Bible Prophecy Provides Evidence That God Exists For All To SEE

WORLD EVENTS HERALD CHRIST’S RETURN

The Bible is a most remarkable book. Its account of the origin of evil; its unparalleled record of God's dealings with the nation of Israel; its searching message through their prophets; its "good news" proclaimed by Jesus Christ and his apostles; above all, its unerring analysis of the weaknesses of human nature and its contrasting portrayal of the holiness, the truth and the mercy of God, made especially plain in the person of His Son - all these are outstanding features found in no other book in the world. They prompted Henry Rogers over l00 years ago to declare: "The Bible is not such a book as man would have written if he could, nor could have written if he would."( In The Superhuman Origin of the Bible Deduced from Itself.) In other words, God is needed to explain its existence.

In this short article we shall consider one of the Bible's unique features: its prophecy. Now strictly prophecy is not just foretelling the future. A prophet was one who "spoke for" another, a spokesman; and prophecy was the message the prophet spoke on behalf of God. But since Bible prophecy contains quite a lot of "prediction", or foretelling future events, for our purpose here we shall take the term in that sense.

Who has the Power of Prophecy?

But first we must settle an important question: Does the Bible claim that the power of prophecy belongs only to God and is a proof of His authority?

To this there is a decisive answer in the prophecy of Isaiah. In the 41st chapter God challenges the idols and the idol worshippers of the day to prove that they possess divine powers.

This is how He does it:

"Produce your cause, saith the Lord; bring forth your strong reasons,

saith the King of Jacob, Let them (the idols) bring them, (the reasons)

forth, and declare unto us what shall happen: declare ye the former

things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter

end of them; and shew us things to come ..." (vv.21-22,R.V.).

The basis of this challenge is clear: the pagan worshippers claim that their idols are gods. Very well; let them produce the proofs. And the proofs demanded by God Himself are that the idols shall announce future events, and also declare "the former things", that is, explain how creation took place in the beginning. The point is made crystal clear in the next verse:

"Declare the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that

ye are gods ..." (v.23).

Here God Himself is asserting that to be able to foretell the future would be a proof of Divine power. More than once in this part of Isaiah's prophecy, God declares that He is the only one who has this power, for only He is God; there is no other:

"Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none

else; I am God , and there is none like me ..." (46:9)

The God of Israel is here declaring that there is no other worthy object of worship but Himself; and goes on to assert the signs of His power in these terms:

". . . declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times

things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will

do all my pleasure" (46:10).

Come to think of it, whoever would dare to say, "My counsel shall stand . . ." -except God? What man is there in the whole world who could say any such thing? To carry it out needs Someone who not only knows future events before they happen, but has the power to see that they take place as He has decreed. In other words, to utter prophecy which will inevitably come true, you need God. No other cause can explain it.

The New Testament makes the same claim. When Jesus was about to leave his disciples, he promised them the help of the Holy Spirit in their task of preaching the Gospel in the world. One of the effects of this gift was to be: "He shall declare unto you the things that are to come" (John 16:13); in other words, the disciples were to be given a knowledge of future events. It is certainly implied that without the special gift they could not have done this. Their ability to declare the future was to be an evidence of the Divine power they had been granted.

Again, in the last book of the Bible, chapter 1, verse 1, it is declared that God gave to Jesus Christ a revelation, "to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly come to pass . . ." (Revelation 1:1) . The knowledge of the future came from God through Jesus; without that revelation, His servants could have known nothing of it.

The conclusion is clear: the Bible says quite definitely that the power to foretell the future belongs to God alone.

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THE DESTINY OF THE WORLD

Introduction

It may appear that we are masters of our own destiny; that we determine our own future and shape our own world. It may appear that there is no God; that there is no Divine intervention in human affairs and that the Bible is merely a crutch for the faint hearted.

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Daniel 2 - The Authority of Bible Prophecy

Remarkably, Bible prophecy has foretold our future for 2,500 years and it reveals that the destiny of this world is something we have no control over at all. In fact, Bible prophecy is simply the mould into which history is poured.

The purpose of God, as far as the earth is concerned, is clearly revealed in a remarkable prophecy contained in Daniel chapter 2, which speaks not only of the destiny of the world, but also vindicates the authority of the Bible.

Daniel 2 speaks of a dreadful nightmare experienced by the most powerful monarch of the earth in those days, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, in the year 605 BC. Babylon was an immensely strong city which ruled over a great empire stretching from the Persian Gulf up through the Mesopotamian basin and down through Israel into Egypt.

Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, and had taken many Jews captive, including the a man named Daniel who was a member of the royal household of Judah in Israel. Daniel was also an exceptional prophet whom God used to convey many prophecies of future events to take place on the earth.

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It was once fashionable in religious circles to say that Jesus Christ would never return to the earth. There are still plenty of professing Christians who believe that. But there are now many others who have come to believe that the Second Coming is a very important event.

True Bible Students have always taught that the Return of Jesus Christ to the earth is vital to the fulfillment of the purpose of God. This article reviews Bible teaching about the Second Coming, both the events that will lead up to that miracle and the reason for the Lord's Return.

New Testament Teaching

Someone has counted the New Testament references to this great event, and they number 318 occurrences! If you reflect that the number of times the word for Christian love occurs is only 115, you will begin to see the

importance of this topic. Nor is it simply the case that only one or two New Testament writers refer to the matter in their writings. Treatment of the subject is widely spread.

Jesus spoke often about the Kingdom of God and his Second Coming. His parables, for example, were told to those who thought the Kingdom of God was to appear immediately. He was like a nobleman who had to go "into a far country to receive for himself a Kingdom and to return" (Luke 19:12). More than once he spoke of the Coming of the Son of Man (e.g. Matthew 24:27,30,37,39,48; 25:27; 26:64). And when he assured his disciples of his continuing spiritual, but invisible, presence "even unto the end of the world" (Matthew 28:20), he inferred that then he would be visibly present with them for ever.

The testimony of the Apostles was equally plain. They had been clearly taught by the Risen Lord who, during the forty days before his ascension into heaven, instructed them about the Kingdom of God, the restored kingdom of Israel (Acts 1:3,6). It was the opening theme of his post-resurrection appearances that all the Old Testament promises were coming to their fulfillment in him (Luke 24:27). At the time of his ascension, as he was being taken up from the Mount of Olives into the clouds, God sent His angels to explain.

"Ye men of Galilee", they said to the watching apostles, "Why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11).

It is not therefore surprising that when the Apostles began to teach in the streets of Jerusalem, they said that their Lord Jesus Christ was to return to the earth as King. Peter gave the lead when he boldly announced that the grave could not keep Jesus imprisoned. He referred his hearers to a statement in Psalm 110:1, used also by his Lord, to show that he had gone to heaven only until his enemies have been subdued (2:34,35). Note the authoritative use of the Old Testament.

But also note a vital point. Bible teaching is never given just for the sake of informing us what happens next. It always has a deeper intention, for we are meant to use the knowledge it confers to prepare ourselves for those coming events:

"Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ . . . Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins" (Acts 2:36,38).

It should follow that our consideration of Bible truth concerning the Return of the Lord should also cause us to search our hearts.

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