“Authentic” was the theme of the recent April 2023 Women of Joy conference in Pigeon Forge, TN. Attendees were encouraged to be genuine women of God, living authentically through conduct and interaction with others… in other words, to “Shine our light” (Matthew 5:16). To be authentic requires confidence and faith in God’s Word and the promises contained within. This means unshakeable belief in every verse, from Genesis 1:1 – “In the beginning…” through to Revelation 22:21 – “The grace of our Lord…Amen.” A literal interpretation of the Bible indicates that it is understood by its “plain meaning” through its grammatical construction and historical context. Those who align with this hermeneutics (interpretation) approach are in good company.
The inspired words of David, psalmist, and king, cry out the veracity and resiliency of the Word of God:
The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever (Psalm 12:6-7).
David sets a beautiful example for us. He knew that all creation is from the Lord, is the Lord’s, and exists to praise the Lord. How much more should we, the pinnacle of creation made in God’s image, worship and exalt His glory? Satan wants that glory for himself and uses people, nations, wars and more subtle tactics, like pride, to stifle the truth. The prideful, viperous brood of Pharisees, threatened by the authority of Jesus, tried to stop the people from worshipping Him. When Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem to shouts of ‘hosanna’ on Palm Sunday, the Pharisees wanted Him to rebuke His followers. What a powerful response Jesus provided:
“I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.” (Luke 19:40)
Jesus and His servant Paul have much to say about what defiles a person (see Mark 7:14-23; 2 Timothy 3:2-5). The corruption and sinful pride of the Pharisees resulted in Jesus calling them sons of the Devil (John 8:44). Two millennia later, pride is still centerstage. The prideful desire to lord over our selves suppresses truth. What we are seeing today is precisely described by Paul in Romans chapter one. Godlessness abounds with perversion of, and rebellion against, all that God designed to be good. Pride deceives because it emanates from the Enemy of our souls whose natural language is that of lies and deception. Despite the powers and principalities best efforts to do so, praise God Almighty that the truth cannot be silenced.
From the beginning of time to the resurrection of the crucified Messiah, to our current time and for all time, God’s sovereignty abounds. History demonstrates that attempts to quell the truth result in its miraculous proliferation. The Father’s perfect will and timing has allowed archeological discoveries, like the Dead Sea Scrolls, Hezekiah’s tunnel, a small golden bell from the hem of a temple priest, and countless others, to verify to the world the accuracy of His Word. The stones have indeed been crying out and there is no doubt that they have much more to declare.
Research on the Bible undeniably supports King David’s proclamations provided earlier from Psalm 12. The Institute for Creation Research supports that there is more evidence for the Bible’s authenticity (both Old and New Testaments) than there is for any other literature from ancient times. The earliest textual evidence of the New Testament was copied not long after the original. Astonishingly, other writings from antiquity (e.g., Caesar’s Gallic Wars, Aristotle’s Poetics, etc.) were copied 1000 years or more after the original.
Scribes of the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, (aka, the Old Testament) undertake a rigorously meticulous process to ensure there are no errors when producing copies of the text. In fact, the word ‘scribe’ in Hebrew is sofer, which means ‘to count.’ This is fitting given that every character is counted. If the count is off, then that manuscript is not considered to be a kosher copy and it is destroyed. The Tanakh contains 79,847 words breaking down to 304,805 characters. That takes accuracy to a whole new level!
When compared to manuscripts of other religions, the Bible is unmatched in its accuracy and legitimacy. The compilation of all 66 books results in perfect harmony in the message they convey. What an extraordinary outcome given that there were 40 different authors over the course of 1,500 years. Such unity can only occur through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. In comparison, the inspiration for Islam’s scripture, the Quran, came through one man (Muhammad) who could not read or write. He claimed the inspirations were given to him by the angel Gabriel. The words were committed to memory by early Muslims and later recorded well after Muhammad’s death in 632 AD. Interesting that these teachings occurred approximately 600 years after the first advent of Jesus. Also interesting, Jesus is mentioned many more times in the Quran than Muhammad. This is just one of many examples of how Satan copies and perverts the truth.
The New Testament, written in the first century AD has an estimated 25,000 early manuscripts (about 6000 of which contained only fragments). It is absolutely astounding that archeological explorations have produced over 24,000 manuscript copies or portions of the New Testament that still exist today. There are only two ancient partial copies of the Quran in existence, dated to be no earlier than 200 years after Muhammad died. One of the two copies has never been permitted to be studied and there are no released photographs, whereas the manuscripts of the Bible have been extensively researched and scrutinized.
Archeological evidence thunders the historicity and authenticity of the Bible. The rocks have indeed cried out, but the follower of Jesus Christ need only to search his or her heart to have confidence in the inerrant Word of God. The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit fills us with truth, compelling us to read, study and memorize Scripture, while also sharing it with others. While at my first Women of Joy conference in 2010, one of the speakers strongly convicted my heart. Despite sitting towards the back of the large conference hall, she seemed to be looking right at me as she exhorted that God gives His best to us every day, all the time, without falter, without fail. He does not sleep; He does not slumber; He is always there for us. Then she asked, “What do you do in return?” More particularly she asked how we spend our ‘peak time’ of the day? Then the final blow came when she asked if our peak time was devoted to God? Ouch!
My peak time has always been early mornings, trying to get things done around the house before going to work. My husband often joked that I build barns and vacuum, all before 7:00 am. Not anymore. From that pivotal day on, I placed my most productive time of the day on the altar, offering it to the Lord and asking for guidance in using that time to glorify Him. For 13 years now, my peak time is ‘Jesus time’ and it has changed my life in more ways than I can relate.
Jesus is the only truth and will fill the void in your heart like nothing else can. So, I’ll ask the same of you as that speaker did of me over a decade ago: Will you devote your peak time, your ‘go’ time of the day to God? Prayer and spending time in truths of the Bible is intimate time with ‘the way, the truth and the life’ (John 14:6), our Messiah Jesus. The Spirit and the stones cry out that Jesus is unequivocally authentic. We can believe in Him and His Word without reservation. And as we do, take to heart the wise words of Mary spoken about Jesus to the servants at the wedding in Cana when the wine ran dry, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” (John 2:5)
In His love and mine.
