Reasons to Believe the Bible is God's Book - Part 3

Reason #3 – The Bible's Prophetic Accuracy

Job said that he treasured the Word of God more than his necessary food (Job 23:12). Peter tells us that we need to long for the Word so that we may grow by it (1 Peter 2:2). The Word of God is nutrition for our hungry souls. But how do we know this book called the Bible is really God’s book? Last week we mentioned its amazing unity and its scientific accuracy. Today we look at its prophetic accuracy (much of this information I learned from my online Bible program by Parsons Technologies).

The Bible has over 2000 predictive prophecies. They are detailed, not vague. Consider the following detailed prophecies:

Concerning the nation of Israel
1). Israel would become a great nation (Gen. 12:1-3).
2). Her kings would come out of the tribes of Judah (Gen. 49:10).
3). She would spend 400 years in Egypt (Gen. 15:13).
4). Israel would reject her Messiah (Isa. 53).
5). Because of this, her enemies would dwell in her land (Lev. 26:32; Lk. 21:24).
6). Jerusalem would be destroyed (Lk. 19:41-44; 21:20).

Concerning various Gentile nations
1). Edom (Gen. 36, Num. 20, Jer. 49:17, 18; Ezek. 35:3-7; Obadiah; Mal. 1:4)
2). Babylon (Daniel 2:31-43; 7:1-8, Isaiah 13:17-19; Jeremiah 51:11)
3). Medo-Persia (Daniel 8:1-7, 20, 21)
4). Greece (Dan. 7:6; 8:8, 20, 21)
5). Rome (Daniel 2:40, 41)
6). Egypt. (Ezek. 29:1, 2, 15)

Concerning specific cities
1). Jericho. Joshua 6:26.
Joshua makes an amazing threefold prophecy about this fallen city:
a). That Jericho would be rebuilt again by one man.
b). That the builder’s oldest son would die when the work on the city had begun.
c). That the builder’s youngest son would die when the work was completed.

Did all this happen? See 1 Kings 16:34:
Joshua uttered those words around 1450 b.c.
Some five centuries after this, in 930 b.c., we are told:
a). A man named Hiel from Bethel rebuilt Jericho.
b). As he laid the foundations, his oldest son, Abiram, died.
c). When he completed the gates, his youngest son, Segub, died.

2). Jerusalem - Matthew 24:1, 2; Luke 19:41-44; 21:20-24 - Jesus predicted that:
a). Jerusalem would be destroyed.
b). Her citizens would be slaughtered.
c). The temple would be completely wrecked: not one stone left upon another.

Did all this happen? Consider the historical facts:
a). In February of a.d. 70, the Roman general Titus surrounded Jerusalem with 80,000 men
to crush a revolt that had begun earlier.
b). In September of the same year, the walls were battered down and over a half million
Jews crucified by Titus.
c). The temple was leveled and the ground under it plowed up

3). Tyre - Ezekiel 26. Tyre was actually two cities, one on the coastline, some sixty miles
northwest from Jerusalem, and the other on an island, a half mile out in the Mediterranean
Sea. In this prophecy, Ezekiel predicts:
a). The Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, was to capture the city.
b). Other nations would later participate in Tyre’s destruction.
c). The city was to be scrapped and made flat, like the top of a rock.
d). It was to become a place for the spreading of nets.
e). Its stones and timber were to be laid in the sea (Zech. 9:3, 4).
f). The city was never to be rebuilt.

Did all this happen? Consider the historical facts:
Ezekiel wrote all this around 590 b.c. Four years later, 586 b.c., Nebuchadnezzar
surrounded the city of Tyre. The siege lasted thirteen years and in 573 b.c. the coastal city
was destroyed. But he could not capture the island city. During the next 241 years the island
city of Tyre dwelt in safety and would have doubtless ridiculed Ezekiel’s prophecy concerning
total destruction.
But in 332 b.c. Alexander the Great arrived and the island city was doomed. Alexander built
a bridge leading from the coastline to the island by throwing the debris of the old city into the
water. In doing this he literally scraped the coastline clean. (Some years ago an American
archaeologist named Edward Robinson discovered forty or fifty marble columns beneath the
water along the shores of ancient Tyre.) After a seven-month siege, Alexander took the island
city and destroyed it. From this point on, the surrounding coastal area has been used by local
fishermen to spread and dry their nets. Tyre has never been rebuilt in spite of the well-
known nearby freshwater springs of Roselain, which yield some 10,000 gallons of water daily.

Concerning particular individuals
1). Josiah – cf. 1 Kings 13:1-2 with 2 Kings 23:15-16
2). Alexander the Great – Daniel 8:3-8
3). Antiochus Epiphanes – Daniel 8:9-14
4). John the Baptist – cf. Isaiah 40:3-5 with Matthew 3:1-3

Concerning the Lord during His earthly ministry
In the Old Testament there are prophecies concerning the earthly ministry of the anticipated Savior. While upon this earth, Jesus Christ fulfilled every single prediction. Consider the following:
He would be born of a virgin (cf. Isa. 7:14 with Mt. 1:22, 23).
He would be called Emmanuel (cf. Isa. 7:14 with Mt. 1:23).
He would be rejected by his own (cf. Isa. 53:3 with Jn. 1:11; 7:5).
He would have a forerunner (cf. Isa. 40:3-5; Mal. 3:1 with Mt. 3:1-3; Lk. 1:76-78; 3:3-6).
He would be born in Bethlehem (cf. Micah 5:2, 3 with Mt. 2:5, 6).
He would be visited by the magi and presented with gifts (cf. Isa. 60:3, 6, 9 with Mt. 2:11).
He would be in Egypt for a season (cf. Hosea 11:1 with Mt. 2:15).
His birthplace would suffer a massacre of infants (cf. Jer. 31:5 with Mt. 2:17, 18).
He would be called a Nazarene (cf. Isa. 11:1 with Mt. 2:23).
He would be zealous for his father (cf. Ps. 69:9 with Jn. 2:13-17).
He would be filled with God’s Spirit (cf. Isa. 61:1-3 with Lk. 4:18, 19).
He would be a light to the Gentiles (cf. Isa. 42:1-3, 6, 7 with Mt. 4:13-16; 12:18-21).
He would heal many (cf. Isa. 53:4 with Mt. 8:16, 17).
He would deal gently with the Gentiles (cf. Isa. 9:1, 2; 42:1-3 with Mt. 12:17- 21).
He would speak in parables (cf. Isa. 6:9, 10 with Mt. 13:10-15).
He would make a triumphal entry into Jerusalem (cf. Zech. 9:9 with Mt. 21:4, 5).
He would be praised by little children (cf. Ps. 8:2 with Mt. 21:16).
He would be the rejected cornerstone (cf. Ps. 118:22, 23 with Mt. 21:42).
His miracles would not be believed (cf. Isa. 53:1 with Jn. 12:37, 38).
His friend would betray him for thirty pieces of silver (cf. Ps. 41:9; 55:12-14; Zech. 11:12, 13 with Mt. 26:14-16, 21-25).
He would be a man of sorrows (cf. Isa. 53:3 with Mt. 26:37, 38).
He would be forsaken by his disciples (cf. Zech. 13:7 with Mt. 26:31, 56).
He would be scourged and spat upon (cf. Isa. 50:6 with Mt. 26:67; 27:26).
His price money would be used to buy a potter’s field (cf. Jer. 18:1-4; 19:1-3; Zech. 11:12, 13 with Mt. 27:9, 10).
He would be crucified between two thieves (cf. Isa. 53:12 with Mt. 27:38; Mk. 15:27, 28; Lk. 22:37).
He would be given vinegar to drink (cf. Ps. 69:21 with Mt. 27:34, 48).
He would suffer the piercing of his hands and feet (cf. Ps. 22:16; Zech. 12:10 with Mk. 15:25; Jn. 19:34, 37; 20:25-27).
His garments would be parted and gambled for (cf. Ps. 22:18 with Lk. 23:34; Jn. 19:23, 24).
He would be surrounded and ridiculed by his enemies (cf. Ps. 22:7, 8 with Mt. 27:39-44; Mk. 15:29-32).
He would thirst (cf. Ps. 22:15 with Jn. 19:28).
He would commend his spirit to the Father (cf. Ps. 31:5 with Lk. 23:46).
His bones would not be broken (cf. Ex. 12:46; Num. 9:12; Ps. 34:20 with Jn. 19:33-36).
He would be stared at in death (cf. Zech. 12:10 with Mt. 27:36; Jn. 19:37).
He would be raised from the dead (cf. Ps. 16:10 with Mt. 28:2-7).

The point of this post is that when the Bible makes a prediction, you can be assured that if it hasn’t already happened, it WILL happen. This is the only ‘religious’ book that even dares to make so many bold and detailed prophecies. And when we see them come true to the very word, we can only come to one conclusion: This Book is God’s Book.