Why I Believe the Bible is the Word of God: Prophecies Fulfilled

I believe the Bible is a wonderful Book given to us by God and preserved by His hand for millenia (something I'll consider more with you in a later blog). I'm reminded at this very moment about how amazing that preservation is in light of something that just happened: I just spent about 75 minutes typing out today's post, only to have it suddenly disappear into cyber-space. So much for the inspiration and preservation of human words! Now let me try again (something God never has to do).

A second reason why I believe the Bible is the Word of God is because it contains many predictive prophecies--prophecies of extra-ordinary specificity and significance--which have been fulfilled.

While I could never squeeze the list of these prophecies into this limited blogging space, I can at least give you a sampling. I can mention such remarkable predictions as the destruction of the city of Jerusalem which took place in 70AD, decades after Jesus had predicted it in Matthew 24:1-21. I could also cite a number of very specific predictions that were made about the destruction of various other ancient cities, predictions that included great detail about the how and when of those cities' destruction (see Josh McDowell's Evidence that Demands a Verdict). I could also mention the fact that even the recent restoration of the nation of Israel was predicted long ago.

But we might do best simply to focus on the collection of predictions made about the coming of a great Savior-King-Messiah who was to enter the world to save humans from their sin. Among these are predictions about:

--His being born of a woman, and then experiencing near defeat by and then subsequent victory over Satan (Gen. 3:15)
--His being heralded by a predecessor in the wilderness (this proved to be John the Baptist, Isaiah 40:3 cf. Matthew 3:1, 2)
--His birthplace (Micah 5:2 cf. Matthew 2:1)
--His eternal pre-existence (Micah 5:2 cf. John 1:1, 2, 14; Colossians 1:17)
--His Divine identity—which was proven by His words and works (Isaiah 9:6; 7:14)
--His family line and bloodlines (Genesis 49:10 cf. Luke 3:23, 33; Isaiah 11:1 cf. Luke 3:23, 32)
--His miracle working powers (Isaih 35:1-6 cf. Matthew 9:35)
--His ride into Jerusalem on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9 cf. Luke 19:35-37)
--His rejection by people and subsequent selection by God (Psalm 118:22 cf. 1 Peter 2:7)
--His manner of death: crucifixion (Psalm 22--is an exact description of a crucifixion, hundreds of years before that form of execution had even been invented)
--His being spat upon and smitten (Isaih 50:6 cf. Matthew 26:67)
--His death as a common criminal among criminals (Isaiah 53:12 cf. Matthew 27:38)
--His prayer for his killers (Isaiah 53:12 cf. Luke 23:34)
--His specfic sufferings at and on the cross: open mockery, public execution, nakedness, bones out of joint, desperate thirst, surrounding enemies, gambling over his clothes, pierced hands and feet; all these are predicted 1,000 years before they happened--in Psalm 22--and are fulfilled on the cross. You can check the Gospel records.
--His cry of forsakeness (Psalm 22:1 cf. Matthew 27:46)
--His resurrection (Isaiah 53:5, 12; Psalm 16:10, 11)

This is but a sampling of the predictions made about and fulfilled in the Messiah's coming. Objections are predictable. Someone will argue that the NT writers adapted their records to conform to these prophecies. But I challenge folks to think about this.

First, the New Testament writers never would have gotten away with such a fraud for the simple reason that these claims are too fantastic to be believed by so many first century people if there was not great evidence supporting them. Remember: there were thousands of people who met Jesus and listened to Jesus and knew about his life, who despised him. How is it that there were none who could debunk the Christian reports, especially since Christians became one of the more hated people groups in the Roman empire in subsequent decades? History shows that no one ever could disprove these claims. The best they could do was kill the ones making them.

Which brings us back to yesterday's point: It defies logic to claim that all these writers were lying (by tampering with the facts to make them look like fulfilled prophecies). Why? For this simple reason: while it is true that some might be willing to die for something they misguidedly believe to be true, only mad-men (which clearly these men were not) would be willing to die for something they absolutely know to be false.

So I leave you with a question. If you read a book in which there are hundreds of specific predictions of historical events--including dozens about the coming Messiah--all of which have come true, wouldn't you agree that there is reason to think that that book might have a Divine origin?

You tell me: who else knows the future in specific detail and dares to record his predictions?