In Part I of this commentary, I discussed Intelligent Design and man’s place at the top of creation’s hierarchy. My beliefs regarding an order to the universe and man’s appointment by the Orderer as the caretaker and custodian of His creation were shared as key drivers of my faith.

There is, of course, a vast collection of additional non-biblical evidence of God’s existence. This includes archaeological evidence, philosophical arguments around man’s innate moral compass, the otherwise inexplicable occurrences of miracles, and more.

But I turn now to God’s Word, the Bible. The Bible articulates God’s plan for His creation – and for eternity. If the Bible is credible, God not only exists, but He informs us of how we should live to conquer death and spend eternity in His presence.

The Bible

Unlike what I learned in Sunday School or at home in my youth, the Bible is not a series of spectacular but disconnected tales of man’s achievements against adversity. Rather, it is a compelling, cohesive story of love and compassion – a story penned by forty scribes with one author, God, over more than a millennium and a half.

At its surface, the basic storyline is a simple one: God creates the heavens and the earth, the creatures of the air, land and seas, man and woman. The Fall in the Garden of Eden gives birth to sin. Man’s sinful nature results in countless iniquities against God by His chosen people, Israel – despite God’s continuous miracles, unrelenting forgiveness and persistent admonitions to follow Him. He disciplines His people with famine, pestilence, exile and more – and it clearly pains Him to do so.

God promises Israel a savior. Israel assumed the savior was a great warrior who would defeat its oppressors and restore its lands. Instead, God sent His only begotten Son to save Israel not from oppression, but from itself and its sinful nature. Jesus is the Lamb without flaw, willingly and lovingly giving Himself to crucifixion and shedding His blood as the eternal sacrifice for man’s sins. His resurrection affirms both life after death and judgment of the world.

John 3:16 summarizes the whole plot pretty effectively:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

But the miraculous, compelling, inspiring and interconnected elements of the Bible that lay below the basic plotline could only be authored by God. I will reference just a few as evidence of Biblical integrity.

Symmetry and Consistency

The symmetry between the Bible’s first and last books, Genesis and The Revelation of Jesus Christ, respectively, is remarkable. Genesis 1:1, the Bible’s opening verse, tells of God’s creation of the heavens and the earth. Chapter 2 describes the sanctuary that was the Garden of Eden – and the Tree of Life in the center of the Garden – that was man’s ticket to eternal life. But that ticket became null and void once sin was introduced by eating from the forbidden Tree of Knowledge. Man was given life, but disobedience instead brought death.

Chapter 21 of The Revelation describes a new sanctuary – a New Jerusalem, with the Tree of Life yielding its twelve kinds of fruit. Man, destined for death since Eden, sins washed away by the blood of Jesus, will instead be given life eternal through faith and obedience to God’s Word.

Jesus is present at the beginning as the Creator and promised Redeemer who shall “bruise the head” of His adversary (Gen 3:15) – and at the end as the giver of The Revelation of Jesus Christ. Everything in between leads to Jesus. Seek Him and you will find Him in every book of the Bible. He is the Word, the lamb, the light, the cornerstone, the good shepherd, the messiah. The Old Testament prophets tell us of His coming and of His plan. Jesus is the fulfillment of those prophecies. The New Testament writers give witness to His life on earth and provide clarity to its meaning.

Notably, there are weddings – both in Genesis and The Revelation. Adam and Eve marry in Genesis 2, establishing marriage as a crucial component of God’s plan for humanity. In chapter 19 of The Revelation, the Bride (the Church) is betrothed to Christ the Lamb by faith.

The symmetry, consistency and connectedness of the Bible represent significant evidence of its purpose and validity. Had the Bible been written by one single human author, such qualities would be anticipated. But, given that forty people spanning 1500 years recorded events, emotions, wisdom, prophecy, etc. with a single theme and without contradiction, one can agree with Paul’s contention in 2 Timothy 3:16 that all scripture is “God-breathed.”

The Exodus

Many have witnessed the dramatic scene in “The Ten Commandments” of Charlton Heston as Moses parting the Red Sea, the harried ramble of the enslaved Jews through the walls of water as they escaped the pharaoh’s chariots, and the ensuing collapse of those walls destroying the entire Egyptian army. Surely, that could only be the work of God.

Unfortunately, all we have is the re-creation of this event on film and, of course, the biblical narrative. To the Bible skeptic, neither would be considered actual evidence that this event occurred.

But the chronicle of the four hundred years preceding the exodus from Egypt – and the forty years succeeding it – are so convincing and so compelling that it makes a saunter through the Red Sea seem a mere assumption.

The biblical account of how the Jewish nation came to and strengthened in Egypt is beyond the imagination of man; it is of God. Although it logically ties back to creation and the opening pages of Genesis, the condensed version can begin with the birth of Joseph to Rachel and Jacob (son of Isaac, son of Abraham) – the eleventh son of Jacob but the first-born to Rachel, Jacob’s favored of his two wives. Hence, Joseph was his favorite son. (Jacob’s first ten sons were by his other wife, Leah, and his two concubines, Bilhah and Zilpah)

That favoritism led Joseph’s older brothers, driven by jealous wrath, to sell him into slavery. The slave trader who purchased Joseph was in route to Egypt where he was sold into the house of Potiphar, captain of the pharaoh’s guard. Joseph, blessed by God, prospered under Potiphar, persevering through the false accusations of Potiphar’s wife and extended imprisonment. During that unwarranted imprisonment, Joseph demonstrated his God-given ability to interpret dreams – an ability that shortly put him in front of a distressed pharaoh.

Joseph listened to pharaoh’s perplexing dreams of cows and corn – immediately deciphering the visions as a revelation from God. Seven years of great plenty were to be followed by seven years of famine. Subsequently, pharaoh appointed Joseph as the architect and overseer of a strategy to prepare for the famine by establishing ample reserves during the years of plenty. Joseph became the second most powerful man in all of Egypt.

Because of Joseph’s vision and preparation, Egypt prospered tremendously during the famine while surrounding peoples went hungry – including Jacob, his eleven other sons and their families. Jacob, given the name of Israel by God, sent ten of those sons to Egypt to purchase grain from the pharaoh – all but Joseph’s younger brother Benjamin – who remained with his father as Jacob’s only other son by Rachel.

Unbeknownst to them, the ten brothers negotiated for their sustenance with Joseph, who immediately recognized those that sold him into slavery. Joseph provided the grain but manipulated his unwitting brothers into making a return visit to Egypt, this time bringing Benjamin, whom Joseph loved deeply.

Upon the return visit, Joseph unveiled his identity to his stunned brethren whose initial instincts were to fear for their lives, given that they had sold him into slavery. Joseph, however, forgave them – noting that what they intended for evil, God intended for good. He sent them to retrieve his father and, at pharaoh’s behest, Israel and his family were granted land and prosperity in Egypt – where they were to remain for 400 years.

Ironically, it was in Egypt that the nation of Israel grew. It was that growth – and the strength associated with it – that put fear into another pharaoh generations later. Distressed that his realm would be overrun by the Israelites, pharaoh enslaved them as laborers and builders. But Israel never forgot God’s covenant with Abraham to bring them into the land of Canaan – and waited obediently for God to send Moses to lead His people to freedom. Freedom from Egypt came through the exodus, and it included the law for how God’s people were to behave – otherwise known as the Ten Commandments.

Following the Red Sea episode, the exodus did not go smoothly. Doubt, betrayal and sin among the Israelites led God to deny them a direct path to their promised land. In fact, Israel was allowed to wander in the desert for forty years before God led them to Jericho where they ultimately entered their homeland.

Needless to say, there is immense detail excluded from this condensed narrative. That detail only lends added credibility to the biblical account of the birth of Israel.

Prophecy

There are 45 prophets throughout the Bible. Prophets in the Bible are distinguished bearers of God’s word to His people. Most are encountered in the Old Testament. Their role, generally speaking, was to remind the people of Israel of their alliance with and dependence on God – and to counsel them in how to remain loyal to that alliance.

Prophecies were made about the past, the present and the future. Those of the past were often reminders about God’s role in establishing Israel, such as the narrative concerning the exodus above. They also included admonishments regarding God’s past judgments when He was disobeyed.

Prophecies relating to the then-present times were frequently cautions about Israel’s disloyalty – including worshiping other gods, oppressions of the poor, and inflated pride. The purpose of these prophecies was typically to correct bad behavior and return to the Lord’s commandments – and often included warnings of the consequences for the failure to do so, including pestilence, famine, defeat and exile.

But the most convincing biblical prophecies are those regarding future manifestations. To keep this brief, I will focus on just two compelling occurrences of divination in the Bible: The Book of Daniel and messianic prophecy throughout the Old Testament.

Isaiah, Jeremiah and Habakkuk all prophesied in the sixth and seventh centuries B.C. that Israel’s persistent failure to obey God and adhere to His teachings would result in the nation’s conquest and subjugation – resulting in the devastation of Jerusalem and exile. The destruction of the city and its temple by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. fulfilled this prophecy to perfection.

Among the captives exiled was Daniel. He quickly became a distinguished servant of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. Daniel possessed a gift shared by only one other named person in the Bible – Joseph – the ability to interpret dreams.

This gift led to the first of Daniel’s prophetic revelations in response to the king’s troubled dream of a great statue with a head of pure gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron and feet part of iron, part of clay. A rock, “cut not from human hands,” struck the feet of the statue destroying not only the feet of iron/clay, but the entire statue as it disintegrated into powder and blew away with the wind. The rock then grew into a huge mountain and filled the earth.

Daniel’s interpretation given to the king is this: the four parts of the statue – the head, chest/arms, belly/thighs and legs – represent four kingdoms. The head of gold is the Babylonian Empire of which the God of heaven has given the king, Nebuchadnezzar, dominion over all. Following Babylon, an inferior kingdom will rise, as represented by the chest and arms of silver. A third kingdom of bronze will follow to rule over the earth. Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom of iron that will crush and break all others. As the toes were part iron, part clay, this fourth empire will be partly strong and partly brittle.

Traditional understanding defines the four kingdoms as Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome – empires that consecutively consumed one another and accurately fulfill Daniel’s prophetic interpretation.

Daniel continues: in the time of those kings, God will establish His kingdom that will never be destroyed or left to others. It will crush all other kingdoms and shall endure forever. That is the meaning of the rock that was cut not by human hands – the rock that broke the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron and the clay to pieces.

Daniel’s interpretation of the coming kingdom of God is consistent with similar prophecy in the Bible – particularly that in The Revelation of Jesus Christ. This prophecy makes it clear that this kingdom will be eternal, and it will be ruled by Jesus upon His second coming.

Like the latter part of Daniel’s dream interpretation, much of the Book of Daniel relates to End-Time prophecies that, as of this writing, have yet to play out. But stay tuned.

There are two other prophesies in chapter 8 of Daniel – each of which came to pass and provide unambiguous evidence that the Bible is the word of God. The first of these is a warning about the future persecutions of a madman that were to come 400 years later; the second relates to the seventy “sevens” and foretold the first and second comings of Christ.

Specifically, chapter 8 describes the subjugation of the Babylonians by the Medo-Persians, and the subsequent conquest by the Greeks. With the Medo-Persian defeat of Babylon by Cyrus – and the ensuing conquest of that empire by the Greeks led by Alexander the Great, these prophecies were fulfilled. The chapter further depicts the division of the Greek Empire into four smaller divisions – one of which would come to be ruled by a wicked man, one who would “cause astounding devastation” and “destroy the mighty men and the holy people.” Nearly 400 years later, this prophecy was perfectly fulfilled in Antiochus IV Epiphanes, king of the Seleucid Empire from 175 B.C. until his death in 164 B.C.

The concept of the seventy “sevens” is introduced in chapter 9. Verse 9:24 reads:

“Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.” – NIV

Each of the seventy “sevens” is interpreted to mean a period of seven years. The archangel Gabriel, who is conveying to Daniel the meaning of the vision, is telling him that his people have 490 years to get a lot done.

Daniel 9:25 gives us more information:

“Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens’. It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.” – NIV

In other words, the beginning of the 490-year period was to start with the decree to rebuild Jerusalem. The specific decree is typically believed to be one of those issued by Artaxerxes, King of Persia, to Ezra in 457 B.C. or Nehemiah in 445 B.C.

The verse further informs us that the seventy sevens are divided into three distinct periods – seven sevens (or 49 years), sixty-two sevens (434 years) and one seven. Although it is uncertain, it may be that the first 49-year period coincided with the rebuilding of Jerusalem. What is clear, however, is that there would be 483 years until the arrival of the Anointed One, Jesus Christ.

Given the uncertainty as to the date of decree, the arrival of the Anointed One – the Messiah – at the end of sixty-nine sevens could refer to Jesus’ birth, His baptism or His arrival in Jerusalem just prior to His crucifixion. But what seems beyond doubt is that Daniel’s prophecy is an accurate one. That accuracy adds both intrigue and credibility to the prophecy of the final “seven.”

The first two periods of 49 years and 434 years clearly run consecutively. Verses 9:26-27 gives us insight about the final seven years:

“After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. ²⁷ He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.” – NIV

The death of Jesus concludes the sixty-two sevens. The destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 A.D. further fulfills the prophecy of 9:26. Most scholars interpret the “ruler who will come” as the Antichrist who will also come from the Roman Empire – or its remnants – which many now consider to be the European Union. And the final “seven” clearly references the tribulation – a very unpleasant time on earth that precedes the second coming of Jesus Christ.

In light of the validity of Daniel’s prophecy regarding the first sixty-nine sevens, it is likely that his prediction for the final seven will be accurate as well. Certainly, current world circumstances around war, environment, pestilence, famine and hatred suggest the prelude to the tribulation may well be under way. The precision of Daniel’s narrative provides motivation to prepare for the final “seven” and gives added weight to Biblical accuracy in its entirety.

Messianic Prophecy

I now turn to the subject of messianic prophecy in the Old Testament. As noted previously, Jesus can be found in virtually every book of the Bible, including those of the OT. A quick example would be as the Anointed One in Daniel 9:25. That prophecy came true precisely in the timeframe projected by the writer.

The specific number of prophetic verses in the OT fulfilled by Jesus is subject to some debate; however, it is beyond doubt that scripture throughout the OT – particularly that of the Psalms and in the books of the major and minor prophets – prophesy of His coming, His suffering, His death, His resurrection and of a new covenant with man centered on love, mercy and grace. The undeniable fulfillment of these prophecies by Jesus is perhaps the most overwhelming evidence of the Bible’s credibility and divine origins.

Examples of prophecy fulfilled include the following:

• The Messiah would come from the house of David (2 Samuel)
• He would be born of a virgin (Isaiah)
• He would be born in Bethlehem (Micah)
• A massacre of children would occur in His birthplace (Jeremiah)
• He would live in Egypt for a time (Hosea)
• He would be preceded by a great prophetic voice (Isaiah)
• He would be called the Son of God (Psalm 2)
• He would speak in parables (Isaiah)
• He would come with a new covenant for man (Psalm 40)
• He would be a redeemer of the Gentiles (Isaiah)
• He would bear our iniquities and be pierced for our transgressions (Isaiah)
• He would be despised and rejected (Isaiah)
• He would enter Jerusalem on a donkey (Zechariah)
• He would be betrayed (Zechariah)
• He would be the Passover Lamb whose blood once saved Israel from Egyptian captivity (Exodus)
• He would remain silent before His accusers (Psalm 38)
• His hands and feet would be pierced (Psalm 22)
• Soldiers would cast lots for His garments (Psalm 22)
• He would be buried in the tomb of a rich man (Isaiah)
• He would be resurrected, not handed over to death (Psalm 118)

All of these prophetic words – most of which were written more than 500 years before His birth – were fulfilled to the letter in Jesus Christ, as were dozens more.

Saul/Paul

I’m embarrassed to admit that at the time of my coming to Christ in 2011, I really had only a vague idea of who the Apostle Paul was and how he was used by God. But even on just my first read through the Bible, it became abundantly evident that Paul was perhaps the most impactful figure in the growth of the Christian church. His story is a remarkable one – a story that lends enormous credence to the Bible as truth.

Named Saul at birth in Tarsus in present-day Turkey around 5 A.D., his Jewish parents possessed Roman citizenship. At a young age, Saul’s family moved to Jerusalem where he studied under the esteemed Rabbi Gamaliel. His studies led Saul to adopt a deep and passionate knowledge of Jewish law – based largely on the declarations given Moses by God.

Thus, the blossoming Christian movement was an anathema to Saul. He became zealous in his persecution of the Christian church and, according to the Bible, watched with approval the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr.

Saul was a pharisee, a member of the ruling class. He took particular umbrage with those who believed and preached that Jesus was the Son of God. With the support of Jewish leadership, including the high priest, Saul and his colleagues imprisoned dozens of followers of Christ.

It was in pursuit of those followers that Saul’s radical transformation from Christian persecutor to the leading teacher of the Gospel to Gentiles originated. While traveling the road to Damascus to apprehend and extradite Christians back to Jerusalem, Saul encountered Jesus in a dramatic confrontation. “Saul, why are you persecuting me?” he was asked. Saul was blinded and humbled. Days thereafter, Saul’s sight was returned by the Lord, he was baptized and, from that day forward until his beheading in a Roman prison, became an obsessive missionary in spreading the word of Jesus.

Some may find this story, which is lacking substantial detail in this summarization, to be beyond belief. And, absent knowledge of Saul’s subsequent transformation and biography as the Apostle Paul, that is understandable. So, let’s put some context to this.

Prior to the confrontation on the road to Damascus, Saul had a pretty sweet life by the day’s standards. He was extremely well educated. Saul was a pharisee and leading community figure. He had a direct pipeline to the high priest and given carte blanche to achieve the Jews’ objective in suppressing or, ideally, eliminating the Christian church.

Why would he abandon this life for one of poverty and persecution? Because he was a witness to the truth. Not the truth as he had assumed in his young life as persecutor, but the truth spoken to him by the Son of God. Only a witness to that truth could possibly be transformed from Saul – the persecuting pharisee – into Paul the Apostle.

Paul became the hunted rather than the hunter. Lest the degree of hardship and persecution he endured be understated, his second letter to the Corinthians documents his life as a servant of God. He describes labors, imprisonments, countless beatings, often near death. Five times he received lashings at the hands of the Jews; three times he was beaten with rods; once he was stoned; three times he was shipwrecked. Danger, hunger, thirst and sleeplessness were his constant companions. Jesus forewarned Paul that his life – and his death – would be unpleasant, yet this is the life he embraced – an unimaginable contrast to that which he had forsaken.

Why? Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 12:10:

“For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Paul was blessed to bear witness to the truth. And he was wise enough to understand its implications for all eternity. His transformation is a convincing basis for biblical trustworthiness.

Also blessed to witness the truth were the apostles of Jesus Christ. They documented eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ miracles, His teachings, His crucifixion and His presence after resurrection. Were they convinced of His divinity? In point of fact, the apostles were so convicted that Jesus was indeed the Son of God that each of them endured unspeakable torture and/or death to evangelize the gospel to an unknowing world. A few examples:

• Simon Peter was crucified upside down by Roman Emperor Nero – because he considered himself unworthy to die in a manner identical to his Savior.
• Andrew also is believed to have been martyred by crucifixion, tethered to an X-shaped cross.
• James was put to death by the sword.
• Bartholomew was allegedly flayed and beheaded.
• Thomas was speared through in India.

Suffice it to say that those disciples that lived with Jesus daily – listened to His teachings, observed His miracles and saw Him risen from the grave – knew that He was the Messiah, the Son of God. That is the only possible explanation why, like Paul, they were willing to endure torment in life and torture in death.

Prolific author C.S. Lewis, whose journey to Christ is detailed in the movie The Most Reluctant Convert, had this most insightful comment regarding Jesus as the Messiah:

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him [that is, Christ]: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic–on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg–or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse…. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

Part III: And if I’m Wrong…