The Integrity of the Bible

Intro. People have criticized the Bible mostly because it pronounces judgement on their lives. If I believe in God there are things I should not be doing. There are people who say I don’t want God to exist because I cannot do the things I want to do which He has commanded against.
One of the big issues is sexual freedom. Various atheistic writers could be quoted saying they do not want God to exist because of their own personal immorality.

The Bible is an ancient book spanning about 1500 years. It is the story of God’s self revelation beginning with the story of Creation. Is it reliable? Is it history? Is it trust worthy?
Let’s look at some of the issues.

1. Archaeological evidence....people questioned whether certain things exists.

The Ebla Tablets were discovered in northern Syria by two professors from the University of Rome,. The excavation of Tell Mardikh began in 1964 and in 1968 they uncovered a statue of King Ibbit-Lim. Since 1974, 17,000 tablets have been unearthed from the era of the Ebla Kingdom. These tablets have already made valuable contributions to biblical understanding.

One contribution is in relation to Genesis 14. Critics have have described the victory of Abraham over Chedorlaomer and the Mesopotamian kings as fictitious and the five Cities of the Plain (Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim and Zoar) as legendary.

Genesis 14:8 And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar;) and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim

The Ebla archives, however, refer to all five Cities of the Plain and on one tablet the cities are listed in the exact same sequence as Genesis 14. The tablets further reflect that the region was prosperous and successful with a patriarchal culture consistent with that recorded in Genesis prior to the catastrophe recorded in Genesis 14.

For instance, the names of Adam, Eve, Abarama/Abraham, Bilhah, Ishmael, Esau, Mika-el, Saul and David have been found on the tablets. Now, it is important to note that the tablets are not necessarily referring to those specific people. Rather, what it does demonstrate is that those names were commonly used in ancient times.
These tablets appear to have been written during the two last generations of ancient Ebla. This means that they probably come from some time around 2300 to 2250 B.C.

Previously, many historians had said that Moses could not have written the law – it was too
sophisticated. Ebla contains a tablet containing a law against rape that looks a lot like that found
in the Decalogue. Also, many had said that there was no writing in the days of Moses; the discovery and translation of the Hammurabi Code and the Ebla Tablets show that both writing and extensive law codes existed in Moses’ time.

Lots of places and people have been doubted in the Bible but in due time evidence becomes available proving the veracity of the Scripture.

2. Creation vs. earth being eternal–big bang

The Big Bang theory is an effort to explain what happened at the very beginning of our universe. Discoveries in astronomy and physics have shown beyond a reasonable doubt that our universe did in fact have a beginning. Prior to that moment there was nothing; during and after that moment there was something: our universe. The big bang theory is an effort to explain what happened during and after that moment.
For centuries philosophers and scientists believed that the universe was eternal, without a beginning or end. The story of creation in Genesis went against the grain. There were some Christians who observed that in the story of Genesis, the universe had a beginning. Everything that begins to be has a cause of its beginning. It does not begin by itself. If science shows that the universe had a beginning, there must be some outside cause of the beginning, and logically this leads to God.

3. Miracles were acknowledged but the power source was questioned.
Miracles would be strange if Jesus were only a man, but they are consistent with his nature as being the Son of God. There are a number of miracles in the Old Testament in which God did them from a "distance" but in the New Testament, God incarnate, does them "up close."

Miracles are a basis for faith in Christ.

Joh 14:11 "Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves."

John 10:37,38 "Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father."

John 20:30,31 "Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."

The witness to miracles incurs accountability.
(The more you know, the more you will be held responsible for)

Matt 11:21,22 Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.

While there are many explanations for what a miracle is, we can probably all agree that the word "miracle" describes an event that occurs outside the bounds of natural law, and which is beneficial in its result. During the course of His three-year public ministry, Jesus performed miracles that demonstrated His ability to heal, to master the elements, to affect the outcome of our endeavors, and even to raise the dead. Every one of His miracles occurred outside the bounds of natural law, and all of them had a beneficial result.

4. Prophecies came true centuries later.

1)Gen 3:13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
Gen 3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

This verse is known as the protevangelium, meaning "The First Gospel." It predicts the perpetual hostility between Satan and the woman (representing all mankind), and between Satan's seed (his agents) and her Seed (the Messiah). The woman's Seed would crush the Devil's head, a mortal wound spelling utter defeat. This wound was administered at Calvary when the Savior decisively triumphed over the Devil. Satan, in turn, would bruise the Messiah's heel. The heel wound here speaks of suffering and even of physical death, but not of ultimate defeat. So Christ suffered on the cross, and even died, but He arose from the dead, victorious over sin, hell, and Satan. The fact that He is called the woman's Seed may contain a suggestion of His virgin birth

2) The birth place of the Messiah Mic 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. (715 BC)

3)The character of the person born.....Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (740 BC

4)His death “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. (Isa. 53:3-7) The passage goes on in detail about his death.

5. Resurrection attested to....
1. Predicted by Jesus. Mat 17:22 And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.
2. Second proof, the empty grave.... on the third morning the body had disappeared, and the tomb was empty. There are only two alternatives. His body must have been taken out of the grave by human hands or else by superhuman power. If the hands were human, they must have been those of His friends or of His foes. If His friends had wished to take out His body, the question at once arises whether they could have done so in the face of the stone, the seal and the guard. If His foes had contemplated this action, the question arises whether they would seriously have considered it. It is extremely improbable that any effort should have been made to remove the body out of the reach of the disciples. Why should His enemies do the very thing that would be most likely to spread the report of His resurrection? They could have stolen it naked, but the burial clothes were there. 7 weeks later Peter preached of the resurrection and it would have been possible to produce the body and disprove the resurrection.
3. Proof...transformation of the disciples. They had seen their Master die, and through that death they lost all hope. Yet hope returned three days after. On the day of the crucifixion they were filled with sadness; on the first day of the week with gladness. At the crucifixion they were hopeless; on the first day of the week their hearts glowed with certainty.

4. The existence of the church It is now admitted on all hands that the church of Christ came into existence as the result of a belief in the resurrection of Christ.....Yet multitudes of Jews were led to worship Him (Act_2:41), and a great company of priests to obey Him (Act_6:7). The only explanation of these facts is God's act of resurrection (Act_2:36), for nothing short of it could have led to the Jewish acceptance of Jesus Christ as their Messiah.

6, Manuscripts-There are 25,000 manuscripts scattter among many nations where Christianity spread. These are quite old long before Mohammed who is claimed to have written the Qur'an. The widespread aware of the Scripture is reflected in the writings of the early church fathers and indicates that the New Testament could be recomposed by quoting their written works

Conclusions:

1. Evidence demands a verdict. This is not a legal case, it is the story of God’s love for his creation. God loves you. Do you know that? God wants to have a relationship with you? Do you know that? God does not send people to hell deliberately. If you do not want to live with God, then the only other place is hell. You have to make a choice.

Do you know that your running away from God will deprive you of the greatest gift you will ever imagine? God’s gift of life in his presence forever. There is the problem of sin–actions and deeds done against God’s laws. These are things that keep us from God.

God wants to have you as his friend, he wants you to know forgiveness, he wants you to share friendship with Him. Will you?