The Sufficiency of the Scriptures Series,
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
The Bible answers life’s greatest questions like, “What is God like?” “What is the purpose of life?” “Who am I?”, “Is there life after death?”, “Who is Jesus?”, “What does it mean to believe in Jesus and to be saved?”, and “How should I live my life?”. These questions affect how we see this world; hence it is important to have confidence in the Bible. Last week, we studied four reasons why the Bible can be trusted, and we are adding two more reasons today.
1. Archeological evidence.
“No archeological discovery has ever controverted [overturned] a Biblical reference. Scores of archeological findings have been made which confirm in clear outline or in exact detail historical statements in the Bible. And, by the same token, proper evaluation of Biblical descriptions has often led to amazing discoveries.” [Nelson Glueck, Rivers in the Desert, 31.]
Skeptics: “Moses could have not written the first five books of the Bible as there were no writings at the time.”
Newly deciphered Egyptian symbols on a 3,400-year-old limestone ostracon from Luxor’s Tomb of Senneferi appears to be the first written evidence of the ABC letter order of the early Semitic alphabet, according to a University of British Columbia Egyptologist. This has demolished the argument that Moses could have not written between 1400 to 1300 BC because there was no alphabet.
Skeptics: “The life of King David was a lullaby story for kids.”
The first historical evidence of King David was a 9th Century B.C., old stone slab which was dug in a place called Tel Dan in 1993. The stone slab was excavated in Northern Israel by Avran Biran, an Israeli archeologist. The slab has an inscription that says, “House of David”. It also contains the boasting of an Aramean king who defeated the sons of David as the Bible also tells us. This can be found at the Israel Museum.
Thousands of pieces of archeological evidences have been found to support the historical reliability of the Bible. You can trace biblical cities in names, through ruins, ancient coins, written documents, potteries, clays, slabs and even in ancient arts.
2. Fulfilled Prophecies.
2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
Prophecy: Micah prophesied between 735 to 710 BC.
Micah 5:2, “2 But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
Fulfillment: Jesus was born in 4th BC.
Luke 2:4-11, “4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David…10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”
Prophecy: Jeremiah prophesied from 627-570 BC.
Jeremiah 31:31, “31 The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.”
Fulfillment: The New Covenant was ratified by Jesus’ blood in about 30 A.D.
Matthew 26:27-28, “27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
These are but portions of the more than 300 prophecies that Jesus fulfilled and thousands of archeological evidences. The question is, “How would this impact our Biblical perspectives in relation to our lives and ministry?”
Image by Simon Matzinger from Pixabay