10. #Don'tjudgeabookbyitscover

"The Bible is just a bunch of stories made up by men."

Or... insert here _________________ one of the other myriad of reasons not to read it or believe it.

I remember rolling my eyes with an overly exaggerated look of disgust on my face saying the exact thing. The last thing in the w o r l d I wanted was a discussion on the Bible. GAHHH!

Who would actually read the Bible? I read Stephen King's "The Stand" and that was annoyingly long, but really? The Bible? Have you ever looked inside just to kinda skim through it? Does it even make one iota of sense? Thou, thee, thine, toucheth, doth, reproveth? Pluhleez. It is full of Olde English verbage describing ancient Middle Eastern myths. What appeal could this book hold for anyone, let alone me. Why would I, or should I have anything at all to do with it?

I was so assured of my haughty stance, that with my eyes still firmly fixed towards the heavens, I turned around, swung my hair and walked straight out the door.

However, my condescending, self assured attitude regarding the Bible was purely founded in ignorance. The only "Bible" I knew came from TV. I never went to Church and had no idea what the Bible had to say about anything really - other than it had to do with Noah's Ark and a bad apple. And weirdly, even though my Dad said there was no God, I did believe there was one, I think most kids innately do.

I have to say, I find it fascinating the responses that are elicited whenever there is any mention of the Bible, or anything written in it. And I find it somewhat amusing that everyone knows exactly what is written in it, even though they themselves have not read it.

So what is with this book and why is it essentially still banned by 52 countries? Why the smirk of disdain when people say - It is just a book written by a bunch of men? Who did they expect to write it? So let us put that statement to rest. Yes, everyone is correct. The Bible was written by men, 40 different men over the course of 1500 years. When it was written more than 1/4 of it was prophetic. And this, among other things gives the Bible great validity. If these prophets through millennia predicted so many actual events. Should we perhaps pay attention to everything else they have to say?

Remember 2012 and the Mayan Calendar? How about all the fuss over Nostradamus' wildly vague quatrains that were used to bolster even more fear about the possibility of our world ending in 2012? Guess what? If you had a grasp of what the Bible teaches about the end of the world (and there is going to be an end) then you could have rolled your eyes as you changed the channel.

By the way, before we walk through the plethora of amazingly accurate prophesies, I want you to remember that the entire Old Testament (except the book of Esther) was found among Scripture fragments stored in pottery jars and hidden in the Qumran caves just before the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the second Temple in 70 AD. Most of these Dead Sea Scrolls are carbon dated around 200 BC, the oldest from 300 BC. These scrolls were found in 1947. The Dead Sea Scrolls put to rest that the Old Testament was changed to fit the narrative. (1)

Lets begin with non prophetic verses:

"It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in." (Isaiah 40:22)

The Catholic Church either did not read the above verse or did not believe the above verse, because ancient Scholars who believed the Earth was round and moved around the Sun were subject to the Inquisition and sometimes put to death at the stake. (2,3)

"He stretches out the north over the void and hangs the Earth on nothing." (Job 26:7)

Sir Issac Newton first discovered that the Earth was suspended in space in 1680. In recent history this was confirmed with space flight. The Bible is the only ancient book that claimed the Earth hangs on nothing. The Greeks maintained that Atlas held it up on his shoulders. Egyptians claimed it was held up by 5 huge poles. Hindus believed that an elephant carried the earth on it's back while standing on the back of a huge turtle. In Norse religion it was held up by 4 dwarves.

The water cycle was not understood until the 17th century. Two French scientist developed the concept of the Hydrologic Cycle. (4)

1.) Water from rivers flow into the oceans.

2.) Water evaporates from the oceans into the clouds.

3.) Water returns to land in the form of rain from clouds.

4.) Water drains from the land back into the rivers.

"He who calls for the waters of the sea, And puts them out on the face of the Earth, the Lord is His name." (Amos 9:6)

"For He draws up the drops of water, they distill rain from the mist, which the clouds pour down. They drip on man abundantly." (Job 36: 27,28)

"All the rivers flow into the sea, yet the sea is not full. To the place where the rivers flow, There they flow again." (Ecclesiastes 1:7)

Pretty amazing isn't it? The Bible was in essence explaining the water cycle of the Earth, while the ancients in the rest of the world made legions of water deities.

"The father of Oceanography", Mathew Fontaine Maury (1806-1873) discovered ocean currents because he believed what the Bible said:

"The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, whatever passes through the paths of the sea." (Psalm 8:8)

Maury's was a naval officer and this verse encouraged him to find these paths and he did. He charted these paths (currents) and by taking advantage of these currents, sailors could shorten their voyages significantly. He was severely ridiculed by the scientists of his day for his insistance regarding the literal truth of the Bible, but they could not condemn his scientific findings regarding ocean currents. (4)

"For the life of the flesh is in the blood." (Leviticus 17:11)

This verse was written approximately 1500 BC. It wasn't until around 1620 that William Harvey discovered the circulation of blood pumped throughout the body by the heart. It carries oxygen, minerals, vitamins and nutrients to every cell of the body and takes away wastes. Unfortunately, for George Washington the doctors treating him for an undiagnosed illness did not believe this verse and drained him of 40% of his blood. Thereby killing him. (4)

I believe that those who know the truths of the Bible in regards to our current age will be in a far better position not only spiritually, but also in every other area of their lives. The crazy in this world would make more sense and they would not be tossed around by every wind of the media machine. In the next few articles we will examine the Biblical prophesies that have come to pass or can easily be seen as coming to pass soon. God does not want us to be unprepared. He does not want you unprepared. He Loves you too much.

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6)

1.) Smithsonian.com: Who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls

2.) History.com: Galileo is convicted of Heresy

3.) Scientific American.com: Was Giordano Bruno killed at the stake for believing in exoplanets.

4.) biblescienceguy.wordpress.com: Water Cycle/Ocean Currents/Blood