Is the Bible True?

Our last article pointed out that the Bible claims to be God's Word. Does anything support this claim? Consider the phenomenon of fulfilled prophecy.

Man has always been curious about the future. Many are the ways he has employed to pry into its secrets. Despite claims to the contrary, none of his methods work. Oh sure--make enough ambiguous predictions, and anyone, given enough time, can have some come true (even the weatherman). Yet this says more about the laws of probability than any real ability to discern the future!

On the other hand, the God of the Bible is a God Who "declares 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" (Isa. 46:10). Such a God could easily foretell the future because the unfolding future is simply His own purpose unfolding. By placing within the Bible predictions which invariably come true, God indicates to us the truthfulness of the entire book. Such is the nature of Biblical prophecy. The prophet was merely a man, but a man speaking as he was "moved by the Holy Ghost" (II Pet. 1:21). As he spoke concerning future events, men had the opportunity of assessing his claim to inspiration. If an Israelite prophet made predictions that did not come true, he was to be put to death as a false prophet (See Deut. 18:20-22). Only one mistake concerning the future was enough to prove that it was not God speaking.

I'll cite just one example of fulfilled Biblical prophecy. In about 925 BC, God directs a prophet to condemn Jeroboam, King of Israel, for building an altar that God had not prescribed. He prophesies that a descendent of David by the name "Josiah" would burn the bones of the priests who served that altar (See I Kings 13:1-2). Almost 300 years later, in about 640 BC, a young man becomes King of Judah by the name of--you guessed it--Josiah. As he purges the land of idolatry, he destroys that ancient altar, burning upon it the bones of the priests who attended it, just as the prophet had said!

How do we explain this? Maybe you embrace some natural explanation. Maybe you just ignore it. I suggest another course of action: Investigate for yourself and see if these things be so. If they are, embrace the message contained in the Bible for what it is--the very Word of God!