Mark ReesThomas HOW THE BIBLE PROVES ITSELF BEYOND

Mark Rees-Thomas HOW THE BIBLE PROVES ITSELF BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT

YOUR CHALLENGE “Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” Acts 17: 11 2

THIS SESSION HYPOTHESIS FIVE TESTS 1. Mathematical design The Bible and what it claims could only have been divinely inspired and could not have been designed by man 2. Hidden truths 3. Accuracy of prophecy 4. Prophecies of the Messiah 5. Bible codes Beyond reasonable doubt 3

MATHEMATICAL DESIGN Ivan Panin, Russian Mathematician • 50 years of mathematical research on the Bible • 40, 000 pages of findings “If human logic is worth anything at all we are simply driven to the conclusion that if my facts I have presented are true, man could never have done this” "We must assume that a Power higher than man guided the writers in such a way, whether they knew it or not, they did it and the Great God inspired them to do it" 4

YOUR CHALLENGE Write a story with 260 words, with the following all divisible by 7: • The number of nouns • Number of words that are not nouns • The number of specific words • The number of those words beginning with a vowel • The total number of letters in those words • The number of those words that occur more than once • The number of words occurring only once • Specific words you use which your friends’ stories do not use, but you can’t view their stories 5

“For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished" (Matthew 5: 18) Matthew 7: 1 -7 Vocabulary Number of words which are nouns Greek word "the" Number of different forms in which the article "the" occurs Two main sections: vs 1 -11, & 12 -17. First section - number of Greek vocab words used Of those 49 words, number beginning with vowel Of those 49 words, number beginning with consonant Total number of letters in those 49 words Mathematical finding 56, or 7 x 8 Vocabulary occurs 56 times or 7 x 8 exactly 7 Of the 49 words, number of words occurring in only one form Of the 49 words, number of words appearing in more than one form 42, or 7 x 6 Number of the 49 Greek vocabulary words which are nouns. Number of words which are not nouns 42, or 7 x 6 Of the nouns The 35 names are used 35 are actual names or 7 x 5 63 times, or 7 x 9. Number of male names is exactly 28, or 7 x 4. These names occur 56 times or 7 x 8. Number which are not male names 7 49 or 7 x 7 28 or 7 x 4 21, or 7 x 3 266 or 7 x 38 Number of vowels among these 266 letters 140, or 7 x 20 Number of consonants 126, or 7 x 18 Of the 49 words, number of words which occur more than once 35, or 7 x 5 Mathematical Finding Of the 49 words, number of words occurring only once 14, or 7 x 2 7 7 Only one city is named in this passage, Babylon, which exactly 7 letters in Greek contains Words in this passage that occur nowhere else in the New Testament. Occur 42 times (7 x 6) and have 126 letters (7 x 18). 6

HIDDEN TRUTHS IN THE BIBLE “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings” (Proverbs 25: 2) 7

GENEALOGY OF GENESIS 5 NAMES AND THEIR MEANING Name Meaning Adam Man Seth Appointed Mortal Sorrow The blessed God Enosh Kenan Mahalalel Jared Lamech Shall come down Teaching His death shall bring The despairing Noah Rest, or comfort Enoch Methuseleh “Man appointed mortal sorrow. The blessed God shall come down teaching his death shall bring the despairing rest or comfort” Gen 5: 3 -32 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life” John 3: 16 THE HIDDEN GOSPEL 8

THE ACCURACY OF PROPHECY A 100% success rate 9

BIBLE PROPHECY “I am God and there is no other; I am God and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. ” Isaiah 46: 10 8, 362 predictive verses covering 1, 817 predictions on 737 separate matters 10

THE CITY OF TYRE – PROPHECY OF EZEKIEL 26 OVERVIEW OF TYRE EZEKIEL’S PROPHECY 1. God would bring many nations against Tyre 2. The nations would destroy the walls of Tyre and pull down her towers Tyre had an Island 800 m out to sea 3. The rubble of Tyre would be scraped away Tyre was very wealthy, known as the gateway to the sea (Ezek 27: 3) 4. Tyre would become a bare rock 5. Tyre would become a place to spread fishnets 6. King Nebuchadnezzar would come against Tyre and put the city under siege 7. The ocean depths would cover Tyre 8. It would never be rebuilt • Tyre was a Phoenician city • Tyre means ‘rock’ • • 11

FULFILMENT OF EZEKIEL’S PROPHECY STAGE 1 • Within months, King Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Tyre and camped for 13 years • The Island provided supplies to Tyre • Major damage was caused to Tyre but it was not destroyed • Numerous nations then attacked Tyre, but the Island was left intact • 332 BC, Alexander the Great came to attack Tyre. • City of Tyre was mostly rubble but the island was intact. • Alexander commanded his men to pick up the rubble and throw it in the sea and build a causeway to the island • The city was scraped as bare as a rock STAGE 2 12

City of Tyre Island of Tyre Causeway built by Alexander 13

PROPHECIES OF THE MESSIAH 14

OVER 300 PROPHECIES FULFILLED SAMPLE 1 • • • He was to be of David’s family He would be born of a virgin He would be born in Bethlehem He would live temporarily in Egypt He would live in Galilee and Nazareth He would be announced by an “Elijah like” herald Would occasion the massacre of Bethlehem’s children Would proclaim good news to the world His ministry would be one of healing He would teach through parables He would be disbelieved and rejected by the rulers Would make a triumphal entry into Jerusalem • • • He would be disbelieved and rejected by the rulers Would make a triumphal entry into Jerusalem Betrayed by a friend for 30 pieces of silver Would be like a smitten shepherd Would be given vinegar and gall as he died They would cast lots for his garments His side would be pierced Not a bone would be broken Would die among criminals His dying words were foretold Would be buried by a rich man Rise from the dead on third day SAMPLE 2 15

PROBABILITY OF FULFILLING 8/300 • Messiah would be born in Bethlehem • He would present himself as king, riding on a donkey • He was betrayed for 30 pieces of silver • The blood money was thrown into the temple • He was wounded in his hands • He made no defence although he was innocent • He died among the wicked and was buried with the rich • He was crucified Probability = 1 x 1017 (1 in 10, 000, 00) 16

PROBABILITY OF FULFILLING 48/300 Probability = 1 x 10157 1 in 10, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 00 0, 000, 000, 0 17

THE BIBLE CODES 18

Deciphering “Cipher” – a secret or disguised way of writing “Life is happy. I really will look upon my time and dream of the days as special. Connor was right. People here are great. ” Equidistant letter sequencing: Cipher: E. g. Select every 7 th letter Life is happy. I really will look upon my time and dream of the days as special. Connor was right. People here are great. Help me escape

MESSAGES ENCODED IN THE BIBLE • 1994, 34 famous Rabbis and dates of birth found in Genesis, in order of death. Probability 1 in 775 million. Findings published in Journal of statistical science • Dr Harold Gans (National Security Agency, leading world cryptology institute), tested the Bible Codes, and concluded they were real “The phenomenon is real; what it means is up to the individual” (Prof David Kashdan, Chairman of Dept of Mathematics at Harvard) 20

Isaiah 53 Encoded Words Jesus is my name Mount Moriah Nazarene Passover Galilee All names of disciples except Judas Annas Matthias who replaced Judas Caiaphas Mary 3 times Herod “let him be crucified” Caesar Pierce Cross The evil Roman city

Mark Rees-Thomas HOW THE BIBLE PROVES ITSELF BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT