A young traveler recently picked up my book Dinosaurs and the Bible from a convenience store and read the introduction to his friends. The group included Christians and atheists, so the topic sparked quite a discussion. Some objected to my statement “In studying creation materials, I found real evidence that the Bible, not the words of fallible humans, conveys truthful world history.”1 Scoffers in the group insisted that the Bible itself was written by fallible humans. Were they right, or was God involved in writing the Bible, including Genesis?
To find out, one could look for signs of fallible human authorship, like place names or people names that don’t match other reliable historical sources. The Table of Nations in Genesis 10 and 11 is loaded with people and place names. Historian Bill Cooper wrote, “I spent more than 25 years digging into the Table of Nations, looking for a fault, an error, a false statement, or an historical inaccuracy. I found not one.”2
In addition to historical accuracy, Genesis contains the unmistakably divine signature of fulfilled prophecies. How could uninspired fallible men have foretold future events? In Genesis 3, God forewarned the Serpent that he would bruise the heel of the woman’s Seed (descendant), but that descendant would bruise the Serpent’s head, implying a death blow.3 When the Spirit of God conceived the Lord Jesus in Mary’s womb over 4,000 years later, He fulfilled the part of the prophecy that mentioned the Seed of the woman.4 The serpent bruised the Lord Jesus’ heel when He suffered crucifixion for our sins.5 Revelation 20:10 glimpses the future time when the Lord Jesus will bruise the serpent’s head and destroy him.
God embedded a prophecy into His post-Flood promise to Noah, saying, “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.”6 We get a reminder of God’s faithfulness and the Bible’s veracity when we watch the seasons unfold every year.
The apostle Paul explains how a prophecy God spoke to Abraham continues to be fulfilled, saying, “And the Scripture [Genesis 12:3], foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, ‘In you all the nations shall be blessed.’ So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.”7 Other passages reinforce the “all the nations” aspect of this Genesis prophecy,8 and even now the gospel is going out into all the world, blessing people and changing lives.
Finally, God confirmed the Genesis 3 promised seed for each generation of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.9 Then Jacob prophesied, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah…until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people,” indicating that one of Judah’s descendants would become the long-awaited King of all.10 Christ, the King, was a descendant of Judah, just as Genesis prophesied.11
Because Jesus, other biblical people and events, and even those who today trust God’s promises all fulfill Genesis prophecies, we have every reason to believe that God directed the writing of Genesis.
References
- Thomas, B. 2013. Dinosaurs and the Bible. Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 8.
- Cooper, B. 2013. The Authenticity of the Book of Genesis. Portsmouth, UK: Creation Science Movement, 22-27.
- Genesis 3:15.
- Isaiah 7:14 made the virgin birth explicit, and Matthew 1 described its fulfilment.
- “That serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9) deceived the crowds to crucify Jesus, even entering Judas Iscariot (John 13:27) to betray the Lord into the hands of the mob (John 18:5).
- Genesis 8:22.
- Galatians 3:8-9.
- Acts 1:8; Revelation 5:9.
- Genesis 21:12.
- Genesis 49:10.
- Luke 3:33.
* Mr. Thomas is Science Writer at the Institute for Creation Research.
