Many who claim to follow Christianity may be surprised to know that the Bible does not teach there is a supernatural devil or satan who opposes God and tempts men and women to sin. This idea is of pagan origin and was introduced into the early church.
Many people today think that the Bible is just one of many other religious books, and that it has very little significance in the world today.
But only the Bible reveals that there is a God who has a plan for the earth and all the nations on it, a plan which has spanned thousands of years and is slowly nearing fulfilment.
What is the Bible?
The Bible is a collection of writings of prophets and apostles from approximately 1600 BC to 98 AD. These writings have been divided into books which often bear the name of the writer.
The Bible is made up of a total of 66 books which are divided into two sections:
- The Old Testament (containing 39 books), and
- The New Testament (containing 27 books)
The Old and New Testaments cannot be separated from each other. They both contain the same message: the Gospel (the good news and glad tidings of the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ). Both Old and New Testaments constantly confirm each other.
The Bible written by the inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit
Those who wrote the Bible lived at different times and widely differing circumstances. Some writers were highly educated men or kings sitting on a throne, while others minded sheep or were humble fishermen.
But all were moved by the inspiration of the Spirit of God. This enabled them to record such things as:
- God’s plan with mankind and the earth
- His laws and commandments
- Prophecies about the coming saviour (Jesus Christ)
- Details of a future worldwide Kingdom to be set up on earth with Jesus as King
“For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved (Greek – impelled or driven) by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21).
“All Scripture is given by the inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16).
The Bible consistently claims that it is the Word of God
Moses “came and told the people all the words of the Lord …” (Exodus 24:3, 4).
David said “The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His word was in my tongue” (2 Samuel 23:2).
The Old Testament
The first seventeen books of the Old Testament record the history of mankind from Creation to about 450 years before the birth of Jesus Christ. The first eleven chapters of Genesis outline the history of mankind up until the call of Abraham. Thereafter, much of the Old Testament history concerns the nation of Israel and its forefathers.
The Old Testament also contains poetical books such as the book of Job, the Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon.
The last seventeen books of the Old Testament are the writings of the prophets, mostly produced during the decline of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, the period of the Jews’ exile in Babylon and the early days of their return to the land of Israel from the captivity in Babylon.
The New Testament
The first four books of the New Testament tell us of the life and mission of Jesus Christ.
The Acts of the Apostles then records the spread of Christianity in the Roman world by the apostles of Jesus (especially Peter and Paul).
The remainder of the New Testament (except the last book) contains letters written by the apostles and their associates to groups of Christian believers or to individual Christians.
The last book of the New Testament is the “Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave to him”, and which Jesus gave to the apostle John. In it, Jesus showed John what would happen to his followers from the time it was given in 96 AD until Jesus’ return to earth to establish his Kingdom and beyond.
How do we know the Bible is true?
There are three ways in which the Bible has been proved to be accurate:
- Bible records concerning history
- Fulfilled prophecy concerning Jesus Christ
- Fulfilled prophecy concerning the rise and fall of nations and cities
Bible records concerning history
The Bible has been proved by archaeology to be historically accurate. Here are just a few examples:
- Today we can see the shaft through which the Bible says Joab climbed up to take the city of Jebus (later Jerusalem) for King David (recorded in 2 Samuel 5:7-9)
- People can wade through King Hezekiah’s tunnel from the spring of Gihon to the pool of Siloam (or Silwan) (recorded in 2 Chronicles 32:2-4, 2 Kings 20:20)
- The Moabite Stone confirms the accuracy of the Bible as it speaks of the rebellion of Mesha king of Moab against Israel (recorded in 2 Kings 3:4, 5)
- An Assyrian black obelisk shows Jehu, one of the kings of Israel (who is referred to in 2 Kings 9 and 10) paying tribute to the Assyrian king
Fulfilled prophecy concerning Jesus Christ
The Old and New Testament confirm one another in the prophecies of the coming of Jesus, prophecies which were sometimes given centuries prior to his birth. Here are just a few examples:
- Jesus’ birth of a virgin (predicted Isaiah 7:14; fulfilled Luke 1:31)
- The place of his birth to be Bethlehem (predicted Micah 5:2; fulfilled Luke 2:1-7)
- His pain, sorrow and cruel death (predicted Psalm 22:16-18, Isaiah 53 etc.; fulfilled Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, 24 etc.)
- Jesus’ resurrection (predicted Psalm 16:10; fulfilled Matthew 28, Mark 16 etc. and Acts 2:24)
Jesus knew that the details of his life had been predicted by the Old Testament prophets. In fact, he told his disciples to search the (Old Testament) Scriptures, because “they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39).
After his resurrection, Jesus rebuked two of his disciples for their lack of understanding of his mission because it had been clearly outlined in the Old Testament Scriptures (Luke 24:25 – 27).
Fulfilled prophecy concerning the rise and fall of nations and cities
In the Bible, God revealed information through His prophets about what was going to happen in the affairs of the nations on earth. Many times, these predictions were given long before the events they spoke of occurred. Here are a few examples:
- The rise of the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Grecian and Roman empires (predicted in the image of Daniel 2)
- The victory of Alexander the Great over the Medes and Persians (predicted Daniel 8:3 – 8; explained Daniel 8:20 – 22)
- The fall of the city of Babylon through the opening of its gates at the hands of Cyrus the Persian (predicted Isaiah 45:1, 2)
The Dead Sea Scrolls confirm Bible accuracy
Discovered in 1947 near the Dead Sea, these scrolls predated the oldest manuscripts of the Bible available in Hebrew by approximately one thousand years. When they were compared with the text of the Bible as we know it today, the Dead Sea scrolls have confirmed its accuracy.
The Bible’s predictions for the future of the earth
In view of the foregoing, we can be sure that the Bible’s predictions for the future will be fulfilled. The Bible’s message gives hope for the future to those who are prepared to search its pages.