Week 5: Credibility — Proverbs 20:5

How do we resolve Bible contradictions? How do I understand difficult, weird, or boring parts of the Bible without writing it off?

Credibility – Any document should be given some credit, and not judged harshly before it is interpreted correctly. We Americans may call it the “innocent until proven guilty” technique. We must dig deep to understand.

Matthew 1:2-5
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
4 Ram the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse…

It is on me – I have to figure out what a writer’s or speaker’s purpose is!

Proverbs 20:5
The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out

Not every part of the Bible is equally relevant at all times, but it is all equally true at all times.

TO GET TO DEEP WATERS
YOU GOTTA DIVE DEEP

Credibility means I say, “Man, this looks like it doesn’t make sense, but probably, these writers weren’t idiots. So, let me get in the deep waters.”

Proverbs 20:5
The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out

Lee Strobel
It was the worst news I could get as an atheist: my agnostic wife had decided to become a Christian. Two words shot through my mind. The first was an expletive; the second was “divorce.”

Lee Strobel
Over the following months, I was intrigued by the positive changes in her character and values. Finally, I decided to take my journalism and legal training (I was legal editor of the Chicago Tribune) and systematically investigate whether there was any credibility to Christianity. Maybe, I figured, I could extricate her from this cult.

Lee Strobel
For nearly two years, I explored the minutia of the historical data on whether Easter was myth or reality. I didn’t merely accept the New Testament at face value; I was determined only to consider facts that were well-supported historically. As my investigation unfolded, my atheism began to buckle… One by one, my objections evaporated… In the end, after I had thoroughly investigated the matter, I reached an unexpected conclusion: it would actually take more faith to maintain my atheism than to become a follower of Jesus.
https://stream.org/easter-killed-atheism/

Lee Strobel is a good example of someone who thought the Bible might have credibility and investigated to see for himself, as an atheist. He was utterly convinced after diving deep. Learn his story at https://stream.org/easter-killed-atheism/ and read his book “Case for Christ.”

Matthew 28:8-9

8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him.

John 20:13-14

They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

What can the “super boring” genealogies show us if we dive deep into that water:
– Confirm the historical accuracy of the Bible

– Show that God uses imperfect people ALL THE TIME
– Prove the prophecies pointing to the Messiah
– Showed the Israelites who was allowed to serve in the Temple. God was teaching not to combine HOLY with UNHOLY things.
– Prove the Bible is rooted in factual data and not mystic teachings
– Genealogies reveal fantastic things about people and God (i.e. Ruth and Rahab)

Judges 4:21: But Jael, Heber’s wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died.

Judges 5:25-27: Her hand reached for the tent peg, her right hand for the workman’s hammer… At her feet he sank, he fell; where he sank, there he fell-dead.

Exodus 20:16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.”
Proverbs 12:22 “The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.”
vs.
I Kings 22:23 “So now the LORD has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The LORD has decreed disaster for you.”

PRACTICAL:
If I want to get into deep waters I have to have the right equipment. Some good beginner equipment is the Quest Study Bible. I can find more at http://truthrevolution.tv/know-the-bible/

If I want to go deeper I should buy a commentary. Maybe “The Tony Evans Bible Commentary” or get the Logos.com software.

I should Ask More Questions.

I should be wary/skeptical of YouTube preachers and bloggers. Especially if they aren’t vetted by a denomination. I should know their background.