A few facts from the Bible which had to be inspired by the Lord
by Jimmie Brodersen on Thursday, December 6, 2012 at 7:34pm
Shared with permission from Facebook note.
I believe when speaking or writing about authentication of the Holy Bible we should look in many different areas. The Holy Bible is the only religious text to not have proven errors in history, geography, prophecy, or scientific information. There is external verification discovered through archeology and science. When people seek to disprove parts of the bible they end up validating scripture instead. Some archeologists use the bible as an excavation guide. There have been more than 24,000 New Testament manuscripts found, no other ancient writing has more than a dozen manuscript artifacts found, most have less than 5 and yet are still considered as trustworthy and verified.
Today we shall look at some of the information the bible provides us which has long since been proven to be fact.
What holds up the earth?
It was not until recent centuries where it became widely accepted that nothing is holding the earth in place. According to Greek mythology Atlas carried the earth on his shoulders. Hindi tradition states that an elephant held the earth up on its back, while standing on top of a sea turtle which was swimming in the midst of an endless sea. Of course in the 20th century satellite technology proved these ideas false, and proved the bible true.
He stretches the northern skies over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing.
Job 26:7
By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. Heb 11:3
By faith we understand that the universe was created by God’s command, so that what is seen has been made from things that are not visible. Heb 11:3
Plate tectonics
Then God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land “earth,” and He called the gathering of the water “seas.” And God saw that it was good. –
Gen 1:9-10
We have been taught in school that hundreds of millions of years ago there was once a giant supercontinent which broke apart and have been involved in what is called a continental drift; and eventually in hundreds of millions of more years they will once again move into each other. Well, that is partially true. The bible tells us that there was a supercontinent, and that He caused it to break up; this did not take place of millions of years. The theory of plate tectonics was not conceived and accepted until the early 1950’s.
Eber had two sons. One was named Peleg, for during his days the earth was divided; his brother was named Joktan. –
Gen 10:25
At 1st thought you might think this verse is telling us that the people of the earth were divided because we know in the next chapter is the Tower of Babel incident, God spread out the people over the earth and caused them to speak in different languages. That however is only part of it. The Hebrew word in the verse used for earth is ʾereṣ, which literally means the earth and land. This verse is telling us that the land of the earth was split and spread out during the 239 years Peleg was alive. This helps us have the proper understanding of Genesis 11:8, as the people were being scattered they were also literally drifting away from each other.
So from there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth, and they stopped building the city. –
Gen 11:8
The shape of the Earth
We all remember hearing about the debate in the days of Columbus about the shape of the earth; was the earth flat or was the earth round (a sphere)? The bible cleared that up thousands of years prior:
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.
Isaiah 40:22
He drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters, At the boundary of light and darkness.
Job 26:10
STARS
Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night. They will serve as signs for festivals and for days and years. They will be lights in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth.”
Gen 1:14-15
Constellations and specific stars such as Polaris (North Star, have been used for navigation for thousands of year. The Lunar phases and constellations have been used for making calendars for thousands of years. Hebrew, Babylonian, Celtic, Mayan, Incan, Aztec, and other ancient civilizations used lunar phases to determine when to have festivals and hold rituals.
Until recent centuries it was commonplace to believe there were only as many stars as one could see with their own eyes. The first few centuries of the telescopic era the telescopes had rather weak resolution. Since the 20th centuries we have been discovering more than trillions of stars. Greek astronomer and mathematician Hipparchus (190-120 B.C.) counted the stars and concluded there were exactly 1,026 stars. Another Greek astronomer and mathematician Claudius Ptolemaeus (90-168 A.D) stated that there were 1,056 stars. German astronomer, Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), counted 1,006 stars. (What happened to the other 50 stars?) The Ancient Hebrew books we call the Old Testament, or the Law and Prophets, had already told us the stars are more than can be numbered, and there are more stars than grains of sand on the earth.
Now the word of the Lord came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir.” He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then He said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.” –
Gen 15:4-5
The hosts of heaven cannot be counted; the sand of the sea cannot be measured. So, too, I will make the descendants of My servant David and the Levites who minister to Me innumerable.” (The word for heaven here means the sky or “the heavens”)
Jer 33:22
He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them. Our Lord is great, vast in power; His understanding is infinite. –
Psalms 147:4-5 (How amazing is this knowing there are more than trillions of stars?!)
There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory. –
1 Cor 15:41
Glory is radiance, brilliance or light intensity. In astronomy we use the word “magnitude” to describe the intensity of a star’s light.
“The total number of stars in the universe is greater than all the grains of sand on all the beaches of the planet Earth.”
Carl Sagan
“Counting at a rate of ten stars per second it would take over 100 trillion years. Surely the host of heaven cannot be numbered!”
Dr. Mark Eastman M.D
Prophecy
I will keep this part short, for we can look into prophecy until we go blind or passout, and I am sure you are familiar with anything I could point out. There are no errors in Bible prophecy. Bible prophecy is not vague. There are 26 other religious writings which are claimed by their followers as divinely inspired, yet none of these other religious writings contain any fulfilled prophecy. Roughly 27% of the Bible was prophetic at the time it was writing. Most of the Bible’s prophecy is fulfilled and what is not fulfilled will be fulfilled.
For dogs (evil people) have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.
Psalms 22:16-18
This entire verse was prohetic, and has since become fulfilled prophecy. Crucifixion was not invented until about 700 years after this was pinned by David. Jesus' bones were not broken, it was custom for the legs of a person who was crucified to be broken so he or she could no longer push up to breath, causing suffocation leading to death. When the Centurion came to break Jesus' legs near sunset and found he was not breath he pierced Jesus through the heart to insure death. When Jesus was being crucified they stripped his clothing and cast lots for the robe, which was valuable.
There are so many countless other prophecies I could speak on but I will stop with this one.
Looking at the information given, knowing that the biblical manuscripts have been authenticated it should lead a person to wonder how the writers received their information. There were 40 authors in multiple time periods, most of whom did not meet any other writer, and still there is not only an absence of contradictions, there are no flaws in prophecy or information, and there is an amazing harmony. The writers of the Holy Bible must have been divinely inspired by an all knowing God.
**Now, for fun, we can look into dinosaurs.
Science text books and television tell us that dinosaurs lived millions of years before mankind.
As we read the verses in Genesis chapter one pertaining to the creation of living creatures it is important to notice and understand the repeated phrase “according to their kinds” as this phrase tells us each was created according to its own species. Life did not evolve from a single ameba cell in a pond of goo and evolve into animals. The creation of these animals also includes dinosaurs. There are a few creatures discussed in the bible which could be dinosaurs.
JOB CHAPTER 41 – LEVIATHAN
Notice Leviathan:
is large
strong
has scales which in impenetrable
terrifying teeth
blows fire and smoke
glowing eyes
the “mighty men”/ warriors, are afraid of it
*For personal note, Leviathan is also written about in Psalm 74:14; 104:26, and Isaiah 27:1
Archaeologists have found fossils of large sea dwelling creature, and others that likely were dragon like. There are fossils called Plesiosaur (idae) or Pliosaur (idae). These were large aquatic reptiles. These creatures grew to lengths of 43 to 56 feet long.
The Plesiosaurs had particularly long necks. There were land dwelling dinosaurs which are commonly referred to as “Duckbilled Dinosaurs.” These are in the family Hadrosaur(idae), which is a subfamily Lambeosaurinae. The Parasaurolophus , which was a species of Lambeosaur had large boney structures (crests) connected to it’s nasal passages. The bible indicates that Leviathan spent time in water, on land, and in the air. Let’s take a look at a couple pterosaurs, which includes what many people know as Pterodactylus (wrongly called pterodactyls). They all had the crests on the skull which could have been capable of producing flames, had several razor sharp teeth in an elongated jaw, and a long neck. Being reptilian they would have had scales as well. The Pteranodon (a type of pterosaur) had a wingspan which may have been over 30ft (fossils of 30ft wingspan have been found) The Quetzalcoatlus which is recently discovered pterosaur had a wingspan of 40+ feet and may have weighed as much or more than 200 pounds. A flying serpent is written about in Isaiah 14:29 and 30:6
PHOTO
The Pteranodon
PHOTO
The Quetzalcoatlus
The bible also speaks about a creature called the behemoth, which may have been a brontosaurus.
Look at Behemoth, which I made along with you. He eats grass like an ox. Look at the strength of his loins and the power in the muscles of his belly. He stiffens his tail like a cedar tree; the tendons of his thighs are woven firmly together. His bones are bronze tubes; his limbs are like iron rods.
He is the foremost of God’s works; only his Maker can draw the sword against him. The hills yield food for him, while all sorts of wild animals play there.
He lies under the lotus plants, hiding in the protection of marshy reeds. Lotus plants cover him with their shade; the willows by the brook surround him.
Though the river rages, Behemoth is unafraid; he remains confident, even if the Jordan surges up to his mouth. Can anyone capture him while he looks on, or pierce his nose with snares?
Job 40:15-24
