God set physical laws when He created the universe and spiritual laws when He gave us His word. In these intriguing laws, we see His omniscience, foreknowledge, and love. His rules are good for us to follow. And His word is authoritative.
See the many examples of the scientific accuracy of the Bible.[1]
Scientific accuracy: stars
1. The Bible says that stars are innumerable: “the host of heaven cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured” (Jeremiah 33:22) (Genesis 22:17).
Scientists have estimated that there are over 1 billion trillion (1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) stars in the observable universe. Humans are unable to calculate the exact number.
2. The number of stars is finite (Isaiah 40:26). Although humans are unable to calculate the exact number of stars, God “counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name” (Psalm 147:4).
3. The Bible compares the number of stars with the number of grains of sand on the seashore: “As the stars of heaven in number, and innumerable as the sand which is on the seashore…” (Hebrews 11:12). Science confirms that the gross estimates of sand grains and number of stars are comparable.
4. The universe is expanding. Another example of the scientific accuracy of the Bible is that God “stretches out the heavens” (Zechariah 12:1) (Job 9:8; Isaiah 42:5; Jeremiah 51:15).
5. The Pleiades star cluster is gravitationally bound, while the Orion star cluster is disintegrating, because the gravity of the Orion is not enough to bind the group together. Four thousand years ago, God asked Job, “Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loose the belt of Orion?” (Job 38:31). Yet, it is only recently that we realized that the Pleiades is gravitationally bound, but Orion’s stars are flying apart.
Scientific accuracy: earth and sea
6. The Earth is round: “It is He who sits above the circle of the earth” (Isaiah 40:22).
It is not built on pillars. God “hangs the earth on nothing” (Job 26:7).
Scripture implies a revolving (spherical) earth, because Jesus said that at His return some would be asleep at night while others would be working at day time (Luke 17:34-36). This is a clear indication of a revolving earth, with day and night occurring simultaneously.
7. The continents were created as one large land mass. “Then God said, ‘Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear’; and it was so. God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas” (Genesis 1:9-10).
8. The Bible describes sea currents: “whatever passes through the paths of the seas” (Psalm 8:8). Matthew Maury, the father of oceanography, after reading Psalm 8, researched and discovered ocean currents that follow specific paths through the seas. Utilizing Maury’s data, marine navigators have since reduced by many days the time required to traverse the oceans.
9. Oceans contain springs: “Have you entered into the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep? (Job 38:16). Until recently, it was thought that oceans were fed only by rivers and rain. Yet in the 1970s, with the help of deep diving research submarines, oceanographers discovered springs on the ocean floors.
10. There are mountains on the bottom of the ocean floor as it is written: “Water encompassed me to the point of death. The great deep engulfed me, weeds were wrapped around my head. I descended to the roots of the mountains (Jonah 2:5-6). Only in the last century have we discovered that there are towering mountains and deep trenches in the depths of the sea.
Scientific accuracy: air and water
11. Air has weight: “He imparted weight to the wind” (Job 28:25). It was once thought that air was weightless. Yet 4,000 years ago Job declared that God established “a weight for the wind”. In recent years, meteorologists have calculated that the average thunderstorm holds thousands of tons of rain. To carry this load, air must have mass.
12. Jet streams were discovered. At a time when it was thought that winds blew straight, the Bible declares, “The wind goes toward the south, and turns around to the north; the wind whirls about continually, and comes again on its circuit” (Ecclesiastes 1:6). King Solomon wrote this about 3,000 years ago. Now consider this: it was not until World War II that airmen discovered the jet stream circuit.
13. Hydrological cycle described (Ecclesiastes 1:7; Amos 9:6). Four thousand years ago, the Bible declared that God “draws up drops of water, which distill as rain from the mist, which the clouds drop down and pour abundantly on man” (Job 36:27-28). The ancients observed mighty rivers flowing into the ocean, but they could not conceive why the sea level never rose. Though they observed rainfall, they had only quaint theories as to its origin. Meteorologists now understand that the hydrological cycle consists of evaporation, atmospheric transportation, distillation, and precipitation.
14. Clouds are formed from water vapor condensing on dust particles. “Who can count the clouds by wisdom, or tip the water jars of the heavens, when the dust hardens into a mass and the clods stick together?” (Job 38:37-38)
Scientific accuracy: medical knowledge
15. When dealing with disease, the clothes and body should be washed under running water as it is written: “he shall then wash his clothes and bathe his body in running water and will become clean” (Leviticus 15:13). For centuries people naively washed in standing water. Today we recognize the need to wash away germs with running water.
16. The Bible teaches how to treat human waste: “You shall also have a place outside the camp and go out there, and you shall have a spade among your tools, and it shall be when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and shall turn to cover up your excrement” (Deuteronomy 23:12-13). Thousands of years ago, God commanded His people to have a place outside the camp where they could relieve themselves. They were to each carry a shovel so that they could dig a hole (latrine) and cover their waste. Up until World War I, more soldiers died from disease than war, because they did not isolate human waste.
17. Medical quarantine was instituted: “He shall remain unclean all the days during which he has the infection; he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp” (Leviticus 13:46), (Numbers 5:1-4). Long before man understood the principles of quarantine, God commanded the Israelites to isolate those with a contagious disease until cured.
18. Blood is the source of life and health: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood” (Leviticus 17:11). Less than 200 years ago, sick people were “bled” and many died as a result (e.g. George Washington). Today we know that healthy blood is necessary to bring life-giving nutrients to every cell in the body. God declared that “the life of the flesh is in the blood” long before scientists understood its function.
19. Be careful of bodily discharges. God told the ancient Israelites: “When any man has a discharge from his body, his discharge is unclean… Also whoever touches the person with the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening” (Leviticus 15:2,7). We now know that many diseases are spread through bodily fluids and bodily discharges.
“When a woman has a discharge, if her discharge in her body is blood, she shall continue in her menstrual impurity for seven days… Whoever touches anything on which she sits shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening” (Leviticus 15:19,22). In general, a woman’s menstrual period can last from one to seven days. The Bible teaches these things not to shame anyone, but to help people follow rules that would keep them healthy. At a time when there were no medical gloves, the ancient Israelites who followed these rules avoided getting sick.
20. Circumcision on the eighth day is ideal: “And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations” (Genesis 17:12) (Leviticus 12:3; Luke 1:59). Medical science has discovered that the blood clotting chemical prothrombin peaks in a newborn on the eighth day.
21. The concept of waterborne disease is in the Bible: “If a part of their carcass falls on any seed for sowing which is to be sown, it is clean. Though if water is put on the seed and a part of their carcass falls on it, it is unclean to you” (Leviticus 11:37-38). We now know that disease from a dead animal can multiply in water. So a person could get sick handling seeds that have been contaminated this way.
22. Earthenware vessels should be smashed if contaminated: “However, an earthenware vessel which the person with the discharge touches shall be broken, and every wooden vessel shall be rinsed in water” (Leviticus 15:12). The reason is earthenware is too porous to be cleaned properly, so it cannot be used if it is contaminated.
Scientific accuracy: farming techniques
23. There was Bible knowledge of soil conservation: “When you reap the harvest of your land, moreover, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field nor gather the gleaning of your harvest; you are to leave them for the needy and the alien (Leviticus 23:22).
“You shall sow your land for six years and gather in its yield, but on the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, so that the needy of your people may eat; and whatever they leave the beast of the field may eat. You are to do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove” (Exodus 23:10-11).
Not only was the land to lay fallow every seventh year, but God also instructed farmers to leave the gleanings when reaping their fields, and not to reap the corners (or sides) of their fields.
This served several purposes:
- Vital soil minerals would be maintained by letting the land rest or lie fallow.
- The hedge row would limit wind erosion of the soil.
- The poor and animals could eat the gleanings.
Today, approximately four billion metric tons of soil are lost from U.S. crop lands each year. Much of this soil depletion could be avoided if God’s commands were followed.
Scientific accuracy: healthy diet
24. God gave healthy dietary laws to the Israelites. Scripture states sea creatures that do not have fins or scales should be avoided: “But whatever is in the seas and in the rivers that does not have fins and scales among all the teeming life of the water, and among all the living creatures that are in the water, they are detestable things to you, and they shall be abhorrent to you; you may not eat of their flesh” (Leviticus 11:10-11). We now know that bottom-feeders (those with no scales or fins) and many shellfish, crabs, and lobsters tend to consume and clean ocean waste.
25. The Bible warns against eating predatory birds: “These, moreover, you shall detest among the birds; they are abhorrent, not to be eaten: the eagle and the vulture and the buzzard, and the kite and the falcon in its kind, every raven in its kind, and the ostrich and the owl and the sea gull and the hawk in its kind, and the little owl and the cormorant and the great owl, and the white owl and the pelican and the carrion vulture, and the stork, the heron in its kinds, and the hoopoe, and the bat” (Leviticus 11:13-19).
Scientists now recognize that birds which eat carrion (putrefying flesh) often spread disease. Birds that eat flesh and blood can be carriers of disease. Even birds that consume fish accumulate toxic chemicals in their bodies as they feed abundantly on fish and clams in our increasingly toxic waters.
26. The Bible warns against eating predatory animals, but allows certain herbivores to be eaten: “Whatever divides a hoof, thus making split hoofs, and chews the cud, among the animals, that you may eat” (Leviticus 11:3). Carnivorous or omnivorous animals are prone to carry disease and were forbidden to be consumed by the Israelites.
27. Consumption of swine was also forbidden: “The pig, because it divides the hoof but does not chew the cud, it is unclean for you. You shall not eat any of their flesh nor touch their carcasses” (Deuteronomy 14:8). Not so long ago, scientists learned that eating undercooked pork causes an infection of parasites called trichinosis. Now consider this: the Bible forbade the eating of swine more than 3,000 years before we learned how to cook pork safely.
Scientific accuracy: snakes and men
28. Snakes do eat dust. They sample bits of dust on their forked tongues and present the dust to the sensory organs inside their mouths (Jacobson’s organ). In this way, snakes sample and smell dust. They quickly clean their tongues each time in order to repeat the process again and again.[2]
“The Lord God said to the serpent,
‘Because you have done this,
Cursed are you more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you will go,
And dust you will eat
All the days of your life…'” (Genesis 3:14)
29. God has created all mankind from one man: “He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth” (Acts 17:26). That means all humans are descended from one man, Adam (Genesis 5) and share the same blood. Today researchers have discovered that we have all descended from one gene pool. For example, a 1995 study of a section of Y chromosomes from 38 men from different ethnic groups around the world was consistent with the biblical teaching that we all come from one man.[3] For further study, see this article on Genetics and Biblical Demographic Events.
Conclusion
God’s rules are good for us to follow. Just as there are physical laws that govern the universe, so there are spiritual laws that govern our lives. Most people do not recklessly defy physical laws by jumping out of an airplane without a parachute. So we should not defy spiritual laws by living our lives without Christ.
“He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” (John 3:36)
[1] Eternal Productions. (2016, October 30). 101 Scientific Facts and Knowledge. Retrieved from www.eternal-productions.org/101science.html.
[2] Wieland, Carl. (1988, September). Snakes do eat dust! Retrieved from https://creation.com/snakes-do-eat-dust.
[3] Dorit, R.L., Akashi, H. and Gilbert, W. 1995. Absence of polymorphism at the ZFY locus on the human Y chromosome. Science 268:1183–1185.
Many of the above points are excerpts from eternal-productions.org/101science.html. Source and credits to Eternal Productions.
See Evidence for Creation to learn about intelligent design.