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Contrary to popular Christian thought, the Christian religion is not a majority world religion. Less than one third of the world’s population is rated as Christian. Actually, this is an overrating. Islam is the largest and fastest growing world religion. Each world religion has its "Holy Scripture" describing its God or Gods. How do we know which is right? Each of these "Bibles" contains a system of faith by which the believer supposedly establishes a relationship with his God(s).

The God of the Judeo-Christian Bible is quite exclusive. He declares (Isaiah 44:6), "I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no other God." And the Judeo-Christian God can prove it. Although the Judeo-Christian Bible is also a system of faith, it contains a built-in touchstone to prove its God is the only true God. In fact, the Judeo-Christian God in Isaiah 43:9-12; 44:11-20, challenges all the other claims to deity and identifies all other gods for what they are—the creation and imagination of the people who worship them.

What is this challenge of the One who claims to be the only true God? Listen to Isaiah 46:9,10:

"Remember the former things long past,
For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is no one like Me,
Declaring the end from the beginning
And from ancient times which have not been done,
Saying, My purpose will be established,
And I will accomplish all My good pleasure."
Also, Isaiah 48:3,5:

"I declared the former things long ago
and they went forth from My mouth,
and I proclaimed them.
Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.
Therefore I declared them to you long ago,
before they took place I proclaimed them to you.
Lest you should say, "My idol has done them,
and my graven image
and my molten image have commanded them."

What an awesome challenge! Only an omnipotent and omniscient God, the Creator and Architect of man’s destiny, could foretell the events of human history. Where does this God make His prophetic declaration? In His written Word—the Judeo-Christian Bible. Outside of a few vague statements, no other bible of world religions contains prophecy. Over a third of our Bible is prophetic. The test is simple—if the words of the prophecies come to pass, then the Bible is the inspired Word of the Creator and Ruler of the universe.

Hundreds of Prophecies Fulfilled

Fulfilled prophecies indeed prove our God is the one and only God. Hundreds of events prophesied in the Judeo-Christian Bible have already happened. Before Jesus entered this world, over three hundred prophecies in the Old Testament spelled out the events and circumstances that would detail his life.

Over 700 years before his birth the prophet Micah foretold the actual town where Jesus would be born—Micah 5:2:

But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.

About 1,000 years before the death of Jesus, David foretold his triumphant resurrection—Psalm 16:10:

you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

In between these two events, especially the three and a half years of Jesus’ ministry, are the dynamics of the greatest life ever lived. Over 300 prophecies focus in on the extraordinary events of his life:

Born of a virgin—Isaiah 7:4 (fulfilled—Matthew 1:18, 24, 25)
The seed of Abraham—Genesis 22:18(fulfilled—Luke 3:34)
A teacher of parables—Psalm 78:2 (fulfilled—Matthew 13:34)
Betrayed by a friend—Psalm 41:9 (fulfilled—Matthew 10:4)
Silent before his accusers—Psalm 35:11 (fulfilled—Matthew 27:12)
Wounded and bruised—Isaiah 53:5 fulfilled—Matthew 27:26)
Smitten and spit upon—Isaiah 50:6 (fulfilled—Matthew 26:67)
Crucified with thieves—Isaiah 53:12 (fulfilled—Matthew 27:38)
Hated without a cause—Psalm 69:4 (fulfilled—John 15:25)
People shook their heads—Psalm 109:25 (fulfilled—Matthew 27:39)
Garments parted and lots cast—Psalm 22:18 (fulfilled—John 19:23, 24)
To suffer thirst—Psalm 22:15 (fulfilled—John 19:28)
Offered gall and vinegar—Psalm 69:21 (fulfilled—Matthew 27:34)
Side was pierced—Zechariah 12:10 (fulfilled—John 19:34)
Committed himself to God—Psalm 31:5 (fulfilled—Luke 23:46)
Bones not broken—Psalm 34:20 (fulfilled—John 19:33)
Buried in a rich man’s tomb—Isaiah 53:9 (fulfilled—Matthew 27:57-60)
There was darkness over the land—Amos 8:9 (fulfilled—Matthew 27:45).

This is only a partial list of some 300 prophecies fulfilled in Jesus’ life on earth. How could all of these prophecies be so accurate? The Apostle Peter informs us that the writers of the Old Testament spoke as they were moved by the Spirit or power of God.

The Old Testament abounds with other prophecies. God through His prophets precisely described the future of many ancient cities and people. Ezekiel 26:1-14 contains a remarkable prediction concerning the city of Tyre, the commercial hub of the world for centuries.
Tyre
The metropolis of Tyre occupied the coast while some of its people lived on an island a half mile out into the sea. Seven main points stand out in this prophecy of Ezekiel. Many nations would attack Tyre (26:3). Nebuchadnezzar would destroy the mainland metropolis (26:8). The debris of the city would be cast into the water (26:12). The dirt or dust of Tyre would be scraped down to the bare rock then thrown into the sea (26:4,12). Fishermen would spread their nets over the site (26:5). Tyre would never be built again (26:14).

The incredible happened! As predicted, Nebuchadnezzar captured the mainline city in fulfillment of verses 7-11. But many of the people escaped to the island city.¹ Without a navy, Nebuchadnezzar left. Over 200 hundred years passed and Alexander the Great called on the Phoenician cities to surrender. Tyre refused and found itself in siege by Alexander. He demolished the old mainland city and with the debris, built a causeway 200 feet wide out to the island city of Tyre. To complete the causeway, Alexander’s army literally scraped the dirt off the old city down to bare rock to smooth out the causeway surface. Finally, he erected towers and war engines and conquered the island fortress of Tyre. What a remarkable fulfillment of verses 4 and 12.²

After eighteen years, Tyre recovered rapidly. From 314 BC to AD 1291, Tyre in fulfillment of verse 3 was sacked and restored numerous times by many nations until its final destruction in 1291. In fulfillment of verse 14, never again was there an attempt to rebuild the Tyre of old. Since then, even today, Tyre is the "place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea."³ The six predictions from God’s word concerning Tyre in Ezekiel 26 have been remarkably fulfilled.

Sidon
The prophet Ezekiel also prophesied (28: 22, 23) concerning Tyre’s sister city Sidon. 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 was that blood would be in her streets, her wounded should fall in the midst of her and the sword was to be on her every side. But there was no doom of extinction pronounced against her as was the case with Tyre. George Davis observed that "not once but many times blood has been in her (Sidon’s) streets, her wounded have fallen in the midst of her and the sword has been ‘upon her every side.’" The city was demolished time after time and had always been rebuilt and is still in existence today.⁴

Israel
The fate of many other cities and nations, such as Babylon and Nineveh, are detailed in the Old Testament. The most striking are the numerous prophecies relating to Israel’s final restoration that are being dramatized on the current stage of history. The rebirth of the state of Israel in 1948 was a miracle of history (Ezek.37:1-11; Luke 21:29,30). Never before has a nation been destroyed, its people dispersed to the ends of the earth, and then nearly two thousand years later, regathered to their homeland and reestablished as a nation. The Scriptures speak of this final re-gathering with a permanency. Israel "shall not be plucked up" or "pulled up" "any more forever" (Jeremiah 31: 38-40; Amos 9: 14,15). The latter rain would once again fall in the land, then both the early and latter rains would increase in precipitation (Joel 2: 21-24). "The land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden" (Ezekiel 36: 35). "They shall plant grapevines upon the mountains of Samaria" (Jeremiah 31: 4,5). The Bible Jerusalem would be liberated by Israel in a war with the Arabs (Zechariah 12: 2,5,6). Prophecies concerning Israel’s final restoration are myriad. Prophecies being fulfilled by the Jewish people are the strongest proof that the Judeo-Christian Bible is inspired by the only true and living God (Isaiah 44: 6-9).

New Testament
There are numerous prophecies in the New Testament. We will just mention several contained in The Lord’s Great Prophecy. Jesus predicted that the magnificent edifice, Herod’s Temple, would be completely destroyed (Luke 21: 5,6). History well documents this destruction in AD 70 by the armies of Rome.

Then, in Luke 21: 20, 21, Jesus made a remarkable prediction concerning Jerusalem’s destruction and the church on the scene at that time. Actually, these verses had a literal fulfillment at that time and have a symbolic fulfillment at the second advent.

And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies,
then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains. Luke 21: 20, 21.

After Vespasian with his Roman legions overthrew all the fortified places in Israel except the capital,⁵ he began the siege of Jerusalem.⁶ Then a strange thing happened. Political instability broke out in Rome at the death of the Emperor. Vespasian withdrew his armies and rushed back to Rome. The Christians in Jerusalem recalled Jesus words recorded in Luke 21: 20, 21, and fled to the mountains of Petra to hide. Titus, son of the new Emperor Vespasian, returned and destroyed Jerusalem in AD 70.⁷ History records that the Christians escaped this carnage.

In Luke 21:22-24, Jesus predicted the fate of the Jewish People during and after the destruction of Jerusalem:

For these be the days of vengeance,
that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
But woe unto them that are with child,
and to them that give suck, in those days!
for there shall be great distress in the land,
and wrath upon this people.
And they shall fall by the edge of the sword,
and shall be led away captive into all nations:
and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles,
until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

The days of vengeance covered the period of the destruction of the Jewish nation by the armies of Rome. This began the dispersion of the Jewish People and the treading down of Jerusalem by the Gentiles for over nineteen-hundred years, as history confirms. Josephus recorded that 97, 000 were taken captive in Jerusalem, while 1,100,000 were killed during four years that ravaged the whole nation of Israel.⁸

The God of Prophecy
The Judeo-Christian God, the only true God, the Creator and Ruler of the universe, knew His human race would devise gods that were the figment of their own imaginations (Romans 1: 21-23; Isaiah 44: 8-20). The Judeo-Christian God, the God of prophecy, challenges the false gods of the various cultures to declare the end from the beginning — Isaiah 46; 9,10:

For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is no one like Me,
Declaring the end from the beginning
And from ancient times which have not been done,
Saying, My purpose will be established,
And I will accomplish all My good pleasure."

The gods of the other world religions cannot meet this challenge of prophecy. They are silent — dumb. Why? They do not exist! The Judeo-Christian Bible contains hundreds of prophecies that have been fulfilled. Indeed, over one-third of our Bible is prophetic. No other purported Bible of the other world religions contains a system of prophecy. Only the Judeo-Christian Bible contains this prophetic proof that it is the inspired Word of God. Indeed, the God of Judaism and the God of Christianity are one and the same God — the God of prophecy, the only true and living God.

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