This article explores Bible verses that, in the language of their day, made statements which science later verified as being accurate. These statements clearly show that its writers were divinely inspired to record information about the world that man would only, much later, "discover" and prove to be true.
Our first science fact is in Genesis. It states that Noah's flood was created by the following, "on this day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up . . ." (Genesis 7:11, HBFV throughout). The word "fountains" comes from the Hebrew word mayan (Strong's Concordance #H4599) which means wells, springs or fountains of water.
It took until 1977 for science to find ocean springs off Ecuador's coast that proved that such large bodies of water do indeed contains fountains spewing liquids (see The Medusa and the Snail by Lewis Thomas).
These fountains or springs found in the ocean, spouting out 450-degree water, were found by science more than 3,300 years after Moses testified of their existence. This knowledge had to come from someone higher and greater than any man. It had to come from and be inspired by God!
The City of Ur
And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot, the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife. And he went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees . . . (Genesis 11:31).
In the past, science-based skeptics often stated that if the Bible were true then we should be able to find the ancient city of Ur where Abraham lived. The skeptics had the temporary upper hand in their argument until Ur was found in 1854 A.D.! It was discovered that the city, at one time, was a prosperous and powerful capital city and a major hub for trading. Ur not only existed, despite the naysaying science community, it was sophisticated and organized!
Wind Currents
The book of Ecclesiastes was written between 970 and 930 B.C. during the reign of Solomon. It contains an often overlooked but scientific based statement about the wind.
The wind goes toward the south, and it turns around to the north; it whirls around continually; and the wind returns on its circuits (Ecclesiastes 1:6).
How could anyone, thousands of years ago, have known about the pattern of the earth's winds? This pattern was not begun to be understood by science until the early part of the 19th century.
Note that Ecclesiastes 1:6 in the Bible states the wind goes south then turns to the north. Man has discovered that the earth's winds do indeed go clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere, and then turns about and goes counter clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere!
Solomon said the wind whirls about continually. How could an observer on the ground possibly know that winds can move constantly since such consistency occurs only at high altitudes? This statement about the earth's winds would not make any sense to those living in Solomon's day. His inspired fact is yet another one in God's word that was ultimately proven true by modern science.
Shape of the Earth
Early man thought earth was flat as a pancake. Scripture, however, tells us something different. God, who made all the science facts we take for granted possible, states in Isaiah that he is the one who sits on top of the circle of the earth!
It is He Who sits above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers (Isaiah 40:22).
The book of Isaiah was written between 757 and 696 B.C. The understanding, however, that the earth was round did not become a generally accepted fact of science until the Renaissance! Isaiah's writing about a circular earth, more than twenty-five hundred years ago, was correct!
What Holds Up the Earth?
What did humans many years ago believe held up the earth and allowed it to exist? The book "World Mythology" by Donna Rosenberg (1994 edition) states many believed it "rested on the back of a turtle." The book "Myths & Legends" by Neil Philip states that Hindus, Greeks and others believed the world was "held up by a man, elephant, catfish, or some other physical support."
Job is the oldest written Bible book, dating to around 1660s B.C. It states the amazing scientific fact that God created the earth to be "hung" or exist in the universe by nothing that is visible!
He stretches out the north over the empty space, and He hung the earth on nothing (Job 26:7).
When we look at earth against the backdrop of the rest of the universe, does it not look like it is just hanging in space, hanging from nothing? Gravity is the invisible force that holds the earth "up" in outer space. It took the work of Isaac Newton, in his groundbreaking work entitled Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy in 1687 A.D., for science to begin to understand gravity and its effects on planetary objects. Such a "breakthrough" validated a 3,300+ years Biblical fact that the earth existed in space with no visible means of support!
Conclusion
Scoffers throughout history have maligned the accuracy of the Bible and considered it nothing more than a collection of fables and fairy tales. Over time, however, true science has consistently proven it statements to be correct and accurate. God's word has, and will continue to be, completely reliable on every subject it addresses.