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Overview
“It is the glory of God to conceal a thing:
But the honour of Kings is to search out a matter.”
Proverbs 25:2
Key Topics Include:
• The Mystery of “3 Days and 3 Nights” and Christ’s Resurrection
• The Mystery of the Virgin Birth and the Star of Bethlehem
• The Fall of the Walls of Jericho
• Ancient Egyptian manuscript confirms the 10 plagues of Exodus
• Joshua’s Long Day
• Jonah and the Great Fish
• The Mystery of the Lost Treasures of the Temple
• Why Christians Worship on Sunday
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780307508607 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Random House Publishing Group |
| Publication date: | 06/19/2013 |
| Sold by: | Random House |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 256 |
| File size: | 5 MB |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Introduction
Unveiling Mysteries of the Bible
Have you ever been puzzled by a mystery in the Bible and you were unable to find anyone who could give you an answer? As a young Christian, I often found myself perplexed by numerous passages in the Scriptures that are difficult to fully understand. I would ask pastors and Bible teachers many questions about these mysteries that fascinated me, including: Where was the Garden of Eden? Where did Cain get his wife? Why do we worship on Sunday? Who were the giants and the sons of God? How can we explain the remarkable miracles during the Exodus? Jesus' virgin birth? The "three days and three nights" and Christ's resurrection? The Star of Bethlehem? The Tower of Babel and the rebuilding of Babylon? I seldom received explanations that satisfied my curiosity.
As I grew in my Christian faith, I began to acquire a large library of books on archeology, theology, and prophecy that provided some of the answers I sought. Over the last four decades I have accumulated a great deal of information and have studied numerous Bible commentaries that began to unveil these fascinating mysteries.
This book will explore many of these puzzling passages and offer the best explanation that I have uncovered from personal study. In addition, I have reviewed the works of many of the greatest students of the Word of God. Some of the additional topics covered include: Jonah and the great fish, the darkness at Christ's crucifixion, Joshua's long day, the two genealogies of Jesus, Noah's flood, the lost treasures of the Temple, and the strange account of Saul's encounter with the witch of Endor.
The Bible is certainly the most mysterious book ever written. From Genesis to Revelation, the Scriptures deal with man's quest for meaning and God's mysterious plan to redeem a spiritually lost humanity through His Son, Jesus Christ. The biblical term "mystery" refers to "a secret of the Lord." However, the mystery is also a secret concerning the Lord Jesus Christ that will be revealed to the faithful who seek His divine wisdom. The apostle Paul refers to this mystery concerning Christ Himself, the very Word of God, "the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:2-3).
For thousands of years, countless generations of Jews and Christians have loved the mysterious passages of the Word of God and have sought to understand their true meaning. Early in the 1990s, Bishop William Thomas Manning wrote about the supreme importance of mystery in God's revelation, "Religion with mystery ceases to be religion."
The Word of God reveals that these hidden mysteries will be revealed to those faithful servants who study its pages. God promises, "The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law" (Deuteronomy 29:29). The wisest man on earth, King Solomon, who asked God for wisdom and understanding, encouraged us to search out the mysteries of God. "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honor of kings is to search out a matter" (Proverbs 25:2).
Biblical mysteries challenge our faith as well as our intellect. Tragically, some have lost their faith in the Word of God because they could not find reasonable explanations for many of these mysterious and strange events. While billions of people have placed their complete faith in Jesus Christ and the Word of God, there are millions who have been intellectually and spiritually frustrated by the fact that they have never found a reasonable explanation for some of the mysteries they encountered in the Word of God.
The illustrations, maps, and photos are placed in many of these chapters to assist you to fully appreciate these remarkable biblical events that have exercised such a compelling power on the minds of people for thousands of years. It is my hope that you will find this book a welcome addition to your home library and that it will be a useful tool in helping you and your family to more fully understand God's wonderful revelation to humanity; the Holy scriptures.
The final chapter of this book examines the mystery of salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul wrote about the mystery of God's promise of resurrection to eternal life to those who place their faith in Christ's offer of salvation for those who follow Him. "Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the ast trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed" (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). The final mystery is Christ's promise of our resurrection to an eternal life in heaven. Jesus Christ's own resurrection from the grave is proof that all who place their faith in Him will also be resurrected at the last day.
I encourage you to join me on a voyage of discovery as we unveil some of the most fascinating mysteries of the Bible.