Are you surprised that we should suggest that we ask God for the answer to the above question?  Well, before we ask the question we need to explain a little of the background to why this is valid approach to the question!

¹  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.           Genesis 1

So, the next question seems obvious.  Why did he do it?

¹⁴  For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.                                                                  Habakkuk 2

That is why Jesus tells us that one day soon a host of the faithful, in praise of God’s blessing of them, will call in unison … …

¹¹  “You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honour and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.”     Revelation 4

Did you notice that the prophet Habakkuk said God wants the earth to be full of the knowledge of His glory?  That means that He needs thinking beings that are able to understand Him and think like Him as he describes in the opening of his book wehich is why man was different to the rest of his creation

²⁷  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.                                                          Genesis 1

The Hebrew word translated image there is: ‏צֶלֶם‎ (transliteration: Ṣelem) and Strong’s Hebrew/English Dictionary defines Selem as …

So, man was not the same as God, but he had similarities to God – especially a mind that could think, reason, and have emotions in the same way as God, and the ability to communicate with Him and one another, and much more.

Now, God has given men and women a great deal – life, an amazing body, and, we find as we read more of His word, for those who love Him and use this life to please Him, the promise of a wonderful reward.

³  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴  To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,                                    1 Peter 1

A wonderful inheritance that is beyond the conception of the human mind, but that is revealed to those who read His word carefully.

⁹  But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. ¹⁰  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.                                               1 Corinthians 2

Just six short passages of scriptures reveal to us that God is the creator of the universe and that He has a special purpose with the planet we live on that reflects His glory, the wonder of which will be appreciated by the inhabitants – those who have shown they love God by living a life that pleases Him.

But you may well say, “How does this fit in with our world today – full of suffering, poverty, killing, and so much destruction of the environment”?

A very reasonable question with a straightforward answer. It is the only way that God could achieve His purpose!  You will remember that his purpose was that …

¹⁴  … the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea.                                                                      Habakkuk 2

And we are given a big clue as to why suffering, hardship, wickedness and much more distress is involved, by the apostle Paul, writing to faithful converts, in just one verse.

¹³  For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. Galatians 5:13 ESV

Love is a freewill offering.  It involves choosing to do things for others, when we have the natural choice is not to do them. So, to achieve His purpose God needed to create man with a make up, a nature, often called Human Nature, that has the freedom to act without any constraint.

Wikipedia defines Freewill as follows,

The apostle Paul describes how he finds controlling the nature of man, which has powerful urges to rebel against restraint, difficult to achieve.

¹⁸  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. ¹⁹  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. ²⁰  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.               Romans 7

Putting it simply, He finds life is a battle between his own desire to please God and the nature he bears very hard because his nature – “the flesh” – prefers to go it’s own selfish way. In other words, it wants to please itself rather than Paul’s desire to please God. When you think about it, for love to be valid it has to be that way. Equally, God’s reward for those who show love for Him, is to love them, and give them a far better way of future life, than those who love their own way. This is why the apostle Paul wrote,

⁷  But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. ⁸  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,                                     Philippians 3

Everything this world had given Paul in the past and could give him in the future was the lowest form of rubbish he could think of, compared to the excellence of escape from sin and death and to receive eternal life with freedom from pain and suffering in the glorious Kingdom of God free from all forms of evil.  Peter, another apostle much loved by Jesus, wrote in similar terms of all the glories promised to those who truly love Him.

³  According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: ⁴  Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.                                             2 Peter 1

If service to God, bringing such a wonderful reward that nothing in the present way of life can compete with,  is new to you and difficult to believe and understand, we need to tell you more about that reward.  However, these are short articles designed to whet the appetite of the reader for deeper study and there is so much to what God promises, as a caring and loving Father, that we cannot even begin to describe it here. Therefore we intend to put together further articles to introduce the reader to the huge benefits of serving God as their Heavenly Father, and following to the best of their ability the example of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Meanwhile, if you’ve not already read them, below are some of our existing short essays on important aspects of putting your future into the hands of our Heavenly Father that might interest you.  Also, we have available leaflets and booklets all free of charge that cover the sort of subjects in this series of essays. Simply request a copy telling us the subject of interest to you in the Comments Box at the top right of this page.  There, you can request that we provide you a phone number, or an email or postal address for communication.

PLEASE BE ASSURED THAT we only respond to questions and requests and WE WILL NOT APPROACH YOU AGAIN UNLESS YOU REQUEST US TO.

GO TO LIST … …

Who knows the future? – February 2021

How can Israel be God’s witnesses? – April 2021

As we say in the message above, it is sad when we are discussing an important subject and the other person uses a simple word, but we don’t know what they mean as is the case with the word ‘Faith’.  The Oxford English dictionary that we quote in the above message defines it as, ‘a certainty’ OR ‘an unproven conviction’ !  Not very helpful with an important subject like this.  We know that, with the passing of the years, words change their meaning.  But to have two opposing definitions in use at the same time is hopeless.

Faith is used 247 times in the King James Version of the Bible and when we add other words containing ‘faith’, like faithfully, etc., it rises to 360 times.  Other English translations use the word extensively as well.  The New International Version for instance, uses Faith 270 times and the group total is 443.  So, we need to know which definition applies to this group of words in the Bible. Is it a certainty or is it an unproven conviction?  For instance, look at the opening words of the Bible.

¹  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ²  The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Genesis 1 (NKJV)

Is it a certainty or is it an unproven conviction?  The whole status of the Bible depends upon it for God, through the prophet Isaiah says,

¹²  I have made the earth,  And created man on it. My hands stretched out the heavens, And all their host I have commanded.                Isaiah 45

Let’s see if the Bible defines the word faith as it is used in His word, because,

²⁰  Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. ²¹  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

The power of God’s Holy Spirit in directing what men say is amazing. Jeremiah was a prophet that was given the task of telling Israel they were wicked and must listen to God’s message or their capital city – Jerusalem – would be destroyed, many of them killed, and the survivors taken captives to Babylon.  But the people rejected his message, abused and persecuted him.

So Jeremiah said to himself, “They don’t want to listen to my warnings because they don’t believe them or care because they enjoy the ways of idol worship.  I need not go on repeating this message. The suffering their response causes me is too much for me cope with.”  But see what happened …

⁹  Then I said, “I will not make mention of Him, Nor speak anymore in His name.” But His word was in my heart like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, And I could not.  Jeremiah 20

When God needs His message to be proclaimed no man can stand in its way – a fact many other scriptures confirm.  Thus, making clear God’s word should be trusted as absolute truth.

¹⁹  “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? Numbers 23

Therefore, what God says has, and will always be fuilfilled and having faith in the Bible makes that faith a certainty.

⁹  Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;    Deuteronomy 7  

There is one problem remaining for those new to the Bible.  We need more than the Bible telling us it is certainly true because many people today think it is not a reliable book.  We need independent evidence that it is true, which is readily available, but we don’t have the space in this article to demonstrate that.

An exciting way of showing the Bible is true is through ‘fulfilled prophecy’.

But sceptics claim that the prophecies were written after the event took place.  However, there is excellent well-founded proof that this is not true.

There are many prophecies that were predicted in the Old Testament that have been fulfilled in the New Testament and scholars using scientific methods are able to show us evidence that the Old Testament was complete before the birth of Christ which was predicted in many parts of the Old Testament.

We have articles in this series which demonstrate that the New Testament was written after the Old Testament and we recommend that you read these as soon as is convenient.  These confirm that the Bible is to be trusted as the true foundation of ‘True Faith.’. 

We recommended two of those articles which are

Who knows the future? – February 2021 and
How can Israel be God’s witnesses? – April 2021

“How can Israel be God’s Witnesses?” and if you click on the article title you will be taken to the one requested.  Please bear in mind that these short articles are designed to whet the appetite of the reader for deeper study.  So please be ready to ask questions in the Comments Box at the top right of this page.  We only respond to questions and comments and will not approach you again unless request.

We want to present to you what the Bible says about God’s purpose in creating the Earth.  Ah, yes, we do believe that the Bible shows very clearly that God created the Earth and we have recently published two articles demonstrating the Bible is a book of truth.  So, we are not going to do it again here.  But we will give you links to those articles at the end of this account so that you can, if you wish, read those as well.  Our object in this article is to show you why God says He has created the Earth and everything on it.

He directed the prophet Isaiah to present Him to Israel like this.

¹¹  Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me. ¹²  I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.           Isaiah 45

And this revelation to Israel is equally relevant to all humanity as is shown throughout scripture.  Here, for example, is a description of God by the Apostle Paul.

¹⁵  …, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; ¹⁶  Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.          1 Timothy 6

I’m sure it won’t surprise you to know that the Creator is all wise and powerful since the whole universe is His work.  Furthermore, it is wholly logical that the Creator would have some object in mind in doing so great a work which, He declares through the prophet Habakkuk this time,

¹⁴  For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.           Habakkuk 2

So He created the planet Earth to be full of glory and beauty for His satisfaction, but He wanted more than this.  God wanted it to be “filled with the knowledge of” His glorious work.  That clearly means He wanted people to exist that would see and appreciate His work.  What sort of creatures did the Creator design?  He tells us from the start that He had decided they should be like him in many respects calling them ‘man’ as he confirmed in his word.

²⁷  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.             Genesis 1:27

So what was it that God wanted men and women to do in response to the knowledge of His work and purpose?

²⁹  And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: ³⁰  And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. … …

It did not stop there for the next verse goes on …

,,, ,,, ³¹  And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.            Mark 12   

God wanted the Earth to be filled with men and women that love Him and one another.  Aah, you say, then He has miserably failed.  But wait a minute. Think about this.  What must go with love for it to exist?  It requires free will.  For love is a person’s response, they need to be able to choose and therefore they must be to free not to love.  Free to reject others, to hate one another, to be unkind, to be selfish, and much more as well as to exhibit the good attributes that are love. The contrast between love and the uninhibited freewill of man in action, called in the scriptures “the works of the flesh” are clearly to be seen in the world today and plainly described in the scriptures. For example,

¹⁹  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, ²⁰  Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, ²¹  Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.      Galatians 5

The “works of the flesh” can be very ugly in the extreme as can be seen today in the many trouble spots around the world, and, if we are honest, are in evidence in some measure, in all of us. But when men and women listen to the “Spirit” through the words of God, the teaching of the Lord Jesus, and the example of faith men and women in the Bible, we see a total contrast.

²²  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, ²³  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.             Galatians 5

Thus we see that men and women at large have a choice.  They can live a life focused on their own will, guided by their own judgement, or they can look around at the amazing natural world from the tiniest creature to the vast universe and be moved by the wonder of it all as was the Apostle Paul to live as God wanted us to live according to His wishes.

¹⁸  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; ¹⁹  Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. ²⁰  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.          Romans 1

The Great, all-powerful, wise God is invisible, as is His power.  But His work of creation, when seen by an unbiased mind, is the evidence that He is there and His amazing mind and wisdom designed and created everything; setting the unchanging myriad of rules that enable the Earth to support the multitude of life forms, amazingly dependent upon one another, so that men and women can live there and fulfil His purpose.

We rejoice that God cares for those who recognise there is a God having learnt from the Bible His desire and purpose, and strive to please Him and has instructed the Angels to support them.

⁶  This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. ⁷  The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. ⁸  O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.            Psalm 34

However, there is a big BUT.  God, of course, knew the battle those who strive to please Him have to fight against their nature of flesh would be a huge struggle.

⁹  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? ¹⁰  I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.           Jeremiah 17

We can see from the scriptures that God clearly understood the kind of creature He was creating in man.  He knew also that He had the power and wisdom to finally free the Earth of wickedness and evil and fill it with His glory, at the same time raising those men and women who love Him and the works of His hands to glorious eternal life.

³⁸  But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off.  ³⁹  But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble.           Psalm 37

This is a big subject that we have started upon, but our article has reached its limit, therefore, we have brought our article to an encouraging conclusion.  The faithful followers of Jesus can look forward to the day that Jesus promises …

⁴  … God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.              Revelation 21

~~~   ~~~   ~~~   ~~~   ~~~   ~~~

We are eager to tell you more about the hope that Jesus promises his followers and there are many articles on our website that do that.  So, please feel free to have a look at them now, or during a future visit.  Especially, if you want to see some of the evidence for The Truth Of The Bible.  As mentioned at the outset, we have two articles in this series which do that.  Just click one of the boxes below to go to one of them.

• Who knows the future? – February 2021

• How can Israel be God’s witnesses? – April 2021

Below are answers to topics posed in THE RUGBY REGISTER magazine issued in Rugby, Warwickshire.  The monthly answers following aim to stimulate hope in the turmoil of our troubled and scary world.  Please explore our drop-down menus for other Study topics.

Please see our developing SUBJECT INDEX in the right-hand side bar below the menu.

SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES

You will see above that our July message in The Rugby Register focuses on the name of our website – “Search the scriptures” and quotes the Apostle Paul’s words,

⁹  But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.                                                               1 Corinthians 2

On first reading it would appear that this verse suggests that there are a number of unsolved mysteries in the Bible which ‘eye hath not seen, or ear heard’. Indeed, it may be thought that Paul is referring to some of those ‘mysteries of Christianity’ that many accept will not be revealed until some future time.

But our message in the Rugby Register states that there are no unsolved mysteries in the Bible, and we say that because the following verse in 1 Cor 2 states:

¹⁰  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.      1 Corinthians 2

As the Bible is the product of Spirit inspired men who were moved by God to express His thoughts in words for the benefit of His Creation, it follows that the only way we can understand what is revealed is by reading or hearing God’s Word, hence the need to ‘Search the Scriptures’. The importance of so doing is emphasized by Paul writing in his letter to Timothy in which he affirms that:

¹⁶  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: ¹⁷  That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.                                                                           2 Timothy 3

God has not caused His Word to be written to deceive or confuse us, and if it is as profitable as Paul states, then it has a message that is not only of benefit to the way we live now, but must contain words of comfort and hope for our future, for above all it speaks of the way in which we can gain salvation.

The Word of God is therefore the foundation of all belief, and without it we would be in total ignorance of His intentions in Creation, His purpose with the earth and the men and women who live on its surface, but to gain the benefit it offers we must read it accurately, as to take a single verse without considering what follows, as we have already shown, can lead to the wrong conclusions

An example of this is to be found in John 14 where Jesus states:

²  In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.                                                                            John 14

It may be thought that ‘in my Father’s house’ refers to Heaven and that Jesus is saying that it is there that there are ‘many mansions (rooms)’ for us to occupy. In Acts 1 we can read of Jesus ascension to Heaven after his resurrection; so we can deduce that he is waiting for the faithful to join him there. But if we read the next verse we find that he continues

³  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.                                                                         John 14

The expression ‘I will come again’ means he is to return to earth where he was before his ascension and there that he will ‘receive us unto himself’. And other Scriptures show that the place of reward for faithfully following his example and teaching will be on earth where he will establish the Kingdom of God. Indeed this is what Christians the world over are praying for when they repeat the words of Christ’s model prayer ‘’Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven’’.

So, it is vital that we read the Word of God accurately, as we have said, and without any pre-conceived ideas. Wikipedia reports that there are thousands of Christian denominations all claiming their beliefs come from the Bible, yet whose beliefs differ, sometimes radically, from others. A true understanding of its message is the only dependable way to please God and achieve salvation.
The foundation of the teaching of Jesus when men and women came to hear him was ‘’follow me’’. This expression is recorded 19 times, showing how important it is that those who would be ‘Christians’ must be like their leader, and believe the things that he believed.

²³  And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.                                                                        Luke 9:23

Jesus defines very clearly what this entails in words to be found in John 15.

¹³  Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴  Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. ¹⁵  Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. John 15

Christ here confirms that ‘the words I have heard of my Father I have made unto you’; therefore, as with the other writers who set down words they obtained by inspiration, so Christ’s teaching also has the Divine ‘Stamp of Approval’ and we ignore it at our peril.

²⁰  Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. ²¹  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

Peter is telling us that God’s Spirit power guided the pens of these inspired writers, so that we can have absolute reliance on the accuracy of their words as reflecting the very mind of God.

Consequently, the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, must be regarded as infallible, and if this be so, we would be foolish to ignore the Bible message, which is why we urge people everywhere to ‘Search the Scriptures for they are the Word of Life.

That is the great benefit we can derive from God’s Word, particularly in the very difficult days we are currently experiencing, and we therefore urge you to seek the comfort and enlightenment that only God’s inspired word can give.

⁴  For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.                Romans 15

Is it possible any prophecies of the Bible are self-fulfilling prophecies?’

The following video is a recording of a Zoom type meeting (not a professionally produced film) but we felt that the video support to the talk is very effective.  Do give it a try and tell us in our ‘Contact us’ box feature at the top right of the page what you think. (To help our future planning.)

We hope that you found this Bible Presentation interesting.  Questions and comments are welcome.  Press the Red arrow on the right to go to the top and fill in the ‘Contact us’ feature on the RIGHT.

¹¹  For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; ¹²  The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; Song of Songs 2

Who could not want to be present on such a lovely spring morning?  For this is to be a day when the Earth will be  covered in re beauty.

The next two articles – ‘How can Israel be God’s witnesses?’ and ‘Our troubled World’ – look at two important different, independent, examples of evidence of the truth and reliability of the Bible.  We hope you will read them and if you have doubts, or questions, you will contact us at the top of this page.

If curiosity brought you to our website that would be good​​ because we like visitors with an inquiring mind. Many people will know that it is the Bible that is ‘reckoned to ​​ be the world’s bestselling book’. But to be told the people of Israel have a 4,000-year history could be harder to believe.

The above article outlines reliable evidence that the Greek Septuagint version of the Old Testament, which contains many prophecies of New Testament events, was completed well before the birth of Jesus Christ.  Another article that gives trustworthy evidence of how the Dead Sea Scrolls are further proof, in a separate way, of the truth of many Old Testament prophecies can be found if you click the link below.

• Who knows the future?

9 ​​​​ “I alone am God and that there is no one else like me. 10From the beginning I predicted the outcome; long ago I foretold what would happen. ​​ I said that my plans would never fail, that I would do​​ everything I intended to do. ​​ 11I am calling a man to come from the east; he will swoop down like a hawk and accomplish what I have planned. ​​ I have spoken, and it will be done.  12 “Listen to me, you stubborn people who think that victory is far away.” ​​ Isaiah 46 GNB We thank you that you have come to see more of what the Bible says. ​​ Sadly, today the great majority of people who see the words ‘God’ or ‘Bible’ turn away. All we ask is 10 to 15 minutes of your time to show you some facts that it is likely will be new to you.

We have advertised the way you see, above left, because we think first if someone makes such colossal, some will say, unbelievable claims as are in the verses above, they should be able easily to find the failings of such claims. ​​ Second, since God’s plans seem very impressive, they are well worth a few minutes to test their​​ credibility. ​​ Before we get down to business, let us whet your appetite with a peep into God’s plans that He says, “will never fail”.

³ ​​​​ Trust in the LORD, and​​ do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.​​ ⁴ ​​​​ Delight thyself also in the LORD; and​​ he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.​​ ⁵ ​​​​ Commit thy way unto the LORD;​​ trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​​​  ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​​​ Psalm 37

He promises the wicked and all evil shall be removed from the earth.​​

^9​​  For​​ evildoers shall be cut off: but​​ those that wait upon the​​ LORD, they shall inherit the earth.​​ ¹⁰​​  For yet a little while, and​​ the wicked​​ shall​​ not​​ be: yea,​​ thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it​​ shall​​ not​​ be.​​ ¹¹​​  But​​ the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.​​   Psalm 37

Beauty and tranquillity of nature will be re-established like the Garden of Eden.​​

¹​​  The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and​​ the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.​​ ²​​  It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon,​​ they shall see the glory of the​​ LORD,​​ and​​ the excellency of our God.​​ ³​​  Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.​​ Isaiah 35​​ 

Just one more​​ Biblical insight into the future, before we look at the key question.

^4​​  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.​​    Revelation 21

The Bible promises wonderful things for the individual in a​​ world free of evil and wickedness. ​​ A world at peace, full of beauty, comfort, joy and much more. Clearly, we need to know the integrity and reliability of the book before we commit to studying its pages.​​ The best test of the Bible is are the prophecies made in it recorded before the event. For instance, the Jews, who knew the Old Testament scriptures, were expecting the coming of the Messiah – Jesus Christ. ​​ For instance, when John the Baptist was preaching and baptising we read in Luke,

¹⁵​​  And as​​ the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John,​​ whether he were the Christ, or not;​​ ¹⁶​​  John answered, saying unto​​ them​​ all, I indeed baptize you with water; but​​ one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not​​ worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.​​   Luke 3​​ 

Long before that, soon after Jesus was born, we read again, in the same gospel,

^25​​  And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name​​ was​​ Simeon; and the same man​​ was​​ just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.​​ ²⁶​​  And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that​​ he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.​​ ²⁷​​  And he came by the Spirit into the temple:​​ and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,​​ ²⁸​​  Then​​ took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,​​ ²⁹​​  Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word.​​   Luke 2​​ 

More significant than that were the wise men that came from the East,​​

²​​  Saying,​​ Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.  ​​ Matthew 2

This greatly disturbed Herod, the cruel, power-hungry ‘king’ who was a puppet ruler under the Roman occupancy of Israel and wanted no rival.​​

⁴​​  And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together,​​ he demanded of them where Christ should be born.​​ ⁵​​  And they said unto him,​​ In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,​​ ^6​​  And​​ thou Bethlehem,​​ in​​ the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.​​    Matthew 2

The leaders of Israel too were expecting their Messiah, and they quoted to Herod the Old Testament prophet Micah,

^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.​​   Micah 5

There are many more Old Testament prophecies of the coming of the Messiah. ​​ The 2nd​​ Psalm is all about God’s Son, who would, only then, be named Jesus Christ when he came to Israel .

^2​​  The​​ kings of the earth set themselves,​​ and the rulers take counsel together,​​ against the​​ LORD, and against his anointed,​​ saying,​​ ³​​  Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away​​ their cords from us.​​ … …​​ ⁷​​  I will declare the decree:​​ the​​ LORD​​ hath said unto me, Thou​​ art​​ my Son;​​ this day have I begotten thee.​​         Psalm 2

But, the key question is, were these prophecies about Jesus Christ certainly written before he lived? ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​​​

That is, simply put, can it be proved that the Old Testament,​​ so full of​​ prophecies concerning the Lord Jesus that he has since fulfilled,​​ was written well before his birth? ​​

An amazing sequence of events began in 1947 when a young Arab shepherd was collecting his flock and saw one of his goats up on the rocks.

He did not want to climb up the rocks to try and retrieve the goat, so he picked up some stones and started to throw them ahead of the goat to try to direct him down. ​​ One of these stones went into a cave ahead of the goat, and the shepherd heard a crash from inside that sounded like something breaking.​​ This puzzled him and he decided to clamber up the rocks to see what was inside the cave.​​

​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​​​

There he found some large clay pots, like the ones in the picture. His stone had broken one of the pots,​​ inside which were some parchment scrolls, again, a bit like the one inset on the left. The account of what happened next is a long and detailed one.​​ Let a few facts from Wikipedia summarise the significance of these scrolls.​​ “The Dead Sea Scrolls are ancient Jewish religious manuscripts that were found in the Qumran Caves in the Judaean Desert.” ​​ We learn 981 texts (scrolls) were discovered in 11 caves, but not all of them are of the Bible.​​ “There are 225 Biblical texts of the Hebrew Bible included in the Dead Sea Scrolls, or​​ around 22% of the total”. ​​ The youngest of the Hebrew Bible manuscripts is dated 150 BCE.

“Scholarly consensus dates these scrolls from the last three centuries BCE and the first century CE. The texts have great​​ historical, religious, and linguistic significance because they include the second-oldest known surviving manuscripts of works later included in the Hebrew Bible.” (Old Testament). ​​ “The Dead Sea Scrolls contain parts of all, but one, of the books of the Tanakh, of the Hebrew Bible.” ​​ The book of Esther is the only one not represented.

Now you will see why we wanted you to know, if you don’t already, about the Dead Sea scrolls. ​​ Scholars and scientists, Christian and non-Christian are agreed that​​ there is overwhelming evidence that the youngest books of the Old Testament were written at least 150 years before Jesus was born, and that there are many manuscripts of earlier books that are older than that. ​​ 

This means that, certainly, there is a God who is in control of this world​​ because no man or woman could have known about the birth and life of Jesus in Old Testament times except by reading God’s Word in the Hebrew Bible. ​​ In fact, there are many other prophecies about people, nations, and events, that happened after The Old Testament it was completed. ​​ Therefore, logic tells us all the words that God instructed the Hebrew prophets to write about Himself and His purpose are absolute truth.  ​​ ​​ ​​​​

^5​​  I​​ am​​ the​​ LORD, and​​ there is​​ none else,​​ there is​​ no God beside​​ me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:​​ ^6​​  That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that​​ there is​​ none beside me. I​​ am​​ the​​ LORD, and​​ there is​​ none else.​​ ⁷​​  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the​​ LORD​​ do all these​​ things. … …​​ ^11​​  Thus saith the​​ LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker,​​ Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.​​ ¹²​​  I have made the earth, and created man upon it:​​ I,​​ even​​ my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.  Isaiah 45​​ 

What is more, if He can so control the writing of His words and the events that followed, it is completely reasonable that He should be able to, and does ensure His word is preserved through the centuries. Historians give us fascinating details of​​ efforts of the enemies of Bible truth, efforts to destroy God’s words and the amazing ways in which it was preserved. God told the Israelites who wrote and copied the manuscripts as they wore out,

²​​  Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish​​ ought​​ from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the​​ LORD​​ your God which I command you.​​  Deuteronomy 4

As a consequence of this command, the​​ scribes took great care copying manuscripts and made meticulous checks between the old and new treasured documents.​​

God tells us He created the earth for a purpose, which includes it being inhabited, and He has explained what is His purpose in His Word -​​ the Holy Scriptures – the Old and New Testaments.​​

¹⁸​​  For thus saith the​​ LORD​​ that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it,​​ he created it not in vain*, he formed it to be inhabited: I​​ am​​ the​​ LORD; and​​ there is​​ none else.​​ ¹⁹​​  I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain:​​ I the​​ LORD​​ speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.  ​​​​  *vain =​​ ‏תֹּהוּ‎​​ -​​ tōhû ​​ (Hebrew) ​​ meaning: ​​ to lie​​ waste; to lie waste; a​​ worthless​​ thing Isaiah 45

God says creation itself witnesses that He is there and the universe is His handiwork.​​

²⁰​​  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the​​ things that are made,​​ even​​ his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:​​   Romans 1

The only way a man or woman can know about life and the future is by reading God’s Word. ​​ There, He has in His Word explained all the mysteries and puzzles that we need to know to reach the joys we mentioned near the beginning of this article. ​​

^9​​  But as it is written,​​ Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. …​​ … ​​ 

No man or woman can know God, His will, or His purpose, except they listen to His Word, or His Apostles to whom He has told it. ​​ We invite you to share it with us … …​​

¹⁰​​  God hath revealed​​ them​​ unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the​​ deep things of God.​​   1 Corinthians 2

These are the wonderful things that God has given to faithful men by His spirit to teach others and record in His word we called the Bible.

¹⁶​​  All scripture​​ is​​ given by inspiration of God, and​​ is​​ profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:​​ ¹⁷​​  That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.​​   2 Timothy 3​​

This is the glad tidings, the good news, the gospel that Jesus and the apostles​​ taught … ​​

¹​​  And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village,​​ preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve​​ were​​ with him.​​  ​​ Luke 8​​ 

And details of the many aspects of that gospel can be​​ found in other articles on this website, which we invite you to browse, but we must end this article here. ​​ To go to another article giving different evidence of the truth of the Bible follow this link.

• How can Israel be God’s witnesses? – April 2021

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