Articles
God’s Consistency
The game of telephone involves people getting in a straight line and passing a sentence from one person to the next until it reaches the last person. The person at the end then says the line and everyone can then see how different the last version is from the first. The Bible consists of 66 books that are written by 35-40 human authors spanning across thousands of years. The New Testament also has the highest general and consistent number of ancient manuscripts in existence. Once you begin to personally study the Bible, an eye opening aspect to learn about is its reliability.
Whether the Bible is talking about science, history, prophecy, or God’s teachings, it remains consistent. Deuteronomy 23:12-13 talks about God commanding the Israelites to have a designated waste site for human sewage outside their camps. This command protected the Israelites from being unholy in God’s sight and is also consistent with modern science’s teachings about proper sewage disposal to prevent disease. Historical people of the Bible like King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Pontius Pilate of Rome, and even Jesus Christ are consistent with historian’s teachings. Eric Meyers, a Biblical scholar, distinguished Emeritus Professor in Judaic Studies, and Harvard Ph.D. graduate has been quoted saying, “I don’t know any mainstream scholar who doubts the historicity of Jesus. The details have been debated for centuries, but no one who is serious doubts that he’s a historical figure.”
Being God’s only and perfect, Jesus was consistent with His teachings. Deuteronomy 10-12 reads, “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good.” Jesus was the perfect scriptural instructor and a great example of a righteous teacher because He used God’s word to teach His commands. Jesus told the greatest command of God in Mark 12:29-31, saying, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Regarding the prophesies of Jesus, one of the many fulfilled was about how He was to be called king of Jerusalem—Zion. Zechariah 9:9, reads, “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion, Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” In the New Testament, Jesus is recorded riding down from a mountain into Jerusalem with everyone praising Him as their king. Mark 11:4-11 then says, “And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it…And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it…And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!’”
The reason why the Bible is consistent is because it comes from God instead of people. 2 Peter 1:20-21 reads, “knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” Believers will often use the phrase, “The Bible was inspired by God.” This means that God directly communicated His words to humans—through visions, direct speech, angels, etc.—to be recorded. 1 Cor. 2:11-12 says, “For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.”
