The Bible as History
October 2025
Written over a period of 1500 years, the Bible gives a history of events since the world began. It focuses on Israel as a land and as a nation.
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The city of Jerusalem is at the heart of historical events in the Bible. It first appears in Genesis, the first book of the Bible. Abram was a man to whom God promised the land of Canaan, as it was called at that time. He had travelled to Canaan from Ur of the Chaldees, in the area of southern Iraq, leaving behind most of his family and a comfortable lifestyle. Why? Genesis 12:1 tells us,”Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you”.
​So Abram (later called Abraham) had been leading a nomadic existence in the land of Canaan with his wife, servants, flocks and herds for some years when he went on a rescue mission to save his nephew and family from an invading army. As he travelled back, King Melchizedek of “Salem” came out to meet Abram. He is described in Genesis 14:18 as “priest of God most high”. So we see that long before Israel became a nation, there was a priest of God in the land, reigning over Jerusalem. Current excavations in Jerusalem have revealed a structure that archaeologists believe to be the “temple of Melchizedek”, although this building is not mentioned in the Bible.
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The Psalms and New Testament also mention Melchizedek. He was a priest long before the nation of Israel existed and we are told in Hebrews 6:20 that the Lord Jesus Christ is “a high priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek”. To be a high priest forever is not possible if you are going to die. Because Jesus rose from the dead and has eternal life, he is able to fulfil that role.
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Why is this relevant to us?
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Melchizedek and Abraham lived thousands of years ago. In Galatians 3:9, we are told that “those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith”. We don’t need to be descended from Abraham to inherit the promises God gave to him. In Genesis 12:2-3, God promised “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and him who dishonours you I will curse, and in you all families of the earth shall be blessed.”
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There are further promises about a descendant of Abraham who will cause those blessings on all families of the earth to happen. Galatians 3:16 confirms that this descendant is Jesus: “Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring…who is Christ”.
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The history of Abraham’s descendants continues right through the Old Testament. In the New Testament, Jesus showed himself to be the descendant of Abraham who would become a king/priest like Melchizedek.
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The Bible tells us about a series of empires leading up to the kingdom of God on earth. At the moment, the world is ruled by a mix of weak and strong nations as foretold in Daniel 2:43. The prophecy also says, “In the days of these kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed…”
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The kingdom of God will be centred on Jerusalem, but will fill the whole earth. Those who have faith in God will be blessed, as was promised to Abraham all those years ago.
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Would you like to find out more about being blessed with Abraham?
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The Bible - word of God or word of man?
September 2025
It’s a simple question that divides opinion: Is the Bible the divinely inspired word of God, or the writings of men? The criticisms made of the Bible fall generally into three general themes:
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• It’s an old book and has no relevance to life today.
• It’s a work of fiction and the events described didn’t really happen.
• It’s an old book that has been copied many times and as a result errors have been introduced into the text.
Between 1946 and 1956, a number of ancient scrolls dating from 200 BCE to 100 CE were discovered in caves near Qumran on the shores of the Dead Sea, generally referred to as the Dead Sea scrolls.
30% of the scrolls contain religious writings, 30% the rules of the Essenes, the religious sect who had hid the scrolls and 40% Bible texts. The scrolls include the “Great Isaiah Scroll”.
Comparison between the contents of the scroll and what is contained in the book of Isaiah in our Bibles show very little difference between the two, and any differences that exist are not significant.
It is accepted that the scrolls were concealed prior to 100 CE, probably about 70 CE when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and scattered the Jewish nation.
Yes, the Bible is an old book, but the Dead Sea Scrolls demonstrate that, in over 2000 years, no significant changes have occurred in the text.
For many years scholars claimed that King David, a significant character in the Old Testament narrative, never existed. However, in 1993 during an archaeological excavation at Tel Dan in Northern Israel, a fragmentary stele containing an Aramaic inscription dating from the 9th century BCE was discovered.
The surviving inscription details that an individual killed Jehoram king of Israel- Samaria, the son of Ahab, and Ahaziah of Judah, a king of the house of David. A contemporaneous record of events that occurred, and proof of the existence of King David and others.
This is just one of the many artefacts held in museums around the world confirming events recorded in the Bible.
No one would deny the existence of Abraham Lincoln. However, there is more evidence for the existence of Jesus Christ than there is of Abraham Lincoln.
The Bible is also relevant to life today. In addition to a moral code that has stood the test of time, the Bible contains numerous prophesies. In the 28th chapter of the book of Deuteronomy, there are recorded blessings that the nation of Israel will receive if they keep the ordinance that God gave them. It also contains curses that will come upon them if they disobey. History records that they disobeyed.
One of the curses was that their disobedience would result in them being scattered around the world. When Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 CE, the Jewish Nation was scattered throughout the world. Also, as prophesied, they were persecuted amongst the nations, culminating in the attempted genocide in the second world war.
The prophecy in Deuteronomy states that at a time after the scattering and persecution, there would come a time when they would be regathered and return to their land. Their persecution in the concentration camps acted as a catalyst which resulted in the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948.
As well as prophecies that have been fulfilled, there are others which are still to be fulfilled. It is reasonable to believe that these prophecies will also be fulfilled.
Clowne Christadelphians hold a Bible-based talk at 5.00pm each Sunday. Come and explore the Bible message with us and see how this message remains unchanged and is both important and relevant today.
What's in the Bible
July - August 2025
If you pick up a copy of the Bible and open it around the middle of the book, you should find yourself looking at a psalm. These are a collection of 150 songs, and they are wide-ranging. Some of them are cries for help. Others overflow with joy. Others look at the history of Israel, and still others prophesy a joyful future for the whole earth.
​The page you opened at may be around Psalm 118, which includes the words, “It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.” (v8). This is a message which is central to the whole Bible. From the first chapters (Genesis), we learn that humans make mistakes and they don’t live forever. Even the most reliable and well-meaning person will not always be able to do what they promise. But God isn’t like that. He is eternal and all-powerful. If He says he is going to do something, it happens.
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If you open your Bible around three quarters of the way through, you will probably be looking at the gospel of John, which is the fourth book of the New Testament. The first four books, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, are called the gospels and they tell us about the life of Jesus. When Jesus began teaching people about the kingdom of God, he was very popular. He was able to heal disease and he attracted crowds wherever he went. But as time went on, some people found his message too hard to take. At one point a number of his disciples stopped following him. He had twelve disciples who were close to him, and he asked if they would leave him too. Simon Peter answered, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life”. (John 6v68). Peter realised that Jesus had a life-giving message. It might not always be easy to understand, but he was willing to stay close to Jesus and learn as much as he could.
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This attitude is exactly what we need as we learn what’s in the Bible. If we give up as soon as we find it difficult, we are missing a life-giving opportunity. Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible, and it includes the words, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”. (v105). However difficult the writer found the word of God, he stuck with it because he found it enlightening. There are many written words clamouring for our attention in this busy world. Often we spend only a few seconds on something we read before moving on. It would be a shame to lose something important because we failed to recognize its value. It’s worth persevering and finding out what it actually says, rather than what people think it says. Like Peter, we can learn about the life-giving message God has given us in His word the Bible.
Being Good
June 2025
What does a good person look like? Obviously, it’s not about looks at all! When a man came to Jesus and addressed him as “Good Teacher”, the reaction was not what he expected. “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” (Mark 10:18). Yet the Bible tells us that Jesus spent his life doing only good. Perhaps we need to examine what “being good” actually means.
​How does one measure goodness? It probably depends on who sets the standard. If somebody gets 70 percent in an exam and everyone else got below 50 percent, then 70 percent is a good result. However, that changes if everyone else got over 80 percent.
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Is being good just a case of being better than somebody else?
That’s not what Jesus taught. God sets the standard, and even as God’s Son, Jesus was not willing to accept that description of himself. In the Old Testament of the Bible, the word “goodness” is always about God. In the New Testament, it extends to those who are sincerely trying to follow Jesus. Galatians 5:22-23 lists what those who belong to Jesus should aim for: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”
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The man who came to Jesus was asking what he could do to inherit eternal life, as if it were something he could earn. Jesus reminded him of God’s commandments and when the man said he had kept them from his youth, Jesus could see that he was telling the truth. But he could also see that there was something hindering the man from committing himself completely. He owned a lot of property. It meant so much to him that he couldn’t bear to think of selling it, giving the proceeds away and following Jesus.
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Doing something good doesn’t make us good people. God asks us to be willing to change and become the sort of people He wants in His kingdom. Some changes are painful; we might need to get rid of an attitude or habit that has become a big part of our life. Jesus reassured his disciples that “all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27).
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Jesus lived out the example of putting God first in every part of his life. Even so, he didn’t regard himself as good. He was still mortal when the man called him “Good Teacher”, and could still have chosen to do wrong. When he was raised from the dead and God made him immortal, he was no longer having to struggle against temptation to sin. If we focus on being the people God wants us to be, He will work with us: "He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus”. (Philippians 1:6).​
The best selling book of all time
May 2025
The bestselling book of all time is probably one of the least read books. This book is the Bible. You probably have one, but have you ever opened it and read it?
​The Bible is one volume comprising of sixty-six books. Books containing accounts of heroes and villains, acts of bravery, love stories, books of historical record, and books of poetry, letters and prophecy.
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The Bible claims to be a revelation of God’s plan and purpose for mankind, and uniquely it invites us to test and challenge what it says: “Test all things; hold fast to what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5 verse 21).
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The revelation of God’s plan and purpose was given by the prophets through prophecy. These prophecies concern all the nations on the earth and particularly the Jews.
It is said that the Bible stands or falls by the prophecies it contains, some of which have yet to be fulfilled, many of which have been fulfilled in full or in part.
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Consider one of the prophecies that has been partially fulfilled which is found in the second chapter of the book of Daniel, where there is recorded the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar of the Babylonian Empire. Historical artefacts confirm the existence of this king. In his dream he saw the statue of a man. This image had a head of gold, breast of silver, belly and thighs of brass, legs of iron and feet made of iron mixed with clay. The prophet Daniel explained the dream to the king, four great empires of which the king was represented by the head of gold. After the fall of the last empire there would be no further great empire, but a mixture of strong and weak nations.
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History tells us that the four empires were Babylon, Medo Persia, Greece and Rome. Since the fall of the Roman empire there has been no other great empire. The king’s dream continued, and he saw a stone cut from a mountain without human intervention. This stone destroyed the image and grew and filled the earth.
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Daniel stated that at the time of the end God would intervene in the affairs of mankind, by destroying the kingdoms of men and establish his own world-encompassing righteous kingdom, inhabited by faithful men and women. Most of this prophecy has been fulfilled. It is therefore both reasonable and logical to presume that the last part of this prophecy will also be fulfilled.
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To find out more, you are warmly invited to a free Bible talk, every Sunday evening at 5pm, at the Christadelphian Hall, Creswell Road, Clowne, or contact us for a free Bible reading plan and start to read the Bible for yourself.