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Sabbath, May 27, 2006 Newark Seventh-Day Adventist Church
Pastor Tom Hughes

The Da Vinci Code – Part Three
Is The Old Testament Authentic?

Father in heaven this is a dangerous time for some. People are jumping to conclusions and getting their exercise that way. And I thank you for the truth that always illuminates the dark corners of the lies of the enemy. As we continue in our study of The Da Vinci Code and the effect it’s had on some 45,000,000 people we pray that you would guide us and help us go away from this service today with a greater appreciation for the Bible and all it means to us. Amen.

Forty-five million people are buying into this Da Vinci Code scam. This gentleman, Dan Brown, did some very superficial shabby research; concocted a theory and put it into a novel. He says in it that it is fiction and yet he tries to put it across as if there is some credibility to it. The fact of the matter is, he’s just gone up in the attic and gotten a bunch of old, dusty heresies, taken a dust rag, tried to dust them off a little bit and peddle them – and he’s been very successful. He’s made an awful amount of money. I saw some kid about 30 years old talking, and he says, “Well, uh, who knows? Maybe Mary Magdalene was Jesus’ wife.”

I know! Okay. She wasn’t! All right? Let’s just settle that right now! J

The Da Vinci Code is largely the story of The Holy Grail, which most folks think is a cup or chalice. They believe that Jesus used it at the Last Supper and was the same cup that supposedly caught his blood at the Cross. As the legend goes, if you find this cup and drink out of it gives you eternal life and perpetual youth. But in the novel, instead of the Holy Grail being a cup, it’s actually Mary Magdalene. Dan Brown, for a variety of reasons says Leonardo Da Vinci actually painted her into his famous painting of The Last Supper, and that she took the place of Apostle John.

One thing you have to learn about the Devil: He doesn’t fight fair, and he doesn’t tell the truth. “He is a liar and the father of lies.”

He left additional clues, according to Dan Brown, as to the identity of Mary in the famous Da Vinci painting, the Mona Lisa, and other famous pieces of art. In his novel, Dan Brown makes the claim that . . .

“The Bible is a product of man...Not of God….”, that “History has never had a definitive version of the book”—The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown, pg. 231.

Then he makes this statement that the Dead Sea Scrolls . . .

“Highlight glaring historical discrepancies and fabrications, clearly confirming that the modern Bible was compiled and edited by men who possessed a political agenda—to promote the divinity of the man Jesus Christ and use His influence to solidify their own power base.” —The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown , pg. 234

Now I will tell you just straight up, flat out, that is an absolute lie what he just said.

Several times, four as a matter of fact, I have been to Qumran where they found the Dead Sea Scrolls. I have been to the shrine of the Book. I have examined the Dead Sea Scrolls. I have taken my wife there twice to see the Dead Sea Scrolls and to examine the cave. I have been a hundred feet away from Cave Number 4 where the little shepherd boy threw a rock to get a goat down out of the mountain. His goat had wandered up and climbed up, and he threw a rock to shoo the goat down so he could get his goat back. When the rock went into the cave it hit one of the clay jars and broke it.
There are hundreds of these manuscripts. The Arabs found one of them and they thought that they would get rich, so they cut it up into a hundred little pieces. They took something that was worth billions and made it almost worthless. Thank goodness they didn’t do that with very many of them before they found out. But it is fascinating to me that until the 1940s those scrolls sat there unmolested and undisturbed in the very dry, arid desert where they were preserved in the clay jars. The clay absorbed whatever moisture there was and so they were kept in perfect condition.

The Dead Sea Scrolls actually confirmed the reliability of the Bible. They do not support Brown’s assertions. What I am going to demonstrate today is that this man doesn’t have clue what he’s talking about! Learning about religion from him is like learning politics from a Hollywood actor. They don’t know what they are talking about! J This gentleman has done very shallow research. He gets his exercise jumping to conclusions that are incredible because he has no evidence to base his conclusions on. I am just going to, flat out, save you twenty-four bucks for the book and eight bucks for the movie! It’s total fabrication from top to bottom, and you will see why I say that.

There is a mountain of evidence that God has given us suggests that the Bible is primarily not as a product of man, but the Bible is product of God and it is authentic. While faith may be the essence of things unseen, you don’t have to blindly believe. God says to us, “Come, let us reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow.” God invites you to think! God invites you to reason. And so today, I want to share what one writer says. He says, “Religion, if it is worth believing, must be based on facts.” —Seven Reasons Why You Can Trust the Bible, Erwin Lutzer, pp. 65-66.

We are going to look at those facts and hopefully you will find that it takes a little common sense, not all that much faith, to conclude that the Bible is true. Why are we looking at the evidence outside of the Bible? Because it is not convincing to argue from the Bible. When Christians say the Bible is authentic and then they quote a Bible verse like 2 Timothy 3:16-17 to prove it, that’s called circular reasoning. If the Bible really is the product of God and not man, there must be some extra Biblical evidence confirming that. I believe there is. So we are going to examine evidence beginning this week with the Old Testament and in the next sermon, the New Testament.

Today we are going to take a look at five questions that these quotes raise:

1. How do I know, outside of the Bible, that the Old Testament is authentic?

2. Who were the men that wrote the Old Testament?
b. What qualifications did they have?
Why did they think they were recording the words of God?

How did we get the 39 books of the Old Testament?
How do we know that these are the right books?

4. Is it true that history has never had a definitive version of the Old Testament part of the Bible?

5. Do the Dead Sea scrolls reveal “glaring historical discrepancies and fabrications?”

Now when I present these things to you, I am using this man’s book (Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code) and the controversy he has stirred as an opportunity to teach you the truth that is the opposite of what he is saying. To be quite frank with you, I could care less about The Da Vinci Code or its author other than the fact that I wish him well. I hope he finds Jesus Christ and gets converted. I hope he turns around, repents of his foolish thinking because that will just lead him straight to hell. I wish him only good things. I hope he gets converted, I hope he is in the kingdom of God. But I really could care less (about the book). To me the Bible is the most remarkable book ever written and I love it. I spend my time there. I don’t spend my time reading these kinds of things. But we still have to deal with it. Don’t you agree that any book that impacts 45,000,000 people, you need to take seriously and answer? So that is why I’m trying to do that with you.

I am going to give you some meat and potatoes out of the Word. I am not just going to spoon feed you or give you the milk. So, you will have to think and maybe even look some of this stuff up at some point.

QUESTION #1: How do I know outside of the Bible that the Old Testament is authentic?

ANSWER: Archaeological discoveries.

The first place we are going to look is in Genesis 19:24-25. Long story short: “Then the LORD rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the LORD out of the heavens. 25So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.”

So, Sodom and Gomorrah, steeped in homosexuality, immorality – all sorts of sexual immorality – all sorts of murder, corruption, commerce that was evil, and this evil city Abraham tried to bargain with God. Remember? He said if there were just . . . what. . . five people did he get down to?. . . that were good people then God promised he wouldn’t destroy the city. Abraham thought for sure he was solid ground. But he wasn’t, was he? It was a very wicked place. The Bible says that fire rained down from God and destroyed them. Also when you read it in the Hebrew it is very interesting because it definitely indicates that it burned up not only the people but the vegetation – everything in the area! Have you ever heard of the Dead Sea? The result of the Dead Sea is from Sodom and Gomorrah. That’s why it is dead. There was actually almost a nuclear holocaust there that burned up everything in sight – there was nothing left. It was not only turned to a pillar of salt; it was more likely a pillar of sulfur.

Until recently, this story was thought to be silly and superstitious. I’ve been there to Sodom and Gomorrah. I have seen it. The Bible says Sodom and Gomorrah were burned with an everlasting fire: with an eternal fire. The results of that fire are eternal, but I have been there and guess what: its not still burning today.

In his book: New Evidence that Demands a Verdict, Josh McDowell writes . . .

“Evidence points to earthquake activity, and that the various layers of the earth were disrupted and hurled high into the air. Bitumen is plentiful there, and an accurate description would be that brimstone (bituminous pitch) was hurled down on those cities that had rejected God. There is evidence that the layers of sedimentary rock have been molded together by intense heat. Evidence of such burning has been found on the top of Jebel Usdum (Mt. Sodom).”—The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict, Josh McDowell, 95)

So they have found now the evidence – the scientific evidence – that there was a nuclear holocaust in the very spot that was Sodom and Gomorrah.

Let us look at another story in the Bible that confirms the accuracy of the Old Testament. In Joshua chapter 6, we find another very interesting story.

Joshua 6:2-5—“And the LORD said to Joshua: ‘See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor.
3You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days.
4And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.
5It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him.”

Can you imagine how stupid they must have felt? Here are all the soldiers of Jericho sitting on top of the wall watching these people marching around the city in circles blowing the trumpets. Kids, did you ever see the Veggie Tales story of Joshua; and they’re sitting on the wall? Remember that . . . all those little Veggies? Remember that?

Joshua 6:20—“When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so every man charged straight in, and they took the city.”

For years, critics of the Bible said this could never happen. It’s just another myth or fable of the Bible. In Time Magazine, March 5, 1990 in an article entitled “Score One for the Bible: Fresh Clues Support the Story of Joshua at the Walls of Jericho” . . . Now, I want you to understand something. When you read it in the Hebrew, it is very, very clear. I have been to Jericho and I have seen where the walls collapsed down into the earth. What the Bible indicates in the original language is that the walls did not crumble or make a wall of crumbled bricks like we think. When we think of a wall falling down, we think of a bunch of bricks coming apart and piling up. Oh, no! The children of Israel did not have to climb over a pile of rubble, Beloved. Now listen to me. What happened was the earth opened up in a circle around that city and as the soldiers sat on that wall the entire wall disappeared into the ground and went down flat into the ground, and crumbled apart, and fell into the pit! As the earth quaked and the city fell apart, the rubble was down level with the ground so the children of Israel could all run straight into the city, and it was flat, the Bible says. How’s that for a miracle! They’re sitting there on their walled city thinking You’ll never get into us! and then, the next second, their wall is gone and they’re surrounded by the children of Israel and they just walk across the wall and the rubble at their feet and walk right in and take the city just like that!

Fresh clues support the story of Joshua at the walls of Jericho. The writer, Michael Lemonick, says in reference to Joshua 6:20 . . .

“It is one of the most dramatic events chronicled in the Old Testament, but for generations scholars have debated whether the Israelites’ assault on Jericho was fact or myth.”

Then he goes on to talk about the excavation work done by the late British archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon. I have seen her work. I have looked at the 1400 BC excavations that she did. I have stood right at the foot of them, looked down, and seen the watchtowers and everything from the walls of Jericho. She studied at the site of Jericho for six years. By the way, she was not a Christian. Lemonick in this article goes on to say . . .

“Kenyon’s discoveries at Jericho were largely consistent with the Bible story. For one thing, she found that the city’s walls had fallen in a way suggestive of collapse. Moreover, Kenyon found bushels of grain on the site. Which is consistent with the Bible’s assertions that Jericho was conquered quickly. If the city had capitulated after a long siege, the grain would have been used up. A thick layer of soot at the site, which according to radioactive carbon 14 dating was laid down about 1400 BC, supports the biblical idea that the city was burned, not simply conquered.”—Score One for the Bible: Fresh Clues Support the Story of Joshua at the Walls of Jericho, Michael D. Lemonick, Time Magazine March 5, 1990.

They are unearthing unbelievable amount of artifacts that are confirming every day the accuracy of the Bible.

I remember; about 15 years ago, that people were actually saying that there’s no evidence that King David or King Solomon even existed. For years Bible critics scoffed at the Biblical record of King David and his son Solomon’s dynasty. They said that there is no archaeological or historical proof outside of the Bible that they existed. For example, Professor Philip R. Davis said:

“I am not the only scholar who suspects that the figure of King David is about as historical as King Arthur.”—Philip R. Davis, Biblical Archaeology Review July-Aug. 1004:55.

In fact, there are many textbooks used in universities and very liberal seminaries that reject the Biblical account of King David. To name a couple: In Search of Ancient Israel, by Philip R. Davis and The Early History of the Israelite People, by Thomas L. Thompson.

Imagine their surprise when Avraham Biran and his Israeli archeological team discovered an ancient stone inscription at Tell Dan near the ancient city of Dan. On the stone, written in Aramaic it referred to “the house of David” and “The King of Israel.” Avraham Biran said of this find:

“This is the first time that the name David has been found in any ancient inscription outside the Bible. That the inscription refers not simply to a ‘David’ but to the House of David, the dynasty of the great Israelite king, is even more remarkable.” (Biblical Archeological Review Mar-Apr. 1994:26)

In his book, Jesus: The Great Debate, author Grant Jeffrey notes:

“A review of recent archeological books and articles reveals that evidence has also been found in this century that confirms the historical existence of the following biblical kings: Ahab, Ahaz, Omri, Hezekiah, Hoshea, Jehu, Jeroboam II, Manasseh, and Pekah.”—Jesus: The Great Debate, Grant Jeffrey, 42

We could go on and on. Nelson Glueck, a Reformed Jewish Scholar, who is not a Christian, says:

“It may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a Biblical reference. Scores of archaeological findings have been made which confirm in clear outline or in exact detail historical statements in the Bible. And by the same token, proper evaluation of Biblical descriptions has often led to amazing discoveries.”—Rivers in the Desert, Nelson Glueck, 31.

What they are saying is (that) they have never found anything that contradicts the Bible, and by studying the Bible, they have learned where to go get the treasures! So, archaeology affirms the Old Testament record is accurate. History and archaeology are confirming the Biblical accounts more and more all the time. You don’t even have to be Christian to believe that.

QUESTION #2: Who were the people that wrote the Old Testament? What qualifications did they have? Why did they think they were recording the words of God?

Interestingly, the Bible asks the same question in Deuteronomy 18:21-22—“And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’ 22when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously.”
It says simply if a prophet prophesies something and it doesn’t come to pass, then they are not a true prophet. So who were the people who wrote the Old Testament? They were prophets. What was their qualification? They were called by God.

To be fair, you might say, “Well anybody can SAY they are a prophet called by God. Why, in the movie The Blue’s Brothers they claimed to be prophets on a mission from God.” While it is true that anyone can claim to be a prophet, the fact is not too many people were willing back then to fake it because with the conviction of being a false prophet came the death penalty.

Deuteronomy 18:20—“But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of others gods, must be put to death.”

It seems harsh, perhaps, but not if you understand how seriously God takes the authenticity of His Word. To think people would risk death just to make some stuff up about Sodom and Gomorrah or Jericho or David is a violation of common sense.

But how did the prophets know when they were writing the words of God? If they wrote a love letter to their wife, was that inspired too? That’s a good question. The answer is that there are various phrases in the Old Testament that specifically reveals when God was speaking. One of them is: “The word of the Lord…”

This phrase is used 219 times in the Old Testament referencing the very words of God or the words of God that were to be recorded or obeyed.

“Write this…” is another. Sometimes God would just tell the prophet what to write. To Moses God said in Exodus 17:14—“Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it...’”

To Isaiah God said in Isaiah 8:1—“The LORD said to me, ‘Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary pen…’”

To Jeremiah God said in Jeremiah 30:2—“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you.’”

To Ezekiel God said in Ezekiel 37:16—“Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it…”

To Habakkuk God said in Habakkuk 2:2—“Then the LORD replied: ‘Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets…’”

Often in the Old Testament, you know when God is speaking because He simply says so.

Isaiah 1:11—“‘The multitude of your sacrifices—what are they to me?’ says the LORD.”

Psalm 12:5—“Because of the oppression of the weak and the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says the LORD.”

Zechariah 1:3—“Therefore tell the people: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the LORD Almighty, ‘and I will return to you’ says the LORD Almighty.”

Sometimes God would reveal his will through specific commands. There are over 100 of these in the Old Testament. I’ll give you a couple examples such as Numbers 4:41 and Leviticus 6:9.

Numbers 4:41—“This was the total of those in the Gershonite clans who served at the Tent of Meeting. Moses and Aaron counted them according to the LORD’s command.”
Leviticus 6:9—“Give Aaron and his sons this command…”

So, prophets called by God wrote the Old Testament and they knew they were writing the words of God because more often than not, God told them to write them. They were not confused between their diary and God’s holy words.

QUESTION #3: How did we get the 39 books of the Old Testament?

Well, as we just said, the prophets called by God wrote them down. But how do we know that the books they wrote down are the same books we have today? The answer to this question is that we need to note the order of the Old Testament. The original Hebrew Bible was divided into three main sections.

Section One: The Law, which is the first five books of Moses called the Torah) Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.

Section Two: The Prophets (Nebhim). Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.

Section Three: The Writings (Kethubhim) Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Esther, Ecclesiastes, Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Chronicles.

Our English version of the Old Testament breaks these books down differently. In their book, A General Introduction to the Bible, Geisler and Nix note:

“Although the Christian church has the same Old Testament canon, the number of books differs because we divide Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, and Ezra-Nehemiah into two books each, and we make separate books out of the Minor Prophets rather than combining them into one, as the Jews do under the heading ‘The Twelve.’ The church has also altered the order of books, adopting a topical arrangement instead of an official order.” —A General Introduction to the Bible, Norman Geisler & William Nix, 23.

“ The Torah was essentially accepted at the time of Moses (about 1450 BC)...and the entire Tanakh (Old Testament) had essentially been accepted by the Jewish people by 167 BC (around the time of the Maccabean revolt).”—A Skeptic's Search for God, Ralph Muncaster, 234

Think about that: 167 years before Jesus, they had the same Old Testament that you have right now! So, 167 years before Christ, the Jews already had their definitive Bible—unlike what Dan Brown says. That definitive Bible has been in place for over 2000 years.

Now there is a better reason to believe in the Old Testament. Jesus Himself attested to the genuineness of the Old Testament.

Luke 24:44. At the last supper, Jesus said to his disciples “Then He said to them, ‘These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the . . .” un-definitive Bible that no man can know whether it’s of God or not. Is that what he said?

…that were written in this un-definitive book of hodgepodge that nobody can understand and it’s just a product of man?

No. Jesus didn’t say that. He said, “…that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.’”

There it is: the three major divisions of the Jewish Bible.

Scholars agree that,

“He [Jesus] indicated the three sections into which the Hebrew Bible was divided—the Law, the Prophets, and the ‘Writings’ here called ‘the Psalms,’ probably because the Book of Psalms is the first and longest book in the third section.” —The Books and the Parchments: How We Got Our English Bible, F.F. Bruce, 96.

Ralph Muncaster adds . . .

“By the time Jesus was teaching, there was widespread knowledge among his thousands of hearers of what was meant by ‘Scripture.’ There were no doubts about which books were and were not included [in the Old Testament]. In 70 AD, exactly the same books of Scripture used by Jesus and others were recognized as the official canon by the Jewish religious authorities—the same books in use today by both Jews and Christians.”—A Skeptic's Search for God, Ralph Muncaster, 167

“Well, Pastor Tom, how do I know that the words that Luke recorded are the words of Christ?”

You are just going to have to come back on June 10th (2006), and hear the sermon on the New Testament! But in the meantime, please note we do know that the books they wrote down are the same books we have today that are divided into the 39 books of the Old Testament. One of the reasons we know that they are the right Old Testament books is because we have the same Old Testament Scriptures the Jews use today as they did in 167 BC

QUESTION #4: Is it true that history has never had a definitive version of the Old Testament part of the Bible?

As we have already seen in question three, history confirms in addition to the words of Jesus that we’ve had a definitive version of at least the Old Testament for over 2,000 years. But there’s a deeper question here that skeptics are asking and it’s a good question. Since much of the Bible was written thousands of years ago, the original copies have been lost over time as a result of the perishable materials they were written on, so how do we know that the folks who copied the Scriptures down didn’t make errors in their copies? The answer is they were very, very, very careful. The scribes had very serious rules for copying the scriptures, which made them incredibly accurate. Here is what they had to do; let me give you a few as an example. Scribes were not allowed to begin their copying until they were thoroughly trained and they were 30 years of age. It is suggested that Judas was probably one of these “copiers” and scribes. They were 30 years old, and each letter of the scroll was visually confirmed, one by one, with the master scroll. A thread was often placed between letters to ensure separation and accuracy. Each letter in each scroll was counted. And the count was compared to the master scroll. Each word in the scroll was counted and compared to the master scroll. The middle letter in each entire copied scroll was located and compared to the master scroll. If a single mistake was found, the scroll was destroyed. (Adapted from A Skeptic's Search for God: Ralph Muncaster, 137-138)

Yes, there are minor copy errors that have been handed down over time that skeptics delight in pointing out. But none of those spelling variances or minor things undermines either the deity of Jesus, the Resurrection or any other orthodox teaching of Jesus. The copies of the Bible we have, as you’ll see next time, are the most accurate copies of all ancient literature in antiquity known to man! When you compare the Bible’s manuscripts to other undisputed ancient literature such as Homer’s Illiad or Odyssey or Julius Caesar’s Gallic wars, the comparison is not even close. The Bible is documented far more.

QUESTION #5: Do the Dead Sea scrolls reveal “glaring historical discrepancies and fabrications?”

The answer is unequivocally no! When Dan Brown writes that the scrolls highlight these things, he does not know what he is talking about.

“The scrolls highlight glaring historical discrepancies and fabrications, clearly confirming that the modern Bible was compiled and edited by men who possessed a political agenda—to promote the divinity of the man Jesus Christ and use His influence to solidify their own power base.”—The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown, 234.

First of all, let me just make three clear-cut statements.

The Dead Sea Scrolls reveal concretely that the 39 books we have in our Bible today are accurate copies of the same Scriptures used by the Jews thousands of years ago.

The Dead Sea Scrolls prove conclusively that a definitive version of at least the Old Testament has survived.

The Dead Sea Scrolls reveal that there has been little or no corruption of the original Old Testament texts as The Da Vinci Code implies.

Prior to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947, Biblical scholars were hard pressed to refute their critics because the earliest Old Testament manuscripts we had was used by the King James translators dated around 1100 AD This was obviously a copy of a copy of a copy. How could we know this copy was authentic and uncorrupted? With the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, we found our answers.

Jeffery Grant notes . . .

“The most incredible find was discovered in Cave Four at Qumran—an immense library of biblical manuscripts that contained almost all of the books of the Old Testament (with the exception of the book of Esther)…”

Did you hear me? Every book in the Old Testament had at least a portion of it contained in the Dead Sea Scrolls. The only book that was not in the Dead Sea Scrolls was the book of Esther!

“…In fact, multiple copies of several biblical texts that had lain undisturbed in the desert caves for almost two thousand years…”

This included several copies of the book of Isaiah.

“…After carefully comparing the biblical manuscripts, they discovered that, aside from a tiny number of spelling variations, there were no significant differences between the original scrolls in the caves and the Hebrew texts used to produce the Authorized King James Version of 1611.” —Jesus: The Great Debate, Jeffrey Grant, 59-60.

When they compared them they found out that our King James Bible is very, very accurate when compared with the ancient texts of over 2000 years ago that takes you all the way back before Jesus. Now I am sorry to be this way but if it’s good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for me! If Jesus said that He believed in the Old Testament and that we should follow the Old Testament and practice what it teaches, then I will have the utmost confidence in it too.

Therefore, the Dead Sea Scrolls do not reveal “glaring historical discrepancies and fabrications” at all. Instead, these scrolls have provided us with credible evidence that the copies of the Old Testament manuscripts we have been using are authentic.

The late great archaeologist, Dr. William F. Albright of Johns Hopkins University, widely recognized as one of the world’s leading archaeologists of Biblical times said this after they were found . . .

“My heartiest congratulations on the greatest manuscript discovery of modern times! What an absolutely incredible find! And there can happily not be the slightest doubt in the world about the genuineness of the manuscript.”—How We Got Our Bible, Ralph Earle, 48-49

So, far from giving us glaring discrepancies, the Dead Sea Scrolls totally refute Dan Brown’s book and anybody who has been to Qumran or the Shrine of the Book and seen the original scrolls, or read books on the translations of the scrolls, anyone who knows that all the books of the Old Testament are represented in the scrolls except for the book of Esther and that they all line up with exactly what we teach today, that any person who knows the facts would find Dan Brown’s book and he assertions absolutely laughable.

So I wish him well. I hope he’s converted. I hope he repents. I hope he ends up in heaven because if he keeps thinking the way he’s thinking, he’s going down the wrong road. That road will lead him straight to hell. I’m not going to follow him there. I’m going to keep following Jesus. Aren’t you?

1 Thessalonians 5:21—“Test all things; hold fast what is good.”

Hold on to the good, friends. The authenticity of the Bible has been challenged for thousands of years. As we have seen today, there is a mountain of credible evidence, inside and outside the pages of the Bible that are more than able to answer the challenge. Next time, we will apply a similar approach in establishing the credibility of the New Testament.

Let us pray.

Father, thank you for giving a light unto our feet in the pages of your word. Lord God, Your word is a solid rock upon which we can build our families, our churches, and our lives. We reject the latest attempts to diminish the Sacred Scriptures, and instead we put our faith in the living Word of God.

Jesus told us that if we build our house on His words, that we were like the wise man who built his house on the solid Rock.

As our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed, how many of you have a deeper appreciation for the integrity of the Old Testament? How many of you are going to recommit yourself today to give your heart to Jesus and to read the Bible even more than you have been in the past? Would you raise your hand today and make that commitment?

Father, help us to appreciate the Bible; not to take it for granted. Jesus said to read it; to study it. And may we do this, Lord, and build our house on the solid Rock is my prayer in Jesus’ name. Amen.

*Special thanks to Pastor Mike Fortune for sharing his research with me and giving me permission to use the information in this message.




All Scriptural References: New King James Version / New American Standard Bible

Transcription: Wendy J. Riebel

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