Testimony, documentary and physical evidence provide the means by which truth is established and when that evidence is consistent over time and space, the conclusion is compelling.
I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, And there was no foreign god among you; Therefore you are My witnesses,” Says the LORD, “that I am God.
ISAIAH 43:12
Throughout the course of history people have spoken of God. They would tell of how, by His Spirit He would speak with them to encourage them, guide them and inform them of His future plan for all of humanity: that at the appointed time the anointed one would come into the world, God Himself manifested as a human being so all who receive Him would be blessed by Him forever. Written in different forms by different people in different places at different times, accounts of Him would affirm the same message: that God was the almighty, all powerful creator of heaven and earth, the source of all goodness and life and God of love and compassion who desired all to know Him and be with Him. Those who received Him would be blessed by His goodness however those who rejected Him would suffer at His loss.
Genealogies, treaty, registries, inventories, chronicles, stories, songs, poems, proverbs and prophecies would provide accounts of a people through whom God would be made known to the world with direct sources from inscriptions, artefacts and similar accounts from other people groups and a consistent level of period specific correlation with indirect sources gleaned from cultural traditions known to date positioning the accounts within history’s timeline.1
Traced back to the first man and woman, ancestral listings would reveal the progressive decline in lifespan as a result of humanity’s separation from God. Primary people groups were defined as the human population increased and a lineage tracing individuals who believed in God identified from whom a people called God’s people would emerge through whom the anointed one would come.
Treaty or covenant recorded an agreement between God and His people detailing manner of worship and code of ethics and behaviour as distinct from those of the people groups surrounding them and God’s blessing in accordance with adherence to those requirements creating the means by which relationship would be established between what God said, what the people who looked for reward from their efforts did and His blessing. This later served as testimony against the people when they rejected Him to worship other gods whilst still proclaiming Him as their God and themselves as His people whom He would provide for and protect.
Registries defined tribal groups among the people and leaders within those groups and identified individuals and their respective skill sets in accordance with labor contribution associated with the people’s worship of God. Detailed land distributions allocated property to each group in the land which the people were to take possession of as specified in the covenant with care and usage of the land, also specified in the covenant. Inventories provided detailed accounts of materials used for construction of a place of worship, recorded individual and tribal offerings made to God and goods acquired as a result of His blessing.
Chronicles recorded the reign of their kings, the king’s activities and consequence of those activities in accordance with the covenant while stories, songs, poems and proverbs provided personal accounts of experiences with God, the expressions of joy, reverence and awe at the revelation of Him and His goodness and anguish of heart over humanity’s plight as a result of its separation from Him.
Visions from God, proclamations of what He said and His intended action in reference to the covenant, confirmed by the subsequent fulfilment of those acts according to the parameters expounded within the prophecy were recorded and reiterated repeatedly to turn those of God’s people who rejected Him back to Him, to affirm His future plan for humanity and to reveal to the world that He is God and that what He says comes to pass.
So God’s people would wait for the anointed one through whom humanity would be blessed. From the records they would know Him when He comes, His birthplace and the events surrounding His birth, His lineage, where He would manifest Himself to the world, what He would do, what He would say and how He would be received.
Time passes and in accordance with the records, a man declares the anointed one has come. He identifies Jesus from Nazareth who starts performing supernatural acts of healing, deliverance and provision and proclaims God and His blessing for all through Him, also in accordance with the records. People wonder if He is the one who is to come however there are some who don’t believe. They cite Bethlehem as the place recorded where He would come from and King David as His lineage rather than His parents who were everyday people of whom they knew. But they didn’t take into account all the information concerning Him, that He was born in Bethlehem and that His mother’s husband’s ancestry was of King David.
Through Jesus’ words and works many believed in Him but there were some who said He deceived the people and had a demon. This however contradicted the records that said He would heal the sick, set the captives free and declare God’s blessing for the world through Him. Even after performing supernatural acts of healing, deliverance and provision they would ask for a sign from Him so they could believe, rejecting the physical evidence in order to maintain their own ways whilst proclaiming God as their God like their ancestors did.
Many recorded what Jesus said and did and although varied in representation of the material, the testimony remained the same.23 Accounts of the period after His death, resurrection and ascension back to heaven and to date4567 recorded the effect His sacrifice had on those who received His testimony. People would speak of a heartfelt desire to know God and be with Him and although not everyone knew the records concerning Him, they would testify of receiving God’s Spirit, affirmed by communication with Him in accordance with who He had revealed Himself to be and of supernatural manifestations of healing, deliverance and provision, all in accordance with the records. Letters were also written to affirm Him and encourage those who had received His testimony amidst struggles with their own contrary nature and with those who had rejected Him and were coming against them.
The volume of accounts, variety of sources and consistency over time and space make for a robust body of knowledge concerning God. Varying conclusions have been drawn regarding the accounts however when all the information is considered, the conclusion remains the same: that God is the almighty, all powerful creator of heaven and earth, the source of all goodness and life and God of love and compassion who has come to the earth as a human being so all may know Him and be with Him. Through many peoples, cultures, periods and places, testimony has been consistently transmitted and supernaturally confirmed declaring that what God has said since the beginning of time has come to pass and continues to come to pass in the lives of all who receive Him.
Notes
1. Kitchen, K.A. On the Reliability of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: William B Eerdmans Publishing, 2006), 499-500.
2. France, R.T. The Evidence for Jesus (Vancouver: Regent College Publishing, 2006), 133-137.
3. Bruce, F.F. The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? (Nottingham: Inter-Varsity Press, 2000), 41.
4. #ineverystep, Issuu, accessed May 21, 2018, https://issuu.com/ineverystep
5. “Praise Reports,” JosephPrince.com Blog, accessed May 8, 2018, http://blog.josephprince.com/category/praise-reports/
6. Osteen, D. “He Sent His Word to Heal,” Joel Osteen Ministries, accessed May 6, 2018, https://www.joelosteen.com/Pages/Article.aspx?articleid=6485
7. Hayford, J. “My Personal Testimony of Healing,” Jack Hayford Ministries, accessed May 6, 2018, https://www.jackhayford.org/teaching/articles/my-personal-testimony-of-healing/