What does the Bible claim about itself?
(1) "All scripture is given by inspiration of Yahuwah, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of Yahuwah may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
(2) ". . . no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of Yahuwah spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." (2 Peter 1:20-21)
(3) "For the word of Yahuwah is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12)
(4) ". . . the Scripture cannot be broken." (John 10:35)
What evidence does the Bible offer to support these extraordinary claims?
Science
Here are just a few examples of the Bible’s scientific claims that predate modern science. Many more could be cited.
- Creation is made of particles, indiscernible to our eyes. (Hebrews 11:3)
- Air has weight. (Job 28:25)
- The Bible, more than 4,000 years ago, specified the perfect dimensions for a stable water vessel. (Genesis 6:15)
- When dealing with disease, our clothes and our bodies should be washed under running water. (Leviticus 15:13).
- Human waste, if not isolated, will cause disease. (Deuteronomy 23:12-13)
- The oceans contain springs. (Job 38:16)
- Blood is the source of life and health. (Leviticus 17:11; 14)
- Our bodies are made from the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7; 3:19). Scientists have discovered that the human body is comprised of about 28 base and trace elements, all of which are found in the earth.
- Isolating (quarantining) those who are sick will prevent the spread of disease. (Leviticus 13:45-46; Numbers 5:1-4)
- The presence of what we today call the "jet stream" was noted by Solomon about 3,000 years ago. (Ecclesiastes 1:6)
- There are mountains on the ocean floor. (Jonah 2:5-6)
- The earth is flat, a fact that the Jesuits have been working for hundreds of years to cover up. The fact that the earth is not a globe will come as a shock to many because of lifelong conditioning and incessant exposure to Jesuit propaganda and falsehoods, but the empirical and truly scientific evidence bears out what Scripture has made clear all along, the earth is flat.
Internal Consistency
The 66 books of the Bible were written:
- On three Continents: Africa, Asia, and Southern Europe
- In three languages: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek
- By about 40 different people with diverse backgrounds and educations: kings, shepherds, musicians, farmers, fishermen, priests, physicians, etc.
- Over a period of about 1,500 years.
Incredibly, all 66 books of the Bible maintain a wonderful harmony with each other! The Bible's internal consistency is a remarkable testimony to its divine origin.
Prophecy
"Remember the former things of old, For I am El, and there is no other; I am Elohim, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done . . ." (Isaiah 46:9-10)
Yahuwah, in order to demonstrate the authenticity of the Bible as His inspired word, has given us hundreds (literally) of divine forecasts. Roughly 30% of the Bible is prophecy. That is to say that about 1 out of every 3 verses in the Bible is prophetic! To date, about 85% of the Bible’s forecasts have come to pass exactly as predicted! Why should we expect the still future forecasts to be any different?
Here are just a few of the prophecies that have, in every detail, been fulfilled to date:
- The fall of the Babylonian Empire and subsequent rise of the Medo-Persian Empire (Daniel 2)
- Cyrus to be the warrior to capture Babylon (Isaiah 45:1-3)... Cyrus had not yet been born!
- Babylon to never be inhabited again (Isaiah 13, Jeremiah 51)
- The fall of the Medo-Persian Empire and subsequent rise of Greece (Daniel 2, 7, 8)
- The conquests of Alexander the Great (Daniel 7, 8)
- The division of Greece among four generals following Alexander’s death (Daniel 8)
- The rise and fall of pagan Rome following the fall of the Grecian Empire (Daniel 2)
- Egypt to never again have a commanding position among the nations (Ezekiel 29, 30)
- The destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem (Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 19)
- The Exact year of the first Christian martyr, and the giving of the gospel to the Gentiles - The "70 Weeks" Prophecy (Daniel 9)
The book of Daniel, alone, has accurately forecasted more than 2,500 years of what is now history!
Now, let us look to Yahushua of Nazareth...
Yahushua fulfilled more than 350 messianic prophecies in every detail, including the exact times, places, and circumstances of His birth, His ministry, His rejection, His betrayal, and His vicarious death. 61 of these prophecies are considered by scholars to be “major prophecies,” which is to say that the specificity of the foretold events allows historians to objectively investigate the validity of the prophecies' alleged fulfillment. Every prophecy, without exception, was irrefutably fulfilled in Yahushua.
Here are just a few of the prophecies that were, in every detail, fulfilled in Yahushua:
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Hundreds of years before crucifixion was even introduced by Rome as a
form of execution, Scripture recorded that Yahushua would be pierced
through His hands and feet. (See Psalms 22:16-17 & Zechariah 12:10.)
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- Be a descendant of Abraham (Genesis 12:3)
- Be a descendant of Isaac (Genesis 17:19; 21:12)
- Be a descendant of Jacob (Gen 28:14; Numbers 24:17, 19)
- Be a descendant of Judah (Genesis 49:10)
- Be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:1-2)
- *Be born at a Specific Time (Daniel 9:25) - This prophecy pointed forward to the exact years of Yahushua’s baptism and crucifixion!
- Slaughter of children in an effort to kill Yahushua while He was still a child (Jeremiah 31:15)
- Flight to Egypt (Hosea 11:1)
- Preceded by a forerunner (Malachi 3:1)
- Preceded by Elijah (Malachi 4:5-6)
- Declared the Son of Yahuwah (Psalms 2:7; Proverbs 30:4)
- Have a ministry in healing (Isaiah 35:5-6; 42:18)
- Galilean ministry (Isaiah 8:22-9:1; 9:1-2)
- Speak in parables (Psalms 78:2-4)
- A prophet (Deuteronomy 18:15)
- Have Yahuwah's own Name applied to Him (Isaiah 9:5-7; Jeremiah 23:5-6)
- To bind up the brokenhearted (Isaiah 61:1-2)
- Rejected by His own people (Isaiah 53:3; 63:3; Psalms 69:8-9)
- Adored by great persons (Psalms 72:10-11)
- Priest after the order of Melchizedek (Psalms 110:4)
- Triumphal entry into Jerusalem on a colt (Zechariah 9:9)
- Adored by infants (Psalms 8:2)
- Not believed (Isaiah 53:1)
- Betrayed by a close friend (Psalms 41:9; 55:12-15)
- Betrayed for thirty pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12)
- Accused by false witnesses (Psalms 35:11)
- Silent to accusations (Isaiah 53:7)
- Spat on and struck (Isaiah 50:6)
- Hated without reason (Isaiah 49:7, Psalms 35:19; 69:4-5)
- Crucified with criminals (Isaiah 53:12)
- *Pierced through His hands and feet (Psalms 22:16-17; Zechariah 12:10)
- Sneered and mocked (Psalms 22:7-8)
- Reproached (Psalms 69:9)
- Prayed for His enemies (Psalms 109:4)
- Soldiers gambled for His clothing (Psalms 22:17-18)
- No bones broken (Exodus 12:46; Psalms 34:20)
- His side pierced (Zechariah 12:10)
- Buried with the rich (Isaiah 53:9)
- Resurrected! (Psalms 16:10; 49:15)
*Suggested Reading: Psalm 22 & Isaiah 53. Amazing! Bear in mind when reading these passages that Psalm 22 was written around 1000 BC; The book of Isaiah was written around 700 BC.
According to mathematicians…
The odds of one man fulfilling 8 of these prophecies.......................1 in 1017
1 in 10:17 = 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000
The odds of one man fulfilling 16 of these prophecies.....................1 in 1045
1 in 10:45 = 1 in 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
The odds of one man fulfilling 48 of these prophecies.....................1 in 10157
1 in 10:157 = 1 in 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
“And now I have told you before it comes,
that when it does come to pass, you may believe.”
(John 14:29)
What external evidence is there to support the claims of the Bible?
Experiential Consistency
The unique content of the Bible has, for more than 2,000 years, enriched the lives of millions of people: men and women, young and old, rich and poor, free and slave, from all backgrounds, and from every ethnic group in the world. Addictions have been conquered. Broken hearts have been healed. Fear, confusion, anxiety, depression, anger, guilt, sickness, and all manner of darkness have been overcome by the ever-living light of Bible Truth.
Preservation
The ancient Scriptures of the Bible have been remarkably preserved and accurately translated for thousands of years despite the innumerable attempts to obscure their contents and the countless efforts made throughout recorded history to destroy them altogether. Today, nearly 25,000 ancient Bible manuscripts of the New Testament still exist. There is no other book of antiquity in existence that can be supported by even 1,000 partial manuscripts!
The discovery of the “Dead Sea Scrolls” in 1947 attests to the remarkable preservation of the Old Testament, as well as to the astounding accuracy of its modern translation.
Life Testimonies
Countless millions of people willingly laid down their lives during the Roman papal “Inquisitions.” They were burned at the stake, beaten, stoned, beheaded, hanged, torn apart by wild animals, and relentlessly tortured using the most unfathomably cruel methods ever witnessed by humanity. This period is often referred to as the “Dark Ages” because the Light of the Bible was intentionally hidden and obscured by the Roman Church-State. It was “heresy” to read the Bible or to even be found with a Bible in your possession. It was for the Love of the Truth contained between the covers of the Bible that these countless men and women willingly laid down their lives.
They knew the TRUTH…that the Bible is not a book of condemnation and imagination; it is the Book of Hope, Promise, Enlightenment, and Liberty, the Living words of a Loving Creator, the revelation of unconditional Love and Mercy resting on the only pillar of Truth - Yahushua, Son of the Living Eloah!
The Bible – Quick Facts:
- There are nearly 25,000 New Testament Bible manuscripts that still exist today. (No other ancient book in existence can be supported by even 1,000 surviving manuscripts!)
- The entire Bible has been translated into more than 400 languages, with portions of it being translated into more than 2,500 languages.
- The Bible is the most widely circulated book in the world. (In 2001, the Gideons International estimated that about 107 copies per/minute are going out into the earth!)
- More books have been written about the Bible than any other subject.
- More authors have quoted from the Bible than from any other source.
- The Bible has been the most targeted piece of literature in human history.
- About 30% of the Bible is prophecy.
- Historians estimate that as many as 100 million people were murdered during the Roman papal inquisitions for simply wanting to read the Bible and adhere to its divine teachings. (Warning! Rome Never Changes!)
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet,
And a light unto my path.”
(Psalms 119:105)