What the Bible says about Evidence
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Exodus 13:9

The word for "sign" in verse 9 is 'owth, which can be translated as signal, flag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy, evidence, mark, miracle, sign, or token. The word for "memorial" is zikrown, meaning memorable thing, reminder, remembrance. If we change "sign" to one of the other translations, it puts this section in a new light. For instance, 'owth can be translated as "prodigy," which means "something extraordinary"!

Verse 9 could be paraphrased, then, "And this observance of the days of Unleavened Bread shall be something extraordinary for you to do, to make a memorable impression on your mind so that the law of God can be written in your hearts."

How do we look at the Days of Unleavened Bread? Are they merely a week of yearlyritual participation, or do we vicariously take part in events that are extraordinarily remarkable and force us to our knees before the Eternal? Are we making sure that these days fulfill the promise that they have in our lives so that His mind becomes ours?

Mark Schindler
An Extraordinary Feast

Isaiah 46:8-10

These three verses contain a general principle in which God challenges us to consider, to compare, all of the material idols, which are so easily seen, to Him. There is, really, no comparison.

Joshua says at the end of his life:

Behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth. And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass for you; and not one word of them has failed. (Joshua 23:14)

"Remember" is an important word within true, spiritual religion. Remembering brings back to mind what has happened in the past as evidence of what God can and will do. These verses in Isaiah say we must remember that God's counsel stands; when He says something, it is so. It happens. God gives plenty of evidence to demonstrate that He can be trusted. Seeing God and having faith is the result of recalling that God has demonstrated both Himself and His purpose in "the former things."

Isaiah 46:9 says, "Remember the former things." This is what David did. This is what Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego did. We too have to remember. However, our focus, our spiritual insight, is greatly built and reinforced through obedience to His counsel in the present and by seeing from one's own experience that His will and purpose truly do stand. Once that occurs, we can see God!

John W. Ritenbaugh
Do You See God? (Part Two)

2 Timothy 1:8-9

This verse begins a section introducing Paul's admonition to hold fast what has been entrusted to our care, which he calls "the testimony of our Lord."

What is a testimony? Most commonly, it is used when a person is called upon to give an account of what he witnessed. This, however, is a narrow usage.

In a broader application, Webster says that it means "firsthand authentication of a fact," which is what one is called upon to do in a court trial, to verify a fact. A trial lawyer may ask, "Did you know this person before such and such a date?" The witness then authenticates whether or not this fact is true. Testimony also means "evidence." The lawyer asks, "What did you see?" And then the witness presents his evidence.

But it can also mean "a solemn declaration, an open acknowledgment." This is closer to what Jesus Christ did. He gave an open acknowledgment, a solemn declaration, of a message that He left with mankind. That was the testimony of our Lord, the message of the Messenger. The church knows it as the gospel of the Kingdom of God.

To turn the last clause of this verse into plain English, God began His purpose before time! Not only is the fulfillment of the gospel yet future, its beginning stretches all the way back before time began as human beings look at it. At some point in the distant past before mankind, God's purpose began moving toward completion.

If the gospel began before time, and if it is the essence of future events, then we can logically conclude that God's purpose is not completed! Completion of the purpose, of the good news, is still future. Whatever lies in the future is the goal toward which the purpose is moving, and that goal is the good news. Of course, there will be wonderful and encouraging accomplishments along the way. We could call them benchmarks. Although alone they are good news, it is the culmination of them that is the good news.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Guard the Truth!


Find more Bible verses about Evidence:
Evidence {Nave's}
 

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