The Ancient Book

Dead Sea Scroll-Isaiah (1QIsa^b)

If there is a God who is all-knowing and all-powerful, and who is personally interested and involved in some way with humankind, we should expect evidences of God's agency in historical records tracing back to antiquity. The Bible is just the type of thing we would expect.

The ancient nature of the Bible is often asserted as evidence in itself that it can hardly be relevant for us today in the 21st century. But its very antiquity places it in an arena with very few competitors for being the revelation of a God who—historically and presently—interacts with humankind, if we are willing to consider the possibility that such a revelation may exist.

Simple reason dictates that if we want to know the truth of the God described in the Bible, we need to study this ancient book of books for ourselves. If indeed the God of the Bible is real and continues to engage with humankind today, tradition, prophetic visions, and modern-day theological discourse may have their place, but if they are not in agreement with the Bible itself, they cannot claim to be the word of the God of the Bible who is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 13:8). The Bible is the measure of Bible religion, the measure by which anything that claims to come from the God of the Bible must be evaluated (Isaiah 8:20).

We understand that there are many who are distrustful of anything claiming to be an authority on religious matters, and unfortunately, this is not altogether without cause. But before you believe any claims about the God of the Bible—even from those who are believers in the Bible—it is only sensible to study this book for yourself. We don't encourage anyone to make an uninformed decision to either believe every word of the Bible or to ignore it altogether, but rather to read the Bible searching for truth. If you sense that perhaps God may be reaching directly to you and encouraging you to read this book, do so!

A warning is in order. This warning will sound far-fetched to many, however others will know, from experience, exactly why this warning is given. If you have dreams or see apparitions or hear voices telling you things about the God of the Bible, the Bible is clearly the standard by which these things must be evaluated for the reasons mentioned above. There is a spiritual world, and not all spirits tell the truth. The Bible clearly speaks of Satan and his angels who are hell-bent on defaming God and, through subtlety, bringing us into confederacy with them. It is not safe to automatically trust any voice or apparition claiming to speak for the God of Heaven, whether or not it be a supernatural phenomenon or the simple by-product of eating the wrong thing before going to bed.

In fact, according to the Bible, if an entity claims or appears to be a deceased friend, family member, or anyone, no matter how much the entity may look, sound, act, or even smell like the person, the entity is certainly an imposter. The Bible repeatedly forbids any communication with the supposed dead. The dead do not communicate with us and are clearly described in the Bible as asleep until the resurrection. Such entities are imposters who will play with our emotions and mix truth with lies (even giving evidence of apparent knowledge of future events) to establish a sense of credibility, while in reality directing our attention away from the truth of God. With such, there is no safety to enter into conversation or debate. If the entity is appearing as the spirit of the dead, the entity is contradicting the Bible from the start and is not to be trusted. This should be especially apparent—even to those who do not believe the Bible—if the entity claims to speak for the God of the Bible. In the name of Jesus, in the name of the Creator and deliverer of Heaven and Earth, command the entity to leave! The God of Heaven is behind that name, and the lying spirit will be compelled to leave.

Suggestions for further study

Bible Prophecy

Amazing Facts

BibleUniverse.com

It Is Written

The Bible Sabbath

Which day is the Lord's day - the Christian Sabbath? The answer may surprise you!

SabbathTruth.com is an excellent resource to begin your study.

What the Bible Says About Death

Are the Dead Really Dead? - A Bible study by Amazing Facts

Page last modified: 2023.12.06