2 Timothy 3v16 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful to teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness”

It makes sense that if Scripture is God-breathed, then it is true. Of course, it needs to read and understood in context according to the manner of writing (narrative, poetry … etc).

In the 19th century, scepticism mounted with regards to the truth of the Bible – did these narrative stories really happen? The scepticism was based on a lack of evidence and a lack of belief in a God who reveals truth.

In the 20th century, advances in archaeology, the finding of ancient manuscripts, the science of analysing texts have all tended to confirm the validity of the Bible and evidence continues to mount.

While I have believed the truth of the Bible stories, the actual validity of these stories has been brought home to me in a very real way in the last few weeks. Firstly by links to some widely available youtube videos (thank you Al Carr) which analyse evidence for:

–           the escape of the people of Israel from Egypt into the desert  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjrxHqNy5CQ , and

–           the raining of fiery brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLEJ1sZxjA4&t=531s .

Yesterday, at a Christ Central prayer day, we were shown a video (not publically available) in which one of the church leaders present interviewed a church leader in Uganda. The Ugandan told us that a local tribe made sacrifices to a snake, and when they did so the snake would speak out in their language and foretell the future. The church leader fasted and prayed for 3 days for the death of the snake: it died. The tribal leaders found out that he had prayed for its death and arrested him with threat of death. The Holy Spirit prompted him to say, “I only prayed. If your god is powerful you can do the same, you do not need to harm me”. They let him go. Personally, this testimony has given me a new grounding for the snake talking in Genesis 3. It also reminds us of the reality of the enemy and the spiritual battle.

We can trust God’s Word!

With much blessing,

Roland