What makes the Bible believable? Simple, the Bible is believable because it is like no other book on earth. And, it is like no other book on earth because it is advance history. Reading the Bible is like reading tomorrow's newspaper today. What it says will happen - happens. No other religious or secular writing even comes close. None, not the Koran, not the Bhagavadgita, not the Kabbalah, not the Vedas.
The reason most people do not believe the Bible is because they do not want to believe it. For once a person admits that the Bible is the Word of God then that person must do something about it, like read it and obey it. It is easier to deny that the Bible is God's Word and hope to plead ignorance at the judgment seat than it is to admit it's true and openly refuse to obey God, for then condemnation is certain. But the Bible teaches that ignorance is no excuse.
The following excerpt is taken from the book Focus On Fact by John MacArthur Jr.
*"If we don't believe God wrote it, then we have a problem. Doctor Monier Williams, a professor of Sanskrit, spent forty years studying Eastern books, and said:
'Pile them, if you will, on the left side of your study table but place your own Holy Bible on the right side, all by itself and with a wide gap between them. For there is a gulf between it and the so-called sacred books of the east that severs the one from the other utterly, hopelessly, and forever.'"
"Take, for example, the sacred writings of the Hindus and you find such fantastic nonsense as this:
The moon is 50,000 leagues higher than the sun and shines by its own light. Night is caused by the sun setting behind a huge mountain several thousand feet high and located in the center of the Earth. This world is flat and triangular and is composed of seven stages: one of honey, another of sugar, a third of butter, and another of wine, and the whole mass is born on the heads of countless elephants which in shaking produce earthquakes."
"Read the Koran and you find that the stars are nothing but torches in the lower heavens and that men are made out of baked clay. The grossest kinds of errors abound in Greek and Roman mythology, in the wild, disordered books of the Hindus, the traditions of the Buddhists and the Moslems."
"The greatest geniuses of philosophy such as Aristotle, Plato, Plutarch, Lucretius, and others wrote such absurdities that if one such absurdity were found in the Bible it would totally and forever discredit its inspiration. But there is not one such absurdity in the Bible!"
Regard the following amazing facts written about the Bible by Dr. D. James Kennedy.
**"Several years ago the National Enquirer magazine listed sixty-one prophecies by the ten leading seers in the world, reporting events that were supposed to transpire in the last six months of that year. Compared to the prophecies of Scripture it should be relatively easy to predict those things which lie so close at hand. How well did they do? Believe it or not, they missed all sixty-one prophecies! Some of their remarkable forecasts were that Pope Paul would retire in that year and the Roman Catholic Church would be taken over by a committee of laymen; that George Foreman would retain his heavyweight crown in his bout with Mohammed Ali in Africa; and that Ted Kennedy would get his campaign for President into high gear. The only difference between the prophecies of these modern prophets and those of the Bible is that our modem seers were unfailingly wrong and the biblical prophets were unfailingly right. A significant difference, to say the least."
"These biblical prophecies deal with almost every nation and scores of cities with which Israel had some dealings. It cannot be said that these prophecies were written after the events for many of the events took place hundreds or even thousands of years after the prophecy was made. Nor can it be said that they are vague and obscure, because they are highly specific in their details. Nor can it be said that they are merely lucky guesses because there are over 2,000 of them which have infallibly come to pass. Nor can it be said that these were things which were likely to take place because they were indeed extremely unlikely events. It would repay the individual who wants to be a good witness for Christ and who wants to be able to defend his belief in the Scriptures, to familiarize himself with some of the details of several of these prophecies. I am including here some of the prophecies about two countries. They are quite different and they are astounding to relate. I have taken these from my book Truths That Transform, where a great many other such prophecies are also described for the student who would like to do further research in this area. But let us consider the kingdoms of Babylonia and Egypt and what God had to say about them and the great cities that had been built in them."
"Consider the magnificent kingdom of Babylonia. Babylon was probably the greatest city that was ever built. Here was the magnificent temple of Belus; and here were the world famous Hanging Gardens."
"She drew her stores from no foreign country. She invented an alphabet; worked out problems of arithmetic; invented implements for measuring time; conceived the plan of building enormous structures with the poorest of all materials-clay; discovered the art of polishing, boring, and engraving gems; studied successfully the motions of the heavenly bodies; conceived of grammar as a science; elaborated a system of law; saw the value of exact chronology. In almost every branch of science, she made a beginning. Much of the art and learning of Greece came from Babylon. But of this majestic kingdom, this Babylon the Golden, God said, '. . . Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah' (Isaiah 13:19). This is but one of over one hundred specific prophecies that were made concerning Babylon alone. The specificity of these prophecies is so great that they cannot possibly be said to be obscure as are the Delphic Oracles. Nor can they be said to have been written after the event, because many of the details of the prophecy were not fulfilled until centuries after the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek in 150 B.C. It is not possible to give a later date for these prophecies. Nor can it be said that they have not been fulfilled, for any school boy with a good encyclopedia can ascertain that they have been minutely fulfilled. In these prophecies concerning the future of great cities and kingdoms, God has stamped his imprimatur on the Scriptures, confirming them as divine revelations in such bold letters that 'he may run that readeth it' (Habakkuk 2:2, 3). Nor can it be said that they are simply lucky guesses, there are thousands of such prophecies in the Scriptures which have been minutely fulfilled. Nor yet can it be said that they concern events which were likely to take place. Indeed, many of the events were totally without precedence in the history of the world and were so incredible and unbelievable in their very nature, that even though history has fully confirmed them to be true, we still stagger at the audacity of the prophets who made such bold statements."
"Consider the great walls of Babylon. Herodotus tells us that these walls had towers which extended above the two-hundred-foot walls to a height of three hundred feet. The walls were a hundred-eighty-seven feet thick at the base and were fourteen miles square, according to one ancient authority. The triple walls of Babylon were the mightiest walls that were ever built around any city. Con-cerning these walls God says, in Jeremiah 51:58, 'The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken . . .' Also, 'And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever' (Jeremiah 51:26). Consider these astounding facts. (1) The wall is to be broken down, (2) it is to be broken down completely, (3) it is to be broken down permanently. It cannot possibly be said that these prophecies did not come to pass. Even the skeptics attest their fulfillment. 'Where are the walls of Babylon?' asks Constantin Volney in his Ruins. Major Keppel said in his Narrative that in common with other travelers, he totally failed in discovering any trace of the city walls."
"Nor can anyone say that the prophecy was made after the event, for the walls were not suddenly destroyed. The city was taken by stealth by the Medes and Persians and the destruction of her walls was a slow process that took centuries. The walls were still in existence in the time of Alexander the Great. They still jutted into the sky at the time of Christ. In the fourth century A.D., some remains of the walls were still there, a stark reminder that the prophecy had not yet been completely fulfilled. Then the most astounding event took place. Julian the Apostate, Emperor of Rome, determined to rid the Roman Empire of Christianity and reestablish paganism, was doing all in his power to destroy the belief in the Scriptures. However, God had said that even 'the wrath of man shall praise [him]' (Psalm 76:10). While engaged in a war with the Persians near the remains of Babylon (although he had no idea of the prophecy that he was fulfilling), Julian completely destroyed the remains of the wall of Babylon lest it afford any protection in the future for the Persian army. And thus the prophecy was brought to fulfillment by one of the greatest antagonists of Scripture of all time."
"One cannot say it was inevitable that the wall would be destroyed. The Great Wall of China is not nearly as large or as strong, and yet, though it is older, it still stands today. The walls of Jerusalem and many other ancient cities, though destroyed many times in part, have been rebuilt and still remain to our time. I have personally walked atop the great walls of Jerusalem, which God said would be destroyed, but also he said that they would be built again in troublous times. In the case of the Babylonian wall and the Jerusalem wall, exactly what God said has come to pass. (Jeremiah 39:8; Daniel 9:25; Micah 7:11; Isaiah 33:20.)"
"When Babylon was the mistress of the world, containing within its mighty walls one hundred ninety-six square miles of the most magnificently developed city of all time, with beautiful parks, lakes, aqueducts, and hanging gardens, the prophet Jeremiah made this astounding prophecy: 'Because of the wrath of the, Lord it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate' (Jeremiah 50:13). Even more astonishing is the further prophecy of Jeremiah: '. . . and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation' (Jeremiah 50:39). This was an astonishing prophecy, for it was virtually without precedent. Many ancient cities in the Near East had been destroyed, but always they had been built again on the ruins of the previous cities. There is evidence of sometimes twenty or thirty cities being built on the very same site. Babylon was most excellently situated on the Euphrates. It had fine possibilities of commerce. It was militarily almost invincible. Its fields were so fertile that Herodotus, having visited there, was afraid to describe what he saw lest he be thought insane."
"Have these astonishing prophecies been fulfilled? Babylon was described as the tenantless and desolate metropolis (Mignan's Travels, p. 234), a barren desert in which the ruins were nearly the only indication that it had been inhabited. Regarding Babylon, Isaiah said, 'Nor dwelt in from generation to generation' (Isaiah 13:20). In the sixteenth century, there was not a house to be seen at Babylon (Ray's Collection of Travels, Rawolf, p. 174). In the nineteenth century, it was still desolate and tenantless (Mignan, p. 284). In the twentieth century, ruins are all that remain of the once magnificent city where King Belshazzar saw the handwriting on the wall (John Elder, Prophets and Diggers, p. 106). 'It shall never be inhabited,' prophesied Isaiah (Isaiah 13:20). Ruins composed like those of Babylon of heaps of rubbish impregnated with niter cannot be cultivated (Rich's Memoirs, p. 16). The decomposing materials of a Babylonian structure doom the earth on which they perish to a lasting sterility (Sir R. K. Porter's Travels, vol. 2, p. 391). Thus God guaranteed the fulfillment of his prophecies. ' - thou [Babylon] shalt be desolate for ever. Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant' (Jeremiah 51:26, 37)."
"There are other amazingly specific details in this prophecy. Consider this detail: '. . . neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there.' Has this come true? Captain Mignan said that he saw the sun sink behind the Mujelibah, and obeyed with infinite regret the summons of his guides who were completely armed. He could not persuade them to remain longer. Due to apprehension of evil spirits it is impossible to eradicate this idea from the minds of these people (Mignans Travels, pp. 2, 198, 201). Continues Isaiah: "Neither shall the shepherds make their fold there" (Isaiah 13:20). All the people of the country assert that it is extremely dangerous to approach this mound after nightfall on account of the multitude of evil spirits by which it is haunted. By this superstitious belief they are prevented from pitching a tent by night or making a fold (Rich's Memoirs, p. 27)."
"Consider these two specific but apparently contradictory prophecies. 'The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof' (Jeremiah 51:42). And, '. . . a desolation, a dry land and a wilderness' (Jeremiah 51:43). Now note the amazing fulfillment: For the space of two months throughout the year the ruins of Babylon are inundated by the annual overflowing of the Euphrates so as to render many parts of them inaccessible by converting the valleys into morasses (Rich's Memoirs, p. 13). After the subsiding of the waters, even the low heaps become again sunburnt ruins and the sight of Babylon like that of the other cities of Chaldea is a dry waste, a parched and burning plain (Buckingham's Travels, vol. 2, pp. 302-305)."
"In spite of the unimaginable fertility of the plains around Babylon, God had said, 'Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest . . .' (Jeremiah 50:16). On this part of the plain both where traces of buildings were left and where none had stood, all seemed equally naked of vegetation (Porter's Travels, vol. 2, p. 392). 'And Babylon shall become heaps' (Jeremiah 51:37). And again, '. . . cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left' (Jeremiah 50:26). Babylon has become a vast succession of mounds; a great mass of ruined heaps. Vast heaps constitute all that now remains of ancient Babylon (Keppels Narrative, vol. 1, p. 196)."
"These prophecies are presented here as examples of the over one-hundred specific prophecies relating to the city of Babylon (Isaiah 48:14; Jeremiah 51:29). The wrath of the Lord was poured out upon Babylon. God said, 'The Lord . . . will do his pleasure on Babylon . . . for every purpose of the Lord shall be performed against Babylon. And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book . . .' (Jeremiah 25:13). Let us close this discussion of Babylon with the words of one who looked with his own eyes upon the fulfillment of these prophecies. 'I cannot portray,' says Captain Mignan, 'the overpowering sensation of reverential awe that possessed my mind while contemplating the extent and magnitude of ruin and devastation on every side' (Mignan's Travels, p. 117)."
"Thus God threw down the gauntlet to all unbelievers. Do you want to disprove the Scriptures? It is very easy! Simply rebuild Babylon! God said it shall never be inhabited; it shall never be rebuilt, but it would always remain a desolation. There was a man who set out to rebuild it. I should tell you about him. He had all of the wealth of the whole world at his command. His name was Alexander the Great. After conquering the world, he decided to have a trade route by sea from Babylon to Egypt, and he decided to make Babylon his central headquarters for his worldwide empire. He issued six hundred thousand rations to his soldiers to rebuild the city of Babylon. Alexander the Great, the ruler of the world, said, 'Rebuild Babylon!' and God struck him dead! He was immediately taken with a fever and within a few days he was dead. The ruins of Babylon still stand in mute testimony. 'I, the Lord, have spoken it! It shall never be inhabited again!' (Jeremiah 50:39)."
The above material was written before both Gulf Wars. Saddam Hussein, like Alexander the Great before him, also tried to rebuild Babylon and make it his capital. In A Woman Rides The Beast, author Dave Hunt says, 'Saddam has proudly imprinted his name on every brick being used in the reconstruction of ancient Babylon.' Now, it doesn't matter if you're a Democrat or a Republican, it doesn't even matter if you voted for George W. Bush or not, or even if you like George W. Bush or not, or approve of his handling of the war in Iraq or not. And, it doesn't really matter if there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq or not. You see, God put George W. Bush in the White House (Daniel 2:20-21; Romans 13:1-7). The people wanted Al Gore, but God wanted George W. Bush. He put George Bush in office for a purpose. What purpose? He knew President Bush would go after Saddam Hussein. Why did God want George Bush to go after Saddam? To prevent the rebuilding of Babylon! (Isa. 13:20)
Kennedy continues -
"Compare these prophecies of destruction with what the Bible says about Egypt. God said that Nineveh, Assyria, and Babylonia would be completely destroyed and not be rebuilt. What if he had said that about Egypt? Ah, how the skeptics would laugh. But he didn't. '. . . they shall be there a base kingdom. It shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations' (Ezekiel 29:14,15) '. . . . the pride of her power shall come down. . . . And they shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted' (Ezekiel 30:6,7). 'And I will make the land of Egypt desolate' (Ezekiel 29:12)'. . . . and the country shall be destitute of that whereof it was full' (Ezekiel 32:15). 'And I will . . . sell the land into the hand of the wicked: and I will make the land waste, and all that is therein, by the hand of strangers: I the Lord have spoken it' (Ezekiel 30:12). 'and there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt' (Ezekiel 30:13)."
"Let us note that the fate of Egypt is not, as in the case of Nineveh and Babylon, to be utter extinction, but rather, 'they shall be there.' Egypt was to continue to exist as a nation but 'a base nation.' 'The basest of nations' (Ezekiel 29:14,15). It is to be diminished and emptied of that whereof it was full. Have these prophecies been fulfilled? After the defeat of Antony, Augustus found such great wealth in Egypt that he paid out of it all the arrears of his army and all of the debts that he had incurred during the war. Still he feared that the wealth of Egypt would present to him a rival. For six hundred more years Alexandria continued to be the first city in the Roman Empire in rank, commerce, and prosperity. A hundred years later the Muslim hordes attacked Egypt and conquered it. They were overwhelmed by the sight of the city's magnificence and wealth. Future invaders were equally astonished at the wealth of Egypt, until the nation was reduced to a state of abject poverty, finally being brought to the place of international bankruptcy which brought about the Anglo-French dominion of Egypt."
"One of the most astonishing parts of the prophecy is the statement, 'There shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt' (Ezekiel 30:13). This prophecy is particularly striking when we note that for approximately two thousand years before the prophecy was made, Egypt had had Egyptian princes sitting upon its throne 98% of the time. It seemed as if this would continue forever. But God declares that there shall no more be a prince of the land of Egypt. What a startling declaration! There has been ample time for the testing of the prophecy, for there continued to be a prince on the throne of Egypt until the last several decades when a democratic form of government was accepted. But were any of these princes Egyptians? Let us have that question answered by the pens of skeptics and infidels."
"Constantin Volney said: 'deprived two thousand three hundred years ago of her natural proprietors, Egypt has seen her fertile fields successively prey to the Persians, the Macedonians, the Romans, the Greeks, the Arabs, the Georgians, and at length the race of Tartars, distinguished by the name of Ottoman Turks, the Mamelukes soon usurped the power and elected a leader' ( Volney's Travels, vol. 1, pp. 74, 103, 110, 193). After Volney's time, Mohammed Ali established the princedom again in Egypt but he, himself, was not an Egyptian. Rather he was born at Kavala, a small seaport on the frontier of Thrace and Macedonia. His father was an Albanian aga. After this, Egypt was ruled by the French and the English. The skeptic Edward Gibbon confirms this testimony where he states: 'a more unjust and absurd constitution cannot be devised than that which condemns the natives of a country to perpetual servitude under the arbitrary dominion of strangers and slaves' (Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chapter 59)."
"Today, Egypt, which has for over two millennia suffered under the despotic hand of strangers, has been reduced to one of the basest of nations. My guide to the Holy Land a few years ago said that he had been to Egypt thirty or forty times, but he was never going back again because it was so foul, so vile smelling, so poverty ridden that he couldn't stand another trip. His stomach couldn't take the cities of Egypt any more. 'I will make thee the basest of nations' (Ezekiel 29:14,15)."
"These are but a few of the thousands of prophecies with which the Scripture abounds, which are found in no other religious writings of the world, and which are clear evidence that the Scripture has been written by the hand of God."
"'I am God and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done' (Isaiah 46:9,10). 'Hereby ye will know the prophet is come from me because he will tell the future' (see Deuteronomy 18:22) as the Bible and no other book, unfailingly and infallibly, does. The Scriptures are the Word of God. 'Sanctify them through thy truth,' said Christ, 'thy word is truth' (John 17:17)."
Here is one more amazing example of fulfilled prophecy -
***"The Bible contains many examples of fulfilled prophecy. One concerns the city of Tyre on the Mediterranean Sea. The story is in Ezekiel 26:
Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, 0 Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up. And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock. It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God: and it shall become a spoil to the nations.
Verses 3-5"Who is going to do this? A man named Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon (see verse 7). How he is going to do it?"
"He shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the field: and he shall make a fort against thee, and cast a mount against thee, and lift up the buckler against thee. And he shall set engines of war against thy walls, and with his axes he shall breakd own thy towers."
Verses 8-9"What will be the end result of this military action?"
And I will make thee like the top of a rock: thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon; thou shalt be built no, more: for I the Lord have spoken it, saith the Lord God . . I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more: though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord God.
Verses 14, 21"Now Tyre wasn't just a little fishing village. It was one of the great cities of Phoenicia. You recall from history that the Phoenicians were the great colonizers and mariners of ancient times. They navigated around Africa and established trade routes to the East."
"They built themselves a magnificent city with strongly fortified walls 150 feet high and 15 feet thick. The walls protected the land side of the city and navy vessels protected the city from the sea."
"Both David and Solomon looked to Tyre for materials and artisans in their great building projects. The great cedars of Lebanon came through that area. So Tyre was important in biblical history as well as secular history."
"Three years after Ezekiel had given this prophecy against Tyre, Nebuchadnezzar came down from the north and did exactly what was predicted. He began a siege of the city and threw up a mound against the city walls. Military tactics back in those days called for cutting off the traffic, trade, supplies, and food to a city, and starving the defenders out. Nebuchadnezzar's siege lasted thirteen years. At the end of that time he stormed the city and smashed the walls. He broke down the towers as Ezekiel had predicted. Smashing the towers of a city wasn't always done at the conclusion of a siege, but it was in this case."
"When Nebuchadnezzar finally fought his way into the city, he found no spoils because the citizens of Tyre had removed everything of value to a little island one-half mile offshore. And there they sat in safety, thumbing their noses at the king of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar went back home, and the new little community sitting out in the sea flourished for the next 250 years."
"Only part of Ezekiel's prophecy had been fulfilled. True, the city had been destroyed and the walls and towers broken down. But what about the stones and timber and dust being thrown into the water? That had not happened."
"But then a young man named Alexander the Great came upon the scene. He had defeated the Persians, the second of the world empires foretold by the Prophet Daniel. And now he was out to conquer the world. He arrived in Phoenician territory with thirty-three thousand infantry, fifteen thousand cavalry, and a few ships sailing along the coast. He asked the city of Tyre to open its gates to him, but the people refused. They felt secure on their tiny island, which by now had been fortified with a high wall."
"Alexander knew that the only way to approach Tyre would be on a land peninsula stretching out to the island. So he set about building a causeway some two hundred feet wide stretching out for a half mile."
"It was a very difficult task, as you can well imagine."
"For material he used what was left of the original city of Tyre. He took the stones and the bricks of the tower and began to toss them into the sea. As the water got deeper and deeper, the project seemed more and more impossible."
"To make matters worse, the Tyrians sat on their high walls and began bombarding the Greeks with missiles. To protect his operation, Alexander built mobile protecting shields. The soldiers and workmen kept these overhead as they moved closer and closer to the walls."
"Alexander recognized that once he reached the island city he would still have the walls to contend with. So he constructed what have been called helepoleis. They were a group of 160-foot-high towers that could be moved on wheels. The idea was to roll these big, lumbering monsters right out on the causeway and up against the walls, then flop down a drawbridge and march right across the top of the wall into the city."
"The fact that Alexander was using the rubble of the original city to build his causeway was fulfilling prophecy, which said that the site would be scraped bare. But what about the prophecy saying that many nations would come against Tyre?"
"Well, as Alexander was building the land bridge, he was being attacked by ships of Tyre on both sides. Alexander saw that he needed ships so that he could defend his flanks. So he went back to the. cities and nations he had previously conquered and demanded that they provide him with vessels. He gathered a fleet from Sidon, Byblos, Rhodes, Macedon, and other places. So just as Ezekiel had said, many nations were coming against Tyre."
"At last the causeway to Tyre was complete. Alexander rolled out his big towers and pushed them against the wall. The drawbridges were lowered and the Greek soldiers swarmed into the city. In the battle eight thousand people of Tyre were slain. Another seven thousand were executed and thirty thousand were sold into slavery. The city itself was completely destroyed. This impossible victory had been won in just seven months. The prophecy of Ezekiel had been carried out."
"What about the statement, however, that the city would never again be rebuilt? Philip Myers, a historian, says, 'Alexander the Great reduced Tyre to ruins in 332 B.C. She recovered in a measure but never to the place she previously held in the world.' Myers goes on to say that the once great city is now as bare as the top of a rock. It is a place where fishermen dry their nets."
"Jerusalem has been rebuilt seventeen times, but Tyre has never been rebuilt. Why? Because twenty-five centuries ago a Jew in Babylon prophesied, 'Thou shalt never be rebuilt.' Today the ancient site of Tyre would be an excellent location for a city. It is a beautiful place, well situated, and has a tremendous fresh-water supply capable of supplying a city. But it hasn't been rebuilt, and it won't be. Do you know what the probability of all the prophecies against Tyre coming true would be? Peter Stoner, a mathematician, figured it as 1 chance in 75 million. Yet, 'They all came true in the minutest detail,' he said in his book Science Speaks."
"There are many more amazing prophecies in the Bible like the prophet Isaiah declaring by name one hundred and sixty years before a certain king was even born how he would permit the Jewish people who had been carried to Babylon by a previous ruler to leave and return to Jerusalem to rebuild their temple. Compare Isaiah 44:28 with Ezra 1:1-4."
"Or, consider the prophecy of Daniel that gives the exact day that the Jewish Messiah would present Himself to the nation Israel at Jerusalem only to die for His people one week later (Daniel 9:24-26). And the list goes on, and on, and on."
So, if the Bible is true concerning these prophecies then shouldn't it also be true in what it teaches concerning Jesus Christ and all the prophecies surrounding His birth, death, resurrection, and salvational program? Yes! The facts say yes.
The following are a few examples of what the Bible predicted about Jesus Christ hundreds of years before He was born.
| Prophecy | Fulfillment |
| But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from old, from everlasting. (Micah 5:2) | Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judah in the days of Herod the king, behold there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying Where is he that is born King of the Jews? (Matthew 2:1, 2) |
| Prophecy | Fulfillment |
| Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14) | ...behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. (Matthew 1:20-23) |
| Prophecy | Fulfillment |
| He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. (Isaiah 53:3) | He came unto his own, and his own received him not. (John 1:11) |
| Prophecy | Fulfillment |
| He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: ... Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed....He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. (Isaiah 53:3-5,7) | That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.
(Matthew 8:17) Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. (1 Peter 2:24) And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? But Jesus held his peace. (Matthew 26:62-63) |
| Prophecy | Fulfillment |
| And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself
(Daniel 9:26) ...For he was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgression of my people was he stricken. (Isaiah 53:8) I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. (Psalm 22:14-18) |
The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs:
(John 19:31-33) They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did. (John 19:24) |
| Prophecy | Fulfillment |
| And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death;.... (Isaiah 53:9) | Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left.
(Matthew 27:38) When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus� disciple: He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed. (Matthew 27:57-60) |
| Prophecy | Fulfillment |
| For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. (Psalm 16:10) | Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. (Acts 2:29-32) |
| Prophecy | Fulfillment |
| But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5) | Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, ... whom God raised from the dead,... This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:10-12) |
All these things came to pass just like the Bible said they would and ancient secular historians like Flavius Josephus and Seutonias and others have reported that these events are true. If that is the case then why should we not believe these things? No one questions the historicity of Napoleon�s defeat at Waterloo, yet there is less historical evidence for that event than there is for the birth, miraculous ministry, substitutionary death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We need to believe the Bible and we need to believe its main message. Here is the message that God wants you to know -
The Bible says, For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) God wants you to recognize that you are a sinner and that you are under the penalty of death because of your sins. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
God wants you to know that this death is eternal separation from Him in Hell. The Apostle John wrote, This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:14b-15)
God also wants you to realize that you cannot save yourself. The Apostle Paul writing to the young pastor Titus said, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour.(Titus 3:5,6)
God wants you to repent of your sins; have a genuine change of heart toward sin and God. The Bible says, For Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. (2 Corinthians 7:10)
Finally, place your trust in the Jewish Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth and what He did for you on the cross. Again, the Bible tells us, But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And, That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 5:8; 10:9,10)
Believe the Bible for every word of it is true. You can bet your immortal soul on it. So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. (Romans 10:17)