2 Timothy 3:16-17
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
2 Peter 1:20-21
“Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
Psalm 119: 160
“The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.”
Last week, we took a look at God’s Love at work and expressed as He pursues the lost people of the world. In these last days, God has turned up the expansion of the Gospel using the very tools of the devil. The platforms that seemed to defy God and hate God tried to talk about how unreliable the Bible is and how Christians are ‘kooks’ have become the very platforms for God. The Gospel is exported to millions around the world using these platforms. We have seen some of the most outspoken haters of God become saved and begin to preach the Gospel.
One of the things as a pastor that I want to do is to equip the people I serve with confidence in the Bible. If one were to hear and listen to many, some think that the Bible is made of unprovable myths and stories that teach nice ideas but are not from God. There are reliable ways to show that the Bible is a very accurate book in all that it talks about.
As we see in the verses above, we are told that the Bible is reliable and that it is the truth. So, my hope in this writing is to provide my church folks and other readers with some reliable information to bolster confidence in the Bible. We are not called to have blind faith in the Bible or God, for that matter. We have strong reasons to have confidence in the Bible and its teachings and promises.
There are many copies of the Bible, in part or its entirety, in a variety of languages, and this information is readily available on Google. One does not need to be a spy-level investigator to find this information out.
Here are a few things to bolster your confidence. I apologize if this is common knowledge to you, but I find a lot of Christians are handicapped by a lack of knowledge, are afraid to engage in debates, and don’t want to appear simple or be cornered for the lack of ammunition in a discussion. So, here is some stuff:
There are approximately 5,800 copies of the Greek New Testament, 10,000 copies in Latin, and another 9,300 in various languages. There are 2,000 copies of the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Hebrew Old Testament. In 1947 in Cairo, Egypt, there was a discovery of about 10,000 Hebrew manuscripts.
In contrast, there are about 1,000 copies of the works of Homer, like The Iliad and the Odyssey. These works of Homer date from the 9th-15th Century. The Quran began to be compiled about 20 years after Mohamed’s death, but it was not completed until about the 8th Century. That was a long time after he lived. The first writing that we have of Alexander the Great was written in the 1st Century AD. Alexander died in about 336 BC, some 300+ years before the first writing about him. The person writing about him never saw him or spoke to him. The first writing about Julius Caesar was written 9 centuries after he lived; once again, there were no eyewitness accounts.
The vast majority of the New Testament was written within 20-50 years of Jesus’ life here on earth. The vast majority of the writers were eyewitnesses; some spent day after day with Him, and two writers, James and Jude, were Jesus’ actual physical brothers. The entire New Testament was completed within about 70 years of Jesus’ ministry, death, and resurrection. No one in their right mind questions the existence or the events of the lives of Alexander or Julius Caesar, yet the people writing about them never met them or anyone even close to them.
In the topic of archaeology, we can find that there are significant findings that demonstrate the truth and reliability of the Bible.
In 1986, a foot was discovered with a nail through it, actually driven into the back of it. This foot dates back to around 400 AD and was proof of Roman crucifixion.
A Turkish archeologist found religious artifacts in a home in Laodicea, showing that there was a Christian church there, as stated in Revelation 3 and Colossians.
In 1993, there was a Tel Dan Inscription that mentioned the ‘house of David.’ Up until this finding, many had thought that King David was just a mythical figure.
In 1868, a missionary in Jerusalem discovered a Moabite Scroll that talked about a battle between Moab and King Jehoram after the death of King Ahab. This battle is recorded in 2 Kings 3.
The Epic of Gilgamesh, found in 1872, is an epic story of a global flood that even has a hero whom a god tells to build a boat. It is very close to the Genesis account in chapters 6-9.
In 1867, the Hezekiah tunnel, written about in 2 Samuel 5:6-8, was discovered. This was a tunnel built by workers for Hezekiah where they began at two different ends and met in the middle, diverting water to save the city of Jerusalem.
Archeologists also found a fortified building in the Golan Heights dated back to the time of David, and it was the outpost of Geshur, an ally of David. Absolom’s mother, Maacah, was from Geshur.
From an article in Modern Scientific Discoveries, we see this about science and the Bible: first, let us consider the science of thermodynamics: In Psalm 102:25-26, we read, “Of old hast, Thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of Thy hands. They shall perish, but Thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall be changed.”
In verse 25, we find, restated, the fact that God is the Creator of all that exists. Verse 26 then tells us something highly significant, not about the initial created state of the universe but about the present state of the universe. According to this Scripture, written three thousand years before the dawn of modern science, we learn that the universe is like a suit of clothes that is wearing out. In other words, the universe is running down, deteriorating, and constantly becoming less and less orderly. This is not what most people believed at the time. But the rotation of the earth is slowing, and the magnetic field is decaying.
Everything left to itself decays: you, me, your house, your car, and we break down. This was stated in the Bible 3,000 years ago.
Matthew Maury was head of the Depot of Charts and Instruments in the Hydrographic Office of the United States Navy from 1841 to 1861. He read Psalm 8:3-8 and Ecclesiastes 1:6 and immediately began to come to some conclusions. Maury, based on the Bible, concluded that there are well-established wind circuits and that there are literally “paths in the sea” – that is, definite currents in the ocean. He discovered that there is a 40-mile-wide, 2000-foot-deep ocean current called the Gulf Current, a path in the sea flowing from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic. His story was published in 1929 by the Naval Academy. He had other discoveries that revolutionized the shipping industry.
Do some research on your own and become proficient in the truth not just of the Bible but in the Bible. I hope that these few insights inspire you to do research on your own and learn more and more, growing your faith and confidence in the Lord and His Holy Word.
God bless you,
Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church
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The post Don’t Be Fooled: God’s Word is Reliable :: By Sean Gooding appeared first on Rapture Ready.
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