Why read a bestseller?

The Bible is arguably the most widely available book, published in more languages than any other book and yet one of the least read books.  Why should it be a bestseller?  Why should it be the best read bestseller?

In this brief article we aim to give a few of the compelling reasons.

Reasons to Read this Bestseller

Open the Bible with an open mind and its reliability comes to the fore.  We will consider archaeology and history to illustrate what you can find in the Bible.

Archaeology

In the nineteenth century, critics of the Bible questioned its accuracy - where for example was Babylon and more particularly, where was there any evidence (outside of the Bible) of the king of Babylon named Nebuchadnezzar?  The Bible explains why it did take a long time to find the evidence:

"And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.   It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation..."

Isaiah 13:19-20

But once the city was found, the bricks of the massive Ishtar Gate and its surroundings testified to the existence of the king - his name imprinted on thousands of bricks.  If you want the evidence, go to the British Museum.  The Bible was right!

History

Using the Bible as a historical reference book is one thing - but what about using it as a book that tells history in advance?

There are many examples that we could quote, but we will stick with Nebuchadnezzar.

The record in the prophecy of Daniel (chapter 2) records that the king had a dream - but could not remember what it was.

So worried by this event was he, that the king called all his advisers together and demanded an explanation - and he put their lives on the line! 

The Dream That Told The Future

The upshot of all the activity was that one of the young men that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem was given the knowledge of the dream and its meaning (by God)The king had dreamt of a great statue - head of gold, chest and arms of silver, midriff of bronze, legs of iron and feet of an iron/clay mix.  The statue met its end by being hit in the feet by a stone that was cut out of the mountains by no visible means.

The young man, Daniel, went on to give the meaning.  The king was the head of gold; the other metals represented subsequent, inferior kingdoms or empires and their characteristics are described in Daniel chapter 2.  Consideration of what is to us history, shows that the silver represented the Greek Empire, the bronze is the Medo-Persian Empire and the iron, the Roman Empire, which degenerated into an unstable mix of nations, reflecting the poor bonding of an iron/clay mix.

History before it happened!  But the story is not complete for Daniel explained the ‘feet’ period (and we can be sure this will happen too):

"And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever."

Daniel 2:44

With evidence like this from history and archaeology, surely the Bible is worth reading and learning from!