Introduction

The Bible states that it is God breathed (2 Timothy 3:16), so the people it mentions must have really existed and every statement about them must be true. The places it mentions must have been real and the events that are discussed in it must have really taken place. If all this is not perfectly true then it was not inspired by the omnipotent, omniscient God who fills its pages Even though a lot of it was written thousands of years ago, it must be consistent with testable modern science.

Let’s put it to the test with the Bible verse written first and is followed by its scientific confirmation.

1. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1

There are only two possibilities for the universe’s existence. It was either created by a supernatural being or, it was created by nothing. The second is illogical and there is no third. The view that it has always existed is unsustainable because the universe and everything in it is running down in accordance with the second law of thermodynamics. So, it must have started wound up and it is now unwinding.

Interestingly, a Supernatural Being has contacted us by way of the Bible and told us how He created it; He simply spoke it into existence. Also, He told us in what order He created, which we can read about in Genesis chapter one. And the reason He created? It pleased Him to do so (Colossians 1:16, Revelation 4:11)

2. Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Genesis 2:7

It was not until the nineteenth century that chemists started to understand the molecular nature of all substances, including every part of us. But God said that He made Adam from the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7). And He told Adam that he is going to return there (Genesis 3:19). All the chemical elements that comprise a person are present in the ground; it is just a matter of joining them in the right way: a simple task for the Lord. The writer of Genesis, Moses, would have had no understanding of chemistry and biochemistry.

3. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. Genesis 2:20-22

The rib bone is the only bone in the human body that will grow again if it is removed providing the periosteum (outer membrane or sheath) is left intact, the rib will regrow most of the time.^[1]

4. The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than twenty feet (6 metres). Genesis 7:20

What would we expect to see today as the result of a worldwide flood?

• Most of the world would be covered by sedimentary layers, that is, rock laid down by water. 75% of it is so covered.
• Stratification or layering of the sedimentary rocks.
• Coal, oil and gas deposits because of vast floating mats of vegetation being buried.
• Evidence of rapid and jumbled burying of animals, marine creatures and vegetation and consequently, many well-preserved fossils.
• High mountains, including Everest, containing remnants of marine life.

All the above are evident. But for much more evidence, look at Noah’s Flood parts 1-7 in the Search menu on this site.

5. The LORD appeared to Abram [Abraham] and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him. Genesis 12:7

The Lord made this promise to Abraham about 3,500 years ago and Abraham’s descendants are still there today.

6. For the generations to come every male among you who is EIGHT DAYS old must be circumcised. Genesis 17:12

The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy, which is the world’s best-selling medical textbook,^[2] states that:

Vitamin K deficiency causes hemorrhagic disease (uncontrollable bleeding) of the newborn, which usually occurs 1 TO 7 DAYS POSTPARTUM.^[3]

God told Abraham to circumcise on the eighth day.

7. For the life of the creature is in the blood. Leviticus 7:11

Up until about the 1880s, sick people were often bled in an attempt to rid them of their illnesses and many died from the practice. It is now known that the blood is the source of life. We are composed of cells; muscle, skin, brain, nerve etc, and it is our blood that delivers to them, their life-sustaining oxygen and removes their waste product of carbon dioxide. It carries all the body’s regulating hormones, as well as essential vitamins and minerals. So, if you lose your blood, you lose your life.

8. No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the LORD. Leviticus 18:6, see also 20:7 and Deuteronomy 27:22.

When God had finished His work of creation, He pronounced it to be very good (Genesis 1:31). However, after Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 3:6), sin entered the world and all creation was affected by it, right down to the molecular level. Mutations, which are faults or defects, began to occur and accumulate in strands of DNA in all forms of life.

Since we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14), cells have mechanisms for repairing such faults, but some remain. These mutations would build up very slowly at first. This accumulation of mutations may have been a causal factor in the reduction in life spans, particularly in the period after the flood. Sometime later, God gave the civil law through Moses. Part of this is a prohibition against sexual relations with close members of the family, for both moral and genetic reasons.^[4]

When a child is conceived, one strand of the mother’s DNA (which is bound up in packages called chromosomes) combines with one strand of the father’s DNA. Both strands contain mutations and at conception, as the two strands line up with one another, the function of the part containing the mutation is taken over by the corresponding part of the other parent’s DNA and all is well. However, if the two strands contain similar mutations—as they would in the case where the parents were close relatives—when the two strands come together, the mutations line up and the mutation is expressed in the offspring.

As mutations accumulate, genetic disorders caused by intrafamily marrying are becoming common, not so much in western societies (presumably because our laws and practices were based on the Bible), but in groups who have not had the benefit of scripture. Howard Schneider writes about Saudi Arabia’s alarming increase in genetic disorders such as thalassemia, sickle cell anemia, hydrocephalus and diabetes due to intrafamily marriages:

 Nevertheless, even in a country hesitant to discuss its most intimate problems with the outside, a public dialog is developing…. Religious sheiks counsel young men to “choose a wife carefully” and with an eye towards health.^[5]

A heading in the Digital Journal^[6] was quite explicit: ‘British Muslim Inbreeding Causing Genetic Disorders.’

9. The Lord said to Moses, “when they enter the promised land, they are to observe a Sabbath year for the land every seventh year. During this year, they are not to sow their fields, prune their vineyards, or harvest any natural growth. This seventh year is to be a year of complete rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord.” Leviticus 25:2-5

This seems to have two components to it—one agricultural and one spiritual. It is now well-established practice to allow land to rest periodically as continual planting and harvesting depletes the soil of its nutrients and allows for the build-up of debilitating viruses. Again, we see the wisdom of the scriptures. It is interesting that God did not instruct his people to let one seventh of their land rest every year, but rather to let the whole land rest for one year. This is where the spiritual aspect comes in. The people had to trust God to provide for them during the year the land was to rest.

10. He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing. Job 26:7

Job wrote about 3,500 years ago that the earth hangs on nothing. The ancient Greeks believed that the earth was held on the arms and shoulders of a giant named Atlas. A group of Hindus believed that it was supported on the backs of two huge elephants that stood on the shell of an enormous turtle that in turn was swimming in the cosmic sea. Other ancient peoples simply thought the earth was flat. But the Bible tells us that it is floating in space and nothing holds it up.

Photo courtesy of NASA

11. To make the weight for the wind; and he apportions the waters by measure. Job 28:25

The Bible says that air has weight, in fact, we live under a lot of air, about 80 kilometers of it, all weighing down on us. We measure its weight as barometric pressure.

12. He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea. Job 9:8.

There are at least eleven references in the scriptures to the fact that God stretched or stretches (makes ongoing or makes continuous) the heavens.^[7]

Isaiah wrote in about 700 BC at a time when people thought that the stars were stuck on a canopy that covered the sky and the concept of the depth of the cosmos was inconceivable. Yet the Bible states that the heavens are being stretched. As discussed, there is a consensus among contemporary cosmologists that the galaxies are not only moving apart but that their movement is accelerating.^[8]

13. He wraps up the waters in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight. Job 26:8

Here, the emphasis is on how much water the clouds hold even though they appear to be light and fluffy. Clouds hold millions of tons of water, and the consequences of this fact are seen in flooding rain that takes place from time to time.

14. You have entered the springs of the sea. Job 38:16

The idea of springs in the sea would have been quite foreign to Job and his friends, but the sea does indeed have springs. The image here is of a hydrothermal vent issuing forth from a deep ocean trench. So, springs from the sea floor certainly do exist.

15. It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers. Isaiah 40:22.

When looking from above, the earth appears like a circle. The Bible confirmed the earth to be spherical about 2,700 years ago.

 Also, in about 1,000 BC David implies that the earth is round when he wrote:

As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us?

A similar thought is conveyed in Proverbs:

When he prepared the heavens, I was there; when he drew a compass upon the face of the deep.

Here the word ‘compass’ can also be translated ‘circle’.  That is, God contained the waters in a circle.

16 He draws up the drops of water, which distill as rain to the stream, the clouds pour down their moisture, and abundant showers fall on mankind. Job 36:27-28

The hydrologic cycle, which involves water evaporating from the sea, being transported over the land as clouds, and falling as rain, is mentioned in Amos (9:6), Isaiah (55:10) and Psalm (135:7).

And again, in Ecclesiastes (1:7):

All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; to the place from where the rivers come, there they return again.

The Bible could not make this amazing cycle any clearer. Yet it was not fully comprehended until many hundreds of years after these texts were written.

Image compliments of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

17. “the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, all that pass through the PATHS OF THE SEAS.” Psalm 8:8

The sea seems to be just a huge mass of water, so how could it have paths? Mankind discovered the existence of ocean currents in the 1850s, but the Bible stated it 2,800 years ago. Matthew Maury is the father of oceanography. Apparently, he was bedridden during a serious illness and asked one of his daughters to read a portion of the Bible. While listening, he noticed the expression the paths of the sea. Upon his recovery, Maury took God at His word and went looking for these paths. His work on oceanography, which includes ocean currents, cut sailing times dramatically.

Maury Hall was named in his honor at the Naval Academy in Annapolis. Also, he received honors from many parts of the world, including being knighted by several nations. Many monuments have been created to honor him, and he even has a crater on the Moon named after him. His important contributions to the fields of oceanography and ocean navigation have earned him many titles, including “Pathfinder of the Seas” and the “Father of Modern Oceanography” all because he believed that what the Bible said.

18. The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; and night after night they display knowledge.

Here the psalmist is saying that the silent heavens, just specs of light from earth, are declaring the glory of their maker, and their glory is a testament to the magnificent greatness of the Lord who created them.

Below are a few images of the heavens taken from the Hubble telescope. They include images of supernova, that is, stars that have exploded, a gas cloud and a galaxy.

With the aid of a very modern telescope, it is easy to understand why the Psalmist states that it is the heavens that declare God’s glory. Such beauty and symmetry on an incomprehensible scale so appropriately points to its Creator.

 

Images are courtesy of NASA.

19. As the hosts of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea be measured. Jeremiah 33:22

Since the “hosts of heaven” is a biblical term for stars, Jeremiah is saying that they are too numerous to number. This has only been shown to be true relatively recently through the lenses of modern telescopes and in particular, since the advent of the Hubble and James Webb telescopes.

The first person acknowledged to have counted the stars was Hipparchus in 190–120BC. After having made a study of the stars, he announced that there were 1,080 and 300 years later, Ptolemy put the number at 1,056. It is now generally accepted that without the aid of a telescope and on a very clear night, up to 4,000 stars can be seen. But back in 600 BC Jeremiah said the number of stars was countless. And even further back to about 2,000 BC we read a similar statement in Genesis 22:17. So, up until a few hundred years ago, it would have seemed that the Bible grossly exaggerated the number of stars in the sky.

The image is taken through the Hubble telescope.

20.…in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, Timothy 1:2

Here, the Bible states that time had a beginning.  It was only Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity that showed time to be a physical quantity like speed and gravity, for example, and that it can vary with either speed or gravity. Time only came into being when the universe did. So, time had a beginning.

21. The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning to its course. Ecclesiastes 1:6

Here, the Bible describes the circulation of the atmosphere, which was not contemplated at the time Solomon wrote these words, in approximately 1,000 BC.

The image shows the circulation of the wind on a global scale. Image acknowledgement: https://history.aip.org/climate/xGenCirc.htm.

22. There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differs from another star in glory. 1 Corinthians 15:41

In other words, each star is different. Looking from earth most stars look the same; only recently, with the aid of powerful telescopes, has it been revealed that every star is different.

23. …You, Lord, in the beginning have laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of your hands: They shall perish; but you remain; and they shall grow old as does a garment. Hebrews 1:10-11

Who could have known 2,000 years ago that all of creation is wearing out? It is the case, the sun and other stars are burning away, the earth’s rotation is slowing, and its magnetic field is decreasing in strength. The second law of thermodynamics states that in simple terms, with any natural process, the degree of disorder or randomness (entropy) in an isolated system will always increase. The entire universe is becoming less ordered and is degrading. This was not postulated until comparatively recently. Yet the One who inspired the writer of Hebrews knew.

24. I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.” Luke 17:34-36.

Luke depicts Christ’s Second Coming as happening while some people are asleep at night and others are working at daytime activities in the field. This is only possible if the earth is rotating, giving rise to day and night occurring in different places at the same time.

25. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature [Godhead KJV], have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

The apostle Paul states that God’s eternal power and Godhead are clearly evident in creation; to such an extent that mankind is without excuse for not believing.  The Godhead is the trinity of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit that is, three in one. Consequently, we would expect to see the number three appearing many times in creation since Paul, writing under the influence of the Holy Spirit, asserted that the Godhead is clearly seen in creation.

It is significant then that His created universe consists of three parts, with each of its distinct components of time, space and matter comprising and pervading the whole universe. And each of these components consist of three parts. Time has past, present and future. Space has three dimensions of length, breadth and width; and matter can exist in three forms; solid, liquid and gas. Also, the basic unit of matter, the atom, is composed of three main parts: protons, neutrons and electrons. The whole electromagnetic spectrum (gamma rays, x-rays, ultraviolet, visible light, infrared, microwaves and radio waves) is comprised of three components: electric fields, magnetic fields, and motion. Clearly, God has left His signature on His creation.

Conclusion

Above are 25 statements made in the Bibles that can be checked by science. All 25 have been shown to be correct when examined closely. All showing that the Bible is indeed God inspired.

Readers might be interested in my blog on the confirmation of 83 people mentioned in the Bible from sources external to the Bible: https://www.adefenceofthebible.com/2017/06/26/confirmation-of-83-people-mentioned-in-the-bible.

[1] Munro IR, Guyuron B (November 1981). “Split-Rib Cranioplasty”. Annals of Plastic Surgery 7 (5): 341–346 (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7332200); C. Wieland, creation.com/regenerating-ribs-adam-and-that-missing-rib.

[2] wikipedia.org/wiki/Merck_Manual_of_Diagnosis_and_Therapy.

[3]Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy, Merck Research Laboratories, 18^th Edition, 2006, page 46; merckmanuals.com/professional/print/sec01/ch004/ch004m.html, retrieved June 17, 2011.

[4] Leviticus 18:6-18; 20:17; Deuteronomy, 27:22.

[5] Washington Post Foreign Service, January 16, 2000, page A01.

[6] digitaljournal.com/article/250164, February 11, 2008.

[7] Job 9:8; Psalm 104:2; Isaiah 40:22, 42:5, 44:24, 45:12, 48:13, 51:13; Jeremiah 10:12, 51:15; Zechariah 12:1.

[8] New Scientist, May 19, 2007, page 44.