2. The Holy Bible

[1] If we were to discover an invaluable treasure, what jubilance would be ours!  Wouldn’t we be restless to share that news with our loved and dear ones? The Holy Bible is one such priceless treasure. It is God’s gift to mankind. It is only through it that we can understand the secret things of God and know His mind. The Bible talks about everything, from the very origins of mankind to their predetermined glorious future. It is only the Bible that can tell us why mankind is suffering now and how long this suffering will last before a glorious dawn breaks. Indeed, to know about the future of mankind, we need to look no further than the Bible. Before we do so, let us look briefly at aspects that make the Bible so unique.

[2] It is only the Bible that lets us know that the name of the only true God is ‘Yahweh’. ‘Yahweh’ gave the Bible to mankind so that through it He could reveal Himself to be the only true God, the creator of the heavens and the earth. The Bible is the only way to get to know Him. If you have a Bible in your hand, and know how to use it, then you will never be lonely. When one reads the Bible, one can hear the voice of God and feel His presence. The Bible is a book of books. It consists of 66 books which have a total of 1189 chapters and 31,173 verses. Even secular historians will agree that no other book has impacted the history of mankind as profoundly as the Bible. It is the most translated book. It is a tribute to its divine inspiration that even today, it is one of the bestselling books in the world, a position it has held for more than a millennium; transcending the many social, economic and technological changes of the intervening centuries. No other book has done so.

[3] This universal and ageless appeal of the Bible is not accidental. The reason is quite simple. Unlike the other books that fade away with time, the Bible was not written with human wisdom. It is the handiwork of God, ‘God-breathed’, says Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 3:16). One may wonder how this was possible; after all it is only men who have been credited with writing the various books of the Bible. The Bible answers this question succinctly – men‘spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit’ (2 Peter 1:21 & Read Hebrews 1:1). A President of a country dictates a letter to his secretary, which is to be sent to foreign dignitaries. Now, though this letter is typed by the secretary, the content is from the President and it bears his seal. The foreign dignitaries will for sure take it as the President’s letter. Indeed, the secretary was nothing but a tool employed by the President to get his message typed. Similarly, God used many people as tools to write the Bible, but it contains His message to humanity (Read 1 Thessalonians 2:13). Thus, the Bible is not a book of folklore or legends born out of human imagination. Neither is it an expression of the ideals and dreams of a few wise men. The Holy Bible is the word of the one true God, and that is why it has survived and thrived through centuries. 

[4] The Books of the Bible were written by various authors who lived at varied times, spread over nearly 1600 years. Naturally, the socio-political and cultural conditions in which each of these authors lived varied significantly. A few authors lived under a simple community setup while a few others lived under powerful monarchs. A few lived as exiles in foreign lands. Biblical authors also came from all walks of life. Some were Kings. Some were priests while some others were mere shepherds. Despite these striking differences between them, the Bible has no internal contradictions. There is perfect harmony. This is nothing short of astonishing and it cannot be overstated. It is common for critics to find contradictions within one single book written by one single author. We all evolve over a period of time, and hence our views on certain issues may not be in agreement with what we ourselves believed some time back. The experiences that we undergo do make us change our mindset on several issues. That being the case, isn’t it amazing to note that different authors living in different periods of history have delivered a product, the Bible, which is harmonious from beginning to end. Centuries of historical change could do nothing to disrupt the symphonic flow of the Bible. The first book of the Bible opens with the creation of man, his subsequent falling out with God and its repercussions. The last book of the Bible closes with man having recovered from that fall and reunited with God. The intervening chapters narrate how God carried out His plan for redemption of mankind. This glorious harmony despite having numerous authors is in itself a grand silent testimony to the divine inspiration of the Bible.

[5] Books of ancient times, religious or even secular, have the tendency to be filled with legends and folk stories that beggar belief. But, the Bible stands out as a remarkable exception, for even secular history confirms many of the events mentioned in it. Scholars have repeatedly found the Bible to be historically accurate and in some cases more accurate than what historians of a particular period believed. For instance, for a very long time, secular historians denied the historicity of the kings of the Bible like Solomon and David. However, later archaeological evidences proved them wrong and confirmed that the Bible had it right. Perhaps more importantly, the writers of the Bible exhibit an astounding level of honesty for their time. Books of antiquity were mostly written by political appointees of the monarchs, and hence almost all the writers of ancient times were disposed to exaggerating the greatness of their countries and idolizing the kings who commissioned them. Again, even today there are state historians and state media that are biased. Yet, the writers of the Bible talk candidly about their country and its leaders. They do not hide the defeats and the mistakes of their kings. Prophet Jeremiah spoke in great length about the destruction that was to come through Babylon upon his own nation of Judah and he boldly writes that it was wrought by the sins of Judah and its monarchs (See Jeremiah 27^th chapter). The ghastly murder of illicit passion committed by David, who is their most beloved king, and the subsequent humiliating punishment he got are also recorded in detail with great honesty (See 2 Samuel 11 & 12^th chapters). Writers of that time also used to give exalted titles like ‘King of All Worlds’ and such prefixes to even their petty chieftains to curry favor with them. The Bible is devoid of any such ridiculous exaggerations. For a book written during those times of political correctness and hyperboles, these are remarkable attributes. Indeed, it is only because of the fact that the Bible was not written by human minds but by the Spirit of God that the truth has been recorded without biases and embellishments.

[6] As a general rule of the thumb, religious books of the old do not sit well with science because of their mythological penchants. Here again, the Bible is in a league of its own. There are no absurd statements in the Bible. It may be surprising to many that much of the information given in the Bible sits rather well with even 21^st century science. The Water Cycle was discovered by scientists only around the 16^th century. Amazingly however, the Bible explains the Water Cycle very precisely, some 2000 years before modern science got a hang of it – ‘He draws up the drops of water, which distill as rain to the streams; the clouds pour down their moisture and abundant showers fall on mankind’ (Read Job 36:27,28; 26:8; 37:11). Also, up until a few centuries ago, scientists and the best minds of the times believed that the earth was flat. But again, the Bible has been declaring the true shape of the earth from antiquity –‘the circle of the earth’ (Read Isaiah 40:22). Similarly, much before the satellites went up and started relaying photographs of the earth, the Bible proclaimed accurately that the earth is suspended over nothing in space – ‘he suspends the earth over nothing’ (Read Job 26:7). One can go on giving many such examples but all these do not mean that the Bible is a book about science. It is most certainly not. Yet, the scientific accuracy of the Bible is due to the fact that it is the book of the one true God who is the creator of the heavens and the earth. That is why history shows that many scientists of the past who had mocked the Bible had to eat their own words in the end. There is no doubt that this trend will only continue on the issues over which current science does not concur with the Bible.

[7] The Bible is also a book of prophecy. Many of its prophecies have already attained fulfillment. Many others are waiting to be fulfilled very soon. Prophet Isaiah lived in the nation of Judah around 700 B.C. God foretold the coming destruction of the Kingdom of Babylon through him (See Isaiah 13^th Chapter). In fact, God had spelt out the intricate details of how that destruction would come about. He had foretold that it would be a king named Cyrus who would come against Babylon and he would use the river Euphrates that flowed through Babylon to conquer it without a fight (Read Isaiah 44:28; 45:1,2). How can a war be won without a fight and that too against Babylon, the super power of that time, comparable to present day USA? Many would have laughed it off. Yet, about 160 years later, in 540 B.C, Babylon was surrounded by Persian armies and the man who commanded the Persians was indeed a man named Cyrus! Historical sources indicate that on the fateful day when Babylon fell, the Babylonians were relaxing; thinking foolishly that their strong walls would keep them safe. Not to be unfair to them, they had good reasons to think so. Their walls had kept them safe for decades. But, what they did not know was that the Persians had hatched a smart plan to breach their walls. And as the Bible had foretold long before, it involved the river Euphrates. The Persian armies entered Babylon through the dry bed of river Euphrates, after diverting the river by constructing a canal. As a result, the Babylonians were caught unawares and surrendered without a fight, as foretold by the Bible. This is not all. Isaiah had prophesied that the destruction of Babylon would be total and final – ‘She will never be inhabited or lived in through all generations; there no nomads will pitch their tents, there no shepherds will rest their flocks’ (Isaiah 13:20). Babylon, which was captured by Cyrus, was in later years destroyed and has remained in ruins till now. The site of ancient Babylon lies some 50 miles from the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. It is still a ruin, a living witness to the accuracy of Biblical prophecies! Many other prophecies of the Bible have also come true to the astonishment of even many secular observers. These serve not only as evidences to prove the divine inspiration of the Bible but also confirm that the prophecies of the Bible which are yet to be fulfilled, will indeed get fulfilled without fail. Truly, the Holy Bible is a book that can be trusted.

[8] There is one other reason for the preciousness of the Bible. Apostle Paul says the following about the Bible – ‘the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart’ (Hebrews 4:12). Truly, the Bible is a moral compass. The Bible is suitable for ‘teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work’(2 Timothy 3:16,17). Just as a child growing up in this difficult and evil filled world needs guidance about what is right and wrong, mankind as a whole needs the guidance of the Bible to know the difference between what is good and evil. mankind requires the morals and ethics espoused by the Bible to lead a peaceful, happy and satisfying life. Only very few in the world would not have heard about the Sermon on the Mount (See Matthew 5-7 Chapters). Therein, Jesus preaches the attributes that are needed to lead a moral and productive life – be it about loving each other, or be it about forgiving each other or be it about discipline and austerity. If one follows the moral principles of the Bible earnestly, he or she will surely lead a satisfying life on earth that is also immensely beneficial to his or her community.

[9] One can go on giving more reasons for the preciousness of the Bible. Mind you, on each aspect that has been touched briefly in this chapter, colossal individual books can be written. In fact, many such books are already in the racks! Yet, the foremost reason for the Bible being a rare treasure is due to the fact that it is only through the Bible that we can find answers to the questions regarding the present as well as the future state of mankind. God’s plan for mankind is revealed only in the Bible. Henceforth, let us not ignore this book of books, a gift from God to us. If we read and understand it, we will be filled with knowledge about the wonderful plan God has for mankind and that knowledge will give us peace and joy. This book intends to declare that wonderful plan, that glorious future which awaits mankind, you and me!