China and the Bible
You might possibly be thinking ‘what possible connection can there be between China and the Bible!’ However, you will be surprised to find that China is mentioned in the ancient Hebrew scriptures. Although there is no specific mention of England, France or the USA in the Bible, if we examine an ancient prophecy from Isaiah 49v12 (about 700BC), we do discover a mention of China:
Surely these shall come from afar; Look! Those from the north and the west, and these from the land of Sinim.
In context, this prophecy appears to refer to the return of exiled Israel from the nations of the world. The ‘north’ probably refers chiefly to Russian Jews and the ‘west’ to American and European Jews. But while ‘north’ and ‘west’ are general terms, ‘Sinim’ is a specific term, thought by many scholars to be China. The ‘Strongest Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible’ explains Sinim as ‘Chinese?’. In fact the nouns ‘Sinology’ or ‘Sinologist’ use the same root word ‘Sin’ meaning China. Isaiah thus prophesied that one day Israel’s exiles would return from China back to their own land. Other Christians have interpreted the above scripture to imply ‘Christians’ rather than ‘Jews’ meaning that many Chinese would come to believe in God. Maybe both interpretations are correct. However, regardless of how you interpret Isaiah’s prophecy, one important fact is that China (Sinim) is mentioned in the Bible!
Those of us who have lived in China or Taiwan know that the Chinese are very proud of their long history, and rightly so. Some years ago when I lived in Taiwan, I recall telling a young Chinese man how I had become a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. He listened very politely while I spoke and then replied: ‘We Chinese have 5000 years of history, how can it all be wrong’. My attempts to share the gospel with him came up against his strong patriotism which was based on almost 5000 years of unbroken history. He felt, as have so many Chinese people, that becoming a believer in Jesus meant turning his back on his historical and cultural roots as well as his family. At the time, I had no satisfactory answer to help him with his dilemma, but if I had known then what I do now, I would have been able to assure him that believing in Jesus was actually the fulfilment of what his ancestors had believed many thousands of years previously. Most Chinese people traditionally view Christianity as a western or foreign religion. This is not really surprising as the gospel was brought to China by western missionaries. However, there is much evidence to show that at the beginning of their history, the ancient Chinese were believers in the one true God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and worshiped Him in a similar way to the ancient Hebrew people.
Confucius, believer in God
One of the most revered men in China’s history is the philosopher Confucius (551-479BC). In fact proof of his importance is shown by the fact that he is also very well known in the West! Confucius lived in a place called Qufu in Shangdong Province, on the eastern border of China and like all truly great men, he was also a humble man! He described himself in the following words:
‘The sage and the man of perfect virtue’—how dare I rank myself with them? It may be simply said of me that I strive to become such without satiety and teach others without weariness.’ The Analects.
You might possibly be thinking ‘what possible connection can there be between China and the Bible!’ However, you will be surprised to find that China is mentioned in the ancient Hebrew scriptures. Although there is no specific mention of England, France or the USA in the Bible, if we examine an ancient prophecy from Isaiah 49v12 (about 700BC), we do discover a mention of China:
Surely these shall come from afar; Look! Those from the north and the west, and these from the land of Sinim.
In context, this prophecy appears to refer to the return of exiled Israel from the nations of the world. The ‘north’ probably refers chiefly to Russian Jews and the ‘west’ to American and European Jews. But while ‘north’ and ‘west’ are general terms, ‘Sinim’ is a specific term, thought by many scholars to be China. The ‘Strongest Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible’ explains Sinim as ‘Chinese?’. In fact the nouns ‘Sinology’ or ‘Sinologist’ use the same root word ‘Sin’ meaning China. Isaiah thus prophesied that one day Israel’s exiles would return from China back to their own land. Other Christians have interpreted the above scripture to imply ‘Christians’ rather than ‘Jews’ meaning that many Chinese would come to believe in God. Maybe both interpretations are correct. However, regardless of how you interpret Isaiah’s prophecy, one important fact is that China (Sinim) is mentioned in the Bible!
Those of us who have lived in China or Taiwan know that the Chinese are very proud of their long history, and rightly so. Some years ago when I lived in Taiwan, I recall telling a young Chinese man how I had become a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. He listened very politely while I spoke and then replied: ‘We Chinese have 5000 years of history, how can it all be wrong’. My attempts to share the gospel with him came up against his strong patriotism which was based on almost 5000 years of unbroken history. He felt, as have so many Chinese people, that becoming a believer in Jesus meant turning his back on his historical and cultural roots as well as his family. At the time, I had no satisfactory answer to help him with his dilemma, but if I had known then what I do now, I would have been able to assure him that believing in Jesus was actually the fulfilment of what his ancestors had believed many thousands of years previously. Most Chinese people traditionally view Christianity as a western or foreign religion. This is not really surprising as the gospel was brought to China by western missionaries. However, there is much evidence to show that at the beginning of their history, the ancient Chinese were believers in the one true God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and worshiped Him in a similar way to the ancient Hebrew people.
Confucius, believer in God
One of the most revered men in China’s history is the philosopher Confucius (551-479BC). In fact proof of his importance is shown by the fact that he is also very well known in the West! Confucius lived in a place called Qufu in Shangdong Province, on the eastern border of China and like all truly great men, he was also a humble man! He described himself in the following words:
‘The sage and the man of perfect virtue’—how dare I rank myself with them? It may be simply said of me that I strive to become such without satiety and teach others without weariness.’ The Analects.
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