An Amazing Book

Many people would have you believe the Bible is just a collection of myths and legends. However, the real fairy tale is told by the people claiming the Bible is not what it claims to be.

The Bible has been recognized as the most historically accurate writing from antiquity or ancient times. The inspired Words of God, it was written by over 40 authors over a period of 1,500 years and shows a continuity and unity of thought and purpose never seen in any writing. It was written by prophets, kings, warriors, farmers, statesmen, doctors, lawyers, and fishermen with widely varying educational and life experiences.

The earliest copies of the Bible begin to appear with 100 years of its completion and over 23,000 manuscripts, in whole and in part exist for the New Testament alone. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947, some written hundreds of years before Christ, showed us the Old Testament remained virtually unchanged in over 2,000 years. To make a comparison, There is over a 1,000-year gap between Greek Philosopher Homer’s The Odyssey from when he wrote it and the earliest existing manuscript.

Since the rise in the interest of Archeology in the late 1800's, physical evidence of people, cultures and cities that only existed in the Bible were being discovered, establishing the Bible as an historical document. Werner Keller Writes “In Palestine, places and towns which are frequently mentioned in the Bible are being brought back once more....exactly as the Bible describes them...exactly were the Bible locates them.”

He goes on to state archeological discoveries include the palaces of Herod and the pavement where Jesus stood before Pilate. They have also discovered the astronomical tables in ancient Babylon which give the exact date which the Star of Bethlehem was revealed. “Many events which previously passed for “pious tales” must now be judged to be historical.[1]”

The historical accuracy of the Bible was put to the test several years ago when Canadian film producer Simcha Jacobovici did a documentary called the The Quest for the Lost Tribes of Israel. In 720 B.C. The Jewish kingdom of Israel, Which consisted of ten tribes, was wiped out by the Assyrians and the people scattered among the nations of the Assyrian Empire where they just vanished into history.

Using the information contained in the Old Testament, he traced the ancient trade routes and found evidences of most of these tribes The trail led him from present day Israel, India, China, Burma and even Afghanistan, the heart of fundamentalist Islam. What is more amazing is he also discovered people who claim they are Jewish, or Israelites, who have never set foot in modern day Israel. These people’s ancestors have been there for centuries. Many of them realize they are under a curse and one day, God will bring them home. Some of them still observe worship and sacrificial practices which were handed down by Moses.

[1]Werner Keller, The Bible as History. Introduction to the first edition (New York, William Morrow and Company, Inc. 1981) 22-23

When All Else Fails, Read the Directions.

How many of you have had to put something together with instructions written in a language you don’t understand? Or after it is put together, there is a piece left over which either doesn’t appear to fit anywhere or should have been used at the beginning of the assembly?

Even better yet, how many of you know someone who thinks they know everything (Aren’t they annoying to those of us who do?) and feel they don’t need the directions to assemble the whatchamacallit? Of course, when the finished piece doesn’t look, or work like it is suppose to, it is always someone else’s fault. It is a little like the man who is lost but is to prideful to stop and ask for directions.

Many people approach Bible study the same way. They don’t know how, or think they know how and really don’t, but won’t admit it and carry on. The result is the same as putting something together wrong or is missing a piece and not working properly.

We have an amazing book in the Bible. It contains God’s plan from eternity past to eternity future. It is information He wanted to share with us. He did not use a secret language, code or otherworldly rhetoric. He used plain, everyday human language to communicate His plan and His wisdom with us. He also understood that we would not always be able to understand to entire breadth of his plan. But He also indicated His will would be carried out. He gave us this information so that we would display our belief and faith in Him that He would carry out His word.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways,

And My thoughts than your thoughts.

For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,

And do not return there,

But water the earth,

And make it bring forth and bud,

That it may give seed to the sower

And bread to the eater,

So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;

It shall not return to Me void,

But it shall accomplish what I please,

And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” Isa 55:8-11

God thinks very Highly of His Word. We read in the passage that it will not return void, or empty. He will keep everything He has said or promised. As we look back, we can see that this has been the case all along. Whether confirmed elsewhere in the Bible itself, or confirmed by other historical records, God’s word has rung true time and time again. Don’t you want to know what else He has to say to you?