Are you one of those who is sceptical about the whole "prophecy-thing"? Do you think that there is just too much weird stuff in the Bible for it to be true? Maye it just seems a little too "coo-coo" or strange... I mean, you practically have to be a lunitic to believe some of that stuff, right?
But, however strange or weird it is, have you taken the time to check it out just a little bit for yourself? Or have you just heard from others that it can't be true?
Well, here's your chance, and this will be REALLY easy for you because someone else has done the research for you... all you have to do is read on!
Are the Scriptures prophetically correct?
In my opinion, the answer to the validity and the power of the Scriptures does NOT start with faith or belief. The unique signature on the Scripture is its fulfilled prophecies. Prophecy is predicting what will happen before it happens. Present day astrologers, mediums, psychics, etc. are not prophets from G-d since their predictions are not 100% accurate. Why? G-d said His prophets would be 100% accurate or they would be stoned to death. (So much for Nostradamus.) But our Scriptures have proven themselves for thousands of years to be 100% accurate! Here is a little bit of verifiable proof. Much more will be covered later.
Did you know that G-d told Abraham ahead of time that we (Jews) would be enslaved in Egypt for 400 years, and we were? (Genesis 15:13) “Then the L-RD said to him, ‘Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.’”
Did you know that about 100 years before the Babylonian captivity, before the Jews were even taken captive the first time, G-d told the Jewish prophet Isaiah about the second time He would sovereignly bring us back into our own land. In Isaiah 11:11, it says, “In that day the L-rd will bring back a remnant of His people for the second time, returning them to the land of Israel…”
Isaiah prophesied 120 years before King Cyrus was even born that he would be the king who would permit the Jews to return to their land... And Isaiah the prophet calls him by name! Isaiah 44:28 ... “who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please;’ he will say of Jerusalem, ‘Let it be rebuilt,’ and of the temple, “Let its foundations be laid.”
Israel’s rebirth in the year 1948 and Jerusalem being recaptured in the year 1967 predicted in the Scriptures!
Did you know that in Ezekiel 4, G-d told the Jewish prophet Ezekiel to tell Israel that they would suffer 430 years of judgment for their sins? We know that we served the first 70 years of that judgment when our people were taken captive in Babylon. So what does all of this have to do with anything? Well, let’s first understand that in the Scripture, a year represents 360 days because it is based on the Hebrew calendar. From the time of our captivity in Babylon which began in 606 B.C., add 70 years X 360 days for each year, then take into account the calendar corrections they made in those years that were similar to our leap years, and they were in captivity for the equivalent of 69 years (as we count years). Now add 69 years to 606 B.C. and the Babylonian captivity ended in 537 B.C.
But did G-d just forget about the other 360 years? NO! G-d keeps His word. In Leviticus 26, G-d tells us four times that He will multiply his punishments on us 7 times if we do not obey Him the first time! Oh boy, you mean we will be under His judgment for 360 years X 7, or 2520 years? YES! Now, if you take the 2520 years and make the same adjustments for leap years and changes in calendars over the years and multiply the 360 days X 2520 years, you will have 907,200 days.
Now add 907,200 days to 537 B.C. (remember there is no 0 year) and you come to 1948! Do you remember David Ben Gurion declaring on international radio, using Ezekiel as his authority, the restoring to us of Israel as the new Jewish state?
Is G-d consistent? We also know that in 587 B.C. Jerusalem fell. If you add the same 69 Biblical years of captivity to 587 B.C., you come to 518 B.C. So let’s do it again. Add the 907,200 days to 518 B.C. (remember there is no ‘0’ year) and you come to 1967! You probably remember the stunning victory Israel had over her enemies. As a result of the “Six Day War”, Israel regained control of Jerusalem in the very year her punishment for disobedience ended!
Think about this... No other people group has ever been systematically exterminated, forced to renounce their beliefs and their language, yet still remains. No other people group has lost their language and got it back. Who am I talking about? The Jews. We are proof that the Scriptures speak the truth. Isaiah 66:8 Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Israel was!
(Written by Don Goldstein)
