For the past two weeks, we have been discussing where our faith rests. We have seen that this should be a priority to us as we seek to please God.
There can be several things that we think are right concerning spiritual matters, but there is only one source to which we can go to be sure – and that is God’s word.
Some doubt the Bible, thinking it is only a collection of man’s thoughts and ideas. It may be that they are not aware of the scientific knowledge the Bible contains and scientific facts given hundreds of years before “science” discovered the facts.
The Psalmist spoke of the “paths in the sea” (Psalm 8:8). David wrote this thousand of years before Christ was born. Not until the 1860’s did man realize the oceans circulate. Matthew Fontaine Maury wrote of this fact in his book on physical oceanography. Ships still sail in the Gulf Stream to save shipping time.
The water cycle was not fully understood until about 30 B.C., when the Roman engineer Marcus Vitruvius studied the cycle. Yet more than 1,600 years before, Solomon wrote, “The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again” (Ecc.1:6-7).
The Bible stated that life is in our blood (Lev. 17:11, 14), but up until the 1830s, man thought it was good to practice “blood-letting.” Had people simply followed the Bible’s direction, they would have realized the importance of blood to the human body.
The earth being a sphere is told in Isa. 40:2, yet for centuries man discovered this fact.
How is it that the writers of the Bible could know this information hundreds of years before they were discovered? The answer is that knowledge was given to them by God. “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 “(2 Peter 1:21).
The history of the world is talked about in the Bible. Centuries before nations ruled, God’s prophets told of them. King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that troubled him: he demanded his wise men tell him his dream and the interpretation of that dream. All his men failed in the task, but God’s servant Daniel, relying on God, was able to tell him the dream and its meaning.
Daniel told of a great image the king had seen in his dream. This image was made of different materials and the different parts represented kingdoms present and future to the time of Nebuchadnezzar. History bears out the interpretation of this dream by Daniel.
Babylon was overcome by the Medo-Persian Empire. They were followed by Alexander the Great, and after his death his empire became divided among his generals, Cassander, Lysimachus, Ptolemy and Seleucus. Following their time, the Roman Empire came to power. All of this was seen in the interpretation given by Daniel.
God’s word has been proven true time and time again. It is the standard upon which man can rest his faith, for it is from God. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim. 3:16, 17).