Christian Home Bible Course Lesson 2

Q   What is the BIBLE?

A   The BIBLE is a unique book - because it

   As we read the BIBLE'S description of God, we find the number 3 popping up repeatedly.   For example, God is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.   God is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent.   We find the number 3 representing God as if it was His trademark.   The curious thing about this trademark is that it shows up in various places, starting with His creation . . .
   It took God six days to create everything.   He could have done it much sooner but He chose six (3 x 2) days.   He made the atom with 3 parts (electron, neutron, proton) and used it to create a world with 3 parts (land, sea, air), all within a universe with 3 parts (matter, time and space).   He created time with 3 divisions (past, present, future) and gave space its 3 dimensions (up/down, left/right, forward/ backward).   He created matter with its normal - you guessed it - 3 states (solid, liquid, gas).   When He created life on earth, this trademark was not far behind.   Animals were created to live in 3 areas (in land, in water, in air).   He made their survival to depend on 3 essentials (food, water, air), the food providing energy in 3 forms (protein, carbohydrates, fat), the water made up of 3 parts (two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen) and the air primarily consisting of 3 parts (78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, .93% argon).
   His greatest creation, man, was made in 3 parts also (body, soul, spirit):

Now one would think God would get tired of using the number 3, but He also stamps this trademark throughout His Word the BIBLE . . .

66 (3x22) Books in the BIBLE [39 (3x13) in the Old Testament - 27 (3x9) in the New Testament]
31,173 (3x10,391) Verses in the BIBLE [23,214 (3x7738) in the O.T. - 7959 (3x2653) in the N.T.]

   Within the BIBLE itself we find many appearances of the number 3.   There were 333 prophecies concerning the coming of Jesus Christ into the world.   Jesus Christ was crucified at the age of 33, after a ministry that lasted 3 years.   He spent nine (3 x 3) hours on the cross, with 3 of those hours in darkness.   He was buried for 3 days and 3 nights, and resurrected on the 3rd day.
   In fact, the word three is mentioned in the BIBLE 543 (3 x 181) times!   Yes, the universe and the BIBLE have their Creator's trademark stamped all over them.   God wants us to recognize both as His handiwork.

Q   What is the BIBLE?

A   The BIBLE is a unique book - because it

THE TIME: Around 400 A.D. THE SETTING: Two men are sitting around talking on a clear, starry night; thinking whatever people thought about back then.   Finally one of them says: Edimus, (back then they had funny names) have you ever wondered how many stars there are?    Not really. Well, I have.   I would guess there are 861 stars.    I don't think so. You think there are more?    Actually, you can't count them.                  What?   Who says?    It says so right here: "...Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them..." GEN. 15:5 What's that?    The BIBLE. A book?    Not just a book but God's Word, and He says you can't count them. HA!   I don't believe that.   I think one day they will count them all.   After all, it's not as if the sky goes on forever.    It does.   See, it says so right here: "Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured..." JEREMIAH 31:37 Wait a minute!   You mean you can't measure the size of the heavens?    That's what God is implying. You're crazy!   Next thing you know you'll be telling me that the world is round.    It is. What?!    It says so right here: "It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth..." ISAIAH 40:22 But it can't be round you IDIOT!   If it was round, it would roll off the turtle's back!    It's not riding on a turtle. IT'S NOT ON A TURTLE?!   So what's holding it up, Wiseguy?    Nothing. WHAT?!    It says so right here:       "...[GOD] hangeth the earth upon nothing."   JOB 26:7 Edimus!   YOU'RE NUTS!   You can't trust a book.    It's God's word and He knows everything.   If you want to be absolutely sure of anything, you have to    go to the only person who knows everything about everything - GOD. OH YEAH!   Well, one day scientists are going to prove your book is wrong.   When they do, I'm going to laugh and laugh.   What do you think of that?    I think God will have the last laugh.   And, by the way - what's a scientist?

Consider the following examples:

n Matthew Fountains Maury is called "The Path Finder of The Seas."   This American is the father of today's oceanography and responsible for the establishment of Annapolis Academy.   In Richmond, Virginia, there is a statue of Maury that has charts of the sea in one hand and a BIBLE in the other.
Here's why:

   One day while Matthew Maury was sick in bed, his oldest son was reading to him from the BIBLE and came to a verse where he read:

   Maury stopped his son and said "Read that again."   After hearing it again he said, "If the word of God says there are paths in the sea, they must be there, and I am going to find them."   Within a few years he had charted the sea lanes and currents.   His Physical Geography of the Sea was the first text book of modern oceanography.

n Before space travel, even before the invention of the telescope, God had hinted that the moon gives no light of its own:

n Notice how King Solomon describes the wind in the following verse:

   From Solomon's point of view, the wind moved primarily southward.   Yet God revealed that once the wind reached the equator it would rise and begin heading toward the north pole only to descend and head southward again.   The process is repeated in a continuous circular motion.   This is exactly how the wind behaves due to convection currents.

n In giving advice against laziness, King Solomon mentions something very interesting:

Why are these verses interesting? - TWO REASONS:

FIRST:
   A quote in Life's Nature Library ("The Insects" pg. 163) says, "One of the entomological puzzles of the last century concerned this observation by Solomon.   There was no evidence that ants actually harvested grain.   In 1871, however, a British naturalist showed that Solomon had been right after all."

SECOND:
   If you go back and read Proverbs 6:6-8 again you will notice that Solomon refers to the ant as "her", implying a female gender which as it turns out - IS CORRECT.   It has since been discovered that worker ants in the colony are ALL FEMALE.

n Notice what Solomon says in the following verse:

   Before 1630 this verse might have not made much sense, and may have even been considered just poetry.   However, in 1630 Galileo discovered how river water ran into the sea and found its way back to where it had started.   We now know it as the water cycle - the process of evaporation, condensation and rain.   (See also Job 26:8; 36:27-28)

n A man dying of cancer discovered that laughter is a powerful medicine and recovered of his sickness.
The BIBLE had implied this fact all along when it said:

n As late as the 1800's doctors were washing their hands in a bowl of water and spreading the germs to each other like wild fire.   Yet back in 1450 B.C. God had told the Jew to:

n For hundreds of years scientists followed the "Spontaneous Generation Theory" of Aristotle (350 B.C.).   They believed eggs of all lower animals (insects, etc.) were formed out of rotting substance.   It was also believed that frogs and other small sea life had originated in slime pools.   Yet in the first book of the BIBLE it says:

   In Genesis One, verses twenty-four and twenty-five, God says "after his kind" four times, clearly showing that life comes from life, not from nonliving objects.   This is now known in biology as the "First Law of Biogenesis."

n In November of 1982, Reader's Digest had an article stating that the same elements forming the human body are also found in dirt.   This verse had stated it all along:

n "Blood Letting", the practice of drawing blood from a person, was a medical procedure practiced through the 18th century.   It was done supposedly to rid people of disease or infection, but many people died of it.   The BIBLE reveals how important blood is in this verse written in 1450 B.C.

   What makes these scientific revelations more amazing is that they were written at a time when the world had some STRANGE beliefs: The Hindu sacred book taught that to get rain, a frog had to be tied to a tree with its mouth open.   The Egyptians believed that stars were the souls of the dead.   Still others believed that lightning bolts were missiles from the gods and that heaven and earth came out of a cosmic egg.

Q   What is the BIBLE?

A   The BIBLE is a unique book - because it

   Have you ever wondered what God is like?
   Among the many things revealed in the BIBLE, we find a description of what God is like.   In fact, of all the verses that describe God, one verse gives us tremendous insight into God's character.   It is found in the first book of the BIBLE and says:

   Human beings were originally created in God's image.   For one thing, this means that we both share the same emotions.   This may be surprising to some people who feel that God is some impersonal spiritual force.   God can experience the same feelings that we can experience.   The BIBLE verifies this in the following three examples:

   Far from being impersonal, God desires to have a personal relationship with us, which is why He originally created us in His image and shares the same emotions.   Even if we choose not to have a relationship with Him, God will go as far as trying to reason with us:

   Besides these emotional qualities, which God and man have in common, there are several other qualities that APPLY ONLY TO GOD.   Among them are the following three:

n God is omnipotent.   This means He is all powerful.   That is why the BIBLE asks:

n God is omnipresent.   This means He is everywhere at once.   King David knew this when he asked God:

n God is omniscient.   This means He knows everything.   The BIBLE says:

   God knows everything including the past, present and future (as the next section will show).

The BIBLE reveals a lot more about God's character, but the important thing to note is that . . .

Q   What is the BIBLE?

A   The BIBLE is a unique book - because it

Frederick the Great of Prussia one day approached his chaplain Marquis D’ Argens and asked him:

   With these words, Abraham became the first Hebrew and fathered the Jewish race, which would later be known as the children of Israel (or the Israelites).   God was going to use Israel in the following ways:

1) They would be used as instruments to write God's Word - The BIBLE.
2) They would be the race from which the Saviour of the world, Jesus Christ, would be born.
3) They would be an example of the benefits of being obedient to God's Word.

   The world needs such an example because human beings were not designed to run their own lives independent of God.   Without God's guidance every person tends to do what is right in their own eyes (Judges 21:25); the result being the wars, miseries and heartaches that are a normal part of this world.
The Israelites were to be a shining example of living according to God's law.   That is why God, referring to His commandments, told the Israelites:

   God predicted that if Israel would follow His commandments, all other nations would take notice of Israel's prosperity; the success of their country, their children, all their business affairs, and ample food and resources (Deuteronomy 28:1-14).   He told them:

   During the times that Israel has been "right with God" and lived according to His commandments, they have been the envy of all nations.   For example, during Solomon's early rule as king, Israel did everything "by the Book".   They were known throughout the world as a very prosperous nation.
Perhaps you have seen movies about King Solomon's mines and the great wealth supposedly contained within them.   While the mines themselves are a rumor, the fact is that King Solomon was one of the wealthiest kings of all time.   Israel's obedience to God brought them great prosperity.

   God also warned Israel of the consequences of disobedience, and this was to serve also as an example to the rest of the world.   In fact, God did not just warn them once, He warned them repeatedly through various prophets.   For example:

n In 735 B.C. Hosea the prophet predicted the following:

   Throughout their history there have been times when the Jews have been forced away from their land, and found themselves among other nations.   Yet never had their "wandering" been so great as when they, in complete disobedience, rejected the promised Messiah - Jesus Christ.

   In fact, even before his death, Jesus Christ Himself predicted that their rejection of God's Son would result in their being attacked by others and scattered off their land into various nations (Luke 21:24).
He also predicted that the Jewish Temple would not be left standing:

   In 70 A.D. (forty years after the Jews had the Romans crucify Christ), the Roman General Titus ransacked Jerusalem and drove the Jews out of their land.   They remained scattered throughout other countries for nearly 1900 years, until 1948.

2165 B.C.

1730 B.C.

CREATION	START OF THE JEWISH RACE
GENESIS 1 to 11 + God Creates the World  GEN 1-2 + The Fall of Man  GEN 3 + The Flood of Noah  GEN 6-9 + Tower of Babel  GEN 11:1-9	GENESIS 12 to 50 + 2165 B.C. Birth of Abraham   GEN 11:26 + 2066 B.C. Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah   GEN 19 + 2045 B.C. Sacrifice of Isaac   GEN 22     12 Tribes of Israel are started by Jacob, son of Isaac.     The Jews migrate to Egypt for the next 430 years.

n In 1410 B.C. Moses predicted that when Israel found themselves scattered and wandering among the nations they would experience the following:

   There are many examples throughout the last 2000 years of the Jews being hounded and persecuted.
The most obvious examples in recent history have occurred while they lived in Russia and in Germany during World War II.

n In 1410 B.C. Moses also predicted that:

   Everywhere they have gone, the Israelites have "stuck out like a sore thumb."   The very word "Jew" has become a byword and has drawn much attention, both positive and negative.

n In 1450 B.C. Moses predicted that no matter how scattered the Israelites would become, God would not forget them.   God through Moses said:

   In spite of all their wanderings, the Jews still hold to Jehovah (the God of the BIBLE) as their God, and God continues to deal with them.

1730 B.C.

1410 B.C.

1390 B.C.

FREEDOM FROM EGYPT	ENTERING THE PROMISED LAND
EXODUS; LEVITICUS; NUMBERS; DEUTERONOMY + 1730 B.C. Jews Become Slaves in Egypt   EXOD 1-7 + 1450 B.C. The Ten Plagues on Egypt   EXOD 7-12 + 1445 B.C. Moses Leads Jews Out of Egypt   EXOD 12-13           Parting of the Red Sea   EXOD 14           Ten Commandments Given   EXOD 20 God leads the Jews through the wilderness to the Promised Land.	JOSHUA + 1410 B.C. Jericho Wall Comes Down   JOSH 6 The Jews are settled in the land God promised them.   For a period of time they are led by military chieftains known as Judges.

n In 586 B.C., speaking through Ezekiel the prophet, God told the children of Israel:

   In 1948 Israel was again recognized as a nation after nearly 2000 years of wandering.   The Israelites have been migrating back to the land ever since.   In Deuteronomy 30:1-3 we find this prediction being made.   In both Ezekiel 36:24 and Deuteronomy 30:1-3 we find other aspects of their return that are not yet fulfilled.   Nevertheless, the important thing is that the return process has started, with millions of Jews having already migrated back to Israel since 1948.

n There are many more predictions concerning Israel in the BIBLE.   Most have come to pass, others need yet to be realized.   But there is one prediction fulfilled repeatedly; it was made at the very beginning when God first called Abraham.   God had said:

   Throughout Jewish history those nations that persecuted Israel have either ceased to exist or diminished in importance.   While those nations who have tried to help Israel and be their friends have been blessed.   The United States is a good example of the latter.

WE have already mentioned that the rejection of Jesus Christ as the Messiah brought negative consequences upon the Jews.   Some may think that God was unreasonable in expecting them to recognize Christ as the Messiah.   However, God had already given Israel more than 300 predictions in the Old Testament concerning the Messiah.   God had revealed:

* That He would be a descendant of Abraham.
* That He would come from the Jewish Tribe of Judah (one of the twelve tribes).
* That He would be a direct descendant of David (who killed Goliath).
* That Herod would kill other babies in an attempt to kill baby Jesus.
* That Mary and Joseph would flee to Egypt to escape Herod.
* The very date of His Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday).
* That He would be crucified between two thieves.
* That He would be buried in the borrowed tomb of Joseph of Arimathaea.
* That He would resurrect from the grave.
* That He would ascend back to heaven.

1390 B.C.

1043 B.C.

931 B.C.

JUDGES SET OVER ISRAEL	NORTH / SOUTH KINGDOMS: UNITED
JUDGES; I SAMUEL 1 to 7 + 1390 B.C. Death of Joshua   JOSH 24 + 1374 B.C. To 1050 B.C. Israel Lead by Judges:   Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah and Barak, Gideon,   Tola, Jair, Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon, Samson, Eli and   Samuel Israel eventually refuses to be ruled by a Judge.	I SAMUEL 8 to I KINGS 11; I and II CHRONICLES; PSALMS to SONG OF SOLOMON + 1043 B.C. Saul is First King   I SAMUEL 10 + 1020 B.C. David Slays Goliath   I SAMUEL 17 + 1004 B.C. David Becomes King   II SAMUEL 5:3 After David dies, Solomon becomes King.

   The word Messiah refers to the One who would redeem Israel to God.   (In fact, the word Christ itself means Messiah).   God had promised that Messiah would come and restore the God <-> Man relationship that sin had broken.   So while the Jews were expecting the Messiah, they did not know what He would look like (John 4:25-26); however, the Old Testament had plenty of Scripture that could only be describing Jesus Christ as the Messiah.   This is why Jesus Himself said:

   Now assume the Jews as a whole would have taken Jesus' advice and "searched the scriptures[.]"
WHAT WOULD THEY HAVE FOUND?   (Note: O.T. = Old Testament   N.T. = New Testament)

(1) In 700 B.C. The prophet Micah said:

O.T. "But thou, Bethlehem...out of thee shall he [Messiah] come forth..." MICAH 5:2

   God predicted the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.   If the Jews had asked to see a "Birth Certificate" they would have learned that:

N.T. "...Jesus was born in Bethlehem..." MATTHEW 2:1-6

(2) Since there would be many people born in Bethlehem, God narrowed it down further by predicting that the actual birth would be special:

O.T. "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son..." ISAIAH 7:14 (735 B.C.)

If the Jews had asked Jesus' parents they would have known:

N.T. "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost."   MATTHEW 1:18 (see also Luke 1:26-35)

931 B.C.

605 B.C.

538 B.C.

NORTH / SOUTH KINGDOMS: DIVIDED	BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY
I KINGS 12 to II KINGS; II CHRONICLES 10 to 36; ISAIAH to LAMENTATIONS; HOSEA to ZEPHANIAH + 931 B.C. Solomon Dies, Kingdom Divides into Israel                   (North) and Judah (South)   I KINGS 12 + 860 B.C. to 852 B.C. The Ministry of Elijah             I and II KINGS Both Kingdoms degenerate.   Babylonians take over Jerusalem.	DANIEL; EZEKIEL + 605 B.C. to 539 B.C. Daniel is Made Third in                           Command in Babylon   DAN 1-5 + 538 B.C. Daniel Framed and Put in Lion's Den                         DAN 1-6 Israel is captive 70 years.   King Cyrus grants them freedom.

(3) Now these two "coincidences" should have been enough to get anyone seriously thinking that Jesus Christ could very well be the Messiah.   Instead of considering that possibility, they rejected Him:

N.T. "He came unto his own [the Jews], and his own received him not."   JOHN 1:11

O.T. "He [Christ] is despised and rejected of men..." ISAIAH 53:3 (690 B.C.)

(4) As if that rejection was not bad enough, even one of His own disciples (Judas) betrayed Him:

N.T. "...But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?" LUKE 22:47,48

O.T. "Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me."   PSALM 41:9 (1040 B.C.)

(5) Judas' betrayal of Christ had a price tag:

N.T. "...And [Judas] said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you?   And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver."   MATTHEW 26:14-16

O.T. "...So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver."   ZECHARIAH 11:12 (487 B.C.)

(6) Once betrayed and captured, Jesus was falsely accused of breaking EIGHTEEN Jewish laws:

N.T. "And there arose certain, and bare false witness against him..." MARK 14:57

O.T. "False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge things that I knew not."   PSALM 35:11 (1040 B.C)

538 B.C.

425 B.C.

0

RETURNING TO THE LAND	NO WORD FROM GOD
EZRA; NEHEMIAH; ESTER; HAGGAI; ZECHARIAH; MALACHI + 535 B.C. to 516 B.C. Jewish Temple is Rebuilt   EZRA + 444 B.C. to 443 B.C. Jerusalem's City Walls are                       Rebuilt   NEHEMIAH + 425 B.C. All Books of the Old Testament Finished During the next 400 years no revelations from God are received.	+ 331 B.C. TO 323 B.C. Alexander the Great Conquers                          the World + 164 B.C. Roman General Pompey Conquers                        Jerusalem

(7) But even while He was falsely accused - He held His peace:

N.T. "And Pilate asked him again, saying, Answerest thou nothing? behold how many things they witness against thee.   But Jesus yet answered nothing" MARK 15:4,5

O.T. "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth..." ISAIAH 53:7 (690 B.C.)

(8) And after being falsely pronounced guilty, He was beaten:

N.T. "Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands," MATTHEW 26:67

O.T. "I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting."   ISAIAH 50:6 (690 B.C)

   In the book, Science Speaks, mathematician P. Stoner applies the rules of probability to these eight prophecies.   His conclusion was that the chances of these eight prophecies being fulfilled in ONE PERSON is 1 in 10 to the power of 17; that's 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000!

0

33 A.D.

100 A.D.

LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST	EARLY CHURCH HISTORY
MATTHEW; MARK; LUKE; JOHN +   5 B.C. Birth of Jesus Christ   LUKE 2:1-20 + 26 A.D. Jesus Christ Begins His Ministry   MATT 3:16-17 + 30 A.D. Death and Resurrection of Christ   MATT 27-28 + 30 A.D. Christ Ascends into Heaven   ACTS 1 Apostles begin to spread Christianity.	ACTS to REVELATION

   So far we have only looked at eight prophecies leading up to His crucifixion.   A person who knew his Old Testament would have noticed the following prophecies being fulfilled right before his eyes . . .

(1) After His beating:

N.T. "They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall..." MATTHEW 27:34

O.T. "They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink."   PSALM 69:21

(2) He was then nailed to a cross:

N.T. "And they crucified him..." MATTHEW 27:35

O.T. "...they pierced my hands and my feet."   PSALM 22:16

(3) They then took what He was wearing and started gambling for it:

N.T. "...and parted his garments, casting lots..." MATTHEW 27:35

O.T. "They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture."   PSALM 22:18

(4) During His crucifixion those around Him mocked Him as they said:

N.T. "He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God."   MATTHEW 27:43

O.T. "He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him..." PSALM 22:8

(5) And after being crucified for six hours.

N.T. "Jesus cried with a loud voice...My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" MATTHEW 27:46

O.T. "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" PSALM 22:1

   The student may be wondering who it was that made the last five predictions we looked at, especially since they were made using personal pronouns.   The answer is King David, a direct ancestor of Jesus Christ.   In fact, he wrote most of the Psalms, including the two (Psalms 22 and 69) which we have been looking at.   The Psalms were originally written to music.   They were songs that the Jews had been singing for hundreds of years before Jesus Christ was born.
   JUST THINK!   On the day of Christ's crucifixion, the Jews were witnessing the very things they had been singing about for all those years . . .

Holy Bible   King James Version.

«««««««««« A Sneak Preview ««««««««««««

   In this lesson we have dealt with prophecies that have already been fulfilled, proving that God has a flawless track record when it comes to BIBLE predictions of the past.   What does that tell us about future prophecies (ones that are yet to be fulfilled)?   If God's Word has been pinpoint accurate in the past, then you can count on it being accurate in the future!   In our next lesson we will deal specifically with future prophecies that have yet to be fulfilled, or are being fulfilled before our eyes.   The BIBLE tells us that in the last days . . .

* People will buy and sell items using the number 666 (you will be surprised!)
* Earthquakes, famines, plagues and pestilence will increase.
* Undertones of war will be prevalent during "talks of peace".
* It will be a time of great spiritual apathy mixed with much deception (cults, etc.).
* Technology and knowledge will greatly increase.
* There will be an increase in homosexuality.
* An attitude of skepticism will prevail over the Second Coming of Christ.
* Society will be very mobile with worldwide travel becoming common.
* Computers and satellite transmission will be necessary.

And more. . . .

SO DON'T MISS THE NEXT LESSON AS WE CONTINUE OUR JOURNEY
THROUGH THE BIBLE

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