Historical Study of the Bible
By W. S. Sadler
HOW TO ENJOY YOUR BIBLE. No. 6.
Historical Study of the Bible.
THE Bible is the most accurate and complete history in the world. It is the history of the beginning of things, and contains the prophecies touching the end of all things. The Bible is the only history that chronicles the creation of our world, that records the origin of life, of nations, of sin, and of salvation. While secular histories have their place, in the study of history, yet no one can be a thorough historian without knowing Biblical history. And the discoveries and researches of modern times, year by year, tend to confirm, more and more, the Bible records of past events. For example, in the historical study of the Bible, let us take the tenth chapter of Genesis. Here we have the origin of nations, through the three sons of Noah—Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And the descendants of these sons of Noah can be traced, by reference to other parts of the Bible and to history, until the origin of all the nations in the world to-day can be quite accurately worked out. Let us first examine 1. Gomer.—From Gomer came the ancient Cimmerians who lived in the region of the Crimea, and from whom came the Welsh of to-day. Through one of his sons, Ashkenaz, down through the Teutons, came the English people; while another son of Gomer, Riphath, is the ancestor of the Celts who peopled Britain, Ireland, and Scotland; also some of the Scandinavians, as well as the ancient Germans, the Franks, Anglo-Saxons, Irish, etc. And still from a third son of Gomer, Togarmah, came the Armenians. 2. Magog (See Eze. 38:2, 3). From this second son of Japheth, came the ancient Scythians, from whom came the Mongolians, Chinese, Siamese, Burmese, Thibetans, Japanese, and aborigines of North and South America; the Malays, the ancient Huns (the Bulgarians of to-day), the Tartars, Turks, Finns, and the Sarmatians (from whom descended the people of Russia, Poland, Bohemia, and Servia), and the Parthians. The foundation of all this history is found in the tenth chapter of Genesis. Take your concordance and look up these descendants of Noah, in other parts of the Bible where numerous mention is made of them. 3. Madai, the father of the Medes. 4. Javan, from whom came the Greeks. 5. Tubal, whose offspring became more or less blended with his brother, Meshech, and continued as the Russian nation. 6. Meshech, the Muscovites, who built Moscow, now found in Russia. 7. Tiras, the ancient Thracians, from whom came the Ostrogoths and the Visigoths. 1. Cush—the Cushites were the Ethiopians (see Isa. 45:14). Cush had many sons, who settled in all parts of Africa, the greatest of whom was Nimrod, the founder and organizer of the first earthly government. See Gen. 10:8. 2. Mizraim settled in and peopled Egypt. 3. Phut, the country of ancient Libya. 4. Canaan, whose many sons founded the various tribes found in the land of Canaan when Joshua led the children of Israel over Jordan. 1. Elam, from whom came the Persians. 2. Asshur, father of the great Assyrian nation. 3. Arphaxad, from whom descended Abraham. 4. Lud, the founder of the kingdom of Lydia. 5. Aram, who settled in Syria and founded Damascus. Now if you will look up, with the aid of the concordance, the kingdoms of Babylon, Egypt, Assyria, and other nations of ancient history, and gather together the matter found in the Bible, in connection with works of reference, and history, the Bible will be found to be the pivot, around which all history turns; and one consoling thing about Bible history is, that when you read it, you know it is true; it is authentic; it is inspired.