Living Water Community Church

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Living Water Community Church

• Being Lights in a Dark World III

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Giving an Answer

• Answering the attacks against the Bible
• 1Pe 313 Who is there to harm you if you prove
  zealous for what is good?
• 1Pe 314 But even if you should suffer for the
  sake of righteousness, you are blessed. AND DO
  NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE
  TROUBLED,
• 1Pe 315 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your
  hearts, always being ready to make a defense to
  everyone who asks you to give an account for the
  hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and
  reverence

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Who do you rely on God or Man?

• Psa 119105 Your word is a lamp to my feet And
  a light to my path.
• (Psa 14310) Teach me to do Your will, For You
  are my God Let Your good Spirit lead me on level
  ground.
• (Luk 1212) for the Holy Spirit will teach you
  in that very hour what you ought to say."
• (Joh 1426) "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit,
  whom the Father will send in My name, He will
  teach you all things, and bring to your
  remembrance all that I said to you.

4
Why do we need the Bible?
The Authority of Scripture
A Spirit-Inspired Revelation from God
Applied to Us by the Spirit It is our sole
source of faith and practice!
The Necessity of Scripture
Our Finiteness The finite cannot comprehend the
infinite
Our Sinfulness Pride, self will, attachment to
our own truth We need a source of absolute Truth
outside of our own thinking
The Sufficiency of Scripture
For Faith Gods Word is proven to be that
source of Truth
For Life - If you live in obedience to Gods
Word, you will have abundant life
The Clarity of Scripture
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Misunderstanding Scripture

• If the Bible is given to be understood, why is
  there so much confusion as to its meaning?
• Why are there so many
• Denominations and beliefs?

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• Mat 183 and said, "Truly I say to you, unless
  you are converted and become like children, you
  will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
• Mat 184 "Whoever then humbles himself as this
  child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of
  heaven.
• Children love unconditionally.
• Children are teachable. They tend to see the
  simple truth and tell the truth without regard
  to pride or appearances.
• Children have complete faith in parents, so we
  should trust God. And trust His Word!

7

• (1Ti 24) God desires all men to be saved and to
  come to the knowledge of the truth.
• (2Ti 225) with gentleness correcting those who
  are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them
  repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth,
• (2Ti 37) Holding to a Form of Godliness,
  denying the poweralways learning and never able
  to come to the knowledge of the truth.
• (Tit 11) Paul, a bond-servant of God and an
  apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those
  chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth
  which is according to godliness,
• (Heb 1026) For if we go on sinning willfully
  after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there
  no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,

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Is the Biblical Record Accurate?

• Now we are going to examine some of the proofs
  for the Bible.
• Archaeology has always proven the Biblical
  recordalways.
• The Bible is Gods Word!

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• Over the years there have been many criticisms
  leveled against the Bible concerning its
  historical reliability. These criticisms are
  usually based on a lack of evidence from outside
  sources to confirm the Biblical record. Since the
  Bible is a religious book, many scholars take the
  position that it is biased and cannot be trusted
  unless we have corroborating evidence from
  extra-Biblical sources. In other words, the Bible
  is guilty until proven innocent, and a lack of
  outside evidence places the Biblical account in
  doubt.

10

• This standard is far different from that applied
  to other ancient documents, even though many, if
  not most, have a religious element. They are
  considered to be accurate, unless there is
  evidence to show that they are not. Although it
  is not possible to verify every incident in the
  Bible, the discoveries of archaeology since the
  mid 1800s have demonstrated the reliability and
  plausibility of the Bible narrative.

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• The history of written language began almost
  6,000 years ago in the small villages of
  Mesopotamia. This first written language was
  called Cuneiform.
• Most of history at this time was handed down
  orally.

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Archeological proof for the Bible

• We will now take a look at the evidence that
  helps establish the reliability of the Bible and
  its record.
• It is reliable historically and Doctrinally!

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Classical Authors and Date of Copies
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Greek Manuscripts of the New Testament
1998 Figures from Bruce Metzger via Case For
Christ. p. 60 - 63
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A Reporters Conclusion

• Archaeology (N.T.)
• In extraordinary ways, modern archeology has
  affirmed the historical core of the Old and New
  Testaments--corroborating key portions of the
  stories of Israels patriarchs, the Exodus, the
  Davidic monarchy, the life and times of Jesus.
• Jeffrey Shelter, Is the Bible True?
• US News and World Report, Oct. 25, 1999, P. 52

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• Is the Bible True? U.S. News World Report,
  October 25, 1999
• Mary Joseph travel to hometown for census?
• Recently discovered Roman Empire-wide census was
  held every 14 years
• Pool of Bethesda with 5 pillars? (John Chapter 5)
• Archaeologists recently discovered this pool
• Crucifixion? No skeletal remains found
• But in 1968, found a tomb with remains of a 24-28
  year old man nailed to the cross, with leg broken

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A Skeptics Conclusion
Is the New Testament corroborated by Archaeology?

• I began with a mind unfavorable to it (Acts),
  for the ingenuity and apparent completeness of
  the theory. It did not lie then in my line of
  life to investigate the subject minutely but
  more recently I found myself often brought in
  contact with the book of Acts as an authority for
  the topography, antiquities, and society of Asia
  Minor. It was gradually borne in upon me that in
  various details the narrative showed marvelous
  truth.
• Sir Wm. Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveler and the
  Roman Citizen, P. 8

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Another Skeptics Conclusion

• Archaeology (N.T.)
• As a matter of fact, however, it may be stated
  categorically that no archaeological discovery
  has ever controverted a biblical reference.
  Scores of archaeological findings have been made
  which confirm in clear outline or exact detail
  historical statements in the Bible.
• Nelson Glueck, Rivers in the Desert, P. 31

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3. How do we know that the Bible is not just a
myth that developed over time?
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Liberal Dating
Couldnt the stories about Jesus be a myth that
was invented over a period of time?

• I Corinthians Spring 55
• Mark 45-60 AD
• Matthew 40-60 AD
• Luke 57-60 AD
• Jude 61-62 AD
• Acts 57-62 AD
• John 40-65 AD
• John A. T. Robinson
• Redating the New Testament, P. 352

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Conclusions of a Respected Archaeologist

• Couldnt the stories about Jesus be a myth that
  was invented over a period of time?
• Rephrasing the question, I would answer that, in
  my opinion, every book of the New Testament was
  written by a baptized Jew between the forties and
  the eighties of the first century A.D. (very
  probably sometime between about 50 and 75 A.D.
• Wm.. F. Albright, Toward a More Conservative View
• Christianity Today, Jan., 1963, P. 359

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An Historian Weighs In

• Roman Historian, A.N. Sherwin-White calls the
  mythological view of the New Testament
  unbelievable.
• Williams Lane Craig says,
• The tests show that even two generations is too
  short to allow legendary tendencies to wipe out
  the hard core of historical facts.
• William Lane Craig, The Son Rises, P. 101

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• Two hundred years ago, scholars doubted whether
  Babylon ever existed, and the only record could
  be found in the Bible. Higher critics used the
  story of Babylon, and what they called its
  "non-historic kings", to disseminate Scripture.
  However in 1898, Babylon was suddenly discovered
  and excavations started.

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• We know today that it was one of the first cities
  in the world, and indeed, founded by Nimrod,
  great-grandson of Noah. (Genesis 1010,11).
  Archaeologists have found his name on many
  inscriptions and tablets, while a massive head of
  Nimrod has been excavated near Calah on the
  Tigris River.

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• Many of the people mentioned in the Bible are
  confirmed in sources outside the Bible. In the
  case of royalty, many times a likeness of the
  individual has been recovered. Over 50 persons
  named in the Old Testament are known outside the
  Bible, and we have likenesses of 12 of them. Some
  27 people named in the New Testament are known
  from other records, with six likenesses surviving
  (four of them Roman emperors).

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• Based on current knowledge of Biblical and
  Egyptian chronology, the best candidate for the
  pharaoh of the Exodus is Tuthmosis III, who ruled
  1504-1450 B.C. We have many records from his
  reign, as well as this statuary of the pharaoh
  himself.

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• The most documented Biblical event is the
  world-wide flood described in Genesis 6-9. A
  number of Babylonian documents have been
  discovered which describe the same flood.
• We also have flood accounts from other cultures
  around the world!

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• The Sumerian King List (pictured here), for
  example, lists kings who reigned for long periods
  of time. Then a great flood came. Following the
  flood, Sumerian kings ruled for much shorter
  periods of time. This is the same pattern found
  in the Bible. Men had long life spans before the
  flood and shorter life spans after the flood.

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• The 11th tablet of the Gilgamesh Epic speaks of
  an ark, animals taken on the ark, birds sent out
  during the course of the flood, the ark landing
  on a mountain, and a sacrifice offered after the
  ark landed.
• The Story of Adapa tells of a test for
  immortality involving food, similar to the story
  of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

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• Sumerian tablets record the confusion of language
  as we have in the Biblical account of the Tower
  of Babel (Genesis 111-9). There was a golden age
  when all mankind spoke the same language. Speech
  was then confused by the god Enki, lord of
  wisdom. The Babylonians had a similar account in
  which the gods destroyed a temple tower and
  "scattered them abroad and made strange their
  speech."

31

• Campaign into Israel by Pharaoh Shishak (1 Kings
  1425-26), recorded on the walls of the Temple of
  Amun in Thebes, Egypt.

32

• A number of remarkable clay tablets, discovered
  at Tell-el-Amarna in Upper Egypt. They confirm
  the historical statements of the Book of Joshua,
  and prove the antiquity of civilization in Syria
  and Palestine. As the clay in different parts of
  Palestine differs, it has been found possible by
  the clay alone to decide where the tablets come
  from when the name of the writer is lost. The
  inscriptions are cuneiform, and in the Aramaic
  language, resembling Assyrian. The writers are
  Phoenicians, Amorites, and Philistines, but in no
  instance Hittites, though Hittites are mentioned.
  The tablets consist of official dispatches and
  letters, dating from B.C. 1480, addressed to the
  two Pharaohs, Amenophis III. and IV., the last of
  this dynasty, from the kings and governors of
  Phoenicia and Palestine. There occur the names of
  three kings killed by Joshua, Adoni-zedec, king
  of Jerusalem, Japhia, king of Lachish (Josh.
  103), and Jabin, king of Hazor (111) also the
  Hebrews (Abiri) are said to have come from the
  desert.

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• Revolt of Moab against Israel (2 Kings 11
  34-27), recorded on the Mesha Inscription.

34

1. Hebrew id, a king of Moab, the son of
   Chemosh-Gad, a man of great wealth in flocks and
   herds (2 Kings 34). After the death of Ahab at
   Ramoth-Gilead, Mesha shook off the yoke of
   Israel but on the ascension of Jehoram to the
   throne of Israel, that king sought the help of
   Jehoshaphat in an attempt to reduce the Moabites
   again to their former condition. The united
   armies of the two kings came unexpectedly on the
   army of the Moabites, and gained over them an
   easy victory. The whole land was devastated by
   the conquering armies, and Mesha sought refuge in
   his last stronghold, Kir-harasheth (q.v.).
   Reduced to despair, he ascended the wall of the
   city, and there, in the sight of the allied
   armies, offered his first-born son a sacrifice to
   Chemosh, the fire-god of the Moabites. This
   fearful spectacle filled the beholders with
   horror, and they retired from before the besieged
   city, and recrossed the Jordan laden with spoil
   (2 Kings 325-27).
2. The exploits of Mesha are recorded in the
   Phoenician inscription on a block of black basalt
   found at Dibon, in Moab, usually called the
   "Moabite stone" (q.v.).

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• Fall of Samaria (2 Kings 173-6, 24 189-11) to
  Sargon II, king of Assyria, as recorded on his
  palace walls.

36

• Campaign of the Assyrian king Sennacherib against
  Judah (2 Kings 1813-16), as recorded on the
  Taylor Prism.

37

• Siege of Lachish by Sennacherib (2 Kings 1814,
  17), as recorded on the Lachish reliefs.
• It was assaulted and probably taken by
  Sennacherib (2 Kings 1814,17 198 Isa. 362).
  An account of this siege is given on some slabs
  found in the chambers of the palace of Koyunjik,
  and now in the British Museum. The inscription
  has been deciphered as follows
• "Sennacherib, the mighty king, king of the
  country of Assyria, sitting on the throne of
  judgment before the city of Lachish I gave
  permission for its slaughter."

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• Lachish has been identified with Tell-el-Hesy,
  where a cuneiform tablet has been found,
  containing a letter supposed to be from Amenophis
  at Amarna in reply to one of the Amarna tablets
  sent by Zimrida from Lachish. This letter is from
  the chief of Atim (Etam, 1 Chr. 432) to the
  chief of Lachish, in which the writer expresses
  great alarm at the approach of marauders from the
  Hebron hills. "They have entered the land," he
  says, "to lay waste...strong is he who has come
  down. He lays waste." This letter shows that "the
  communication by tablets in cuneiform script was
  not only usual in writing to Egypt, but in the
  internal correspondence of the country. The
  letter, though not so important in some ways as
  the Moabite stone and the Siloam text, is one of
  the most valuable discoveries ever made in
  Palestine" (Conder's Tell Amarna Tablets, p.
  134).
• Among other discoveries is that of an iron
  blast-furnace, with slag and ashes, which is
  supposed to have existed B.C. 1500. If the
  theories of experts are correct, the use of the
  hot-air blast instead of cold air (an improvement
  in iron manufacture patented by Neilson in 1828)
  was known fifteen hundred years before Christ.

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• Assassination of Sennacherib by his own sons (2
  Kings 1937), as recorded in the annals of his
  son Esarhaddon.

40
Moabite Stone

• It was 3 1/2 feet high and 2 in breadth and in
  thickness, rounded at the top. It consisted of
  thirty-four lines, written in Hebrew-Phoenician
  characters. It was set up by Mesha as a record
  and memorial of his victories. It records (1)
  Mesha's wars with Omri, (2) his public buildings,
  and (3) his wars against Horonaim. This
  inscription in a remarkable degree supplements
  and corroborates the history of King Mesha
  recorded in 2 Kings 34-27.

41

• Fall of Nineveh as predicted by the prophets
  Nahum and Zephaniah (213-15), recorded on the
  Tablet of Nabopolasar.

42

• Fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar, king of
  Babylon (2 Kings 2410-14), as recorded in the
  Babylonian Chronicles.

43

• Captivity of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, in
  Babylon (2 Kings 2415-16), as recorded on the
  Babylonian Ration Records.

44

• Fall of Babylon to the Medes and Persians (Daniel
  530-31), as recorded on the Cyrus Cylinder.

45

• Freeing of captives in Babylon by Cyrus the Great
  (Ezra 11-4 63-4), as recorded on the Cyrus
  Cylinder.
• The edict of Cyrus for the rebuilding of
  Jerusalem marked a great epoch in the history of
  the Jewish people (2 Chr. 3622, 23 Ezra 11-4
  43 513-17 63-5).
• This decree was discovered "at Achmetha R.V.
  marg., "Ecbatana", in the palace that is in the
  province of the Medes" (Ezra 62).

46

• The discovery of the Ebla archive in northern
  Syria in the 1970s has shown the Biblical
  writings concerning the Patriarchs to be viable.
  Documents written on clay tablets from around
  2300 B.C. demonstrate that personal and place
  names in the Patriarchal accounts are genuine.
  The name "Canaan" was in use in Ebla, a name
  critics once said was not used at that time and
  was used incorrectly in the early chapters of the
  Bible.

47

• The word "tehom" ("the deep") in Genesis 12 was
  said to be a late word demonstrating the late
  writing of the creation story. "Tehom" was part
  of the vocabulary at Ebla, in use some 800 years
  before Moses.

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• The Hittites were once thought to be a Biblical
  legend, until their capital and records were
  discovered at Bogazkoy, Turkey. Many thought the
  Biblical references to Solomon's wealth were
  greatly exaggerated. Recovered records from the
  past show that wealth in antiquity was
  concentrated with the king and Solomon's
  prosperity was entirely feasible.

49

• It was once claimed there was no Assyrian king
  named Sargon as recorded in Isaiah 201, because
  this name was not known in any other record.
  Then, Sargon's palace was discovered in
  Khorsabad, Iraq. The very event mentioned in
  Isaiah 20, his capture of Ashdod, was recorded on
  the palace walls. What is more, fragments of a
  stela memorializing the victory were found at
  Ashdod itself.

50

• Another king who was in doubt was Belshazzar,
  king of Babylon, named in Daniel 5. The last king
  of Babylon was Nabonidus according to recorded
  history. Tablets were found showing that
  Belshazzar was Nabonidus' son who served as
  coregent in Babylon. Thus, Belshazzar could offer
  to make Daniel "third highest ruler in the
  kingdom" (Dan. 516) for reading the handwriting
  on the wall, the highest available position.
• He was Co-Regent Nabonidus became sick and
  left the rule to his son.

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• When Israeli archaeologists cleared the area
  around the southern portion of the Western Wall
  (above), they ran into the inscription you see
  here. Although not a verbatim copy, it comes
  reasonably close to a vision found in the last
  chapter of the Book of Isaiah "When you see
  this, your bones will become like shoots of green
  grass."

52

• The existence of Jesus Christ as recorded by
  Josephus, Suetonius, Thallus, Pliny the Younger,
  the Talmud, and Lucian.

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Historian Josephus

• Josephus says,
• At this time there was a wise man who was called
  Jesus. And his conduct was good and (he) was
  known to be virtuous. And many people from among
  the Jews and other nations became his disciples.
  Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die.
  And those who had become his disciples did not
  abandon his discipleship. They reported that he
  had appeared to them three days after his
  crucifixion and that he was alive accordingly He
  was perhaps the Messiah concerning whom the
  prophets have recounted wonders.
• As cited in Evidence that Demands a Verdict, Page
  85
• (Arabic text, 10th Cent.)

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The Significance of Josephus
The significance of this passage by Josephus

• Makes reference to Jesus claim to be the Christ
• Speak of His miracles
• Points out that people perceived Jesus teachings
  as the truth
• Indicates the historicity of Pilate and the event
  of the cross.
• Records the claim by His disciples that Jesus was
  resurrected.
• Documents that Jesus had many converts

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Jewish Source The Talmud

• On the eve of Passover Yeshua was hanged. For
  forty days before the execution took place, a
  herald went forth and cried, he is going to be
  stoned because he has practiced sorcery and
  enticed Israel to apostasy. Any one who can say
  anything in his favor, let him come forward and
  plead on his behalf. But since nothing was
  brought forward in his favor he was hanged on the
  eve of the Passover.
• The Talmud, Sanhedrin, 43a
• (cf. John 118, 16)

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The Significance of the Talmud
The Significance of Jewish writings about Jesus

• It confirms the historicity of Jesus life.
• It confirms His death by the method of
  crucifixion (The Jewish method of execution would
  have been stoning)
• It indicates that Jesus did do miraculous things
  but attributed his power to the devil (similar to
  Mark 322 Matt. 934 1224)
• It indicated that Jesus gathered many converts
  from the Jewish community

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Accuracy Established
Conclusion from bibliographical and external
evidence test

• The interval then between the dates of the
  original composition and the earliest extant
  evidence becomes so small as to be in fact
  negligible, and the last foundation for any doubt
  that the Scriptures have come down to us
  substantially as they were written has now now
  been removed. Both the authenticity and the
  general integrity of the books of the New
  Testament may be regarded as finally
  established.
• Sir Frederic Kenyon
• The Bible and Archaeology, P. 288

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Summary
                                                
             The fall of Jerusalem to
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon (2 Kings
2410-14) is recorded in the Babylonian
Chronicles.                           The
captivity of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, in
Babylon (2 Kings 2415-16) is recorded on the
Babylonian Ration Records.                      
                                         The fall
of Babylon to the Medes and Persians (Daniel
530-31) is recorded on the Cyrus Cylinder.  
                                                  
          The freeing of captives in Babylon by
Cyrus the Great(Ezra 11-4 63-4) is recorded
on the Cyrus Cylinder.  

59
                                                
            The campaign of the Assyrian king
Sennacherib against Judah (2 Kings 1813-16) is
recorded on the Taylor Prism.  
                                                  
          The siege of Lachish by Sennacherib (2
Kings 1814, 17) is recorded on the Lachish
reliefs.                                        
                       The assassination of
Sennacherib by his own sons (2 Kings 1937) is
recorded in the annals of his son Esarhaddon.  
                                                  
          The fall of Nineveh as predicted by the
prophets Nahum and Zephaniah (213-15) is
recorded on the Tablet of Nabopolasar.
60
                                                
             The campaign into Israel by Pharaoh
Shishak (1 Kings 1425-26) is recorded on the
walls of the Temple of Amun in Thebes, Egypt.  
                                                 
           The revolt of Moab against Israel (2
Kings 11 34-27) is recorded on the Mesha
Inscription.                                   
                           The fall of Samaria
(2 Kings 173-6, 24 189-11) to Sargon II, king
of Assyria, is recorded on his palace walls.  
                                                  
         The defeat of Ashdod by Sargon II
(Isaiah 201) is recorded on his palace walls.
61
Is the Bible reliable?

• Yes!
• In addition to all of this, there are many other
  examples of extra-Biblical confirmation of
  Biblical events.

62

• For years, critics of the Biblical historical
  account have doubted its reliability not because
  there existed archeological evidence that
  DISPROVED its claims, but simply because there
  was no discovered archeological evidence found
  yet to SUBSTANTIATE its claims.
• Now, in light of recent archeology, many are
  beginning to believe!

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