The new Bible Helps article presents evidence for the Old Testament that would, we hope, challenge a skeptic to consider that the Old Testament is true and reliable in all that it claims. For the believer in Jesus Christ, one of the most important reasons to believe the Old Testament is because Jesus Himself believed that the Old Testament is true.
There are some scholars today who would dismiss much of the Old Testament as historically inaccurate. They hold that many Old Testament stories were embellished over time so that while they teach great moral truth, they are not actual historical events. Such views contrast sharply with the view of Jesus, who often referred to Old Testament people and events as really existing in history.
Here are a few things Jesus said about the Old Testament:
Jesus spoke of God creating man and woman (Matthew 19:4).
Jesus referred to the murder of Abel as a historical reality (Luke 11:51).
Jesus said that Noah entered into the ark and a flood came and destroyed the world (Luke 17:26-27).
Jesus believed in the existence of Abraham (Mark 12:26-27; John 8:58).
Jesus said that Sodom was destroyed by fire and brimstone from heaven (Luke 17:29).
Jesus spoke of Moses giving the Law to Israel (John 7:19).
On one occasion Jesus named David as the author of Psalm 110 (Mark 12:36).
Jesus put the three days that Jonah spent in the whale’s belly on equal historical footing with His own three days in the tomb (Matthew 12:40).
Jesus accepted Daniel as the prophet who uttered the predictions contained in the book of Daniel (Mark 13:14).
An unbeliever once asked me if I believed that Noah’s ark was real. When I said that I did, he threw back his head and laughed. Let them laugh. I am content, knowing that our Lord affirmed these events to be true. For more evidence, read “Evidence for the Reliability of the Old Testament.”
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