Big Questions: Looking to God’s Word for Answers
“…always being ready to make a defense…” I Peter 3:15

Can I Trust the Bible? Biblical Prophecy – Some Compelling Examples

1. Amos 1:9-10 and Ezekiel 36 Concerning Tyre

The Prophecy: Tyre would be attacked by many nations, entire city thrown into the sea, the original Phoenician city would never be rebuilt or found again and would be nothing but a bare rock and a place for fishnets to dry.

1. Daniel 2 and Daniel 11 Concerning the Four Kingdoms and Alexander the Great

The Prophecy: Four kingdoms will dominate the world in succession. The first kingdom is Babylon. The second kingdom is the Medo-Persian Empire as it will be split among two nations and cultures. The third will be mighty but experience a sudden loss of its leader with the result of a divided kingdom into four parts. The fourth kingdom will be strong militarily but will lack unity in its domination of the world. Ultimately these four kingdoms describe Babylon, Assyria, Greece, and Rome, each with successive rule over Jerusalem.

1. Jeremiah 25:11-12, Isaiah 13:9, 14:23 and 45:1 Concerning Babylon

The Prophecy: After destroying Judah and taking captives, Babylon will be conquered, destroyed and left as a swampland never to be rebuilt. After 70 years the captives will return to Jerusalem. In 609 BC Babylon conquered Jerusalem and took captives. Cyrus the Medo-Persian King defeated Babylon and in 539 BC allowed the Jews to return to their homeland. Babylon was never rebuilt and was partly underwater when archeologist excavated in the 1800s.

1. Micah 5:1-2, Jeremiah 23:5, Isaiah 61 and Zechariah 9:9 Concerning the Birth and Life of Messiah

The Prophecies: Messiah will be born in Bethlehem, will be the offspring of King David, He will perform miracles and preach good news to the poor, and He will come into Jerusalem riding on a donkey with shouts of victory from the people

1. Isaiah 53, Psalm 41:9, Daniel 9:24-26, and Zechariah 11:12-13 Concerning the Death of the Messiah

The Prophecies: He will be cut off, despised, pierced, scourged, killed with common criminals and buried in a rich man’s tomb. He will be betrayed by a friend for 30 pieces of silver.

Next Week: Can I Trust the Bible? The Testimony of Archeology (Part 4)

 

 

Psalm 19

    ¹The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
         And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
    ²Day to day pours forth speech,
         And night to night reveals knowledge.
    ³There is no speech, nor are there words;
         Their voice is not heard.
    ⁴Their line has gone out through all the earth,
         And their utterances to the end of the world
         In them He has placed a tent for the sun,
    ⁵Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber;
         It rejoices as a strong man to run his course.
    ⁶Its rising is from one end of the heavens,
         And its circuit to the other end of them;
         And there is nothing hidden from its heat.
    ⁷The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul;
         The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
    ⁸The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
         The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
    ⁹The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;
         The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether.
    ¹⁰They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;
         Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
    ¹¹Moreover, by them Your servant is warned;
         In keeping them there is great reward.
    ¹²Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.
    ¹³Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins;
         Let them not rule over me;
         Then I will be blameless,
         And I shall be acquitted of great transgression.
    ¹⁴Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
         Be acceptable in Your sight,
         O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.

 

Scripture Reading

• Story to tell you about Sudan
• Friday evening went to Shreveport, LA to the Baptist Medical and Dental Society
• Primarily went to see Matt McGowan and his wife
• We were discussing a teaching trip in Sudan in August
• When Kim returned from Sudan, one of the projects that we discussed was a sewing/seamstress project
• The idea was to provide clothing/uniforms for the 550 orphans at the two orphanages along with providing the widows at the Nyamlal orphanage with an ongoing source of income and teaching them a trade
• The initial project costs were estimated at $49,000 – of which Voice of the Martyrs and Open Doors had already provided the first $20,000
• Kim briefly mentioned it on the Sunday evening she presented
• I went to the missions committee a few weeks back and present this as a possible project for our church to help raise some of the funds
• I sent Matt an email telling him that I though Matthew Road might be able to raise some of the funds for this project and gave him some clarifying questions from our committee
• However, some Matthew Road people already had Sudan on their hearts and some others had missions in general on their hearts and had given monies for this type of ministry opportunity
• I went through the math on this a couple of weeks ago and sent Matt an updated email telling him that I though Matthew Road would be able to provide $12,000 for this project right away
• That was on a Monday
• On Tuesday, I had more time to look through the numbers and to consider what had already been given for Sudan and realized that we were very close to the entire $29,000 left to complete this project
• I drove home that night working through the details on this in my mind, asking God to please give us wisdom on this
• I talk with the five families that gave toward Sudan and to make sure they understood the project and the approach and all five agreed, with no one family giving much more than a third of this
• That night James 2
• Read James 2:14-17 (Slide)
• On Friday night it was such a joy to present Matt with check for $28,000 to go with the $1,000 someone from Matthew Road had already given to Make Way Partners

 

Can I Trust the Bible? Biblical Prophecy – Some Compelling Examples (Header Slide)

• The fact that the Bible contains prophecies that are fulfilled already in history is an indication that God is the author of Scripture.
• It demonstrates divine omniscience with reference to future events.
• See what God says about this in His Word
• Read Isaiah 46:9-10 (Slide 2)
• We cannot predict the future, in fact, it is impossible for us to predict the future.
• Right now there is a group claiming that the end of the world will occur on May 21, 2011. First came across this group in Washington DC over Memorial Day weekend last year. Took their booklet and tried to determine the basis of their claim. The most confusing collection of formulas you will ever find.
• “The Bible Guarantees It!” is the claim on the billboards
• However, about 35 years ago God began to open the true believers’ understanding of the timeline of history. Thus it was discovered that the Bible teaches that when the events of the past are coordinated with our modern calendar, we can learn dates of history such as Creation (11,013 B.C.), the flood of Noah’s day (4990 B.C.), the exodus of Israel from Egypt (1447 B.C.) and the death of Solomon (93l B.C.)*
• However, it was not until a very few years ago that the accurate knowledge of the entire timeline of history was revealed to true believers by God from the Bible. This timeline extends all the way to the end of time. During these past several years God has been revealing a great many truths, which have been completely hidden in the Bible until this time when we are so near the end of the world.
• The problem, of course with this approach, is that when they are proven false prophets. How will we know they are false prophets?
• When they are proven false prophets, people will say, “See, the Bible is false”
• So these types of claims are actually detrimental to those of us who claim the Bible is true

1. Amos 1:9-10 and Ezekiel 26 Concerning Tyre

• Prophecy against Tyre
• Read Ezekiel 26:3-4 (Slide 3)
• The Prophecy: Tyre would be attacked by many nations, entire city thrown into the sea, the original Phoenician city would never be rebuilt or found again and would be nothing but a bare rock and a place for fishnets to dry.
• Read Ezekiel 26:3-4 (Slide 3)
• Tyre was part of the great Phoenician empire, know especially for their control of the seas
• 585-572 BC, 13 years by Nebuchadnezzar set siege to Tyre
• Found no spoils because the people had moved all their riches to an island about a half mile offshore
• Ezekiel 29 predicts that the Babylonians would get no plunder
• The new city of Tyre for 250 years remained offshore with the remains of the old city ruins sitting on the old site
• Read Ezekiel 26:8 (Slide 4)
• Read Ezekiel 26:12 (Slide 5)
• Read Ezekiel 26:13-14 (Slide 6)
• 333 BC Alexander the Great comes to Tyre and calls on the Phoenician cities to supply him resources to keep him on his journey to defeat the Egyptians
• The city of Tyre refuse to provide him any
• He has no ships, how will he get to Tyre, ½ mile off the shore of ancient Tyre
• 2000 foot causeway by taking the ruins of the old Tyre, including the dirt
• Built the massive towers, 20 stories high, they rolled them across the causeway and pushed them up against the wall and the soldiers walked in
• Threw rocks at the soldiers, so he built a great shield to protect the workers from the attacks so that the work could continue
• Seven months is what it took for Alexander the Great to defeat Tyre
• 15,000 killed, 30,000 sold into slavery
• Philip Meyer the historian says, “Alexander the Great reduced Tyre to ruins. The once great city is as bare as the top of a rock and is a place where fishermen dry their nets.”
• Tyre Quote from Columbia Encyclopedia, “The principal ruins of the city today are those of buildings erected by the Crusaders. There are some Greco-Roman remains, but if there is any left by the Phoenicians they lie underneath the present town.”
• The main city has never been rebuilt

1. Daniel 2 and Daniel 11 Concerning the Four Kingdoms and Alexander the Great

• Read Daniel 2:39-40 (Slide 7)
• The Prophecy: Four kingdoms will dominate the world in succession. The first kingdom is Babylon. The second kingdom is the Medo-Persian Empire as it will be split among two nations and cultures. The third will be mighty but experience a sudden loss of its leader with the result of a divided kingdom into four parts. The fourth kingdom will be strong militarily but will lack unity in its domination of the world. Ultimately these four kingdoms describe Babylon, Assyria, Greece, and Rome, each with successive rule over Jerusalem.

1. Jeremiah 25:11-12, Isaiah 13:9, 14:23 and 45:1 Concerning Babylon

• Read Jeremiah 25:11-12 (Slide 8)
• The Prophecy: After destroying Judah and taking captives, Babylon will be conquered, destroyed and left as a swampland never to be rebuilt. After 70 years the captives will return to Jerusalem. In 609 BC Babylon conquered Jerusalem and took captives. Cyrus the Medo-Persian King defeated Babylon and in 539 BC allowed the Jews to return to their homeland. Babylon was never rebuilt and was partly underwater when archeologist excavated in the 1800s.
• Babylon was never rebuilt and in 1800s, archaeologists could not completely excavate Babylon because sections of the city were under water.

1. Micah 5:1-2, Jeremiah 23:5, Isaiah 61 and Zechariah 9:9 Concerning the Birth and Life of Messiah

• Read Micah 5:2 (Slide 8)
• The Prophecies: Messiah will be born in Bethlehem, will be the offspring of King David, He will perform miracles and preach good news to the poor, and He will come into Jerusalem riding on a donkey with shouts of victory from the people

1. Isaiah 53, Psalm 41:9, Daniel 9:24-26, and Zechariah 11:12-13 Concerning the Death of the Messiah

• Read Isaiah 53:5 (Slide 9)
• The Prophecies: He will be cut off, despised, pierced, scourged, killed with common criminals and buried in a rich man’s tomb. He will be betrayed by a friend for 30 pieces of silver.

 

Conclusion: (blank slide) If the Bible is accurate about prior predictions, then it is reliable. It is reliable in what it claims about past historic events. It is also reliable in what it claims about things yet future. Despite the false teachings of this group that claims May 21, 2011, there is a coming day of the return of Christ. There is coming a day when He will reign and all peoples will stand before Him as their rightful ruler.