Is the Bible Wrong about the Value of Pi?

                      The Value for Pi is Hidden in 1 Kings 7:23!


1 King 7:23 And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.


      Solomon brings a man named Hiram the widows' son, who was of the tribe of Naphtali, from the city of Tyre where he was living, to make the items for the Temple that were made of brass. For it is said that "he was filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass". But we are presented with a problem in 1 Kings 7:23, Hiram makes a "molten sea". This thing is the size of a backyard swimming pool. It's about 15 feet across and 7 feet deep. You could swim in it! The problem is verse 23 says that the diameter of this pool is 10 cubits, and the circumference is 30 cubits. Now there is much debate over the value of a cubit, but for our problem, it doesn't matter. We're not going to convert the values to inches or feet, we're going to leave them as cubits. We could be saying 10 feet, 10 yards, or 10 cubits, for our problem it doesn't matter. The circumference of a circle is the diameter times pi, or 3.1416. But in verse 23 the circumference is said to be 10 cubits (diameter) times 3 equaling 30 cubits. Now that would be about 2 feet short. If you are making a swimming pool and you leave a hole in the side it's not going to hold any water. 
     Solomon built the Temple between 900 and 1000 B.C. The problem of finding the circumference of a circle had been roughly solved about a 1000 years earlier. Hiram was a man of wisdom, he would have known how to figure the circumference of a circle. So, how do we defend this verse from the Bible critics? Do we say the Bible is just rounding off the number, or do we look for a better answer? The Internet is a great place to look for a better answer, and I found one. History of Pi, by David Wilson, third paragraph, we find an answer. 

     We all have heard that the Hebrew letters have numerical values, and if you add up the values of each letter in a word you will get it's numerical value. Now we are going to see something very interesting in verse 23 using this information. But first, there are two things to keep in mind. First, Hebrew is written from right to left. We are going to use the online  Hebrew Bible to look at 1 Kings 7:23. The Hebrew sentences, for our convenience, are printed from left to right, but the words are printed right to left as they should be, so the last letter is the first letter of the Hebrew word. To compare it to Hebrew that is printed right to left follow this link. Looking at 1 Kings 7:23 using the online Hebrew Bible we see that it is tied to the Strong's Concordance. Using the Strong's numbering system you can look up the Hebrew word in the back of your Strong's concordance. There are two Hebrew words we want to look at, printed right to left in the Hebrew, the second word appears in brackets,    (וקוה (וְקָו, and is translated in the KJV as "and a line of". In the online Hebrew Bible, this is printed left to right,  וקוה and corresponds to H6961 in the Strong's Hebrew dictionary, followed by  (וְקָו) which corresponds to H6957 in the Strong's dictionary. These two words have very similar meanings; to take a cord and measure something. Having these two words together is redundant, and that is the clue that there is something significant about them. So, if we take the two root words and calculate their numerical value using the chart for numerical values for Hebrew letters, we find the first word, H6961 in our Strong's dictionary,(not the one in brackets) the first letter is ק, it has a value of 100; the second letter is ו, it has a value of 6; the third letter is ה, it has a value of 5; the numerical value of the first word is 100+6+5=111. The second word, H6957 in our Strong's dictionary, the first letter is ק, value equals 100; the second letter is ו, value equals 6; The numerical value of the second word is 100+6=106. Notice that each word begins with the letter ו, but it is not part of the root word found in our Strong's dictionary, and therefore it is not counted.

     If Hiram measured around his circle he would have found that 30 cubits came up short but by how much? We can express that this way, where the unknown amount is represented by "n". We have (30+n)/30= 1+(n/30). Now we know, today, what the value of n is because we know what the value of pi is. Pi times the diameter equals the circumference. Or 3.1416 X 10 cubits = 31.416 cubits. So, what is the value of n? It is 1.416 cubits. If we plug that number into our equation, 1+(1.416/30) =1.0472. That number times 30 cubits gives us 31.416 cubits. Which plugs the hole in Hiram's pool. Now here is something really cool. The two Hebrew words 111/106=1.0472. Multiple this number by 30 cubits and we get the circumference of the pool, 31.416. This can be expressed in the following formula; circumference = 3 x diameter x 111/106. This is true for any circle. To find the diameter you divide the circumference by pi. To find pi, you divide the circumference by the diameter or 31.416 cubits divided by 10 cubits equals 3.1416. The value of Pi! Right there in the Bible 3000 years ago. This is a more accurate value for pi that was being used by anyone else at that time.

Does Satan have access to Heaven? NO!!

                                                                   

                                              The Accuser of the Brethren

Revelation 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

      
     Satan does not have access to heaven to accuse Christians, and he never has! Satan only came before God to accuse those that were identified as God's people that were trying to be justified by works, or those that were under the law of Moses.
      
     First. That Satan (before the new covenant) accuses those that are living by works or the law, is found in scripture. 
     Second. There is no accusation or condemnation against those that are living by Grace, all others are condemned already. 

Now, let me support and defend these statements from the word of God. 
      
      In the book of Job, Satan comes before God and accuses Job. Job 1:9 Doth Job fear God for nought? Now Job was a man who crossed all his t's and dotted all his i's when it came to work's. God uses Satan's accusation to bring Job to a new understanding. At first Job is proclaiming his innocence and he doesn't understand why God is allowing this to happen to him. Job 9:33 Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both. 34 Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me: 35 Then would I speak, and not fear him; but it is not so with me. Job is  asking for a mediator. If only he had someone who could make God set down and listen to him, he and God could come to some kind of understanding. We make the same mistake as Job, we look for a mediator that can bring us and God to the table so we can negotiate an understanding for our sin. But when we come to God, we must come through Christ Jesus, and Jesus stands between us and the Father. The Father sees us through the shed blood of his Son. 1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. 
      After some time Job would make what I think is one of the greatest statements of the Old Testament. Job 19:25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: 26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:

27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.  We can't come to God by our own merit, Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

Jesus is the sacrifice for our sins!

      Zechariah 3:1 And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. Joshua's righteousness was "as filthy rags" just as ours is. Joshua was living by the law of Moses, but he wasn't made righteous by the law. When we come to God through the blood of Jesus he gives us clean garments just like he did Joshua. So it isn't our righteousness that we are clothed in when we stand before God. 2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

      One of the most egregious allegorical interpretations of scripture is to use 1 John 2:1 (My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.) and make Jesus our defense attorney and Satan the prosecuting attorney. A prosecutor is a prestigious position, an officer of the court, and is sworn to seek justice. To make Satan the prosecuting attorney gives him a position he does not deserve, and puts him on a par with Jesus. The Greek word parakletos, translated "advocate" in 1 John 2:1 is also the same word translated as "comforter" in John 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;  To see our relationship with Christ our Advocate, as a relationship between an attorney and his client is wrong. Christ gave his life in our stead, go find an attorney who would do that. When we as Christians sin, we have an intercessor at the right hand of God, Christ Jesus, Romans 8:33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.

34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Why would God hear an accusation against a Christian from Satan who is a liar and a murderer, John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. Satan has never been able to enter heaven and make an accusation against a Christian saved by the blood of Jesus. Romans 14: 4 Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand. And again, Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. And one more, John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 

      And now to the proof text that is used to teach that Satan accuses Christians before God today. Revelation 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. 

      In this chapter we see Satan and his angels cast out of heaven. There is a woman and a man child. If you believe that the man child is the church, then when the church is taken out of the world Satan will be cast out. This view would seem to support a mid-tribulation rapture of believers. Daniels 70 weeks is seen as 490 years. 483 of those years were fulfilled with the death of Christ. The last 7 years is called the great tribulation. After the woman in Revelation 12 gives birth to the man child she is protected for 3 and a half years. I believe in a pre-tribulation rapture of believers. This is the event that will begin Daniels 70th week. The anti-christ will make a 7 year treaty with the Jewish nation, and he will restore order after all the Christians are ruptured. Jesus warned his people, the Jews of this, Matthew 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) In the middle of the 7 years the anti-christ will break his treaty with the Jews and will go into the temple and declare himself to be god. 2 Thessalonians 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 

      I believe that Jesus is the man child, we know that Jesus didn't ascend into heaven in the middle of the tribulation, so how do we interpret Revelation chapter 12? I believe that most of Revelation is yet to be fulfilled. I think that chapter 12 is here to bridge the gap in Daniels 70 weeks called the church age. When Jesus ascended into heaven that ended Daniels 69th week, with the rapture of the church Daniels 70th week will begin. Revelations, after chapter 3, is about tribulations and God dealing with his people Israel. So the brethren in chapter 12 would be Jewish brethren and not Christians of the church age. 

      If you believe that Jesus is the man child it will be very difficult to support the position that Satan can go before God in heaven and accuse Christians, with Jesus, his hands and feet pierced,  setting on God's right hand. If Satan was cast out when Jesus ascended to heaven, well, that happened two thousand years ago.

John 12:23 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.

24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

27 Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.

28 Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.

29 The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.

30 Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.

31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

33 This he said, signifying what death he should die.

Verse 31 says "now shall the prince of this world be cast out." What event is going to bring this about? The death of Jesus, and his ascension back to the Father. Satan has never had access to heaven during the church age, therefore he has never come into the presence of God and accused any born again Christian.