Lesson 3- The Proof of the Bible

Lesson 3

The Proof of the Bible

AMBASSADOR CHRISTIAN COLLEGE‐ Dr. Keith Slough

INTRODUCTION

W

E HAVE PROVED that the Creator God does exist from the science of astrophysics, astronomy, and cosmology. You saw the scientific proof for the existence of God in the last issue. We know there is indeed a Supreme Being ‐ a God, who made the universe, our Earth and even ourselves. Next we should ask, did that Creator ever attempt to communicate with His creation?

Did He ever send messengers or representatives to speak to mankind? Has He ever come in person to speak to the world? The answer to all these questions is YES! ‐and you can prove it!

In this lesson, we ask the question, can we prove the Bible to be the inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of the Creator God? In this article you will see the PROOF from history and fulfilled prophecy that the Holy Bible is indeed God's Word to mankind. How does the Bible compare with the "holy books" or "scriptures" of other religions such as Islam, Hinduism, Bud‐ dhism, Taoism, etc.? Could they be inspired too? The answer is that all these various "holy books" of the world's major religions contradict each other to some degree. And ALL of them contradict the Christian Bible!

In this lesson, I will show you what I have learned from my own personal research. Back in the 1960’s I questioned if God's existence could be proved and if the Bible could then be proved to be what it claims to be ‐ the very inspired Word of God. I found that proof! Over the years I have been asked to reproduce what I have found for others who never knew that the Bible is a provable book. It is not necessary to merely "take it on faith" as millions of Hindus and Buddhists must do with their "scriptures." For it is impossible for them to prove that their "scriptures" are inspired by the Creator God. Rather we can PROVE the Bible to be inspired. No religion on Earth using "holy books" other than the Bible can make that claim!

I just did however, with the Bible. And in this lesson you will see the irrefutable PROOF that the Holy Bible is indeed God's Revelation to man! In the last lesson you saw scientific proof for God's existence. But in this lesson, I offer you one more. For if we can prove that the Bible is supernaturally inspired, we automatically present yet another proof for God's existence! No mere mortal man could have made the predictions found in the Bible and brought them to pass! Only a Supreme Being could have done it. Thus we offer one more proof of God's existence ‐the inspiration of the Holy Bible!

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God's Revelation to Man …the HOLY BIBLE!

We know that the universe had a Creator. Next we must ask, did that Creator God leave a written revelation of Himself to his creatures here on Earth? Has He at any time attempted to communicate with mankind? The answer is, Yes He has! And you can PROVE it!

T

HE SCIENCE OF ASTRONOMY, Cosmology, and Astrophysics absolutely demands the existence of a Creator God! We know God exists! We can be assured that a "Super intellect" or a "Great First Cause" made the entire vast universe! The scientific proof for the Creator ABOUNDS! But now we must ask the question, did this Creator God leave a revelation of Himself? Has He ever attempted to communicate with His creation? Mankind is a part of the creation and is intelligent to ask questions about purpose and reason. Why did the Creator make the universe?

Why did He put man on this planet? Did He have a purpose in mind when He created the universe in such a way to allow mankind to exist on this planet? (the "Anthropic Principle.")

While the Creator has left evidence of His existence in the universe and in nature all around us, has He ever attempted to give us any special revelation? Has God ever attempted to speak to mankind? Has He ever visited us and talked with us? Has this Creator ever at any time, left a written revelation of Himself so that His own creatures could learn more about Him? If indeed He has, then where is it?

Does Religion Have the Answer?

Religion is man's attempt to find the Creator God. It is mankind's attempt to understand and learn about God. And the world is filled with very ancient and divergent religions ‐from ancient Hinduism and Buddhism, to Christianity ‐ all religions to some degree speak of our relationship to our Creator and our fellow man.

And in all these religions are found "holy books" ‐books that are considered "sacred writings" to the adherents of those religions. Are any of these "holy books" sent to us by the Creator God? Did God inspire the writings of any of these books? For if the Creator God did leave a revelation of Himself on planet Earth then it would be found among the world's religious literature. Has He ever visited us or left a written Revelation of Himself to mankind, or must we forever grope in the spiritual darkness of human theorizing and manmade philosophy?

Since Religion is man's attempt to find God, could anyone of the various "Holy" Books of the many religions in the world be a truly inspired revelation from this Creator God to mankind?

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Among such "Holy" Books representing the entire world's MAJOR RELIGIONS are the Vedas of Hinduism, the multitude of Sutras of Buddhism, the writings of Confucianism, Zoroastrianism, Islam and Christianity. Could these various "scriptures," collectively be God's revelation to man? Or do they contradict themselves? Could several such books be inspired from God? Can we prove that at least one such Book among all the so‐called "Holy" Books of the world's religions truly is the infallible, inerrant and truly inspired revelation from this Creator God to man?

Yes we can!

The Claim for Inspiration First, we need to collect the world's various and divergent "holy books" and read them.

This of course could take some time.

About 1968 I began intensively studying the Bible to see if I could prove it to be a truly inspired Book, the very Word of God. Once I had completed my initial study of science and having proven that the Creator God exists, the next logical step was to prove whether or not the Bible is truly the very revelation ‐the very "Word" of that God. Knowing that science now proved the existence of God, I began reading the Bible to determine if I could also prove it to be true or not. I also immediately called the local library for anything they had on the Dead Sea scrolls.

The place to start however; is to collect all the world's major "holy books" ‐their "bibles" and read them as I said. This can be a rather formidable task if we read and study each one considering the Buddhist "scriptures" ‐the so‐called "Sutras" ‐ if all put together would probably equal the Bible themselves in length. There are many books referred to as "Vedas" in the Hindu Religion. However it is easier than you might think at first when we realize that we only need to resolve one question in our initial study. And that question is, which ones or how many of these various "holy books" claim to be the very revelation of God to man? It is not necessary to read every word! It is only necessary to skim these books to learn the answer to one very specific question. And that is, does God speak through these books?

In any or all of these books, does the Creator God attempt to communicate directly with His creatures?

Now, let's examine the "holy books" of all the world's major religions to determine if these books claim to be the revelation from God to mankind. We do not need to read and understand every single statement made in these religious books. We only need to look for statements made by the Creator to His creation. If we find no such revelation ‐no such communication ‐ then further analysis of these books is superfluous. There is no need for further study.

For example, Reader's Digest magazine may contain many fine articles. These articles could all contain truth. But at no time has Reader's Digest made the claim that it constitutes a divinely inspired REVELATION from the Creator God to mankind! Rather it is exactly what it claims to be

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‐a collection of condensed articles from books and articles of human interest Therefore, as good as this publication is, we can eliminate it from among the candidates for the Word of God simply because, for all its good qualities, it makes no such claim!

An Examination of the World's Major Religious Books

First let's look at the some of the world's oldest writings or "scriptures" From the major religions of the world.

We begin with the "scriptures" or writings of the Babylonian religion. In no verse of these ancient "scriptures" of Babylonia, do we find this supposed deity speaking to the writer of these scriptures. The sun god of Babylonia says nothing about himself nor does he attempt to com‐ municate any directives to mankind. The Babylonian scriptures were written by religious men who merely describe what they perceive to be the attributes of their "god."

Next there is the famous Gilgamesh Epic, but again we have writings about their understanding of the Creator, but the Creator God Himself does not speak through these scriptures. We therefore can eliminate these "holy books" of the Babylonian religion as being an inspired communication from God to man, as the authors of these various scriptures do not make the claim that God had communicated with them or that these writings constituted such revelation from God to man.

Next we can examine the "holy books" of the ancient Egyptian religion. We find various "hymns" to their deities but the Creator speaks to man through none of them. There is also a great deal of writing about death. In fact there is one "sacred book" of the Egyptian religion called "The Book of the Dead." It consists of cantations to transport the supposed immortal soul of the dead Egyptian to their idea of Heaven. The book contains prayers from men to God but no word from God to men.

Thus we can safely eliminate the scriptures of ancient Egypt as being a revelation from the Creator to man.

The Scriptures of Hinduism The Hindus have written a collection of scriptures called Vedas. They are divergent but contain a plethora of aphorisms and philosophical reasoning’s about God as well as nature and man's relationship to it. But in no instance do we read where God speaks to mankind through the Hindu scriptures! The Hindu "holy books" consist of writings such as the famed RIG VEDA, a collection of hymns, and the UPANISHADS, a collection of proverbial sayings and maxims.

Just like our analogy with the Reader's Digest, no matter what information may exist in a book, if that book does not even claim to be the Word of God ‐the revelation from God to man then we cannot assume something to be true that even the writers themselves did not purport to be the truth.

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The writers continually write about God, but God Himself never speaks a word. No revelation from the Creator God to man. The books of Hinduism also speak of transmigration of souls (returning in the next life as a cow or some other lower life form). While these scriptures of Hinduism presume to teach moral conduct, still the Creator God does not speak Himself through the Hindu scriptures.

Some years ago I found and purchased a copy of the most celebrated Hindu "holy book," the famous Bhagavad Gila! This book has been likened to the Christian's New Testament.

However in this book as well, comments are made about the Creator, but no time in the entire book does God Himself speak or reveal Himself to man through this favorite "bible" of Hinduism.

The Religion of Buddhism Next we come to Buddhism. The religion of Buddhism is really more of a philosophy than a religion per se. Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama, who was born in the 500’s B.C. He became the original "Buddha" and others followed adding their teachings to the evolving religion. The religion he started originally was a mere sect of Hinduism.

The scriptures of Buddhism are called "Sutras" and the most famous in the western world is probably the Kama Sutra, a book dealing with sex in marriage. Some years ago an acquaintance gave me a copy of these scriptures. It was called “the Illustrated Karma Sutra,” and it was quite popular in America for a time. Buddha taught the famous Eightfold Path ‐a means by which one could eliminate evil in the world by eliminating all desires! Asceticism was strongly taught by Buddha who organized a brotherhood of monks. Again, no word from God there either!

The word "Buddha" means "enlightened one." Siddhartha Gautama, the first Buddha who originated the religion of Buddhism once said: "What I have said, I have said, and what I have not said, I have not said." Compare this "enlightened wisdom" of Buddha with, for example, the Sermon on the Mount given by Jesus of Nazareth. At no time does God speak to mankind through the Buddhist scriptures!!

We can thus dispense with the "holy books" of Buddhism as a revelation from God to man.

Other Religions I also have the scriptures of Confucianism, which at one time was the religion of China. In all the plentitude of pages in the scriptures of the various "holy books" of this religion not one quotation from the Creator God can be found! I know for I have searched them myself.

Next is the religion of Shintoism, the nationalistic religion of Japan. They have two sacred books; one called "the Records of Ancient Matters" the other, "The Chronicles of Japan." These two "sacred" books do not claim to be a revelation from the Creator God to mankind; rather they are historical chronicles of the Japanese people. The Creator never speaks to man through these books.

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Jainism, another religion arising from Hinduism, was founded by Mahavira, an atheist living about the same time as Buddha. Jainism is a religion of asceticism, not the worship of the Creator. One thousand years after Mahavira's death some books were compiled that are "authoritative" to their religion but again do not claim to be the revelation from the Creator to man as it is primarily an atheistic religion.

Then there is the religion of Sikhism, founded by Nanak. This religion is primarily found in the Punjab province of India. This religion is also an outgrowth of Hinduism but with a mixture of Islam. Nanak, the founder of this syncretism mixture religion of Hinduism and Islam, merely equated God ''with the abstract principle of truth or reality" ‐ not a personal Creator God (K. Singh in Abingdon Dictionary of Living Religions, Keith Grim, general editor, page 691). Thus again we see Sikhism to be more agnostic or atheistic and therefore does not profess to have any sacred books that could possibly represent a revelation from the Creator to mankind.

The Chinese Religion Next is the present day religion of China called Taoism (pronounced Dow‐ism). Some years ago I purchased this Chinese "bible" with all the Taoist scriptures. It is called the Tao Te Ching in the translation I have (pronounced "Dow De Jing") though it is also referred to as the Tao Te Ching. I have read every verse of this famous Chinese "holy book" or "bible" of the religion of Taoism. In fact I have actually read the entire book multiple times. As a philosophy it is interest‐ ing, yet the name of God is perhaps only mentioned once or twice. Looking at this famous Chinese "bible" (or accepted "holy book") before me, I cannot find the name of God even once, but I do seem to remember seeing it once or twice. Yet this is the "religion" of one billion people in the nation of China!

One common thing we see in the religions of the world is that they are primarily philosophy as opposed to religion per se!

Again this most famous "bible" or "holy book" of one billion people on Earth never once quotes the Creator God with any revelation directly attributable to Him. Thus we can eliminate the famous Tao Te Ching from our list of "holy books" of the world's religions that could possibly be the inspired revelation from the Creator to mankind.

The Koran of Islam

What about the Koran, the "holy book" or "bible" of Islam, the Moslem religion? Does the Creator God ever speak to mankind through this book?

Before me now I have the Islamic (or Moslem) "bible" or scriptures opened. While the name "God" is used multiple times in the Koran, no scripture in the entire "bible" of the Moslem quotes God as saying anything! The Moslem "holy book" ‐the Koran ‐speaks about God while God Himself never so much as introduces Himself or "gets a word in." Here is a sample

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quotation from one of the world's most often and widely read books, the Koran: “When ye encounter the unbelievers [those who are not Moslems], strike off their heads, until ye have made a great slaughter among them. This shall ye do.” Verily if God pleased he could take vengeance on them, without your assistance; but he commands you to fight his battles, that he may prove the one of you by the other. And as to those who fight in defense of God's true religion [Islam], God will not suffer their works to perish: he will guide them and dis‐ pose their heart aright; and he will lead them into paradise, of which he hath told them."

The Koran obviously contradicts the Holy Bible of Christianity. We see clearly the world's so‐ called "holy books" contradict one another. They cannot all, therefore, be correct!

Where contradictions and disagreements exist, they all cannot be correct! Logic dictates that.

There are many, many preachments to the Moslem faithful, yet in the Koran, the Creator of the universe never speaks out!! Why? Because the Koran never claims to be the very revelation from God to man. While Moslem people may think the Koran is God’s Word, the fact is, the Koran itself never makes that claim nor quotes the Creator God of the universe as speaking to man! Rather it is a collection of Moslem ideas about God ‐not God's ideas specifically voiced from God, about man.

Lewis Brown, a religious anthologist writing about the Koran and its literary style, stated that "the Koran sounds merely rhetorical. To the average 'infidel' [non Moslem] reader it seems little more than a collection of wild ravings, vicious invectives, tedious preachments, and barbarous taboos" (Lewis Browne, The World's Great Scriptures, page 513). By rhetoric, he suggests the Koran is mostly a collection of questions but no answers for the reader. An "infidel" to the Moslem is anyone who does not adhere to their religion and the Koran. Browne speaking of the literary style of the Koran again added that, "To be most readily appreciated, therefore, the Koran has to be read backwards" (Ibid, page 513). A "holy book" that is written in such a bizarre fashion that one has to read it backwards to appreciate and understand it?

But still, we find no quotations from the Creator God Himself. In this book as well as all the other world's religions we have examined, God does not speak. Men are writing about God, but God does not give an "inspired utterance" in a single one of these books. Rather they were all authored by men ‐not by God. We have examined all the world's major religions and their professed sacred writings ‐their "holy books" or "bibles." Yet none of the "bibles" of the world's major religions ‐not a single one ‐ professes to be a divine revelation from God to man!

Remember the analogy I gave about the Reader's Digest. If a book does not claim to be something, why would we ever think it is something it does not even claim to be? The Reader's Digest may have good articles and may be enjoyable reading, but it makes no claims of divine authorship ‐ does not claim to be the Word of God! And neither do the so‐called "holy books" or "bibles" of the world's major religions! They don't even make the claim! Therefore we can dismiss each of them as being the possible divine revelation from the Creator God whom we have proved scientifically really does exist!

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Are we therefore to assume that this Creator left no written revelation of Himself to His creatures on planet Earth? We still have not examined the world's "oldest book" ‐the book used by the Christian Religion ‐the book called The Holy Bible.

Next, let's examine this book. If this book makes no such claims, then we must conclude that the Creator God never took the time to deliver any personal messages or "divine revelations" to mankind!

The Holy Bible

Finally we now look at the Bible of Christianity. Does this book claim to be a revelation from God to mankind? And if it does, can we prove it?

Unlike the "holy books" of the world's religions, the Christian Bible actually purports to be a revelation from God to man. For in this Book of all books we have One calling Himself, "God" and speaking to men!! Notice: "And God SPAKE [spoke] all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me"! (Exodus 20:1‐2). Of course this is a quotation from the Authorized King James translation of the original Hebrew text, the ancient record preserved for nearly 4,000 years!

The Israelites heard God speak in their own language and were ‐greatly afraid because the voice came from a huge fire with lightening and thundering according to the Biblical record (Exodus 20:18 and Deut. 4:33, 36).

Notice, unlike the many "holy books" of the religions of this world which are philosophical viewpoints of men written about the Creator, in the Bible we actually have God speaking Himself, communicating to and REVEALING Himself to mankind! In this chapter we have the Creator God speaking audibly to the nation of Israel from Mt. Sinai after they had left Egypt.

God has a voice. And He spoke directly to His people and later through His prophets. Or at least, that is what this ancient record alleges. Just because a book claims to be a revelation from the Creator of the universe to mankind is of course no "proof' in itself. But so far, the Christian Bible is the ONLY book that can be considered even a candidate for the revelation of God to His creation – the "Word of God" to mankind since the so‐called "holy books" of ALL the world's major religions do not even so much as claim to be the Word of God. They do not even claim that God spoke the words written in their "holy books." Rather those books are exactly what they do claim to be: books written by men containing their collective (and contradictory) philosophical opinions about God, but they do not reveal God speaking or revealing Himself to men. Only the Bible of ALL the world's major religions even makes that claim!

Notice again that the very first person who "speaks" in the Bible is the One calling himself the Creator God of the cosmos and therefore of mankind! Notice how many times we read the words, "And God said" (Genesis 1:1‐3, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26, 28, 29). Right in the first chapter of the Christian Bible we read that "God said" something at least nine times!! ‐ quite unlike the so‐

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called "holy scriptures" of the world's many religions.

Notice how many times (as an example) that God speaks in the Bible just in the following passages: Leviticus 1: 1; 4:1; 6:1; 9.19, 24; 8:1; 11:1; 12:1; 13:1; 14:1; 15:1; 16:1; 17:1; 18:1; 19:1; 20:1; 21:1; 16; 22:1; 23:1; 24:1; 25:1; 27:1. And He continues speaking in the next book, the Book of Numbers. In fact the Creator God is seen speaking throughout the entire Bible!

The question before us now is whether or not we can prove this really was the Creator God whom science has proven must exist! Have we at last found Him?!

Notice the following quotation allegedly from the Creator God: "Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning. And from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure." (Isaiah 46:9‐10).

Was this just the man Isaiah saying these things? Or did the Creator God actually speak to Isaiah and tell him what to write? Notice the part about declaring the end from the beginning ‐ from ancient times! This is the key to determining if the Bible is really an inspired book, for approximately one‐third of the Bible contains predictions of future events, many of them cen‐ turies and even millennia into the future. The veracity of the Bible hinges on this one point. If we can prove that these predictions, these "prophecies" did in fact occur as the One quoted in the Bible who claims to be God said they would occur, then we have at last found the very revelation from our Creator to mankind ‐the very Word of God! But if these prophecies did not occur and were not fulfilled as they were written, then we must conclude the Bible is yet another book written by men only and not therefore inspired.

Let's examine the various prophecies of the Christian Bible and see if this ancient Book was merely written by men, or if it was indeed, as it claims to be, authored by the Creator of the universe! Notice another statement written by Isaiah who claimed to be writing what the Creator told him to write: "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand....

"Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen: let them shew the former things what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together....

"Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? And beforetime, that we may say, He is righteous? yea, there is none that sheweth, yea there is none that declareth,[All the "holy books" of the heathen religions fit that description!] yea there is none that heareth your words [not one of the writers of the "scriptures" of the world's major religions "heard" the very words of God!!]

"Behold they are all vanity; their works [their so‐called "holy books"] are nothing: their molten images, the "gods" of the heathen] are wind and confusion" I (Isaiah 41:10, 13a, 22‐23, 26, 29).

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Here is One claiming to be the very Creator God of the universe who claims that He can predict the future but alleges that the "gods" of the religions of the world cannot! We have learned for a certainty that the "scriptures" of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Taoism, Shintoism, Confucianism, etc. etc. do not attempt to predict future events. Not one of them tries!

But the One claiming to be the God of the universe does predict the future in the pages of the Christian Bible. Now let's see what those predictions were and if they did occur ‐prophecies allegedly inspired by the Creator of the universe.

Bible Foretells the Future!

In Ezekiel 26: 1‐3 we read that "the Word of the Lord" came to Ezekiel, predicting the future destruction of the ancient metropolis known as Tyre, It has been called the ''New York" of the ancient world. God is quoted as saying that He (not Ezekiel) would bring many nations against this powerful and large city‐state as the waves of the sea until it was to be utterly destroyed ‐ never again to be rebuilt! (verses 3‐14). Notice Ezekiel claims to be quoting God who said, "Thou shalt be built no more; for I the LORD have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD"!

No mere man alone could have brought this prophecy to pass. Yet this prophecy did indeed occur just as Ezekiel said the Creator God had told him! I have before me an actual photograph of moss‐covered stones which are now lying "in midst of the water" just as the One claiming to be God in the Bible predicted! (Ezekiel 26:12).

Many nations, one after another, over many centuries, came against that city‐state until finally "the Crusaders captured it (1124), and made it one of the chief cities of their kingdom of Jerusalem. After the fall of Acre, the Muslims DESTROYED it"! (The Encyclopedia Britannica, Volume 22, article "Tyre" capitalizations added).

Notice! There is no way this prophecy could have been fulfilled before Ezekiel wrote it as the entire Bible had been long since written over one thousand years before!!!

But notice that Tyre is to be destroyed by many nations coming against her. Even today there is a small settlement on the ancient site today called Sur. It is debated whether or not this village sits on the same site as that of ancient Tyre. But the reader should keep two things in mind. First the ancient city‐state, this "New York" of the ancient world with its very own skyscrapers according to archaeologists, was totally and utterly destroyed. To this day that same city has never been rebuilt! Secondly, we see from Ezekiel 26:20 that the ultimate destruction occurs when God shall "set glory in the land of the living" ‐ referring to the Kingdom age we read about in a multitude of Bible prophecies. Thus we still have a very small settlement called Sur on or near this ancient site of the great metropolis known as Tyre. There was still a settlement there in the time of Jesus which they called "Tyre." Eventually even that village and all those inhabit "Sur" will be totally destroyed. Yet how did Ezekiel prophesy in the 6th century B.C. so accurately?! This is impossible for a mere man. Even modern day psychics are nowhere near 100 percent accurate!! But God would be!!!

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Isaiah, alleging inspiration from the Creator God, wrote that a certain king would allow the Jews to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. The surprising thing is this king is actually named by name nearly two centuries before he was ever born! (JFB Commentary, page 567, and others, on Isaiah 44:28).

Another king was named by name THREE CENTURIES before his birth: "Josiah," who started a prophesied revival in Judah! (See I Kings 13:2 and Scofield Reference Bible footnote, Original Edition, on page 753).

The Jamieson, Faucett, and Brown Commentary" states: "Behold, a child shall be born ...

‘Josiah by name’‐this is one of the most remarkable prophecies recorded in the Scriptures; and, in its clearness, circumstantial minuteness, and exact prediction of an event that took place 360 years later, it stands in striking contrast to the obscure and ambiguous oracles [or, so‐called "scriptures"] of the heathen"! (page 260, under I Kings 13:2).

Not a single "scripture" comparable to this was ever given in the Vedas, the Sutras, the Koran, or other eastern and non Christian "holy books" of the world's major religions! Only in the pages of the Bible do we find such audacious and bold prophecies! And these too came to pass!

Are we dealing with the mere words of mortal men, or the very Words of the Creator God who made the whole vast universe?

Future of Egypt Foretold

Another prophecy in the Bible foretells the future of Egypt. When these Old Testament prophets of the Bible wrote their prophecies Egypt was at that time a great power in the world.

Egypt possessed the world's longest dynasty on earth! No mortal would have dared predict the demise of this great power! Yet the prophets of the Bible claimed that God pronounced punishment on Egypt and prophesied of its demise as a world power! (Ezekiel 29:1‐2). Ezekiel wrote about Egypt: "It shall be the basest of kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish them that they shall no more rule over the nations. And it shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel"! (verses 15‐16).

That happened! It did indeed become the basest of kingdoms – its people in poverty to this day! (See Ezekiel 30: 10, 12). The Hebrew word here translated "multitude" is best translated "wealth." Also the original Egyptians lost their land and today the land of Egypt is actually inhabited by the Arabs! Few true Egyptians (known as the "Coptics") have survived!

God also prophesied that "there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt"! That happened! Notice what Rawlinson's Ancient History says about this subject in "The History of Egypt," Volume 2: "Thus perished this unfortunate monarch, the last of the long line of Pharaohs .., as an independent monarchy for about 16 centuries"!!

Egypt has never been ruled by a native prince ever since! Today's rulers of Egypt are not

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even true Egyptian but Arab! How did the prophets of the Bible know these things, except they told the truth ‐ these things are revelations from the Creator God to mankind thus making the Bible a truly inspired Book ‐ the very Word of God for man!

Was this Ezekiel who knew this would happen to Egypt? Or was it God Almighty who inspired the prophets of the Bible? One scientists dealing for decades in psychic research stated that the very best psychics in the world are never more than 80 percent accurate. Yet prophecy after prophecy in the Bible was fulfilled showing these Prophets were 100 percent accurate!

How could that be, unless they had truly heard from God just as they said? Also psychics take credit themselves for their "gift" whereas these men claimed they were only writing the pre‐ dictions that the Creator God had given them! It is now obvious that these men had to have been telling the truth, for their predictions, came true, just as they wrote them!

This same Being who claims to be God pronounced punishment on the city of Babylon.

Nearly all these prophecies that God gave to the prophets dealt with predictions that simply seemed impossible at the time of their writing! For example, read the prophecy regarding the magnificent and powerful city state of Babylon in Isaiah 13:19‐22. God said this city would be destroyed and never rebuilt! This same God said also that Jerusalem would continue to be inhabited (Isaiah 44:26). Today Jerusalem is still inhabited yet Babylon has long since been destroyed in Daniel's day by the Medes and the Persians.

God said, "It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation"! (Isaiah 13:20). It has remained desolation without inhabitant to this day ‐ all the way into the 21st century!! What about the statement in verse 20 that says that "neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there"? How could God possibly have known that? Was that prophecy fulfilled? Listen to the answer given in the JFB Commentary: "[Verse] 20, literally fulfilled.... Not only shall it not be a permanent residence, but not even a temporary rest place. The Arabs, through dread of evil spirits, and believing the ghost of Nimrod to haunt it, will not pass the night there" (JFB Commentary, page 524 under verse 20).

I met a man some years ago who had traveled to Babylon and had specifically asked the question of his tour guide concerning Arabs pitching their tents there. The answer he received was No. The Arabs were afraid to. So all the way to the modern day, this prophecy is still being fulfilled!

Amazing!!! How could God have known? Even more amazing, how could Isaiah ‐ a mere mortal man if he was not truly inspired by the Creator God ‐have known centuries before its fulfillment that these things would occur and continue indefinitely? Logic and just plain common sense dictate Isaiah could not have known ‐could not have brought this to pass long after his death! And since Babylon has continued to remain desolate without an Arabian so much as pitching his tent there, this prophecy 2700 years later is still being fulfilled! The only answer is, Isaiah was indeed contacted by the Creator God just as was Ezekiel and the other prophets of the Bible. They did indeed truthfully write what the Creator had revealed to mankind. This Bible then is indeed the very Word of God. Any other explanation attempting to show how these prophets could have accurately predicted or caused these prophecies'

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continued fulfillment would make us look like complete fools! It would simply be IMPOSSIBLE for these mere men to have conjured up these things in their own imaginations and then have the power to bring them to pass all the way into the 21st century! Not even a fool could believe that! ‐that these men were simply making up these uncanny predictions out of their own IMAGINATIONS! That would simply be impossible!

Around the time of the Gulf War in the early 1990s, Saddam Hussein bragged he would rebuild Babylon. Yet today we have heard nothing more from his boasting. What the reader should realize is that even if Hussein made Babylon some sort of tourist attraction this would not nullify the prophecies as he would never be able to literally rebuild the city as it once existed. God promised it would never be rebuilt! And it never has been to this day ‐ and it never will be!! Is this fulfillment of prophecy mere coincidence? Or is the Bible divinely inspired by the God who made the entire vast universe?

When I was doing my initial studies into "proving all things" I seriously questioned if these prophecies could have been written after their fulfillment. But the more I learned the more I could see this was simply impossible.

Daniel predicted four world ruling empires. While the first did exist in his lifetime (Babylon), the fourth is not mentioned by name for as yet it had no name, being far into the future. Yet all scholars without exception agree that the fourth empire was ROME. Yet how did Daniel know?

It was simply impossible for him to have known unless God told him!

Many other cities were given prophecies of specific detail which also were fulfilled to the letter. Zephaniah predicted the fate of these city states that were neighbors to the Jewish people. He wrote prophecies about Gaza, Ashdod, Ekron and Ashkelon. These prophecies absolutely occurred in fulfillment as the prophet predicted.

Notice that these cities which were west of Jerusalem and on the coast of Palestine were prophesied to belong to the remnant of the house of Judah the Jewish tribe of Israel! That hap‐ pened in the 20th century when the Jews set up a Jewish state in 1948! How did Zephaniah know that in 630 B.C.? He didn't. But God did!!!

One very interesting example was the city of Ashkelon which was prophesied to become desolation (Zephaniah 2:4) and "shall not be inhabited" (Zechariah 9:5). When I was doing my initial studies into these prophecies back in the mid to late 1960s, I checked to see when these prophecies were fulfilled. They had indeed been fulfilled. But were these prophecies written after they were fulfilled by an unscrupulous religious "prophet" or had these prophecies indeed been written before their fulfillment? In checking reference books on Ashkelon, for example, I learned that this city was definitely destroyed and has never been rebuilt and is not to this day inhabited but now belongs to the state of modern day Israel ‐ or more properly the one tribe or "house of Judah" ‐ or the "Jewish people," just as the prophecies said!

The astounding thing was that the city of Ashkelon was not destroyed however until it was totally desolated by the Moslems! ‐in A.D. 1270!!! It was destroyed over 1000 years AFTER the time of Christ and in all these centuries has never been rebuilt!!!

No, it cannot be denied. These prophecies were not clever hoaxes written after they had

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occurred. But rather the prophets did indeed hear from God, wrote what He told them and then God inspired not only their writing of His Words, but their preservation as well to this day!

Secondly no one can say these prophecies were written after their fulfillment as they are still to this day being fulfilled!

Space does not permit an exhaustive list of prophecies given throughout the Bible that came to pass one right after another! But I want to encourage you to begin reading the Bible immedi‐ ately to see these things for yourself. This Bible is indeed the revealed and inspired Word of the Almighty Creator God who created the universe! How else can we explain that when the whole world believed the Earth to be flat, that God told Isaiah otherwise? In Isaiah 40:22 we read that the Earth is a "circle." (The Hebrew word here literally is translated "sphere" meaning "round ball"). The Moffat Bible translation in this verse states, "the ROUND Earth."

Yet Isaiah wrote this in the eighth century before Christ!!! Can you explain this? Can an atheist? Can an agnostic? Is the Bible just an old book filled with Jewish fables, or is it the very inspired Word of the Creator God to man? The answer is now obvious!

What does the Earth "hang" on? Or what is it sitting on? What keeps it up? In ancient times they thought the world was flat and sat on four elephants held up by a giant tortoise! Yet not only do we learn the Earth is round but that God "hangeth the earth upon NOTHING"! (Job 26:7).

How could Job have known this? He could have only known it if God had revealed it thus making the Bible the truly inspired Word of God! Many skeptics have assumed the world wide Flood of Noah never occurred or, if it did, that it was only a local flood. Yet I have before me 39 pages copied from the Internet from an article entitled "Flood Stories from Around the World" which lists over 150 ancient cultures that preserved a legend of a universal flood! If it was only a story Moses made up, why do all these ancient cultures also teach a worldwide flood? ‐unless it really did happen just as the Bible said!

We also now have historical documentation that Joseph in the Book of Genesis really was the prime minister of Egypt under Pharaoh and that David really was the king of Israel just as the Bible said. There can no longer be any doubt that the Bible is indeed true. It now stands PROVED as the supernaturally inspired Word of the Creator God to mankind!!

What about MODERN­DAY "Prophets"?

II Peter 1:17‐20 states: "We have also a MORE SURE WORD of prophecy [inspired utterance]; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place " What is that "more sure Word of prophecy"? Notice: "... knowing this first that no prophecy OF THE SCRIPTURE is of any private interpretation..."!

There it is! The "more sure Word" of prophecy (or, inspired utterance) is the "prophecy of the Scripture" ‐the Holy Bible!

So what about modern‐day "prophets" and "prophetesses" who speak to us today? Isaiah

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8:20 answers: "If they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them"!

We must compare their "prophecies" with the Bible which we have already proved is the Word of God. "Prophets" known to most of us today would be Nostradamus, Jeanne Dixon, Ellen G. White, Edgar Cayce, Gordan‐Michael Scallion, and Joseph Smith.

Nostradamus gave many ambiguous "prophecies" yet he gave at least one very specific prophecy that the Antichrist would reveal himself to the world in the seventh month of the year 1999 and destruction would then come. It didn't happen! Therefore this professing "prophet” did not hear from God. He was not a true prophet of God but one the Bible calls a "false prophet" (compare Deuteronomy 18:20‐22).

Jeanne Dixon made many prophecies that never came to pass such as predicting that World War III would begin in 1954 and that Russia would be the first nation to put men on the moon!

(See McDowell and Stewart's Handbook of Today's Religions, pages 183‐184). She was not inspired by God. Edgar Cayce and Gordan‐Michael Scallion predicted a number of natural disasters for the 1990s that never occurred.

Ellen G. White (founder of the Seventh Day Adventist denomination) supposedly had visions telling her that Christ would return in the 1800s! She was insistent at one point in time that an angel told her there were only a few more months left! It has been over 100 years since Ellen G. White delivered that "prophecy." This same woman who called herself a "prophetess" also said she saw in vision that there were SINLESS ALIENS on the planet Jupiter! But today we have sent satellites to the planet Jupiter and have learned there is no life whatsoever ‐ sinful or otherwise ‐ on that Planet! The uncritical, gullible, and uneducated people of the 1800s listened to her and thus a new Protestant sect was founded.

And today there is a multitude of professing "prophets" each claiming one "vision" or another. Yet if what they say does not come to pass, they are not hearing from God! They are FALSE PROPHETS, plain and simple!

The Book of Mormon

Remember, we have PROVED that the Holy Bible is indeed inspired! Therefore every other alleged "revelation" from God must agree with the Scripture or it cannot be considered a genuine revelation from God!!

Isaiah 8:20 says, "To the Law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this Word [the Holy Bible], it is because there is no light in them"!! All we have to do is determine if the Book of Mormon contradicts the Holy Bible. And it does!

There are outright contradictions between the book of Mormon and the Holy Bible. For example, where was Jesus Christ born? Every Christian should know that. The Bible teaches He was born at Bethlehem! (Micah 5:2, Matthew 2:1 and Luke 2:4). But Joseph Smith's book of

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Mormon teaches: "And behold, He shall be born of Mary, AT JERUSALEM"! (book of Mormon, found in Alma 7:10). Incredible! Yet even more incredible is that this obvious contradiction still does not cause loyal Mormons to question their prophet or their church!

Was Joseph Smith REALLY a Prophet of God?

From a Mormon website on the Internet in an article entitled, "The Greatest Prophecy of Joseph Smith!" we read the following words: (it will benefit the reader to know that Joseph Smith was born in 1805).

"In 1835, Joseph Smith prophesied [misspelling is theirs] that Christ would return in the year 1891" (page 1 of Mormon website). Notice the "prophet" Joseph Smith prophesied that Christ would return in the year 1891.

On page 2 of this website we read: "The Latter‐day Saints in 1890 some of whom had known Joseph Smith in the 1830s and 40s – had remembered very well the 1890‐91 prophecies, and expected Christ to return in the glory of His Father sometime in those years"! (page 2, emphasis theirs).

Another quotation reads: "Joseph Smith said that there are men living on the moon who dress like Quakers and live to be nearly 1000 years old. Since he was wrong about the moon, is it safe to trust him regarding the way to Heaven? (The Young Woman's Journal, Vo1. 3, pages 263‐264. See reprint in Mormonism ‐ Shadow or Reality? by Jerald and Sandra Tanner, page 4.)"

(Quoted from the website www.carm.org, emphasis added). He also alleged that his book of Mormon was the most correct book of any book on Earth (including the Holy Bible)! Joseph Smith was wrong and if wrong he was a false prophet. Therefore we still have only the Holy Bible as the inspired revelation from the Creator God to man!

Finally, there are prophecies found in the inspired Holy Bible that a Messiah would come at a specific time. History as well as the New Testament of the Bible reveals that Jesus of Nazareth came at the very time that was specified in the prophecy and that He fulfilled all the prophecies the Messiah was to fulfill at His first coming! In a future lesson, you will see historical proof outside the Bible, from secular sources, that Jesus Christ was indeed a real person in history.

You will see proof that He is also the only one that could have fulfilled the many prophecies in the Bible concerning a coming Messiah.

You have now seen an abundance of Proof! God predicted through His inspired prophets who wrote the Holy Bible that certain things would occur not just once, but over hundreds and even thousands of years! Each prophecy was fulfilled exactly as predicted! No mortal man could have written the Bible!

Anyone with common sense and the least amount of intelligence can only conclude that the Holy Bible is THE revelation from the Creator God to mankind! And therefore since we have proved it is inspired by God, it is therefore the inerrant, infallible and totally trustworthy Word of the Creator God of the universe to mankind! You have now seen the PROOF! You are now

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without excuse. What will you do with this knowledge? Will you now beginning living "by every word of God"? The choice is yours.

How Much Time is Left?

A

s I WRITE THESE WORDS I AM sobered by the reality of the perilous times in which we now live. The Bible predicted that in the last days "perilous times shall come"! (II Timothy 3:1). Just today as I write these words, I read an email sent to me from an Asian Press source. They interviewed Mohammed alUsuquf, allegedly the Islamic alQaeda's number three terrorist of the organization. He has now divulged that they plan to destroy SEVEN of America's largest cities using nuclear bombs that are already hidden in these U.S. cities awaiting orders for detonation by Osama bin Laden or some other Moslem Arab leader.

Five of the atomic bombs are 100 kilotons each or five times greater than the bombs dropped on Japan in 1945.

This threat is real. It may be imminent. Now is the time to STOP "playing church" and really BEGIN STUDYING the Bible as you never have before! Tithe and support the Work of God as never before. Time is growing short. This terrorist war may even usher in the GREAT TRIBULATION sooner than any of us think! Yet most of the church world is asleep, not really studying the Bible and preparing to "escape all these things that shall come to pass." It is not enough to be a Christian. You are commanded to "STUDY to show thyself approved unto God." Will you take this command to heart? Will you now really learn God's will for your life and prepare for the approaching End Time?

Before the End comes…

What Will YOU Do for Christ?

As never before we need dedicated men who will preach God's Truth in evangelizing the lost, planting new churches, and teaching people God's Word. Would you consider becoming an ordained minister in a non denominational Ministry that is reaching the lost with the Gospel? The need is urgent! The world is desperate. And the Time is short!

J

ESUS COMMANDS His TRUE CHURCH ‐the spiritual body of converted believers ‐to "Go ye therefore and MAKE DISCIPLES [from] all nations, baptizing them..." (Matthew 28:19). This is the "Great Commission" to the Church today.

Before the End actually does come, what is the greatest activity you can be involved in on

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Earth? Is it the stock market? Is it Hollywood entertainment, mindless amusements, or sports?

As time grows shorter, literally now with each passing month in the new war on terrorism, we must really seriously examine ourselves to see if we really are in the true Faith (II Corinthians 13:5). Nothing is more important than the great Work of God taking Christ's true Gospel to all nations. This Ministry is preaching God's truth to all who will hear it. But we need more manpower to help shoulder the load. We need church planters, evangelists, and pastors to help us reach the world for Christ. Would you like to help?

Will you prayerfully consider working for Jesus Christ full time in His Gospel Ministry to take His Name to the lost, before it is too late? Many of you are waiting for the "call" to go preach.

This may be the only "call" you receive for the Ministry before terrorists strike again! We need YOU! After finishing this Bible Study Course you can then enroll in the Bible College to earn your degree in theology. Eventually you can become a full time minister in the Work of God for this last day. What greater activity could you become involved in than serving Jesus Christ full time?

Remember, when you stand before Christ in the Judgment, He won't ask you how much money you made in your lifetime. Rather He will ask you, "What did you do for Me?"

What will you answer?

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