Are These Ancient Documents From God?
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 10 viewsNotes
Transcript
Handout
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Questions in Apologetics: Previous Lessons
Why Trust These Ancient Documents?
Can We Prove God Exists?
Are These Ancient Documents From God?
The Bible claims inspiration:
In the Old Testament, we find the concept of God speaking 13, 666 times in 5, 889 verses.
The New Testament has verses claiming further inspiration: ; ; , .
Our attention will be on three main aspects of the Bible’s inspiration:
Scientific Revelations
Fulfilled Prophecy
Unity of the Whole of Scripture
Scientific Revelations:
Careful attention must be given when using scientific revelations. Avoid drawing too much out of poetic language. Poetry lends itself to a certain level of linguistic licensing in which science is not the aim, rather imagination.
When seeking scientific revelations of accuracy within the Bible, utilize narrative.
, , ,
God expanded light from his being on Day 1.
God created Ozone (expanse) that gave distance between outer space and our atmosphere (oxygen) on Day 2.
God created vegetation and plant life on Day 3. Plant life released oxygen into the expanse of our atmosphere.
God created the sun and moon on Day 4.
God created water animals, reptiles, winged creatures, and multi-cellular sea animals on Day 5.
God created mammals, land animals, and human life on Day 6.
The sequence of the creation account is directly in line with the order in which science establishes for earth. The difference, of course, is the time-frame and the force (Creator) behind the sequence of events.
The ultimate question is: why would Moses believe in the creation account in this specific order, from One God, who works outside the universe, when he was raised by the Egyptians who believed in vastly different concepts?
Scientists believe in a “Genetic” or “Mitochondrial” Adam and Eve. All people derive from these two beings.
Circumcision on the eighth day () has now been proven to be the best day for such a procedure. The eighth day provides less bleeding and faster clotting than the seventh or even ninth day.
Available thrombin (or prothrombin), a protein that plays a major role in the clotting process, is at 90% of its ultimate level at birth.” On the third day it drops to 38%, only to recover to 100% on the eight day. Yes, God had given Moses the best time for this necessary procedure!
Fulfilled Prophecy:
[i] Ibid (Van De Weghe). 281.
Isaiah prophesies concerning Cyrus, the Persian king helping the Lord build the Temple in Jerusalem ().
Isaiah prophesied between 750-700 B.C. at a time when the Persians were not a military threat in the Ancient World. The Assyrians were the world power (Jonah preached to the Assyrians in Nineveh), then the Babylonians who destroyed Jerusalem in 586 B.C.
Cyrus hadn’t become sole power of the Middle East until 538 B.C. when he defeated the Babylonians.
Therefore, Isaiah prophesied concerning this man nearly 150-200 years prior to his reign.
Daniel prophesied concerning the rising kingdoms of Media, Persia, Greece, and Rome (; ; ). His prophesy is dated by most scholars in the year 539 B.C. One year prior to the fall of the Babylonians.
Furthermore, prophecies in which Christ fulfilled range from 250-400 found within the Bible. 250 being the objective prophecies, while 400 are often viewed by those who already believe in Christ and the scriptures as inspired.
Unity of the Whole of Scripture:
The Bible is a collection of 66 books with:
40
40 Authors.
Written from 3 Continents.
3 Languages.
Over a Period of 1,500 Years.
Many of these people had never met. They all held varying occupations, including but not limited to:
Moses, a Political Leader.
Peter, a Fisherman.
Amos, a Herdsman.
Joshua, a Military Leader.
Luke, a Doctor.
Solomon, a King.
Paul, a Rabbi.
The Bible is written in various writing styles: narrative, poetic, prophetic, allegory, parables, figurative, literal, apocalyptic, and still others.
With all of the various diversities within the Bible, the most fascinating aspect of it all is that it holds rigorously to one incredible theme: God’s plan to redeem mankind through a Savior.
God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”
knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
2 Peter
“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.
“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
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 like a tent to dwell in;
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,
and he shall fulfill all my purpose’;
saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’
and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’ ”
Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,
whose right hand I have grasped,
to subdue nations before him
and to loose the belts of kings,
to open doors before him
that gates may not be closed:
“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem.
So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.