David W. Cloud - The Bibles Amazing Story

The Bibles Amazing Story

Copyright 2004 by David W. Cloud

ISBN 978-1-58318-191-1

This book is published for free distribution in eBook format. It is available in PDF, MOBI (for Kindle, etc.), and ePUB formats from the Way of Life web site. We do not allow distribution of this book from other web sites.

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The Bible..

The Bible has been likened to a body of water in which a lamb can walk and an elephant can swim. To understand the Bible requires more than intellect and education and religion. It requires spiritual enlightenment.

Introduction

This book is for those who are interested in the Bible and who want to know what the Bible teaches.

The Bible is amazing and unique. It is the worlds best selling and most popular book. It has been translated in whole or in part into 2,300 languages and has converted the hearts of men and women from every race and nation. Through the power of its message, drunkards have become sober, thieves have become honest, murderers have laid down their knives and guns, atheists have become believers in God, and the tongue of the blasphemer has been converted into an instrument of worship.

The Bible is a large book composed of 66 smaller books. It was written by 40 different men over a period of 1,600 years, beginning in about 1,500 B.C. and ending in about 95 A.D., yet it tells one consistent story and contains no contradictions in its facts or teaching.

This is a great and amazing miracle. When men living even in the same lifetime try to describe something they have all seen and experienced, there are always many contradictions. For example, when Krakatoa exploded off the western tip of Java in August 1883, it was the largest, most devastating volcanic eruption in known history. Almost 40,000 people were killed. The sound of the explosion could be heard 3,000 miles away! One historian observed: Thousands of people, far and wide, suddenly became aware of the events, but their accounts of it, like the accounts of any monstrous and traumatizing event, present today a morass of conflict and confusion (Simon Winchester, Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded , p. 210; emphasis added).

Thus we see that apart from a divine miracle, mens testimonies disagree even when they are reporting about the same event in their own lifetime. In this light it is obvious that the Bible is an incredible miracle, when it was written over a period of 1,600 years by more than three dozen authors yet gives a unified message.

The main theme of the Bible is the creation, fall, and salvation of mankind. The main Person presented in the Bible is Jesus Christ.

The Bible is composed of two major parts, the Old Testament (composed of 39 individual books) and the New Testament (composed of 27 individual books). The Old Testament prepared the way for the coming of Jesus Christ to die for mans sins. The New Testament tells of Christs birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension back to Heaven. It also tells the story of the establishment of the first Christian churches and Gods instructions for Christians.

Some people today think that the Bible and Christianity is a western religion. Actually the events of the Bible take place in the Middle East and the first Christian churches were in Israel and Asia Minor. From there Christian churches spread throughout the world.

In the Bible we see Gods pattern for Christian churches. Many churches that have called themselves Christian through the past 2,000 years did not follow the Bible. They followed their own thinking, instead. This has often given Christianity a bad name. Some churches even persecuted Jews and Bible believers and some church leaders have lived in great wealth, wore crowns, and even ruled over kings. None of this is supported by the Bible. The Lord Jesus warned that many false teachers would come into the world after His departure, and they would teach and do many false things in His name. History bears this out, and because of this, many have been confused about what true Christianity is.

We have seen one reason why we know the Bible is Gods Word, and that is its amazing unity and composition. Another reason is ITS PROPHECIES . The Bible is unique in that it contains hundreds of prophecies of the future. These are not vague prophecies such as those commonly made by astrologers and fortune tellers. The Bibles prophecies are clear and specific. The Bibles prophecies name the names of people and places; they contain exact dates and details. Many of the prophecies have already been fulfilled, and each of these was fulfilled exactly as written.

For example, the Bible has hundreds of prophecies about the first coming of Jesus Christ . Consider just a few of these:

The Bible prophesied exactly when Jesus would be born . This prophecy is in Daniel 9:22-27, which was written about 530 years before Jesus came. The prophet Daniel said the Messiah would come 483 years after the commandment was given to rebuild Jerusalem, and that is exactly when He was born.

The Bible prophesied exactly where Jesus would be born, in the little town of Bethlehem in the province of Judah in Israel . That is in Micah 5:2, 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. That amazing prophecy was written down 700 years before Jesus was born.

The Bible prophesied that Jesus would be rejected by His own people, the nation Israel . This was written in the prophet Isaiah about 710 years before Jesus was born: He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not (Isaiah 53:3).

The Bible prophesied that Jesus would die by crucifixion . This was written in Psalm 22:14-16 about 1,000 years before Jesus was born. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.... they pierced my hands and my feet. This is an amazing and perfect description of death by crucifixion, and when the prophet David wrote it, crucifixion was not practiced!

The Bible prophesied that the soldiers would gamble for Jesus garment at the foot of the cross . This was written in Psalm 22:18. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. The callous soldiers did this as Jesus was suffering.

The Bible prophesied that none of Jesus bones would be broken during the crucifixion . This was prophesied in Psalm 34:20 about 1,000 years before Jesus was born: He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.

The Bible prophesied that Jesus would be buried in the tomb of a rich man . This was written in Isaiah 53:9 about 710 years before Jesus was born. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death... This was fulfilled when Jesus was taken down off the cross by a wealthy disciple and buried in that disciples own tomb.

The Bible prophesied that Jesus would rise from the dead . This was written in Psalm 16:10 about 1,000 years before Jesus came. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.