The Bible is the Word of God
TEXT
: 1 Pet. 3:15; Heb. 1:1-2INTRODUCTION
:A. WE ARE TO BE READY TO GIVE AN ANSWER FOR WHAT WE BELIEVE.
B. IT IS ONLY REASONABLE THAT GOD, HAVING CREATED US, REVEAL
HIMSELF TO US SOMEHOW.
C. WE BELIEVE THE BIBLE, INSPIRED OF GOD, IS THAT REVELATION.
D. THIS LESSON GIVES REASONS FOR BELIEVING THAT.
Part One
I.
UNITY.Not one, but 66 books written by about 40 men over a period of approximately 1500 years. They had different backgrounds, spoke several languages, lived in different areas, yet their writings made a complete and harmonious whole. There are links or threads of evidence that tie all of these books together and prove that they all stemmed from one mind, the mind of God. There is one underlying theme of the Bible. That theme is of man’s reconciliation to God through Christ.
II.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE.A. GENERAL EVIDENCE.
1. Common origin of civilization - The Fertile Crescent.
2. Jewish history as recorded in the Bible as compared with other
contemporary histories.
B. SPECIAL EVIDENCE.
1. Early writing. Until fairly recently it was thought that writing was not known until after the time of Moses. The Code of Hammurabi, the Weld Prism, and the Pre-flood Tablets have now proven the use of writing in Abraham’s day, and in some cases, much earlier.
2. Early use of metals. Until recently the "Iron Age" was supposed to be from 1200 BC onward. Now the "Iron Age" has been pushed back another 1500 years to 2700 BC.
3. The flood. Geologists are daily finding evidence that large areas of the earth were once covered by water. Many other ancient histories record great floods.
4. Solomon’s wealth has been established by extensive digging and searching in the Palestine area.
5. The building of the great Egyptian cities of Pithon and Ramses was by slave labor about the time of the Exodus. At Pithon the bricks which are in the lower walls are full of straw; the higher you go, the less straw you find until there is none in the top (Compare Ex. 5).
6. King Belshazzar of Babylon (Dan. 5). For many years all Babylonian records give no such name, listing Nabonidus as the last king before the Persian invasion. However, the British Museum discovered a number of clay tablets that listed Nabonidus as having a son, Belshazzar, who ruled jointly with him and was killed in the Persian conquest. (See Archaeology and the Bible, J.A. Thompson for more.)
III.
SCIENTIFIC ACCURACY.A. ALTHOUGH OVER 1900 YEARS OLD, THE BIBLE CONTAINS NONE OF THE GEOGRAPHIC, HISTORIC, AND SCIENTIFIC MISTAKES THAT CHARACTERIZE THE WRITINGS OF ITS TIMES.
B. THOUGH NOT A SCIENCE TEXT-BOOK, THE BIBLE CONTAINS AN INTRIGUING AMOUNT OF WHAT WE CALL "SCIENTIFIC FORE-KNOWLEDGE."
1. The rotundity of the earth (Prov. 8:27; Isa. 40:22).
2. The suspension of the earth (Job 26:7).
3. The paths of the sea...Matthew Fontaine Maury charted the currents of
the sea after reading Psa. 8:8.
IV.
STYLE.The writers of the Bible were completely impartial, unlike others. The worst moments of the greatest heroes of the Bible are presented in glaring candidness. Such as Noah’s drunkenness, Abraham’s lie, Jacob’s deceit, David’s adultery, Peter’s cowardice, Paul’s blasphemy, etc.
V.
THE BIBLE’S MORAL STANDARD.The Old Testament writers lived in a country surrounded and influenced by heathens whose religions and immoralities are shocking to think about. The New Testament writers were surrounded by the immoralities and vices of pagan Rome and Greece. Yet the moral standard they set forth is far above anything known to their generations. How can the skeptic account for the fact that the world’s greatest literature and highest moral standard comes not from the geniuses of Rome, the philosophers or of Greece, or the scholars and moralists of today, but from a handful of Jewish fishermen who never went to college and never had another book published? What is the basis for the Bible’s moral standard?( Mat. 22:37-40; Rom. 13:8ff. ).
Part Two
VI.
FULFILLED PROPHECY.A. CONCERNING ISHMAEL( Gen. 16:10-12; 17:20 ).
B. CONCERNING ISRAEL.
1. Balaam’s prophecy( Numbers 23:9-10; 24:17-18 ).
2. Concerning Israel’s downfall( Deut. 28:14-64 ).
a. 400 years before their king( vs. 36 ).
b. "Hiss & byword"( vs. 37; Jer. 29:18 ).
c. Captors speak a strange tongue( vs. 49-50 ).
d. Siege, cannibalism, death( vs. 49-57 ). Literally fulfilled in the Syrian
siege( 2 Kings 6:24-31 ) and the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.
e. Many Jews would perish( vs. 62 ). 1,200,000 died in the
destruction of Jerusalem.
f. Slavery( vs. 68 ). 99,000 Jews were sold by Rome.
C. CONCERNING THE NATIONS.
1. Babylon( Isa. 13:17-22 ).
2. Cyrus and the Medo-Persian Empire( Isa. 41:21-27; 44:6-21; 44:22-5:7 ).
VII.
SURVIVAL.No book has been so loved and so cherished as the Bible. Yet no book has come under greater attack than this book. Voltaire boasted that by the end of his life or shortly thereafter, the philosophers of his day would cause men to forget the Bible. Today who remembers Voltaire?
CONCLUSION
:Jesus said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall never pass away"( Mark 13:31 ). We believe the word of God is in our possession right now. We believe it is complete( 2 Tim. 3:16-17 ). We believe it is indeed what it claims to be( 1 Thes. 2:13 ). We believe it to be verbally inspired( 1 Cor. 2:13, 16 ).
THE BIBLE IS GOD’S COMMUNICATION, HIS REVELATION TO MAN
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