Author: Helen Man
My family and I have recently visited the Museum of the Bible. It was a fantastic experience. With the support of more than fifty thousand loving Christians, including the CEO of Hobby Lobby, Steve Green, and his family built this museum. It took six years to build this museum, and it finally made its grand opening to the public in 2017. The museum‘s 430,000-square-foot building is just three blocks from the US Capitol in Washington, DC. The Museum is one of the world’s most technologically advanced and engaging museums. It showcases rare and fascinating artifacts and items spanning 4,000 years of history and offers visitors an immersive and personalized experience with the Bible.
When you push open the 40-foot-high bronze door carved in Hebrew words and step into the magnificent lobby, you will immediately feel the indescribable atmosphere of majesty. Colorful digital screens would surround you on the ceilings and in the elevators.
The museum displays 40,000 rare Bible manuscripts and biblical treasures, including fragments of The Dead Sea Scrolls, the ancient Torah scrolls, and the first edition of the Bible. There are also replicas reflecting the time of Jesus in the first century of Nazareth.
You may watch a movie that “drives you through history” by clearly describing the life of Hebrew people in the Bible.
You can learn about spiritual heroes such as Billy Graham from the U.S. and Watchman Nee from China. In addition, children are motivated to learn about the Bible through games.
So what kind of book is the Bible? What does it mean to us?
A few fascinating and unique facts about the Bible came to my mind.
CAREFULLY STRUCTURED
Old Testament: There are 39 books in total, divided into four categories: Law (17 books), History books, Poetry (or Wisdom books) (5 books), and Prophets (17 books)
New Testament: A total of 27 books, divided into different categories:
- The Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.
- History Book – Acts of the Apostles.
- Paul’s Epistles – Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon.
- Other Epistles – Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude.
- The Book of Revelation.
ALL SCRIPTURE IS GOD-BREATHED BEYOND TIME & SPACE
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news…” (Isaiah 61:1). More than 40 authors wrote the 66 books of the Bible over more than 1600 years. The Old Testament started in 1440BC, mainly written in Hebrew, with a small portion in Aramaic. Yet the New Testament ended in 397AD and was written in Greek. The Old Testament had completed hundreds of years before Jesus was born, and the New Testament began after Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. The central theme of the Bible is to demonstrate the great love of God and the salvation of Jesus Christ.
The authors had different backgrounds and vocations, including kings, politicians, priests, philosophers, lawyers, tax officers, fishermen, doctors, and prophets. They wrote each book of the Bible independently at a different time and place, including the prison in Rome and Patmos Island. The authors did not know that the books would be assembled later into one anthology, namely the Bible. Though the periods of many books are so far apart, the books are cohesive, consistent, and free of error as a whole.
The underlying theme resounds throughout the whole Bible over 3,000 times: All Scripture is God-breathed by the only true God who created the universe.
PROPHECIES FULFILLED ONE BY ONE
“For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as the Holy Spirit carried them along.” (2 Peter 2:21). No biblical prophecies come from anyone’s interpretation. Some authors of the Bible did not even understand the content because they wrote about things that would happen many generations later.
The Bible is a book of accurate prophecies from God as each occurrence unfolds in time. For example, empires such as Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome rose and fell, as foretold in the Book of Daniel, written 2,700 years ago.
Later, the prophecies were fulfilled, one by one. That’s God’s revelation. The prediction concerning the present and the future would be fulfilled. Jesus Christ said 2,000 years ago: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.” (Matt 24:7-8).
Aren’t we facing these adversities today?
PROFOUNDLY DEEP YET EASY TO UNDERSTAND
So many great scholars and theologians have devoted their whole lives to studying the Bible, but they haven’t been able to understand and discover all the mysteries. On the other hand, the Bible is so simple and easy that everyone, including children, illiterates, and of all walks of life, can understand the true meaning of the Bible. The Bible is timeless and boundaryless.
LIFE-CHANGING & LIFE-SAVING
The Bible is so alive and practical. Once we know the love of God, we, like many others, would treasure the Bible and love it for a lifetime; the more we read it, the more we love it. That’s amazing grace.
The Bible can change a life. The Old Testament prophesied Christ, and the New Testament manifests Christ. The Bible says in John 1:14: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Whoever is moved by the Holy Spirit would confess his sins, accept the salvation of Jesus Christ, and have eternal life as a new person. As the bible says in Ephesians 4:23-24, “to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” People who knew this person before would admire and be amazed by his changes as a new person.
WITHSTANDING IN TEST OF TIME
The content of the Bible is all-encompassing and unassailable. It includes everything from science, astronomy, physics, and meteorology to medical truth. As time goes on, the more we learn about God’s creation through modern science, the more we prove the greatness and perfection of God’s creation. No wonder the Bible is the world’s most distributed and translated book. It has printed more than 30 million copies every year and 438 languages.
The Bible has been the most persecuted book from the ancient Roman Empire, and so is today. It was burned and destroyed, and Christians were killed, boiled, and eaten by lions. Yet the Bible is unbeatable.
Lastly, while reflecting on the museum, my heart is deeply touched. The Bible is the Word of God, a life handbook to show God’s love and save us. Let everyone in the world read it and treasure it. May the Holy Spirit, the author of the Bible, fill us like a spring of living water so that we can live our lives to please God.