In the previous lesson, we saw how eyewitness accounts and historical accuracy and archaeology have helped to provide credibility to the truth of the Bible. Now, we are going to dig even deeper into the foreknowledge of Science, Astronomy, Medicine and Technology to see how God showed us amazing things in Scripture long before human geniuses have claimed to have “discovered” these facts and phenomenon of the physical world.
I. Astronomy and Cosmology
A. The stars are too great in number to count – Genesis 15:5 (1450-1410BC), Jeremiah 33:22 (627-585 BC), Hebrews 11:12 (64-68 AD); in the 19th century with the creation of powerful telescopes, astronomers were finally able to see that there were more than 6,000 stars, as was previously believed. A new report suggests that the new number of stars in 70 sextillion and counting…
B. The earth is shaped like a sphere and rotates – Isaiah 40:22 (746-680BC); Luke 17:34-36 (60AD); In Luke’s account of the rapture, no one was able to make sense of some being taken at night and some being taken during the day happening at the same time. Now we know that the earth rotates and it is always night and day somewhere on earth.
C. The sun is moving through space in a huge orbit – Psalms 19:4-6 (1000BC); It was only recently discovered that the Sun is moving through space at about 600,000 miles per hour, in an orbit that would take an estimated 230,000,000 years to complete. (It’s possible that the interpretation of this verse is more in reference to the rotation of the earth again, but as the Bible uses the Sun as the focus of movement, I prefer the more literal understanding of the Sun’s orbit.)
D. Light travels in a path, darkness does not – Job 38:19 (950BC or earlier); The word “way” in the Hebrew is actually translated “a traveled path or road” and “place” is translated as “a place, a standing, a specific spot”; In the 17th century, Sir Isaac Newton suggested that light was comprised of particles which traveled in a straight line. This was further studied and confirmed by Christian Huygens who proposed the “wave theory of light” and by Olaus Romer who first measured the velocity of light. We now know that light is a form of Radiant energy which travels in a “path” at 660 million mph, or approximately 8 seconds from the Sun to Earth. Darkness is merely the absence of light, thus is does not travel, but is in a specific place which remains until light travels through it.
E. The universe is expanded from its original size – Ezekiel 1:22; Isaiah 40:22 (and 5 other verses from Isaiah); Jeremiah, Job, Psalms, 2 Samuel and Zechariah contain many other similar verses. The significance of these verses is found in the word choice for “stretches” out (Hebrew 5186 natah); the word does not just suggest that God made it big to begin, but that He made it and then performed the verb, the act of stretching. In 1927, Edwin Hubble first found evidence that the universe has expanded.
II. Meteorology
A. The Jet Stream – Ecclesiastes 1:6 (935 BC) – Airmen during WWII first discovered the Jet Stream as they traveled above 32,000 feet. Even if the author of Ecclesiastes had traveled to the top of Mt. Everest
B. The Hydrological cycle – Job 36:27-28 (950 BC or earlier); Amos 9:6 (755 BC); In the 1600’s it was finally discovered that water could evaporate into a gaseous form, and in 1667, Edme Marriotte was proud to have been the “first” one to diagram the hydrological cycle in detail (even thought the Bible had already done so approx 2500 years earlier).
C. Air has weight – Job 28:25 (950BC or earlier); Mathematician Evangelista Torricelli “discovered” this in 1643.
III. Oceanography and geophysics
A. The Oceans have circulating currents or “paths” – Psalms 8:8 (1000BC); Isaiah 43:16 (146-680BC); Dr. Matthew Maury (late 1800’s) is considered one of the major founders of the science of oceanography. He was a creationist who believed in the absolute authority and inaccuracy of the Bible. One day while sick in bed, he asked his son to read the Bible to him. The son read Psalm 8:8. Believing the truth of the Bible, he set out to find the “paths” in the seas. He was the first in modern times to discover that the seas and oceans are circulating systems which react with the direction of the winds (Jet Stream) and other factors.
B. There are hydrothermal springs that arise from the ocean floor – Job 38:16 (950BC or earlier); The Roman geographer Strabo is the earliest (not counting the Bible) to have recorded reference to these springs in his secular writings. He lived from 63BC to 21AD.
C. Mountains and deep valleys exist on the ocean floor – Job 38:16; Jonah 2:5-6 (840 or 586 BC); The Challenger expedition of 1873-1876 commenced the first scientific exploration of the ocean floor, during which a canyon 5 ½ miles deep was discovered in the Pacific.
D. Polar Ice Caps revealed – Job 38:29-30; The earliest recorded expedition north was in 1300BC in which a Greek explorer traveled as far as Great Britain
IV. Physics and Chemistry
A. Entropy – Psalms 102:25-26; Isaiah 51:6; Hebrews 1:10-11; Entropy is explained most specifically in the Second Law of Thermodynamics which Rudolf Clausius formulated in 1850. Basically, this law states that energy is always at a constant but that matter is constantly in a state of decay. As matter decays and deteriorates, it changes form (heat, gases, etc) but that the energy inherent in it never disappears or lessens.
B. Subatomic particles – Hebrews 11:3 (64-68AD); modern science first discovered the electron in 1897 (J.J. Thompson). It was the first “discovery” of a particle unable to be seen by the naked eye.
C. Anthropic Principle – Isaiah 45:18 The Anthropic Principle posits that the earth was specifically created for the habitation of man.
1. Position of the Moon in relation to Earth: If the moon were closer to earth, its tides would sweep across entire continents, not allowing human life to exist on land. If the moon were further from earth, the tides would be too shallow, causing the waters of the oceans to be stagnant and not provide enough oxygen with which to provide life on earth (under water or above it).
2. Position of the Earth in relation to the Sun: The earth is approximately 93 million miles from the sun. The rotation of Earth around the Sun is 365 days, 6 hours, 49 minutes and 9.54 seconds, consistent to over a thousandth of a second. If the rotation of Earth were just a bit faster, our orbit would lengthen, bringing us further away from the Sun and inducing a permanent ice age. If the rotation of Earth were just a bit slower, our orbit would shorten, bringing us closer to the Sun and roasting us. In addition, the 23% axis (tilt) of the Earth is what provides four seasons for most of the planet. Without seasons, we could not sustain life. Again, it would all be either desert or ice caps.
3. Oceans over 70% of earth’s surface: Water is capable of heat absorption over 10 times greater than that of steel. Oceans help to keep our earth cool enough to inhabit life during the day; and then release the heat at night to keep our earth warmed. It is a very unique balance without which human life could not exist.
4. The unique mixture of gases which make up air: “The mixture of gases usually found in the atmosphere not contaminated by human pollution is perfect for life. If it were much different (e.g. 17 percent instead of 21 percent oxygen, too little carbon dioxide, etc., or the atmospheric pressure were much higher or lower), life would cease to exist on earth. If our atmosphere were much thinner, many of the millions of meteors that now are burned up would reach the earth's surface, causing death, destruction, and fires everywhere.” (notation: ICR Institute for Creation Research)
V. Medical foreknowledge in the Bible
A. Wine and grape juice as a medicine - I Timothy 5:23 “No longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.” Paul advised Timothy that he needed to use some wine for medicinal purposes, as he was having chronic health issues. In modern medical “breakthroughs” we are told that the Vitamin C and antioxidants found in grape juice can combat colds, cancer, gastritis and any number of issues. In alcoholic form, it can be used as a sleeping agent and pain reliever (as in NyQuil) in small doses. Note that Paul’s advice was to add a “little” wine in addition to water for his health – it was not by any means an encouragement to drink socially.
B. Wine as an antiseptic germ killer – Luke 10:34 in the story of the good Samaritan, he poured wine on the wounds to kill the germs.
C. Olive Oil as an antibacterial and wound-protecting salve – Luke 10:34 in the story of the good Samaritan, he poured olive oil on the wounds after he cleansed them. Olive Oil, as well as having healthy Omega-3 amino acids and 5 other agents healthy for internal well-being, has now been shown to have anti-bacterial properties similar to that of our packaged “Neosporin”; new studies even showing that along with the heart benefits, Olive Oil could aid in depression and general wellness.
D. Biblical instruction was given thousands of years ago to prevent a baby boy bleeding out after a circumcision - In Genesis 17:2, God instructed that circumcision was to be done on the 8th day after a child’s birth. Only toward the end of the 20th century was it discovered that the agent in a baby’s blood which aids in the coagulation of blood is not at full peak in our bodies until the 8th day after birth. Today the procedures done just a few days after birth in the hospital rarely present the possibility of bleeding, so it is not much an issue in modern times, medically speaking, although Jews still perform the Bris at 8 days.
E. Life is in the blood. Levitucus 17:11 says that the life of the flesh is in the blood. Until the past century, it was fairly common practice for a doctor to bleed out "bad humours" from a patient. Doctors believed that to apply small cuts to the forearm and remove blood (or to apply leaches) would remove infectious substances in the blood. Modern medical knowledge (aka finally catching up with God) tells us that the antibodies (white blood cells) with which we fight infection are actually found IN our blood - lessening our blood volume therefore reduces our ability to heal properly.
