Five Signs Proving The Bible To Be True
Five signs proving the Bible to be true
When it comes to looking at proof regarding the truth and Divine origin of the Bible there are at least five main categories of evidence: 1. The evidence coming from scientific facts contained in the Bible.(See article entitled “Signs of Inspiration”). Examples include such things as, Isaiah stating that the earth is round, and Job referring to the earth being suspended in space, etc. All these facts were stated hundreds of years before modern scientific research discovered these things to be so. 2. The evidence coming from archaeological discoveries.Nelson Glueck the renowned Middle East archaeologist points out; “In all of my archaeological investigation I have never found anything from antiquity which contradicts any statement in the Bible.” See www.arkdiscovery.comThis website shows a range of exciting discoveries such as the remains of Pharaoh's army which drowned after the Israelites escaped through the waters of the Red Sea. See also “The Exodus Case” written by Dr Lennart Moller which examines the accounts given in the Book of Exodus, and “Untold Secrets of Planet Earth” written by Vance Nelson looking at the subject of dinosaurs and the Bible. (This book makes an excellent “coffee table” gift. See www.creation.com/store). 3. The evidence coming from history.The historical accuracy of Scripture has been verified time and again and many books have been written on this subject such as “The case for Christ Study Bible; Investigating the Evidence for Belief” General Editor Lee Strobel and the five volume series entitled “Evidence for the Truth” by Dr E.K. Victor Pearce.4. The evidence coming from fulfilled Bible prophecy.The Bible is unique amongst ancient literature because one third of it is composed of prophecy and predictions. Many of these prophecies have already come to pass although they were written down hundreds and in some cases thousands of years before the events they foretold. No other ancient or modern work is similar to this in content. This is one of the main ways in which God displays the truth and authenticity of Holy Scripture; by predicting events long before they come to pass. It is a clear sign revealing the Divine origin of the Bible. It is God’s way of clearly demonstrating to the world that the Bible really has been inspired by Him and can be trusted and relied upon. Unbelievers may try to ignore the fulfilment of these prophecies, but they are a matter of fact and are there for all to see, if they want to see. (See articles such as; “Amazing Prophecy Fulfilled”, “Israel and the Middle East in Prophecy”, etc).5. The evidence coming from mathematical patterns and numeric designs in the text of Scripture.(The number 7 is said to be God's perfect number (group of sevenis known in Greekas heptad-, heptas, from hepta )(NBThis is a purely mathematical subject and mustn’t be confused with “The Bible Code” or indeed anything
associated with numerology).The Bible has many unique properties revealing its Divine origin but one of the most amazing is that it was written with “a sevenfold mathematical structure and design” hidden in the Hebrew and Greek languages of which it was composed. The number seven, or an exact multiple of seven, repeatedly features in every conceivable way from Genesis right through to Revelation.The Bible, which is the world’s number one best seller, is not strictly one book; it is in fact a volume of 66 books written over 1500 years by about 44 different authors. Each of these authors state that they are describing and recording visions, commandments and information inspired to them by God and that He is the ultimate Author behind what they have written. A sevenfold mathematical pattern pervades Scripture showing clearly that it is indeed the product of “supernatural engineering” rather than mere human thought. It is something so complicated, no human composer could have achieved it and is a clear sign of God’s Hand. Take for example, the genealogy of Jesus, the Son of God, as recorded in the first 11 verses of Matthew’s Gospel. Studying the passage as it was written in New Testament Greek, research reveals the following amazing details-The number of words in the entire genealogy is exactly divisible by seven. The number of letters used, are exactly divisible by seven. The number of vowels and consonants used are exactly divisible by seven. The number of words that begin with a vowel is exactly divisible by seven. The number of words that begin with a consonant is exactly divisible by seven. The number of words which occur more than once is exactly divisible by seven. The number of words which occur in more than one form is exactly divisible by seven. The number of words which occur in only one form is exactly divisible by seven. The number of nouns is exactly divisible by seven. Only seven words are not nouns. The number of names in the genealogy is exactly divisible by seven. Only seven other kinds of nouns occur. The number of male names is exactly divisible by seven. The number of generations is 21, exactly divisible by seven.The mathematical structure observed in the genealogy of Jesus is staggering, the numerous heptadic (group of seven) features showing clearly that this couldn’t be the work of unaided human thought, but the result of Divine inspiration.Then again, numerous examples occur in Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus (verses 18-25).
The number of Greek words in the passage is 161, exactly divisible by seven. The numeric value of all these 161 words is exactly divisible by seven. (NB. Ancient cultures used their alphabet not just to form words but also as their numbering system. Each letter in their alphabet also meant a number. The numeric value of a word is the sum total of what its letters add up to, when each letter is taken as a number). The number of Greek vocabulary words in this passage is exactly divisible by seven. The one word found nowhere else in the New Testament is the Greek word “Emmanuel”. It has a numeric value exactly divisible by seven. The number of forms in which these 161 words occur is 105, exactly divisible by seven. Of these 105, the number of verbs is exactly divisible by seven. Of the 105 forms, the number of proper names is exactly seven. The number of Greek letters in these 7 proper names is exactly divisible by seven. When it comes to Matthew’s account of Christ’s Childhood yet again the same numerical pattern is found. The number of Greek vocabulary words used in Matthew 2 is 161, exactly divisible by seven. The number of Greek letters in these 161 words is 896, exactly divisible by seven. The numeric value of the 161 vocabulary words is 123,529, exactly divisible by seven.The number of forms in the passage is 238, exactly divisible by seven. The numeric value of these forms is 166,985, again exactly divisible by seven. Although there are several “topics” covered in Matthew 2 which are separate from the rest of the passage, each one has numerical features all of its own. They are separate from the rest of the passage and yet in a peculiar and intricate way, they form a part of the amazing feature of the whole chapter. They are intertwined in such a phenomenal way that the entire chapter is one great mathematical unit. There are 3 speeches in the chapter. Herod speaks, the wise men speaks, and the angel speaks. Each speech shows numeric features in itself yet each forms only part of the chapter which as a whole has numeric features of its own.Studying the Old Testament in the Hebrew language in which it was written, reveals exactly the same structures and patterns which are found in the New Testament.Take for example, Genesis 1:1; the simple yet profound statement “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The number of Hebrew words in this proclamation is seven. The total numerical value of the three nouns, God, heaven and earth is 777, a figure exactly divisible by seven. The number of letters in these three nouns is 14, exactly divisible by seven. The numerical value of the verb “created” is 203, exactly divisible by seven. The numerical value of the first and last letters of the seven words of this proclamation is 1393, exactly divisible by seven. The total number of Hebrew letters in the seven words is 28, exactly divisible by seven. And so it goes on. In this proclamation alone, linguists have identified a total of 18 separate features of the number seven.This sevenfold structure or pattern is found throughout Scripture and is completely unique to the Bible. The number seven underlies and permeates the text in every conceivable manner. These patterns aren’t found in any other ancient literature. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and all the other writings of John including Revelation, James, Peter Jude and all the writings of St Paul displays this phenomena as do all the writings of the Old Testament.
Different kinds of this phenomena are being discovered all the time. For instance, it has been noted that the numeric value of the Hebrew names of the 21 Old Testament writers is exactly divisible by seven. Of these 21 writers, those named in the New Testament are Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Hosea, and Joel, in all exactly seven. The numeric value of these seven names is exactly divisible by seven. These seven names occur in the Old Testament 2,310 times, again a number exactly divisible by seven. The examples never seem to come to an end. This sevenfold pattern in Scripture interlocks paragraph with paragraph and book with book throughout the entire Bible. The founding father of the Science of Biblical Numerics, was a Russian mathematician and literary scholar called Dr Ivan Panin. This mathematical and analytical genius was born in Russia in 1855. He grew up an ardent athiest and after being involved in plots to overthrow the Czar ultimately entered Harvard University in the US. He was a Master of Literary Criticism and was so well known in the literary field that his conversion from believing in atheism to accepting Christianity in 1882, made newspaper headlines. (He was a sort of “Richard Dawkins” figure to the people of his generation).One day in 1890, Panin was casually reading St John’s Gospel in New Testament Greek. As a gifted linguist and mathematician he suddenly noticed what appeared to be a numerical relationship between certain words. This aroused his curiosity to examine the Biblical text from a “mathematical perspective” something which had never been done before.As a committed Christian, Panin devoted the next 50 years of his life to exploring and highlighting the numerical designs underlying both the Greek text of the New Testament and the Hebrew text of the Old Testament. During these years he produced over 43,000 pages of analysis showing the Hand of God working behind the human authors of the Bible. The mathematical patterns he revealed have never been denied; one cannot argue with mathematics, and the implications of their presence has encouraged and strengthened the faith of countless millions across the world. It has awakened the conscience of individuals who have tried to ignore God’s commandments, and it has comforted the afflicted and bereaved with the knowledge that God’s promises of the life beyond will most certainly be fulfilled.His research proved the supernatural origin of Scripture at the very same time liberal critics were becoming popular in casting doubts on the reliability of the Bible. (See article entitled “Liberal Theology and the Truth of the Bible”). Owing to the Providential timing of his research, Panin’s work is often regarded as God’s answer to liberal theology and His rebuke to the notion that Scripture is but an untrustworthy composition of human hand. The Science of Biblical Numerics which he founded proves the unique character of the Bible. It shows its Divine origin; it shows it can be trusted and relied upon. In an age when people are looking for signs and evidence that the Bible is true, how reassuring it is that God raised up and gifted this man to strengthen the faithful and help the wavering. Panin died in 1942 but the research he began continues to this day. As can be seen, the Bible is no work of mere human origin but the work of God the Holy Spirit. As it states in 2nd Peter 1:21 “Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” and in 2Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is given by the inspiration of God├ö├ç┬¬“.This article has been written to help strengthen faith and provide information on how to defend the Bible in an age of skepticism. If you have found it useful then please share its contents with others. It can be viewed along with the other articles mentioned on www.internetpulpit.co.uk
Hier is die grootvisvangs
A hundred and fifty and threeThe possible meaning of the number 153 in Luke 5In his parables and teaching Jesus often referred to people in the world as sheep, different types of soil, but He also used the analogy of fish.When Jesus went out searching for 12 men to be his disciples he was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee one dayLuke 5:1-16One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee,[a] great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. 2 He noticed two empty boats at the water's edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. 3 Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon,[] its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish." 5 "Master," Simon replied, "we worked hard all last night and didn't catch a thing. But if you say so, I'll let the nets down again." 6 And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! 7 A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking. 8 When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, "Oh, Lord, please leave me-I'm too much of a sinner to be around you." 9 For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him.10 His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed.Jesus replied to Simon, "Don't be afraid! From now on you'll be fishers of men!"11 And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.
And because His first disciples were fisherman Jesus used the example of fish referring to the lost people of the world After teaching them for three years He gave them instructions to go out into the world and spread the Good News : Acts 1:8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere-in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." So we ended up calling this instruction the Great Commission when the disciples started out to spread the gospelThree years later John writes in his gospel about another catch but this time the nets were strong enough, they even counted the number of fish that they brought to shore on that day.John recorded it in: John 21:1111 So Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore. There were 153 large fish, and yet the net hadn't torn.The reason why the disciples were careful to count, must surely involve symbolism, as there seems to be no other reason for it. A clear example of people being saved (Fish being caught) happened on the day of Pentecost after Peter delivered his first sermon 3000 people were saved Acts 2:4141 Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day-about 3,000 in all.This number 153 is interesting
It has been calculated that there were 153 distinct nations in the world at the time of Christ (the number is not much different today); And on the day of Pentecost 17 ethnic groups were mentioned that were present Acts 2:8-114 And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages,[] as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.
5 At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. 6 When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers.7 They were completely amazed. "How can this be?" they exclaimed. "These people are all from Galilee, 8 and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages! 9 Here we are-1Parthians,2Medes,3Elamites, people from4Mesopotamia,5Judea, 6Cappadocia, 7Pontus, the province of8Asia, 10 9Phrygia, 10Pamphylia,11Egypt, and the areas of12Libya around13Cyrene, visitors from14Rome 11 (both15Jews and converts to Judaism), 16Cretans, and17 Arabs. And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done!"(Numbers added)The number 17 is also symbolic: when all the numbers are added up through 17 (that is, 1+2+3+…+16+17), they add to 153. Furthermore, the digits in 153 (i.e., 1+5+3) add to 9, which when multiplied by 17, again makes 153. It is also interesting that there are three digits in the number, and if each is multiplied by itself three times, then the total once again adds to 153. That is: (1 x 1 x 1) + (5 x 5 x 5) + (3 x 3 x 3) = 153. There seems no other number that could possibly be more appropriate to represent all the peoples of the world than this number, and it is surely more than coincidence that the Creator saw to it that exactly 153 great fishes were counted that entered the "gospel net."
. There were 153 large fish, and yet the net hadn't torn.
Indicating that, if the human "fish" were securely caught in the gospel net, they would surely be drawn to shore. It is probably noteworthy in this connection that the greatest passage on security in the Bible lists exactly seventeen things that can never separate us from God's love in Christ, the last being "nothing in all creation."35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble(1) or calamity(2) or are persecuted(3), or hungry(4), or destitute(5), or in danger(6), or threatened with death(7)? 36 (As the Scriptures say, "For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep."[a]) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death(8) nor life(9), neither angels(10) nor demons(11),[] neither our fears for today(12)nor our worries about tomorrow(13)-not even the powers of hell(14)can separate us from God's love. 39 No power in the sky above(15)or in the earth below(16)-indeed, nothing in all creation(17) will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Numbers added)No one is ever more secure than the loved ones of the Savior! One might even multiply this seventeen-fold security by the nine-fold fruit of the SpiritGalatians 5:22-2322 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love(1), joy(2), peace(3), patience(4), kindness(5), goodness(6), faithfulness(7), 23 gentleness(8), and self-control(9) . There is no law against these things!
and again the results of effectiveness in true evangelism is 153-fold! Then also, one could note that the word "sign" or "miracle" occurs 17 times in John, and there are 9 "signs" described in John's gospel (the seven performed by Christ before His resurrection plus His own resurrection plus this symbolic post-resurrection miracle). Again we have 17×9 suggested. That is not all, but it should be obvious that all of this simply could not be mere coincidence. It's symbolic, parabolic, or typological significance is real and powerful.