THE BIBLE IS TRUE
Translated from Afrikaans into English
(Afrikaans article published in 1971)
Text taken from the King James Version of 1611
Introduction
The Bible’s Great Claim About Itself
THERE can be no doubt that the Bible claims to be a supematural God-inspired and God-given Book. The Bible declares:
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God,” (2 Timothy 3:16).
The expression, “given by inspiration of God”, is a translation of the Greek word “theopneustos”, which literally means “breathed by God.” Therefore, the whole written contents of the Bible in the original languages (Hebrew of the Old Testament and Greek of the New Testament) is God-inspired or God-breathed, which means that the writers of the Bible did not write by their own free will or from their own minds, but wrote as they were inspired and driven by the Holy Spirit:
“For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” (2 Peter 1 :21)
According to the Bible the words written by the prophets were not their own but were the words of God Himself. God merely spoke through them:
“God, Who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,” (Hebrews 1:1).
Read also Luke 1:70; 2 Samuel 23:1-2; Jeremiah 1:9; Ezekiel 2:7. The death penalty was pronounced upon the prophet who added any of his own words to that given by God:
“But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, .. .even that prophet shall die.” (Deuteronomy 18:20)
To Moses God said:
“Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it,” (Deuteronomy 4:2).
Thus, the Bible clearly distinguishes itself from the words of people. The prophets merely wrote down the words that they received from God. They did not always understand the meaning or implications thereof, because they inquired and searched diligently to better understand it (I Peter 1:I0-12).
The Apostle Paul declared:
“… the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.”
– thus, not his own words (I Corinthians 14:37). Read also I Corinthians 2: 13 and I Thessalonians 2:13. The phrase “Word of God” often appears and is always of particular significance. Statements such as “Thus saith the Lord”, “God said” and similar others, appear more than 2,500 times in the Bible. Therefore, the Scripture should be received as the truth, not as the word of man, but as a supernatural Book inspired by God, indeed as the Word of God.
Backed up by many irrefutable facts and proofs, the Bible differs from all other religious books. Examples include: the fulfilment of prophecies that were prophesied many centuries and even millennia ago; the scientific accuracy of the Bible; its historical accuracy as confirmed by archaeology; its wonderful uniformity; its inexhaustible depths; its indestructibleness; its unsurpassable doctrine; its unequalled influence; the absence of even a single contradiction; the testimony of the Lord Jesus Himself; the character of Christ; the testimony of His influence on the personal lives of people; and many more. Many of these facts are discussed in this article. One of the most wonderful and irrefutable proofs, is the discovery at the end of the nineteenth century by the Russian scientist, Ivan Panin, of the mathematical structure underlying the Bible in the original languages. A short summary of this discovery is presented in this article.
“Bad people or devils would not have written the Bible, because it condemns them and their works. Good people or angels could not have written the Bible, because by saying that it was from God while it was their own fabrication, would have made them guilty of deception and therefore they could not have been good. The only being that remains who could have written it, is GOD.” – FLAVEL.
Although the Bible was written by thirty three people over a period of approximately sixteen centuries, there is not a single contradiction or change in theme. To end this introduction, the following translation of an Afrikaans religious tract, No. 149, of the Christelike Uitgewersmaatskappy, P.O. Box 132, Roodepoort, is presented:
“The Bible contains: the objective of God, the condition of man, the way to salvation, the judgement of sinners, and the happiness of the faithful. Its doctrines are holy, its instructions binding, its history true, and its decisions unalterable. Read it to become wise, believe it to be safe and practice it to be holy. It contains light to lead you, food to sustain you, and consolation to cheer you up. It is the traveller’s map, the pilgrim’s rod, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, and the Christian’s character. Here you find the Paradise brought back, the heaven opened, and the gates of hell revealed. Christ is the main Subject, our welfare His aim, and the glory of God His final objective. It must fill the memory, rule the heart, and direct the footsteps. Read it slowly, often and prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory and a river of delight. It is given to you in life, shall be opened in the Judgement, and shall be remembered forever. It entails the greatest responsibility, rewards the hardest work, and condemns all who take its holy contents lightly.”
Read 2 Timothy 3:16 again.
The Bible is Confirmed by Astronomy
During the period when the Bible was being written, many works relating to astronomy were also being written. But these works had to be scrapped or updated every time a new discovery was made. Today it sounds almost unbelievable when some of the statements and theories of the philosophers and scientists of those times are recalled. For example, Anaximines taught that the world had the shape of a table; Leucippus – the shape of a drum; Pindar -that it stood on pillars; and other Greek scientists – that it rested upon the head and shoulders of Atlas. Plato and Aristotle reasoned that the Earth was a living organism, and that volcanoes were the result of the Earth vomiting. Naturally, true science proved all these theories to be ridiculous. The telescope merely tells the story of what God had already written in His Book.
1) The Bible Knew that the Earth is Round
In Proverbs 8:27 we read, “… when He set a compass upon the face of the depth:” (1,000 B.C.) and in Isaiah 40:22, “It is He that sitteth upon the circle of the Earth, …” (700 B.C.).
One of the most difficult things for the older generations to understand, was how the Earth could have a circular shape. It appeared to contradict reason that bodies or objects on the Earth’s underside should not fall off, until Newton explained that what we know as weight is simply the effect of the power of attraction between the Earth and the bodies or objects in its vicinity. As we have seen above, the Bible clearly stated long before Newton’s time that the Earth is round.Who told Solomon and Isaiah this truth?
2) The Bible Knew that the Earth Hangs in Space
In Job 26:7 it is recorded: “He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the Earth upon nothing.” (1,500 B.C.)
Copernicus was the first scientist to discover that the Earth is round and that it hangs in space, but many centuries before he was born the Bible had already taught this. Until the time of Copernicus (1,475 AD.), all of mankind thought that the Earth rested upon some or other solid foundation. Who revealed this truth to Job?
3) The Bible Knew that the Earth Rotates on its Axis
This is clearly implied in Genesis 1, where the days are described as succeeding one another, and each day consisting of “evening and morning”, “day and night.” This regular succession of day and night can only be explained by the Earth’s rotation on its axis. Our Lord Jesus clearly warned that on His return it shall be night in one place and day in another. Who told Moses? How did Jesus know?
4) The Bible Knew that the Stars are Innumerable
Hipparchus (125 AD.) said there were 1,022 stars. Ptolemy (200 AD.) said there were only 1,026 stars. Galileo (born 18.02.1564) was the very first scientist to teach that the stars are innumerable. The Bible, however, knew this fact long before Galileo, as we see in: Genesis 15:5, where the LORD said to Abram:
“…Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: …” (1,900 B.C.),
and Jeremiah 33:22, where the LORD said to Jeremiah:
“As the host of heaven (meaning here the stars) cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured; …” (600 B.C.).
How is it that the Bible was right on this subject in an age when all the scholars of the world were ignorant of this scientific fact? There is but one explanation: The Bible is God’s own Book.
5) The Bible and Science Agree on Joshua’s Long Day
After Israel’s entry into the promised land, the Bible tells us of a miracle that God performed for Israel’s sake.We read that Joshua said:
“Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Aj’alon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed,” (Joshua 10:12-13).
Joshua desired God to extend the daylight to allow sufficient time for him to utterly defeat the five kings who came up against him. In his great work, “Joshua’s Long Day”, Professor Totten of Yale University clearly proved that there was one long day at that very period in the world’s history. Recently there was a complete report on how a computer at one of America’s space tracking stations malfunctioned, until one of the operators told the scientists that he had learnt at Sunday School about the “missing day.” After they fed this information into the computer, it started to function correctly.So this incident also proves that it is not merely a Bible tale, but a historical fact. God’s Word is truth, His statements correct and His history perfectly reliable.
The Bible is Confirmed by Archaeology
Archaeology is a relatively new science. Nevertheless, its great discoveries during the past number of years are comparable with the many small pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that merely require a basic plan to fit them together. The Old Testament provides that basic plan. It is surprising how much time and energy scholars have spent to understand how the races originated, while the Bible is so much more scientific and reliable. If only our professors would have learnt how to read certain archaeological clay tablets, and to be honest about their findings, we have had a far better understanding of the old history than we have today.
Most of the Bible narratives can be confirmed historically. Many events, places and geographic positions that have been challenged for a long time, can now be confirmed archaeologically. We no longer have to guess, we can now rely on certainties.
1) The Bible Narrative Of The Hittites Is True
Until quite recently critics of the Bible have denied that a people called the Hittites ever lived, because no trace of them had ever been discovered. The Bible mentions this people in various places, for example in Genesis 25:9; 36:2; 49:30 and Exodus 23:28.
In 1905 Professor Hugo Winckler discovered a treasury of inscriptions in Hittite hieroglyphics at the town Boghatz-Keui in Turkey. Again the Bible was proved to be correct and the critics had to admit that they were wrong.
2) The Bible Is Correct As Regards Sennacherib’s Talents Of Silver
In 2 Kings18:14, it says that Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, made King Hezekiah of Judah pay a tribute of three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. Not long ago, Sennacherib’s own account of this transaction was discovered, but this stated that he had exacted eight hundred talents of silver (instead of three hundred as the Bible declares) and thirty talents of gold from Hezekiah.The two accounts agree as regards the gold paid, but there is a difference of five hundred talents as regards the silver paid. Since then, however,other documents have been discovered, which show that, while the standard for calculating talents of gold was then the very same in both Judea and Assyria, the standard for silver was very different. It took exactly eight hundred Assyrian talents of silver to equal three hundred Hebrew talents of silver. Again, the Bible record is confirmed to be correct in every detail.
3) The Bible Is Correct As Regards King Sargon
King Sargon of Assyria is mentioned in Isaiah 20:1. Herodotus, Xenophon, Diodorus and Josephus do not mention this king at all. Therefore, the critics of the Bible concluded that such a king had never lived, and for years pointed to this assertion as a Bible mistake. But in the year 1843, Paul Emile Botta, the French Vice-Consul in Mosul, unearthed Sargon’s palace in the town Khorsabad on the Tigris, and discovered tablets confirming Isaiah’s words regarding this great king.
4) The Bible Is Correct As Regards “Ur Of The Chaldees”
Until a little more than a century ago, no trace of the “Ur of The Chaldees” could be found, and once again the critics concluded that no such city ever existed. Therefore Abraham, who was supposed to have lived in that city, must have been a mythical character. For years the critics so taught and wrote. Eventually Rawlinson unearthed the city of Ur, where he found a remarkable library, and so proved to the world that Abraham and his ancestors not only lived there, but also that they could both read and write.
5) Tyre, The Prosperous Seaport City, Was To Be Destroyed And Never Rebuilt
Read Ezekiel 26:3-5,12,14. Tyre was one of the mightiest cities of the ancient world. Its citizens included some of the most prominent traders and discoverers of that time, using ships for trading with the rest of the then known world. The city was very well fortified and played a significant role in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.
But God pronounced judgement on the city because of all the sins. Ezekiel predicted that the walls and towers of the city would be broken down and the houses destroyed and, perhaps even more remarkable, that even the timber, rubble and dust would be laid in the water, so that only a bare rock would remain.
Nebuchadnezzar took Tyre about 550B.C., but he left nearly all the walls and most of the houses standing. During this siege the people managed to escape to an island a short distance out in the sea, where they built a new city of Tyre. After more than two hundred years later, this prophecy had still not been completely fulfilled. But then Alexander the Great, while on his great tour of conquest, came that way about 315 B.C. He instructed his army to tear down the walls and houses of the old Tyre so that they could construct a road through the sea over the short distance that separated the new city of Tyre from the shore. This road was needed to enable his strong army to capture the new city of Tyre. To achieve this purpose, they literally removed all the stone and timber of the old city so that only a bare rock remained. And so the prophecy was completely fulfilled,although it had been spoken centuries before Alexander was born.
Today another part of the prophecy is being fulfilled.For miles extending on either side, the bare rock is being used as a convenient place in the sea for drying fishing-nets.The prophecy has therefore been fulfilled in the finest of details. The only conclusion that can be drawn from this, is that the Bible is a supernaturally God- inspired Book.
6) The Fate Of Capernaum
Read Matthew 11:20,23. This is a terrible judgement pronounced by the Lord Jesus on this city. These words were written in the Holy Scriptures long before the retrogression of Capernaum began. Not only did Capernaum experience the miracles of Jesus, He also lived there.
It was still only a town when Antonius Martyr visited it in 600 A.D. Bishop Arculf who saw it a hundred years later, said: “It lies on a narrow stretch of ground between the mountain and the lake.” In the thirteenth century Brocardus described it as a small modest town with only seven fishing huts. Since 1620, any certainty as to its exact position was lost. It disappeared into oblivion, exactly as predicted.
7) The Fate Of The Two Highly Privileged Cities Of Chora’zin And Bethsai’da
“Woe unto thee, Chora ‘zin! woe unto thee, Bethsai’da!” (Matthew 11 :21)
A great deal of our Lord Jesus’ ministry was carried out in these two cities. The citizens were highly privileged to see the miracles and to listen to His teachings. These two cities also enjoyed great natural privileges. In a state of great admiration, Josephus paid this tribute: “These cities, so full of people because of the fertility of the soil, contain no less than 15,000 people. Not less than four roads connect them with the lake. The great caravans passed through these cities on their way from Egypt to Damascus.” But all these luxurious attributes of nature could not prevent the judgements pronounced on them by Christ. Today these cities are merely a collection of ruins.
The main point is – the judgements pronounced on these cities have literally been realised in their entire extinction. And yet, this part of the Land is the most wealthy in natural resources in the whole of Palestine.
8) The Destruction Of Ancient Babylon
Read Isaiah 13:19-21.Here we have a remarkable prophecy regarding the utter destruction and desolation of ancient Babylon, written 700 B.C., while Babylon was at the very height of her glory.
Some years ago Dr. Cyrus Hamlin of Robert’s College, Constantinople, was asked by a Turkish colonel to give him just one sure proof that the Bible was God’s Book. Dr. Hamlin asked him if he had ever visited the ruins of ancient Babylon. “Yes”, he replied, “and let me tell you my experience. I hired a rich Sheik and his men to take me there to hunt. We found that all manner of wild animals, owls and birds were dwelling there amongst the ruins, so we had the best hunting of our lives. It was so good that we were annoyed when the Arabs told us they must go miles away to pitch their tents for the night. We tried to bribe them to camp right there, but they refused, saying that no Arab had ever been known to camp there, because it was haunted after dark by all manner of evil spirits, who would surely kill them or bring great evil upon them.” Then Dr. Hamlin opened his Bible at Isaiah 13:19, and let the colonel read the verses cited above for himself:
“And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.”
By this one fulfilled prophecy, that Turkish colonel was convinced that the Bible is a God-inspired Book.
The Bible is Confirmed by the Prophecies Relating to the First Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ
Many centuries before the birth of the Lord Jesus, His birth and character, and His suffering and glorification, were all described in detail in the Old Testament. He is the only person born in this world of Whom the descent, time of birth, forerunner, place of birth, manner of birth, childhood, adolescence, teachings, character, career, preaching, reception, rejection, death, funeral, resurrection and ascension, were described in the most wonderful manner long before His birth. Who else but God could have painted such a complete picture of a Man Who had not even been born yet?
1) Prophecy About The First Coming Of Christ In The Flesh
In Isaiah 9:6 we read:
“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.”
Here is a clear prediction (700 B.C.), that a God-child was to be born. If we now turn to John 1:1,14 we read:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God….. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, …”
In Isaiah 7:14, we read that this God-child would be born of a virgin. Matthew 1:18-25, tells us that He was so born of a virgin named Mary and that God Himself through the Holy Spirit was His Father.
2) Prophecy About The Struggle And Victory Of The Messiah Over Satan
In Genesis 3:14-15, it is prophesied:
“And the LORD God said unto the serpent, …it (the Seed of the woman – Christ) shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.”
The fulfilment of this prophecy is recorded in Hebrews 2:14, where we read:
“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.”
3) Prophecy About The Place Of His Birth
Micah 5:2 (700 B.C.), declares:
“But thou, Bethlehem Eph’ratah, 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.”
Matthew 2:1 informs us that He was born in Bethlehem, as predicted, and John 8:42 teIls us that He lived before coming to this Earth as a man:
“…I proceeded forth and came from God.”
4) Prophecy That Describes The Entry Of Jesus Into JerusalemZechariah 9:9 (500 B.C.), predicts that Christ would enter Jerusalem as a king, riding on an ass. Matthew 21:2-7, informs us that He did so enter Jerusalem.
5) The Prophecy That Describes How Jesus Would Be Sold For Thirty Pieces Of Silver
Zechariah 11:12 (500 B.C.), predicts that Jesus would be sold to His enemies for 30 pieces of silver, and in Matthew 26: 15 we read:
“.. .And they covenanted with him (Judas) for thirty pieces of silver.”
6) Prophecies That Describe The Crucifixion Of Jesus
Zechariah 13:7 (500 B.C.), tells us that the smiting of the Shepherd (Christ) would scatter the sheep. In Matthew 26:56 we read (after Christ had been seized):
“… Then all the disciples forsook Him, and fled.”
Psalm 35:11 (1,000 B.C.), predicts that false witnesses would accuse Him. In Matthew 26:59 we read:
“Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put Him to death.”
In Isaiah 50:6 (700 B.C.), we read that Christ would give His back to the smiters, and His cheeks to them that plucked out the hair; and they would spit in His face. Matthew 26:67 informs us:
“Then did they spit in His face, and buffeted Him; and others smote Him with the palms of their hands.”
In Isaiah 53:7 (700 B.C.), we read:
“He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth.”
Matthew 27:12 informs us:
“And when He was accused of the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing.”
Isaiah 53:5-6 (700 B.C.), says,
“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities …and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”
In Matthew 26:28 Christ confirms this prediction when He says:
“For this is My blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”
The Apostle Peter also confirms it (1 Peter 2:24),
“Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, …”
In Isaiah 53:4 the prophet predicts that Christ would:
“bear our griefs (sickness) and carry our sorrows (pain).”
Now read Matthew 8:16-17, for the fulfilment thereof, 700 years later, and it still stands today, a further 2,000 years on.
Psalm 22:16 (1,000 B.C.), predicts that His hands and feet would be pierced:
“… they pierced my hands and my feet.”
In Luke 23:33 we read:
“And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified Him, …”
This means that His hands and feet were pierced.
In Isaiah 53:12 (700 B.C.), we read that He would be numbered with the transgressors, and in Mark 15:27 that He was crucified between two thieves. Now let us again turn to Isaiah 9:6, where we have read that:
“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.”
Predicting that this Child, who was in reality the Mighty God and the Everlasting Father, would die as a transgressor with transgressors, proves conclusively that Isaiah was inspired of God. No man would have made such a seemingly absurd prediction regarding this God-child.
Psalm 22:7-8, predicts that Christ would be mocked; that they would shoot out the lip; shake the head; and that God in Whom He trusted would be challenged to deliver Him. In Matthew 27:39-44, we read how miraculously in the finest details this prediction was fulfiIled.
Also in Psalm 22:18 it is predicted that His garments would be parted among them, and that lots would be cast. In John 19:23-24 we see that it all happened exactly as predicted.
The same applies to Psalm 69:21, where it is predicted that they would give Him vinegar to drink, and this was fulfilled as we read in John 19:28-29.
In all three of these latter examples we can rightfully ask how it could be possible for David to have known all about this 1,000 years before the birth of Christ? There can only be one logical answer, and that is that all these words were inspired of God.
The prophet predicted in Isaiah 53:9 that He would be with the rich in His death. In Matthew 27:57-60 we are informed that a rich man, Joseph of Arimathea, wrapped the body of Jesus in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb.
Read also Zechariah 11:13 with Matthew 27:3,5-7.
7) Prophecies About The Resurrection Of Christ
Compare Psalm 16:9-10 with Acts 2:29-31; Psalm 2:7 with Acts 13:32-33.
8) Jesus Predicted The Fall Of Jerusalem Which Was Literally Fulfilled 40 Years After His Death And Resurrection
Read Luke 19:43-44;21:20-44.
History confirms the literal fulfilment of this prophecy when the Roman General Titus, took Jerusalem in the year 70 A.D., broke it down and slaughtered approximately one and a half million Jews, according to the historian Josephus. Read also Matthew 23:37-38.
The Bible is Confirmed by the Signs of the Times
Some of the most outstanding signs of the times are discussed in our pamphlet on The Second Coming Of Christ.
The Bible predicts our present economic crisis (it is now October 1971)and predicts that it will become worse and worse until it ends in total economic collapse, which will coincide with the onslaught of the hordes of the east upon the west, to finally end with Armageddon
This is one of the most miraculous predictions of the Bible and one of the most irrefutable proofs that the Bible is true. It is completely covered in our book, The Book Of Revelation (especially Chapter 18 on the fall of Babylon) and in our book, Joel – His Prophetic Message And Warning.
People who believe in the Bible and are familiar with its message, excitedly watch as the nations push ahead in the movements so accurately described by the prophets Joel, Ezekiel, Zechariah, Daniel, and so forth. “The battle of that great day of God Almighty” (Revelation 16:14), which still has to reach its intensive stage in the future, shall suddenly break loose on unprepared mankind. The sooner the Christian part of the world realise this, the better. All true Christians ought to unite their strength for the last all important event. But thank God, His hand is still at the helm. He is just busy finalising His perfect Plan.
“He revealeth the deep and secret things: He knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with Him.” (Daniel 2:22)
Read also Revelation 16:12-16. The great Euphrates river, which was the lifeblood of ancient Babylon in the days of her glory, signifies the financial power, which is the lifeblood of our present Babylonian system where might is right. Continuous rich and extravagant ways of life are drying up the “river.” It is increasingly becoming evident that the “drying up of finances” is to be followed by the Westward advance of the Russian-Asiatic forces (“the kings of the East”) against a decadent and regressed Christendom. Current conditions are only too clear and we can see how the East is becoming stronger and stronger while the West is becoming weaker and weaker. The “Euphrates” is rapidly drying up. The moment the “river” completely dries, the present revolutions and simmering unrest will melt together and result in a violent eruption; then the kings of the East will begin their advance!
The Bible is Confirmed by the Miraculous Mathematical Design that Underlie the Original Texts
These mathematical facts prove unquestionably that the Bible was not written by people alone, but that it is a supernatural, God-inspired and God-given Book! These facts remained hidden throughout the centuries, but have now been revealed, I believe, to give to the sceptical scientific world a scientific proof that the Bible could only have been inspired by God. We are not merely referring to a few loose standing or isolated facts; there are hundreds and thousands of them, and they extend from the first verse of Genesis through to the last verse of Revelation. It pulls the carpet from under atheists and freethinkers, because no one can contradict or refute it. The facts force sceptics and modernistic thinkers to accept the Bible as a supernatural, God-inspired Book.
What are these wonderful facts (also referred to as “Bible numerics”)?
The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew and the New Testament in Greek. These facts were discovered in the original words in which the Bible was written. First of all it is necessary to draw your attention to something that is very important. The number “seven” appears more times in the Bible than any other number. This is the case from the first Book of the Bible to the last. To give a few examples: the Sabbath was the seventh day; in Egypt there were seven years of abundance and seven years of famine; with the capture of Jericho, seven priests with seven trumpets had to lead the people seven times around the city; every seventh year Israel had to allow the land to rest; it took Solomon seven years to build the temple, and with the opening thereof the feast lasted seven days; and Naaman had to go in under the water of the Jordan seven times.
In the Book of Revelation, the last Book of the Bible, this number is particularly prominent. There are seven congregations, seven candlesticks, seven seals, seven trumpets, seven scales, seven stars, seven spirits, and so on. Altogether the number seven appears more than fifty times in the Book of Revelation.
It has been known for a long time that the number seven appears more often than any other number in the Bible. However, it is comparatively quite recently that it was discovered that the number seven also appears somewhat mystically under the surface as it were of the Hebrew text of the Old Testament and the Greek text of the New Testament. This fact shall not be noticed by merely observing the words as such. The ordinary Hebrew and Greek readers shall therefore not notice it. It is miraculously hidden under the surface. Thousands of Hebrew and Greek scholars who have studied the Bible, never noticed this hidden occurrence of the number seven. These sevens are so deeply hidden that only a special investigation and research can reveal it.
It was discovered that literally thousands of these sevens had been mysteriously interwoven and hidden in the compilation of the original texts and that it serves as God’s watermark or signature as it were of His Word. In a superhuman and extremely remarkable manner they had been interwoven and hidden in the original Hebrew and Greek letters, words, sentences, paragraphs and whole parts of the Bible. It is this remarkable design that presents us with the irrefutable scientific evidence of the word for word Divine inspiration of the Bible.
Except for the Bible, there is no other book in the world, written in whatever language and at whatever time, that possesses this characteristic. A few examples are now presented.
Genesis 1:1
It is indeed remarkable that the number of words in this verse (in the original Hebrew) is not 6 or 8, but 7! If you count the number of letters in the words, you find a complete multiple of 7. This number is not 27 or 29, but exactly 28, or 4 x 7.
But that is not all.The first three of these seven words, containing the subject and predicate of the sentence, is translated: “In the beginning God created…” The number of letters in these three Hebrew words is exactly 14, or 2 x 7. The last four of these seven words, containing the object of the sentence, is translated: “the heaven and the Earth.” The number of letters in these last four words is exactly 14, or 2 x 7. Furthermore, these last four words contain two objects, the first is “the heaven” and the second is “and the Earth.” The number of letters in each of these two objects is 7.
The three main words in this verse of exactly seven words, are “God” – the subject; and “heaven” and “Earth” – the two objects. The number of letters in these three Hebrew words is exactly 14, or 2 x 7. Similarly, the last four words of these seven words have 14 letters, or 2 x 7.
The shortest of these seven words is exactly in the middle, with three words on either side. The number of letters of this word plus the number of letters of the word on its left side, is exactly 7. This also applies to the number of letters of this word plus the number of letters of the word on its right side.
Thus, we can see that these sevens – these numerical features and facts -are hidden as it were in a remarkable manner under the surface of the text. They shall never be visible to the ordinary reader of the Hebrew text and can only be discovered in a special effort to search for it. The facts mentioned above are only a few examples of many more remarkable numeric facts that were discovered in this first verse of seven words in the Bible. There are literally tens of other numerical facts hidden in the structure of this verse.
This design is interwoven in every verse of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. It is impossible to give all the details in a study like this, but a few more examples will be presented just to illustrate that it is impossible for the Bible to have been written by humans alone, and that it is indeed a God-inspired Book!
Let us now look at the Greek text of the first verses of the New Testament.
Matthew 1:1-17. The Genealogy Of Jesus Christ
The first seventeen verses of the Book of Matthew in itself forms a natural and logical grouping, because they deal with one specific subject, namely the genealogy of Christ. These seventeen verses in turn can be divided into two main subgroups or parts:
(1) Verses 1-11 and
(2) Verses 12-17
Each of these parts contains remarkable numeric features in the text.
In the first part (verse 1-11), the number of separate words in the original Greek text is not 48 or 50, but exactly 49, or 7 x 7. What is meant by “separate words”, is that every different word is counted only once, even if it appears more than once. Usually the number of separate words in a particular passage differs from the total number of words used. For example, the word “and” may appear quite often in a particular passage, but is only one separate word. A person might have a vocabulary of say, five hundred words, yet might be able to write an article of say, four thousand words.
These 49 separate words have a total of exactly 266 letters, or 38 x 7. Of these 266 letters 140, or 20 x 7 are vowels, and 126, or 18 x 7 are consonants.
Of these 49 words exactly 28, or 4 x 7 begin with a vowel, and 21, or 3 x 7 begin with a consonant.
Exactly 42, or 6 x 7 of these 49 words are nouns, and those that are not nouns total 7. Of these 42 nouns in the first eleven verses 35, or 5 x 7 are proper names, and 7 are common nouns.
The number of Greek letters in these 7 common nouns is exactly 49, or 7 x 7. Remarkably, these seven common nouns alone contain more than 20 different numerical features. The 35 proper nouns appear exactly 63 times, or 9 x 7. Of the 35 proper names 28, or 4 x 7 are male ancestors of the Christ, and 7 are not.
These 28 proper (male) names appear 56 times, or 8 x 7. Three women are mentioned in the first eleven verses – Tamar, Rahab and Ruth. These three names have a total of 14, or 2 x 7 Greek letters. Babylon, which has 7 Greek letters in the word, is the only city mentioned in this part.
Of the 49 separate words in the first eleven verses 35, or 5 x 7 appear more than once. The number of words that appear only once is 14, or 2 x 7.
Of these 49 words the number of words that appear only in one form is exactly 42, or 6 x 7. Those that appear in more than one form total 7.
The second part consisting of verses 12-17, also contains such remarkable features. Those facts already mentioned above are only some of many more truly remarkable numeric features of this group.
We shall now look at some features that appear in other parts of the New Testament.
Matthew 1:18-25. The Birth Of Jesus Christ
Once again it is remarkable that the number of separate Greek words appearing in this part is not 76 or 78, but exactly 77, or 11 x 7 – out of 161 words in total, or 23 x 7.
Interestingly 28, or 4 x 7 words out of the 77 words were spoken by the angel in his conversation with Joseph. And even this short message of the angel contains remarkable numeric features in itself. Although separate from the rest of this part, these words are numerically so interwoven with the rest that a numeric structure containing the number 7 runs throughout the whole part.
Matthew 2. The Childhood Of Jesus Christ
Only two of the numerical features will be presented here.
The number of separate Greek words in the second chapter of Matthew is 161, or 23 x 7, and these words are made up of 896 letters, or 128 x 7.
There are at least four logical divisions in this chapter, each exhibiting the same numerical phenomena found in the chapter as a whole. For example, the first six verses have 56 separate words, or 8 x 7. There are three speeches – Herod speaks, the wise men speak and the angel speaks. Yet, although perfect in itself and separate from the rest, each forms part of the rest.
On examining the Book of Mark, the same numerical design that appears in Matthew is discovered.
Mark 1:1-8. The Teaching Of John The Baptist And How He Baptised People
This passage has 77 separate Greek words, or 11 x 7, of which John used 21, or 3 x 7. Of the 77 words 42, or 6 x 7 begin with a vowel, and 35, or 5 x 7 begin with a consonant. These are but a few examples of the many numerical structures appearing in this passage.
Mark 1:9-11. The Baptism of Jesus Christ Described
There are exactly 35, or 5 x 7 separate Greek words.
Mark 2:13-17
Here we find the account of the calling of Levi and of Christ’s conversation with the scribes and the Pharisees. There are 49, or 7 x 7 separate Greek words in this passage, of which Christ spoke 14, or 2 x 7, while the scribes used 7 words.
Mark 4:3-20
Here the Lord gives the parable of the Sower. Exactly 49, or 7 x 7 separate words are used in this passage.
Mark 13:5-37
The Lord gives a very important message relating to future events and the second coming of the Christ. Exactly 203, or 29 x 7 separate Greek words are used in this passage.
On proceeding to the last parts of Mark, we find the same remarkable numeric phenomena.
Mark 16:9-20
After the resurrection of Jesus Christ (verses 1-8), an account is presented here (verses 9-20) of His appearance to Mary Magdalene and the disciples, and of His final commands to the disciples before ascending into heaven. The following are only four of more than a hundred numerical features discovered in the text of just this one part of twelve verses:
This passage comprises 98, or 14 x 7 separate Greek words. The number of letters in these words is 553, or 79 x 7. Of these letters 294, or 42 x 7 are vowels, and 259, or 37 x 7 are consonants. Of the 98 words Christ used 42, or 6 x 7 when addressing His disciples, while 56, or 8 x 7 were not part of His speech.
This part not only contains remarkable numeric features as a whole, but it also contains features within features, and there again further features within those features. This becomes clear when the part is divided into its natural divisions and subdivisions. Each of these divisions and subdivisions have numerical features of their own, which again combine with the features of the part as a whole. Indeed very remarkable. Moreover, it is constructed on the same numerical design as the whole Gospel of Mark, which in turn is constructed on the same design as the whole Bible. Not only is this very gladdening, but it also serves to strengthen one’s faith, especially when considering that there are some who question this part, because they claim that it was not included in the original manuscript of the Bible. Now there can no longer be any doubt that this part is just as God-inspired as any other part of the Bible.
“Chain” Features
Unlike the examples dealt with up to now, the numerical design of the Bible also appears in words far removed from one another, and are thus referred to as “chain” features. Words in a “chain” design are spread right across different Books of the Bible. They are not limited to any particular part of the Bible.
The names of the Bible writers, for example, are widely spread throughout the Bible. Remarkably, the number “seven” even appears in this widely spread out occurrence of these names. The number of Old Testament writers mentioned in the Bible is 21, or 3 x 7 and the numerical value of their names is 3,808, or 544 x 7. Of these 21 Old Testament writers, those mentioned in the New Testament include Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Hosea and Joel – exactly 7. The
numerical value of these seven names is exactly 1,554, or 222 x 7. The name that appears the most in the New Testament is David, which occurs 1,134 times, or 162 x 7. The name Jeremiah appears 147, or 21 x 7 times in 7 different Hebrew forms in 7 of the Old Testament Books. The name of Moses, writer of the first Book of the Bible, appears 847, or 121 x 7 times in the Bible. These then, are once again just a few examples of the many remarkable numeric features that appear under the surface of the names of the Bible writers. For example, there are 38 or more numerical features in the appearance of just the name of Moses.
Who Planned And Accomplished These Remarkable Numeric Designs?
Who inserted these designs in the basic structure of the original Bible texts? The thousands of perfect designs and features must have been inserted by some or other “Intelligence.”
Did the men who wrote the different Books of the Bible plan this remarkable numeric design? No, it is impossible. If anyone can write an intelligible essay of 300 words like the first seventeen verses of Matthew, wherein some numeric phenomena of like designs are reproduced, he will have proved himself to be a wonder if he could accomplish it within six months. If a person can write a similar passage of 161 words as in Matthew 1:18-25 with the same scheme of sevens alone (although there are several others here) within three years, then he will have proved himself to be an even greater wonder.
No mortal could reproduce the numerical design even of just one Book of the Bible in a lifetime of a hundred years. Bear in mind that according to the law of an arithmetical series, every additional letter, word, sentence and paragraph magnifies the problem of constructing these numerical designs. For example, every additional sentence has to be designed such that it shall comply with the fixed numerical relations that fit in with not only the previous sentence. but also with that which is to follow. Obviously, this also applies to letters, words and paragraphs, so that each addition continually complicates the whole matter.
Also bear in mind that many of these Bible writers were men of a very ordinary way of life – men who had very little, if any, schooling. How could Matthew, Mark, Luke (even though he was a doctor) and John, for example, even have tried to construct the harmonious numerical features and designs that occur as a whole in their Books, in every division and subdivision, sentences, words and letters? Impossible! A certain Dr. Turney tried to write a letter that contained some of these numerical features. He said:
“I gave numeric values to the English alphabet, and tried to prepare a letter which would adhere to the numerics, and make every section a multiple of seven, and present all the other features of Biblical arithmography, without descending to nonsense. My letter scale was a close approach to the Hebrew and Greek scales. But after working thereon for days I could get no satisfaction. Yet this feat is accomplished in every one of the thousands of Bible paragraphs without the slightest visible effort.”
Just to mention one more of the many other proofs that the numerical design of the Bible could not possibly have been planned by the writers themselves, is the double design of sevens in the name of Moses. Bear in mind that the writers of the Bible did not live at the same time – their lifetimes were many years apart. There is a period of approximately 1,600 years between the first Book and the last Book of the Bible. It should also be remembered that the 66 Books of the Bible were written by 33 different persons. Moreover, these persons were spread out over different countries of the world and they also had different backgrounds. How could they have planned the spread out occurrence of the name “Moses” throughout the Bible, to comply with this remarkable numeric design? How did each of the writers over a period of 1,600 years know how to choose his words in such a manner that, after all had been written, it would be exactly a multiple of seven? In thousands of ways the whole Bible is linked together in this continuous design, from Genesis to Revelation. It links paragraph with paragraph, Book with Book and the Old Testament with the New Testament. The numerics of the Old Testament and the New Testament together form a remarkable harmonious design, which is destroyed if one or the other is left out. The Old Testament was completed 400 years before the New Testament began, and yet both together form one complete revelation. They agree completely – both are part of one harmonious whole.
The Bible Is the Only Book Compiled by A Remarkable Numeric Design
Nowhere in the whole world is another book known to have been written according to this or any other mathematical design. Even the Apocrypha do not contain this design. Many people have spent many years searching the classics of the old Greeks, but could find no design. It is therefore clear that the Bible is not the work of many brainpowers, but that of only One Great Author, namely God. Only the Omnipresent, Omniscient and Almighty God could have written such a Book by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And if we then also realise that Jesus Christ Himself is the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us, then we become even more overwhelmed by this great Wonder and brought to worship low down at His feet.
Gestation Periods:
Humans 280 days; Sheep 147 days; Lions 98 days; Dogs 63 days; Cats 56 days; Hares and Rats 28 days; Mice 21 days; Ducks 42 days; Chickens 21 days. All these periods are multiples of seven!
Bibliography
The Holy Bible (King James Version, 1611)
The Companion Bible, 1922
The Bible: Its Christ and Modernism, By T.J. Mc Crossan, 1929
The Shorter Works of Ivan Panin
The Last Twelve Verses Of Mark, By Ivan Panin
Verbal Inspiration of the Bible Scientifically Demonstrated, By Ivan Panin
Bible Chronology, By Ivan Panin
Number In Scripture, By E.W. Bullinger, 1967
