Black Spirituality Religion : THE DIVINE DESIGN OF THE HOLY BIBLE...

Aqil

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One of the great wonders of the world has been the fact that, in spite of the privations and persecutions the ancient Israelite people of Africa endured, they held steadfastly to their religion as set out in the pages of the Holy Bible, the volume of the Sacred Law; and furthermore, that this volume has become the basis of all law; in every land and clime into which it has permeated...

It is acknowledged to have the greatest influence for good of any book that has ever been written. It is considered the inspired message of God to the Israelites in the first instance, and later to all mankind. And in this Holy Book (the word “Bible” is derived from the Greek “biblios,” meaning “book”), more knowledge is at times concealed, than is revealed, to the ordinary reader...

It would be rank presumption on my part if I made an attempt to elucidate even a fraction of those wonders of the Holy Bible that are revealed to some and concealed from others. Such an account of these revelations may be better left in the hands of those whose profession or ministry gives them a more intimate cause to interpret its meaning in support of whatever religion they represent.

For me, it would be sufficient in the short space at my disposal if I am able to call attention to one single instance – but one of radiant importance – to prove that this wonderful Book not only has in its pages the evidence of Divine design in the Creator’s construction of things, but that it contains in itself a systematic plan and design that must carry with it incontrovertible proof that not only is the Bible inspired, but that it has within itself the proofs of its inspiration, so that all mankind might believe in its message...

It is this law of mysterious and wonderful design that is my privilege to draw your attention to. It is more exemplified in the Biblical happenings and history of the ancient Israelites of Africa than any other people. If these people were created for no other purpose than this, their sufferings and privations have not been in vain...

If I now proceed to demonstrate that the Divine design I have alluded to may be found even in the positions of the chapters and verses in the Bible, I shall be doing nothing more than adding another proof to the many; that this inspired Book is something so wonderful that it compels even the veriest of skeptics to believe in its Divine origin...
 
In those far-off ages when Moses collected and put together the records of God's dealings with the Israelites, the Bible was not divided into chapters and verses. Later still, David, in writing in the Psalms, could not (by any natural means) have surmised that when the Bible – some 2,000 years after his death – came to be divided into chapters, the 119th Psalm would become the longest chapter of the entire Book, especially as scarcely one-half of the Bible existed in his time...

This Psalm consists of 176 verses, every one of which directly or indirectly calls attention to the precepts laid down in the entire Book. The Psalm is, by some mysterious law of calculation, divided into 22 sections, the exact number of letters that compose the Hebrew alphabet. Each section is subdivided into 8 verses; each verse being an iambic tetrameter – namely, 16 syllables alternately short and long (I am speaking, of course, of the original Hebrew version)...

Still more extraordinary is the fact that every one of the 22 sections of this Psalm begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. For example, the 8 verses of the 1st section begin with the 1st letter of the Hebrew alphabet: Aleph. The 8 verses of the 2nd section begin with the 2nd letter of the Hebrew alphabet: Beth. The 8 verses of the 3rd section begin with the 3rd letter of the alphabet: Gimel, etc. This extraordinary precision continues until all 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet are employed...

When this wonderful chapter thousands of years later came to be translated into other languages, it was found that no other language could fit in with this rule. Therefore, the Hebrew letters were set out simply as titles at the head of the 22 sections, as may be seen if anyone looks up the 119th Psalm...

In the millions and millions of books that have been printed, there is not one example in the world of such an acrostic having ever been made - or of such an attempt having been thought of - to call attention to the longest chapter of any work, especially when one considers that every verse of this chapter calls direct notice – in one form or another – to the good to be derived from following the precepts laid down in the Bible. Further, every verse alludes to – in some part of it – the Divine influence underlying the whole. For example:

The 1st verse contains the words “the law of the Lord”; the 2nd verse, “His testimonies”; the 3rd verse, “His ways”; the 4th verse, “Thy precepts”; the 5th verse, “Thy statutes”; the 6th verse, “Thy commandments”; the 7th verse, “Thy righteous judgments”; the 8th verse, again “Thy statutes,” and so on throughout the entire 22 sections of the Psalm...

The mystic number 12 appears in the special root words employed in each verse, which are: [1] "Statutes" [2] "Ordinances" [3] "Faithfulness" [4] "Surety [5] "Law" [6] "Name" [7] "Word" [8] "Precepts" [9] "Ways" [10] "Judgments" [11] "Testimonies" and [12] "Commandments." At least one of these 12 words is unerringly found in each of the 176 verses...
 
In the English version the two longest words employed are representative of the Bible, namely “thy commandments” and “thy testimonies.” In their uses in this Psalm they represent a strange coincidence with the 22 sections of the Psalm and the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. For instance, the word “commandments” is employed either in the singular or in the plural exactly 22 times, while the word “testimonies” is used 22 times in the plural, and once in the singular – at the end of the first half of the Psalm, i.e., the end of the 88th verse, a number that is itself a multiple of 22!

To reiterate, the most extraordinary example of design in literature – written or printed – that has ever been known, is the Holy Bible. One cannot believe that such a thing could happen by chance; equally one cannot believe that some mortal, no matter how gifted, could have created a Psalm in the form of an acrostic unmatched in the literature or the world, past or present; still moreso, that this Psalm should be designed to be the longest chapter in a book not then completed...

It may not have been noticed before by the many people who have read the Bible from cover to cover that both the shortest and longest chapters of this wonderful Book are placed in close proximity to each other; the shortest being the 117th Psalm, and the longest being the 119th Psalm. And the one intermediary chapter between the shortest and the longest – the 118th Psalm – presents in itself such a number of remarkable coincidences that one is forced to the conclusion that these three Psalms were purposely planned to come together for a definite reason – that reason evidently being that the relation of such coincidences would sooner or later strike some searcher of truth as an illustration of Divine design, and, consequently, proof of the Divine inspiration that guided not only the writer(s) of the Psalms, but thousands of years later the translators of this Book into other languages...

The actual form and division of the Bible is the work of different minds, widely separated by time, by countries, and by training. There can therefore be no question of collusion in the carrying out of the evident design that underlies the construction this Sacred Book...

The 118th Psalm, occupying as it does the remarkable position of being between the shortest and longest chapters of the Bible, actually contains the middle or central verse of the entire Book. This, the middle verse of the Bible, is the 8th verse of the 118th Psalm. Its words are significant in their meaning; they are an epitome of the great truth taught all through the preceding chapters or those to follow:

“IT IS BETTER TO TRUST IN THE LORD THAN TO PUT CONFIDENCE IN MAN.”

Further, if one writes down in figures Psalm 118, verse 8, and puts these numbers side by side, they become 1188, which is the exact number of chapters in the Bible, besides the one that contains the remarkable verse quoted above, and, as aforementioned, is the middle verse of the entire Book...

Next to the 118th Psalm is the 117th, which stands out as the shortest chapter in the Bible. And not only is this a curious fact, but is doubly so by being at the same time the central chapter of the Book, i.e., having exactly as many chapters before it as after it...

The most accurate way of finding out if the 117th Psalm is the central chapter of the Bible is to refer to the table usually printed in the beginning of the King James Version. This table contains both the names of the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament. By adding together the numbers of chapters given by the 66 books, we get the number 1189, which is the total number of chapters in the Bible. The middle one must therefore be the 595th chapter, as there cannot be anything else than 594 chapters before it, and 594 chapters following it...

The very number 595, which is the number of the 117th Psalm calculated as a chapter of the Bible, conveys in itself the idea of perfect symmetry (i.e., 595 can be read the same whether from left to right or right to left). It represents in itself the principle of perfect equilibrium, which consists of equal disposition of the parts on both sides of a center. This, the shortest chapter in the Bible – and the central one of the entire Book – consists of two sentences that are strikingly significant:

“OH PRAISE THE LORD ALL YE NATIONS; PRAISE HIM ALL YE PEOPLE. FOR HIS MERCIFUL KINDNESS IS GREAT TOWARDS US; AND THE TRUTH OF THE LORD ENDURETH FOREVER.”
 
One should not regard the extraordinary examples that I have set before you as isolated cases of mere coincidences, for when taken together – as they were evidently intended to be – they give the key to the construction of the Bible itself as a marvelous example of Divine inspiration. They tend to show that these three Psalms (117th, 118th and 119th) must have been written with a plan of forming these coincidences for some given purpose, and that the division and numeration of the entire Bible – so perfect in every way – was pre-arranged before even the greater part of it had been written by those who lived in later times...

Surely this could only have been done by that Supreme Intelligence who so-calculated and placed the millions of galaxies and stars revolving through space that they keep their appointed orbits through eternity to the smallest fraction of time...

In giving these examples of one of the many wonders of the Holy Bible, my hope is that I may have been permitted – in no matter how small a way – to stimulate interest in the Bible itself. And, in conclusion, to the many who have read it from cover to cover without noticing the mysterious examples it has been my privilege to call your attention to, I can only hope that my words may encourage you to study it more deeply, and find still greater truths for yourselves...

While to others I most humbly hope that the illustrations for which I have given you chapter and verse may be the “sign” for which you have been seeking, and in your newfound faith in the Divine Purpose underlying all things, you may realize that form, number and design are the expressions of that great Infinite Mind "who moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform..."
 
The 118th Psalm, occupying as it does the remarkable position of being between the shortest and longest chapters of the Bible, actually contains the middle or central verse of the entire Book. This is the 8th verse of the 118th Psalm. Its words are significant in their meaning; they are an epitome of the great truth taught all through the preceding chapters or those to follow:

“It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.”
 

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