Consistent theme of the Bible points to divine inspiration

If I were to hand you a Bible and ask  you to find Jesus somewhere within its  pages, where would you look first? Probably the New Testament right? Especially in the Gospels – Matthew, Mark,  Luke and John where we have all the  information and the stories about  Jesus’s life. But what if I told you that  you can actually find Jesus in every  book of the Old Testament and that that  fact was one of the greatest evidences  of the inspiration of the scriptures. 

Here’s why that’s so important. It’s  because the Bible was written by about  40 different men and it was written over  a period of 1,600 years. And every single  one of those men came from a different  time period in history, a different  political environment, a different  geographical area and yet as they wrote,  there’s one unified message throughout  the entire Bible and that is the  redemption of man through Jesus Christ,  purposed before the world began, by  design of the Father.

In Genesis, Jesus is the offspring of  woman who will crush the head of the  serpent (Gen 3:15)

In Exodus, he’s the Lamb of God  without blemish (Exodus 12)

In Leviticus, the high  priest (Lev 21:11-12)

In Numbers,  he’s the one who’s lifted up in the  wilderness of sin (Num 21:9)

In Deuteronomy, he’s a  prophet like Moses (Deut 18:18)

In Joshua,  he is the one who’s going to lead the  people into the land of rest (Josh 1:1)

In Judges  he’s God’s appointed deliverer (whole book)

In Ruth,  he’s a kinsman redeemer (Ruth 4:1-2)

In 1 Samuel, he  is God rejected as the king (1 Sam 8:7)

In 2 Samuel, he’s the heir of David’s throne (2 Sam 5:4)

In 1 Kings,  he’s the one who’s greater than Solomon (NT reference: Matt 12:42)

In 2 Kings,  he’s the one like Elijah who isn’t  accepted in his own country (NT reference: Luke 4:24)

In 1 Chronicles, he’s the son of David (NT reference: Matt 22:41-46)

In 2 Chronicles, he’s the only perfect King (entire book)

In Ezra, he’s the divine temple  rebuilder (Ezra 3-5, NT reference John 2:19)

In Nehemiah, he’s the guide of the  remnant of God’s people (Neh 1:3, 2:5)

In Esther, he’s  the providential protector (Esther 4:14)

In Job, he is the  advocate to plead our case to God and  our Redeemer (Job 9:33)

In the Book of Psalms, he’s  the one who is crucified but is not left  in Hades (Psalm 16:10)

In Proverbs, he is the wisdom of God  and the founder of the earth (Prov 9:10)

In Ecclesiastes, he’s the one who will  bring everything into judgment (Ecc 12:14)

In the Song of  Solomon, he’s the best example we have of  true love (entire book)

In Isaiah, he’s the virgin- born  suffering servant (Isa 7:14, Isa 53)

In Jeremiah, he’s the  branch (Jer 23:5)

In Lamentations, he’s a man of  sorrows who’s weeping over the city of  Jerusalem  (entire book, NT reference Matt 23:37)

In Ezekiel, he’s God’s servant and God’s  Prince (Eze 34:23-24)

In Daniel, he’s the king over the  kingdom that shall never be destroyed (Dan 2:44)

In  Hosea, he is the forgiving and redeeming  husband to the unfaithful wife (Hos 1:2)

In Joel, he’s the savior of those  who call on God (Joel 2:32)

In Amos, he’s the rescuer of  Judah (entire book)

In Obadiah, he’s the deliverer of Mount  Zion (Obadiah 1:17)

In Jonah, he’s the three days that  Jonah spends in the fish (NT reference Matt 12:40)

In Micah, he’s a  blessing of Bethlehem  in a home, the stronghold in the day of  wrath (Micah 5:2)

In Habakkuk, he is the justifier of those  who live by faith (Hab 2:4)

in Zephaniah, he is the  channel through whom all the nations of  the world can worship (Zep 3)

In Haggai, he’s the  shaker of heaven and earth whose kingdom  can never be shaken (Hag 2:6, NT reference Heb 12:28)

In Zechariah, he’s  the one who was betrayed for 30 pieces  of silver (Zec 11:12-13)

In Malachi, he’s the one whose forerunner  is Elijah (Mal 4:5-6)

If just 10 people today were picked who were from the same place, born around the same time, spoke the same language, and made about the same amount of money, and were asked to write on just one controversial subject, they would have trouble agreeing with each other.

The Bible is truly an amazingly consistent document. The messages of approximately 40 different writers of the 66 books of the Bible, written over 1,500 years, in three different languages, all fit together like the pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle. There is one continual theme throughout-God’s plan of salvation from sin won for the whole world by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

This consistency itself attests to the common source of this book.

1. Written over a 1,500 year span

2. Written over 40 generations

3. Written by more than 40 authors, from every walk of life, including kings, peasants, philosophers, fishermen, poets, statesman, scholars, etc.

4. Written in different places

-Moses in the wilderness -Paul inside prison walls

-Jeremiah in a dungeon -Luke while traveling

-Daniel on a hillside and in a palace

-John on the isle of Patmos

5. Written at different times

-David in times of war

-Solomon in times of peace

6. Written during different moods

-Some writings at the height of joy and others from the depths of sorrow and despair

7. Written on three continents:

-Asia, Africa, Europe

8. Written in three languages

-Hebrew, the language of the OT

-Aramaic, the common language of the Near East until the 6th century A.D.

-Greek, the N.T. language, international language during the time of Christ.

9. Finally, its subject matter includes hundreds of controversial topics. Yet, the biblical authors spoke with harmony and continuity from Genesis to revelation. There is one unfolding story: “God’s redemption of man.”