The Bible, God’s Word 

By: Larry Yarber 

Having established beyond any shadow of a doubt that there is indeed a God and that all men are amenable to Him, we are left to logically conclude that God has communicated His will unto mankind in some form or fashion. The Bible claims to be that revelation, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works" (2nd Timothy 3:16-17).

The Bible is not one book but a library of 66 books consisting of two major divisions: The Old Testament (39 books, Genesis thru Malachi) and The New Testament (27 books, Matthew thru Revelation). The two Testaments were written by about 40 different men over a period of approximately 1,500 to 1,600 years. The Old Testament covers two periods of time: The Patriarchal Age (God spoke unto the fathers, or patriarchs, through the prophets - Hebrews 1:1) and The Mosaical Age (God spoke unto Israel through Moses - John 1:17). With the death of our Lord upon the cross the Old Testament periods came to an end and The New Testament came into effect (Hebrews 9:15-17 and Colossians 2:13-14). The Old Testament was a schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ. After Christ came we are no longer under the schoolmaster (Old Testament), "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster" (Galatians 3:24-25). The New Testament is God's law for all mankind today (1st Corinthians 9:21 and James 2:12). In the remainder of this article we will take a closer look at The Old Testament.

The first 17 books of The Old Testament (Genesis thru Esther) cover man's history from creation to about 400 years before the cross. The other 22 books of The Old Testament (Job thru Malachi) are supplemental information and fit into the timeframe of the first 17 books (Genesis thru Esther). This timeframe points out that the earth is not millions or billions of years old as falsely claimed by evolutionists, but only about 6,500 years old. As a matter of fact, some of evolution’s own scholars have admitted, in more recent years, that their dating methods (such as C-14) are only useful for hundreds, or a few thousands of years, not millions or billions as originally thought. This 6,500 year date can be ascertained by looking at the timetable found in the Bible combined with known historical facts. However, we must remember that the dates given in the Bible deal in generalities and not specifics. So, while the timetable is concrete evidence of the relatively young age of the earth, it is not intended to provide the exact time of every Biblical event.

We live about 2,000 years this side of the cross. From the cross to Malachi (the last of the Old Testament prophets), we can trace secular history from the Romans in Jesus' day (John 11:47-48) back to the Medes and Persians who allowed the Jews to return to their homeland and to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem (Ezra 6:14). This period of time covers about 500 years; the 400 years of silence, from the cross to Malachi, and then the 100 years of the Restoration of Jerusalem. Before the Restoration we have the 70 years of Babylonian Captivity (Jeremiah 25:12) or about 600 years before the cross. If one adds the reign of the Kings from Solomon (1st Kings 11:42) to the last King Zedekiah (2nd Chronicles 36:11), we have approximately another 500 years. We are now 1,100 years before the cross. In 1st Kings 6:1 we are told it was 480 years from the Exodus to Solomon. So, adding this to the 1,100 years already accounted for, we find the Exodus transpiring about 1,600 years before the cross. Galatians 3:17 tells us that 430 more years passed between the Abrahamic promise and the giving of the law (The Exodus). Now we're about 2,100 years before the cross. By following the genealogy of Noah to Abraham's call we have another 427 years (Genesis chapter 11 to Genesis 12:4-5). This puts us approximately 2,600 years before the cross. So, from the flood to the cross was approximately 2,600 years. Then, if we add the ages of each individual from Adam to the flood (Genesis chapter 5) we have another 1,656 years. Thus, from creation to the cross is only about 4,000 to 4,500 years. From the cross to you and I is about another 2,000 years, establishing the history of mankind and the universe to be about 6,500 years old. While we acknowledge that we are dealing in rough figures, this still supplies us with a reliable time chart of the age of the earth and the history of mankind.

The Streets of Jerusalem 

By: Kevin Rutherford 

            Jeremiah, chapter five, was written to rebellious Jews thousands of years ago, and yet it stands as a powerful warning to the church in the twenty-first century. The Lord was warning Jerusalem of destruction to come. This destruction would come because of the sins of the people of Jerusalem. However, God was still willing to pardon this ancient city if she would show signs of repentance (Jeremiah 5:1). Jeremiah recorded the words, “Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem; see now and know; and seek in her open places if you can find a man, if there is anyone who executes judgment, who seeks the truth, and I will pardon her.” These people were not seeking the truth because they did not care about the truth. They were simply concerned about fulfilling their evil lusts.

            They had once known God, but they had left Him for false gods (Jeremiah 5:18, 19), adultery and other sexual perversion was common within the walls of this once great city (Jeremiah 5:7-9), and they had become materialistic and greedy (Jeremiah 5:26-29). For these sins God was going to destroy the city of Jerusalem. These sins offended God’s holy nature. These sins demanded justice.

            But, perhaps the most shocking of all things is the acceptance of the religious corruption among the priests and the prophets (Jeremiah 5:30, 31). The prophets were lying and the people loved it. The prophets were the preachers of their day. These prophets should have been like Jeremiah. They should have been condemning Jerusalem for its sin and urging immediate repentance. Instead they were preaching those things the people wanted to hear. They were not preaching the Word of God and consequently their message was of no value (Jeremiah 5:13).

            This kind of wholesale moral turmoil and disgusting behavior is often linked to a failure to fear God. God is that powerful Being who placed the sand as the bounds of the sea, yet they did not fear Him (Jeremiah 5:22). Jeremiah wrote, “But this people has a defiant and rebellious heart; they have revolted and departed. They do not say in their heart, ‘Let us now fear the Lord our God, Who gives the rain, both the former and the latter, in its season.’” (Jeremiah 5:23, 24).

            Should the church today be filled with adulterers? Should God’s spiritual Israel today be misguided by preachers who will not preach the truth? Preachers who will tell the people what they want to hear, rather than what they need to hear. Should the church today be filled with a people who do not fear God? Sadly many congregations are becoming more and more like Jerusalem was in the days of Jeremiah. They do not seek the truth, they excuse sin, they hire preachers that excuse their sin, and they have absolutely no fear of God. Just as God’s wrath came crashing down upon the people of Jerusalem, with dramatic and destructive force, so too will His wrath lash out strongly against the wicked, compromising, and sinful in His church.