Perhaps the most dramatic evidence that the Bible is trustworthy comes from the way its message has been protected by God throughout history. Notice just a few examples.
- Judaism tried to destroy the Bible. In Jeremiah 36:22-23, Jehoiakim tried to eliminate its message, but he failed. In 100 B.C., Antiochus IV tried to destroy the Bible, but he failed. And shortly after Jesus ascended back into Heaven, the Jewish Sanhedrin forbade preaching in Jesus’ name. Yet today, the book which contains His life-story is read in nearly every corner of the world.
- Muslims tried to destroy the Bible. In 732 A.D., they attempted to eliminate all Bibles and kill all Christians, but they failed.
- Catholicism tried to destroy access to the Bible. In 1494-1516 A.D., Ferdinand and Isabella forbade the common people to have Bibles. In 1600, Ferdinand II caused ten thousand Bibles to be burned in his attempt to limit its influence. In 1637, Jesuits caused sixty thousand Bibles to be burned. In 1713, Pope Clemont II condemned Bible reading. In 1844, Pope Gregory XVI said that Bible societies were guilty of the greatest crime against the church.
- The French skeptic, Voltaire, once said, “In less than one hundred years the Bible will be discarded and Christianity will be swept from the earth.” One hundred years later, Voltaire was dead and his house was being used as a depot for the International Bible Society.
Because of the eternal, indestructible, ever harmonious nature of this book, the Bible has never lost its place on the bestselling list! In fact, there is no other book throughout all history that remotely compares with the popularity of the Bible. Parts of the Bible have been translated into more than 1300 languages. About 75 million Bibles are sold each year. Well over one billion copies of this book have been printed. There have been enough Bibles printed to make a solid ribbon of Bibles all the way around the world, not just once or twice, but three times.
Conclusion
God doesn’t just promise and present His message in Providential parallels, He takes an active role in protecting it. In order to be sure of God’s message, always let the Bible interpret the Bible.