“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.” Romans 15:4
Do you know the alphabet song? What you may not know is it seems likely that the ancient Hebrews developed the alphabet we still use around the world. Evolutionists are well known for pushing their belief system through “academia” despite evidence to the contrary, however, the same can be said about historians. It’s true. In many cases today, unbelief (not evidence) drives the conclusions of authors, archaeologists, seminary professors and even elementary school teachers. That’s why you may not read about this fact and others in your history books or watch programs about it on the History Channel. According to contemporary historians, our alphabet was developed by the Phoenicians (an ancient people group living in Israel during ancient times. Yet recent archaeological finds seem to indicate our alphabet was developed by the Hebrews from Egyptian hieroglyphs centuries earlier. Yet why aren’t facts like this discussed in many “academic” circles? The answer is simple: unbelief. Many contemporary “scholars” just do not and will not believe that the stories of the Bible are historical. I can attest to this first-hand as I earned two advanced degrees by spending a lot of time in the scholarly realm. Unfortunately, these nonbelievers are the ones writing the history books that are even used in very conservative seminaries. Unbelieving historians, for example, commonly say that “if” Moses existed, there was no system of writing for him to author the first five books of the Bible let alone a larger societal literacy for the Israelites to read it. Therefore, they speculate that the major stories of Scripture (such as those of Noah, Abraham and the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt) were not even written down until a thousand years later after the Babylonian captivity. Again, the most unfortunate thing about all of this is that they are ignoring factual evidence to the contrary. Also, it’s the culture at large that suffers as a result of not knowing the truths of God. On the flip side, if this subject interests you check out the documentary “Patterns of Evidence: The Moses Controversy” by Tim Mahoney. One of the things Mahoney and other scholars suggest is the possibility that an elite Israelite in the Egyptian world such as Joseph may have been responsible for the first forms of our modern alphabet that empowers common people with literacy. Now here’s the cool part: the same God who gave us his Word through Moses, also providentially created the writing system by which all the people of the World could read it, therefore, allowing the opportunity to know him personally by faith. Wow! It reminds me of John 3:16 which says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that anyone who believes in him, will not perish but have eternal life.” While it’s not what you’ll read about in contemporary history books, it is the truth that God loves you and has a plan to reach others in this world. Let that thought encourage you as we approach the Christmas season!
Application:
Have you ever been taught by a teacher, professor or television program that the Bible stories didn’t happen? How did the experience make you feel?
Why do you think it is important that we understand the Bible stories really happened? Do you think there is anything we can do to encourage a better telling of history today in the academic world and in culture?
What is one thing you can do to help others understand the truths of the Gospel?
