7 Amazing Bible Facts

 

The Bible is the most printed book of all human history. When there are secular books that number their copies in the millions, the bible numbers its copies in the billions. Yes billions with a “B”. Although the Bible is the most printed book, many are not familiar with these following interesting Bible facts:

1. Jesus was a time traveler

In the book of John we read of a most interesting occurrence. Most readers focus on the obvious amazing event of Jesus walking on the water; however, another miraculous event occurs right after the walking on the water by Jesus and is commonly missed. Jesus becomes a time traveler. Read the following verses and notice how John, being an eye witness to the event, writes that after Jesus enters the boat, the boat carrying Jesus, john and his companions immediately appears at shore on the other side of the lake. To accomplish this, time would have to have been manipulated seeing that the boat was being battered by a storm on the lake just a moment before. So, after considering the account of John, it is clear that Jesus, manipulating time itself, caused the boat and its passengers to move through time at an accelerated rate to immediately reach the shore after Jesus boarded. An incredible time travel event that rivals even the best of the sci-fi movies today. Truly amazing indeed.

(Joh 6:16)  And when even was now come, his disciples went down unto the sea,

(Joh 6:17)  And entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them.

(Joh 6:18)  And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew.

(Joh 6:19)  So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid.

(Joh 6:20)  But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid.

(Joh 6:21)  Then they willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.

2. The Bible describes the earth as a circle

Thousands of years before science established that the earth is round, the Bible already established it was a circle. In more than one place the Bible describes the earth as a circle. Look at the following passages:

Job_26:10  He has inscribed a circle on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness.

Pro_8:27  When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,

Isa_40:22  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 like a tent to dwell in;
 

In Job 26:10, it specifically describes the pattern that light makes upon the earth when it shines upon the earth, dividing the light part of the earth from the dark part of the earth in the pattern of a circle. What is really important to notice is that this pattern that light shines upon the earth can only be seen from space, from a viewpoint that allows the viewer to see the circle pattern of light, as photographs from satellites and orbiting space shuttles reveal. The boundary being the line between the light half of the earth and the dark part.

When one really thinks about what this verse says, it blows the mind that such knowledge could be recorded by a writer that had a horse for transportation, no electricity – only fire for heating and cooking, and no telescopes or optics of any kind to view the stars - only the naked eye. It begs one to inquire with the question, how could the writer know such an amazing fact? Of course the only explanation is that it was supernaturally revealed to him – revealed by the same supernatural Spirit that the Bible identifies, the Holy Spirit of God.

In fact, we know God had to reveal it to the writer because the description of the circle of light pattern comes from the event in Genesis, take a look:

Gen 1:3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.

Gen 1:4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.

Gen 1:5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

The writer records what God saw on the day He created light at the beginning of the world. This is what God inspired the writer to record. This line between light and dark can be seen on the moon also.  Truly amazing.

3. The Bible describes fountains in the deep oceans

In 1949 hot saline water was discovered coming from the sea floor of the sea. In the 1960s, scientific discoveries confirmed the presence of sub sea floor hot springs of brine water (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrothermal_vent#Exploration). As fantastic as these discoveries have been for our ability to understand our oceans, the concept is not really completely new. The following verse in the Biblical book of Proverbs reveals that the ancient Bible writer knew about the deep sea springs of water.

Proverbs 8:28 when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep,

How did an ancient Bible writer who couldn’t even drill a well for water discover deep sea springs? He didn’t, it was revealed to him supernaturally. Evidence of this supernatural revelation can be seen in the same book just verses before:

Proverbs 8:22 “The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old.

Proverbs 8:23 Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth.

Proverbs 8:24 When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water.

It is the Lord that possesses the wisdom to create the fountains of the sea as described. It is clear that the writer, lacking the knowledge of such wonderful secrets of the sea, had to obtain the knowledge of deep sea springs from another source, a source shown to be of supernatural origin – the Lord.
 

4. The Bible states wind has weight

Since ancient times man has known of wind, and that wind exhibits a force when it blows; however, that was the limit of man’s knowledge. Aristotle, a very intuitive thinker and philosopher, acknowledged the presence of wind and thought of it as a “vital spirit” and classified wind as an element with earth, fire and water. This view prevailed for over 2,000 years until the 1700 (source: shttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/everest/earth/air.html). During the 1700s various discoveries and technologies permitted further investigation and discovery in the study of air.

So, if the properties of air were not beginning to be understood until the 1700s, how is it that the Biblical writer of Job describes wind as having weight? Look at the following passage: 

Job_28:25 When he gave to the wind its weight and apportioned the waters by measure,

In light of what modern science now knows of air and its properties, the writer of Job must have had supernatural insight – insight given by the Spirit of God. The following confirms this Biblical knowledge:

“ The average mass of the atmosphere is about 5 quadrillion (5×10¹⁵) tonnes or 1/1,200,000 the mass of Earth. According to the American National Center for Atmospheric Research, "The total mean mass of the atmosphere is 5.1480×10¹⁸ kg with an annual range due to water vapor of 1.2 or 1.5×10¹⁵ kg depending on whether surface pressure or water vapor data are used; somewhat smaller than the previous estimate. The mean mass of water vapor is estimated as 1.27×10¹⁶ kg and the dry air mass as 5.1352 ±0.0003×10¹⁸ kg."

(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air#Density_and_mass).

Here we see that modern science has calculated the mass of air. Since we know that mass has weight – we see that the Biblical writer was correct in his faithful record. Air does possess weight. Again, a simple statement inspired by God that has truly amazing implications.

 

5. Wind travels over the earth in circuits or patterns

Ancient wise men knew the presence of wind; however, it would take modern technology and science to rediscover and verify that wind circles the earth in designated patterns. Why the word “rediscover”? Because according to the ancient writer of Ecclesiastes in the bible, wind was already known to circulate in set patterns as the following verse indicates:

Ecclesiastes 1:6 The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns.

The writer of Ecclesiastes had no way of knowing just how accurate his statement was that he recorded. He had faith in what he was writing was the truth. Today, according to modern science, the following statement testifies to what was revealed thousands of years ago.

“Global wind patterns: Winds are named after the direction from which they blow. The globe is encircled by six major wind belts, three in each hemisphere. From pole to equator they are the polar easterlies, the westerlies and the trade winds. All six belts move north in the northern summer and south in the northern winter.”

(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_wind_patterns)

The writer could not have written a statement so true. The writer probably didn’t travel more than a few hundred miles in his lifetime away from his home, which was common in his time. God is amazing.

6. Six seals of Revelation fulfilled

The seven prophetic seals of Biblical Revelation span thousands of literal earth years. In Revelation, John sees seven seals opened and witnessed events that corresponded with each seal.

In Zechariah 10:3 we see Gods people compared to a horse, so it is also in Revelation. Thus, the white horse of the first seal represents Gods people, His church, during its early period – a time of Christian purity.

The second seal symbolically represents Gods people by a red horse – this is a period of persecution, when many Christians were martyred for their belief and faith in the risen Christ.

The third seal horse, shown as a black horse, represents famine – a spiritual famine for the oppressed word of God.

The fourth seal horse is represented as a pale color, the color of death. This was a period of death for followers of Jesus Christ, and because they are the church, it was a time of spiritual death of the church, when the papal church and state system held the majority of the Christian world in oppression and spiritual darkness. Possession of a Bible in this period was considered a crime punishable by death. Millions were martyred for their faith during this Dark Age.

The opening of the fifth seal changes perspective and employs personification to symbolically show martyrs under an alter waiting patiently for the resurrection of the saints.

The sixth seal, somewhat different in nature by showing specific astronomical events, opens with a great earthquake, then progresses to a darkening of the sun and moon, then followed by falling stars in the night sky.

As for the first five seals of Revelation, history testifies to their fulfillment from the victories and growth of the early church to the bloody martyrs of the papal and Spanish inquisitions during the Dark Ages. However, the sixth seal, not so well known, necessitates review.

Rev 6:12  When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood,

Rev 6:13  and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale.

After the Dark Ages, in 1755, the inhabitants of Lisbon suffered the world’s most encompassing and important earthquake to date. Historical data locates the origin in Lisbon, however the effects of the earthquake were felt over thousands of miles, even into other countries. The Encyclopedia Britannica states 60,000 people perished in Lisbon alone. (source:www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1421131/Lisbon-earthquake-of-1755).

In 1780, on May 19, the great dark day occurred after the persecution of the Dark Ages just as Jesus predicted it would in His sermon on mount Olivet. The sun was darkened, however the darkness was not attributed to an eclipse. Timothy Dwight wrote:

"The 19th of May, 1780, was a remarkable dark day. Candles were lighted in many houses; the birds were silent and disappeared, and the fowls retired to roost. ... A very general opinion prevailed, that the Day of Judgment was at hand." Quoted in Connecticut Historical Collections, compiled by John Warner Barber (2nd ed.; New Haven: Durrie & Peck and J.W. Barber, 1836) p. 403.

He continued: "Almost if not altogether alone as the most mysterious and as yet unexplained phenomenon of its kind, . . . stands the dark day of May 19, 1780,--a most unaccountable darkening of the whole visible heavens and atmosphere in New England." That the darkness was not due to an eclipse is evident from the fact that the moon was then nearly full. It was not caused by clouds, or the thickness of the atmosphere, for in some localities where the darkness extended, the sky was so clear that the stars could be seen. Concerning the inability of science to assign a satisfactory cause for this manifestation, Herschel the Astronomer declares: "The dark day in North America was one of those wonderful phenomena of nature which philosophy is at a loss to explain."

Also:
"The occurrence brought intense alarm and distress to multitudes of minds, as well as dismay to the whole brute creation, the fowls fleeing bewildered to their roosts, and the birds to their nests, and the cattle returning to their stalls." Frogs and night hawks began their notes. The cocks crew as at daybreak. Farmers were forced to leave their work in the fields. Business was generally suspended, and candles were lighted in the dwellings. "The Legislature of Connecticut was in session at Hartford, but being unable to transact business adjourned. Everything bore the appearance and gloom of night."

(source:www.bibleuniverse.com/articles/second-coming-prophecies-fulfilled/sun-turned-into-darkness.aspx).

The dark day was immediately followed by a blood red moon that night. Milo Bostick in “Stones History of Massachusetts” wrote: "The moon which was at its full, had the appearance of blood."

(source:www.bibleuniverse.com/articles/second-coming-prophecies-fulfilled/moon-turned-into-blood.aspx).

The final part of the sixth seal was fulfilled on November 13, 1833. The stars falling from the sky fell in the same manner as described in the Biblical prophecy – as they were shaken from a tree. Ellen White wrote of the event stating:

“Professor Olmstead, of Yale College, said that they who were so fortunate as to witness the falling stars on November 13, 1833, probably beheld the greatest display of celestial fire-works that has ever been since the creation of the world-certainly the greatest that has ever occurred within the time covered by the annals of history. It was more than a “shower”, as it has been called.”

“They began to fall as early as 11 o’clock, and increased until they truly resembled a showry but of many hours’ continuance. We witnessed them in all their glory for nearly three hours, ‘till they were obscured by the dawning day. And when the day dispelled the appearance, they were still falling as numerous as ever, as was proved by their being visible in the west when the advancing light of the sun rendered them invisible in the east."

“We were given an extract from an article written by Henry Dana Ward, in regard to the falling stars of November 13, 1833, published in the Journal of Commerce, November 15, 1833 –

“At the cry, ‘look out the window,’ I sprang from a deep sleep, and with wonder saw the east lighted up with the dawn and meteors. The zenith, the north, and the West also, showed the falling stars, in the very image of one thing, and only one, I ever heard of. I called to my wife to behold, and while robing, she exclaimed, ‘ see how the stars fall!’. I replied, ‘that is the wonder!’ and we felt in our hearts that it was a sign of the last days”

“For, truly, ‘the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.’ Revelation 6:13. The ancients understood by aster, in greek, and stella, in latin, the smaller lights of heaven. The refinement of modern astronomy has made the distinction between, stars of heaven and meteors of heaven. Therefore, the idea of the prophet, as it is expressed in the original greek, was literally fulfilled in the phenomenon of yesterday.

(source:text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=EMTF&pagenumber=50)

Such an awesome fulfillment of prophecy should shake each of us to our core being – knowing that the Bible is true and can be trusted and that we must get ourselves ready to meet our Lord.

The entire seventh and final seal refers to the return of Jesus Christ as our Savior to bring those that are saved home with Him. It only takes a moment to realize that we are all living on the edge of time and eternity. Soon Jesus will return and all will cease for eternity. We all must examine ourselves in comparison with God’s word, the Bible, and by God’s grace and power ensure our preparation to meet our Lord Jesus Christ. The return of Jesus is around the corner, a truly amazing thought.

7. The Angel(s) of New Jerusalem

In the Biblical book of Revelation a most interesting description of an angel occurs. It is a peculiar description because of the current held ideas of angels in this modern age. Movies depicting angels abound today as do other mediums such as art. However, a certain description of an angel in Revelation is very far from what we commonly think of when contemplating angels today. Look at the passage:
 

Rev 21:17  He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel's measurement.

A quick reading of the verse doesn’t seem to incite a startling response, however that is because most of us are not familiar with ancient Biblical units of measure. After we study the modern equivalent of a cubit, we soon realize the grandeur of the passage. The key to placing the verse in context the conversion of the cubit.

“The cubit is an archaic unit of length based on the length of the forearm from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. Cubits of various lengths were employed in many parts of the world in antiquity, during the Middle Ages and as recently as Early Modern Times. The term is still used in hedge laying, the length of the forearm being frequently used to determine the interval between stakes placed within the hedge.[1]”

“In ancient Rome, according to Vitruvius, a cubit was made up of six palms and was thus equal to one and a half Roman feet or pedes.^[9]” (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubit)

If we use the Roman cubit of measurement in use during the time of johns writing of this vision, then a cubit is about 18 inches. Although it is impossible to know the exact length of the ancient cubit, the 18 inch measurement is sufficient for the purpose of examining this verse. This 18 inch measurement is then multiplied by 144 as described by the verse as being the angel’s measurement. After some quick and easy multiplication one sees that the size of a New Jerusalem angel is about 216 feet. A terrible and frightful size when one realizes that it is the height of an angel that guards the gate of the New Jerusalem. A very imposing figure that man has not yet seen – an example that reminds us that our eyes have not seen nor our ears heard what our Lord has prepared for us in heaven.

What a privilege is offered to us as a gift by Jesus Christ – to be citizens of heaven and live in the New Jerusalem with Gigantic angels as friends and God as our King. Truly amazing indeed.

Tags: air, weight, wind, Jesus, time traveler, bible, 7, amazing, earth, circle, round, angel, new Jerusalem, revelation, city, heaven, john, seals, dark ages, fountains, deep, oceans, sea, water