Tag Archives: Job

How Did They Know That?

Posted on by under Christian Evidences

The_Earth_seen_from_Apollo_17      Have you ever been amazed by a child, perhaps your own, who shows that they have been paying attention to something that was said? Maybe they show a grasp of a new idea, and you can see that light bulb going off in their head for the first time. Sometimes we may wonder, “How did they know that,” or “how did they pick up on that idea.”

    In the Bible there are many examples that can be studied where the writers of the Holy Scriptures had a knowledge of scientific facts that would not be discovered by man for many, many years. This should lead us to the same question that we have with the child. Just how did they know that? For instance, consider what we read in the book of Isaiah. “Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in” (Isaiah 40:21-22 NKJV).

      Notice that as Isaiah is speaking about our God, the Creator of the universe, he mentions that God sits above the circle of the earth. Isaiah is writing this sometime around 750 B.C., and he knows that the earth is round – it is a circle. Today we take this knowledge for granted, but it took a long time for man to come to the realization that the earth is round. We no longer worry about sailing over the edge of the earth. But how did Isaiah know this? He had never circumvented the globe or traveled into space to see this for himself.

       Furthermore, Job states “He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing” (Job 26:7). Job had never traveled into outer space either, so how does he know that the earth hangs on nothing? The ancients had all sorts of theories about what the earth was like and how it was held up. One theory was that Atlas held the world on his shoulders. Another was that the earth was on the back of some great tortoise. Now that we have traveled beyond our atmosphere, man can see that the earth indeed hangs on nothing.

       Did these men just get lucky with their knowledge of scientific facts that would not be discovered for a long, long time? That is unlikely. The only way these men could have known this information to be true is that God revealed this to them. “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20-21). This is just one small proof that the Bible is not from man, but indeed has been penned by God through His Holy Spirit!

He Kept His Integrity

Posted on by under Article

Tom_Brady_2011     There is much ado in the news lately regarding the issue of integrity.  For fans of the NFL this is especially true as the defending Super Bowl champions were just punished for a lack of integrity regarding the rules for proper inflation of the game balls used in one of their playoff games last season.  At stake is the integrity of the game.  At stake is whether it is desirable to endure future punishment for a reward now.  However, what is really at stake is something that is so much more important than just that.

     We have been told that cheaters never win.  That lies will eventually unravel and the truth will be known.  Today, some seem to think that our integrity and reputations are not that important.  If an advantage can be gained so we can win today, then we will deal with the consequences later with the prize in our hands.  That philosophy, unfortunately for them, is severely short sighted.

     There is value in having a good name.  Solomon wrote in Proverbs, “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, Loving favor rather than silver and gold” (Proverbs 22:1 NKJV).  Silver and gold will perish.  Prizes and trophies will all gather dust or turn to rust.  There will be a time, however, when the quality of our name and the integrity of our lives will come into play.  There will be a time when we will be judged by something much more important than public opinion.  There will be a Day of Reckoning when all that we have done, whether good or bad will be brought into judgment by the God of the universe (2 Corinthians 5:10; Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).

     Just consider Job for a moment.  Job was a man who had great riches (Job 1:1-3).  He was a man who lost all that he had, including his children and his own health.  Even his own wife tormented him. “Then his wife said to him, ‘Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!’” (Job 2:9).  Job kept his integrity.  He did not stop doing what was right for some temporary relief.  He held fast to what was right.  Job said he would hold on to his integrity even to the point of death (Job 27:5).  That is who Job was.

     Who are we?  Will we hold fast to our integrity and do what is right even if it means we do not receive some temporary prize?  Or will we trade away our future, trade away our good name, for something that will one day perish in the dust?  Rest assured, what we do will find us out, either one way or the other. “He who walks with integrity walks securely, But he who perverts his ways will become known” (Proverbs 10:9). “The integrity of the upright will guide them, But the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them” (Proverbs 11:3).  “Better is the poor who walks in his integrity than one perverse in his ways, though he be rich” (Proverbs 28:6).  Let us never trade our integrity for that which we think makes us rich.  Let us hold fast to the prize that is to come, which no one can take away from us!