Sermon | Scientific Foreknowledge in the Bible

1. Matthew Fontaine Maury “Pathfinder of the Seas”

1) Born in 1806. Entered U.S. Navy in 1925.

2) After injury devoted life to study of Oceanography. Published several books on the subject.

3) “I have been blamed by men of science, both in this country and in England, for quoting the Bible in confirmation of the doctrines of physical geography. The Bible, they say, was not written for scientific purposes, and is therefore no authority in matters of science. I beg pardon! The Bible is authority for everything it touches. What would you think of an historian who should refuse to consult historical records of the Bible, because the Bible was not written for the purposes of history? The Bible is true and science is true” Lewis, Charles Lee (1927), Matthew Fontaine Maury: The Pathfinder of the Seas (Annapolis, MD: United States Naval Institute, 1969 reprint by AMS Press, New York).

4) On a statue honoring his memory Psalm 8:8 is cited.

2. What is so significant about Psalm 8:8?

1) In the context, the Psalmist is considering the greatness of God’s creation.

2) The Psalmist is lauding how God created man to have dominion.

3) One of the things over which man has dominion is over “Whatsoever passes through the paths of the sea.”

4) It is this expression that is significant.

5) Maury acknowledged the authority of this expression and in so doing it aided him in his oceanographic efforts.

6) How could David have known that there were “paths in the sea” without inspiration?

1. Ecclesiastes 1:7 states, “All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.”

1) This is a basic understanding of what we call “The Water Cycle.”

2) Waters from rivers flow into the ocean.

a. The Mississippi dumps 6,052,500 gallons of water per second into the Gulf of Mexico.

b. Yet the sea is not full.

3) The ocean evaporates.

4) Water returns to land in the form of clouds.

5) The water returns to the rivers in the form of precipitation.

2. The idea of a complete water cycle.

1) The idea was not developed until the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

2) First proposed by Pierre Perrault and Edme Mariotte.

3) How could the writers of the Bible know 2000 years prior to this work?

1. The size of the ark.

1) The design of the ark was to be 300 cubits long by 50 cubits wide by 30 cubits high.

2) This is a ratio of 30 to 5 to 3.

3) It was 450 feet long by conservative measurements.

4) It was the largest sea going vessel ever recorded prior to 1858.

2. Modern Shipbuilding

1) In 1844 Isambard K. Brunnel built the Great Britain. It’s dimensions were the same as the ark’s: 30 to 5 to 3.

2) These dimensions are the perfect ratio for a seaworthy vessel.

3) Shipbuilders during the 2nd World War used these dimensions to build ships.

4) How did Noah know the perfect dimensions for a large sea going vessel?

5) He had no previous experience upon which to draw.

1. God told Job in Job 38:16 ” Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?”

2. Springs of the sea.

1) Oceanographic maps show springs in the ocean.

2) How could the writer of the book know?

3) They had no instruments, equipment, or devices to discover such.

3. Recesses/Trenches of the deep.

1) In previous centuries, man considered the oceans to be relatively shallow.

2) Today we know that the Atlantic and Pacific oceans have trenches in them.

3) How could the writers have know such without the means to discover it?

1. Moses wrote to the children of Israel that the life of the flesh was in the blood.

2. This is literally true.

1) Our blood carries oxygen, removes waste, carries nutrients and many other things that sustain man’s life.

2) Each red blood cell carries 270,000,000 molecules of hemoglobin.

3. Yet, the men and women who founded this country thought that men could be cured from disease by bleeding them.

4. Many died from being bled until they couldn’t sustain their own life.

5. Yet the answer was in Leviticus 17:11-14 all the time. Without blood, you die.

6. How did Moses know such?

1. In Genesis 3:15 we are told that woman has a “seed.”

2. In past years many thought that the woman was no more than an “incubator” for man’s seed.

3. We know today that it takes both male and female to produce offspring.

1. The Israelites were forbidden to eat the flesh of swine.

2. This was one of their dietary laws.

3. Pigs are scavengers; they eat just about anything they come across.

4. In so doing they pick up different organisms like:

1) Trichinella spiralis, which is the cause of trichinosis.

2) The tapewormTaenia solium

3) The parasite Echinococcus granulosis, which causes tumors in the liver, lungs.

5. Uncooked swine flesh can be very harmful to humans.

6. The Mosaic dietary restrictions were remarkable in their preventative powers.

7. How did Moses compile such a list of dietary restrictions designed to keep Israel healthy?

1. The common practice was to just throw the waste into the street or whatever place one could find.

2. We know that bubonic plague results from such unsanitary behavior.

3. There are other diseases as well that come about as a result of this.

4. Today we bury our waste, but Moses knew that many years ago. How?

1. God commanded circumcision to be on the eighth day. Why not sooner or later?

2. It has been shown medically that the eighth day is when the human body produces the most vitamin K.

3. What does it do? It helps the body form blood clots which is important in surgical procedures.

4. If that vitamin was not present, then the baby would bleed to death.

5. But it is on this day that the level of the vitamin is naturally the highest due to the action of naturally occurring bacteria in the intestinal tract.

6. It is on that day that God said to circumcise.

7. How would Abraham have know this? Only the creator could have known it.

1. The text says, “if a man do, he shall live in them.”

2. Profligate sexual activity carries disease and death.

3. Procreation with close kin produces sick and diseased offspring.

4. Exodus 15:26 “none of these diseases.”

5. How did Moses know that following such standards of sexual conduct would provide life?