The Bible’s Internal Proofs of its Authentic History
Probably no historical record has been more scoffed at than the Bible. However, the facts show that if it weren’t a book of religion and it had only recently been discovered by modern archeologists, it would be proclaimed as the most significant find in all history. Its details as to family lines, lands of occupation, life spans, and events should provide positive proof to even the most skeptical observers that its accounts are genuine and accurate, because no one would go into such minute detail if they were simply creating a forged document. Oh, they could if they wished, but that would require a high level of sophistication and some very dark motives.
Take for example, the genealogies found at Genesis 4:17-5:31, 10:1-31, 11:10-32, 14:1-8, 21:32, 22:20-24, 25:1-4 & 12-19, 26:34, 28:6-19, 36:1-4 & 9-43, 38:1-5, 46:8-27, 48:7, Numbers 1:1-42, 2:5-32, 26:12-60, and 27:1, just to start with. The details in these accounts prove the Bible to be a compilation of accurate historical events, branding it as totally different from religious forgeries, such as The Book of Mormon and the Epic of Gilgamesh.
Also, read the genealogies that start in First Chronicles and you’ll find many names of ancient people who went on to found cities and countries that we’re still familiar with today. Also, look at the long lists of names of people, then who their fathers were, who they descended from, the things they did, etc. – things that nobody would be interested in today – and ask, why would anyone make all of this up, and how could anyone fake so much detail?
Take for example, the meticulous records of King David that are found in 1 Chronicles 23 to the end of that book. Each person, where they were from, who they were related to, and what their positions were are all listed in great detail, but many critics claim that David may never have existed.
Then consider the well-documented account of what happened
when the king of
As for Moses and the Exodus, consider the detailed record of the travels of Israel from their place of departure from Egypt until they entered the Promised Land, as found at Numbers Chapter 33.
For a fact, the Bible is a vast wealth and storehouse of the
history of ancient peoples, which through ignorance and prejudice goes
unexplored by many. Consider, for example, the records of the peoples and the
trade goods they supplied to the Mediterranean trade
Recent Archeological Discoveries
Why, some say that the ‘Old Testament’ was written more than a thousand years later than its events claim, and that the ‘New Testament’ and its accounts about Jesus were written almost three-hundred years after Jesus was supposed to have lived. But although modern archeologists have proven such claims (which originated in the mid-1800s) false, college professors continue to teach them to their philosophy classes throughout the world, and gullible students continue to believe them.
Notice, for example, that the oldest Bible text archeologists have discovered (of the Pentateuch) appears to date to the Seventh Century B.C.E., which is before the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon, and dates to the time of the Temple of David. Yet until this discovery, many scholars were claiming that these texts were fabricated after the time of Jerusalem’s reconstruction, and that there may have been no Temple of David.
Also, many have claimed that there was no King David, and that Jerusalem was just a backwater town during the time attributed to the reign of David. However, recent archeological discoveries at Tel Dan (northern Palestine) have uncovered a stele from the Ninth Century B.C.E. that mentions the family line of David, and they are currently excavating a major structure that they think may prove to be David’s (and Solomon’s) palace.
Some have even gone so far as to claim that there was no ancient nation of Israel, yet a granite stele commemorating the victories of Pharaoh Merneptah, who reigned from 1212 to 1202-B.C.E. (currently on display at the Cairo Museum), brags of a conquest of the nation of Israel, along with the nearby Philistine cities of Ashkelon, Gezer, and Yanoam. So, such claims have again been proven false by the findings of archeology.
Consider the fact that most archeologists say that modern civilization began some 4400 years ago in the area of Mesopotamia; for this is when and where they find evidence of the first written records, the first kings, the first use of the wheel, and many other things. And all of these things follow the Genesis account in amazing detail.
Who Wrote Genesis?
Hebrew historians and most religious commentators usually agree that Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible (known as the Pentateuch). However, that isn’t totally accurate, for the words of Genesis (such as, ‘This was the book of…’ and ‘This was the generation of…’) show that almost all of it was compiled from previously written records.
Where did these records come from? We simply don’t know, because the Bible doesn’t tell us. However, Moses could have collected them from libraries during his life as ‘the son of the daughter of Pharaoh,’ or they may have been records that were handed down through the family line of Abraham.
While Bible critics may claim that the early Genesis accounts
actually came from cuneiform clay tablets that were discovered in
Did Moses Write the Pentateuch?
Yes, Moses did write parts of the first five books of the Bible, because the accounts say so (see Numbers 33:1, 2), and Hebrew historians have always claimed that he did. Yet, the fact that in most cases where his name is mentioned it is shown in the third person, may belie this view. For if Moses wrote the words found at Numbers 12:3 ‘Now, Moses was the humblest man on the earth’ (as people said he did), then what he said was an oxymoron (a saying that disproves itself). So, we have concluded that although Moses was likely responsible for its writing, the words may have been actually written by a secretary or scribe, and possibly Moses’ close assistant Joshua. For, notice what was written at Joshua 24:26. ‘Then he wrote those words in the book of the Laws of God.’
However, even Joshua’s name is occasionally written in the third person in those accounts. And although speaking of one’s self in the third person isn’t an unusual style for Bible writers (we find Matthew, Mark, and John doing that in their accounts), their names aren’t usually mentioned in the third person, as was the name of Moses. Nor is it unusual for Bible writers to use secretaries, because that’s what Paul obviously did. Yet, the fact that Moses’ name was used so frequently and in so many places (sometimes up to three times per sentence in the Hebrew text), indicates that someone else likely did the actual writing.
The book of Deuteronomy is a good example of what we’re talking about here. While its name implies (and as it is often explained as meaning) that this was God’s second giving of the Law to Israel, covering the different circumstances they would encounter when entering the Promised Land, a close examination of the texts shows that the book was actually a compilation of written speeches that were delivered on the very day that Israel was to enter the Promised Land (see Deuteronomy 1:1). So, Moses did write most of the speeches to clarify how the Law would apply, but these speeches were later collected and compiled into the book of Deuteronomy by someone else after his death. This has to be true, because Moses’ death is also mentioned in Deuteronomy. So, Moses wrote the Laws and speeches, but he likely didn’t compile and write the actual books.
The Red Sea Crossing
Did the Israelites really flee Egypt and miraculously cross the Red Sea, followed by Pharaoh and his army? Whether it took place and the point of the crossing has been debated for centuries, and the argument against this epic event is that there is no archeological evidence to prove that it happened. However, a recent book by Jonathan Gray, In Search of Pharaoh’s Lost Army, claims the finding of the needed archeological evidence. And although we are hesitant to acknowledge the veracity of this work, the maps and arguments make sense and follow the account as laid out in the Bible.
The Language Changes
The Hebrew portion of the Bible was written over a period of
almost sixteen-hundred years, so we would expect to see natural changes in its
language over such an expended period. Is this what we find? Yes! Although the
first portions of Genesis are written in the Hebrew language of Moses’ time
(they were probably translated by Moses or Joshua), the portion that tells of
the life of Abraham is written in an ancient dialect called Ugaritic, which
reflects Hebrew as it was spoken before the Israelite’s 400-years of living in
the
After that, the language continues to change until the time
of Daniel, who wrote in a language that is similar to Hebrew (and the origin of
Arabic), Aramaic (in the mid-500s B.C.E.), because of the influence of the
Jew’s captivity in
The next major Bible language change came during the time of
Jesus. Although Matthew may have originally penned his book in Aramaic, all the
succeeding Bible writers likely wrote in the common language of their day, which was Koine (pronounced ko-ee-nay) Greek. However, shortly thereafter, Koine Greek
became obsolete and Latin became the predominant language of the
So as you can see, charges that the Bible was written much later than its writers indicated are ludicrous. The changes in the languages prove that these charges just aren’t true.
The Book of Matthew
Regarding the Bible book of Matthew, we don’t know whether Matthew wrote it in Aramaic or Greek. However, many scholars believe that he would have written it in Aramaic, since that was the more common language among the Jews at the time, and it was surely the language that Jesus spoke. And consider the fact that Matthew’s text of Jesus’ last words (as found at Matthew 27:46) are shown in both Greek and Aramaic. So, either Matthew wrote in Greek, or the person who translated his book into Greek added the Aramaic explanation.
One of the most notable stamps of authenticity in the
Christian Era Scriptures is Matthew’s mention of Jesus preaching in a town called Caesarea
Philippi (at Matthew
Also, notice the details in the genealogy of Jesus’ line through his stepfather Joseph, as found at Matthew 1:1-17, and the same details through his mother’s line, as found at Luke 3:23-38. And notice the methods for accurately dating events by the people who were ruling at the time, that are found at Luke 3:1, 2.
The Names
Another irrefutable proof of the Bible’s authenticity as a historical record can be found in the names of people and places, which have never changed. And the Bible even gives the reasons why those names were chosen. Notice for example, the account found at Genesis 10:8-12, which says, ‘Cush fathered Nimrod, who became a giant on the earth. He was a gigantic hunter before [Jehovah] God. That’s why people speak of Nimrod as the gigantic hunter before [Jehovah]. His kingdom started with Babylon, then Orech, and Archad, and Chalanne, which were all in the land of Shinar. Outside that land [he went to] Assyria and built Nineveh, then the cities of Rehoboth, Chalach, and Dase (between Nineveh, and Chalach), which is the great city.’
You can see that the names of well-known cities (not mythical) can be found there, such as Babylon and Nineveh. And how did Babylon (a Hebrew word for confusion) get its name? The account at Genesis 11:8, 9 tells us, ‘And [Jehovah] scattered from there over the entire face of the earth, so they stopped building the city and its tower. That is why [the city] is named Confusion (Babylon), because, that’s where [Jehovah] confused all the languages of the earth, and scattered them from there over all the face of the earth.’
Why, the fact that there are so many unrelated languages among mankind today could only be explained by the events of this Bible account. And what’s more, the Bible description found at Genesis 11:3 – that the people built the city out of bricks – and at 11:4, where it tells of their building a sky-scraping tower, can still be seen in the ruins of that ancient city in Western Iraq. And even the name of the founder of one of these cities (Nimrod) can still be found in the ruins of an ancient city in Assyria that was named for him, Nimrud (a spelling variation due to language differences).
Also, Nimrod’s father Cush is still recognized as the progenitor of the people of Ethiopia, for his name is commonly used by archeologists and Egyptologists alike (for more information, see the Note in the book of Genesis, ‘Edem’). It’s only in places like North America and Europe (where the Bible is under attack) that anyone questions these names that have been written and accepted as history for millennia!
And while those are outstanding examples, the Bible is literally filled with mention of people and places that have only recently been found and documented by modern archeology. A good example of this is the nation known as the Hittites (Sons of Heth). During almost the entire Nineteenth Century, archeologists claimed that there was no such race, but now they and their cities have been found in abundance!
Why, even a stone commemorating Jesus’ judge, the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate (who was also once considered mythical), has recently been located and deciphered.
So, while those who hate the Bible claim that it is just a collection of myths and fairy tales, the records and ruins of places and events that we read about in the Bible are constantly being found, proving that the Bible is in fact, the most amazing and accurate record of the history of the world.
What About the Long Lives?
Something else that has stuck in the craw of Bible critics for centuries, is the fantastic ages that people lived to prior to the downpour (Adam 930 years, Methuselah 969, etc.). Also, notice the long reproductive periods: Genesis 5:21 ‘Enoch was a hundred and sixty five years old when he fathered Methuselah.’ Could these be actual years?
Yes they could, for as anyone who has reached the age of 70 or 80 can tell you, our lives are really too short.
But, what about the fact that human life spans seem to be about average when compared the life spans of other animals? Well, it could be (and it’s likely true) that animal life spans are also much shorter than they were prior to the downpour. How could this happen?
We’ve heard many explanations, such as the changes in the atmosphere, or that man was getting ‘farther from perfection.’ And while these things could be true, the most obvious reason is that it is all the result of prolonged inbreeding. Whereas there were eight humans who survived the downpour, only six produced children thereafter, and three of them were brothers.
Consider, for example, the lines of the Hebrews, which likely reflected what was true of other families throughout the world at the time. Abraham’s father was Terah and his wife’s father was Terah, so she was his half sister. Their son Isaac’s grandfather was thus a direct descendant of Terah on both sides, and the grandfather of the woman he married was also Terah on at least one side. So, Isaac’s son Jacob’s great-grandfather was Terah through at least three sides, then two of the wives he married (Rachael and Leah) were also great-granddaughters of Terah through multiple lines… and then the descendants of their sons intermarried.
It was only after God gave His Laws to Israel that sexual relations and intermarriage among close family members was forbidden. And this proves that a Divine power recognized the genetic damage that would result from further inbreeding. Also remember that these laws were given just to the descendants of Israel, not to any of the other nations of the world, so inbreeding could have continued throughout the world until the results became obvious.
What about animals? Remember that most animals (the ‘unclean’) were brought into the chest (ark) in single pairs, so even more genetic damage was possible for them than it was for humans. For, why do such intelligent animals as dogs or such large animals as horses live less than twenty years? This isn’t normal – it’s illogical.
Notice how human life spans progressively decreased after the downpour (which disproves the teaching that ‘they counted years differently back then’):
Noah lived 950 years
His son Shem (the first progenitor of that line) lived 600 years
His son Arphaxad lived 500 years
His son Cainan lived 460 years
His son Sala lived 460 years
His son Heber lived 404 years
His son Phaleg lived 339 years
His son Ragau lived 337 years
His son Seruch lived 330 years
His son Nahor lived 304 years
etc.
So, by the time of the exodus from Egypt, we find the Israelites living just 70 or 80 years, for the Bible tells us that only Joshua and Caleb of all Israel’s warriors who left Egypt, survived to enter the promised land.
Note this conversation between the Pharaoh of Egypt and the patriarch Jacob, as found at Genesis 47:7-9: ‘Then Joseph brought his father Jacob in and stood him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. Then Pharaoh asked Jacob, How old are you? And Jacob replied to Pharaoh, The years of my life that I’ve lived are a hundred and thirty. But these years have been too few and too troubled. I haven’t reached the age that my ancestors [achieved], back in the days when they lived.’
So, the very aged man Jacob verified that his ancestors had lived to be much older than him.
What do scientists tell us is the likely cause of the
human (and possibly animal) aging process? They say it’s because the ends of our
As you can see, there’s really no reason for anyone to question the Bible’s accuracy, authenticity, or the dates that are provided there. The facts are too detailed and too well substantiated in history, and the ages of men descend in a logical order that’s well in line with the understandings of medical science.
Has Much Been Lost Through the Ages?
One of the most common arguments against the authenticity of the Bible is its age. And the question is often asked, ‘How do we know that what’s written in there is really what was originally meant?’ For, it’s a fact that the Bible has been copied and translated hundreds if not thousands of times down to our day, and errors have obviously crept in.
Yes, it is true that there are many errors in common Bibles. How do we know this? Because hundreds of ancient texts have been found (such as ‘the Dead Sea Scrolls’) that show where changes have been made. Sometimes the errors are copy mistakes, while in other instances there are deliberate attempts at fraud. Yet, modern scholars are aware of most errors and honest Bible translators are making the changes as they are discovered.
We not only have the Dead Sea Scrolls, but we have ancient translations of the Bible, such as the Septuagint Greek text, and what has been found is that (in most instances) there may be variations in words, but the meanings still remain the same.
What is called the Pentateuch (the first five books of the
Bible) hasn’t seen many changes, for these words of creation and law were
copied and spread throughout
Understand that it is our belief that the Bible was written logically and coherently, so where we find text that doesn’t make sense, we assume there has been an error in copying or translating.
A good example of this corruption of text is the book of Habakkuk, which was
likely written about 700-B.C.E. We found it extremely difficult to translate from
Greek, and when checking the Hebrew-based texts, we found that they had the
same problems. And because both types of texts (the Hebrew and the Greek)
reflect the same problems, we
can see that the corruption began sometime between the destruction of
We were surprised to find several significant differences in the Psalms, but that book is just a record of ancient inspired songs, and we realize that the songs have likely changed through the ages.
We also found differences between the Greek and Hebrew texts in the Proverbs, so we suspect that people changed proverbs to fit their needs. Yet, the way that the Psalms, the Proverbs, and the books of the Prophets were written helps to show up any errors or deviations, for much of this writing was in done in prose. So, where we find deviations from the common forms of Hebrew poetry, we know to look for errors.
What about other books, such as those of the Apocrypha and other supposed Christian writings? Some wonder why they aren’t included in Bibles such as this. But if you read them, you’ll see why most learned collectors have rejected them, for they all clearly speak of things that contradict the canon of sixty-six approved books, which all show a harmony and single inspiration by God.
The Dead Sea Scrolls a Hoax?
Through the years since their finding, several supposed scholars have come forward to label the Dead Sea Scrolls a hoax. Why, in the early 1950s, Professor Solomon Zeitlin of Dropsie University in Philadelphia argued strenuously that the antiquity of the Dead Sea Scrolls should be rejected on philosophical grounds. However, subsequent carbon-14 tests on their linen wrappers firmly dated the finds to the late Second Temple Period (prior to the lifetime of Jesus), which should have laid to rest arguments concerning the antiquity of the scrolls. Yet, although there are hundreds of both Bible and secular documents in that find, which no one in his right mind would go through all the trouble to forge centuries ago and then fail to reveal, the claims that they are forgeries (by those who hate the Bible) continue to make the news as though their statements were true.
The DaVinci Code?
One of the more recent claims is that the story of Jesus originated in the written myths of the pagan Roman religion, for several important features of Jesus’ life are found written in Roman lore about their pagan Gods. Yet, the fact that people who point to such similarities fail to mention, is that those Roman epics were written some two-hundred years after Jesus’ death. So, who borrowed from whom?
The above claim was written in a recent book about the Bible that seems to turn its entire writing into mysticism and intrigue. And it all starts out with the premise that DaVinci’s painting, ‘The Last Supper,’ shows Mary Magdalene (not John) sitting next to Jesus, who the writer claims is Jesus’ secret wife… and thousands believe this!
Yes, the person sitting on Jesus’ right in DaVinci’s painting does appear to be a woman, for he or she is without the traditional Jewish beard. But, did you also notice that the head is at an odd angle, separated from the neck, and is smoother than the other features in the painting? And it also appears to be up and to the left of a previous face. While this may not have a bearing on the veracity of the claim, the female face does look more like a recent addition to the painting… and why does an Apostle have his hand resting on her shoulder if she is Jesus’ wife?
Now, if it were a woman, why would anyone suspect that it was Mary from Magdala? She is mentioned only briefly in the Bible accounts as part of the large crowd that traveled to Jerusalem with Jesus, and as one of the two women who visited his tomb… but never again in any bible record after that. For if DaVinci did include a woman in his painting, wouldn’t it be more logical to assume it to be Jesus’ mother Mary, in view of where this artwork was painted?
But let’s ask; What did Leonardo DaVinci know about Jesus, since he lived fourteen centuries after Jesus died. And even if there was a ‘DaVinci Code,’ from whom did the painter receive it, and why should we trust their words more than the Bible?
As for the accuracy of DaVinci’s knowledge of Jesus and the Bible, look at his painting… remember that early Jews didn’t sit at a table, they reclined, and the table was low. There’s no record of anyone sitting at a table in the Christian Era Scriptures, but there are dozens of records of their reclining (lying down) to eat. So, how much of this painting should we trust as an accurate account of history? And while we’re at it; allow us to point out the name was Jesus, not Christ!
Yet, this artist’s questionable depiction started a growing belief that the Bible is some sort of secret codebook, and that Jesus got his teachings while traveling in India. This is total nonsense, and it could only be believed by those who are truly unfamiliar with the Bible.
The book also claims there were other ‘Gospel’ accounts that were hidden, because they tell a different story of Jesus’ life. But it fails to mention that these ‘Gospels,’ which are obviously fakes, are dated to more than a century after his death.
The ‘Scientific Adam’
Recently, the National Geographic Society sponsored a genetic study to prove absolutely whether man has a single common ancestor (Adam), or if, as it has been stated many times before, man descended from a large group of evolving primates that numbered in the thousands. The study surveyed people from all around the world, checking the variations in their Y (male) chromosomes, and it proved beyond a doubt what earnest Bible students have known all along, that the Bible was right and we all did for a fact descend from a single man, who they dubbed ‘The Scientific Adam.’
While this shocking and amazing finding should have proven the Bible’s authenticity beyond a doubt, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that after proving the Bible once again right, the folks at National Geographic concluded that the Bible has all the details wrong. For, rather than man originating from a place in the area of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers some six-thousand years ago (as the Bible says), they say he actually originated in Northwestern Africa sixty-thousand years ago. Of course, this implies that ‘modern man’ (their words not ours) existed well before the ‘stone age,’ ‘cave men,’ and even ‘Neanderthals.’ But that’s another story.
Their method for determining all of this was to look at genetic variations in the Y-chromosomes and search for common variations that would link all humans to a single person. Then they looked for a race of people whose Y-chromosomes were the closest to the original, and they found them in Northwest Africa near Ethiopia. So, they concluded that ‘Adam’ was a dark-skinned man from Northern Africa.
Of course, in their skepticism, they neglected the fact that we all have a much closer common relative than Adam, Noah. So, what they may have found was him… or at least his son Ham, whose descendants did eventually migrate to Northeastern Africa. However, they overlook the fact that at least part of this family line (as well as Noah) appear to have first lived in the area of Iran that is southwest of Mount Ararat… so this Scientific Adam apparently didn’t really live in northeastern Africa to begin with (although his descendants do live there today). For more information on this, see the Note in Genesis titled Edem and the Associated Press document, ‘Roots of Family Tree are Shallow.’
And what about the sixty-thousand years of man’s existence, as opposed to the Bible’s six thousand? Well, their dating was based on the number of genetic mutations, which they extrapolated to come up with a starting date, but that is risky science at best. For, they don’t really know how many mutations may have arrived in a single generation. And as we pointed out earlier, the shortening of life spans between the time of Noah and Moses seems to indicate a period of rapid genetic decline, possibly due to prolonged inbreeding.
Anyhow, as science continues to make advances, we are sure they will eventually get their details right.
What About Evolution and Archeological Dating?
Many Christians have allowed themselves to wander into debates with those who choose not to believe the marvelous promises of the Bible and enter into areas that they don’t fully understand and have nothing to do with the hope of the Bible. We’ve seen things written by Bible scholars about how all things came into existence, yet all they really have to go on is a brief chapter in the Bible.
We simply believe that God created all things. How long it took and how He accomplished it is speculation and not necessarily truth.
We find it interesting to read what the ancient Greek Septuagint translation of the Bible says about the method that God used to create animals (as found at Genesis 1:20-21). It says, ‘And God spoke, saying, Let the water give birth to living slithering animals as well as to winged creatures to fly above the earth in the space of the skies, and that’s what happened. God made the huge sea creatures and all the living slithering animals, which the seas gave birth to, each of its own kind, and all the winged creatures that fly, each of its own kind.’
So, perhaps the Bible and scientists have more to agree on than they have to debate.
We do find one of the latest scientific theories
interesting, in line with the Bible, and sensible. It’s the teaching that
retroviruses (which pick up and share
Obviously, this is just another theory. However, the chest (ark) of Noah could only have held a limited number of animal types, so there are surely more animal types today than there were then. But as we pointed out earlier, such ideas as this are just diversions from the promises of the Bible… they aren’t worthy of a debate.
One of the things that we are often asked is whether we have learned anything new in our translating. And the answer is YES! However, so far we haven’t learned anything that would cause us not to believe in or trust the Bible as the Word of God. We’ve found no reason to doubt its authenticity or accuracy… in fact we have even better reasons to recommend it to others today.
To return to your Bible reading, select the browser Back button.
For more information, see the linked Note ‘Science and Inspiration.’