In the Beginning
"In the beginning GOD created the heavens and earth" Genesis 1:1. GOD not only created the heavens and the earth but He created the scientific basis for us to study His work. It is truly impossible for man to dispute the existence of GOD. Many have tried and failed. From the very beginning GOD provided significant evidence that our existence occurred by a greater means than a random accident in the universe.
Astronomy is a relatively new science although men have been searching the stars for thousands of years. Until the first telescope was used by Galileo in 1609, it was thought that there were only about a thousand stars in the sky. Ptolemy counted 1056, Tycho Brahe cataloged 777, and Johannes Kepler counted 1005. There are about 6000 stars which are visible to the naked eye if you count them from all locations on earth. The Word of GOD points out in Jeremiah 33:22, "As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me." And again in Genesis 22:17; "blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies."
When Galileo first viewed our Milky Way galaxy through his 20 power telescope, he must have realized that there were perhaps millions upon millions of stars. Actually there are 1000 to 2000 billion stars in our galaxy alone. Perhaps mankind can begin to realize the absolute accuracy of GOD's Word. I suspect that many scientific men who lived before Galileo's discovery may have totally discounted these verses as being inaccurate. The same is true today as men try to dispute the accuracy of the Bible, only to be proved incorrect later as our knowledge of the sciences increases with time.
The knowledge that the earth is round is also a relatively new discovery of science and human exploration in the history of mankind. During the time of Christopher Columbus, the common held belief was that the earth was flat and that a sailor, if venturing to far out to sea would fall of the edge of the earth. The knowledge that the earth is round was clearly proclaimed in GOD's Word in several Old Testament verses, which were written approximately 700 years before Christ was born. The prophet Isaiah in 40:22 wrote: "It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in." Again in Proverbs 8:27 GOD clearly explains the physical nature of our earth. "When He prepared the heavens, I was there, when He drew a circle on the face of the deep." In Job 26:10 the prophet wrote: "He drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters, at the boundary of light and darkness." These three prophets, writing hundreds of years apart, are 100% accurate and in agreement.
The science of Geophysics is a relatively new field of study for mankind. Our GOD, however, existed before the universe was formed. In the book of Job 26:7 the prophet wrote: "He stretches out the north over empty space; he hangs the earth on nothing." This verse must have certainly puzzled the wise men 700 years before Christ was born, as well as men of science right up until Newton proposed his theory for the law of gravity. Even today scientists cannot do much more than measure the strength of gravity. It is invisible. Gravity exists, but there is little known about it other than that gravity holds the planets of our solar system in place millions of miles from the sun. Perhaps gravity can simply be described by the following verse in Hebrews 1:3. "Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the Word of His power.."
Meteorology is the science of weather. Since weather is important to the existence of all life on earth, you might expect GOD to mention something about it in his Word. GOD wrote in Ecclesiastes 1 :6-7, "The wind goes toward the south, and turns around to the north; the wind whirls about continually, and comes again on its circuit. All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; to the place from which the rivers come, there they return again." Again in Job 36:27-29, "For He draws up drops of water, which distill as rain from the mist, which the clouds drop down and pour abundantly on man. Indeed, can anyone understand the spreading of clouds, the thunder from His canopy?" Here GOD, through the prophets, explains weather patterns that have only become known scientifically by mankind in perhaps the last hundred years.
Mankind is also one of GOD's miraculous creations. Since GOD is our creator, you would expect him to have a complete understanding of our physical nature, including how best to care for us. The science of biology was clearly evident in the Old Testament. A profound understanding of the infectious nature of disease is evident in Leviticus 13:45-46. [Note: 'Leprosy' has a broader meaning in the Bible than it does today.] "Now the leper on whom the sore is, his clothes shall be torn and his head bare; and he shall cover his mustache, and cry, "'Unclean! Unclean!" He shall be unclean. All the days he has the sore he shall be unclean. He is unclean, and he shall dwell alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp." The fact that disease can even be spread by contact with infected clothing is explained in Leviticus 13:50-52. "The priest shall examine the plague and isolate that which has the plague seven days. And he shall examine the plague on the seventh day. If the plague has spread in the garment, either in the warp or in the weave, in the leather or in anything made of leather, the plague is an active leprosy. It is unclean. He shall therefore burn that garment in which is the plague, whether warp or weave, in wool or in linen, or anything of leather, for it is an active leprosy; the garment shall be burned in the fire."
The importance GOD places on life and our dependence on blood is clearly expressed in Leviticus 17:10-11. "And whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul." The importance of blood in the physical world is but a mirror image of the priceless eternal life-giving blood of GOD's Son Jesus who died on the cross for mankind's sin, as our Eternal Father reminds us in Revelation 1:5 - "and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood. "
It should be pointed out that the few verses that are included in this brochure are not sufficient by themselves to teach GOD's plan of salvation. Only a thorough study of the New Testament of Jesus Christ and obedience to the Gospel can accomplish this. The short study of theses verses, however, can help build your faith in the total accuracy and validity of the Word of GOD.
May GOD bless you through the knowledge of His Son Jesus.
Joe Andrasik
Christians of the churches of Christ may reproduce this tract in any reprinted format as long as it is given away freely.
All references are from the New King James version of the Bible.