HOW DO WE KNOW THE BIBLE IS TRULY THE WORD OF GOD?
Is the Bible truly the word of God or just the documentations of individuals with creative minds and imaginations? These next few details alone about the composition of the Bible are seriously impressive:
Scientific statements in the Bible and the fulfillment of prophecies are perhaps the strongest evidence of the validity of the Bible as being God's message to us.
SCIENTIFIC STATEMENTS MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE
Genesis chapter 1 tells us all about the creation of the earth and universe (heavens), and all the inhabitants of the earth (host). Genesis 2:1 then says: “Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished.”
The Hebrew word for "finished" as used here is the past definite tense for the verb, indicating an action completed in the past, never again to occur. The creation was “finished” once and for all. That is exactly what the First Law of Thermodynamics says. This law (also referred to as the Law of the Conservation of Energy and/or Mass) states that neither matter nor energy can be either created or destroyed. There is no creation ongoing today. It was created in the beginning and “finished”exactly as the Bible states.
Psalm 102:25 & 26 says: “Of old You founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. Even they will perish, but You endure; and all of them will wear out like a garment”.
The Bible tells us three times that the earth is wearing out like a garment. This is what the Second Law of Thermodynamics (the Law of Increasing Entropy) states: that in all physical processes, every ordered system over time tends to become more disordered. Everything is running down and wearing out as energy is becoming less and less available for use. That means the universe will eventually “wear out”, something that wasn’t discovered by science until fairly recently.
Revelation 21:1 tells us ”a new heaven and a new earth” will be created. This of course will occur after the current heaven and earth “wear out”.
Amos 9:6, which was written about 2,800 years ago tells us: “He calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the face of the earth” This is known today as the hydrologic cycle which was not fully understood until the 17th century. Sea water evaporates into the atmosphere, condenses into rain and most eventually returns to the sea by flowing down creeks, streams and rivers, completing the cycle.
Psalm 8:8, recorded about 2,800 years ago says: “…and the fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the seas.” The sea is just a huge mass of water so how could it have “paths”? Man discovered the existence of ocean currents in the 1850s. Matthew Maury (1806–1873), considered the father of oceanography, noticed the expression “paths of the sea” in Psalm 8. Maury took God at His word and went looking for these paths. His book on oceanography is still in print today.
Job 26:7, which was written about 3,500 years ago says: “He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing.” Job knew that the earth was free floating in space, at a time when mankind knew virtually nothing about scientific matters, only because God had revealed this to him.
Isaiah 40:22, which was written about 2,800 years ago says: “It is He who sits above the circle of the earth.” Had God not revealed to Isaiah that the earth was round (circle), how else would he have known this at that time?
This is just a small sample of all scientific statements mentioned in the Bible.
So, how many prophecies are in the Bible and how many of them have come true?
There are hundreds of prophecies in both the Old and the New Testaments. So far, every single one of them that have come to fruition have come true exactly as prophesied. Jesus himself fulfilled more than 300 prophecies that were written at least 500 years prior to his birth.
There are still many prophecies yet to be fulfilled before the end of this earth age and the return of Christ, but end times prophecies are rapidly occurring now before our very eyes.
PROPHECIES CONCERNING JESUS
Some argue that prophecies like the following must have been written after the events took place, to make the Bible appear supernatural. However, any historian can attest that the Jewish Scriptures had already been completed, translated into the Greek Septuagint, and widely published before Jesus’ birth.
Micah 5:2, which was written approximately 700 years before the birth of Jesus, foretold that the small village of Bethlehem would be the birthplace of Israel’s future Messiah. Bethlehem is of course where Jesus was born as foretold.
Isaiah 7:14 foretold that the Messiah would be born of a virgin. Luke 1:27 tells us that the virgin’s name was Mary.
In the fifth century BC, the prophet Zechariah 11:12-13 foretold that the Messiah would be betrayed for the price of a slave, which was thirty pieces of silver, according to Jewish law. The prophet went on to say that the thirty pieces of silver would be used to buy a burial ground for poor foreigners among Jerusalem’s population. The New Testament writers and secular historians both record thirty pieces of silver as the sum paid to Judas Iscariot for betraying Jesus. Matthew 27:3–10 tells us that the money, initially thrown back into the Temple by Judas, could not be received as an offering to God because it was “blood money,” and thus was used to purchase a “potter’s field,” a burial place for poor aliens.
Sometime before 500 BC, the prophet Daniel prophesied that Israel’s long-awaited Messiah would begin his public ministry 483 years later, as defined in Daniel 4:23–34, following a decree being issued to restore and rebuild Jerusalem (Daniel 9:25–26). Daniel further foretold that the Messiah would be “cut off” (killed) prior to a later destruction of Jerusalem. This was fulfilled when Jesus was crucified on the cross.
Several centuries before crucifixion was invented by the Assyrians or employed by the Romans, Psalm 22 and 34:20 foretold the death of Israel’s Messiah in words that perfectly describe that mode of execution. They said that the Messiah would have his hands and feet pierced by Gentiles, he would suffer severe dehydration, his side would be pierced, and contrary to customary procedure in crucifixion none of his bones would be broken. Psalm 22 also predicted that during the Messiah’s execution people would stare, gloat, mock and insult him, divide up his clothes, and cast lots for one of his garments. Historical documents as well as the New Testament confirm perfectly the manner in which Jesus was crucified as was prophesied.
King David foretold the resurrection of Jesus back around 1000 B.C. and that Jesus' body would not go to the grave, or see decay. Psalms 16:8-11 and Acts 2:30-31
PROPHECIES CONCERNING ISRAEL
Jeremiah the prophet predicted the specific locations and sequence in which Jerusalem’s nine suburbs would be rebuilt outside the old city walls (Jeremiah 31:38–40). He referred to the time of this building project as “the last days,” the time period after Jesus’ earthly ministry and after Israel’s much later rebirth as a nation in the land of Israel. This rebirth became history 2,600 years later in 1948, and according to multiple newspaper reports at that time, the construction of the nine suburbs progressed in exactly the locations and order Jeremiah told of.
After leading the ancient Israelites out of Egypt to the border of the land God had promised to Abraham and his descendants, Moses foretold that their new nation would eventually be conquered, not once, but twice. He foretold that the Israeli people would be carried off as slaves each time, first by the Babylonians, and then by a world kingdom, which we now know as Rome. According to Moses, this second conqueror would take the captives to Egypt in ships, where they would be sold or given away as slaves, and scattered to various parts of the world. This all became a mater of history. These prophecies were fulfilled precisely. The first conquest took place in 607 BC and the second, in AD 70. Further details were predicted by later prophets including Isaiah, Jeremiah and Hosea. These prophets foretold that the Jews would remain scattered throughout the entire world for many generations, but without becoming assimilated by other nations and cultures, and that the Jews would one day return to the land of Israel to reestablish their nation (see Deuteronomy 29; Isaiah 11:11–13; Jeremiah 25:11; Hosea 3:4–5, 6:1–2). This prophetic message sweeps across 3,500 years of history to its fulfillment in the twentieth century AD.
2 Chronicles 20 tells us that in the ninth century BC, the prophet Jahaziel foretold that King Jehoshaphat, leader of Israel’s southern kingdom, and his small army would be victorious without even engaging in battle, over three large allied, well-equipped, well-trained approaching armies on the condition that they would stand and face the three armies. Just as stated, Jehoshaphat and his troops stood watching in amazement as these three foes turned on and totally annihilated each other.
Ezekiel 37 and 38 describes the return or reestablishment of the nation of Israel, which happened in 1948, and how the nations around them will rise up against them. Iran and some other middle eastern nations have hated Israel since its rebirth and very recently, others that have had friendly relations with them are threatening to sever ties. Many nations according to this prophecy, including Russia, will make war with Israel, but God will make them desolate and save Israel. We today may be here to see this happen.
BABYLON
In the sixth century BC, during the time of King Nebuchadnezzar and the four kings who succeeded him, Babylon was a huge city measuring 196 square miles. It was encircled by a moat and had double exterior walls that were 330 feet high and 90 feet thick. Historians at the time declared it impregnable and indestructible. Modern historians have determined that nothing less than the military might of World War I armies would have been able to conquer such a city. The prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, foretold of its impending doom. They prophesied further that the ruins of Babylon would be avoided by travelers, that the city would never again be inhabited, and that no one would use its stones as building material (Isaiah 13:17–22 and Jeremiah 51:26, 43). Saddam Hussein stated his plans to rebuild the ruins of Babylon but was not able to due to regional wars. In 2019 UNESCO designated Babylon as a World Heritage Site.
150 years before Cyrus was born, Isaiah prophesied that Cyrus would be the one to defeat the Babylonian empire, entering and destroying the seemingly impregnable city, as well as to subdue Egypt along with most of the rest of the known world. This same conqueror would eventually choose to let the Jews, taken into exile and held captive by the Babylonians, return to their homeland without any payment of ransom (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1; and 45:13).
OTHER PROPHECIES
Jeremiah, affirmed by Ezekiel, foretold that despite its fertility and the accessibility of water, the land of Edom which is today a part of Jordan, would become a barren, uninhabitable wasteland (Jeremiah 49:15–20 and Ezekiel 25:12–14). This prophecy accurately describes the current condition of this now barren region that is inhabitable only because Israel supplies the region with fresh drinking water from desalinated sea water.
Isaiah 19:5 and Revelation 16:12 state that in the Last Days the Euphrates River would dry up and that is happening today.
Ezekiel 47 says that in the Last Days that life would return to the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is currently drying up, and leaving about 3 feet of extra shoreline each year. Sinkholes are developing around the edges of the Dead Sea as it dries up. Underground streams are filling these sinkholes and fresh water fish and vegetation are living in and around these sink holes. This has never happened before.
The second temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. Only a portion of the western wall remains today. 2 Thessalonians 2:4, in the New Testament, tells us that the antichrist will sit in the "temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." This will be in Jerusalem, in Israel, the Jewish nation, where New Testament prophecies are not taught or believed by most, yet, an organization called The Temple Institute has rebuilt all of the Temple furniture to be placed in the planned New Temple, and they are waiting at this moment for the permission to start building the New Temple. So the Jewish people are preparing to rebuild the temple where this New Testament prophecy will be fulfilled.
Red heifers as stated in Numbers 19 are a necessary element for rituals performed in the temple. One of the reasons that the new temple has yet to be rebuilt is that for hundreds of years there were no red heifers known to be available worldwide, Just recently some solid red heifers were found in Texas, and they have been taken to Jerusalem to be checked to make sure that every hair, without exception is red. This is an incredible find which is crucial to the fulfillment of this prophecy.
This is a small sample of prophecies that have been fulfilled, come true.
There are unfulfilled, or yet to come true, prophecies in the Old and New Testaments, some of which that could occur very soon, considering what is going on in the Middle East today.
Syria, which borders Northern Israel, has terrorist proxy cells funded by Iran that have fired rockets into Israel in the past and threaten to do so again. The Capital of Syria is Damascus. Isaiah 17 says: “Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.” Will Israel flatten Damascus some day in retaliation?
Ezekiel 38 & 39 foretells of a great battle that will occur in the “mountains of Israel” in the “latter days". Many scholars believe this war will involve many of the nations that surround Israel and may even involve Russia. Fortunately the Lord also told Ezekiel He would miraculously save His people from these armies so that all nations may “know that I am the Lord”. Could this be about to happen soon, considering all that is going on between Israel, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and Iran?
The book of Revelation, along with many other books in the Old and New testaments, tells us more about the last days, the return of Christ, the Millennium and then the eternal Heaven and Earth.
We are living in an exciting time and, for those of us trusting faithfully in Christ, it will all be AWESOME. Amen!