Possibly the rarest book in the world--one of Wycliffe's original Bibles.
How the Bible Got Its Name
IT was my privilege recently to visit the town that gave the Bible its name. Few Christians know how and from where the Bible received its name. The word “Bible” means “the Book, and it is certainly well named, for there is no book in the history of the world that has been so important.
It has not only been the most loved and the most hated of all books, but also no book or collection of books in the history of mankind has had such attentive reading. Has had such a wide circulation, or has had such diligent investigation as have the Old and New Testaments. This wonderful Book has survived the extinction of the ancient world and the Roman Empire; it was the first book printed by movable type; its sale has increased all the time, even in the times of business depression. In fact, as we shall notice, even its very enemies circulated it and they bear witness to its truthfulness and its power.
This Book has not only altered individual lives; it has even changed empires. It is well named THE Book, the Bible.
Now, this Book, the Bible, receives its name from the little town of Byblos, an ancient city of Phoenicia. It lies about seventeen miles to the north of the present town of Beirut in Lebanon. Some 2,000 years before Christ it was the principal city of the Phoenicians. It was the center of their worship of the sun.
Some authorities claim it is the oldest city in the world. Long before the time of Sidon or Tyre, Byblos was a great commercial center, and the sacred city of the Phoenicians. The Biblical name of this ancient city is still preserved in the name of the city that occupies the site. If you open your Bibles at Psalm 83: 7 you will read there of Gebal. That is the ancient name of the town that became known as Byblos.
You see, the Greek people were unable to pronounce the letter ‘g,’ and so instead of Gebal they called it Bebal, or Bebaal, for it was there that Baal worship, or sun worship, found its center among the ancient Phoenicians. Later on the Egyptians captured Bebal.
Now the Egyptians are said to be the first people to manufacture and use writing paper. It was made from a reed that grew in abundance along the marshes of the delta of the Nile. From the Greek names of this plant ‘papyrus’ and ‘byblos’ the words ‘paper’ and ‘Bible’ have been derived.
The fibrous inside lining of the plant was cut lengthwise in thin strips and laid side by side. Over these were laid at right angles another layer of these strips. After being treated with a gum solution, the sheets were pounded and pressed, dried in the sun, and became the famous writing paper of ancient times.
While these paper reeds were still growing in abundance along the Nile delta a remarkable Bible prophecy was made. You will read it in Isaiah 19: 7: “The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more.” True to this remarkable prediction, the paper reeds have long since * disappeared from Egypt.
When the Egyptians captured Bebal they planted the papyrus reeds there, and they grew very well. Later on, because of political upheavals, the export of the paper reeds from Egypt was cut off, and the Greeks had to receive it from Bebal. The paper that they received from Bebal became known as “Bebal,” or “Byblos” and hence the word “Bible,” the Book, The Bible.
You will notice in Psalm 83 and verse 7 that Gebal is mentioned as one of the enemies that were uniting against the people of God and His truth. They were determined to wipe the name of the God of Israel from the face of the earth, but they themselves were ultimately destroyed. The tongueless ruins of the cities of these nations mentioned in this scripture, namely, the Edomites, the Moabites, the Ammonites, and the city of Tyre, are but mute and amazing testimony to the truthful ness of the Bible.
I have visited these places and seen Bible prophecies fulfilled to the very letter. Even the enemies of the Bible witness to its God-inspired message. Truly as it says in Psalm 76: 10: “Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee.” Gebal or Byblos, one of the enemies seeking to destroy God’s name, has provided the name of God’s Book.
Byblos once was also the center of sun worship, the great counterfeit of the truth of God. I saw there the ancient altars on which human sacrifices were offered to the sun. Today they are but curios.
Yes, the Bible, Byblos, THE Book, is more than a Book, it is the greatest of books; it is the Book of the ages; it is God’s Book; it has weathered the storms of the ages and overthrown all its enemies. While the dust of over thirty centuries lies upon its pages, still this precious old Book, the Bible, lives. It speaks today to the sons of earth in over eleven hundred different languages-from the highlands of New Guinea to the side-walks of New York. It tells to all the, same sweet story, the story of a love that led Christ to die for man.
As the Bible, the Book, transcends all others, it reveals our Lord Jesus Christ who likewise transcends all others. While He appeared to die in weakness, He affected this world more by His death than any other man did by his life. This so impressed the great Napoleon that he exclaimed: “You speak of Caesar, Alexander, of their conquests, of the enthusiasm they kindled in the hearts of their soldiers, but can you conceive of a dead man making conquests with an army faithful and entirely devoted to his memory?
My army has forgotten me while living. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself have founded empires, but on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus alone founded His empire upon love, and at this hour millions of men would die for Him. I have so inspired multitudes that they would die for me, but, after all, my presence was necessary-the lightning of my eye, my voice, a word from me-then the sacred fire was kindled in their hearts. Now that I am on St. Helena alone, chained upon this rock, who fights and wins empires for me? What an abyss between my deep misery and the eternal reign of Christ who is proclaimed, loved, adored, and whose reign is extending over all the earth.”
And so it is, a public life that lasted but three and a half years ended with a death of shame at the early age of thirty three, yet even today, nearly 2,000 years later, it is swaying a world’s history and destiny. Why? Because He was God manifest in the flesh. (1 Timothy 3: 16.) He became the Savior of the world, the only Savior, as we read in Acts 4: 12: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
What a wonderful Book is the Bible! What a wonderful Savior is Jesus! What a wonderful salvation He offers!
Just recently I had the privilege of visiting many ancient countries. I want to tell you more of the remarkable way that Bible prophecy has come true. Holy men of God spoke as they were moved to write the pages of Holy Writ. (2 Peter 1:21) The ancient peoples, who were so opposed to the righteousness and the teachings of our God, have been used to confirm the truthfulness of the Bible they opposed. For today Edom, Moab, Ammon, the land of the Philistines, the old city of Tyre, are in the exact condition that the Bible 2,500 years ago said they would be in. The stones cry out in confirmation of the truthfulness of the Bible, and Gebal, one of those powers in opposition to God, He has taken and used to provide the name for His wonderful Book, the Bible.
Like the Bible, the written Word which “lives and abides for ever” (1 Peter 1: 23), Jesus is the One who is “alive for evermore.” (Revelation 1: 18.) Yes! He is a living Savior. In 2 Corinthians 5: 17 we read: “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.” He has a new life from our living Savior. How does Christ do it? I don’t know, but I do know it works. There is so little we do know about the wonders of our God. No one can explain how it is that a black cow can eat green grass which makes white milk that produces yellow butter.
Or consider the remarkable transformation that takes place when a caterpillar encases itself in its own home-made casket and is changed into a beautiful butterfly. Its hair is changed to scales, a million to the square inch. The many legs of a caterpillar become the six legs of a butterfly, the yellow becomes a beautiful red, and the crawling instinct of the caterpillar becomes the flying instinct of the butterfly.
Or consider how God can take common and unattractive sandy material, and through natural processes transform it into a beautiful fiery opal. And so our Savior can take the life of a sinner and transform it until it glows with the beauty of our Lord and is fragrant with the graces of Christ.
The Voice of Certainty
FOR centuries, before Sir Thomas More wrote his “Utopia,” men and women, weary with the burden and tragedy of life, have longed for an ideal world. To this day that longing persists and deepens in the heart of mankind. Who has not in his moments of idealism dreamed of a world where war and conflict will be no more; where division and separation will no longer exist; where happiness, justice, and righteousness shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea?
In the not far-distant future such a happy state is to become the inheritance of countless thousands now living on the earth. And this conviction does not proceed from a mere guess or opinion, but it is based on the sure word of Bible prophecy. The Scriptures predict a golden age to come, and assure us that it is not remote.
Now, the question is, can Bible prophecy be relied upon? Yes, friends, because it is not merely the guess of man. It is actually the foreknowledge of the living God. How do we know? To man the future is an impenetrable wall. One can as easily resurrect the dead from the grave as give a certain outline of the next year in the history of the world.
When Solomon declared, “Thou knows not what a day may bring forth,” he affirmed a truth too obvious to he challenged by even the most militant skeptic. And yet, man yearns for a knowledge of the future. Because of this craving the palm reader, the fortune teller, and the astrologer do a thriving business. Each of us has an inborn longing to see ahead, but tomorrow baffles us.
With all the vaunted advancement and knowledge of this marvelous twentieth century, we are no nearer fathoming the future than were the ancients. It still remains mysterious.
Man’s extremity is Gods opportunity, and the inability of man serves only to contrast the infinite ability of our God. Whereas the future is absolutely sealed to man, it is an open volume to God. He can portray it even more vividly and more accurately than the historian can write the past. In this attribute of foreknowledge is found one of the characteristics of the God of the Bible, the one that distinguishes Him from the legions of false gods. It really is the acid test of, His divinity. On this score He issues the ringing challenge found in Isaiah 41:22,23:
“Let them bring them forth, and show us what shall happen: let them show the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods.”
And again in Isaiah 46:9,10 He says: I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done.”
Here, then, is absolute proof that God is God. It affixes a seal to His divinity that cannot be counterfeited. It raises the God of the Bible to a height of omniscience, so far beyond human perceptions that no man, no matter how militantly agnostic he may be, has ever attempted to disprove God on the basis of prophecy. Even in these days of questioning and unbelief in the Bible and in revealed religion, Bible prophecy stands unchallenged and unimpeachable.
Notice some of the predictions that were made regarding mighty Babylon and its fall, one of the most remarkable of which is that concerning Cyrus the Great. The prophet Isaiah, who outlined the work of Cyrus, was born in the first half of the eighth century before Christ, about the year 760 BC. And Cyrus was born early in the sixth century about 599 BC, or nearly a century and a half later. Any encyclopaedia or Bible dictionary will substantiate these dates.
Inasmuch, then, as Isaiah had made all his prophecies and was dead before Cyrus was born, it is obvious that the prophet did not write after the history had occurred, but moved by the inspiration of God, he revealed the work of Cyrus long in advance. Notice what Isaiah wrote:
“That said of Cyrus, He is My shepherd, and shall perform all My pleasure: even saying to ‘Jerusalem, Thou shall be built. and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid. Thus said the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, to subdue nations before him. And I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two hinged gates; and the gates shall not be shut. I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight. I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: and I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou may know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob My servant’s sake, and Israel Mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou has not known Me.” Isaiah 44:28-45:4.
Now you will notice that Cyrus was named more than a century before he was born, and that he was to order the building of Jerusalem and especially the temple there. Doors and gates were to be opened before Cyrus, and the treasures of darkness and the hidden riches of the secret places would fall to him.
What are the facts? Any history of ancient time tells us that there arose during the time of the Babylonian captivity of the Jews, a mighty warrior and general, who was known in history as Cyrus the Great. And through his leadership the Babylonian Empire was overthrown by the Medo-Persian armies. History also witnesses to the fact that Cyrus, in the first year of his reign issued a decree that the temple of Jerusalem should be ‘rebuilt, and that all the Jews who cared to, might return to their native land. Not only this, but he even sent back the vessels of the temple that were taken away by Nebuchadnezzar. And further, he contributed large sums of money toward the building materials for the restoration of Jerusalem.
Mark well the fact, that all this was predicted by Isaiah more than a century before Cyrus was born. I want to go even further. I want to amplify all this with other prophecies concerning the same event, all of which constitute an incontrovertible testimony to the scrupulous accuracy of Bible prophecy.
For example, Isaiah predicted in the captivity of Babylon that Elam should be joined with Media. You will read that in Isaiah 21, verses 2-9. Yet, only until a very short time before Babylon fell, Elam was one of the most loyal Babylonian provinces. When the victorious Cyrus, at the head of the Medes, began to spread his conquest, the Elamites revolted and joined the forces of Cyrus, and in the spring of the year 539 BC the two peoples started their march on Babylon. The Elamites are later known in history as the Persians, and their union formed the great Medo-Persian empire.
Now when Isaiah made his prophecy of the two peoples uniting against Babylon, there was no appearance in the world that would warrant such a prediction. But our God sees beyond superficial appearances and apparent probabilities. He can read the future. The past, the present, and the future are alike known to Him.
Note another interesting prophetic detail concerning the march of Cyrus on Babylon, as given by Jeremiah. About the year 597 BC or some fifty-nine years before Babylon was taken, Jeremiah sent a letter to Babylon. You will read about it in Jeremiah 50 and 51. This predicted the overthrow of the city.
Addressing the Hebrew captives, the prophet gave them a sign that they might know the time of the approaching destruction of the city. We read in Jeremiah 51: 46: “And lest your heart faint, and you fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.” In other words a rumour of the city’s destruction was to come one year, and the city would be destroyed the next.
Let us see if history fulfilled the prophecy. Herodotus, the Greek historian, tells us, Book 1, chapters 189 and 190, that Cyrus had started in the spring of 539 expecting to march directly on BabyIon. When, however, he reached the River Gyndes, one of his sacred horses was drowned in the stream, and Cyrus, infuriated because of the loss, stopped for months to dig 360 channels, there diverting the river and spreading it out over the plain. This delayed his destruction of Babylon until the next year, 538 BC.
What a peculiar and wonderful fulfillment of Jeremiah’s fore view! God foresees even the unexpected happenings, and He fits them all into His master plan for the future.
Approximately one-fourth of the Bible is prophetic, and there are over a thousand distinct and separate Bible prophecies recorded. How unique are the Scriptures! In the Koran of the Moslems, there is no prophecy. In the classics of Confucius, no prophecy. In the Vedas of the Hindus, no prophecy. The Bible is the only Book out of all the millions written by men and women of all ages, that reveals the future.
The Bible is the one Book in the world that contains God’s foreknowledge. In this respect it stands without a rival and without a peer. And just as the ability to forecast the future infallibly is the hallmark of the true God, so the fact that this foreknowledge is given to us only in the Bible marks it as the Book that is divinely inspired. No man, no matter how learned, can give us an inkling of the future. So the Bible, in outlining history in advance, could not possibly be the work of man, but only of God Himself, as it is so, well stated in 2 Peter 1:21: “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man. But holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
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