** The Supernatural Authority of the Bible

The following words are not my own, but do greatly reflect my beliefs. -- Splash ---------------------- 'All Scripture is given by inspiration of God' (2 Timothy 3: 16). Historical evidence of the Crucifixion of Jesus The Jewish Talmud recorded that Jesus was crucified on the eve of Passover (as stated in the Bible). The three hour period of darkness during the crucifixion was noted world-wide by Thallus and Phlegon (first century historians). The crucifixion itself was noted by Cornelius Tacitus (a Roman historian, born 52-54AD). He stated that Jesus had been crucified by Pontius Pilate. The crucifixion was also noted by Flavius Josephus (a Jewish Pharisee born in 37AD). He wrote, "Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works ..... Pilate ... condemned him to the cross ... he appeared to them alive again on the third day." Amount of early New Testament Manuscripts Homer's Iliad, 800 BC, 643 copies found so far Works of Herodotus, 480 BC, 8 copies found so far Plato's Tetralogies, 427 BC, 7 copies found so far Caesar's Gallic wars, 44 BC, 10 copies found so far New Testament, 50 – 95 AD, 25,366 copies found so far! Accuracy of Transmission of Old Testament Documents Confirmed by the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947. Thousands of manuscripts were found in 11 caves by an Arab shepherd boy and others at Qumran. Full copy of the book of Isaiah was discovered, which had been made about 200 BC. Comparison of this scroll with oldest copy of Isaiah made by the Massorite scribes in central Europe showed no significant difference. Accuracy of transmission has been complete. Scientific Accuracy of the Bible Time, Space and Matter finite -- Genesis 1:1, 1 Tim 1:9, Titus 1:2 Expanding Universe -- Psalm 104:1-2 Stars cannot be numbered -- Jeremiah 3:22 The Earth is a sphere -- Isaiah 40:22 The Earth hangs on nothing -- Job 26:7 Atomic structure -- Hebrews 11:3 1st Law of Thermodynamics -- Genesis 2:2-3, Heb 4:3-4, Nehemiah 9:6 2nd Law of Thermodynamics -- Psalm 103, Isaiah 51:6, Matthew 24:35 Oceanic Currents -- Psalm 8:8, Isaiah 43:16 Mountains on the Ocean Floor -- Jonah 2:5-6 The Jet Stream -- Ecclesiastes 1:6-7 Evaporation of Water -- Job 26:8, Eccl 1: 6-7, Amos 9: 6 Source of River Water -- Ecclesiastes 1:6-7 Fresh-Water Springs in the Sea -- Job 38: 16 Dinosaurs -- Job 40:41, Ps 74:14, 104:26, Isaiah 27:1 Nuclear Physics -- 2 Peter 3:10 Importance of blood in life process -- Leviticus 17:11 Prophetic Accuracy The Bible is a prophetic book, with over 25% of it referring to future events. It clearly foretells the future because God lives outside our fourth dimension, known as Time. Jesus Christ said, "before Abraham was born, I am", (John 8: 58) confirming that He existed before the birth of Abraham. The Bible states that Jesus Christ is God, and pre-existed everything (John 1:1). The most mathematically amazing Scripture is found in Daniel 9: 26-26. In this Scripture the angel Gabriel is foretelling the exact date when Jesus Christ, the anticipated Messiah, would come to Jerusalem. This prophecy is mathematically correct to the very day! There is simply no other book on planet Earth which predicts the future with such stunning accuracy! Daniel 9: 25-26 -- "Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times. And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself." The decree of Daniel 9:25 took place on March 4th, 444 BC (Nehemiah 2: 1-8). The sixty-nine weeks of seven years equals 483 years, or 173,880 days (using 360-day prophetic years). This leads to March 29th, A.D.33, the date of the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. This is checked by noting that 444 BC to AD 33 is 476 years, and 476 times 365.24219* days per year equals 173,855 days. Adding 25 days for the difference between March 4th and March 29th gives 173,880 days." It should be noted that the Babylonians used a 360 day calendar, which must be converted to our current Solar Years, of 365 days. These 360 day years are commonly called prophetic years. Equidistant Letter Codes in the Bible The name of God in Hebrew, YHWH, is spelt out every 26th letter of Daniel 9: 25 and 26 (above). 26 is the numerical value of YHWH, the Name of God. Psalm 22: 14-16 -- I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it has melted within Me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue clings to My jaws; you have brought Me to the dust of death. For dogs have surrounded Me; the congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet. The name YESHUA is spelt out every 26th letter. Isaiah 53: 8-10 -- He was taken from prison and from judgement, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken. And they made His grave with the wicked-- but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; he has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, he shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. The name YESHUA SHMA is spelled out every 22nd letter – meaning MY NAME IS YESHUA (JESUS). Isaiah 60:22 - Isaiah 61:1-2 -- A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation. I, the LORD, will hasten it in its time. The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; he has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn. The name YESHUAH ( JESUS ) is spelled out every 9th letter. Proverbs 30:4-6 -- Who has ascended into heaven, or descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son's name, if you know? Every word of God is pure; he is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar. The word YESHUA is spelled out every 22nd letter. Zechariah 9:9 -- "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; he is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey." The word YESHUA is spelled out every 22nd letter. The recurrent number 7 found in the Bible. In the Bible the number seven is the number of God. There are myriad chains and sequences of sevens found in both the text, and the Hebrew and Greek numerics, of Scripture. In this respect the Bible is unique, and clearly of supernatural design. Examples of Seven found in the Bible, and in nature: 7 days of the week, 7 colours of the rainbow, 7 notes in music, Miracles of Jesus = 35 (7 x 5), Parables of Jesus = 35 (7 x 5), Miracles and parables of Jesus = 70 (7 x 10), Number of miracles in John's gospel = 7, Number of people raised from the dead = 7 ( 2 in the Old T, 5 in the New T), Pieces of furniture in the Tabernacle = 7, Occasions where Jesus shed His blood from Gethsemane to his death = 7, 7 letters to 7 churches in Revelation, 7 seals, 7 trumpets, 7 bowls in Revelation. Matthew 1, vv 1-16 concerns the names of ancestors of Jesus Christ. The following observations may be made about this passage: The number of words are divisible by seven. The number of letters are divisible by seven. The number of vowels are divisible by seven. The number of consonants are divisible by seven. The number of words beginning with a vowel is divisible by seven. The number of words beginning with consonants is divisible by seven. The number of words that occur more than once is divisible by seven. The number of words that occur in only one form are divisible by seven. The number of words that occur more than once are divisible by seven. The number of nouns are divisible by seven. Only seven words are not nouns. The number of names is divisible by seven. Only seven other kinds of noun are present. The number of male names is divisible by seven. The number of generations is divisible by seven. The implications of the above lists of names, and characteristics associated with those names, is simply beyond the ability of man to comprehend! It would be extremely difficult for anyone to construct a list of names with these characteristics! It is quite impossible for anyone to arrange the name of his own father, let alone names of members of the family tree in many preceding generations! Only God could have arranged this, conclusively proving the supernatural authenticity of Scripture. The signature of God in the first five books of the Bible. The Torah consists of the first five books of the Bible, namely Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Rabbi Michael Ber Weissmandl discovered the "signature of God" in the first five books of the Bible. Similarly we are familiar with the name of God, Yahweh, commonly described as Jehovah. Both of these are English transliterations of the actual Hebrew word Yhwh. In the original Hebrew text of the Torah, the Hebrew equivalent letters T..O..R..H are spelled out every 50th letter throughout Genesis and Exodus. That is to say, that if you take the first letter T (tau) in the book of Genesis and then count 49 letters the next letter will be the letter O (vav), and so on. In the books of Numbers and Deuteronomy the same signature of God applies, although the letters TORH are found backwards, both pointing to the central book of Leviticus. The chance of the name TORAH appearing at the beginning of the text of both Genesis and Exodus is about 1 in 3 million. In the book of Leviticus the name YHWH is found in the text every 7th letter, starting with the letter Y (yod). The number 7 is, of course, the square root of 49. The chances of the five separate constructions, all appearing only at the beginning or the end of the five books of the Torah, must be 1 chance in trillions, proving again that the whole Bible is totally supernatural. Genesis - Exodus - Leviticus - Numbers - Deuteronomy TVRH......TVRH.......YHVH........HRVT.........HRVT....... The Gates of the Heavenly City Another interesting confirmation of Scripture is identified by D. H. A. Woodward in his book Gems from the City. He has done a scientific study of the 28 precious and semiprecious stones known on planet Earth. These are gemstones with hardness measuring over seven on the Mohs' Scale. He found that if particles of all 28 stones are examined under a microscope using plane polarised light, only 12 of the 28 stones refracted plane polarised light, producing rainbow colours as described in Scripture. These are the 12 listed by John in Revelation 21: 18-20. D. H. A. Woodward has calculated that, on a purely mathematical basis, the chances of John picking the correct 12 gemstones, out of 28 gemstones, is one in 30 million. This is one further mathematical proof of the supernatural origin of Scripture. The Name of God Above The Cross When Jesus was crucified the following sign was placed above Him, in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. The Hebrew version read: Yeshua HaNazarei WMelech HaYehudim (meaning Jesus the Nazarean and King of the Jews). Reading the first letters of the Hebrew inscription we read Y..H..W..H. This is the name of God, above the cross of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, Who is God. Mathematical Analysis of Prophecy The Bible has over 300 prophecies about Jesus which were fulfilled in the New Testament. The following is a sample of 8 prophecies concerning the coming of the Messiah, Jesus, in the Old Testament, which were all fulfilled in the New Testament, many hundreds of years later. 1) Micah 5: 2 - Jesus was born in Bethlehem, fulfilled Matthew 2; 1,6. 2) Zechariah 9: 9 - The Messiah came riding on a donkey, fulfilled Matthew 21: 1-11. 3) Zechariah 11: 12 - The Messiah was betrayed for 30 pieces of silver, fulfilled in Matthew 26: 15 and Matthew 27: 9. 4) Zechariah 11: 13 - The money was used by the temple authorities to buy a potters field, fulfilled Matthew 27: 3-8. 5) Zechariah 13: 6 - This describes the wounds in the hands of Jesus in the house of his friends, fulfilled John 20: 25. 6) Isaiah 53: 7 - He was oppressed and afflicted yet he opened not his mouth, fulfilled Matthew 27: 12-14. 7) Isaiah 53: 9 - And they made his grave with the wicked but with the rich in his death, fulfilled Matthew 27: 57-60. 8) Psalm 22: 16 - They pierced my hands and my feet, fulfilled John 20: 25. The Old Testament was translated from Hebrew to Greek about 70 BC. The above prophecies all pre-existed the life of Jesus Christ. Using the laws of probability, the probability of these eight prophecies happening to one individual is 1:10to28th. (The estimate of the number of people who have actually lived on this planet is approximately 10to11th). The chance of one actual person in history fulfilling all eight prophecies is 1:10to28th divided by 10to11th, which equals 1:10to17th. This is however, only for eight prophecies! The chance of Jesus fulfilling 16 prophecies comes to 1:10to45th. The chance of Jesus fulfilling only 48 prophecies is 1:10to157th or the chance of 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 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. To put this in better perspective, some scientists believe that the universe is 10 billion years old. There are 10to17th seconds in 10 billion years. In other words the chances of one second being chosen in the history of the universe is 1:10to17th. For Jesus to fulfill over 300 prophecies, as He did, the laws of probability dictate the fact that Jesus Christ is the Messiah is the single most likely event in our universe. The Bible is totally supernatural. Genealogy of Genesis Chapter 5 HEBREW=ENGLISH MEANING Adam=Man (is) Seth=Appointed Enosh=Mortal Kanan=Sorrow (but) Mahalalel=The Blessed God Jared=Shall Come Down Enoch=Teaching Methuselah=His death shall bring Lamech=The despairing Noah=Comfort, Rest Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kanan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah Man [is] appointed mortal sorrow [but] the Blessed God shall come down teaching [that] His death shall bring the despairing [people] comfort/rest. ---------------------------------- I have a lot more things like this tucked away and would like to share them, but with so many things in storage right now, it may be awhile until I can dig them out. But even this should be enough to convince most of the authority of the Bible. --Splash