Science is the lock; the Bible is the key. To truly unlock the mysteries of God’s creation, we need insight from the Creator Himself—as recorded in the Holy Bible, the world’s best science textbook.

The Bible is not at odds with science, though modern science has created this disconnect. Actually, the Bible reveals scientific facts before scientists ever discovered for themselves. Here are eight examples:

1. The Earth hangs on nothing.

“He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing” (Job 26:7).

Thousands of years ago when the Bible was being written, many believed the Earth was propped up on the backs of four elephants standing on top of a giant sea turtle. In the fourth century b.c., Aristotle taught that the Earth could never hang in empty space.

Finally, in 1687, a God-fearing scientist published the truth. Sir Isaac Newton proclaimed that the Earth was held in space in relation to other heavenly bodies by the presence of gravity.

2. The Earth is round.

“It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; …” (Isaiah 40:22).

The word circle here can also be translated sphere, globe, or something round. The Prophet Isaiah wrote this around the seventh century b.c. Several hundred years later, Aristotle suggested that the Earth might be round.

3. Man and Earth are composed of the same elements.

“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7).

According to the World Book Encyclopedia: “All the chemical elements that make up living things are also present in nonliving matter.”

In other words, the chemicals that comprise the human body exist in the very ground from which we were created by God. More than 99 percent of the human body is composed of six elements: oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, calcium, and phosphorus. Less than 1 percent is made of five other elements: sulfur, potassium, sodium, chlorine, and magnesium. Together, these 11 elements are called the essential elements.

4. Currents flow through the seas.

“The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas” (Psalm 8:8).

Oceanographer Matthew Maury, who lived in the 1800s, noticed this verse and determined to discover the “paths of the seas.” He found the warm and cold continental currents and charted maps for mariners to plan sea voyages around the calm waters and into the favorable currents that would greatly increase their traveling speed. His expertise reduced the time of a sea voyage from New York to San Francisco by 47 days.

The Bible also revealed the thermal vents, or “springs” (Job 38:16), on the ocean floor.

5. Water progresses through a cycle.

“All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again” (Ecclesiastes 1:7).

Each day, the Mississippi River dumps 518 billion gallons of water into the Gulf of Mexico. This is just one of many rivers that empty into a larger body of water. All that water in the seas and oceans is subject to evaporation, filling the clouds with precipitation, which empties onto land and flows back into the rivers, which head right back to the larger bodies of water.

Scientists didn’t discover the water cycle until the 17th century.

6. The sun and moon keep time.

“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:” (Genesis 1:14).

Today, the sun and moon are consistently relied upon to track the passage of time. One year equals one revolution of Earth around the sun. One month is one revolution of the moon around Earth. Seasons change based on the changing position of Earth in relation to the sun.

7. The stars cannot be counted.

“As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me” (Jeremiah 33:22).

When the Prophet Jeremiah wrote this around 2,500 years ago, fewer than 1,100 stars were visible to mankind. Now, we can view the universe through the James Webb telescope and discover countless trillions of stars in every direction!

Also remarkable is that God created each star totally unique (1 Corinthians 15:41), as proven by the different light spectra (bands of colors) emanating from each one.

8. The universe is expanding.

“It is he … that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:” (Isaiah 40:22).

In 1920, scientists discovered that the galaxies are moving apart, expanding, and stretching and spreading out like a curtain or a tent.

Consider the fact that the Bible is the world’s best science textbook. This is just one awesome aspect of God’s inspired Word. Thank God for this precious instruction manual, and be stirred to plunge into deeper and deeper Bible study every day.