Download - PROOF: Compelled to Believe
W H Y ?
John 12:48
There is a judge for the one who rejects me and
does not accept my words; the very words I have
spoken will condemn them at the last day. (John
12:48 NIV)
W H Y ?
1 John 2:4-6
Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do
what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in
that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love
for God is truly made complete in them. This is
how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to
live in him must live as Jesus did. (1 John 2:4-6
NIV)
W H Y ?
1. It will be our judge.
2. Requires our obedience for the completion of
our love for God.
3. Sustains all things
4. Equips us for every good/Godly action
W H Y ?
Hebrews 1:3
"...sustaining all things by his powerful word. "
2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful
for teaching, rebuking, correcting and
training in righteousness, so that the
servant of God may be thoroughly equipped
for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17
NIV)
Delos B. McKown:
“Christianity is scientifically
unsupported and probably insupportable,
philosophically suspect at best and
disreputable at worst, and historically
fraudulent.”
The Ebers Papyrus:
“To prevent hair from turning gray, anoint it with the blood of a calf which has been boiled in oil or with the fat of a rattlesnake.”
“A mixture of six fats, namely those of the horse, the hippopotamus, the crocodile, the cat, the snake and the ibex.... to prevent hair
loss.”
• Under a section titled “What to do to draw out splinters in the flesh,” a remedy is prescribed consisting of worm blood, mole, and donkey dung”
Drugs of Choice in Papyrus Ebers:
• Lizards blood
• Swine’s teeth
• Putrid meat
• Moisture from Pigs’ ears
• Excreta from such as human beings,
donkeys, antelope, dogs, cats and flies
“The pig... is unclean for you...those that walk on their paws...the weasel, the rat...are unclean for you.”
Leviticus 11
Why?
• Pigs can harbour a range of parasites and diseases that can be transmitted to humans.
• Pigs are also known to host large concentrations of parasitic worms in their digestive tract.
• The presence of these diseases and parasites is one reason pork meat should always be well cooked or cured before eating.
• TODAY, infections from eating undercooked pork are
rare in more technologically developed countries due to
refrigeration, health laws, and public awareness.
• “Anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales is to be regarded as unclean by you.” (such as shellfish)
Leviticus 11
1972:
• A red tide was caused in New England by a toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium tamarense.
• This organism produces toxins which accumulate in shellfish and if ingested may lead to paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) and can lead to death.
Not only that but shellfish are also among the most common food allergens.
Why?
• In regard to unclean animals:
“Anything that one of their carcasses falls on becomes unclean… Whoever picks up one of their carcasses must wash their cloth
- Leviticus 11
• In regard to molds in homes:
“Anyone who goes into the house while it is closed up will be unclean till evening. Anyone who sleeps or eats in the house mu
“Whoever touches the dead body of anyone will be unclean… Anything that an unclean person touches becomes unclean, and anyone
• Practicing Germ Theory!
-the theory that microorganisms (which are too small to be seen by the human eye) cause diseases.
Germ theory wasn’t fully developed until the 19th
century!
Leviticus 13:46
“As long as he has the infection he remains
unclean. He must live alone; he must live outside
the camp.”
Quarantine for infectious disease
• Ignaz Semmelweis was a Hungarian obstetrician working at the Vienna General Hospital (Allgemeines Krankenhaus) in 1847
V I E N N A , 1 8 4 7
• In maternity wards, one out of every six women died
• Obstetricians ascribe deaths to constipation, fear,
poisonous air.
• The more formal experiments on the relationship
between germ and disease were conducted by Louis
Pasteur between 1860 and 1864 further solidifying
germ theory.
• And yet, the Israelites had practices to avoid the
spread of diseases before germ theory even existed!
W H A T D I D S E M M E L W E I S U S E ?
• Semmelweis cut the death rates by proposing the
washing of hands with a chlorinated lime solution
• Worked as a disinfectant.
• The Israelites had practices to prevent the spread of
diseases BUT did they have anything else?
• “…Take some hyssop, dip it in the water and sprinkle
the tent and furnishings and the people who were
there. - Numbers 19
• •HYSSOP!
• Semmelweis didn’t propose the washing of hands until
1847 AD…
• Israelites had antiseptics over 3,000 years prior!!
Circumcision on the 8th day
“For the generations to come, every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised...”
Genesis 17:12
Why the 8th day?
0
30
60
90
120
150
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
% o
f n
orm
al
days
Clotting Protein Peaks on Day Eight
Biologically Active Prothrombin
Where did this knowledge come from?
• Moses was raised in Egypt which practiced the use of fats and dung for medical treatments.
• So where did Moses possibly get the information for the Israelites’ medical advances??
B E F O R E W E S T A R T
• Going through historical overview of the Ancient Near East
from ~1000 - 500 B.C.
• Names/Nations to know:
• Israel, Judah (North & South)
• Assyrians
• Babylonians
• Medians
• Persians
• Nebuchadnezzar
• Cyrus
G E O G R A P H I C A L
S E T T I N G
• At this time, Israel was in the
crossroads of much greater
empires/nations of the
Ancient Near East
G L O R Y D A Y S O F I S R A E L
1050-1010 B.C. – Saul the Benjamite establishes the Israelite monarchy.
(1 Samuel 13:13-14)
1010-970 B.C. - David succeeded Saul. David was/is one of the most
respected and revered men in the history of Israel. He defeated all of the
major surrounding enemies of Israel.
970-930 B.C. – His son Solomon succeeded him and increased Israel’s
territory greatly. He established Jerusalem as one of the greatest
economic, political, and cultural capitals of the world at the time.
I S R A E L D I V I D E D
- The period of the United
Kingdom of Israel ended with
Solomon’s son, Rehoboan. After
a coup attempt by Jeroboam,
Israel was permanently divided.
(926 BC - 922 BC)
- Northern Kingdom: Israel-
Samaria as its capital.
- Southern Kingdom: Judah-
Jerusalem as its capital.
7 2 2 B . C .
• The Assyrians began their invasion/conquest of Israel,
starting with the 10 tribes of the Northern Kingdom.
(Southern Kingdom was spared and remained it's own
small nation for ~100 years).
• The Northern Kingdom was involved in pagan worship
of other Gods. In the Bible, God judged the northern
Kingdom.
S A M A R I T A N S
• The ten tribes were scattered among the different
providences of Assyria.
• The small remnant of jews that remained intermarried
with other exiles from other countries.
• This led to the nation/culture/religion we know as the
Samaritans (Shunned by the Jews due to their
unfaithfulness and intermarrying).
6 1 2 B . C .
• Allied armies of the Medes & Babylonians destroyed
and conquered the Assyrians under Cyaxares II and
Nabopolassar.
C O N Q U E R I N G T A C T I C S
• The following are tactics the Assyrians, Medes,
Babylonians and most empires used when conquering
another nation:
1. Ruthless Destruction
2. Mass Deportation
3. Assimilation of best & brightest
6 0 5 B . C .
• Nabopolassar's son, Nebuchadnezzar, succeeds him
on the Babylonian throne.
• Jehoiakim, king of Judah (Southern Kingdom)
submitted to Nebuchadnezzar.
• Nebuchadnezzar took some captives from Judah
(Assimilation).
5 9 7 B . C .
• Jehoiakim (King of Judah that submitted) was to be
succeeded by his son, Jehoiachin.
• Before he died, his last act was rebelling against
Babylon. which led to Babylon attacking and defeating
Israel, taking a large number of captives.
• Captivity of Judah can be dated between 605-597 B.C.
~ 7 5 0 - 7 3 0 B . C .
• Isaiah 39:5-7
• Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord
Almighty: The time will surely come when everything in
your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored
up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing
will be left, says the Lord. And some of your
descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born
to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs
in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
At the time this was written, Babylon
was a minor political power
5 8 6 B . C .
• Nebuchadnezzar brings Jehoiachin into captivity and
sets up Zedekiah (Jehoiachin's uncle) as a puppet-king
in Jerusalem.
• Zedekiah rebelled against Babylon.
• Babylonian armies occupied, burned, and destroyed
the city.
5 5 3 B . C .
• Nebuchadnezzar's son was a much weaker leader.
• He was overthrown through a coup and Nabonidus
came to power in Babylon.
• Married Nebuchadnezzar's daughter in order to
legitimize his rule.
• Nabonidus' son, Belshazzar, eventually shared the
throne with his father.
5 5 0 - 5 4 9 B . C .
• Cyrus (The Great), King of Persia, became the
uncontested ruler of the Persian/Median dual Empire.
(Would eventually defeat the 3 major powers in that
region at the time: Egypt, Babylon, Lydia)
• Although the Medes and Babylonians had been allies
while defeating the Assyrians, Cyrus now had his eye
on the Mesopotamian valley due to the weakness in
the Babylonian leadership.
C O N Q U E R I N G T A C T I C S
• The following are tactics the Assyrians, Medes,
Babylonians and most empires used when conquering
another nation:
1. Ruthless Destruction
2. Mass Deportation
3. Assimilation of best & brightest
C Y R U S C Y L I N D E R ( B R I T I S H
M U S E U M )
Shortly after Cyrus' defeat of
Babylon he issued a decree
allowing the Jewish exiles to
return back to Jerusalem (along
with the possessions from their
temple).
C H A N G I N G T H E P A T T E R N
• Cyrus did things very different than most Kings and
emperors before him that overthrew another nation.
• Instead of Killing everyone and taking them captive he
let them leave
• Instead of destroying the Jewish culture he helped
them to go back and restore it.
I S A I A H 4 5 : 1 3
• “This is what the Lord says— the Holy One of Israel, and its
Maker: Concerning things to come, do you question me
about my children, or give me orders about the work of my
hands? It is I who made the earth and created mankind on it.
My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshaled their
starry hosts. I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness: I will
make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city and set my
exiles free, but not for a price or reward, says the Lord
Almighty.”
Written ~750 B.C.
C O M P E L L E D T O B E L I E V E
• John 8:31-32
"To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you
hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then
you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
- We can't rely on proof to be compelled to believe.
- Live it out and you will see.
I N T E R E S T E D ?
1. Fill out a response card
2. Ask the person who invited you out to study the Bible or about
the several opportunities we provide all over campus
throughout the week.
3. Email my wife or me at:
4. Join us Sunday @ 10 am @1020 Kasold dr.