LESSON ONE - "WHY BELIEVE THE BIBLE?"

OLD TESTAMENT

NEW TESTAMENT

The Old Testament was divided into chapters in 1250 AD and into verses in 1441. The New Testament was divided into verses in 1551. So when we refer to a book, e.g. Genesis 1:31, it means the reference is in the first book of the Bible, in the first chapter and in verse 31.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION- Originally the Old Testament was written in the Hebrew language. Most people believe Moses, a great leader of the Israelite nation and referred to in the Book of Genesis, wrote most of the OT. But, just as it is true for the New Testament as well, God is actually the author of the Bible. In other words the Bible is "Inspired" which mean "God Breathed" and God instructed the some 40 writers of the Bible just exactly what words he wanted them to write! We learn this from several places in the Bible i.e. Hosea 8:12 . From the Old Testament, where Hosea tells us, speaking for God, "I have written to him great things concerning my Law" and II Peter 1:21 from the New Testament confirms that "men spoke from God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." The Bible itself claims that the gospel is "the power of God unto salvation" Romans 1:16; the word is the "seed of the kingdom" Matthew 13: 1-9; 19: and "faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ" Romans 10:17. Only from the Bible do we learn what we know of Jesus the Christ. From it we learn of him both in prophecy and fulfillment, which, when fully evaluated, offers proof "quite convincing" of the supernatural influence in the production of the Bible. It could not have been produced by only natural powers, for no man knows the future by himself. The Bible furnishes the highest moral demands known to man. It has had a salutary influence on western civilization, and under its outlook, science has been approved and has prospered. In-spite of critics in all generations it has thrived, and archaeology has confirmed its truths of historical facts in manifold ways. Let us now list several reasons why we believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God. We ask you to conside these carefully and ask yourself if these reasons can be given to books men have written.

1. IT'S HISTORICAL ACCURACY Time and again men have doubted the accuracy of some of the events and people only mentioned in the Bible only to have these proven true by further discoveries of archelogy. For example: Fortifications believed to have been built by king Saul have been found at the cite of ancient Gibeah, confirming 1 Samuel 10:26.

The water shaft through which David was able to make a surprise attack on Jerusalem, 2 Samuel 5:6-8, has been found.

While no extra-Biblical references have been found which mention Solomon, a series of archaeological discoveries point to his existence. 1 Kings 9:15 says that Solomon built fortified walls around Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. Strong walls and elaborate gates of the same pattern have been found in each of these cities which date to the time of Solomon.

Quirinius was governor of Syria at the time of Jesus' birth around 6 BC, Luke 2:1-3. This was regarded as an error because the only information we had, placed Quirinius as governor of Syria in 6 AD. But an ancient inscription found in Antioch confirms that Quirinius was indeed governor of Syria in 7 BC as well.

We conclude this Reason by quoting from the archaeologist Nelson Glueck who said, "as a matter of fact, however, it may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a Biblical reference. Scores of archaeological findings have been made which confirm in clear outline or in exact detail historical statements in the Bible. And, by the same token, proper evaluation of Biblical descriptions have often led to amazing discoveries."

2. IT'S UNITY Some forty writters penned the words of the Bible, yet there is one central theme throughout without one real proven contradiction. The various parts of the Bible were written at different times and under the most varying circumstances. Parts of it were written in tents, deserts, cities, palaces and dungeons; in times of imminent danger and in seasons of ecstatic joy. Among its writers were judges, kings, priests, prophets, patriarchs, prime ministers, herdsmen, scribes, soldiers, physicians and fishermen. Yet despite these varying circumstances, conditions and workmen, the Bible is one Book, behind its many parts there is an unmistakable organic unity. It contains one system of doctrine, one code of ethics, one plan of salvation and one rule of faith. The reason, of course why this was possible, is that these writers were being directed by a mind greater than all of them. At the time of their writings they were Inspired of God and their message was and is infallible! No man today has this power and no other revelation will be given to mankind as Jude 3 points out.

In the Scriptures the Plan of Redemption is central and fundamental. In Genesis we have recorded the Creation and Fall of man to show that he has the capacity for and is in need of redemption. Next we find the Promise of the Redeemer, for man requires to have before him the hope and expectation of a Saviour. Then follows an elaborate system of sacrifices and offerings and these represent pictorially the nature of redemption and the condition under which salvation is realized. At the commencement of the New Testament we have the four Gospels and they set forth the Basis of Redemption, namely, the Incarnation, Life, Death, Resurrection and Ascension of the Redeemer. Next comes the Book of the Acts which illustrates again and again the Power of Redemption, showing that it is adequate to work its great results in the salvation of both Jew and Gentile. Finally, in the Revelation, we are shown the ultimate triumphs of redemption, the Goal of Salvation-the redeemed dwelling with God in perfect union and communion. Thus we see that though a large number of human media were employed in the writing of the Bible, yet their productions are not independent of each other, but are complementary and supplementary parts of one great whole; that one sublime truth is common to them all, namely, man's need of redemption and God's provision of a Redeemer. And the only explanation of this fact is, that "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God."

Secondly; among all the many personalities presented in the Bible, we find that one stands out above all others, not merely prominent but preeminent. Just as in the scene unveiled in the fifth chapter of the Revelation we find the Lamb in the center of the heavenly throngs, so we find that in the Scriptures also, the Lord Jesus Christ is accorded the place which alone befits His unique Person. Considered from one standpoint the Scriptures are really the biography of the Son of God.

In the Old Testament we have the Promise of our Lord's coming. In the Gospels we have the Proclamation of His Mission and the Proofs of His Messianic claims and authority. In the Acts we have the beginning of His Church through which his missionary Program to save both the Jew and Gentile was to be implemented . In the Epistles we find an exposition and amplification of His Precepts for the education of His People. While in the Revelation we behold the unveiling or Presentation of His Person and his great triumph over Satan. The Bible is therefore seen to be peculiarly the Book of Jesus Christ. Christ not only testified to the Scriptures but each section of the Scriptures testify of Him. Every page of the Holy Book has stamped upon it His photograph and every chapter bears His autograph. He is its one great theme, and the only explanation of this fact is that, the Holy Spirit superintended the work of each and every writer of the Scriptures.

Does not the unity of the Bible illustrate the Divine Inspiration of the Bible and demonstrate the truth of its own assertion that "God (who) at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets" (Heb. 1:1)?

3. THE BIBLE'S INDESTRUCTIBILITY The indestructibility of the Bible is another clear evidence that it is of Divine origin. Time and again men and governments have attempted to destroy God's Word. Men have been hung, burned, beaten, and suffered undescribable tortures simply for possessing and reading this book. The Bible has been misued, degraded, misinterepreted, and even burned in efforts to keep men from studying it. Yet it still survives and all these feeble efforts have failed. The survival of the Bible through the ages is very difficult to explain if it is not in truth the Word of God. Books are like men-dying creatures. A very small percentage of books survive more than twenty years, a yet smaller percentage last a hundred years and only a very insignificant fraction represent those which have lived a thousand years. Amid the wreck and ruin of ancient literature the Holy Scriptures stand out like the last survivor of an otherwise extinct race, and the very fact of the Bible's continued existence is an indication that like its Author it is indestructible.

When we bear in mind the fact that the Bible has been the special object of never ending persecution the wonder of the Bible's survival is changed into a miracle. Not only has the Bible been the most intensely loved Book in all the world, but it has also been the most bitterly hated. Not only has the Bible received more veneration and adoration than any other book, but it has also been the object of more persecution and opposition. For two thousand years man's hatred of the Bible has been persistent, determined, relentless and murderous. Every possible effort has been made to undermine faith in the inspiration and authority of the Bible and innumerable enterprises have been undertaken with the determination to consign it to oblivion. Imperial edicts have been issued to the effect that every known copy of the Bible should be destroyed, and when this measure failed to exterminate and annihilate God's Word then commands were given that every person found with a copy of the Scriptures in his possession should be put to death. The very fact that the Bible has been so singled out for such relentless persecution causes us to wonder at such a unique phenomenon.

Although the Bible is the best Book in the world yet is has produced more enmity and opposition than has the combined contents of all our libraries. Why should this be? Clearly because the Scriptures convict men of their guilt and condemn them for their sins! Political and ecclesiastical powers have united in the attempt to put the Bible out of existence, yet their concentrated efforts have utterly failed. After all the persecution which has assailed the Bible, it is, humanly speaking, a wonder that there is any Bible left at all. Every engine of destruction which human philosophy, science, force, and hatred could bring against a book has been brought against the Bible, yet it stands unshaken and unharmed today. When we remember that no army has defended the Bible and no king has ever ordered its enemies to be extirpated, our wonderment increases. At times nearly all the wise and great of the earth have been pitted together against the Bible, while only a few despised ones have honored and revered it. The cities of the ancients were lighted with bonfires made of Bibles, and for centuries only those in hiding dare read it. How then, can we account for the survival of the Bible in the face of such bitter persecution? The only solution is to be found in the promise of God. In Matthew 24:35 "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away."

The Bible which enshrines the Christian faith is now translated into more than four hundred languages and is being sent out to every part of the earth! Centuries after the persecution by the Roman Emperors, when the Roman Catholic Church obtained command of the city of Rome, the Pope and his priests took up the old quarrel against the Bible. The Holy Scriptures were taken away from the people, copies of the Bible were forbidden to be purchased and all who were found with a copy of God's Word in their possession were tortured and killed. For centuries the Roman Catholic Church bitterly persecuted the Bible and it was not until the time of the Reformation at the close of the sixteenth century that the Word of God was again given to the masses in their own tongue.

Even in our day the persecution of the Bible still continues, though the method of attack is changed. Much of our modern scholarship is engaged in the work of seeking to destroy faith in the Divine inspiration and authority of the Bible. In many of our seminaries the rising generation of the clergy are taught that Genesis is a book of myths, that much of the teaching of the Pentateuch is immoral, that the historical records of the Old Testament are unreliable and that the whole Bible is man's creation rather than God's revelation. And so the attack on the Bible is being perpetuated.

No other book has provoked such fierce opposition as the Bible, and its preservation is perhaps the most startling miracle connected with it. But two thousand five hundred years ago God declared,through Isaiah the Prophet in Isaiah 40:7,8 "The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the Word of our God shall abide for ever."

4. IT'S SCIENTIFIC ACCURACY: The Bible is not a science book. However, when a scientifc subject is mentioned it does not conflict with proven facts of science. This is another reason the Bible is inspired of God, for many of these scientific statements were made thousands of years before man ever discovered and proved the theories of science. For instance, the telescope was not invented until the days of Galileo in the early 1600's and up until that time men believed that the earth was suspended on the back of a giant turtle. But God tells us in Job 26:7 that "He stretcheth out the north over the empty place." So when men was capable of peering into the heavens via telescopes he discovered what God had said all along was indeed true, that the earth was suspened in the heavens and held there by gravity! Also, in 1820 Herbert Spencer set forth his five manifestations of scientific principles: time, force, action, space and matter. Men hailed this as a great discovery, but reading in Genesis 1:1 we find Moses recording the words of God saying " In the begining (time) God (force) created (action) the heavens (space) and the earth (matter)." The scriptures are replete with statements suggesting scientific knowledge which predates the corresponding discoveries of secular science. Given that Bible writers were not scientists, and given that the scientific information at their disposal was generally misleading, the accuracy of the Bible can only be attributed to the inspiration of God. Here are a few of the more striking examples of scientific accuracy in the Bible: 1) The Genesis account of creation asserts that all humans descended from the same parents, Adam and Eve. There is now considerable debate in the scientific community over recent genetic studies which indicate that all men have a common father and all women have a common mother. In fact, the latter claim is sometimes called the Eve hypothesis. Some scientists are skeptical about these studies, and even those who are supportive would not generally accept the Genesis account; however, Bible believers should expect further research to add yet more evidence supporting these hypotheses.
2) The Bible asserts that the stars are innumerable (Gen 15:5, Gen 17:7, Heb 11:12). This does not necessarily mean that we are incapable of mathematically expressing their number. It means that no human has the ability to count them individually so as to achieve their sum. It is claimed that there are 100 billion stars in our galaxy alone. If stars were counted around the clock at one star per second, then it would take over 3000 years just to count these. Add to this the fact that there are as many as 100 billion galaxies. However, there were many scholars prior to Galileo who believed that the stars could be counted, and several attempts were made to do so. Many of these counts arrived at around 1000 stars.
3) Paul asserted in Acts 17:26 that God hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth. Until recent times, it was believed there was significant differences in the blood of various human races. We now know that all races of men are of common blood.
4) Psalms 8:4-8 likely reveal the existence of systematic ocean currents: "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas." Matthew Maury (1806-1873) is commonly known as the father of oceanography. He was among the first to discover and chart systematic ocean currents. Maury claimed that his research was inspired by Ps 8:4-8.
5) It was not until this century that medical science had a full understanding of the fact that most diseases are caused by infection of microscopic organisms. Accordingly, the medical values of sterilization, sanitation, and quarantines were virtually unappreciated. Yet the Bible is so replete with such wisdom that time and space are not sufficient to cover them in paper such as this. Here are some examples:

"This is the law, when a man dieth in a tent: all that come into the tent, and all that is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days. And every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, is unclean. And whosoever toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days." - Num 19:14-16

"Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof shall be holy: and when there is sprinkled of the blood thereof upon any garment, thou shalt wash that whereon it was sprinkled in the holy place. But the earthen vessel wherein it is sodden shall be broken: and if it be sodden in a brasen pot, it shall be both scoured, and rinsed in water." - Lev 6:27,28

"And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean. All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be." - Lev 13:45,46.

These considerations, and many other evidences, serve to confirm the necessity of Divine inspiration to account for the wisdom of the Bible. May we therefore concur with Paul: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." II Timothy 3:16,17

5. IT'S PROPHETIC ACCURACY: In Isaiah 41:21-23 we have what is probably the most remarkable challenge to be found in the Bible. "Produce your cause, saith the Lord; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. Let them bring them forth, and show us what shall happen; let them show the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods." This Scripture has both a negative and a positive value: negatively it suggests an infallible criterion by which we may test the claims of religious impostors; positively, it calls attention to an unanswerable argument for the truthfulness of God's Word. Jehovah bids the prophets of false faiths to successfully predict events lying in the far distant future and their success or failure will show whether or not they are gods or merely pretenders and deceivers. On the other hand, the demonstrated fact that God alone grasps the ages and in His Word declares the end from the beginning, shows that he is God and that Scriptures are His Inspired Revelation to mankind.

Again and again men have attempted to predict future events but always with the most disastrous failure, the anticipations of the most far-seeing and the precautions of the wisest are mocked repeatedly by the bitter irony of events. Man stands before an impenetrable wall of darkness, he is unable to foresee the events of even the next hour. None knows what a day may bring forth. To the finite mind the future is filled with unknown possibilities. How then can we explain the hundreds of detailed prophecies in the Scriptures which have been literally fulfilled to the letter, hundreds of years after they were uttered? How can we account for the fact that the Bible successfully foretold hundreds, and in some instances thousands of years beforehand, the History of the Jews, the Course of the Gentiles, and the Experiences of the Church? The most conservative of critics, and the most daring assailants of God's Word are compelled to acknowledge that all the Books of the Old Testament were written hundreds of years before the incarnation of our Lord, hence, the actual and accurate fulfillment of these prophecies can only be explained on the hypothesis that "Prophecy came not at any time by the will of men: but holy men of God, spake, moved by the Holy Ghost."The Inspirer of the Scriptures has told us that "We have also a more sure word of prophecy; where unto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place" (2 Pet. 1:19). The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy. The Lamb of God is the one great object and subject of the Prophetic Word. In Genesis 3:15 we have the first word about the Coming of Christ. Speaking to the serpent, Jehovah said, "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shall bruise His heel." Note that the Coming One was to be the "woman's seed," the Miraculous Character of our Lord's Birth being thus foretold four thousand years before He was born at Bethlehem!

In Genesis 22:18 we have the second distinct Messianic prophecy. Unto Abraham, the angel of the Lord declared, "And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." Not only was the Saviour of sinners to be human as well as Divine, not only was He to be the "woman's" seed, but in the above Scripture it was declared that He should be a descendant of Abraham-an Israelite. How this was fulfilled we may see by a reference to the first verse in the New Testament, where we are told (Matt. 1:1) that Jesus Christ was "The Son of David, the son of Abraham."

But still further was the compass narrowed down, for we have intimated in the Old Testament Scriptures the very tribe from which the Messiah was to issue-our Lord was to come of the Tribe of Judah (the "kingly" tribe). He was to be a descendant of David. Nathan the prophet was commanded by God to go and say to David, "I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will stablish His kingdom. He shall build an house for My name, and I will stablish the throne of His kingdom for ever" (2 Sam. 7:12-13). And again, in Psalm 132:11 David declares concerning the promised Messiah, "The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David; (He will not turn from it) Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne."

Not only was our Lord's nationality defined hundreds of years before His incarnation, but the very place of His birth was also given. In Micah 5:2 we are informed, "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, but out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be Ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from the days of eternity." Christ was to be born in Bethlehem, and not only in one of the several villages which bore that name in Palestine, but Bethlehem of Judea was to be the birth-place of the world's Redeemer; and though Mary was a native of Nazareth (far distant from Bethlehem) yet through the providence of God, His Word was literally fulfilled by His Son being born in Bethlehem of Judea.

Further, the very time of Messiah's appearing was given through both Jacob and Daniel (see Gen. 49:10 and Daniel 9:24-26). Now in order to appreciate the force of these marvelous, super-natural prophecies, let the reader seek to foretell the nationality, place and time of the birth of some one who shall be born in the twenty-fifth century A. D., and then he will realize that none but a man inspired and informed by God Himself could perform such an otherwise impossible feat.

So definite and distinct were the Old Testament prophecies respecting the Birth of Christ, that the hope of Israel became the Messianic Hope; all their expectations were centered in the coming of the Messiah. It is therefore the more remarkable that their sacred Scriptures should contain another set of prophecies which predicted that He should be despised by His own nation and rejected by His own kinsmen. We can only now call attention to one of the prophecies which declared that the Messiah of Israel should be slighted and scorned by His brethren according to the flesh. In Isaiah 53:2-3 we read, "And when we (Israel) shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected of men; a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not!" We pause here for a moment to enlarge upon this strange and striking phenomenon. For more than fifteen centuries the Coming of the Messiah had been the one great national Hope of Israel. We pass on now to those predictions which have reference to the death of our Lord. If it was wonderful that an Israelitish prophet should foretell the rejection of the Messiah by His own nation, what shall we say to the fact that the Old Testament Scriptures prophesied in detail concerning the manner or form of His death? Yet again and again we find this to be the case! Let us examine a few typical instances. First, it was intimated that our Lord should be betrayed and sold for the price of a common slave. In Zechariah 11:12 we read, "So they weighed for My price thirty pieces of silver." Who was it that was able to declare, centuries before the event came to pass, the exact amount that Judas should receive for his dastardly deed? In Isaiah 53:7 we have another line in this marvelous picture which human wisdom could not possibly have supplied- "He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth." Who could have foreseen this most unusual sight, of a prisoner standing before his judges with his life at stake, yet attempting and offering no defense? Yet this is precisely what did happen in connection with our Lord, for we are told in Mark 15:5, "But Jesus yet answered nothing; so that Pilate marveled." Again; who was it that knew seven hundred years before the greatest tragedy of human history was enacted that the Son of God, the King of the Jews, the gentlest and meekest Man who ever trod our earth, should be scourged and spat upon? Yet such an experience was foretold: "I gave My back to the smiters, and My cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not My face from shame and spitting" (Isa. 50:6). Further; the form of capital punishment reserved for Jewish criminals was "stoning to death," and in David's time the experience of "crucifixion" was entirely unknown, yet we find in Psalm 22:16 that Israel's king was inspired to write, "They pierced My hands and My feet!" Again; what human foresight could have seen that in His thirst-agonies upon the cross our Lord should be given gall and vinegar to drink? Yet it was declared a thousand years before the Lord of Glory was nailed to the tree that, "They gave Me also gall for My meat; and in My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink." (Ps. 69:21). Finally; we ask, how could David foretell, unless he was inspired by the Holy Spirit,that our Lord should be taunted by His enemies and challenged to come down from the Cross? Yet in Psalm 22:7-8 we read, "All they that see Me laugh Me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the Lord that He would deliver Him: let Him deliver Him, seeing He delighted in Him." Such examples as the above might be multiplied indefinitely, but sufficient illustrations have already been given to warrant us in saying that the fulfilled prophecies of the Bible bespeak the omniscience of its Author. Were it necessary, and had we the space at our command, scores of additional fulfilled prophecies relating to the History of Israel, the Course of the Gentiles, and the Experiences of the Church-prophecies just as definite, accurate, and remarkable as those relating to the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ-could be given, but our present limits and purpose forbid us so doing.

Having examined a few of the startling prophecies which treat of the Birth and Death of our Saviour, it now only remains for us to apply in a word the significance of this argument. Many have read over these Scriptures before and perhaps have regarded them as being wonderfully descriptive of the Advent and Passion of Jesus Christ, but how many have carefully weighed the fact that each of these Scriptures were in indisputable existence more than five hundred years before our Lord came to this earth? Man is unable to accurately predict events which are but twenty-four hours distant; only the Divine Mind could have foretold the future, centuries before it came to be. Hence, we affirm with the utmost confidence, that the hundreds of fulfilled prophecies in the Bible attest and demonstrate the truth that the Scriptures are the inspired, infallible, inerrant Word of God. And thus worthy of your most careful study!

Note: Much of the foregoing information was gleaned from a book by: Arthur W. Pink by the title of: "THE DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE"

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