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What We Believe and Why
Written by Dr. Lester Hutson

Copyright - Lester Hutson - 1986
This material is copyrighted and may not be copied or reproduced without the express written permission of Dr. Lester Hutson.

CHAPTER THREE

PROOF OF DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE THROUGH FACTS, BIBLE CONSTRUCTION, AND PROPHECY

MALACHI 3:10

We believe that the most fundamental of all doctrines is the doctrine that the Bible is God's divinely inspired word. If you do not accept the Bible, then you will also reject its teachings. If you think the Bible is merely the work of men, then you'll put no more confidence in it than you would in any other good book. You are wasting your time using the Bible to prove a point to a man who doesn't believe the Bible to begin with. In this lesson, we shall endeavor to prove the Bible is God's Word without appealing to the statements it makes as to its own authenticity. We use this text because you can prove the Bible is truly God's Holy Word.

I. Examination of two aspects of the Bible will show you it is not man's, but God's book:

A. There are proveable facts which show the Bible could not be man's product:

1. The circumstances under which the Bible came about are almost unbelieveable:

a. Written by about 40 different men over a 1600 year period from B.C. 1492 to 100 A.D.

b. The writers were from all walks of life:

(1) Kings as David and Solomon.
(2) Statesmen as Daniel and Nehemiah.
(3) Priests as Ezra.
(4) Educated men as Moses and Paul.
(5) Uneducated men as Peter, James, and John.
(6) A Herdsman named Amos.
(7) A Tax collector named Matthew.
(8) A Medical Doctor named Luke.
(9) Mighty Seers as Isaiah, Jerehmiah.

c. These men were from different lands:

(1) The wilderness of Sinai.
(2) The cliffs of Arabia.
(3) The hills and towns of Palestine.
(4) In Shushan in Persia.
(5) By the River Chebar in Babylonia.
(6) In the dungeons of Rome and Asia Minor
(7) On the lonely Isle of Patmos in the Aegean Sea.

d. These men wrote with no intention of producing a part of a book as the Bible and were often not aware that others were writing.

e. Yet, in spite ot these unusual circumstances, they wrote a book that is consistent with itself and has never been proven in error.

2. The construction of the Bible attests to its validity:

a. The Bible is many books in one:

(1) The Bible is actually composed of 66 separate and independent books in two divisions.
(2) Each of these books has its own theme and analysis.

b. Yet, each book is essential to the complete understanding of the Bible:

(1) No book of the Bible may be thoroughly understood without all the others.
(2) The Bible is so inter-related that every book, chapter, verse, and even punctuation is essential to understanding the whole.

c. In spite of this arrangement which seemingly would surely produce an incoherent mess, no other book is more harmonious than the Bible:

(1) Like a great jigsaw puzzle, each piece fits into the whole.
(2) This one book made up of these 66 books:

(a) Forms one continuous story (humanity in relation to God).
(b) Has one great theme (the person & work of Christ).

3. The scope of subject matter covered in the Bible makes it a book alone in a class of its own:

a. No other book covers with such detail such a broad subject:

(1) The Bible is a history from eternity before the creation to eternity after time and all in between.
(2) The Bible tells the human story from beginning to ending.
(3) The Bible traces a nation (Israel) from beginning to ending.
(4) The Bible describes the earth from stem to stern.
(5) Only the Bible describes sin, Satan, God, and gives redemption.

b. All of this plus much more is found in the Bible, yet the Bible is a relatively small book:

(1) Many accounts of WWI alone far exceed the size of the Bible.
(2) And many larger books tell far less than the Bible.

4. Now, when you begin to look at the facts alone, it grows ever more obvious that the Bible is not a mere coincidence; nor could it have come to be the work that it is except that some great power (we believe God) was directing it.

B. The prophecies of the Bible are undeniable proof that the Bible is the work of God; not man:

1. Let me show you that not every prediction is a prophecy. There are at least five requirements for legitimate prophecy:

a. It must be made known prior to its fulfillment.

b. It must be beyond all human foresight.

C. It must give details; not be just general and ambiguous.

d. A sufficient time must elapse between its publication and its fulfillment to exclude the prophet or any interested party from fulfilling

e. There must be a clear and evident fulfillment of the prophecy.

2. The Bible truly is a book of prophecy:

a. Either by type, symbol, or direct statement, about 2/3 of all scriptures are prophetic.

b. The Bible hazards the most unlikely predictions concerning the future; and when the centuries have brought about the appointed time, records their fulfillment.

3. Consistent accurate prophecy is beyond the ability of man:

a. Man can hazard enough guesses and sooner or later he may get one or two right, but he certainly can never get them 100% right.

b. Thus, if we find a book of prophecies, all 100% right, then we know that book had to be produced by somebody far greater than a man.

4. Now let us consider a few of the Bible prophecies:

a. Gen. 6:14-17 predicted a great flood would come and cover the whole earth.
Gen. 7:10-24 shows it did. Science today admits that at one time, every inch of this earth was covered with water. (Consider the animals in caves with grass in their lungs.)

b. Gen. 17:2-6 gives unlikely prophecies of Abraham which have come true.

c. Gen. 50:24-26 says that Joseph's Bones would leave Egypt. Ex. 12:31-40 fulfilled it.

d. Isa. 44:28-45:4 of Cyrus the Persian 200 years before he was born. Compare Dan. 6.

e. Jer. 34:3 The impossible prediction that Zedekiah would see the King of Babylon, yet would never see Babylon though he'd go there. Ezek. 12:13 only God could have known his eyes would be put out, II Kings 25:6-7.

f. Isa. 23:1-18 The destruction of Tyre - a fact today.

g. Over 3500 years before man admitted it with the telescope, God said the stars are too many to number Gen. 15:5.

h. Over 2200 years before Columbus proved it, God said the earth is a sphere in Isa. 40:22. Who, but God, could have known?

i. The prophecies about Christ's first appearance alone are sufficient to show the Bible cannot be man's product:

(1) During the 24 hour period ending with Christ's burial, at least 25 specific predictions about him were fulfilled:

(a) Such specific occurrences as His betrayal for 30 pieces of silver (Zech. 11:12), desertion by his disciples (Zech. 13:7), none of His bones to be broken (Ps. 34:20), that He'd be buried in a rich man's tomb (Isa. 53:9) etc. were foretold. They were foretold by numerous prophets over a period ending 500 years before Christ's crucifixion.

(b) To give you some idea of how slim the chances were that these predictions would all be fulfilled, consider:

(1) If I predict an earth quake in Houston next year, by the law of compound probabilities, the chances are one in two that it will occur. If I say it will be on Easter, the chances are 1 in 4. Each time I add another detail, the chances against it double: 1 in 2, 1 in 4, 1 in 8, 1 in 16, etc.

(11) Applying this mathematical principle to the day Christ died, the chances were 33,554,432 against 1 that the 25 prophecies would be fulfilled.

(2) During His lifetime, Christ fulfilled every prophecy concerning His first coming (109 total):

(a) The chances were 1 in billions that He'd do it, yet He did.

(b) Yet, there are skeptics who say man wrote these prophecies. Doesn't it stretch your imagination to believe that?

5. If the chances are 1 in billions that the prophecies concerning Christ would be all fulfilled, what would the chances be that these, plus the hundreds on other subjects which have been fulfilled, would all come true?

a. If we could successfully prove the Bible in even one error, it would be different. But, we can't; not in the slightest way.

b. When you consider that this is literally history written in advance, written with absolute accuracy, and that man can't even equal the job once an event has occurred, you must admit that the Bible truly is a phenomenal book.

II. Now compare these facts and figures with man's greatest intellect:

A. Suppose 40 men, some learned and some ignorant, in many different lands, from many walks of life should unbeknown to each other, and with no one to initiate or co-ordinate the project, write 66 books over a 1600 year period:

1. Do you suppose there would be any sense to it at all if all these books were compiled into one book?

2. If they were all of a medical nature, do you suppose you could doctor a sick cow (let alone man) by it?

B. Suppose a group of our greatest intellects today should sit down to predict the events of the next 500 years:

1. Do you suppose they correctly could name coming countries, presidents, wars, etc.?

2. Do you suppose that if they made 100 predictions, they'd get even 10% absolutely correct?

C. If the Bible is such a simple book, and no more than other leading books, and we are so much smarter and civilized than the Bible writters were, then why don't some of our "brains" produce a work equal to the Bible?

D. By way of comparison we must admit man today is no where near intelligent enough to produce a work equal to the Bible, nor is there another work on earth that can touch the hem of its garment.

III. What then are the only logical conclusions which can be drawn?

A. If man is at best nowhere near capable of producing a document similar to the Bible, then why think men produced the Bible?

1. How could man produce what he is incapable of producing?

2. If man couldn't produce it, it is safe to conclude he didn't.

B. If man didn't produce it, then who else except the God of the Bible did?

1. By the laws of plain logic, what other conclusion could possibly be drawn?

2. Our conclusion is unequivocally that the Bible is the divinely inspired Word of almighty God.

"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"