HOW WE KNOW THE BIBLE IS GOD'S WORD

A SWORD FLASHES IN THE DARKNESS (THE BIBLE IS GOD’S INFALLIBLE WORD) by Ada Brownell “Seek ye out the book of the Lord, and read.” (Isaiah 34”14) I was over at my neighbor’s house picking up some Avon products when she told me about her friend who was visiting. “I don’t know what to do to help her,” Roberta said, tears in her eyes. Roberta’s friend came from South Dakota to take her child to a Denver specialist for tests on his heart. A blood clot developed in the young boy’s arm after the test, and doctors told the mother if the clot moved the short distance up the artery to the heart, the child would die. If they operated to remove the clot, he might lose the use of his arm. I told Roberta we believed in prayer and told her I’d pray for the child. After I went home, however, I realized that wasn’t enough. The mother needed some faith of her own. So I took one of my Bibles and underlined the 91st Psalm: “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God, in Him will I trust .... A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation. There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling; for He shall give His angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways .... He shall call upon me and I will answer him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.” I put a marker in the Bible and took the Bible to Roberta. Later, Robert related to me what happened. When her friend came home from the hospital, she sat down and read the Psalm. Tears soon dripped on the marked page, but the mother found hope. At the hospital, doctors circled the little boy’s bed in consultation about what they should do. One of them gently began to examine the thin, inflamed arm where needles had inserted dye for the X-rays. “It’s gone!” the doctor said in amazement. “The clot has dissolved.” Like the boy’s mother, many people have found comfort and hope in God’s Word. The Bible is a unique book. There is none other like it -- although many books have been written to take its place. No other writing in the history of the human race has been preserved with the care that has been given the Bible. Not only is it the oldest book of antiquity, throughout history men have spent their lives preserving, copying and translating Scripture. Some of the copying was so meticulous one scribe copied the consonants, another inserted the vowel points and accents, and a third revised the copy. Manuscripts were preserved on fine animal skins and kept in dry places where they would be safe for generations to come. The writing of the Bible also is unique. Unlike Mohammed’s Koran, or Joseph Smith’s Book of Mormon, written almost completely by one man (Mohammed wrote the Koran, but his followers also wrote some of his sayings for the book), the Bible was written by 40 authors over a 1,500-year span, over 30 generations. The authors included peasants, philosophers, fishermen, poets, statesmen, scholars, a doctor and a tax collector. It was written on three continents, Asia, Africa and Europe, and in three languages, Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. Hundreds of controversial subjects are included in the subject matter, but although the authors were so different, they wrote with harmony and continuity from Genesis to Revelation. There is one unfolding story: God’s redemption of man. Another test of the Bible is the fulfillment of prophecy. One of the most outstanding fulfillments of prophecy is taken from the Old Testament book of Ezekiel and was fulfilled in this generation when Israel became a nation. Read it in Ezekiel 37, and then read the book of John in the New Testament. Dozens of Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus, including His resurrection from the dead. A great book to read besides the Bible: Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell which will help you understand how amazing God’s Word is, and the reality that Jesus is God.