Posted by Dena on January 26, 2006, at 21:50:25
In reply to Re: The end of times? Are we in the last days? » spriggy, posted by Jakeman on January 26, 2006, at 20:51:47
Jake wrote:
>>>"The bible was written by a leaders of tribes that lived in the middle east around 1800-2000 years ago. Their prophecies may be true, I don't know. There are many other prohecies by advanced civilizations of that time such as the Indians, Chinese, Native Americans, Tibetans, Mayans, etc.
Which one is true?Dena responds:
<<<Actually, your time frame, as well as the authors, is incorrect. The Bible was written over a period of 1400 to 1800 years by more than 40 different authors. The Bible is a compilation of 66 separate books (not one book, as some may believe), divided into two primary divisions: the Old Testament (containing 39 books) and the New Testament (containing 27 books). It is believed that all of the books of the Bible were written under inspiration of the Holy Spirit.What's truly remarkable is that even though these books were written by diverse men, in diverse cultures, in diverse periods of time, and upon 3 different continents (Asia, Africa, and Europe), they hold to a congruent theme: God's involvement with the people of His creation.
In fact, the Old Testament put forth over 300 prophecies of the coming Messiah. All of these were fulfilled in Jesus Christ, and they established a solid confirmation of His credentials as the Messiah; the Anointed One. Many of these prophecies were outside of His control... such as where He was born, when and how He would die, and His resurrection.
I read an interesting analysis about the odds of Him fulfilling all of those prophesies (I'm not a mathmetitian, much less a statistician, so someone more learned than I will have to verify the odds):
By using the modern science of probability in reference to just eight of these prophecies --- the chance that any man might have lived to fulfill all eight prophecies is one in one hundred trillion.
To illustrate this: If we take 100 trillion silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas, they would be two feet deep. Now we mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly --- all over the state. Now blindfold a man and let him travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick only one silver dollar. What chance would he have of picking the right one? The same chance that the prophets would have of writing just eight of these prophecies and having them all come true for any one man --- if they had written them without God's inspiration!
The chance of any one man fulfilling all of 48 prophecies is one in 10 to the 157 power. The electron is about as small an object as we can imagine. if we had a cubic inch of these electrons and tried to count them, it would take us (at 250 per minute) 19,000 time 19,000 time 19,000 years to count them. Now mark one of them, and thoroughly stir it into the whole mass. What chance does our blindfolded man have of finding the right electron? --- The same chance as one man of fulfilling 48 of the prophecies about Christ, without being the Son of God.
Jesus Christ fulfilled every prophecy written about the coming Messiah --- over three hundred of them. Would that have been possible had He not been the Son of God?
Jake wrote: >>>"Jesus's sermon on the Mount said something about not be worried about the future. But it's hard not to.
warm regards ~Jake "
Dena writes: <<<You're right on the money with this one, Jake! Jesus told us: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: the neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!"Elsewhere, it's promised that God will give us what we need for today. We focus on what provision we have today. As for tomorrow, why worry about it? When it gets here, it becomes the "today" that God will, once again, provide for, if we love and follow Him. Something powerful happens when we trust, by faith, in what He's told us in the Bible. It's like our faith unleashes His blessings and the fulfillment of His promises.
He also tells us (Jesus) that in this world we WILL have troubles (another promise). But, He tells us to "be of good cheer", because He has overcome the world. He will get us through anything when we turn to Him to do so.
(for anyone who's interested, it's a fascinating study to look up the prophecies concerning Jesus in the Old Testament, and to read the fulfillment of them in the New Testament... here are a couple of such links: http://www.harpazo.net/messiah.html
http://www.bprc.org/topics/fulfill.htmlShalom, Dena
poster:Dena
thread:568881
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faith/20051105/msgs/603234.html