FULFILLED PROPHECY as proof of the Bible.
PROPHECY FULFILLED OF NATIONS, CITIES and INDIVIDUALS.
Aim: To study Bible prophecies as proof of God authoring the Bible.
Introduction: "Show the things that are to come hereafter that we may know that ye are gods..." Isaiah 41:23.
Here God challenges all other religions claiming to be the truth to prove that they are from God by predicting the future. Nobody can correctly predict the future on every guess. The Bible is the only book in the world that correctly predicts the future hundreds of times, without making any mistakes. No other book does this. The Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim writings contain no cases of clearly fulfilled prophecies. This proves that they are not from God. Any man can write a book with moral teachings. Only God can write a book that always correctly foretells the future, as the Bible does.
Four tests to prove that a prophecy is from God:
i) His message had to be according to God and His Word.
"If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." Isaiah 8:20.
ii) His prediction must come true. "If the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken...” Deuteronomy 18:22.
iii) Was the prophecy far enough before the predicted event to exclude chances of human guesswork?
iv) Is the prediction ambiguous, vague or capable of several explanations?
What is the significance of predictive prophecy?
i) It proves God's existence, as the mind behind the Bible.
ii) It proves that the Bible is God's inspired word, without error.
iii) It proves that Jesus Christ is God, whom the Old Testament predicts.
iv) It proves all other Bible doctrines to be true, giving us a strong foundation to base our life
on.
The true prophet presents a message of conviction and repentance, calling the people to obedience and righteousness.
Consider the following examples of fulfilled Bible prophecies under the headings of Nations, Cities and Individuals.
I. NATIONS.
Consider the following 44 correct predictions concerning Israel, Edom, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome and Egypt as proof of God authoring the Bible.
1. ISRAEL.
Date Date
Prophecy Prophecy
Made Fulfilled Prophecy
2000 BC 1948 AD Israel would become a great nation.
"I will make of thee a great nation." Genesis 12:1-3.
992 BC 975 BC Israel would split into 10 tribes and 2 tribes.
"I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give
10 tribes to thee (Jeroboam)". I Kings 11:31.
607 BC 536 BC Israel would be captive in Babylon for 70 years. Jer. 25:11-14.
"These nations shall serve the King of Babylon seventy years."
1451 BC 70 AD Israel would be scattered among the nations of the world. "The
Lord shall scatter thee from ..... one end of the earth to the other."
Deuteronomy 28:64. This was fulfilled in 70 AD when Titus the
Roman General destroyed Jerusalem, killing one million Jews,
and taking 100,000 Israelites as slaves.
1451 BC 100 AD Israel would become a byword among all nations. "Thou shalt
become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all
nations where the Lord shall lead thee." Deuteronomy 28:37.
People refer to someone who holds his money tightly as a Jew.
1451 BC 70 AD Israel would be persecuted among the nations. Hitler killed six
1939 AD million Jews in World War II. "Thy life shall hang in doubt before
thee, and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none
assurance of thy life." Deuteronomy 28:66.
1491 BC 2004 AD Israel would not be completely destroyed, but retain her identity.
607 BC "I will not destroy them utterly...." Leviticus 26:44.
"I will not make a full end of thee". Jeremiah 46:28.
712 BC 33 AD Israel would reject her Messiah. "He was despised and rejected
of men; .... we esteemed him not." Isaiah 53:3.
538 BC 33 AD Israel would kill her Messiah. "…shall Messiah be cut off, but not
for himself." Daniel 9:26.
538 BC 70 AD Israel's city of Jerusalem and the Temple will be destroyed just
after Israel rejects her Messiah. "The people of the prince that
shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary." Daniel 9:26.
587 BC 1948 AD Israel would return to Palestine in the latter years just before
Christ's Second Coming. Ezekiel 37:11-14; 38:1-39:29. "I will
gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land.
Then will I sprinkle clean water on you ..... " Ezekiel 36:24,25.
714 BC 1967 AD Israel will be militarily superior to Egypt. "The land of Judah
shall be a terror to the land of Egypt." Isaiah 19:17.
2. EDOM and its capital city, Petra.
Esau, Jacob's brother founded Edom in 1800 BC (Genesis 36:8). 350 years later in 1450 BC Edom refused to help Israel pass through her land (Numbers 20). Edom delighted in persecuting Israel. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Joel, Amos and Obadiah condemned Edom. Petra was Edom's strongly fortified capital built into a rock cliff, accessible only by a very narrow entrance. This made them feel invincible. Mohammed captured Petra in 636 AD. It then became desolate. These events are prophesied for Edom.
Date Prophecy
713 BC Edom to become a desolation."Thorns shall come up in her palaces"Isaiah
34:13
713 BC Wild animals will inhabit Edom."It shall be a habitation of dragons" Is.34:13-15
713 BC Commerce will cease in Edom‘None shall pass through it for ever.’ Isaiah 34:10
600 BC Spectators will be astonished in Petra. "Edom shall be a desolation: every one
that goes by it shall be astonished." Jeremiah 49:17.
600 BC Never to be populated again. "No man shall abide there." Jeremiah 49:18.
590 BC Israel would conquer Edom. "I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of
my people Israel." Ezekiel 25:14. This seemed a crazy prediction because
Israel was then captive in Babylon, yet 400 years later Judas Maccabeus
invaded and killed thousands of Edomites.
587 BC Edom to have a bloody history. "Blood shall pursue thee." Ezekiel 35:6.
590 BC Edom to become desolate as far as the city of Teman. "I will make it desolate
from Teman." Ezekiel 25:13.
3. BABYLON
Babylon was the capital of the ancient world. It was a centre of trade, learning and culture. Babylon had four walls each 14 miles long, covering 196 square miles, surrounded by a 30 foot wide moat. The walls were 311 feet high, 87 feet wide, with 100 gates of solid brass. 250 watchtowers extended 100 feet higher than the walls. While the Babylonians were holding a drunken feast, Cyrus the Persian had diverted the Euphrates river away from its course underneath the walls of Babylon, and marched his troops along the dry riverbed. He then took the city in 536 BC.
Xerxes later plundered Babylon, as did Alexander the Great's troops. Trajan the Roman Emperor visited Babylon in 116 AD describing it as "mounds and legends of mounds." Layard writes of Babylon: "No Arab tents, no sheepfolds, and overrun by desert animals." Consider the following fulfilled prophecies concerning Babylon:
i) These prophecies were given in 713 BC: Babylon will be like Sodom and
Gomorrah.
"Babylon shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah." Isaiah 13:19.
ii) The Medes and Persians would conquer Babylon (536 BC). Isaiah 13:17;45:1-4.
iii) Babylon shall never be inhabited. Isaiah 13:20.
iv) Arab tents will not be pitched there. Isaiah 13:20.
v) Sheepfolds will not be there. Isaiah 13:20.
vi) Desert creatures will infest the ruins. Isaiah 13:21.
vii) Babylon will be covered with swamps of water. Isaiah 14:23.
Part of Babylon today lies under silt and under the water table.
4. MEDO-PERSIA. Daniel 8:1-8, 20-22. These prophecies were given in 553BC.
God tells Daniel of a series of battles that would occur 220 years later between Medo-Persia and Greece. Alexander the Great of Greece, pictured by a He-goat with a great horn (Alexander himself) severely crushes Darius III army of Medo-Persia (pictured by a ram with two horns).
This occurred in three battles: Granicus (334BC), Issus (333BC) and Guagamela (331BC) which took place beside a river.
"The ram .... having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia." Daniel 8:20.
"The rough goat is the king of Grecia, and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.” (Alexander). Daniel 8:21.
Notice the following aspects of this prophecy:
i) The Ram (Medio-Persia) pushes west, north, south. Daniel 8:4.
This prediction defines the area of influence of Medo-Persia from 536-330BC.
ii) One horn (Persia) was higher or stronger than the other (Medes). Daniel 8:3. History proved Persia to be the stronger partner in the alliance.
iii) The He-goat (Greece) came from the West. Daniel 8:5. Greece is west of Medo-Persia.
iv) The He-goat (Greece) crushed the Ram (Medo-Persia). "He smote the ram, and brake his two horns." Daniel 8:6,7.
v) The battle took place at a river. "He came to the ram which had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river …" Daniel 8:6.
5. GREECE. Daniel 8:8,21,22.
These events were prophesied in 553BC and fulfilled in 331BC, 222 years later. Notice these further accurate predictions:
i) Alexander, after conquering Medo-Persia, went on to conquer all the ancient world across to India.
“The he-goat waxed very great.” Daniel 8:8,22.
ii) Alexander, at the age of 32 drank himself to death at the peak of his strength. “When he was strong, the great horn was broken.” Daniel 8:22.
iii) After Alexander's death, the Greek empire was divided into four smaller powers, each ruled by one of his Generals.
"Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power." Daniel 8:8,22.
The four empires into which Alexander's empire was divided were Greece, Asia Minor, Syria and Egypt.
iv) Alexander's kingdom was not given to his children but to his generals. "A mighty king shall stand up......his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be
divided to the four winds of heaven, and not to his posterity..." Daniel 11:3,4.
6. ROME . Daniel 2:40,41.
"The fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron ..... it shall break in pieces and bruise ....
the kingdom shall be divided." Daniel 2:40,41. Notice the following prophecies about Rome:
i) Rome, the fourth kingdom was as strong as iron. Rome ruled from England to Babylon, bringing peace, roads and strong government like an iron rule.
ii) Rome was the Empire ruling when Jesus Christ the Messiah first came, “shall Messiah be cut off........and the people (Romans).....” Daniel 9:26.
iii) Rome destroyed Jerusalem and the Jewish Temple in 70AD.
".....shall Messiah be cut off...... and the people (Romans) of the prince that
shall come (Antichrist) shall destroy the city (Jerusalem) and the sanctuary
(Temple)." Daniel 9:26.
iv) Rome was divided in 395AD into the Western Empire ruled by Rome, and the Eastern Empire ruled by Byzantine (or Constantinople), pictured by the two legs of the image in Daniel 2. "The kingdom shall be divided." Daniel 2:41.
7. EGYPT. Ezekiel 29:1-15.
God promised that he would punish Pharaoh of Egypt because he claimed to be a god and to have created the Nile river. "Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt ..... which hath said: ‘My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself.’" Ezekiel 29:2,9.
Notice these predictions that God made concerning Egypt
i) Egypt would not be inhabited for 40 years but would be desolate.
"I will make Egypt utterly waste and desolate from the tower of Syene to the border of Ethiopia ..... Neither shall it be inhabited forty years." Ezekiel 29:10-12. This prediction was made in 588 BC. In 579 BC, Nebuchadnezzar conquered Egypt then deported the Egyptians to other nations from 576 BC until they returned in 536 BC.
ii) Egyptians would return to Egypt after 40 years. "Egypt...shall be desolate forty years." 12
"Neither shall it be inhabited forty years." v.11.
"At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people where they were scattered & will cause them to return to the land of Pathros (South Egypt)" Ezekiel 29:13,14
iii) Egypt will be a base kingdom: "they shall be there a base kingdom." (Ezekiel 29:14) Egypt has been a base kingdom ever since 536 BC.
iv) Egypt will be afraid of Israel. This is true today ever since Israel defeated Egypt in the six-day war in 1967. "The land of Judah shall be a terror to Egypt." Isaiah 19:17.
II. CITIES. Four main cities have 30 detailed prophetic predictions given about them:
1. TYRE. Destruction of TYRE was foretold in Ezekiel 26:1-14 in 590 BC.
Ezekiel 26 contains six prophecies for Tyre that have been fulfilled. If Ezekiel had looked at Tyre in his day and made these predictions in human wisdom, there would have been only one chance in 75,000,000 of them all coming true.
i) Nebuchadnezzar will destroy the mainland city of Tyre. 26:7-11. "I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon." (27:7). This was prophesied
in 590 BC. Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Tyre four years after the prophecy was made. After a 13 year siege (586-573 BC), Nebuchadnezzar broke the gates down. He found the city empty. The people had fled to a 140 acre island 800 metres off the coast & fortified a city there. The mainland city was destroyed in 573 BC as foretold, but the island city of Tyre still remained.
ii) "I will cause many nations to come against thee….......as waves." Ezekiel 26:3.
Invaders who attacked Tyre were Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander, Moslems and Crusaders.
iii) "I will scrape her dust from her ..... like the top of a rock." 26:4.
When island Tyre refused to submit to Alexander, he demolished the old city on the mainland. With the debris of the old city, he scraped it off the ground like you scrape dust off a rock, pushing it into the water. He thus built a causeway 60 metres wide by 800 metres long out to the island of Tyre, where he laid siege to it, conquered it, and destroyed the island city in 332 BC. The causeway still remains and old Tyre is as flat as a rock. This prophecy was given 258 years before its fulfilment.
iv) "Fishermen will spread their nets over the site." Ezekiel 26:5,14. Fishermen today dry their nets on the rocks of old mainland Tyre.
v) "They shall throw the city debris into the water." When Alexander's engineers built the causeway, they laid the stone, timber and dust remains of old Tyre into the water. Ez. 26:12.
vi) The city will never be rebuilt. "Thou shalt be built no more." 26:14. Old Tyre has been bare as a rock for 2500 years as God said, even though 10 million gallons of fresh water supply the site daily with enough water for a city. The city has not been rebuilt even today.
2. JERUSALEM
Jesus Christ made the following predictions about Jerusalem:
i) Not one stone of Herod's temple would be left standing on another. "There
shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." Matthew 24:1,2. The Roman army finally in September 70 AD stormed the walls of Jerusalem through the Antonia fortress. According to Josephus, they killed one million Jews and took 100,000 Jews captive as slaves. A soldier dropped a torch in the Temple setting it on fire. This melted the gold in the Temple, which flowed into the cracks in the Temple foundations. The Romans dug up the Temple’s foundations thus destroying the Temple. The Roman soldiers fulfilled Christ's prophecy of not one stone of the Temple being left standing on another.
ii) Jerusalem would be surrounded by armies in a siege. "When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh." Luke 21:20.
iii) The only way of safety was to flee Jerusalem when you see the armies.
"Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out, and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto." Luke 21:21.
The Roman army surrounded Jerusalem for five days and its troops battered at the walls. Had not Luke in 53AD recorded Jesus' warning to leave Jerusalem when armies surrounded it? How could they escape if armies were all around the walls? Josephus the historian writes that "The Roman army retired from the city, without any reason in the world." Josephus continues: "The Jews were greatly encouraged by this, but many of the most eminent Jews then left the city." Hegessippus, another historian tells us that those leaving were Christians who knew Christ's command to flee in Luke 21:20,21. This proves that Luke wrote well before 66AD when the Roman army first came.
iv) Many Jews in Jerusalem would be killed by the sword. Luke 21:24.
"And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations".
v) Many Jews would be led away captive into all nations. Luke 21:24.
vi) In the starvation of the siege women ate their children.
"He shall besiege thee ..... thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters .... in the siege." Deuteronomy 28:52,57.
vii) Jerusalem would be under Gentile control until Christ returns. "Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." Luke 21:24. This occurred 40 years after it was predicted, when Titus the Roman General conquered Jerusalem in 70AD. Jerusalem has been under Gentile (non Jewish) control since 70AD as prophesied by Jesus Christ.
viii) Jerusalem shall be plowed as a field. In 135AD the Jews rebelled against Rome again. Hadrian the Roman General, in a three-and-a-half year war killed 580,000 Jews and ran a plough over Jerusalem, thus fulfilling Micah’s prophecy written in 730BC. "Therefore shall Zion for your sakes be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps." Micah 3:12.
ix) Jews will return to Jerusalem in the end days. We all know that the Jews occupy part of Jerusalem and Israel today since 1948. “I will gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.” (Ezekiel 36:24). God predicts that Jerusalem in the end days, being occupied by Jews, will be invaded by all nation's armies. Jesus Christ will then return to rescue the Jews, defeat the invading armies, and rule on earth in peace for 1000 years.
"I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle ...." Zechariah 14:1-4.
x) Jerusalem’s East Gate will be Shut. Today if you visit Jerusalem’s East Gate, you will notice that it is completely bricked up. Jesus Christ, Who is the God of Israel, entered it on a donkey on His way to be crucified. Ezekiel wrote: “Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east and it was shut. Then the LORD (Jehovah the Father) said unto me: ‘this gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the LORD (Jehovah the Son), the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut.” Ezekiel 44:1,2.
xi) Jerusalem will be a burdensome stone for all people.
“In that day I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people.” (Zechariah 12:3). This prophecy has been fulfilled today because the Palestinian Muslim Arab conflict with Israel over Jerusalem is a very difficult problem to solve.
3. JERICHO.
Predicted in Joshua 6:26 (1451BC), and fulfilled in I Kings 16:34 (925BC). After the destruction of Jericho in Joshua's time, 1451BC, Joshua makes an amazing threefold prophecy about Jericho:
"Cursed be the man .... that builds this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it." Joshua 6:26.
i) Jericho would be rebuilt by a man with at least two sons.
ii) The builder's oldest son would die when the city foundations were laid.
iii) The builder's youngest son would die when the city and it's gates were finished.
I Kings 16:34 records that this prophecy was fulfilled in Hiel the Bethelite. No one would intend to fulfil this prophecy.
"In his (Ahab's) days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho: he laid the foundation in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates in his youngest son Segub according to the Word of the Lord which he spake by Joshua."
Unger writes: "The rebuilding of Jericho is confirmed by archaeological diggings .....
there are no occupational levels from Joshua's time to Ahab's era, when small ruins from the 10th century BC point to Hiel's rebuilding the site." [Ungers Bible Handbook, p.220]
4. NINEVEH.
Predicted in Nahum (713BC) and fulfilled in 614BC.
God spared wicked Nineveh in 862BC at Jonah's preaching. At this time, archaeology reveals a change occurred from worshipping many gods to worshipping one god, called Nebo, the son in the Babylonian trinity.
Nineveh's wall was 100 feet tall, 50 feet thick, with 15 gates and 1200 towers each 200 feet high. Nineveh was 60 miles in circumference, with a 150 foot wide moat around it. Nahum in 3:8 writes just after Thebes (No) in Egypt was destroyed by King Ashurbanipal of Assyria in 663BC. Nineveh was destroyed in 612BC with ease after a three month siege. It fell like "first ripe figs falling if shaken." (3:12).
Three times Nahum predicts that Nineveh will be destroyed with a flood: 1:8 "overrunning flood"
2:6 "gates of rivers"
2:8 "like a pool of water".
In 613BC the Assyrian army was away fighting Babylon, when heavy rains swelled the Euphrates River, flooding part of Nineveh and casting down four kilometres of wall length.
The King, believing an ancient prophecy of the river becoming their enemy, panicked and ordered he and his palace to be burned down. Babylonians, Medes and Scythians attacked through this four kilometre gap, thus conquering Nineveh in 612BC. Twelve predictions about the destruction of Nineveh are given in Nahum 1-3.
Nahum's Prophecies Historical Fulfilments
7. Many Ninevites would be massacred. So many were killed that the flowing
3:3. stream became blood red for miles.
8. Plundering would follow the They carried off much spoil,
overthrow of Nineveh. 2:9-10. beyond counting.
9. Its people would try to escape. 2:8. King Sardanapalus sent away his
three sons and two daughters.
10. Ninevite officers would weaken and The Assyrian army deserted the
flee. 3:17. King (Babylonian Chronicle).
11. Nineveh's idols would be destroyed. The Ishtar goddess lay headless
1:14. in Nineveh's ruins.
12. Nineveh would never be rebuilt. Many cities were rebuilt, eg.
1:9,14. Jerusalem, but not Nineveh.
III. INDIVIDUALS.
The Bible makes detailed predictions about five main individuals. Two are mentioned by name: Josiah was predicted 350 years before he lived, and Cyrus King of Persia was predicted 175 years before he lived. How can such detailed predictions be made? God wrote the Bible, is the only possible answer.
1. JOSIAH, King of Judah was prophesied by name in 975BC by an unnamed man of
God in I Kings 13:1-3 that he would burn idolatrous priests’ bones on the altar at
Bethel. "Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and
upon thee (the altar) shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense
upon thee, and men’s bones shall be burnt upon thee.” Those idolatrous priests
burned incense on the same altar under evil King Jeroboam I of Israel.
350 years later in 624BC Josiah, a King of Judah, while cleansing Israel of pagan
practices, broke down the altar and high place of King Jeroboam at Bethel. "Josiah
turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were in the mount, and sent, and took the
1. The Assyrian fortresses around Nineveh would be easily captured. 3:12.
2. The besieged Ninevites would prepare bricks and mortar for emergency defence walls. 3:14.
3. The city gates would be destroyed. 3:13
4. In the final hours of the attack, the Ninevites would be drunk. 1:10; 3:11
5. Ninevites would be destroyed by a flood. 1:8; 2:6,8.
6. Nineveh would be destroyed by fire. 1:10; 2:13; 3:15,13
Babylonian records state that the fortified towns around Nineveh began to fall in 614BC.
To the south of the gate, the moat is still filled with stone and mud bricks from the walls, heaped up when they were breached.
The main attack came on the north-west gate
Siculus (20BC) wrote: "The Assyrian king gave much wine to his soldiers. Deserters told this to the enemy, who attacked that night."
Diodorus: “In the third year of the siege heavy rains caused the river to flood part
of the city and break part of the walls.”
The temple was burned as seen by a two inch layer of ash.
bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar and polluted it,
according to the Word of the Lord, which the man of God proclaimed." II Kings
23:15,16.
The two main predictions here are that:
i) Josiah's name is given 350 years before the event. I Kings 13:2.
ii) Josiah's action of burning the false prophets’ bones is given.
Question: What is the probability of guessing these 2 prophesies? How did the Bible know them?
2. CYRUS, King of Persia, was predicted by name and action in Isaiah 44:28-45:4 in 712BC, that he would conquer Babylon. "That saith of Cyrus. He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, thou shalt be built, and to the Temple, thy foundation shall be laid." Isaiah 44:28. "Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him .....
to open before him the two-leaved gates: and the gates shall not be shut." Isaiah 45:1. Notice the following prophecies that have been fulfilled about Cyrus:
i) Cyrus of Persia is named as the man who would conquer Babylon. Isaiah 45:1. This prophecy was made 176 years before the event occurred.
ii) The two leaved gates of Babylon shall not be shut. According to Heroditus (1:191), the double gates of Babylon were carelessly left open during the night of revelry when the city was taken.
iii) Cyrus gave permission for Jerusalem to be rebuilt and for the Temple
foundation to be laid. II Chronicles 36:22,23; Ezra 1:1-4.
iv) "I will give thee the treasures of darkness and the hidden riches of secret places." 45:3. God gave Cyrus possession of the treasures of darkness, which was the wealth of conquered nations. Valuables taken from nations were hidden in dark, secretly concealed, subterranean vaults. These prophecies given in
712BC were fulfilled in 536BC, 176 years later.
Question: What is the probability of guessing the exact name "Cyrus" of the man who would conquer Babylon?
Answer: It could not be guessed. This proves that the Bible is the Word of the all-knowing, all-powerful Creator/God.
3. ALEXANDER THE GREAT. Daniel 8:1-8, 20-22 and 11:1-4.
Although Daniel does not mention Alexander by name, he is clearly referred to in Daniel 8:21 as "the great horn that is between the He-goat's eyes is the first king." (Alexander). Alexander crushed the Persians at the Battle of Issus in 333BC. Josephus the historian who lived from 37 to 100AD, states that when Alexander approached Jerusalem to conquer it, he was met at the gates by Jaddua the High Priest who showed him in Daniel 8:1-8, 20-22 that he as the first king of the Greek empire, would conquer the Persians. This was prophesied in 553BC, and was fulfilled in 333BC, 220 years later. Alexander was so impressed at this prophecy of a Greek conquering the Persians, that he worshipped the God of the Bible, offered sacrifices to God and spared Jerusalem.
Note: Unbelieving critics who won't accept the Bible predicting the future, say that Daniel was written around 200BC which would make it after the events, as history not prophecy. This is clearly disproven by Josephus quoting Jaddua who quotes Daniel 8:1-8,20-22 to Alexander in 340BC. This proves that Daniel was written well before 340BC and is truly predictive prophecy of the supernatural God. (Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus, Book XI, Chap.8, p.244).
4. JOHN THE BAPTIST.
"The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of Jehovah, make straight in the desert a highway for our God." Isaiah 40:3. John the Baptist is the one referred to here who prepared the way of Jesus Christ who is Jehovah God. This prophecy was made in 712BC and fulfilled around 30AD.
5. JESUS CHRIST FORETOLD IN THE OLD TESTAMENT.
So much is predicted about Jesus Christ in the Old Testament that we can only give here a brief summary. We know that the Bible is the Word of God because it predicts so many details of Jesus Christ's life. Consider the following prophecies:
1. Born of a virgin. Isaiah 7:14; Genesis 3:15. “A virgin shall conceive, and bear a son”.
2. Tribe of Judah. Genesis 49:10. “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah…”
3. House of David. Jeremiah 23:5. “I will raise unto Judah a righteous Branch,and a King”
4. Born at Bethlehem. Micah 5:2. “Thou, Bethlehem..Judah, yet out of thee shall come..”
5. Visited by wise men with gifts. Isaiah 60:3,6,9. “Gentiles shall come…and kings”.
6. Would be in Egypt for a time. Hosea 11:1. “called my son out of Egypt”.
7. Infants killed at His birthplace. Jeremiah 31:15. “Rachel weeping for her children”.
8. Preceded by a messenger (John the Baptist) Isaiah40:3. “Prepare ye the way of the Lord”.
9. Ministry to begin in Galilee. Isaiah 9:1. “Zebulun, & Naphtali.. have seen a great light”
10. Perform miracles. Isaiah 35:5,6. “blind,..deaf,..lame,..dumb sing”.
11. Teach parables. Psalm 78:2. “I will open my mouth in a parable,..”
12. Heal many. Isaiah 42:7,16; Matthew 8:16,17. “To open the blind eyes..”
13. His miracles not believed. Isaiah 53:1. “Who hath believed our report?”
14. Enter Jerusalem on a donkey. Zechariah 9:9. “thy King cometh…riding upon an ass.”
15. Betrayed by a friend for 30 pieces of silver. Zechariah 11:12.‘they weighed for my price
30’
16. Money then used to buy a potter's field. Zechariah 11:13. “cast them to the potter..”
17. Money thrown on the Temple floor. Zechariah 11:13. “cast them...in the house of the Lord”
18. Forsaken by His disciples. Zechariah 13:7. “Smite the Shepherd, & sheep shall be scattered”
19. False witnesses accuse Him. Psalm 35:11. “False witnesses did rise up:”
20. Silent before His accusers. Isaiah 53:7. “He was oppressed,…, yet he opened not his mouth.”
21. Be scourged and spat on. Isaiah 50:6. “I hid not my face from shame and spitting.”
22. Crucified between two thieves. Isaiah 53:9. “He made his grave with the wicked..”
23. Buried in a rich man's tomb. Isaiah 53:9. “His grave … with the rich in his death.”
24. His side pierced. Zechariah 12:10. “they shall look upon me whom they have pierced”.
25. Given vinegar to drink. Psalm 69:21. “in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.”
26. Garments gambled for. Psalm 22:18. “They part my garments among them, cast lots on my..”
27. No bones broken. Psalm 34:20. “He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.”
28. His forsaken cry. Psalm 22:1. “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
29. Darkness over the land from noon. Amos 8:9. “I will darken the earth in the clear day.”
30. Hands and feet pierced. Psalm 22:16. “they pierced my hands and my feet”.
31. Raised from the dead. Psalm 16:10. “thou wilt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption"
32. Ascend to heaven. Psalm 68:18. “Thou hast ascended on high..”
33. Rejected by His own nation, Israel. Isaiah 53:3‘He is rejected of men. We esteemed him
not’
34. Gentiles believe on him. Isaiah 60:3. “Gentiles shall come to thy light.”
35. Messiah comes, is killed, then Jerusalem and the Temple are destroyed (fulfilled in 70AD). Daniel 9:26. “shall Messiah be cut off,.. people..destroy city and sanctuary”
36. Jews to lose power to pass the death sentence 23 years before the trial of Christ. Genesis 49:10. “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come;” This was confirmed by Josephus describing the Romans taking this power away from the Jews in 11AD.
37. Messiah would offer Himself as Prince to Israel 173,880 days after 5th March 444BC. Daniel 9:26,27; Luke 19:41-44. “From the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem to Messiah the Prince shall be 69 weeks (heptads=7x360 days)”
Conclusion:
If we assign a probability of guessing each of these predictions correctly, we see that from a human viewpoint it is impossible to predict these events as the Bible has. Not one prediction failed. All are correctly fulfilled. This proves that the Bible is not humanly authored, but authored by God who ALONE knows the future.
