass include the details of the fall of
Nineveh (Zephaniah
2:13-14) and Babylon (Isaiah
13:20-21), the great empires from Babylon
to Rome (Daniel 2,
7, 11),
the birthright promises to Abraham's descendants fulfilled in the British Empire
and the United States of America (Genesis
12:1-3, 17:5-6, 35:11,
48:19, 49)
and also the many prophecies dealing with the life of Jesus Christ (Isaiah
7:14, Isaiah 53,
Micah 5:2).
2] Answering the doubting
questions over the Book of Genesis
· Jesus
Christ believed in the accuracy of the book of Genesis by quoting it (Matthew
19:4-5, 24:37-38).
Luke included Adam in the genealogy of Christ (Luke
3:38) and the apostle Paul also believed
that Adam was a real person (1
Corinthians 15:45).
· The
Bible makes no claim that the universe is only 6 000 years old. It states that
in the beginning that God created the heavens and the earth. Then at some time
prior to 6 000 years ago it BECAME without form and void (Genesis
1:2). Based on the fact that we can see
objects billions of light years away, the universe is at least that old in age.
Between then and when God created man 6 000 years ago, Satan and his fallen
angels (Isaiah
14:14) caused the destruction we read of
Genesis 1:2.
· Genesis
1:7 says that God "divided the waters which were under the firmament
from the waters which were above the firmament". Many believe that the waters
above the firmament was a water canopy that surrounded the earth before the
Flood like a greenhouse shielding the earth from cosmic radiation. This extra
protection from cosmic radiation may have been the reason why the aging process
was much slower before the Flood allowing people to live hundreds of years (Genesis
5).
· Acts
17:26 states that God "has made from one blood every nation of men to
dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times
and the boundaries of their dwellings." It is evident from this verse that when
God created Adam and Eve He put in them genes that would allow them to produce
children with different racial characteristics. A similar thing must have happened
with Noah and his wife to preserve the races through the Flood.
3] Historical
accuracy
· The
Bible is historically accurate as seen by many recent discoveries proving various
events of the books of Genesis and Exodus were not just myths.
· The
Bible's creation story (Genesis 1) is simple,
accurate from a physical point of view and is free of the bizarre ideas found
in creation myths of other ancient peoples. The Temptation Seal and Adam and
Eve Seals found in Sumer support the accuracy of the Bible's creation story.
· The
story of the Flood (Genesis 6-8) is supported
by the existence of hundreds of Flood stories with common threads in virtually
every culture on the face of the earth.
· The
story of the Joseph (Genesis 37-50) is
supported by the existence of “Bahr Yusef” – the Canal of Joseph
which runs 200 miles parallel to the Nile and is dated to the time of Joseph.
· The
story of the Exodus and the plagues of Egypt (Exodus
7-14) is supported by the Ipuwer papyrus which is an Egyptian record
of the plagues just as described in the Bible.
· Other
discoveries which help support the Bible's historical accuracy include Ebla
tablets which show Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis
18-19) did exist, proof of the existence of the Hittites (Genesis
15:20) and the bas reliefs at the Temple of Karnak in Egypt which show
the same cities that Shishak conquered in Palestine and the booty of the Temple
of God when he conquered Jerusalem in the days of Solomon's son, Rehoboam (2
Chronicles 12).
· Along
with the record of the Jewish pharisee, Josephus, we have quotes from Justin
Martyr, a Roman historian, Cornelius Tacitus, and Julian the Apostate all supporting
the fact that Jesus really did live as could be verified in their day by existing
Roman census records.
4] Scientific
accuracy
· The
Bible is scientifically accurate with details such as the rain cycle (Ecclesiastes
1:6-7), the shape of the earth (Isaiah
40:22), its description of the mystery
of gravity (Job
26:7) as well as the beneficial nature
of the health laws (Leviticus
11,13).
5] Has the Bible been
preserved accurately?
· The
Bible is amazingly consistent in its theme, message and accuracy for a book
written by 40 different people over 1500 years. Jesus backed up the authority
of the Old Testament by the way He used and quoted from it (Luke
24:44-45). So did the apostles (2
Timothy 3:14-16).
· The
Jews had very strict conditions for making copies of Old Testament books which
make them incredibly accurate. Compared to a handful of copies each of other
ancient books of the same time there are well over 13 000 copies of New Testament
manuscripts that support the accuracy of the New Testament.
· It is evident that the apostles
were very aware of the fact that God was using them as instruments through divine
inspiration to add more books to the existing canon of scriptures that the Jewish
community had at the time (Isaiah 8:16).
There are a couple of places in the New Testament that refer to already existing
New Testament writings as Scripture (1
Timothy 5:18, 2 Peter 3:15-16).
· The
apostles, who were not rabbis but a bunch of commoners and fisherman, turned
the world upside down (Acts
17:6) with their willingness to teach and
die for the belief that Christ died and rose again – something no rational
person would be willing to do for something that was a hoax.
6] The Unity of the Bible
· The
Bible is amazingly consistent in its theme, message and accuracy for a book
written by 40 different people over 1500 years.
· The history of the Israelites pictures the New Testament plan of salvation showing
that the Old Testament and the New Testament present one message. In the Old
Testament it is the shadows and types, and in the New Testament we have the
reality of God's plan of salvation.
· The Israelites were in bondage
to the Egyptians. Egypt is a picture of the old life of sin in which all are
held under the domination of Pharaoh, who represents the devil. The only way
to be rescued from Egypt's bondage and God's judgement was through the blood
of the lamb. The slain lamb is the substitute for the first-born, and God's
Lamb, Jesus Christ is our substitute, our Passover lamb (1
Corinthians 5:7). He dies in our place, and we are free from the old
life of bondage, sorrow and sin through the blood of the Lamb.
· The annual festivals that
God gave to Israel in Leviticus 23 not
only symbolize key events in Israel's history and civil life but also symbolize
the great plan of salvation that God is working out through humanity (Colossians
2:16-17).
· We also see many shadows
and types in the great many prophecies for the end-time set to occur in our
near future. Many events that occurred in ancient Israel were a type of events
prophesied for the end time. In the end-time the Beast power that conquers modern
Israel (compare Revelation 18:7-8
with Isaiah 47:5-9 and Isaiah
10:5, 20) is referred
to as both Assyria and Babylon. The United European power that will be a final
revival of the Roman Empire will be composed of the ethnic peoples who descend
from both the ancient Assyrian and Babylonian empires who took captive the northern
kingdom of Israel (722 BC) and the southern kingdom of Judah (the Jews
- 585 BC).
· God's way of life found in
the Bible from front to back is remarkably consistent and profound. God's way
is the way of GIVE, of love for God and fellow man (Matthew
22:37-40) while sin is portrayed as the way of GET.
· The Bible is truly an incredible
book. It begins with a garden, a tree of life and an invitation to enjoy it
(Genesis 2-3) and it ends with that same
theme of a garden and the tree of life and man and God ultimately enjoying an
intimate relationship living peacefully together (Revelation
22).
7] Christianity and the Bible compared to other religions
· The
writings of the world's religions in comparison with the Bible, are seen to
be unhistorical. Their teachings are not worked out step by step in the life
of a people.
· The
Koran (the holy book of Islam) speaks of jihad (holy war) and conversion by
the edge of a sword which violates the principle of freedom of choice which
God gives to all people (Deuteronomy
30:19).
· Mohammed
(the writer of the Koran) commands his disciples to kill those who oppose his
claims ("When ye encounter infidels, strike off their heads till ye have made
a great slaughter among them" - Sura 47:4) after telling us elsewhere "Let there
be no compulsion in religion" (Sura 2:258). This is one of several contradictions
in the Koran. Jesus Christ commands His disciples to hold to a higher standard
and tells us to bless those who curse us and to do good to those who hate us
(Matthew 5:43-44).
· Islam
does not emphasize the problem of sin and has very little consciousness of it.
In contrast to Christianity which calls for inward holiness (purity of motives
and thoughts, not just religious actions and ceremony), Islam proposes self
righteous works as a means of salvation. It is externalistic. It focuses on
doing certain outward actions without any focus on having purity in one's thoughts
and motives.
· There
is no other book which can offer salvation from the heavy burden and grief of
sin. Buddhism with its meditation and ethics, Confucianism with its philo s
and idealism, Hinduism with its synchronised religion and its extreme idolatry,
Shintoism with its variety and mythology, Islam with its lack of provision for
sin - they all fail to bring the relief and joy of forgiveness, and the peace
of a soul rightly related to God.
8] How can we truly
know that God is always true and always a God of love?
· What
proof is there that He is not part good, part bad but totally good – that
He truly is a God of love? Part of the answer is to read the Bible in depth
and see what His track record has been like. The other part of the answer is
by putting God to the test and living by His way of life and by doing so you
can prove that truly is a God of love (1
John 4:8).
9] What are Some Keys to Better
Understand the Bible?
· Some
keys to better understand the Bible include:
1) Ask for God's guidance with a proper attitude (James
1:5).
2) Obey God and He will increase your understanding
(Psalm 111:10).
3) Accept the Inspiration of all the Bible (2
Timothy 3:16-17).
4) Study the context (read and consider the verses before
and after).
5) Study all the scriptures on the subject (Isaiah
28:10, Acts 17:10-12).
6) Use Bible helps properly.
7) Seek the guidance of God's church (Romans
10:14-15).