BELOW IS A GENERAL OVERVIEW OF BIBLICAL PROPHECY AND COMPARISONS WITH FALSE PROPHETS. AFTER THE OVERVIEW I WILL LIST SEVERAL OF THE MAIN FULFILLED PROPHECIES FOR THOSE WHO ARE INTERESTED. FOR THE PROPHECIES DIRECTLY RELATED TO JESUS CLICK HERE. THERE IS A SEPARATE DROP DOWN MENU ABOVE WITH MORE SPECIFIC INFORMATION ABOUT JESUS AS WELL.
We’ve seen up to this point that the scientific evidence, when looked at with an unbiased eye, can very easily support the view that we were created by some sort of intelligent creator. We have easily disputed the idea that life came about by random processes and that life could have ever began from inorganic chemicals. We’ve also shown that the theory of evolution is simply untenable for many reasons, and that it continues to be supported because it’s the best theory science can come up with to try to explain the universe and life without relying on a creator.
We’ve shown that it is abundantly rational to accept that a creator outside of our universe could exist and could have created the universe, more rational in fact than believing that the universe just came about on its own and that all life in it arose randomly and unguided. We’ve continued on to show who that all powerful creator could be and could not be. The God of the Bible certainly fits all needed characteristics.
The next logical step was to test the Bible itself to see if it is a believable and trustworthy document. All of the evidence presented thus far supports the reliability of the Bible as an historic document. We can be very confident that the Bible we now have is essentially the same as how the documents were originally written. Archaeology has further shown that the historical content of the Bible is also accurate to the minutest detail. However, though archaeology has made important contributions, it certainly can’t prove whether the Bible is the Word of God. Spiritual truths cannot be proved or disproved by archaeological discoveries.
If you want to find the fingerprint of an almighty God in the Bible, or any other book, the best way is to look to prophecy. There are over one thousand passages in the Bible which contain prophecies. Half of these prophecies—five hundred of them—have already been literally fulfilled, establishing beyond any intellectual question that the Bible was intended to be interpreted literally in prophetic passages. The evidence is overwhelming that God means exactly what He says as prophecy after prophecy has already been literally fulfilled. (1)
This cannot be said to be the case for any other book, secular or religious, in the history of man. Certainly, in no other religious literature do we find the accuracy of fulfilled prophecy. Islam cannot point to any prophecies of the coming of Mohammed uttered hundreds of years before his birth. Neither can the founders of any cult identify any ancient text specifically foretelling their appearance. Such predictive ability displays God's unique glory and power.
The Bible also gives the purpose of prophecy. The testimony of the Scriptures is that the purpose of prophecy is to let us know that God exists and that He has a plan for this world. By the foretelling of persons, places and events hundreds of years before their occurrence, the Bible demonstrates knowledge of the future that is too specific to be labeled “a good guess”.
In the Book of Isaiah, God sets out the following strong challenge to false gods:
Bring in your idols to tell us what is going to happen. Tell us what the former things were, so that we may consider them and know their final outcome. Or declare to us the things to come, tell us what the future holds, so we may know that you are gods!" (Isa. 41:22-23)
Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people, and what is yet to come--yes, let him foretell what will come! (Isa. 44:7)
I am God and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come" (Isa. 46:9,10).
It is important to note that we are not looking for broadly general or vague predictions of events in which people, places and events are not quite specifically named. This would not be clearly verifiable. It would not work, for example, to have broadly general references to large groups of people, such as “all mankind, or all men, all people, or believers, non-believers, infidels, Christians or Muslims." These are too general.
These are the sorts of generalities that occur in the prophecies of people like Nostradamus. They are too vague, general and non-specific to be clearly verifiable and truly predictive. Such qualities are typical of false prophecy. The problem with Nostradamus and so many other so-called psychics is that their predictions are often very enigmatic, ambiguous, and inaccurate. His so-called prediction about Adolf Hitler has drawn a great deal of attention. Most people hear about prophecies like these but don’t bother to investigate for themselves. An examination of the statement shows it wasn’t specific at all. It reads:
Followers of sects, great troubles are in store for the Messenger. A beast upon the theater prepares the scenical play. The inventor of that wicked feat will be famous. By sects the world will be confused and divided…Beasts mad with hunger will swim across rivers. Most of the army will be against the Lower Danube [Hister sera]. The great one shall be dragged in an iron cage when the child brother [de Germain] will observe nothing. (2)
Obviously, this is not a reference to Adolf Hitler. The word isn’t ‘Hitler’ but ‘Hister,’ and it’s clearly not a person but a place. The Latin phrase de Germain should be interpreted as ‘brother’ or ‘near relative,’ not Germany. He doesn’t cite any dates or even a general time frame. The ‘prophecy’ is so confusing that it is meaningless.
The pattern is that Nostradamus’ predictions are very ambiguous and could fit a great variety of events. His followers are inconsistent in how they interpret what he said. Some of his prophecies have been shown to be clearly false. In fact, not a single prediction of Nostradamus has ever been proven genuine. Granted, not all biblical prophecy is sharp. However, as we shall see later, many Biblical prophecies are very specific and have been literally fulfilled in history.
An important note to make here is that any of these so-called prophets may make claims that some can interpret as prophetic, but all have also made claims that have proven to be false, and likely many more false ones. Their followers will focus on the ones they believe to be true and ignore all the false ones. In contrast, and as we shall see, not one prophecy in the Bible has ever proven to be false...and that is the undeniable attribute of a true prophet.
A study of the prophecies made by psychics in 1975 showed they were only accurate six percent of the time. (3) An accuracy rate of around 6 percent could easily be explained by chance and general knowledge of circumstances. That’s not very good to say the least. You will also find that people like Nostradamus, Jean Dixon and other psychics commonly deal with occult practices. Dixon used a crystal ball, for example. One quatrain tells of Nostradamus using occult practices to contact demons. He practiced astrology, alchemy, magic, and used the kabbala (an ancient Jewish mystical tradition).
The Bible prohibits such practices. If these are the sources of these psychic predictions then it is understandable that the predictions will be far inferior as compared to the predictions of the almighty God of the Bible. Zero error is allowed for a prophet of God. Deuteronomy 18:22 states:
…If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken… (4)
One sure way to determine whether a prophet is truly a spokesman for God is if he can produce clear-cut miracles. All three great monotheistic religions—Christianity, Judaism, and Islam—recognize the validity of miracles as a means of confirming a message from God. In the Bible, which we have seen is historically reliable, we have prophets who were challenged but who then performed miracles to establish their credentials.
Jesus actually came out and said ‘even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles.’ (5) This never happened to Muhammad. In fact, Muhammad actually believed Jesus was a prophet who performed miracles, including raising the dead. Muslims also believe Moses and Elijah performed miracles. That’s very interesting, because in the Qur'an, when unbelievers challenged Muhammad to perform a miracle, he refused. He merely said they should read a chapter in the Koran. (6)
Scholars of the Qur'an claim there are 22 predictive prophecies in the Qur'an. Out of the 22 predictions, most of them declare the final destiny of non-believers (divine judgment and punishment) and/or the destiny of Muslim believers (divine reward and blessing) at the end of world history, in eternity. Hence, none of these can give us any indication at this time that they are truly inspired by God, as they have not been literally fulfilled and of course cannot be fulfilled until the end of time. Of the 22 predictions there is only one passage which can qualify as a possible prophecy. Sura 30:2-3, says:
The Roman Empire has been defeated in a land close by; but they, (even) after (this) defeat of theirs, will soon be victorious within a few years. (7)
Now, of all the 22 predictions from the Qur'an, this one from Sura 30 comes the closest to being a specific prediction which names the people involved (the "Roman Empire"), and what will happen (they will be victorious), and when ("within a few years"). This passage refers to the time when the Persians (under Khusran Parvis) defeated the Byzantine Romans in Syria (in A.D. 615). However, there are a few problems which seem to disqualify this passage as a significant predictive prophecy.
The most serious problem may be that the statements in Sura 30 may merely be history, and not a prediction, because Mohammed was alive and still producing Koranic verses for several years after the time of the suggested Roman victory in history. We know this is the case, because Mohammed died in 632 A.D. at the age of 63. According to Al-Baizawi's commentary, the Byzantine Romans were evidently victorious over Persia in 628 A.D., and so, Mohammed was alive for four years after that victory ---therefore, Mohammed could easily have learned of the victory and then have dictated these verses of Sura 30.
Another story indicates that there may have been a Roman victory in 624 A.D., and in such a case, Mohammed would have had eight years in which to learn of the victory. Either of these would make Sura 30 history, not a prediction.
Even if that is not the case, it is a very safe bet that in "a few" years the Romans would be "victorious" in battle to some degree, since they were fighting various battles during every year. A victory would seem virtually sure to happen within the space of a few years. So, the problem is that the only true supposed prophecy in the Qur'an is fairly vague and unspecific, and quite possibly is not prophecy at all, but history. Such a safe "prediction" is not significant or impressive.
In stark contrast, the Bible has numerous specifically fulfilled prophetic predictions. This constitutes powerful evidence that the Bible truly originates from true prophets of the true almighty God. The Bible meets the challenge which God set out in Isaiah: To predict events of human history. In contrast, however, there does not seem to be a single specific prediction of human history in the Qur'an which is unique and original and was not found in the Bible first (such as some end-time judgment concepts). This lack of predictive power is an announcement that the Qur'an does not clearly demonstrate God's power and authority within its pages. It fails to meet God's challenge.
What's more, when the Bible's predictive prophecies by comparison are pulled into the discussion, namely 1000 prophecies, 500 of which already fulfilled, the failure of the Qur'an to demonstrate such power of truly being authored by the true God stands out even more.
The Qur'an does accept the Bible as being true revelation from God, however, Muslims claim the Bible we have today has been altered over the centuries and is therefore not trustworthy. As we have seen previously, however, the evidence clearly shows that the Bible we hold today is essentially the same as the original documents.
As I did in the previous page on Archaeology, I will list some of the major prophecies of the Bible that have already been fulfilled. As mentioned above there are over one-thousand total prophecies, five hundred of which have been literally fulfilled. Obviously we will not go through each one as that alone would take a book of hundreds of pages to compile. There are other volumes you can refer to for more detail. (8) However, I will begin by listing a summary of some of the major prophecies for easy reading. I personally find prophecy very interesting and I recommend you take the time to look through the major ones I list below. I think you will be filled with awe, as I was.
The study of prophecy must by necessity include quite a bit of background information to make the prophecy fully understandable. Even though I am only going to highlight some major prophecies, there is still a great deal of information, So what I will do is provide a short summary below of some of the main prophecies for easy reading. Below that I will go through those and other prophecies in more detail for your reference.
Summary of Major Prophecies
What we will focus on here are the main prophecies that have been fulfilled clearly and objectively in history, from known historical sources outside the Bible. As we have seen in previous pages, the Old Testament is a reliable document as well as a true history of the Israelites. (9) The historical settings of the Old Testament prophets have been shown to be accurate.
I will also provide a section for prophecies related specifically to Jesus. We have seen that Jesus is an historical figure who cannot be denied. We have also seen that the Old Testament prophecies concerning Jesus were made and were written down before Jesus was born, thus ruling out that they were made after the fact.
ISAIAH’S PROPHECY REGARDING THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY
The prophet Isaiah, writing about 700 B.C. and recorded in Isaiah 3:1-26, predicts judgments against Jerusalem and Judah in which all supplies of food and water, as well as all leadership, would be taken from Jerusalem and Judah. Isaiah 5:13 states “my people will go into exile…” In Isaiah 39:6-7 the prophet predicts to King Hezekiah that the time will come that: “everything in your palace…will be carried off to Babylon…and some of your descendants will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” These prophecies were fulfilled historically in the Babylonian siege and collapse of Jerusalem in 597 B.C. and the captivity of its upper classes in the Babylonian Captivity. This occurred over 80 years after Isaiah’s death and is a matter of accepted history.
ISAIAH’S PROPHECY REGARDING CYRUS
In chapter 44, probably written closer to the end of his life in 681 B.C., Isaiah specifically names Cyrus as the king who will release the Israelites from their Babylonian captors (Isaiah 45:13) and give the decree to rebuild Jerusalem and to lay the foundation of the Temple after the captivity (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1). It is important to note that at the time of Isaiah’s writing, the city of Jerusalem was fully built and the entire temple was standing. It was not until more than 100 years later, in 586 B.C., that the city and Temple would be destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar.
About fifty years after Jerusalem was taken by the Babylonians, Cyrus, king of Medo-Persia conquered Babylon and Jerusalem in about 539 B.C. In the following year he gave the Jews permission to return to their homeland from Babylon and rebuild the temple.
These events occurred around 160 years after the prophecy of Isaiah! Thus Isaiah predicted that a man named Cyrus, who would not be born for about a hundred years, would release the Jews from exile and give the command to rebuild the Temple, which was still standing when Isaiah made the prophecy and would not be destroyed until more than a hundred years later. When you compare the accuracy and detail of prophecies like these, (and all the ones to be mentioned below), to other so-called prophets or psychics it becomes obvious how inadequate all others are.
EZEKIEL’S PROPHECIES REGARDING THE CITIES OF TYRE AND SIDON10
Tyre
More than 250 years before the time of Alexander, the prophet Ezekiel predicted that the city of Tyre would be destroyed (Ezek.26:3). Specifically Ezekiel made seven predictions regarding the ancient city of Tyre.
Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to mainland Tyre three years after the prophecy. The Encyclopedia Britannica says:
After a 13-year siege (585-573 B.C.) by Nebuchadnezzar II, Tyre made terms and acknowledged Babylonian suzerainty. (10)
When Nebuchadnezzar broke the gates down, he found the city almost empty. The majority of the people had moved by ship to an island about one-half mile off the coast and fortified a city there. The mainland city was destroyed in 573 B.C. (Prediction #1), but the city of Tyre on the island remained a powerful city for several hundred years, until the time of Alexander the Great. The Encyclopedia Britannica goes on to say:
In his war on the Persians, Alexander III, after defeating Darius III at the Battle of Issus (333), marched southward toward Egypt, calling upon the Phoenician cities to open their gates, as it was part of his general plan to deny their use to the Persian fleet. The citizens of Tyre refused to do so, and Alexander laid siege to the city. Possessing no fleet, he demolished old Tyre, on the mainland, and with the debris built a mole 200 ft. (60m.) wide across the straits separating the old and new towns, erecting towers and war engines at the farther end. (11) (Prediction #5)
A mole is basically a causeway or land bridge. Alexander used every bit of rock, timber and debris from the mainland city to build a causeway to reach the island city. He literally scraped away the rubble of the city down to the bare rock (Prediction #3). The people of Tyre countered here with a full-scale raid on the whole operation, which was very successful. They made use of fireships to start the towers burning and then swarmed over the mole.
Alexander realized he needed ships. He began pressuring and mustering conquered subjects to make ships available for this operation. Alexander’s navy grew from cities and areas as follows: Sidon, Aradus, Byblus (these contributed about 80 sails), 10 from Rhodes, 3 from Soli and Mallos, 10 from Lycia, a big one from Macedon, and 120 from Cyprus. (Prediction #2).
With this now superior naval force at Alexander’s disposal, the conquest of Tyre through completion of the land bridge was simply a question of time. The following quotes are from Philip Myers, a secular historian (not a theologian), and John C. Beck in his master's thesis on the Fall of Tyre:
The causeway still remains uniting the rock with the mainland. When at last the city was taken after a siege of seven months, eight thousand of the inhabitants were slain and thirty thousand sold into slavery. (12)
Alexander the Great…reduced [Tyre] to ruins (332 B.C.). She recovered in a measure from this blow, but never regained the place she had previously held in the world. The larger part of the site of the once great city is now bare as the top of a rock [Prediction #3] –a place where the fishermen that still frequent the spot spread their nets to dry. (13) (Prediction #4.)
The history of Tyre does not stop after the conquest of Alexander. Men continue to rebuild her and armies continue to besiege her walls until finally, after sixteen hundred years, she falls never to be rebuilt again. (14)
This last quote from Beck fulfills Prediction #6. According to Prediction #7 the city was to be “sought, but you will never be found again.” It is difficult to believe that the location of the island city could be lost when it formerly occupied completely the island with walls built to the water’s edge. This prophecy therefore refers to the mainland city of Tyre. Most commentators agree that the actual site of the ancient city has been lost due to its complete destruction down to the bare rock. Although it is obvious the city was opposite the island city of Tyre, there is nothing specifically there anymore to pinpoint the exact location. Many believe that the exact site of the city was located about three miles south of the causeway, near the springs of Ras-el-Ain. In any event, it is clear that Prediction #7 has been literally fulfilled.
Ezekiel 28:22,23 makes three predictions regarding the city of Sidon.
Fulfillment
George Davis demonstrates the contrast between the prophecies concerning Tyre and Sidon when he states:
The prophecy against Sidon is very different from that concerning Tyre. It was foretold that Tyre would be destroyed, made bare like a rock, and built no more. The prediction against Sidon is that blood will be in her streets, her wounded shall fall in the midst of her, and the sword is to be on her every side. But there is no doom of extinction pronounced against her as was the case of Tyre. (15) (Prediction #1)
…not once but many times blood has been in her streets, her wounded have fallen in the midst of her, and the sword has been “upon her on every side.”….In 35 B.C. the city was under the dominion of Persia. It revolted and the Persian army besieged it… 40,000 citizens chose to die rather than submit to Persian vengeance… In the days of the Crusades it was taken and retaken again and again by opposing forces….Even in modern times tribulation has continued to be meted out to the city. It has been the scene of conflicts between the Druses and the Turks, and between the Turks and the French. In 1840 Sidon “was bombarded by the combined fleets of England, France, and Turkey.” (16) (Prediction #2 and Prediction #3)
Regarding Sidon, Henry M. Morris explains:
No fate of extinction was foretold for Sidon and even today it is a city of about 20,000 [1956]. However, it has had one of the bloodiest histories any city ever had. (17)
George Davis concludes:
No human mind could have foretold 2,500 years ago that Tyre would be extinct, and Sidon would continue, but suffer tribulation during the succeeding centuries; instead of Tyre enduring sorrows, and Sidon being desolate and deserted during the long period. (18)
Micah 1:6 says: "Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble, a place for planting vineyards. I will pour her stones into the valley and lay bare her foundations."
Samaria was built by Omri, a wicked King of the ten tribes of Israel. He was succeeded by his son Ahab, who exceeded even his father in wickedness. Ahab’s wife was the infamous Jezebel, the daughter of the King of Sidon. She killed the prophets of the Lord, and compelled the people of Israel to worship Baal, the god of the Sidonians. Because of the multiplied sins of the rulers and people of Samaria the prophet Micah pronounced the above judgment from God against the city.
The predictions came to pass. In 1697 Henry Maundrell visited the site of ancient Samaria. He wrote that: the whole city was converted to gardens. (19) This directly fulfills the prophecy of Micah.
Charles Van de Velde, in his book Narrative of a Journey Through Syria and Palestine, has demonstrated the direct fulfillment of the prophecy when he wrote:
Samaria, a heap of stones! Her foundations discovered, her streets ploughed up, and covered with corn fields and olive gardens. Samaria has been destroyed; her rubbish has been thrown down into the valley; her foundation stones lie scattered about on the slope of the hill. (20)
Here is prophecy fulfilled with minute accuracy. Samaria had indeed become “a heap of rubble, a place for planting vineyards.” The stones of the city have literally been poured down “into the valley,” and her “foundations” have been “discovered” just as Micah had predicted.
In all, six prophets heap condemnation upon the nation of Edom. George Smith writes:
Their prophecies on Edom number so great, they are so exuberant in language, so various, grand, and minute, that many pages might be filled in reciting them, and many more employed in showing their exact and complete fulfillment. (21) I will summarize the major predictions below.
Predictions
Specific Fulfillments
Petra, the capital of the land of Edom, was one of the wonders of the ancient world. Many of its buildings were hewn out of the solid rock. Petra presents a stupendous sight with its rock-hewn buildings carved out of the rose-red stone of the very mountain itself. It was practically impregnable from the assault of enemies. There was just one long narrow canyon-like entrance, where a small force of soldiers could protect the city from being taken by a large army.
It should be noted that at the time of these prophecies by Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Edom was a populous and powerful nation. The country was a crossroads for a large and lucrative trade route. Israel was broken and captive in Babylon at the time Ezekiel made his prophecies. Edom’s prosperity continued until it was conquered, along with the rest of Syria, by Mohammedan forces in 636 A.D.
Parts of Petra were featured in the movie “Indian Jones and the Last Crusade.” But what has Petra looked like in recent history? The description below is completely true. George Smith, David Higgins and Herbert Stewart vividly describe Edom as follows:
…Dr. Shaw represented the land of Edom, and the desert of which it now forms a part, “as abounding with a variety of lizards and vipers, which are very numerous and troublesome.” And Volney relates that “the Arabs, in general, avoid the ruins of the cities of Idumea, on account of the enormous scorpions with which they swarm.” So plentiful, as observed by Mr. Cory, “are the scorpions in Petra, that, though it was cold and snowy, we found them under the stones, sometimes two under one stone!” The sheik, and his brother, who accompanied Mr. Cory, assured him that “both lions and leopards are often seen in Petra, and on the hills immediately beyond it, but that they never descend into the plain beneath.” (22) (Predictions #1, #2, #6 and #8.)
Higgins :
Again and again the desolation of Edom is foretold. In the time of the prophets such a prediction seemed most unlikely of fulfillment. Even after the Edomites had been pushed out, the [Nabeans] developed a flourishing civilization that lasted for centuries. But God had said, “I will lay thy cities waste.” Today the land stands deserted, a mute testimony to the sure Word of the Lord. Petra is a remarkable example of the literal fulfillment of this prophecy. This great ancient capital with its theatre seating 4000, its temples, its altars and its monuments, is now silent and alone, decaying with the passage of time. (23) (Preditions #1, #2 and #7.)
Stewart, writing in 1941, describes Petra this way:
The ground is covered with broken pillars and pavements, heaps of hewn stone, and many other ruins. Scorpions and owls abound among its ruins. Burchardt, one of the boldest and most daring travelers, says he never knew what fear was until he came near Petra. At nightfall the jackal howl is heard from the top of the rocks, answered by another far up the Wadi. The stone on which the traveler may sit is surrounded by nettles and thistles in what had been in the precincts of noble temples or palaces of beauty, and everything mentioned in the passages quoted [Isaiah 34:10-14; Jeremiah 49:16] during the past centuries have found resting places within the deserted city. (24) (Predictions #1, #7 and #8.)
The following quotes deal with fulfillment of the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth prophecies respectively:
It was predicted in Ezekiel 25:14 that Israel would be used by God to take vengeance of Edom. Considering the fact that Israel was then in the Babylonian captivity, such a prophecy probably seemed ludicrous. Yet, some four centuries later the prediction finds its fulfillment in Judas Maccabeus and John Hyrcanus. Thousands of Edomites were slain and the nation was forced to submit to Jewish circumcision, and for all practical purposes they became Jews. (25) (4th prophecy)
A study of Edom’s history has already borne this out. Assyria invaded the land and reduced Edom to servitude. The coming of Nebuchadnezzar took its toll. The migration of the Nabateans reduced their numbers. Forty thousand Edomites died at the hand of Judas Maccabeus. (26) (5th prophecy)
Isaiah said that “none shall pass through it forever and ever” (34:10); to which Ezekiel adds: “I will cut off from it him that passeth through” (35:7). That commerce of Edom should cease was unthinkable, for the land was the crossroads of the trade routes. But the prophecy has been literally fulfilled. (27) (6th prophecy)
The objection that the prophecy…has not been literally fulfilled, inasmuch as travelers have passed through Edom, is evidently frivolous. When the vast streams of traffic that used to pass through Edom have been so withdrawn that not a single caravan is ever seen on the route, the prophecy has surely been abundantly verified. (28) (7th prophecy)
Jeremiah indicated that those who passed through Edom would be astonished at her desolation….The magnificent cities of Edom have been laid waste and curious travelers never cease to wonder at the abandoned fortresses in the mountains. (29) (8th prophecy)
A missionary in Jerusalem, who is well acquainted with the land of Edom, told the writer that where once there were millions of inhabitants there is now scarcely a sign of life. He said that everywhere there are evidences of former greatness, but almost no inhabitants. The uttered doom of desolation has fallen, and Edom remains today a land of ruins. The missionary said he had traveled for 30 to 40 miles through the country without seeing scarcely a bird or a wild animal. (30)
THE PROPHECIES OF DANIEL
The Book of Daniel contains some of the most dramatic prophecies found in the Bible. The book records not only the experiences of Daniel but also the remarkable prophecies which God gave to him which provide a chronology both for the times of the Gentiles and for the future of Israel up to the second coming of Christ.
Daniel and his three companions were Jewish captives carried off from Jerusalem to Babylon in 605 B.C. by Nebuchadnezzar in the first deportation of the 70-year captivity. The event happened at the beginning of the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim. In subjugating Palestine, Nebuchadnezzar intended not only to add to the wealth of his empire, but also to remove the better class of people probably for the purpose of employing them in the construction of Babylon. This sad event for Israel had been prophesied a century earlier by Isaiah the prophet (Isa. 39:5-7; see above).
The third verse of the first chapter of Daniel indicates that Daniel and his friends were of royal blood, and therefore descendants of King Hezekiah. Daniel lived longer than the 70 years of the Captivity and was still a prominent character in 536 B.C. in the third year of Cyrus the Persian, who conquered Babylon.
The authenticity of the Book of Daniel went unchallenged from the time of its writing, which was before 530 B.C., until the third century of the Christian era, or almost 900 years. The Book of Daniel, more so than any other book in the Old Testament, revealed very specific prophecies concerning the future. The prophecies were so specific that those who believed that prophecy of the future was impossible have been forced to try to put the writing of the book of Daniel after the events it predicted.
A pagan and atheistic writer by the name of Porphyry (third century A.D.) raised the question whether the Book of Daniel was a genuine biblical prophecy on the premise that prophecy of the future is impossible. Porphyry found that the Book of Daniel was so accurate in describing future events (which were past events in Porphyry’s time) that it must have been written after the events predicted. He advanced the theory that the book was a forgery, written in the Maccabean period, about 175 B.C. His attack on the Book of Daniel aroused immediate opposition and caused Jerome (A.D. 347-420) to write his own commentary on Daniel in which he answered Porphyry in detail.
For another 1,300 years Daniel was considered as a genuine book by orthodox Christians and Jews until modern liberalism arose in the seventeenth century. Critics of the Bible as the inspired Word of God picked up Porphyry’s idea and attempted to prove that Daniel was not a genuine book of the Bible. However, their objections have been answered in full by many conservative scholars. The discovery of a Book of Daniel in the Dead Sea Scrolls (ca. 100 B.C.), proved that it was impossible for the book to have been written in the second century B.C. and that it clearly was written many years before. Both Jewish and Christian scholars have attested to the genuine character of the Book of Daniel, and the proof includes recognition by Christ Himself of “Daniel the prophet” (Matt. 24:15).
There is a great wealth of archaeological and documentary detail which clearly point to the authenticity of Daniel. This authenticating evidence has been known and documented for a great many years now, yet barely a word of it has reached the public. You can find a fantastic study, "The Authenticity of the Book of Daniel" by Bill Cooper on Amazon.
It is interesting to note that the Book of Daniel, from the fourth verse of the second chapter to the end of the seventh was originally written in Aramaic. The remainder of the book is written in Hebrew. This is strong proof of its authenticity. If an impostor had written the book, he would have written it exclusively in Aramaic, for after the captivity that was the language of the Jewish people.
Because so many of Daniel’s prophecies have already been literally fulfilled, it gives substantial basis for faith that the prophecies not yet fulfilled will have the same literal fulfillment in God’s time. Accordingly, the Book of Daniel is not only important as a key to understanding the past but also gives insight concerning the future, and in particular helps to understand the symbolism in the Book of Revelation.
Daniel 2:1-16
While Daniel was in captivity in Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar had a series of dreams which deeply troubled him so that he could not sleep (v. 1). The king awoke greatly troubled and perplexed. At the time of the dream, Nebuchadnezzar had just completed successful military campaigns which gave him dominion over many lands. He had defeated Necho, king of Egypt, as had been prophesied by Ezekiel (Ezek. 29:18-19).
He required his “magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers” to appear before him to tell him the dream and then interpret it (v. 2). When they were unable to do so he ordered their immediate execution and the execution of all the wise men. Daniel and his three companions, though classified as wise men, were apparently not in the company of these astrologers at the time, but they were sought out for this execution along with the others (v. 13). When informed of the decree, “Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him” (v. 16).
As Daniel stood before Nebuchadnezzar he assured the king that he would show him the dream and the interpretation. It was surely an act of faith, for Daniel did not know what the dream was at the time. The king acceded to Daniel’s request. That night in a vision God made known to Daniel the king’s dream. It was Daniel’s purpose to use this opportunity to tell the king that the God of Israel was the true God, and He alone could make known the dream and the interpretation of it. Daniel’s recounting of the details of the dream of the great image thoroughly convinced and awed the king. Daniel chapter 2 states:
You looked, O king, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.
(Daniel 2:31-35 NIV)
Having told the dream to Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel explained its meaning. The huge image in the form of a man was in fact a prophetic view of the times of the Gentiles. The image was composed of four different metals: gold, silver, brass, and iron. The two feet and the toes were of iron and clay. The prophet explained that these four metallic sections of the image represented four successive world empires. The wise men of Babylon would not have dared to tell the king what Daniel told him, for the interpretation declared that Nebuchadnezzar’s great kingdom was destined to fall and to be succeeded by inferior ones.
He declared to Nebuchadnezzar, “You are the king of kings…that head of gold” (v. 36,38). He explained that the upper part of the body and arms represented another kingdom that was inferior to the kingdom of Babylon and was equated with silver (v. 39). This kingdom would be followed by a third kingdom, “one of bronze”, that “will rule over the whole earth” (v. 39).
Daniel continued, declaring:
Finally there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all others (Dan. 2:40).
The feet and toes which were partly baked clay and partly of iron, were explained by Daniel as representing “the divided kingdom” (v. 41). It would have the strength of iron but the weakness of clay pottery (v. 42). Daniel explained the mixture of clay and iron as representing the mixture of people who were not united (v. 43).
Cyrus captured Babylon and established the second kingdom, the dual-monarchy of the Medo-Persian empire. This was represented in the dream by the breast and the two arms of the image made of silver. The left arm of the image represented Media, the weaker of the two kingdoms, and the right arm, Persia, the stronger. As noted above, Cyrus was mentioned by name in the Scriptures by Isaiah nearly two centuries before he lived (Isa. 44:28; 45:1-4). His taking of Babylon was also foretold.
After a succession of Persian rulers, the Medo-Persian Empire gave way to the third world empire, the Grecians. Greece was represented by the belly of bronze. Its first ruler was Alexander the Great. As revealed in the vision of Daniel 8, this empire was divided into four parts after Alexander’s death (more on this later.) These fell one by one to the Romans until, a few years before Christ, the Roman Empire, the fourth kingdom, was established.
The Roman empire was represented by the thighs and legs made of iron, which in the year 364 A.D. was divided into the Western and Eastern Empires. The legs, being the longest part, indicate that Rome was to be in existence a much longer time than the other kingdoms. The final days of this fourth kingdom were represented by the feet and toes of iron and clay.
It is instructive to note the composition of the image. There is a steady deterioration of the quality of materials, from gold to silver to bronze to iron. This surely does not speak of progress and improvement in the civilizations of the Gentiles. While science and invention have greatly advanced, there has been no moral advance keeping pace with it. Consequently man’s increased knowledge has merely increased his powers for destruction.
After completing the interpretation of the dream King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostate before Daniel and paid him honor. The king said to Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery” (Dan. 2:47).
Daniel Chapter 7
When Nebuchadnezzar died in 562 B.C., his son Evil-Merodach succeeded him. He was assassinated after two years by Neriglisar, who then occupied the throne for four years. When he died he was succeeded by his son Lavorocoarchod, who was only a child. He was killed by conspirators after nine months and was replaced by Nabonidus. Nabonidus reigned from 556 B.C. to 539 B.C. when Babylon was conquered by Cyrus and the Medo-Persians.
Belshazzar, who was named as king of Babylon in Daniel 5, was appointed by Nabonidus after he had reigned for three years, and Belshazzar assumed this position of co-regent in 553 B.C. He principally governed the city of Babylon because Nabonidus lived elsewhere. Liberal scholars have long attacked the historicity of Belshazzar because his name had not been discovered in any secular history. However, with the discovery of the Nabonidus Cylinder in which Belshazzar was mentioned, liberals no longer can attack the historicity of Belshazzar even though they were slow in acknowledging their previous mistake.
The vision of chapter seven occurred, according to Daniel, “In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon” (v. 1). This was probably the year 553 B.C., which was 23 years after the death of Nebuchadnezzar and fourteen years before the Medes and the Persians conquered Jerusalem. The vision corresponds basically with the vision of Daniel 2 discussed above, but with added details.
Daniel recorded seeing in this vision “the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. Four great beasts, each different from the others came out of the sea” (Dan.7:2-3). The first beast was compared to a lion having the wings of an eagle (v. 4). Daniel then had a vision of a second beast described as “like a bear...It was raised up on one of its sides, and had three ribs in its mouth …” (v. 5).
The third beast resembled a leopard with four wings such as a bird would have and four heads. The fourth beast was: "…terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns" (v. 7).
As Daniel continued to watch, he saw an eleventh horn:
"…a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it "(v.8).
Upon study we see that the four world kingdoms symbolized by the four beasts, relate respectively to the four metals of the image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream from Daniel 2. Why, it may be asked, should there be a repetition of the prophecy? Prophecies are often repeated to emphasize the certainty of its fulfillment. However, Daniel’s vision in chapter 7 reveals many new details not shown in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.
The first kingdom is represented by gold in Daniel 2 and now also by a lion and an eagle.
As gold is the most precious of the metals, so the lion is the king of the forest and the eagle the king of birds. These symbols refer to the Babylonian empire. The figure of the lion, the wings of the eagle and the face of a man adorned the palaces of both Babylon and Nineveh.
The second kingdom of chapter 7, described as “like a bear,” represented the Medo-Persian Empire, the empire seen as silver in the breast and the arms in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. The Medo-Persian Empire conquered Babylon in 539 B.C. (Dan. 5). Like a bear it had great power but not the regal characteristics of Babylon. One side of the bear was lifted up, indicating that one side was stronger than the other. As mentioned above, the Persian element was stronger than that of the Medes.
The bear also had three ribs in its mouth, which portrayed its conquering of the countries of Susiana, Lydia, and Asia Minor. The bear which is distinguished by its great strength is, nevertheless, awkward and lumbering in its movements and overcomes by sheer brute force. This description fully characterized the Medo-Persian Empire. All of these facts are borne out in history.
The third kingdom represented Greece, which is specifically identified by Daniel in verse 8:21 (discussed below). The leopard with its four heads and four wings aptly symbolized the Greek or Macedonian Empire. The wings denote its swiftness which specifically characterized its first general, Alexander the Great.
When Alexander the Great died in Babylon in 323 B.C. his empire was divided among his four generals, represented by the four heads and four wings. The empire was divided into four divisions: Syria, Egypt, Macedonia, and Asia Minor. This third beast corresponds to the belly and the thighs of bronze in the image of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream from Daniel 2.
The fourth kingdom was historically fulfilled by the Roman Empire. The fourth beast was “terrifying and frightening and very powerful…had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims…had ten horns.” (Dan. 7:7). This beast corresponded to the iron legs in Nebuchadnezzar’s image. The beast in Daniel’s vision here in chapter 7 was a hideous thing, having “ten horns,” which in number correspond to the “ten toes” of the great image of Daniel 2.
The ten horns represented a future Roman Empire which will reappear in the end time. The little horn represented a ruler who would come up last in the fourth kingdom and who would be a world conqueror. The description of the final ruler as one that ruthlessly “crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left” (Dan. 7:19) was characteristic of the Roman Empire historically and was here applied to its final form as a world dictatorship in the last three-and-a-half years before the Second Coming of Christ. (31) Since we are only concerning ourselves with prophecies that have already been fulfilled, we will leave this subject of the end times to a future study.
Daniel Chapter 8
This vision of Daniel 8 was given to Daniel in the third year of the reign of Belshazzar, approximately 550 B.C. The prophecy of this vision has to do with the second and third kingdoms in the image of Daniel 2—Medo-Persia and Greece— as the upper part of the body and the arms of silver and the lower part of the body and thighs of bronze, respectively. Daniel here recorded a vision that predicts, in detail, how the second and third kingdoms would come on the scene. The vision also carries the reader down to the end of the gentile age. In the latter part of Daniel Chapter 8, Daniel is told the specific interpretation of this vision by the angel Gabriel.
As Daniel described the vision, he writes:
…there before me was a ram with two horns, standing beside the canal, and the horns were long. One of the horns was longer than the other but grew up later. I watched the ram as he charged toward the west and the north and the south. No animal could stand against him, and none could rescue from his power. He did as he pleased and became great (Dan. 8:3-4).
Later in the chapter Gabriel identified the ram, “The two-horned ram which you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia” (v. 20). The ram clearly corresponded to the empire of the Medes and the Persians because, having two horns representing Media and Persia, the longer horn represented the greater power of Persia. They were able to destroy everything that was before them going to the west, north, and south (v. 4) which correspond to the previous chapter of the bear which had three ribs in its mouth. Until Alexander the Great came on the scene 200 years later, Persian power was predominant.
As Daniel was watching the ram conquering all before it, he wrote:
…suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between its eyes came from the west, crossing the whole earth without touching the ground….I saw him attack the ram furiously, striking the ram and shattering his two horns. The ram was powerless to stand against him; the goat knocked him to the ground and trampled on him, and none could rescue the ram from his power. The goat became very great, but at the height of his power his large horn was broken off, and in its place four prominent horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven (vv. 5-8).
Gabriel interpreted the vision for Daniel in verse 21.
The shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes is the first king. The four horns that replace the one that was broken off represent four kingdoms that will emerge from his nation but will not have the same power (Daniel 21-22).
Greece was a country that was small and insignificant when Daniel lived but was destined to rule the Middle East in the time of Alexander the Great. The whole vision concerning Greece was clearly describing the conquests of Alexander the Great who, with rapid marches of his army, conquered the whole Middle East and went as far as India. No conqueror preceding Alexander ever covered more territory so quickly. This was implied also in Daniel 7 where the third empire, Greece, was compared to a leopard, a very swift animal.
The prediction that the large horn, representing “the first king” Alexander the Great, would be broken off at the peak of his power was literally fulfilled in Alexander’s death in Babylon as he and his armies had returned to Babylon to celebrate after a conquest of India. Alexander the Great died in 323 B.C. at thirty-three years of age. After Alexander’s death his conquests were divided among four generals as indicated by the four horns.
It was another testimony to the accuracy of Daniel’s prophetic vision that the conquests of Alexander the Great were divided into four sections, not three or five. The accuracy was so clear that liberal scholars want to consider this as history written after the fact and not by Daniel in the sixth-century B.C. as described in the Bible. But as we mentioned, internal and external evidence supports the authenticity of Daniel.
Daniel Chapter 10-12
The final vision of Daniel, which includes Chapter 10 through 12, was given to the prophet in the third year of the reign of Cyrus. He was then well over 90 years of age and apparently was no longer in active service. Why another vision relating to the same subjects as the previous visions? There were some things about the previous visions that the prophet did not fully understand and he probably felt that God had still a further revelation to give him. After a special period of mourning, prayer and fasting, this final vision was given to Daniel.
Daniel 11:2-35 provided the most detailed prophecy to be found anywhere in Scripture. History is foretold in such meticulous detail and with such amazing accuracy, that all who honestly search for the truth have infallible proof that the Bible is inspired by God. Critics simply claim that the book of Daniel could not have been written by him, but that it was written by someone who lived hundreds of years later. Notwithstanding their skepticism, proof of Daniel’s authorship is overwhelming.
As we stated earlier, the Book of Daniel was held as genuine Scripture written in the sixth century B.C. for at least 800 years without anyone questioning the validity of it's prophecies. As previously discussed, an atheistic philosopher by the name of Porphyry, in studying the Book of Daniel in the third century A.D., concluded that the prophecies of Daniel 11:2-35 were extremely accurate in describing the historical period which it covered. Because he did not believe in God he had to find some way to account for this extraordinary piece of writing. He concluded that whoever wrote it must have lived after the events described. Up to recent times this is the position of the liberal scholars.
The finding of a complete manuscript of Daniel among the Dead Sea Scrolls, which was hundreds of years earlier than the oldest copy of Daniel previously found, served to undermine this liberal position because it brought the Book of Daniel back to the second century B.C. but in comparatively modern Hebrew instead of ancient Hebrew.
According to the liberal theologians’ own position, this would require a couple of centuries between this copy and the original which, of course, was written in ancient Hebrew. That would put the original documents back into Daniel’s lifetime or at least before the events described in Daniel 11. Liberals have been largely silent about this discovery, but a new generation of liberals will have to face the fact that their old theory no longer holds and that Daniel is a genuine prophecy. (32)
Now let’s look at the text and note the remarkable way in which the events of the following centuries were foretold in great detail.
"Now then, I tell you the truth: Three more kings will appear in Persia, and then a fourth, who will be far richer than all the others. When he has gained power by his wealth, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece " (Dan. 11:2)
In attempting to identify the four kings, it is probable that Daniel excluded Darius the Mede and Cyrus II (550-530 B.C.). The four kings probably are Cambyses (529-522 B.C.), Pseudo-Smerdis (522-521 B.C.), Darius I Hystaspes (521-486 B.C., Ezra 5-6) and Xerxes I (486-465 B.C., Ezra 4:6).(33)
The fourth king, Xerxes I, was known for his great wealth. His wealth enabled him to mobilize a tremendous army, which invaded Greece. Xerxes failed, however, in his attempt to conquer Greece.
In Daniel 11:3-4, Daniel prophesied the coming of Alexander the Great and his conquering of the Persian Empire.:
"Then a mighty king will appear, who will rule with great power and do as he pleases. After he has appeared, his empire will be broken up and parceled out toward the four winds of heaven. It will not go to his descendants, nor will it have the power he exercised because his empire will be uprooted and given to others." (Dan. 11:3-4).
These visions take us back to the vision of the ram and the goat (Dan. 8:3-8, 20-22). The mighty king that stood up was Alexander the Great of Greece. After a reign of 12 years, while at the height of his power, he died while indulging in a drunken orgy. His great empire was then divided among his main generals into four lesser kingdoms: Asia Minor, Macedonia, Syria, and Egypt. This occurred in the year 323 B.C. Remember, at the time Daniel wrote this prophecy Greece was a small and relatively insignificant nation.
Prophecy then focuses on two of the four kingdoms that came out of Alexander’s empire—Syria and Egypt. These two nations became involved in a series of wars with each other. Daniel wrote:
The king of the South will become strong, but one of his commanders will become even stronger than he and will rule his own kingdom with great power (Dan. 11:5).
The “king of the south” (Egypt) spoken of was Ptolemy I Soter, one of Alexander’s generals. He assisted Seleucus I Nicator to recover Babylonia. Seleucus’ kingdom (Syria, North) in time became a greater kingdom than Egypt. Daniel continues:
After some years, they will become allies. The daughter of the king of the South will go to the king on the North to make an alliance, but she will not retain her power, and he and his power will not last. In those days she will be handed over, together with her royal escort and her father and the one who supported her. One from her family line will arise to take her place. He will attack the forces of the king of the North and enter his fortress; he will fight against them and be victorious. He will also seize their gods, their metal images and their valuable articles of silver and gold and carry them off to Egypt. For some years he will leave the king of the North alone (Dan. 11:6-8).
These passages concerned struggles between Syria as the king of the North and Egypt as the king of the South. Though Syria was not mentioned because it did not exist as a nation at that time and Egypt was referred to only as the kingdom of the South, it was nevertheless quite clear to historians how this corresponds to history.
It is indicated that the two would become allies. Intermarriage between ruling families was common place in history so it would be normal to have intermarriage between these two rulers. History shows Ptolemy I Soter abdicated in favor of his son Ptolemy II Philadelphus. The daughter mentioned in verse 6 was Berenice, the daughter of Ptolemy II Philadelphus who was king of Egypt (285-246 B.C.). At that time the king of Syria, or “the king of the north” was Antiochus II Theos (261-246 B.C.).
However, the alliance did not last. In the subsequent uneasy peace there was a series of betrayals and assassinations. A former wife of Antiochus by the name of Laodice joined a conspiracy in which both Berenice and Antiochus were killed and her father, Ptolemy II, also died at the time. These verses are accurate in describing the future events of that period. (34) The subsequent king of Egypt, Ptolemy III Euergetes, angered at the treatment his sister Bernice received, marched a large army into Syria to obtain revenge. It is said that he took back with him 40,000 talents of silver and 2500 precious vessels of the gods.
Ptolemy III Euergetes in commemorating his victory over the kingdom of the North erected a monument which has been found, named Marmor Adulitanum (35) in which he recorded his boast that he had conquered a large area, including Mesopotamia, Persia, Media, Susiana, and other countries. After this victory he apparently ceased invading the North. These actions of Ptolemy III Euergetes were clearly and specifically prophecied in Daniel 11:7-8 as we saw above, repeated here:
One from her family line will arise to take her place. He will attack the forces of the king of the North and enter his fortress; he will fight against them and be victorious. He will also seize their gods, their metal images and their valuable articles of silver and gold and carry them off to Egypt. For some years he will leave the king of the North alone
(Dan. 11:6-8).
The vision continues:
Then the king of the North will invade the realm of the king of the South but will retreat to his own country. (Dan. 11:9)
The attack described here was carried out in 240 B.C. by Seleucus II Callinicus who was king of the North at that time. However, he was defeated and returned without conquering the land of Egypt. (36) Again, specific fulfillment of prophecy.
His sons will prepare for war and assemble a great army, which will sweep on like an irresistible flood and carry the battle as far as his fortress (Dan. 11:10).
The younger son of Seleucus II, named Antiochus III, also known as Antiochus the Great, became the king of the north. He led several successful campaigns against Egypt during the period when the Egyptian king, Ptolemy Philopator (221-203 B.C.) did not raise sufficient defense against him.
Then the king of the South will march out in a rage and fight against the king of the North, who will raise a large army, but it will be defeated. When the army is carried off, the king of the South will be filled with pride and will slaughter many thousands, yet he will not remain triumphant. (Dan. 11:11-12).
The invasion of the south by Antiochus III, aroused to anger Ptolemy Philopater, king of the south. In a battle near Gaza in 217 B.C., the Egyptian army destroyed the entire army of Antiochus III. The prophecy continues:
For the king of the north will muster another army, larger than the first; and after several years, he will advance with a huge army fully equipped. In those times many will rise against the king of the South. The violent men among your own people will rebel in fulfillment of the vision, but without success (Dan 11:13-14).
Antiochus III returned to his land and for 13 years strengthened himself and his kingdom. He rebuilt his shattered army and upon hearing of the death of Ptolemy Philopater marched with a “huge army fully equipped” against Egypt. He entered into a league with Philip of Macedon to divide up that country. Some of the Jews (“violent men among your own people”), joined the Syrian king in hopes of gaining spoils for themselves, but Antiochus double-crossed them. The Jews were soon to suffer greatly in the wars that followed. The prophecy continues:
Then the king of the North will come and build up siege ramps and will capture a fortified city. The forces of the South will be powerless to resist; even their best troops will not have the strength to stand. The invader will do as he pleases; no one will be able to stand against him. He will establish himself in the Beautiful Land and will have the power to destroy it. He will determine to come with the might of his entire kingdom and will make an alliance with the king of the South. And he will give him a daughter in marriage in order to overthrow the kingdom, but his plans will not succeed or help him. Then he will turn his attention to the coastlands and will take many of them, but a commander will put an end to his insolence and will turn his insolence back upon him. After this, he will turn back toward the fortresses of his own country but will stumble and fall, to be seen no more. (Dan. 11:15-19)
These prophecies correspond precisely to the history of the period which described these wars and the success of the kingdom of the North. In order to conquer Egypt, Antiochus III had to subdue Palestine, which is here called “the Beautiful Land.” The prophecied conquering of a fortified city (v. 15) was fulfilled when the Egyptian armies were defeated at Paneas at the headwaters of the Jordan River with the result that Antiochus III was able to take Sidon in 199-198 B.C. despite the desperate attempts by the Egyptians to relieve it. The result was that Syria controlled all the Holy Land as far south as Gaza.
The Romans, then rising to world power, promised Egypt assistance. This changed Antiochus’ plans. So he proposed to make an alliance with the king of the South (v.17). He gave his daughter Cleopatra (not the Cleopatra of Mark Antony) to be espoused to the son of the Egyptian king. This scheme to secure control of Egypt by trickery failed, however.
Antiochus, having settled things with Egypt, attempted to conquer Greece, but was defeated in 191 B.C. at Thermopylae. In 189 B.C. he was again defeated at Magnesia southeast of Ephesus, this time by Roman soldiers. He was forced to pay indemnity. Though Antiochus III was a great ruler his failure to conquer Greece left him a broken man at the time of his death, which occurred when he attempted to plunder a temple in Elam.
His successor will send out a tax collector to maintain the royal splendor. In a few years, however, he will be destroyed, yet not in anger or in battle (Dan. 11:20).
Antiochus III was succeeded by his eldest son Seleucus IV Philopater, who was forced to raise huge sums to pay the tribute imposed on his father by Rome. After a brief reign he died in 175 B.C., which some believe was the result of being poisoned, thus fulfilling the prophecy that he would not die in battle.
He will be succeeded by a contemptible person who has not been given the honor of royalty. He will invade the kingdom when its people feel secure, and he will seize it through intrigue. (Dan. 11:21)
Seleucus IV was followed by Antiochus IV Epiphanes. The importance of this man to Daniel and to God was his persecution of the Jewish people during the period of his reign, 175-164 B.C. Antiochus Epiphanes is spoken of as “a contemptible person” and certainly that description aptly describes him. He was a cruel, despotic and wicked tyrant. The kingdom was not rightfully his, but through intrigues and scheming he managed to usurp the throne. (37)
Then an overwhelming army will be swept away before him; both it and a prince of the covenant will be destroyed. After coming to an agreement with him, he will act deceitfully, and with only a few people he will invade them and will achieve what neither his fathers nor his forefathers did. He will distribute plunder, loot and wealth among his followers. He will plot the overthrow of fortresses—but only for a time. (Dan. 11:21-24).
Antiochus IV was attacked by a large army, probably Egypt, but somehow he prevailed. The further reference that “the prince of the covenant will be destroyed” probably refers to Onias III, the Jewish high priest. Antiochus IV went to Jerusalem and deposed Onias III. His power, which was modest at the beginning became strong “with only a few people” through treachery.
With a large army he will stir up his strength and courage against the king of the South. The king of the South will wage war with a large and very powerful army, but he will not be able to stand because of the plots devised against him. Those who eat from the king’s provisions will try to destroy him; his army will be swept away, and many will fall in battle. The two kings, with their hearts bent on evil, will sit at the same table and lie to each other, but to no avail, because an end will still come at the appointed time. (Dan. 11:25-27).
Antiochus IV then invaded the king of the South, Egypt. This war occurred approximately five years after he took the throne. A large Egyptian army met the forces of Antiochus near the Nile delta and was defeated by Antiochus. After the battle the two attempted to establish a peace covenant. Antiochus IV pretended friendship with the king of Egypt, but as prophecy foretold “the two kings…will sit at the same table and lie to each other.” Though the conference was an attempt at arriving at a peace, both conspirators were trying to get the best of the other, and the result was that peace was not achieved.
The king of the North will return to his own country with great wealth, but his heart will be set against the holy covenant. He will take action against it and then return to his own country. (Dan. 11:28).
Antiochus, now with apparent success over Egypt, was irritated by the Jews’ failure to support him actively. Antiochus was very much opposed to the Jewish religion and against the “holy covenant.” After his next attack on Egypt, described below, he would vent his fury on the holy land and the Jewish people.
At the appointed time he will invade the South again, but this time the outcome will be different from what it was before. Ships of the western coastlands will oppose him, and he will lose heart. Then he will turn back and vent his fury against the holy covenant. He will return and show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant. His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation. With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him (Dan. 11:29-32).
History shows that in the next spring of the year B.C. 168, Antiochus again led his troops into Egypt, but he did not have the success of his former campaigns. The Romans met him at Alexandria and demanded that he leave Egypt. This is represented above by “Ships of the western coastlands will oppose him.” Fearing Roman might, he returned in baffled fury and vented his rage upon the Jews by perpetrating fearful massacres and pollutions of the temple.
In profaning the temple, Antiochus IV sacrificed a sow on the altar of Jehovah and installed a statue of a Greek god. He took away the sacrifice and set up the “abomination that causes desolation.” These acts were to culminate in the Maccabean revolt. These were “the people who knew God.” Antiochus departed from Jerusalem, believing he had thoroughly subdued the Jews. He later undertook a military expedition into Persia. In this he made a serious mistake.
While he was gone, the Maccabees, engaging first in a sort of guerrilla warfare, achieved victory after victory. The leader Judah Maccabee in the year 165 B.C. retook Jerusalem and purified the temple. Every year Jews celebrate Hannukah in commemoration of Judah Maccabee's victory. The reports of these reverses in Judea stunned Antiochus IV. His health was failing, and he died a short time later in the following year, undesired and unmourned.
These intricate prophecies describing in detail the relationship between the empires of Persia and Greece with the Jewish people can only be explained by divine inspiration. The details were such that even a person living at the time might have difficulty putting all the facts together in proper relationship and conclusion. Regarding the fact that unbelievers have attacked Daniel on the basis of this prophecy is in itself an admission that the prophecies were accurate. But contrary to their claims, the historical data indicates that the Book of Daniel was written by Daniel in the sixth century B.C.
According to McDowell, if anyone wishes to know whether or not the God of the Bible exists, one of the strongest evidences is the Jewish people. (38)
About 4,000 years ago, God called a man named Abram (later renamed Abraham) out of the country where he was living and promised him (1) a great nation, (2) a great name, (3) being a blessing to all nations, and (4) a land which shall forever belong to his descendants. Several hundred years after God made these promises to Abram, the great nation had indeed appeared, numbering in the millions.
They were about to enter the land of promise when God, through their leader, Moses, gave them some warnings as recorded in Deuteronomy chapters 28-33. God warned them against disobedience and promised that He would use other nations to remove them from that land if they were unfaithful to Him. He predicted that they would eventually be scattered across the whole earth as strangers in unfamiliar lands and that they would find no rest from their wanderings.
However, God in his faithfulness did promise to bring them back into their land. What has been the verdict of history? The children of Israel, even though they were warned, fell into idolatry and were removed from their homeland. In 606 B.C. King Nebuchadnezzar took the people captive to Babylon and returned in 588-586 B.C., at which time he burned the city and the Temple.
However, as God promised, He allowed those who desired so to return to the land. This occurred after 70 years of the Babylonian Captivity (as Jeremiah and Ezra predicted). The removal from their homeland occurred a second time, in A.D. 70, when Titus the Roman destroyed the city of Jerusalem and scattered the people. For almost 1,900 years, the Jews wandered about the earth as strangers who were persecuted from every side. This culminated in the holocaust of World War II, when six million Jews were put to death in the concentration camps.
Ezekiel 38:8 says that in the last days the Jews would be gathered back into the Promised Land, after it had laid waste for many years. In 1697 Henry Maundress, writing of the Holy Land, said there is “nothing here but a vast and spacious ruin.” In 1738 English archaeologist Thomas Saw said it was “barrenness and scarcity.” In 1785 Constantine Francois Volney used words like “ruined” and “desolate” to describe the Holy Land. (38)
In 1867 Mark Twain wrote, after his visit to “Palestine”, that across the Jezreel Valley “There is not a solitary village throughout its whole extent…There are two or three small clusters of Bedouin tents, but not a single permanent habitations” (The Innocents Abroad). Of Galilee he said it was “unpeopled deserts” and “rusty mounds of barrenness.” The same types of descriptions were given for Judea, Bethlehem and Jerusalem. And even in 1948, when Jews began to return to Israel, it was an unprosperous and unfruitful piece of desert property. (39)
Yet, against all odds, the state of Israel was reborn on May 14, 1948, and the Jews began to return to their homeland from all points of the compass. This was the second time in their history since becoming a nation that they have come back into their land.
Through all this, the nation neither perished nor lost its national identity. History has demonstrated that any people who leave their homeland will, after about five generations, lose their national identity by being absorbed into the new culture, yet the Jews remained a distinct entity. Not only have they survived, but also the nations that persecuted them—Moab, Ammon, Edom, Philistia and many others—have either been destroyed or have completely lost their individual identity. As prophesied, the Jewish people have not lost their identity.
We have seen on the previous page on archaeology that Jesus is an historical figure who cannot be denied. We have also seen proof that the Old Testament prophecies concerning Jesus were made and were written down before Jesus was born, thus ruling out that they were made after the fact. For example, the book of Isaiah makes many very clear prophecies which were clearly fulfilled by Jesus, The finding of a complete copy of Isaiah within the Dead Sea Scrolls, which are proven to have been written centuries before Jesus, proves these prophecies were written long before Jesus' time.
The prophecies concerning the first coming of the Messiah are among the most precise in Scripture. They provide details about the place and time of His coming, His unique character and nature and His unparalleled manner and message. In the Old Testament there are sixty major messianic prophecies and approximately 270 ramifications that were fulfilled in one person, Jesus Christ. There are more than three hundred references to His coming.
Using the science of probability, we find the chances of just forty-eight of these prophecies being fulfilled in one person to be one in 10^157 (a one followed by 157 zeros!). As we saw on the Probability page, the “universal probability bound” is 10^150 and is a number beyond which any specified event of probability will remain improbable even after all conceivable probabilistic resources from the universe have been factored in. In other words, it is beyond all probability and moves to the realm of miracle.
During the last day of the Messiah’s earthly life at least 33 prophecies were fulfilled in a single 24-hour period of time. Professor Peter Stoner has calculated that the probability of only eight of these prophecies being fulfilled in one man by chance is 1 in 10^17 (100,000,000,000,000,000). (40) To give you perspective on this number, there are less than 10^17 seconds in 20 billion years!
Over the course of history approximately forty major claims to be the Jewish Messiah have been made by men. Only one—Jesus Christ—appealed to fulfilled prophecy to substantiate His claims, and only His credentials back up those claims. Let’s look briefly at some of the prophecies that help eliminate all others who claim to be the Messiah. (41)
In Genesis 3:15 we have the first messianic prophecy. In all of Scripture, only one man was “born of the seed of a woman”—all others are born of the seed of a man.
In Genesis 9 and 10 the possibilities are narrowed down further. Noah had three sons, Shem, Japheth, and Ham. Today all of the nations of the world can be traced back to these three men. But in this passage, God effectively eliminated two-thirds of them. It is declared that the Messiah will come through the lineage of Shem.
Continuing on to the year 2000 B.C., we find God calling a man named Abraham (Abram) out of Ur of the Chaldees. God stated that the Messiah will be one of Abraham’s descendants (Genesis 12; 17; 22). Abraham had two sons, Isaac and Ishmael. Half of the possibilities were again eliminated when God selected his second son, Isaac (Genesis 17; 21).
Isaac had two sons, Jacob and Esau, and God chose the line of Jacob (Genesis 28; 35:10-12; Numbers 24:17). Jacob had twelve sons, out of whom came the twelve tribes of Israel. God singled out the tribe of Judah as the line of the Messiah and eliminated 11/12ths of the Israelite tribes. And of all the family lines within Judah’s tribe, the line of Jesse was the divine choice (Isaiah 11:1-5). Jesse had eight children and in 2 Samuel 7:12-16 and Jeremiah 23:5 God eliminated 7/8ths of Jesse’s family line: We read the Messiah will come from the house of David. The probability of Jesus, and no one else, being the Messiah is building.
In Micah 5:2, some seven hundred years before the birth of Christ, the prophet Micah predicted that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem Ephrathah (Mic. 5:2). Such foreknowledge is an evidence of the supernatural nature of the Bible when we note that there were two Bethlehems—one in northern Palestine, Bethlehem Zebulun, and one in southern Palestine, Bethlehem Ephrathah, or Bethlehem of Judah.
A prophecy dating 1012 B.C. (Psalm 22:6-18; cf. Zechariah 12:10 and Galatians 3:13) also predicts that this man’s hands and feet will be pierced (i.e., He will be crucified). This description was written eight hundred years before crucifixion began to be practiced by the Romans.
Isaiah 7:14 echoes Genesis 3:15, adding that this man will be born of a virgin—a natural birth of unnatural conception, a criterion beyond human planning and control. His own people, the Jews, will reject Him and the Gentiles will believe in Him (Isaiah 8:14; 28:16; 49:6; 50:6; 52:53; 60:3; Psalms 22:7,8; 118:22). There will be a forerunner for Him (Isaiah 40:3; Malachi 3:1), a voice in the wilderness, one preparing the way before the Lord. This was fulfilled in John the Baptists.
Notice, too, the seven ramifications of a prophecy (Zechariah 11:11-13; cf. Psalm 41, Jeremiah 32:6-15, and Matthew 27:3-10) that narrows it down even further. Here God indicates the Messiah will be (1) betrayed, (2) by a friend, (3) for thirty pieces, (4) of silver, that will be (5) cast onto the floor, (6) of the Temple, and (7) used to buy a potter’s field.
Then, through a series of prophecies, a time sequence is defined that would set this man apart. For example, Malachi 3:1 and four other Old Testament verses (Psalm 118:26; Daniel 9:26; Zechariah 11:13; Haggai 2:7-9) require the Messiah to come while the Temple of Jerusalem is still standing. This is of great significance when we realize that the Temple was destroyed in A.D. 70 and has not since been built. The precise lineage; the place, time, and manner of birth; people’s reactions; the betrayal; the manner of death; these are just a fraction of the hundreds of details that identify God’s Son, the Messiah, Jesus.
All the prophecies of the Messiah were made at least 400 years before He was to appear. Critics might contend that these prophecies were written down after the time of Christ and fabricated to coincide with His life. However, this contention is disputed by the fact that the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, was translated around 150-200 B.C. This Greek translation shows that there was at least a two-hundred-year gap between when the prophecies were recorded and their fulfillment in Christ.
Another objection that critics have put forth is that these fulfilled prophecies were coincidental. But as we have seen above, the laws of probability simply prohibit this.
A third objection raised is that Jesus deliberately tried to fulfill the Jewish prophecies.
This objection seems plausible until we realize that many of the details of the Messiah’s coming were totally beyond human control. Examples include, the place of His birth, the time of His coming, the manner of His death, the people’s reaction, the mocking and spitting, the staring, casting of dice for His clothes, the non-tearing of His garment, none of His bones would be broken, etc. Half the prophecies are beyond His control to manipulate. He couldn’t work it out to be born of the seed of the woman, the lineage of Shem, the descendants of Abraham, born in Bethlehem, etc.
It is no wonder Jesus and the apostles appealed to fulfilled prophecy to substantiate His claim.
The following charts highlight the major prophecies concerning Jesus’ lineage, birth, ministry, others reaction to him, and His death. The truth is hard to deny. (42)
Prophecy Topic Fulfillment
Genesis 3:15 Born of the seed of woman Galatians 4:4
Genesis 21:12 Descendant of Isaac Matthew 1:1,2
Genesis 22:18, Genesis 12:2,3 Seed of Abraham Matthew 1:1
Genesis 49:10 Of the tribe of Judah Matthew 1:1,2
Numbers 24:17 Descendant of Jacob Matthew 1:1,2
Isaiah 11:1, 10 Descendant of Jesse Matthew 1:1,6
Jeremiah 23:5, Psalm 132:11 Descendant of David Matthew 1:1,6, Revelation 22:16
Psalm 2:7, Proverbs 30:4 Son of God Matthew 17:5, Luke 3:38, Luke 22:70
Prophecy Topic Fulfillment
Psalm 72:10 Kings will present gifts Matthew 2:1-11
Isaiah 7:14 Born of a virgin Matthew 1:23-25, Luke 2:7
Isaiah 7:14 Will be called Immanuel Matthew 1:23
Jeremiah 31:15 Children will be killed Matthew 2:16-18
Micah 5:2 Will be born in Bethlehem Luke 2:4-7
Prophecy Topic Fulfillment
Deuteronomy 18:15-18 Will be a Prophet Matthew 21:11, John 6:14, John 4:19
Psalm 29:11 Will bless His people with peace Acts 10:36, John 14:27
Psalm 31:5 Will commit Himself to God Luke 23:46
Psalm 45:2 Will speak words of grace Luke 4:22
Psalm 68:18 & 110:1 Will ascend to heaven--to the Father's right hand Acts 1:9, Heb 1:3
Mk 16:19
Psalm 69:9 Will have a zeal for God John 2:15-17
Psalm 78:2 Will teach parables Matthew 13:34,35
Psalm 110:4 Will be a priest Hebrews 5:5,6, Hebrews 3:1
Isaiah 2:4 He will judge & rebuke many Matthew 11:20
Isaiah 9:1 Will begin ministry in Galilee Matthew 4:12-17
Isaiah 9:6 He's eternal John 8:58, John 1:1, Romans 9:5
Isaiah 11:2 Anointing of the Holy Spirit Mark 1:10-11
Isaiah 33:22 Will be Judge Acts 10:40-42, Matthew 25:31-34, II Timothy 4:1
Isaiah 35:5,6 Will have a ministry of miracles John 5:5-9, Luke 7:22, Matt 11:4-6
Isaiah 42:1, 49:1 He will minister to Gentiles Luke 2:32
Isaiah 53:12, Isaiah 59:16 Will make intercession Luke 23:34, Romans 8:34
Isaiah 60:3 Will be a Light to Gentiles Acts 13:47,48
Mic 5:2, Isa 9:6&41:4, Ps 102:25-27 Jesus' pre-existence Colossians 1:17, John 1:1
Zechariah 9:9, Psalm 2:6 Will be King John 18:33-38, Matthew 27:37
Zechariah 9:9 Triumphal entry on a donkey Luke 19:35-37
Malachi 3:1, Isaiah 40:3 Will be preceded by messenger John 1:23, Matthew 3:1-3
Malachi 3:1 Will enter the temple Matthew 21:12
Prophecy Topic Fulfillment
Psalm 69:4 Will be hated without cause John 15:24,25
Psalm 69:9 Will be reproached Romans 15:3
Psalm 110:1, Jeremiah 23:6 Will be called LORD John 20:28, Luke 2:11
Isaiah 9:6 Will be called God John 20:28, Titus 2:13
Isaiah 11:10 Gentiles will seek Him John 12:18-21
Isaiah 28:16, Psalm 118:22 Jews will reject Him, but He will become the Chief Cornerstone
Acts 4:11,12, I Peter 2:7, Matthew 21:42,43
Isaiah 53:3, Psalm 31:11 & 69:8 Will be ignored by His own people John 1:11
Prophecy Topic Fulfillment
Psalm 16:10, Hosea 6:2 Will rise from the dead Acts 2:31
Psalm 22:1 Forsaken by His Father Mark 15:33, Matthew 27:46
Psalm 22:7,8 Will be ridiculed Matthew 27:39-44
Psalm 22:14 Heart will be broken John 19:34
Ps 22:16, Zech 12:10, Isa 53:5 Hands & feet will be pierced Luke 23:33
Psalm 22:17,18 Will be stripped and stared at Luke 23:34,35
Psalm 22:18 Soldiers will cast lots for His clothing Luke 23:34, John 19:23,24
Psalm 34:20 Bones will not be broken John 19:33
Psalm 35:11 Will be accused by false witnesses Matthew 26:59,60
Psalm 38:11 Friends will stand at a distance Luke 23:49, Mark 15:40
Psalm 41:9 Will be betrayed by a friend Luke 22:47,48, John 18:1-6
Psalm 69:21 Will be offered vinegar & gall John 19:28,29, Matthew 27:34
Psalm 109:25, Psalm 22:7,8 People will wag their heads Matthew 27:39, Mark 15:29,30
Isaiah 50:6 People will spit in His face Matthew 26:67
Isaiah 53:5 Will be whipped Matthew 27:26
Isaiah 53:7 Will be silent before accusers Matthew 27:12
Isaiah 53:9 Buried in rich man's grave Matthew 27:57-60
Isaiah 53:12 Numbered with transgressors - crucified with thieves Mark 15:27,28
Amos 8:9 Darkness will cover the land Matthew 27:45
Zechariah 11:12 Betrayed for thirty pieces of silver Matthew 26:14,15
Zechariah 11:13 Money thrown in the temple Matthew 27:5
Zechariah 11:13 Price for potter's field Matthew 27:6,7
Zechariah 12:10 Look on whom pierced John 19:34-37
Zechariah 12:10 Side will be pierced John 19:34
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