Can we Trust the Bible?
Trust is a word we all use frequently, but what do we mean by trust?
Perhaps the best definition of trust is this:
The belief that another person will do what is expected, built through repeated consistency. It brings with it a willingness for one party (the trustor) to become vulnerable to another party (the trustee), on the presumption that the trustee will act in ways that benefit the trustor.
The relationships that we build in our lives are all built around trust.
The Bible tells us how we can have a relationship with God; a relationship built on trust.
The definition of trust stated above talks about “The belief that another person will do what is expected and is built through repeated consistency”
In the Bible we have a record of the consistency of God’s word. Recorded in the Bible we have prophecy, the word of God spoken by faithful people revealing God’s plan. In his second letter, Peter says “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:21 ESV).
The Bible stands or falls by prophecy, and gives us a test for determining whether a prophecy is the genuine word of God, or an invention of the person making the prophecy:
“… How may we know the word that the LORD has not spoken?’— when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously …” (Deuteronomy 18:21-22 ESV).
Similarly in the New Testament the Bible invites us to challenge what it says: “… test everything; hold fast what is good.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21ESV).
Let’s apply these tests to some Bible prophecies:
In the book of Deuteronomy chapter 28 we read of the blessing that would fall upon the Jewish nation when they came into the promised land if they kept the commandments that God had given them. Also recorded are the curses they would receive if they failed to keep them. The curses included their removal from the land. They would be scattered, they would not find ease or rest, and their life would hang in doubt. The Bible records how they failed to keep the commandments and invoked the curses upon themselves.
If we consider historical records, in 70 CE the Roman armies besieged and destroyed the city of Jerusalem. This event both removed the Jewish nation from their land and scattered them amongst the nations. Even today there are few if any countries that do not have communities of Jews living in them.
Accounts of “the wandering Jew” occur in many cultures. History records persecution of Jews in many countries. If you read about the Holocaust, you can easily see how the words of Deuteronomy 28:66-67 would apply. “Your life shall hang in doubt before you. Night and day you shall be in dread and have no assurance of your life. In the morning you shall say, ‘If only it were evening!’ and at evening you shall say, ‘If only it were morning!’ because of the dread that your heart shall feel, and the sights that your eyes shall see.” (ESV)
The prophecy continues into chapter 30, promising a regathering of the nation:
“… then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you. (Deuteronomy 30:3-4 ESV)
History records that in 1917 at the time of the Balfour Declaration there were approximately 55,000 Jews in Israel, in 1948 at the time of the establishment of the State of Israel there were approximately 716,000. Today there are approximately 9.65 million, showing the fulfilment of Bible prophecy.
Some Bible prophecy has yet to be fulfilled. In the Old Testament book of Daniel, we read of the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, who had a dream, and how the prophet Daniel interpreted the dream for the king. In the dream the king saw a statue of a man, with a head of gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of brass, legs of iron, and feet made of a mixture of iron and clay. As the king watched, he saw a stone cut from the mountain which destroyed the statue and grew and filled the whole earth.
Daniel explained that the metals represented four empires, and following the passing of the fourth empire the world would be composed of strong and weak nations. The cut stone represented a time when God would intervene and destroy mankind’s kingdoms and establish his own world-encompassing kingdom.
History records the empires of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. Since the fall of the Roman Empire there has been no other dominating empire like them. Today we have both strong and weak nations, just as the prophecy stated. The stone has still to destroy the statue.
In the New Testament, Jesus is referred to as the “head of the corner” in other words the corner stone, that is a cut and dressed stone. The first chapter of the book of Acts records how Jesus ascended to heaven, and the message of two angels to his disciples.
And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:10-11 ESV)
The Bible promises that Jesus will return to this earth at a future time, a Bible prophecy still to be fulfilled. Whilst the Bible does not give us a definite time for this event, it does tell us the state of the world just before Jesus returns, for example Matthew 24. Read this chapter for yourself and see how it describes today’s world.