Growing in our Trust of the Bible: Matters of History

The Jewish scribes were the guardians of the Old Testament preservation. For generation after generation they carefully copied and recopied the pages of Scripture. They had copying down to a science with an excruciating methodology to catch errors in copying. When any error was found, the entire page, containing long hours of work, was discarded. They did not cross out, erase or add forgotten material in the margins. In this way, the Old Testament was transmitted to us today without error. And over this labor of love there was the presence of the Holy Spirit demanding honesty and unfailing work ethic in these scribes to which we owe so much.

Were the Scribes Honest?

We know these men were honest because of what we read in the Old Testament. And what is that? It is all the shameful, humiliating things found recorded about their people, nation and national heroes. We find God scolding Israel, calling her a whore for her transgressions; Abraham slinking down into Egypt where he played the part of coward ready to give his wife away to a pagan king; we find Moses disobeying God and not allowed to enter the promised land; King David filled with pride, committing adultery with the wife of one of his own faithful soldiers, then having the man murdered; we find one king after another leading the nation into the grossest of idolatry; and we find the nation finally humiliated, defeated and dragged into slavery. On it goes for page after page – but it’s all there proving that the scribes who copied those shameful things about their own people were unfailingly honest!

Could Moses have written the first five books?

Once, the critics of Old Testament history claimed that Moses could not have written the first five books of the Bible. “Writing was not even invented in Moses’ time”, they said. The critics have now had to admit that they were the ones in error because it is now known that writing was used as early as 3,000 B.C. by the ancient Sumerians which was long before Moses’ time.

Did the world-wide flood really happen?

One great question concerns the world-wide flood that the Bible says happened. As we read Genesis, chapters 6-8, the Bible describes for us a world-wide flood that destroyed all non marine life. Only by the ark of Noah was a segment of humanity and the animal world preserved. This is both a scientific and historical question. There is much scientific evidence supporting the fact that the flood occurred. One of the books called The Flood that is listed under the science section is an excellent and readable book giving the scientific evidence of the world-wide flood recorded in Genesis.

There are also fascinating historical evidences available today that support the biblical flood account. This evidence comes to us through the preserved stories of it from ancient peoples all over the world. These stories are remarkable for their basic similarity to the Bible account of the flood. These stories are called myths because much of their content is obviously fanciful, which is not surprising when we realize that they were transmitted verbally through the story telling of each succeeding generation. Yet there is enough similarity in them to the Bible account to establish that there is a real basis for the stories – that being the world-wide flood of Noah’s day as being a real event of history.

Consider a couple of examples of these accounts. The first is an excerpt from Gilgamesh which was an ancient Babylonian poem written about 500 years before Christ:

“The gods were frightened by the deluge,

and shrinking back they ascended to the heavens of Anu,

The gods crouched like dogs…”

“I looked at the weather: stillness had set in,

And all mankind had turned to clay.

The landscape was as level as a flat roof.

I opened a hatch, and light fell upon my face,

Bowing low, I sat and wept,

Tears running down my face…”

When the seventh day arrived,

I sent forth, and set free a dove,

The dove went forth, but came back,

There was no resting place and she turned around.

Then I sent forth and set free a raven.

The raven went forth and, seeing that the waters had diminished,

He eats, circles, caws, and turns not round.

Then I let out (all) to the four winds and offered a sacrifice…”

The similarities between this non Hebrew history and the Bible account are starkly similar and can be explained in the following way. After the flood, as people reproduced and spread out over the globe they lost contact with the Hebrew people that followed in the line of Shem, but the stories of this epic flood was maintained through word of mouth retellings among non Hebrew peoples. Though the details were changed in significant ways the basic story was preserved by their oral traditions.

Some might argue that the Babylonians just copied the story from the Hebrew Scriptures whileIsrael served her bondage among them. To this idea we present another account of the flood from the ancient Sumerian peoples who lived about 3,000 B.C., long before the Babylonians. The flood would have been an event in the fairly recent memory of these.

There are also flood account myths from many other civilizations. The Bible critics will have to answer as to why so many ancient people speak of the flood if were just a Hebrew myth written into the Bible. The variety of descriptions of these stories is just what you would expect with oral traditions of story telling. The detailed description of it in the Bible is what you would expect when the story was written down by Noah and then preserved by generations of scribes thereafter.

Did the walls of Jericho really fall down?

“So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass…that the wall fell down flat…” Joshua 6:20

This description from Joshua, chapter 6, describes the amazing story of how Israel defeatedJericho by literally shouting down the defender’s walls. Of course, we understand that it was God’s power channeled through that shout that really felled the walls. The critics of Bible history have certainly attempted to shout down this amazing story because it speaks of the supernatural. Naturalistic man wants to believe that he is all there is. He will believe in space aliens and even spend trillions of dollars looking and listening for creatures from distant stars. But suggest that there is a Being Who lives in another dimension that is not physical and these ‘intellectual giants’ go ballistic. “There is no spiritual world because I cannot see it”, they argue.

The Bible is not shy about proclaiming the supernatural. It tells the supernatural in straightforward statements of miraculous events in history. The account of when the walls ofJericho fell flat is one of the greatest.

Since no one today was alive to see this great event, we cannot directly find other witnesses outside of the Bible as to the question of “did it happen?” We can however gather data of the after effects of such an event. If the walls fell flat then there should be some evidence of it left today. In 1990, an article was published in the magazine Biblical Archaeology Review by Byrant Wood which provided direct evidence that the walls of Jericho did fall flat as described in Joshua. Wood had gone to the site with a research team and examined the ruins of the walls and the city. He found some exciting things for the Bible believer and some distressing things for the Bible critics. What were these discoveries?

First, he found that the mud bricks that the wall had been built from had indeed fallen over flat. They weren’t strewn around or broken as they would have been if they had been battered or pulled apart. But they had simply toppled over making nice ramps for Israel to run up and over as they entered into the city. This is exactly as the Bible describes in Joshua 6.

Wood and his fellow researchers also found something else very thought provoking. In those days, whenever a strong city like Jericho was assaulted, the siege usually lasted many months which would use up the food supplies within the city. In such cases one wouldn’t find much evidence of food upon investigation of the ruins. Wood discovered that this wasn’t the case with Jericho, for within the city, he found large amounts of scorched grain. Thus we have evidence that the battle was not long which is consistent with Joshua’s account of this city falling in only 7 days. The scorched grain is consistent with the fact that Israel burned what remained of the city as stated in Joshua. Again we have strong evidence in favor of biblical historical accuracy.

From where did Solomon get his lumber and stone?

Solomon followed the magnificent reign of King David of ancient Israel. As the new king, Solomon was inspired to build a permanent temple to God which David had not been permitted by God to do. This was a major investment for Solomon and Israel which required much timber and stones that weren’t native to Israel. The needed materials were available to the northwest in the present region of Lebanon which was inhabited by the Sidonians of that time. For help, Solomon appealed to King Hiram of

Tyre (I Kings 5:6). The Bible goes on to describe the cooperation of Hiram as he shipped the needed timber and stone to Solomon.

Ancient records that are independent of the Bible have been found that confirm this biblical transaction. An ancient priest by the name of Sanchuniathan recorded the matter describing Hiram’s use of 8,000 camels for transporting some of the materials. Also, in I Kings 9:27, the Bible describes the shipment that Hiram sent to help transport materials by sea. Sanchuniathan’s own records confirm this, even naming some of the sailors that Hiram sent to help Solomon.

What about all those Old Testament kings?

Many kings of Israel and other nations are mentioned in the Old Testament records. One of these is a King Shishak of Egypt that is mentioned in I Kings 14:25 who attacked Jerusalem. This king’s own records of this attack have been found that confirm the biblical record about this.

Another king who is very famous was the Assyrian king by the name of Sennacherib. He is mentioned several times in the Old Testament. In a passage at II Kings 18:13-15 there is a description of his victory over southern Israel and his subsequent subjugation of King Hezekiah, its king. Sennacherib’s own records about this have been discovered. Let’s listen in to him bragging: “As for Hezekiah the Jew, who did not submit to my yoke, forty-six of his strong walled cities, as well as the small cities in the neighborhood, which were without number…I besieged and took…”

The record of kings with their exploits and defeats goes on and on in the Old Testament. This record is confirmed by a great collection of independent ancient records that have been produced by over a century of amazing archaeological discoveries.

Was there really such a person as the Queen of Sheba?

There has been a long fascination with this mysterious woman of old. A brief account of her is found in I Kings 10:1-13 as she arrived by a great caravan from her land to the south in order to find out if Solomon was as great as the rumors that she had heard. Bible skeptics have contended that this woman and this account are pure Bible fantasy. They claim that there never even was such a land as Sheba much less this Queen. The pessimism of these critics was not shared by a noted historian who was born shortly after the life of Jesus of Nazareth. His name was Josephus and he is a highly respected historian of the first century A.D. He spoke of this Queen in his writing called theAntiquities of the Jews (Chp6, section 5).

She was further confirmed by the archaeological discoveries in the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula which is roughly in the present day country of Yemen. Excavations not only found Shebabut learned that it was a highly important political and cultural center about the time of Solomon. There was a very good reason why this Queen would want to be friends with Solomon since Israelwas located right along important trade routes reaching from southern Arabia to regions north ofIsrael. Professor Yohanan Aharoni of Hebrew University in Jerusalem wrote the following: “The story of the Queen of Sheba is a faithful reflection of the rich highways of the Negev and the desert.”

New Testament History

Was the New Testament written by eyewitnesses or later forgers?

The New Testament follows its predecessor in historical accuracy. One of the charges that critics have made against the New Testament is the assertion that it was not actually written by eyewitnesses but rather was written two or even three centuries after the events that it describes in such detail. The implication in this criticism is that the New Testament is not historically accurate because it was written by persons who only lived long after the events of its histories.

We have seen the honesty of the Old Testament scribes in the fact that they faithfully copied histories that were extremely shameful to Israel as a nation and a people. The New Testament copyists were no less honest as seen by the fact that they too copied things that were less than noble about the apostles of Christ. On one occasion we have the future apostles bickering over who among them was the greatest. On another occasion we have Simon Peter denying even being acquainted with the Lord Jesus and all of the apostles forsaking Him in fear. Yet there the accounts are, faithfully copied for generation after generation of readers by Christian copyists. We also know that the men who penned the pages of the New Testament were honest because they were willing to pay for their writings by paying the price of death. And most of them did pay that price yet not one of them ever recanted his assertions that what he spoke and wrote was the truth.

Luke wrote the gospel of his name and the book of Acts. Though he was not an apostle, he was aneyewitness according to his personal testimony: It seemed good unto me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first…” Luke 1:3

Luke eventually paid for this testimony by willingly laying down his life. This is the Bible answer to those who think that the New Testament was written two or three centuries after the New Testament events that are described. It is the answer to those who imagine themselves to be scholars more capable of intellect and honesty than those who died to make the New Testament a reality.

The weight of evidence obtained by many historical biblical scholars confirms that the New Testament is written by eye-witnesses of the events it describes and therefore it is historically accurate.

A scholar speaks out about the book of Acts

Sir William Ramsey was an archaeologist who worked especially on projects in Asia Minor where Paul the Apostle established many early churches. Speaking about the book of Acts as an accurate history of the time, Dr. Ramsey wrote the following:

“I began with a mind unfavorable to it [accuracy of Acts as history]…but more recently I found myself often brought in contact with the Book of Acts as an authority on topography, antiquities and society of Asia Minor. It was gradually borne in upon me that in various details, the narrative showed marvelous truths.” (From: That incredible book the Bible, by Clifford Wilson).

The evidence is heavily weighted to the fact that the New Testament was indeed written by eye-witnesses…men who lived through what they wrote and then died for their very words left for you and I.

Since this study is not intended to be an exhaustive book we will take just three historical items from the New Testament and examine them in light of non biblical history. These three items involve the death of King Herod Agrippa, the person of John the Baptist, and the man Christ Jesus.

Did God really strike Herod Agrippa dead by abdominal worms?

The reader should now turn to Acts 12: 20-23 for a stunning story. This passage concerns King Herod Agrippa I who appeared before a great audience one day to make a speech. In verse 22 we are told that the people collectively shouted out that Herod was a god. Imagine the people gathered in a stadium with this king standing on a platform and their voices ringing out in unison, over and over, “He’s not a man, he’s a god…” Then Acts tells us that the Lord struck Herod with worms which proved to be quickly fatal for him. The reason for this divine act was the fact that Herod possessed enough scriptural knowledge to know that he wasn’t a god yet he accepted worship of people anyway.

To the Bible critic this story is just more Bible fantasy. However, this story is remarkably confirmed by a historian of that time period whose name was Josephus. This historian was a Jew. He was not a Christian and so had no motive to make the New Testament look good. Josephus is highly respected as a historian of that period by modern historians. Amazingly, he too wrote of the account about Herod Agrippa. Here is what he wrote:

Now when Agrippa had reigned three years over all Judea, he came to the city ofCaesarea. On the second day of which show, he put on a garment made wholly of silver…at which time the silver of the garment being illuminated by the fresh reflection of the sun’s rays upon it… and was so resplendent as to spread horror over those that looked intently upon him: and presently his flatterers cried out…that he was a god. Suddenly a severe pain arose in his belly, and began in a most violent manner… and when he had become quite worn out by the pain in his belly for five days, he departed this life.” (Antiquities of the Jews, Book XIX, section 2)

The similarity of Josephus’ account to the biblical account is more than exciting. Josephus’ description is entirely consistent with Acts. The sudden pain in his belly and the rapid onset of death as described by Josephus is consistent with the divine act wherein God struck him according to Acts.

Some might wonder whether either Josephus copied Acts, or whether Luke copied Josephus. It has already been stated that Josephus was not a Christian and he wasn’t a very religious Jew either. He was a secular minded man that flirted with the Roman government. Thus there is no reason to believe that he possessed, much less read, the book of Acts. As far as the writer of Acts copying Josephus, that is not possible since Acts was written in 63 A.D. and Josephus’ Antiquities of the Jews was written a full 30 years later in 93 A.D.

Was John the Baptist a real man?

John the Baptist is the first of the three major New Testament men (besides Christ). You can read about him in Matthew 3:1-12 & 14:3-12; Mark 1:1-14; Luke 3:15-20; John 1: 6-36. He was the prophet that the Old Testament predicted would come to pave the way for the Christ. The region of the Jordan River was his pulpit as he preached inward repentance toward God to the people ofIsrael. The lash of his righteous preaching reached out against the spiritual pretenders. And it was he who publicly announced that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the long awaited Christ. John wasn’t afraid to call sin for what it is and so he denounced Herod Antipas for his illegal marriage to Herodias, his own brother’s wife. For this, the Bible tells us, John was put in Herod’s dungeon and then eventually beheaded upon the demand of Herodias’ daughter. The reader should review the story in Matthew 14:3-12 of John’s martyrdom.

Josephus, the ancient historian, is useful in this matter also. Again in his writing called Antiquities of the Jews (Book 18, chp 5, sections 2&4), Josephus recorded the matter of Herod’s illegal marriage to Herodias. Compare this to the Bible account.

“…but Herodias, their sister, was married to Herod [Phillip I]…Herodias took upon her to confound the laws of our country, and divorce herself from her husband, while he was alive, and was married to Herod [Antipas].”

Next Josephus proceeds to the matter of the martyrdom of John the Baptist:

“Now, some of the Jews thought that the destruction of Herod’s army came from God, and that very justly, as a punishment against what he did against John, that was called the Baptist: for Herod slew him who was a good man, and commanded the Jews to exercise virtue…now when (many) others came to crowd about him [John], for they were greatly moved [pleased] by hearing his words, Herod, who feared lest the great inclination to raise a rebellion…Accordingly he was sent a prisoner, out of Herod’s suspicious temper, to Macherus…and was put to death…”

In this account, Josephus confirms that John the Baptist was a real person, the high quality of John’s life, the circumstance of Herod’s illegal marriage, and Herod’s execution of John. Though Josephus doesn’t mention the matter of Herodias’ seductive dance, his description does nothing to contradict the Bible account and it does confirm the basic story as told in the Bible. Though we do not consider the writings of Josephus to be infallible, they do serve to show the authenticity and reliability of the pertinent Scriptures.

Was Jesus Christ a real man?

Many have expressed the idea that Jesus was not a real man but just a make believe person manufactured to create the Christian faith and church. Still others, while accepting Jesus to have really lived, still reject Him as being in any way divine. These say that they cannot believe the Bible because it is ‘religious’ and ‘just something that someone made up’. In this historical section of our study we are seeing that the Bible is a document that records events of the past that really happened and therefore the people within its pages were real people whose lives are accurately reflected by it.

What about Jesus? Was He just a make believe man manufactured by the apostles to create a religion that they could use to make themselves powerful? Though the Bible is the primary historical document about Jesus Christ and His life, it is not the only historic document about Him. Once again, Josephus the historian becomes relevant. There are also other ancient historical sources that speak of Christ. A most excellent book was published several years ago called He Walked Among Us, by Josh McDowell, which documents various other ancient writings that affirm the real life of Jesus Christ.

Josephus never met Jesus Christ. He was born in 39 A.D., about 6 years after Jesus Christ was crucified and resurrected into the heavens. Though he never knew Jesus personally, he did mature in a time when the records concerning Christ were still fresh. These records would be in a form of people who had known Christ personally plus written records of a variety of sorts. No doubt, Josephus read and heard many reports about Christ and evidently these left a powerful impression upon his mind as judged by the following quotation from him about Christ:

Now, there was about this time, Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many Jews, and many Gentiles. He was (the) Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principle men among us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten-thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day…” (Antiquities of the Jews, Book 18, Chp 3, section 3).

In this brief but powerful passage, Josephus confirms a number of Bible facts about Jesus Christ. First, that there was such a man as Jesus Who performed phenomenal deeds; He was a powerful teacher that attracted many Jews and Gentiles; He was looked upon as the Christ (Israel’s delivering king) by many; He was crucified by orders of Pilate on the cross; He was believed to have risen from the dead by His followers on the third day after crucifixion; His followers grew to great numbers and came to be called Christians.

All of these commendations are from a man who was not himself a Christian and so had no reason to write anything that would confirm the New Testament as Scripture or Jesus Christ as a real man.

For Further Reading

1. The Complete Works of Flavius Josephus, Kregel Publications. This can usually be purchased from Christian bookstores. Also check your public library.
2. He Walked Among Us, by Josh McDowell, 1993, Thomas Nelson Publishers.
   ISBN 0-8407-4277-0 (pbk). Check Christian bookstores.

Conclusion

Some Christians base their faith entirely on feelings. The world is used to that type of groundless faith. You may have been taught or have come to believe that the Bible, as the authority of Christianity, is a collection of myths having no support in the facts of science, history or prophecy.

We have only examined a few of the verifiable facts that show the Bible to be accurate as we rightfully expect from the Word of God. If we were to make a full study of all the scientific, prophetic and historic facts as verified by modern knowledge, we would have before us a massive volume of books that few would have the patience and power to read and intellectually digest.

Hopefully, you now have a greater understanding and confidence that the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, is the Word of God; that every word is inspired; that every truth is preserved; that it is indeed the words of life. Read it with confidence, friend, for some day you will give account to God Almighty concerning your response to its promises, warnings, revelations and commands!

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