Prophecy as proof of Divine inspiration
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In part 1 of this series, we saw how critics attempt to assign a late date of around 167 B.C. to the book of Daniel, in order to claim that the prophecies in Daniel were not supernatural at all, but simply forgeries written after the fact. We saw how detailed the prophecies were, and how they reach even beyond the 167 B.C. date of the critics. But how do we answer their arguments for a late date to Daniel? Daniel not one of the prophets? Skeptics claim that since Daniel was included in the Kethuvim, or "Writings" in the Masoretic text, it must have been dated no earlier than 200 B.C.,...
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Skeptics have attacked the book of Daniel perhaps more than any other book in the Bible. Why is this so? I believe the reason is because the Book of Daniel contains such powerful evidence that it is a supernatural, divinely inspired book, and therefore is a great threat to those who have a anti-supernatural worldview. Daniel the prophet lived during the sixth century B.C. and he wrote many prophetic statements that described historical facts so accurately that skeptics over the centuries have tried to assign a late date to the Book of Daniel on the premise that no one can foretell the future....
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Have you heard someone teach that the book of Isaiah had two different authors? That there were two Isaiahs? This "Second Isaiah " theory has become popular among some modern scholars, who can't accept the idea that God could actually predict the future. In chapters 40-66 of Isaiah, many predictions were made about Israel's Babylonian Captivity, which occurred in 587 B.C. However, the time of the prophet Isaiah was in the 700's B.C., and so the critics had to come up with a second Isaiah that wrote chapters 40-66 sometime after the Babylonian Captivity, and then just made it appear that...
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Roman ruins of Tyre with seacoast One of the most dramatic examples of very specific and accurate prophecy are those predictions concerning the city of Tyre, as seen in the book of Ezekiel. It is important to know that the book of Ezekiel is firmly dated by scholars from 590–570 B.C. As mentioned earlier, the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament was made in 280–250 B.C.Multiple biblical prophets make many predictions about places like Tyre, Samaria, Gaza, Ashkelon, Jerusalem, Edom, Nineveh, Babylon and more. Each of these nations had different things happen to them during their...
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How do we know we have the Word of God? One way is to see how God writes history in advance. Let’s look at the ancient kingdom of Edom. The kingdom of Edom was located southeast of the Dead Sea and was almost as large as the state of New Jersey.[1] The people of Edom were the descendants of Esau. Edom was a constant enemy of Israel, and six different prophets spoke against it, with some very detailed predictions. We will look at just a few of these: Jeremiah 49:18 reads: “No man shall abide there; neither shall a son of man dwell in it.” Isaiah 34:13-15 states: “And...
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A former skeptic testifies about Bible Prophecy There is a prophecy in the Bible about Samaria, the capital city of the northern Hebrew kingdom of Israel when the Jews were split into two kingdoms. This prophecy is given in Micah 1:6, written in about 700 B.C.: “Therefore I will make Samaria as a heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof.” What is predicted about Samaria? Samaria will become as a “heap of the field.” Vineyards will...
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Skeptics often charge that the virgin birth of Christ is not really predicted by the Bible. They claim that Christians are reading the doctrine back into the Old Testament text, Isaiah 7:14, that reads: "Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel" (KJV). These critics have argued that the Hebrew word for virgin used here simply means "young woman" and that the whole verse is taken out of context, and really applies only to some child contemporary with Isaiah. They also further charge that since Jesus...
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In the gospel of Matthew, chapter 27:9-10, Matthew describes the account of Judas with the high priests after his betrayal of Jesus and how he throws the betrayal money of thirty pieces of silver down in the temple in front of the high priest and runs off . The priests then take the money and use it to purchase a potter's field. This account is referred to by Matthew as a fulfillment of prophecy spoken by Jeremiah. However, the details about the betrayal price, the place of transaction, and the eventual use of the money are given in the prophet Zechariah, in chapter 11:12-13...
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Was the story of Abraham and Isaac a sordid tale about child sacrifice, as some skeptics allege? Not a chance. Abraham's faith was not only being proven, but he and Isaac were in fact acting out prophecy. First of all, the choice of Hebrew words shows that God did not demand, but request of Isaac that he trust God enough to be willing to sacrifice the possession he most loved, the son of promise, Isaac. And Abraham had come to such a level of trust in God, that he figured that if Isaac dies, and the Lord said he promised many descendants through him, then the Lord is obviously...
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A remarkable prophecy pinpoints the time of the Messiah:Daniel 9:25-26: “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: . . . And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself.”The starting point of this prophecy is the decree to rebuild Jerusalem. The only decree that fits is in Nehemiah 2:1, where King Artaxerxes Longimanus grants the request of Nehemiah to have the city rebuilt. The time period is given in verse 1: “In...
© 2012 Vince Latorre, The Bible Can Be Proven