There are a number of resources available to the avid Bible student which can offer some assistance in the understanding of the scriptures or help to give a deeper appreciation of them. It is certainly neither foolish nor sinful to use other sources for clarity. However, it must be remembered that all other sources are mutable; Only the Bible is immutable.

1. History.

Recently I heard a preacher state in a lesson that there were around 600,000 Israelites when they left Egyptian bondage. After the lesson I approached the man and told him that was not accurate and offered to give him the evidence if he so desired. He asked, “Did you get your information from the Bible or from history?” By his tone I surmised two things. (1) He didn’t appreciate my correcting him, and (2) he didn’t have a lot of respect for outside sources such as history.

I told him my source was the Scriptures and directed him to a reading of Num. 1:1-3 and 44-46. In this text the people are numbered after having left Egypt and that numbering included only males twenty years of age and older who could fight. That numbering alone was over 600,000. Not numbered were those under twenty, those too old to fight, those who were female, those who were infirmed and could not fight, and those of the tribe of Levi. Actually there must have been between three and six million Israelites in the wilderness. But what concerns me is not the preacher’s mistake but the attitude that many have that we can learn nothing valuable or accurate from history.

Actually, true and accurate history is our friend, not our enemy. It is through history that passages such as Dan. 2:1-45 come alive as we can read and see how all that Daniel prophesied came to be. In this way history is a great supporting player in the vindication of prophesy.

Several years ago I was preparing material to defend the concept of the young earth and the literal six-day creation of Genesis. As always, I started with a reading of the scriptures involved. When I came to Gen. 10:10 it occurred to me that, according to scripture, these were the first cities built and recorded after the universal flood of Noah. I wondered what history had to say about these cities. I began to search and found out that one of the cities still remains in some form today, that it is the oldest historical city, and that the record shows it to date back almost perfectly to the time of the flood. History, then, validated the occurrence of the flood by dating our oldest historical city in complete agreement with the Genesis record. Incidentally “pre-historic” does not mean ancient, it means only before recorded history. There are many places in the world where records have not been long kept. In these areas, pre-historic can be only a few hundred years.

2. Dictionary.

The dictionary is a wonderful tool if used properly. It is only through consensual meanings that language has any meaning at all. I was in a recent conversation with an elder who, in discussing an affair between a man in his fifties and a woman in her twenties, made this statement, “As far as I am concerned, the man is a pedophile.” The man was definitely not a pedophile. He was a whoremonger and an adulterer. We need not redefine a word so that we can make him appear any worse than he already appeared. A pedophile is one who has a relationship with a child. A twenty year old woman is not a child. If we change the meanings of words to suit our whims, then there is no standard of communication and language becomes meaningless.

It is necessary, however, when using a dictionary that we remember that the meanings of words change and if we should, without proper reflection, rely on the dictionary as if it were immutable, we will surely have trouble. Words must be defined in accordance with how they were used by the authors of the Scriptures rather than with modern day meanings. It is good, although not essential, if one has proper access to a Hebrew/Greek dictionary when studying the meanings of Bible words.

3. Commentaries.

I have in my library several good commentaries. I have learned, however, that no matter how good these helps are, they do make mistakes. They are, after all, written by uninspired men and are subject to error. Conard Hayes once told me, “The Bible sheds a lot of light on commentaries.” If one can remember that concept, commentaries can be a valuable source of information, interpretation, reflection, and stimulation.

4. Science.

I only want to mention science in passing. It needs to be remembered that true science and proper interpretation of scripture never conflict. The true author of the Bible (Jehovah) is also the true author of science. The best science of days gone by has claimed that the earth was on the back of a turtle, that the earth was flat, that tomatoes were poison, ad infinitum. The best science of our day can be wrong also. Read I Tim. 6:20. The Bible is immutable, science is not.

5. Archaeology. 

A woman once told me she wished that mankind would quit digging in the ground because she was afraid that something would be found that would disprove the Bible. What a sad and pitiful faith she had! Nothing could ever be found to disprove the Bible because the Bible is God’s inspired word. For the Bible to be wrong, God would have to be wrong and such a concept is ridiculous. So to the archaeologists I say, “Dig away and find all you can because if what you find is truth then it can only support the Bible, not overthrow it.”

Actually archaeology has often supported the Scriptures and has never placed them in question. Years ago skeptics attacked the Bible as being flawed because it discussed the Hittite nation which they claimed never existed. The Bible suggests it was a great nation and so the skeptics concluded that since there was no historical or archaeological record of this empire, the Bible contained as fact a mythological kingdom. Sadly for the skeptics, however, archaeology has uncovered irrefutable evidence that the Hittites both existed and that they were a great kingdom. Archaeology is our friend!

I hope one day to travel to Egypt if God should grant me the opportunity and search in the Red Sea for the remnants of the great army of Egypt which God overthrew in the sea. Somewhere there are the artifacts of swords, shields, armor, chariot parts, etc., located in that great body of water. What a wonderful discovery this would be! If I do not get to go, perhaps someone reading this will go in my place. But whether these artifacts are ever recovered or not, I know by the inspired word of God that they are in there somewhere.

6. Greek/Hebrew Sources.

There are a number of Hebrew and Greek sources available today to the sincere Bible student. These sources are being developed in modern times so that one who has virtually no language training in Hebrew or Greek can still research much from the original language. Some of these sources will be listed in the recommended reading section in the back of this book.

7. Encyclopedia.

There are a number of Bible and regular encyclopedias which can give the student much needed background as he searches the Scriptures. Use with care every legitimate source available in your quest for knowledge.

Always remember one thing. The Bible is the only immutable, inerrant, infallible source available to man. All others are subject to change, error, and prejudice.