Working from the assumption that God is not a ‘sloppy’ worker, we should expect to find that every statement He makes in His book the Bible is accurate to the finest degree. We have some grounds for this assumption. We find accuracy in everything else God has made. The sciences are able to calculate such things as the precise time of the return of a comet, the ebb and flow of a tide, the efficiency of a bird’s wing in flight, and so on, right down to chemical reactions and the behaviour of atoms, all based on predictable laws. Nature is full of accuracy. If Nature was created in a ‘sloppy’ way, most if not all of it would collapse. If the different forces which maintain the integrity of atoms were ‘sloppy’ catastrophe would follow. Accuracy is a necessary part of everything God has made, and it reflects a part of His character.
So, assuming that God wrote the Bible, we should expect to find that every detail in that book is accurate and precise. This raises the obvious question as to which version is the accurate one, and that leads us back to the original version, in Hebrew or Greek, which is now lost. We have however, many very carefully transcribed copies of the original to look at, and these have been found to be almost 100% perfect copies of the original – this conclusion is based on a comparison of all the copies – so we have in our hands today, to all intents and purposes, an accurate Bible.
This essay is not an attempt to thoroughly study every detail in the Bible! That would take several lifetimes. It is more a skimming over the surface, dipping in here and there, as one might pick up the odd attractive stone on a beach. Readers are welcome to gather more stones, or examine the ones I have noticed and study them further. I also must say that, not being fluent in Hebrew or Greek, I have relied on the great linguists (Strong, Young, Vine etc) for my word information, and I usually begin with the King James version, which is not necessarily the best version, but one with which I am the most familiar.
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The olive leaf.
When Noah sent the dove from the Ark the second time, it returned with “an olive leaf plucked off” Gen.8:11. Illustrated Bibles often show a white dove with a twig in its beak, but there is no mention of the colour of the dove (pigeon, or turtledove) and it is clearly described as holding a single leaf. One leaf is not a twig. The leaf was plucked, or pulled off a plant with some force, not picked up from the ground. This indicates that it was green – evidence of new growth.
The variety of tree is given – an olive. The subject of olive oil is fascinating. It was used to produce “light always” before the Lord (Ex.27:20, Lev.24:2) It is a tree which symbolizes the light of truth, and therefore it also symbolizes Jesus Himself. So here, in the “leaf” we have some deeper messages about God always giving the world some light, and it suggests the humility yet wonder of the coming Saviour. All these things would be distorted or lost if the dove brought back a twig with several leaves attached – one might think that there were several “lights” for the world, rather than only One. So much truth is packed into this one tiny word “leaf” and its accompanying word “olive”. This detail shows how carefully God has written His book.
Two sticks.
“And she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” 1 Kings 17:12
All the illustrated Bibles I have looked at have pictured the woman with a bundle of sticks, yet God says “two sticks”. Why only two? It is possible that the sticks may have represented the cross? It was through the kindling of these two sticks that she was to provide food for herself and her son, and it is through the death of Jesus on the cross that life is offered to the world. The woman also had meal, or flour, which is grain pounded – a symbol of Jesus in his pain and sorrow, and oil, another symbol of these things, since it is crushed and pressed in order to yield its substance.
Shoulder and shoulders.
In Isaiah 9:6 we are told: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder.” Yet we are told, in the parable of the good shepherd, that when the lost sheep is found: “And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.” Luke 15:5 It is significant that God would lay the entire kingdom on only one shoulder, but the lost human on both shoulders. The addition of the letter “s” shows how important a single person is to God.
Whirlwind and chariot.
Despite the many illustrated Bibles, in which Elijah is shown standing in the chariot, the Bible does not say that he went to heaven by chariot: “And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.” 2 Kings 2:11
Spoken or written.
Many Bible commentators have struggled with the passage about Jesus being “called a Nazarene” and they have searched in vain for some O.T. Verse which connects the prophecy with the fulfillment. But they will search in vain, because it is simply not written anywhere. The reason being that the prophecy was SPOKEN, and the Holy Spirit, who spoke by the prophets quotes what He has said. “And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.” Matthew 2:23
Head coverings.
Quite a few Christians have been unsettled by the words in Corinthians, on the matter of head coverings. Quite often a controversy starts because of some well-meaning, or critical Christian taking exception to a woman in church who does not wear a head covering, but the Bible says the matter is not between Christians to decide. A woman must decide for herself in light of angels seeing her: “ For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.” 1 Corinthians 11:10 – not because of the saints. While this does not clear up the mystery, it certainly shows who matters most when it comes to the head covering.
A certain man.
When Joseph was out looking for his brothers, he discovered they were not where he expected them to be, (Shechem) and he would have returned home if it were not for “a certain man”. Now it may have been just chance that this ‘certain man’ was there at the time, but the Bible says the man “found him”, as if he was sent to direct Joseph from Shechem to Dothan. In this little detail we see the hand of God, causing events to follow as they were planned. “And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What are you looking for?” Genesis 37:15
Digging deep.
In the parable of the two men and their houses, Jesus adds the word “deep” to the wise man’s story, to emphasize the sincerity and commitment required in true Christians. He is like a man which built an house, and dug deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.” Luke 6:48 The wise man removed all the loose, useless topsoil, and mined his way down to the solid truth before building his house.
Preparing for battle.
When David was about to meet Goliath, we are told he tried on Saul’s armour, but he did not wear it because he was not used to wearing armour. The point is, the armour fitted him, yet time and time again we hear the story of David, in which he is pictured as just a boy who was too small for Saul’s armour. “And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail. And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him.” 1 Samuel 17:38,39 In plainer English, what happened was, David was content to go and fight in Saul’s armour, but he decided not to because he was not accustomed to walking in such equipment.
David then collected five smooth stones from out of the brook, indicating that the stones were wet. Why did David select five stones when there was only one giant? Did he expect to miss? I think it was because David expected to kill at least five enemies that day. David also “ran” towards Goliath and the Philistine army, which shows his confidence and courage. In David’s hand was a weapon as deadly as a handgun. An accurate slinger could hit a small target with a stone in much the same way a rifleman can hit a bull’s eye – “Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men left-handed; every one could sling-stones at an hair breadth, and not miss.” Judges 20:16
Goliath is sometimes pictured as holding his own sword, but the Bible says David felled the giant, then drew the giant’s own sword from its sheath and used it to cut the giant’s head off.
Herald angels.
Every Christmas the choir sings “Hark the herald angels sing”, yet the Bible does not say they sang. “And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” Luke 2:10, “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,” Luke 2:13
It.
Perhaps the most condensed word in the whole Bible, the entire work or plan of God for the world’s redemption, and in fact the entire universe’s renewal, is all caught in the one tiny word “it”, when Jesus on the cross uttered the incredibly meaningful three words: “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished, and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.” John 19:30 (Gave up the ghost means ‘breathed his last air’)
Two mites.
Jesus was speaking about the relativity of giving, when : “And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.” Mark 12:42 She was a poor woman, and she could have thrown in one of her mites, and kept the other for herself. That would have been a sensible thing to do. But she gave both mites. Jesus said she had given away “all the living she had.”
The black ark.
A popular picture of Noah’s Ark is that of a very small boat, with a curved and pointed prow, the whole being warm brown wood. But the dimensions of the ark make it the shape of a huge, square-ended coffin, about one and a half football fields long, three stories high, and an oily brown or even black all over. “Pitch” has been translated as either tar, or resin. An objection to “tar” is that this was not available before the Flood, but tar can form without too much bother, and can be found as a black oily liquid, found in the bottom of a poorly-aerated compost heap. Noah could have made as much tar or pitch as he needed. Logically, it had to be reasonably thick, in order to seal holes between the boards. “Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.”Genesis 6:14
A similar comment could be made about the basket which Jochebed made for baby Moses: “And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink.” Exodus 2:3
Baby Moses.
In some re-tellings of the Moses story, the baby is pictured in an open basket, smiling up at an adoring princess, but the Bible says the princess was attracted to the baby because of its crying. Neither was the princess fooled into thinking the baby was just any old baby. She knew well the implications of adopting a Hebrew boy. “And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews’ children.” Exodus 2:6
Angel wings.
There is not a single mention anywhere in the Bible that they have wings. No doubt angels can fly, but when they appear to men they are often mistaken for humans. This could hardly happen if they had enormous wings projecting from their backs. For example, when Jesus came to visit Abraham: “And he (Abraham) lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground.” Genesis 18:2. Two angels also came to visit Lot: “And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground.” Genesis 19:1 “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” Hebrews 13:2
Good-looking Jesus.
There are myriads of pictures portraying Jesus as a fine, handsome man. His eyes glow with warmth, his mouth has a lingering smile, his beard is neatly cut, and his clothes vary from red and white, to blue and white. He stands out as a striking, charismatic figure, his physical presence drawing people to him . . . but there is no scriptural support for this.
Prophetically, he is described this way: “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he has no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.” Isaiah 53:2 Comeliness means magnificence, grandeur, or beauty, in other words, Jesus was not handsome, or attractive. His appeal was inner, and like the rock which Israel carried with them through the wilderness, outwardly there was nothing attractive to see, and only those who needed water knew what miracle power lay within.
There are instances in the N.T. Which Jesus appears to be so ordinary he needs to be pointed out, for example, when the crowd was about to throw him off a cliff “But he passing through the midst of them went his way.” Luke 4:30, “And he that betrayed him had given them a token, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he; take him, and lead him away safely.” Mark 14:44
The loincloth.
For the sake of decency, and modesty, most artists portray Jesus on the cross with a loincloth, but the aim of crucifixion was to totally degrade and humiliate victims, leaving them completely ruined before the world’s gaze. “Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout”. John 19:23 Four parts plus the coat means all the clothes. The soldiers had to gamble for the coat because there were four soldiers.
The Christmas story.
There are so many points wrongly portrayed (unfortunately) by the Church every year, that a large space would be needed to cover them all, so a brief summary follows: Mary was not necessarily beautiful, the Baby did not glow or have a halo, Joseph did not necessarily have a beard and the innkeeper was simply unable to supply a room because his accommodation was full – he was not callous. Joseph and Mary are not said to have travelled with a donkey. Baby Jesus was placed in a food trough, probably a hollowed-out space in a cave wall, or a container made of stones, not a wooden manger. Shepherds were told to visit, not sung to. Baby Jesus was swaddled, which means his arms were not free to move about. The wise men saw a star, or recognized a certain star’s significance in the East, but did not follow it all the way from the East. They arrived about two years after the star appeared, went to Jerusalem, met Herod, then travelled up to Nazareth led by the star, which stood over the house (not the stable) where Jesus was, which means it was close enough to the building to mark it out from the others in the village. They were not kings, nor is there mention of how many wise men there were, and they are not said to have come on camels. They worshipped the young child, now a 2 year old, then departed. It was summer, not a snowy winter and nobody gave gifts to anybody, except the practical ones which Mary and Joseph received. Jesus went home with his parents and lived a life of almost total obscurity, manifesting only a godly life with honesty and diligence in the midst of a level of poverty until his baptism.
Along with the plethora of Biblical misinformation which pours out from the Church every Christmas are the usual choruses and hymns, which quite often contain faulty statements. “We three kings of Orient are . . .” is an obvious one. Needless to say “Oh little town of Bethlehem how still we see thee lie . . .” and “Silent night . . .” (Jerusalem was packed with at least 20,000 extra people), are not strictly accurate either, but we always make allowances for them because they are beautiful songs. Obviously “Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree . . .” is ridiculously wrong. However, I think the worst songs are probably those which picture baby Jesus as simply Mary’s child, a sweet, innocent, helpless infant, while at the same time omitting the fact that this was also the coming King of kings and Judge of all the living and dead. Jesus was the Lamb of God, the sacrifice for sin, and while it is touching to think of him as a baby in his mother’s arms, he was no ordinary baby – he was unique in that he was the only person ever born a king, and he was the creator an sustainer of all the universe.
Birth or conception.
Much is made of the birth of Jesus. It is the focus of great celebration, and so it should be, but the birth itself was quite ordinary. Mary was pregnant, and as far as we know, when her term had come, she gave birth without complications, as almost all mothers do. The real miracle was the conception, which took place some nine months earlier. “And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God.” Luke 1:35 The Greek for ‘holy thing’ in Greek literally means ‘awful thing’. Jesus was morally pure from conception, a consecrated, sacred, and blameless child from conception. Compared to this, his actual birth was a non-event.
Top to bottom.
“And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom”. Mark 15:38
The temple curtain was very strong, made of material woven and embroidered, and knowing the Jews, it would have been well-maintained, yet it suddenly split from the top down to the bottom. It seems fairly certain, from what other commentators say, that the direction in which the curtain ripped was significant, symbolizing God reaching down to earth. If the curtain had ripped from bottom to top, we might interpret it a completely different way, perhaps as Man reaching up to heaven, which would have argued against Grace. That the ripping was a miracle is clear, because in order to part the material completely into two without destroying the building would have been almost impossible.
Linen clothes.
Many pictures of the resurrection scene show the grave clothes of Jesus in an untidy mess strewn about the place where he lay. This is very misleading.
The Jews used to wind their dead in a long cloth, in corkscrew fashion (hence the impossibility that the Shroud of Turin is authentic, because it travels from head to feet and back). “And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him.” Acts 5:6 When Peter and John arrived at the tomb and looked in, they saw something which convinced them that Jesus had miraculously risen from the dead – the position and shape of the grave clothes. “And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.” John 20:7 ‘Wrapped together’ “entulisso” in Greek, means ‘twisted’ or ‘wound up’. What these two men saw was a hollow cocoon, a still-intact shape, in which the body had been wrapped, probably slumped down slightly, but obviously a hollow shape, from which the body had passed without needing to unwind the cloth. And at the head was another spiral, which had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. If the men had seen grave clothes strewn about they might have suspected a trick, but the undisturbed clothes indicated a miracle.
A coin in a fish.
In Matthew 17:24-27 there is an account of how Peter went fishing for one fish with one hook, and in its mouth, as Jesus had predicted, he found one coin. Jesus told him to look inside the first fish he caught, not the second or third, and it was in the mouth, not the stomach that the coin was to be found.
The following may or may not be relevant to this: one kind of fish dwelling in the Sea of Galilee belongs to the cichlidae and is sometimes called the “mouth breeder”. It is found only in two places in the world, in the Sea of Galilee and Lake Victoria (Uganda). The female keeps her eggs in her mouth until they hatch. As the brood begins to grow she lets them out from time to time but quickly scoops them up when danger is near. The mother will fast until near starvation in order not to swallow her young. The Hebrew name for the fish means “Mother-fish”. After the young have gone, the mother often picks up a substitute for her mouth. A popular name for the fish is “Peter’s fish” for obvious reasons, but the miracle in all this is the fact that Jesus knew Peter would catch the fish with a coin of the right denomination on his first try with a single hook.
The season for figs.
In Matthew 21:18,19 and Mark 11:12-14 there is a curious incident in the life of Jesus, where he looks for figs on a barren tree. The strangest part is the fact that the Bible says: “And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.” Mark 11:13 Why would Jesus look for figs when they were out of season? The fact is, Jesus was working within correct knowledge. The small town of Bethphage (Beth-far-gay) sits on the side of the Mount of Olives facing away from Jerusalem. Its name comes from a pre-season fruit which grows on the fig trees of the area. The fruit is called phage (fah-gay) The town’s name means House of figs. The fruit in this particular area appears along with the first leaves – yet Mark points out that it was not the season for figs. The word Mark uses for figs is ‘sukon’, meaning ripe figs, and Mark was right. In most f Palestine, it was not the season for ripe figs, but here, in Bethphage, it was the season for ripe figs, which is why Jesus was surprised when he found none. Jesus used the barren fig tree as an object lesson, because it demonstrated how the Jewish nation had brought forth leaves, but not fruit.
Signs of poverty.
Joseph and Mary are often pictured as quite well dressed, even bordering on wealthy, but the offering they brought to the Temple indicates they were poor. “And if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtles (meaning two turtledoves) or two young pigeons; the one for the burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering: and the priest shall make an atonement for her, and she shall be clean.” Leviticus 12:2-8 with Luke 2:24.
Married or espoused.
In Matthew 1 verse 18 Mary is said to be “betrothed” to Joseph, but in verse 19 she is said to be “married” because Joseph is called her “husband”. According to the Rev. James Freeman, a compiler of Bible customs, “Espousal among the Hebrews was something more than what a mere marriage engagement is with us (Westerners). It was considered the beginning of marriage, and was as legally binding as marriage itself. It could not be broken off except by a written bill of divorce.” So Matthew’s careful choice of these two different words is precise and accurate, not a mistake.
Jesus and all the nations.
There is much sentimental material written about Jesus in his earthly ministry, which suggests that he went to all people everywhere, disregarding race or culture. He is said to be a Man for all people, without discrimination, but this does not stand up to careful examination. The Bible gives us details about where Jesus went, and specifically names certain districts. He went almost exclusively to Jewish towns in order to carry out his ministry. He entered only two cities which were not primarily orthodox Jewish: the Gentile city of Sidon and the Samaritan city of Sychar. Further, there is no ‘ministry incident’, or event recorded from Sidon, which means that, as far as the New Testament goes, Jesus was very biased and exclusive. Jesus went to Bethsaida, but not Julius, which was only about 100 yards away. He went into obsure, tiny Nazareth, a town of perhaps 20-30 people, yet he never went into Sepphorus, which was only 3 miles away (about 4km). He went into the regions of Decapolis, Caesarea Philippi and Tyre, but not into the Gentile cities themselves. Jesus stayed only in orthodox jewish areas – he was pro-Semitic, and, if we read it correctly, anti-Gentile. In Matthew 15:26 and Mark 7:27 he referred to gentiles as “dogs”. He sent his own disciples out commanding them “Do not enter any city of the Samaritans . . . but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Matthew 10:5,6, and when he rebuked a Samaritan woman for approaching him: “He answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Matthew 15:24, and later, when he spoke as a Jew to a Samaritan, he said “You worship that which you do not know; we worship that which we know; for salvation is of the Jews.” John 4:22.
It was only after the resurrection that things began to change. In Acts 2 the disciples spoke in many different languages, indicating outreach to all nations, and the gospel began to go to Jews from all lands, then Paul began going to the Gentiles. After that Peter had a vision in which God told him “not to call any man unclean.” Jesus is a universal Saviour today, but during his ministry he was sharply focused on only one nation.
Our, my, your.
The gospel writers of the New Testament pick their words very carefully. Some critics had suggested that the N.T. is anti-Jewish, but the writers took pains to avoid saying any more than the simple truth: Christ died for all sinners, including me. It was not the Jews who were to blame for his death, although some Jews were instrumental in this. The Romans were also guilty, since Pilate delivered a man to death in whom he could find not sin worthy of such a punishment. Paul writes: “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 1 Corinthians 15:3. “But God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8. “For the love of Christ constrains us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead.” 2 Corinthians 5:14 “Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father.” Galatians 1:4. “Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father.” Galatians 1:4
Erastus.
Every name in the Old and New Testaments is accurately recorded. One of these names is recorded in Romans 16:23 – a man called Erastus, whom Paul names as the city treasurer. During the excavation of Corinth in 1929 a pavement stone was found with this inscription carved into it: ERASTVS PRO:AED:P:STRAVIT which means “Erastus, curator of public buildings, laid this pavement at his own expense.”
The name of a district.
In Acts 16:12, Luke describes Philippi as a ‘part’, or ‘district’ of macedonia: “And from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony: and we were in that city abiding certain days.” The word Luke uses is ‘meris’ which means a district, and despite some critics claiming that Luke made a mistake, it has since been found that he was absolutely correct. Archaeological excavations have shown that this very word ‘meris’ was used to describe the division of that particular district of Macedonia.
Nazareth.
This town was so insignificant and obscure it seemed, for a while, that it would never be found, and so some critics of the Bible pointed to it as a mistake or fabrication. However, as frequently happens, when God’s Word is challenged, suitable evidence emerges to verify its accuracy. This, needless to say, is what happened with Nazareth.
Joshua 19:10-15 lists the towns of the tribe of Zebulun, yet the town of Nazareth does not appear among them. Josephus, a Jewish historian gives the names of 45 towns and villages in Galilee, but fails to mention Nazareth. The Talmud names 63 towns and villages, yet misses Nazareth. But in 1962, archaeologist Michael-Yonah, while excavating at Caesarea found the last two fragments of a three fragment inscription, dated before AD 100, in which was the name Nazareth. Subsequent excavations at the site of modern-day Nazareth show that it has been inhabited since before Roman times. Also, a mosaic inscription has been found which reads: “Offering of Conon, Deacon of Jerusalem” which was made in honour of the first martyr of Nazareth – he was killed during the reign of the emperor Decius (AD 249-51)
Another mention of Nazareth comes to us rather curiously. Matthew tells us that some f the guards around Jesus’ tomb came into the city to tell the chief priests what had happened, and the chief priests and elders were so determined to obstruct the news of Jesus’ resurrection, they bribed the soldiers: “Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.” Matthew 28:13 The prists did not want the governor to find out that Jesus had risen from the dead – this by the way is another indirect proof of the resurrection, because why would the priests have wanted to cover anything up if there had not been a resurrection? All they needed to do was expose the fraud, or present the body.
The bribe was unsuccessful, because soon after the resurrection news reached the governor, and then the emperor, probably Claudius, who sent word back to Palestine in the form of a decree, which was written in Latin and translated into Greek. This decree was posted in, of all places, tiny, obscure little Nazareth. The marble slab, dug up in Nazareth (in 1878) reads:
“Ordinance of Caesar. It is my pleasure that graves and tombs remain perpetually undisturbed for those who have made them the cult of their ancestors or children or members of their house. If, however, anyone charges that another has either demolished them, or has in any other way extracted the buried, or has maliciously transferred them to other places in order to wrong them, or has displaced the sealing on other stones, against such a one I order that a trial be instituted, as in respect of the gods, so in regard to the cult of mortals. For it shall be much more obligatory to honour the buried. Let it be absolutely forbidden for anyone to disturb them. In case of violation I desire that the offender be sentenced to capital punishment on charge of violation of sepulchre.”
The fact that the emperor tried to put down the teaching of the resurrection further incriminated the Jews who started the lie with their bribe. Once again the plans of God’s enemies had backfired. Now the emperor was confirming the truth by placing decrees at Nazareth, the home of the One who rose from the dead. Christianity was helped along greatly by Claudius, who unwittingly added his weight to the publishing of the truth, though of course he would have gladly stamped it out, if he had been able to.
Until.
There are quite a few Catholics who sincerely believe that Mary the mother of Jesus was a virgin all her life, and that she had only one child, Jesus. This view is not supported by scripture, first in a very general way, in that it is a blessing of God for a woman to be fruitful – to have many children, and Mary was undoubtedly a woman blessed by God. “Your wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of your house: your children like olive plants round about your table.” Psalms 128:3. We also know, from Matthew 1:25 that she had ‘marital relations’ with Joseph after Jesus was born: “(Joseph) knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son . . .” The word “until” here indicates that Mary did not remain a virgin. The word “firstborn” could have been “only born” but if Mary had a “first”, then she could have had a second and third.
But we are also told that Jesus had brothers and sisters – in Matthew 12:46,47, Mark 3:31,32 and Luke 8:19-20. Not only this but some of his brothers are actually named: “Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?” Matthew 13:55 Also see: “But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord’s brother.” Galatians 1:19
Three days and three nights.
Traditions surrounding Easter, unfortunately many of them coming from the Church, have obscured the plain teachings of the Bible. While most of the Western world celebrates ‘Good Friday’ and counts only one full day to ‘Resurrection Day’, the Bible makes it clear that Jesus was dead for three whole days and three whole nights. This means he was crucified on Wednesday, buried Wednesday evening Western time, or the beginning of Thursday Jewish time. (the beginning of the new day for the Jews begins at 6pm.) Add Thursday, Friday and Saturday together as three full days, then Sunday morning must have been the day Jesus rose on. The Jewish day began after 6pm our Saturday evening, so Jesus had risen many hours before dawn. Long before the women arrived some 8 or 9 hours later, Jesus had left the tomb.
But what seems most surprising is the way the very words of Jesus have been ignored. He himself enumerated how many days he would be in the tomb, and he qualified the days, and related them specifically to the time Jonah was in the whale. By these three ways, Jesus made it clear that each day he would be in the grave was a complete, 24 hour day. “Now the LORD had prepared a great fish (meaning a very large fish. Not a whale.) to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” Jonah 1:17. Jesus said: “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Matthew 12:40. If Jesus had said “three days” we might have interpreted him to mean partial days, or ‘within’ three days, but the addition of “and three nights” clinches the statement.
Jesus in art.
The depiction of Jesus, and his world in art is usually deliberately inaccurate, mainly because the artists are not interested in presenting a realistic scene, which would probably be rather boring to look at, but something deeper and more specific. Their intentions are usually aimed at conveying a teaching about Jesus. Most of the great works of art about Jesus are really extremely beautiful diagrams.
The halo is often used, or rays of light come from Jesus’ head, to indicate his deity. His hands point or curved in a theatrical way, like someone posing for a photograph. His clothes are those of the period in which the painting was done. The furniture, buildings and landscape is similar too. He sits at a table in the ‘Last Supper’ when in His day he probably reclined. Judas is depicted with a ‘dark’ expression, suggesting an evil personality. Men predominate in crowd scenes. Angels often have small, ineffectual wings, and are usually male. Mary is usually shown as an older, more mature woman, rather than a teenager, and for those artists who wanted to show Mary as a higher being than other humans, she also has a halo and royal bearing. A classic example of the conformation of the Biblical to the contemporary is the ‘Census at Bethlehem’ by Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1525-1569), in which a 16th century landscape, packed with people of his country, dressed in their usual clothes, mill about, and in the foreground Joseph leads an ass and an ox to what looks like an ale house or hotel.
In different countries the same Biblical characters often take on the cultural and ethnic shapes and forms as the artists who designed them – a Chinese Mary with Chinese baby, African nativity scene, etc. Jesus in reality would have had olive-coloured skin and a straight nose, brown eyes and dark hair. He was of average height and lean, being quite wiry after many years manual labour in the carpentry business. Finally, after many styles and forms, the art becomes what we call ‘Modern’, and the influence of the great impressionists and others shows through. Gone are the grand scenes with realistic details all through – in come the slabs of colour, the blank faces and roughly-painted shapes. The personal Jesus is wiped out, replaced by simple features. For example Georges Roualt’s view of nazareth (1871-1958) in which thick, crude black lines are filled in with garish reds and oranges, or 20th century Jean Heiberg’s picture of the loaves and fishes, done in primary colored slabs, like a child’s collage.
The surrealist Salvador Dali has often been praised for his supposedly deeply spiritual paintings. They are a mixture of photorealism and fantasy, but what Dali was trying to say (and he has been mostly misunderstood) is that Jesus, to put it bluntly, was not real. His famous picture of Jesus on the cross, looking down at the earth, has often been taken to mean that Jesus died for the world, but it actually shows that the cross is not anchored in the ground. This picture suggests that Jesus’ death was symbolic.
Nostrils.
We know from the Bible that Noah was not commanded to care for fish or insects on the Ark, yet the Bible says “All flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth, and every man.” Gen.7:21. “Creeping thing” means “swarming thing”, which some have thought must include insects, but if that were the case there should be no insects on Earth.
The problem is solved in the next verse: “All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was on dry land.” Insects do not have nostrils. They breath through tiny holes along the sides of their bodies (spiracles). They probably survived by resting on floating debris.
Blood.
It was not until relatively recent times in Man’s history that it was proved that blood carries oxygen, waste products, water, healing resources, heat and hormones to every part of the human body. In other words, without blood, we would die. Blood is therefore the single most important source of our physical life. “But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.” Genesis 9:4
Nothing.
Space is a vacuum, with a very small amount of matter spread so thinly through it – perhaps one hydrogen molecule for every cubic mile.(An estimate I found in a science mag). The Bible is therefore accurate when it uses the word “nothing”to describe space. “He stretches out the north over the empty place, and hangs the earth upon nothing.” Job 26:7 There are several good reasons why space is “nothing”, one being the fact that if it was full of dust, the stars would be obscure and not useful to Man for their created purpose (Gen.1). Secondly, because dust is the main cause of condensation of atmospheric moisture into droplets causing rain, an abundance of dust would trigger enormous amounts of rain on Earth. Thirdly, large amounts of dust would alter the intensity and wavelength of the sun, and cause dame to life on Earth.
Ice age.
Job 28:29 and 30 seem to be describing huge amounts of ice. “Out of whose womb came the ice? . . .The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.” The expression “the face of the deep” refers to the ocean, or sea. If the ocean is frozen, there must be a great deal of coldness about. Job was probably referring to the pole or poles, which became frozen soon after the Flood. There is plenty of evidence to prove that ice used to lie all over the northern and southern lands, but has since retreated. The creationist point of view is that, with the Flood, warm water from under the ground burst up, warming the oceans, along with huge volcanic activity. Following the Flood the warmer water evaporated quickly and fell as snow, producing a few centuries of ice until the oceans cooled again. The Ice Age lasted about 300 years.
Stretching out.
A modern theory about the formation of the universe is known as the ‘Big Bang’, which means an enormous explosion, but the evidence does not support this. An explosion tends to produce chaos, with the greater chaos being found at the extremities of the expanding, whereas the universe is full of order, pattern and apparent design. Astronomers have found that the further one looks, the more consistent the whole universe is – deep space pictures reveal galaxies as structured and complete as those close to us.
The Bible has a different word for the formation of the universe. Instead of “blown out” the Bible says “stretched out”.
“Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out . . .” Isaiah 42:5
“I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.” Isaiah 45:12
“He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and has stretched out the heavens by his discretion.” Jeremiah 10:12
If light was created between all the stars, and God stretched the light as he stretched the stars, Adam would have seen the stars as soon as he was created.
Harnessed.
Even the greatest movies ever made to show the exodus of Israel from Egypt have failed to really portray the enormity of the event. In every movie I have seen, Israel is depicted as a few thousand people, stretched along the dusty trail, straggling along with animals and carts. The Bible however says there were “600,000 on foot that were men, besides children. And a mixed multitude went up also with them.” Genesis 12:37,38. Adding these people up as a general total and we have about 2 million.
The manner of their departure from Egypt is also given: “and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt”. “Harnessed” means “in ranks”. The Hebrew means, literally “staunch, able-bodied soldiers”.
Chewing the cud.
In the Old Testament food laws God forbade the eating of “hare” on the grounds that it “chewed the cud” (Lev.11:6) The word ‘arnebeth’ may or may not be translated correctly, but it has been taken as correct, and the objection has come that hares, and rabbits for that matter, do not chew their cud. Cows, for example, chew their cud – they draw already chewed and partly digested food back up their throat and chew it a second time, but hares and rabbits never do this – so is this a mistake in the Bible? The fact is, hares and rabbits eat their own droppings, as the Encyclopedia Britanica, Macropedia vol. 10, page 589 says, “Some lagomorphs regularly reingest fecal pellets . . . the nutritional effect of this practice has been compared to that of rumination among cows.” This habit is called ‘coprophagy’. It is interesting to note that it was accepted so many thousands of years ago that hares, and rabbits by association, chewed their cud, yet this fact was not widely accepted until relatively recently.
Miracle stick.
God told Moses to collect some dead sticks, and place them in the tabernacle overnight. “And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds.” Numbers 17:8 Without pollination the flowers became fruit in less than twenty four hours. (In a similar way Jesus sped up normally slow processes when he turned water into wine, and restored limbs and organs to the sick) The description of the miracle implies a steady progressive movement, such as we see in time-lapse photography. The rod was later stored and kept as a witness, which implies that it remained fresh and green for many years.
Dry ground.
One would expect to find that, were the water rolled back from a river bed, a large amount of wet soil, silt, or even mud, but the Bible specifically says “dry ground’ when it describes the crossing of Jordan. “And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan.” Joshua 3:17
The scarlet thread.
Joshua sent spies into Jericho, where they were hidden by a woman called Rahab. For her help they promised that she and her family would be saved. “Behold,when we come into the land, you shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which you did let us down by: and you shalt bring your father, and your mother, and your brethren, and all your father’s household, home unto thee.” Joshua 2:18. The spies were let down through (by) the window, but they did not go down using a thread! The wording here is rather ambiguous. The principle is that although Rahab and her family could not see the thread, the Israelites outside the city would be able to see it, because she hung it outside her window. This is the faith principle in operation. When God saw the blood over the Israelite’s door in Egypt, the angel of death passed over. The ground of our assurance is not the experience within, but the token without.
Underwater paths.
Today it is common knowledge that there are great rivers in the oceans, which, if a ship follows, a great deal of time and effort, or fuel, can be saved. But apart from the worldwide currents which flow around the sides of continents, there are also other undersea rivers, which carry salt and fresh water about. One such enormous undersea river forms a global figure of eight and stretches from the north pole to the south. The Bible described these undersea paths long before they were discovered: “The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passes through the paths of the seas.”Psalms 8:8. There is also mention in the Bible of undersea channels, which have also been discovered. When a river flows into the sea it continues to follow a channel, or riverbed, or gorge, which up till quite recent times was invisible. Sonar and other detection methods have revealed an ocean bed every bit as rugged as the land above sea level. “And the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations of the world were discovered.” (or uncovered) 2 Samuel 22:16
“Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke . . “ Psalms 18:15
Psalm 22.
This Psalm is a detailed word-picture of the crucifixion of Jesus, and the wonderful things which will flow from it. It begins with a call to God, with a question which can be answered. “Why have You forsaken Me?” Because You are carrying all the sins of the world, and as a sin-bearer You must die.
Verse 3 explains that God is holy – the reason for Jesus being forsaken. A holy God cannot look upon sin, so to speak. Others have called for help and been helped, but Jesus could not be helped because he was the lamb of God.
Many bulls have compassed, or surrounded me – Og the king of Bashan was an enemy to Israel. Here are the “bulls” of Bashan, the enemies of Christ, surrounding him – insulting the Saviour and shouting abuse at him.
He goes on to say that “dogs” have also surrounded him, and so have “the wicked”. This would include the Gentiles and the Jews. All the world is represented as it forms an enormous body of opposition to the Saviour.
“They pierced my hands and my feet” – only crucifixion does this.
“I may tell (or count) all my bones.” Not a bone of Jesus was broken, even though it was a common practice by the Romans to break the victim’s legs.
“They part my garments among them, and cast lots for my vesture” as the Roman soldiers did, because there were five garments and only four soldiers.
Verse 22 is the turning point. Up to this verse Jesus is suffering on the cross. Suddenly he is risen from the grave and triumphant. He says he will declare God’s name before his “brethren” which is what Jesus did, when he met with his disciples after he was risen from the tomb.
Verse 23 provides the national aspect of the resurrection because as the Church grew, the people of Israel were gradually restored. This leads on to the various blessings of God’s Kingdom – the meek shall eat and be satisfied . . . all the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord . . . all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before (Jesus)”
Finally comes the resurrection of all the dead: “They that go down to the dust shall bow before him.”
Detail by detail the Psalm covers the grand plan of God to set up His everlasting Kingdom here on Earth, and this can happen only through His Son.
“And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Mark 15:34. The Jewish priests, who knew much of the Old Testament by heart, would have instantly realized that Jesus was using the words from Psalm 22, and the significance of those words would have hit home with great force. Thus, by speaking the exact words of the Bible, Jesus identified himself clearly, right up to his last breath, and only spiritual blindness in Jewish hearts prevented them from understanding what seems so plain and simple to Christians.
Details in prophecy.
Prophecy about Jesus is detailed enough to pinpoint the person to whom the prophecy is addressed. In a similar way, most people have a street number for a postal service to locate them by, Jesus has a large number of identification marks by which anyone may sort him out from any number of other possibles. Just as many people have a first, middle and last name, a driver’s license number, a phone number, a family name, and a wide range of other things connected with them (clothes, pets, garden, physical appearance, etc) when the details included in the predictions relating to Jesus are considered, there is no chance that they could apply to anyone but him.
In the Old Testament there are sixty major Messianic prophecies, and approximately 270 minor points woven into them, which were fulfilled by Jesus. Coupled with these very specific details there are about 300 general references to his coming. All the specific prophecies were made more than 400 years before he appeared.
Micah, for example, eliminated all the cities of the world (Mic.5:2) and selected Bethlehem, a small town of about a thousand people, for the birthplace of the Messiah. The time Jesus would appear is given in Daniel 9, and many other details are given relating to the manner of his birth, the type of person he would be, his powers, his character, his betrayal, his manner of death (Ps.22), his resurrection, and his coming glory.
The following are just a few of the detailed prophecies which Jesus fulfilled. Some of the details have been highlighted for emphasis.
“From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the eldersand chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.” Matthew 16:21
“But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of awoman, made under the law.” Galatians 4:4 ( fulfillment of Gen.3:15)
“Which was the son of Jacob, which was the son of Isaac, which was the son of Abraham, which was the son of Thara, which was the son of Nachor.” Luke 3:34 (fulfillment of Gen.21:12) He was also predicted to be a descendant of Jacob, and of the tribe of Judah Gen.49:10 and Num24:17 with Luke 3:23 etc)
“But thou, Bethlehem, Ephratah, though you be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall he come forth unto me (He) that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” Micah 5:2 (Fulfilled in Matthew 2:1)
“I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.” Deuteronomy 18:18 (Fulfilled in Matthew 21:11 when the people said “This is the prophet Jesus”)
“The voice of him that cries in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” Isaiah 40:3 (Fulfilled by John the Baptist, who came as a messenger before Jesus appeared. Matthew 3:1,2)
“Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.” Isaiah 35:5 and 6. Fulfilled with the ministry of Jesus, see Matthew 9:32-35, 11:4-6, Mark 7:33-35, John 5:5-9, 9:6-11. 11:43-47)
“The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.” Psalms 118:22 This verse was referred to by Jesus, in Mark 12:10 “And have you not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner?” and also by Peter, “Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner.” (1 Peter 2:7)
“Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.” Psalms 41:9 (Fulfilled by Judas – “Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.” John 13:26
“Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.” Zechariah 13:7 (Fulfilled when Jesus was arrested and the disciples ran for their lives – “And they all forsook him, and fled.” Mark 14:50)
“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opens not his mouth.” Isaiah 53:7. (Fulfilled in Matthew 27:12 “And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing.” and also Matthew 27:14 “And he answered him (Pilate) to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly.”)
“They pierced my hands and my feet.” Psalm 22:16. (Fulfilled with the crucifixion Luke 23:33)
“They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” Psalms 69:21 (Fulfilled in Matthew 27:34 “They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.”
“He keeps all his bones: not one of them is broken.” Psalms 34:20. (Fulfilled in John 19:32,33 “Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, theybrake not his legs.”
“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.” Psalms 22:14 (Fulfilled in John 19:34 “But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.”
“And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death.” Isaiah 53:9 (Fulfilled by Joseph of Aramathaea John 19:38 And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus.” “And laid it in his own new tomb.” Matthew 27:60
When we assemble the specific prophetic details concerning Jesus we find that there is a statistical argument in his favour. Critics have argued that many of the prophecies would fit equally well with other men, but as the entire 60 major prophecies are considered, the odds of any one individual fulfilling all of them becomes so great as to rule out chance.
The following is taken from Peter Stoner in ‘Science Speaks’ (Moody Press, 1963). Using the modern science of probability in reference to only eight prophecies is 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000. In practical terms, suppose we covered the whole area of Texas with silver coins over a metre deep. Mark one of these coins and bury it somewhere, now blindfold someone and ask them to pick up the coin you have hidden. They have one chance in 10 with 17 zeros after it. Yet Jesus fulfilled many more than eight prophecies. His chances of fulfilling 48 prophecies is 1 chance in 10 with 157 zeros.
Details confirming the resurrection.
Critics and spiritualists have suggested that Jesus did not rise bodily from the grave, that he was either a fake, or a spirit with just the appearance of a body. The following is a collection of Bible statements which support the belief that Jesus rose in a real body, and that he was not a transient spirit or an hallucination:
Jesus met his disciples, and they saw him, and knew who he was, yet some doubt remained in them that he might be a spirit (Mat.28:9) yet Jesus told them to handle him, and look at the marks of the crucifixion (Mat.28:17, Luke 24:31,37,39). John said he had seen the Lord, and Jesus proved to Thomas that the resurrection had taken place (John 20:18 – 29) The disciples became convinced that Jesus was the real Jesus (John 21:12) Jesus himself said “Handle me and see; for a spirit has not flesh and bones, as you behold me having . . .” (Luke 24:39) “And they gave him a piece of broiled fish. And he took it, and did eat before them.” (Luke 24:42) Women both heardand saw and touched in their experience of the risen Jesus (Mark 16:5-7, Mat.28:9,10) Jesus appeared to disciples in broad daylight and in the afternoon (Luke 24:13-33 and 1Cor.15:7), by a lake in the early morning (John 21:1-23) and on a hill in front of many people (1Cor.15:6)
The study of Biblical details could fill a volume as large as the Bible itself, because, as the Bible itself says, “Every word of God is pure.” Proverbs 30:5, and, as Jesus said, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4 and “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.” Psalms 12:6. The above is but a small taste of the treasures which may be found in the Bible. I hope this essay has encouraged readers to pursue their own lines of inquiry. They will discover much, much more.
