PROOF: Compelled to Believe

W H A T ?

What NOT:

- Answer EVERY question/ bust EVERY myth

- Debate

- Force Christianity on you

W H A T ?

1. To provide SOME evidence to increase you belief or curiosity in God and/or the Bible

W H Y ?

John 12:48

There is a judge for the one who rejects me and

does not accept my words; the very words I have

spoken will condemn them at the last day. (John

12:48 NIV)

W H Y ?

1 John 2:4-6

Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do

what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in

that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love

for God is truly made complete in them. This is

how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to

live in him must live as Jesus did. (1 John 2:4-6

NIV)

W H Y ?

1. It will be our judge.

2. Requires our obedience for the completion of

our love for God.

3. Sustains all things

4. Equips us for every good/Godly action

W H Y ?

Hebrews 1:3

"...sustaining all things by his powerful word. "

2 Timothy 3:16-17

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful

for teaching, rebuking, correcting and

training in righteousness, so that the

servant of God may be thoroughly equipped

for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17

NIV)

H O W ?

1. Biology

2. History

3. Israel

S C I E N C E & T H E

B I B L E

Delos B. McKown:

“Christianity is scientifically

unsupported and probably insupportable,

philosophically suspect at best and

disreputable at worst, and historically

fraudulent.”

Papyrus Ebers

The Ebers Papyrus:

“To prevent hair from turning gray, anoint it with the blood of a calf which has been boiled in oil or with the fat of a rattlesnake.”

“A mixture of six fats, namely those of the horse, the hippopotamus, the crocodile, the cat, the snake and the ibex.... to prevent hair

loss.”

• Under a section titled “What to do to draw out splinters in the flesh,” a remedy is prescribed consisting of worm blood, mole, and donkey dung”

Drugs of Choice in Papyrus Ebers:

• Lizards blood

• Swine’s teeth

• Putrid meat

• Moisture from Pigs’ ears

• Excreta from such as human beings,

donkeys, antelope, dogs, cats and flies

“The pig... is unclean for you...those that walk on their paws...the weasel, the rat...are unclean for you.”

Leviticus 11

Why?

• Pigs can harbour a range of parasites and diseases that can be transmitted to humans.

• Pigs are also known to host large concentrations of parasitic worms in their digestive tract.

• The presence of these diseases and parasites is one reason pork meat should always be well cooked or cured before eating.

• TODAY, infections from eating undercooked pork are

rare in more technologically developed countries due to

refrigeration, health laws, and public awareness.

• “Anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales is to be regarded as unclean by you.” (such as shellfish)

Leviticus 11

1972:

• A red tide was caused in New England by a toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium tamarense.

• This organism produces toxins which accumulate in shellfish and if ingested may lead to paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) and can lead to death.

Not only that but shellfish are also among the most common food allergens.

Why?

• In regard to unclean animals:

“Anything that one of their carcasses falls on becomes unclean… Whoever picks up one of their carcasses must wash their cloth

- Leviticus 11

• In regard to molds in homes:

“Anyone who goes into the house while it is closed up will be unclean till evening. Anyone who sleeps or eats in the house mu

“Whoever touches the dead body of anyone will be unclean… Anything that an unclean person touches becomes unclean, and anyone

• Practicing Germ Theory!

-the theory that microorganisms (which are too small to be seen by the human eye) cause diseases.

Germ theory wasn’t fully developed until the 19th

century!

Leviticus 13:46

“As long as he has the infection he remains

unclean. He must live alone; he must live outside

the camp.”

Quarantine for infectious disease

• Ignaz Semmelweis was a Hungarian obstetrician working at the Vienna General Hospital (Allgemeines Krankenhaus) in 1847

V I E N N A , 1 8 4 7

• In maternity wards, one out of every six women died

• Obstetricians ascribe deaths to constipation, fear,

poisonous air.

D E A T H R A T E F A L L S

F R O M 1 8 % T O 0 . 5 %

• The more formal experiments on the relationship

between germ and disease were conducted by Louis

Pasteur between 1860 and 1864 further solidifying

germ theory.

• And yet, the Israelites had practices to avoid the

spread of diseases before germ theory even existed!

W H A T D I D S E M M E L W E I S U S E ?

• Semmelweis cut the death rates by proposing the

washing of hands with a chlorinated lime solution

• Worked as a disinfectant.

• The Israelites had practices to prevent the spread of

diseases BUT did they have anything else?

• “…Take some hyssop, dip it in the water and sprinkle

the tent and furnishings and the people who were

there. - Numbers 19

• •HYSSOP!

• powerful antiseptics similar to phenol, but less irritant

and less toxic

• Semmelweis didn’t propose the washing of hands until

1847 AD…

• Israelites had antiseptics over 3,000 years prior!!

Circumcision on the 8th day

“For the generations to come, every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised...”

Genesis 17:12

Why the 8th day?

0

30

60

90

120

150

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

% o

f n

orm

al

days

Clotting Protein Peaks on Day Eight

Biologically Active Prothrombin

Where did this knowledge come from?

• Moses was raised in Egypt which practiced the use of fats and dung for medical treatments.

• So where did Moses possibly get the information for the Israelites’ medical advances??

H I S T O R Y & I S R A E L

B E F O R E W E S T A R T

• Going through historical overview of the Ancient Near East

from ~1000 - 500 B.C.

• Names/Nations to know:

• Israel, Judah (North & South)

• Assyrians

• Babylonians

• Medians

• Persians

• Nebuchadnezzar

• Cyrus

G E O G R A P H I C A L

S E T T I N G

• At this time, Israel was in the

crossroads of much greater

empires/nations of the

Ancient Near East

G L O R Y D A Y S O F I S R A E L

1050-1010 B.C. – Saul the Benjamite establishes the Israelite monarchy.

(1 Samuel 13:13-14)

1010-970 B.C. - David succeeded Saul. David was/is one of the most

respected and revered men in the history of Israel. He defeated all of the

major surrounding enemies of Israel.

970-930 B.C. – His son Solomon succeeded him and increased Israel’s

territory greatly. He established Jerusalem as one of the greatest

economic, political, and cultural capitals of the world at the time.

I S R A E L D I V I D E D

- The period of the United

Kingdom of Israel ended with

Solomon’s son, Rehoboan. After

a coup attempt by Jeroboam,

Israel was permanently divided.

(926 BC - 922 BC)

- Northern Kingdom: Israel-

Samaria as its capital.

- Southern Kingdom: Judah-

Jerusalem as its capital.

7 2 2 B . C .

• The Assyrians began their invasion/conquest of Israel,

starting with the 10 tribes of the Northern Kingdom.

(Southern Kingdom was spared and remained it's own

small nation for ~100 years).

• The Northern Kingdom was involved in pagan worship

of other Gods. In the Bible, God judged the northern

Kingdom.

S A M A R I T A N S

• The ten tribes were scattered among the different

providences of Assyria.

• The small remnant of jews that remained intermarried

with other exiles from other countries.

• This led to the nation/culture/religion we know as the

Samaritans (Shunned by the Jews due to their

unfaithfulness and intermarrying).

6 1 2 B . C .

• Allied armies of the Medes & Babylonians destroyed

and conquered the Assyrians under Cyaxares II and

Nabopolassar.

C O N Q U E R I N G T A C T I C S

• The following are tactics the Assyrians, Medes,

Babylonians and most empires used when conquering

another nation:

1. Ruthless Destruction

2. Mass Deportation

3. Assimilation of best & brightest

6 0 5 B . C .

• Nabopolassar's son, Nebuchadnezzar, succeeds him

on the Babylonian throne.

• Jehoiakim, king of Judah (Southern Kingdom)

submitted to Nebuchadnezzar.

• Nebuchadnezzar took some captives from Judah

(Assimilation).

5 9 7 B . C .

• Jehoiakim (King of Judah that submitted) was to be

succeeded by his son, Jehoiachin.

• Before he died, his last act was rebelling against

Babylon. which led to Babylon attacking and defeating

Israel, taking a large number of captives.

• Captivity of Judah can be dated between 605-597 B.C.

~ 7 5 0 - 7 3 0 B . C .

• Isaiah 39:5-7

• Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord

Almighty: The time will surely come when everything in

your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored

up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing

will be left, says the Lord. And some of your

descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born

to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs

in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

At the time this was written, Babylon

was a minor political power

5 8 6 B . C .

• Nebuchadnezzar brings Jehoiachin into captivity and

sets up Zedekiah (Jehoiachin's uncle) as a puppet-king

in Jerusalem.

• Zedekiah rebelled against Babylon.

• Babylonian armies occupied, burned, and destroyed

the city.

5 5 3 B . C .

• Nebuchadnezzar's son was a much weaker leader.

• He was overthrown through a coup and Nabonidus

came to power in Babylon.

• Married Nebuchadnezzar's daughter in order to

legitimize his rule.

• Nabonidus' son, Belshazzar, eventually shared the

throne with his father.

5 5 0 - 5 4 9 B . C .

• Cyrus (The Great), King of Persia, became the

uncontested ruler of the Persian/Median dual Empire.

(Would eventually defeat the 3 major powers in that

region at the time: Egypt, Babylon, Lydia)

• Although the Medes and Babylonians had been allies

while defeating the Assyrians, Cyrus now had his eye

on the Mesopotamian valley due to the weakness in

the Babylonian leadership.

5 3 9 B . C .

• Cyrus defeats Babylon, virtually, without a fight.

C O N Q U E R I N G T A C T I C S

• The following are tactics the Assyrians, Medes,

Babylonians and most empires used when conquering

another nation:

1. Ruthless Destruction

2. Mass Deportation

3. Assimilation of best & brightest

C Y R U S C Y L I N D E R ( B R I T I S H

M U S E U M )

Shortly after Cyrus' defeat of

Babylon he issued a decree

allowing the Jewish exiles to

return back to Jerusalem (along

with the possessions from their

temple).

C H A N G I N G T H E P A T T E R N

• Cyrus did things very different than most Kings and

emperors before him that overthrew another nation.

• Instead of Killing everyone and taking them captive he

let them leave

• Instead of destroying the Jewish culture he helped

them to go back and restore it.

I S A I A H 4 5 : 1 3

• “This is what the Lord says— the Holy One of Israel, and its

Maker: Concerning things to come, do you question me

about my children, or give me orders about the work of my

hands? It is I who made the earth and created mankind on it.

My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshaled their

starry hosts. I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness: I will

make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city and set my

exiles free, but not for a price or reward, says the Lord

Almighty.”

Written ~750 B.C.

C O M P E L L E D T O B E L I E V E

• John 8:31-32

"To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you

hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then

you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

- We can't rely on proof to be compelled to believe.

- Live it out and you will see.

I N T E R E S T E D ?

1. Fill out a response card

2. Ask the person who invited you out to study the Bible or about

the several opportunities we provide all over campus

throughout the week.

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4. Join us Sunday @ 10 am @1020 Kasold dr.