Evidences for Inspiration of the Bible
Introduction:
Throughout man’s history, there have been those who have claimed the Bible
was just a book among books, no different than any other book, certainly
not from God. People claim that the Bible is filled with myths, has
errors, is irrelevant, and even dangerous.
But we are commanded to do the following: We must prepare to give a proper
response. (I Peter 3:15) “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and
always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the
hope that is in you, with meekness and fear:”
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Body:
I.
The Bible Claims to Be Inspired
·
(II Samuel 23:1-2) “Now these are the last words of David. Thus says David
the son of Jesses; Thus says the man raised up on high, The anointed of the
God of Jacob. And the sweet psalmist of Israel: The Spirit of the Lord
spoke by me, And His word was on my tongue.”
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Jehovah used men to communicate His word to others.
·
(II Timothy 3:16) “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness.”
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“God Breathed”
·
Over 2500 passages claim inspiration!
II.
The Bible Is Scientifically Accurate
·
Even though the Bible was written during times of scientific ignorance and
false ideas, it does not contain those! Very important!
1.
The earth is flat.
2.
People didn’t know about germs.
3.
Superstitions were believed. 1000 B.C.
·
Shape of the earth (Proverbs 8:27) “When He prepared the heavens, I was
there, When He drew a circle on the face of the deep,”
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“Ball or sphere” (Isaiah 40:22) “It is 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.”
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Isaiah wrote in 720 B.C. At this time, men thought the earth was flat.
Note the words of Columbus:
Columbus’ own words show that he was basing his belief that the world was
round on what came from the Bible. Note his appeal to Ferdinand and Isabel
for the 1492 voyage: “At this time I have seen and put in study to look
into all the Scriptures, cosmography, histories, chronicles and philosophy
and other arts, which our Lord opened to my understanding so that it became
clear to me that it was feasible to navigate from here to the Indies. . .
Neither the sciences nor the authoritative citations from them were of any
avail. . . I have already said that for the execution of the enterprise of
the Indies, neither reason, nor mathematics, nor world maps were profitable
to me; rather the prophecy of Isaiah was completely fulfilled.” (Brigham,
53-86)
III.
The Bible Is A Unified Book
·
The entire book is about God’s Plan for Man’s Redemption, His Salvation.
There is a unity of theme.
·
The Bible only records what was necessary, there are no extraneous details.
It was written to be understood by all; there is unity of style. (Luke
1:35) “And the angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come
upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also,
that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.”
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One verse!
·
Forty different people from very different backgrounds over 1500 years wrote
sixty-six books. Yet it is in perfect agreement and harmony in all that is
taught. Truly unique! (II Peter 1:21) “for prophecy never came by the will
of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”
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IV.
The Bible Is Confirmed By Archaeology
·
There are many examples. Just mention one.
“Another challenge against the Bible’s inspiration was more difficult to
overcome. The challengers said definitively the Bible could not be inspired
because Genesis 40 recorded the dream the butler (cupbearer) had which
included squeezing grapes into Pharaoh’s cup. The so-called error was that grapes were not used for making wine in Egypt as this
time. But the special problem here was not just that the Bible was wrong
about grapes and wine, but that Herodotus, the “Father of Ancient History”
said grapes were not known in Egypt at this time (Herodotus, ii. 77) and
Plutarch, a Greek historian, said that wine was not drunk in Egypt until the
time of Psammetichus (664 - 610 B.C.) (Babbitt) which would be long after
Joseph’s time. Therefore any time one used the Genesis account and claimed
it was accurate, he would have been doing so in spite of ancient historical
records . . . until archaeology stepped in. Many discoveries have been made
which show both Herodotus and Plutarch were wrong. One of them was the wall
painting from the tomb of Nakht in Egypt, which shows large clumps of grapes
being prepared for a feast obviously proving they did indeed know about and
use grapes (Humble, 4). George Rawlinson, Professor of Ancient History at
Oxford, announced. “It is now certain from the monuments that the
cultivation of the grape, the art of making wine, and the practice of
drinking it were well known in Egypt at least from the time of the Pyramids
(2560 B.C.).”
Every time the Bible has been challenged, it was proven to be correct.
V.
The Bible Has Evidence of Fulfilled Prophecies
·
Read Isaiah 41:23. “Show the things that are to come hereafter, That we may
know that you are gods; Yes, do good or do evil, That we may be dismayed and
see it together.”
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1.
Tyre
(Ezekiel 26:3-6, also through 16) “Therefore thus says the Lord God:
‘Behold, I am against you, O Type, and will cause many nations to come up
against you, as the sea causes its waves to come up. And they shall destroy
the walls of Tyre and break down her towers; I will also scrape her dust
from her, and make her like the top of a rock. It shall be a place for
spreading nets in the midst of the sea, for I have spoken,’ says the Lord
God, ‘it shall become plunder for the nations. Also her daughter villages
which are in the fields shall be slain by the sword. Then they shall know
that I am the Lord.’
7-16
For thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, I will bring against Tyre from the
north Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses, with
chariots, and with horsemen, and an army with many people. He will slay
with the sword your daughter villages in the fields; he will heap up a siege
mound against you, build a wall against you, and raise a defense against
you. He will direct his battering rams against your walls, and with his
axes he will break down your towers. Because of the abundance of his
horses, their dust will cover you; your walls will shake at the noise of the
horsemen, the wagons, and the chariots, when he enters your gates, as men
enter a city that has been breached. With the hooves of his horses he will
trample all your streets; he will slay your people by the sword, and your
strong pillars will fall to the ground. They will plunder your riches and
pillage your merchandise; they will break down your walls and destroy your
pleasant houses; they will lay your stones, your timber, and your soil in
the midst of the water. I will put an end to the sound of your songs, and
the sound of your harps shall be heard no more. I will make you like the
top of a rock; you shall be a place for spreading nets, and you shall never
be rebuilt, for I the Lord have spoken,’ says the Lord God. Thus says the
Lord God to Tyre: “Will the coastlands not shake at the sound of your fall,
when the wounded cry, when slaughter is made in the midst of you? Then all
the princes of the sea will come down from their thrones, lay aside their
robes, and take off their embroidered garments; they will clothe themselves
with trembling; they will sit on the ground, tremble every moment, and be
astonished at you.’ ”
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The siege on Tyre began with the siege by Nebuchadnezzar (585 – 572 B.C.)
and was completely fulfilled by Alexander the Great’s attack in 332 B.C. in
which he used eighty ships from Persia and one hundred twenty from Cyprus.
2.
Edom
(Jeremiah 49:16-18) “So the princes and all the people said to the priests
and the prophets, ‘This man does not deserve to die, For he has spoken to us
in the name of the Lord our God.’ Then certain of the elders of the land
rose up and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying: Micah of
Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spoke to all
the people of Judah, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Zion shall be
plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins, And the mountain
of the temple Like the bare hills of the forest.’ ”
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Mountainous terrain was well fortified. Petra in the movie with Indiana
Jones is Edom.
Invitation:
Brief overview of a few evidences of the Bible’s inspiration:
“All that Homer had to say has been told in twenty modern languages. All
that Shakespeare wrote has been translated into fifty languages. All that
Tolstoy declared to the world has found expression in sixty languages. But
the Bible, whole or in part is translated into more than 2,377 different
languages and dialects. It has weathered the storms of hate; it has
withstood the thunderbolts of wrath; it has triumphed over the edicts of
tyranny; it has endured the anathemas of infidelity; it has conquered the
gnawing teeth of time; it has outlived, out-looked, out-loved, outreached,
outranked and out-blessed all other books.” Morris
(James 1:21) “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness,
and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your
souls.”
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Bobby Stafford May 6, 2018
The
church of Christ
