Is the Old Testament true?

An honest mind can only rise from the consideration of the passages here cited with the conviction that if the Son of God speaking on earth be true, and the Holy Spirit speaking through apostles after His departure, then the Old Testament writers, beginning with Moses, are true historians. However marvellous their records, however contrary to our experience today, we thankfully accept them as God's gracious gift to our souls, and humbly seek His lessons for us therein.

I will not multiply quotations to prove that the prophets assert the inspiration of their prophecies; because it recurs at the beginning of almost every separate prophecy, but I will point out the passages in the New Testament which recognize the scriptures of the Old as having this authority. "All things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me," Luke 24:44. Jesus here recognizes the body of writings called the Old Testament in its three parts — still thus entitled in the modern Hebrew Bibles. The Lord gives them equal authority in verse 27 — "And, beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself." "Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me," John 5:39. "And the scripture cannot be broken," John 10:35. These passages demonstrate that the scriptures of the Old Testament were a body of writings recognized by the Lord; and that in the detail of its present divisions it was recognized as having absolute authority. But to have these writings — to have truths communicated in this form — is something more than to have the truth spoken by word of mouth, even though it were by the mouth of the Lord Himself. "If ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?" John 5:47.

9 The writings then were the object of faith, and consequently had the authority of the word of God. "They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them." "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead," Luke 16:29-31. When the apostle preached the truth at Berea, the Jews, his hearers, "searched the scriptures daily whether those things were so"; that is to say, they made use of the scriptures as an authority by which they judged the teaching even of an apostle; and they are commended for so doing; Acts 17:11. The inspiration then of the Old Testament is demonstrated, its authority is recognized by the Lord, and the whole — as we possess it — is declared to be authentic and to be clothed with an authority which nothing can invalidate.

No thoughtful reader can fail to be impressed with our Lord's absolute dependence upon the whole word of God throughout His entire life. Even in the circumstances attending His birth, all was done "that the Scriptures might be fulfilled," and at His death it was the same. We would search in vain for the slightest uncertainty on His part as to the truth and authority of the Scriptures. With Him it was ever and only the word of God. "The Scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35). It was Moses who wrote of Him, and David who, by the Holy Ghost, foretold His glory. How does the awful unbelief of men who profess to be His followers compare with this? It is as if our Lord declared He stood or fell with the word of God; that if that were not true, neither was He. And so indeed it must be. He who is holy and true has given His sanction to all Scripture as true. By it He met Satan and vanquished him; to it He appealed in His teaching; from it He quoted constantly in all His conflicts with the unbelieving Pharisees and others. Its history, its psalms and its prophecy are declared by Him to be the word of God. The truth of the history of Jonah stands or falls with the truth of His own death and resurrection: to deny one is to deny the other also (Matt. 12:39-40). All Scripture pointed to Himself, and He expounded it so (Luke 24:27, 44). Thus our Lord fully and perfectly identified Himself with the word of God.

From all these various witnesses, we not only learn that God had ordered writing as a means of communicating His mind and will, but, as a fact, we also find preserved for us in a most marvellous way for nearly two thousand years a number of books written by various persons who had no communication with each other; written, too, at different times, and under different circumstances for a period extending over 1500 years, and all the books so agreeing together that a spiritual mind can trace all as being under the guidance of a master mind: books that were valued by other prophets, treasured up by faithful men, esteemed by many as of more value than thousands of gold and silver, and ministering words which were found and eaten to the joy and rejoicing of the heart. In these many books we find the prophetic words of some afterwards registered by others as fulfilled, and warnings unheeded, too, meeting with the predicted judgments; the depravity and utter ruin and wickedness of man set forth, and alas, manifested, while the nature of God, as love and light, His attributes and words of holiness, grace and truth, stand out in all their uncompromising perfection, and eternal excellence. Because of these things, the written word of the Old Testament brings such conviction to the soul of its divinity and eternal truth, when opened up and brought home by the Spirit, that the heart no more looks to men's opinions, or other external evidence, than a child, when gazing with delight on a photograph of his living mother, would inquire who it is.

The five books of Moses manifest how wonderful were the revelations made to God’s faithful servant. There may have been much that Moses received that had been handed down from the fathers, but what he wrote was given by inspiration of God, the Holy Spirit controlling the pen of the servant of the Lord. Whatever the fathers may have known of the creation, and the forming of the earth for man’s habitation, it must be evident that only God could have made known to any one what He did in the beginning, and before man was formed out of the dust of the earth. The same can be said about the flood. What Moses wrote has the divine stamp on every detail, and is given with an assurance and accuracy that marks it as divine.

As we have already seen, there is first of all the Bible's own claim to be the inspired Word of God. But can the biblical Christian prove this claim? There is plenty of historical and scientific evidence for the Bible's validity and evidence in the form of fulfilled prophecy. The Old Testament contains over 300 references to the Messiah that were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Computations using the science of probability on just 8 of these prophecies show the chance that someone could have fulfilled all 8 prophecies is 1017 power, or 1 in 100 quadrillion.

As for scientific evidence, archaeologists have proved again and again the accuracy of Scripture accounts, the names of peoples, places and dates. Nelson Glueck, eminent Jewish archaeologist, has categorically stated that "no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference."' William F. Albright, recognized as one of the greatest of archaeologists, testified that there is no doubt that archaeology "has confirmed the substantial historicity of Old Testament tradition.

Evidence for the accuracy of transmission abounds. Until 1947, the oldest known OT manuscripts were from around 1,000 AD. Bible critics claimed that these had to be very inaccurate because so many centuries had elapsed. The famous Qumran discovery, in 1947, proved them wrong (the critics, not the manuscripts). The caves in Qumran contained copies of all books of the Old Testament (except Esther) - from 100 - 200 years BC. A careful comparison showed that these manuscripts were virtually identical to the ones that had been known before (from 1000 AD).

Now here again in Isaiah, seven centuries before Christ came, the prophecy of His coming is given. Prophecy is that which utterly shipwrecks a false prophet, and absolutely confirms a true prophet and the more extended the prophecies are the more will that rule hold good. A man might prophesy of one item, and by a lucky chance—a fluke—it might come true, but if he puts two items together, the chances are much more remote that they will come true. If be puts three, four, five, six, or if he puts a dozen together, unless he is inspired in his prophecy, there is not one chance in a million that He will be right. But the Scriptures prophesy not once nor twice, nor a dozen times, but, as we have been saying, over three hundred times, as to the person of Christ, His birth, His life, His death, the results of His work, His glory; and all these things have come true with the exception of the glory to come, which is yet future. How truly they are God’s Word!

The Bible puts man into the light of God. This is why the natural man hates this book - and has tried to find contradictions everywhere. However, 90% of these are due to either ignorance or bad intentions, or both. Then there are real difficulties, such as differences between Gospel reports. Here it is a matter of asking God to help us understand the Divine design of the scriptures. If we do, the difficulties disappear and the beauty of inspiration is seen. In some extremely rare cases an error may have occurred: in 2 Ki. 8:26 an age of 22 years is given, while in 2 Chr. 22:2 the age given is 42 years - possibly the result of a copying error. But our faith does not depend on this detail.

You may consult Eichhorn's (a rationalist's) judgment: — (1) None but ignorant and thoughtless doubters can suppose the Old Testament to have been forged by one deceiver: (2) They are not the forgery of many deceivers … But how could they forge in a way so entirely conformed to the progress of the human understanding? and was it possible in later times to create the language of Moses? He goes through other suppositions, and says, How could a whole nation be often deceived and a different periods, and by what degraded themselves? The whole passage, too long to quote here, may be read: Moses Stuart has translated it. The writers all quote, he says, or refer to what has been written before. Profane history refers to Moses as the lawgiver of Israel. It would be a serious difficulty, if anything be a difficulty to a theorist, to see how or why an elaborate system of tabernacle arrangement, professing to come by direct inspiration from God, should be recorded, when a totally different one was before their eyes. No one reading the Old Testament for himself but must see a clear and orderly succession of historical events, though much more — collected afterwards, no doubt, into a volume — and that the effort to invalidate it supposes more absurdity than any other theory. It is too closely bound together historically. All is false if the whole be not substantially true as it stands, for it all hangs together and supposes itself all throughout. But faith depends on other workings in the soul than these external proofs. Doubts may be easily awakened, but did these reasoners ever present us with one certain solid truth?