Is The Bible The Inspired Word Of God?

Have you ever stopped to really prove whether or not the Bible is divinely inspired by a Creator? Could you scientifically prove whether or not this world’s best seller and most-read book is an actual revelation from the Supreme Creator to mankind?

This article will give you the proof, and it will show skeptics how to disprove the Bible, if it’s not inspired, and how to disprove the very existence of God, if there is no God.

This Book the Holy Bible, that dares to write out the future history of this world in advance, that dares to prophesy what is actually going to happen within a very few years to specific nations, including Russia, the British Empire, China, the United States of America, Italy, Turkey, Ethiopia, in fact, most of the major nations of this world!

But would you believe it if I told you what this Book predicts? If it told you what it predicts about your nations? Would believe it?

We have gotten away from believing that the Bible means what it says. You may not be an atheist and you may not ridicule the Holy Bible, but we are living now in an age of skepticism. We are living in the age of doubts. Very few people have stopped to prove whether or not the Bible is really the inspired Word of God. Very few people tremble before what it says or regard it as having real authority.

Most highly educated people, including men of science, assume that the Bible is not the infallible revelation of a Supernatural God. They assume this without the scientific proof that they demand on material questions.

Most fundamentalist believers assume, on sheer faith, never having seen proof, that the Bible is the very Word of God. Jesus Christ is quoted in the Bible as saying, “The Scripture cannot be broken.”

But can it be broken? Did you ever try to break it? Did you ever really prove it? Isn’t it about time that we stop and seek out the proofs one way or the other?

Some people seem to think that Jesus’ miracles were recorded to prove His divine Messiahship. But the skeptics don’t believe those miracles ever occurred. Some people will say, answered prayer is the proof of inspiration. But the skeptic has had no prayers answered. He or she doesn’t believe that anybody else has.

There is, however, one source of irrefutable proof! The Bible itself purports to be the infallible, divine revelation of truth, revealed by the very Creator and Divine Ruler of the entire universe. In your Bible (if you have one), One is quoting, claiming that He is God, speaking in the first person, saying that He can make and unmake nations, that He can carry out His judgments over millenniums of time, claiming that He can foretell infallibly the future of cities and empires, but that no man can.

Who is this quoted as saying, “I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times, the things that are not yet done, saying my council shall stand”? One is quoted saying those very words in Isa. 46:9-10.

Skeptics say the Bible is merely the religious writings of a small ancient Jewish race, groping in the darkness of human ignorance and superstition trying to develop a concept of God.

But is it? Who is this claiming to foretell the future? Is it merely some ignorant ancient human with no power to make good his boast, who wrote this blistering challenge to the skeptics, recorded in Isa. 41:21-23, “Now the Eternal cries, ‘Bring your case forward.’ Now Jacob’s king cries, ‘State your proofs.’”

Yes, state your proofs! “Let us hear what has happened in the past that we may ponder it, or show me what is yet to be, that we may watch how it turns out. Yes, let us hear what is coming, that we may be sure that you are gods. Come, do something or other that we may marvel at the sight. Why, you are things of naught. You can do nothing at all.”

There is the taunt of the One quoted as being God, and quoted in the first person, taunting to skeptics, saying. “Why you’re nothing at all. Come on! Let’s hear your proofs that we may watch whether it turns out. Predict what is going to happen in the future, and let us watch and see whether you can foretell. Have you the power to bring it about? Are you a God? Do you unmake nations? Can you produce a sentence or a decree on a nation, and bring it to pass? That is the taunt of the God of the Bible to the doubter.

Prophecy is the proof of divine revelation! If One, in the Bible, speaking and claiming to be God, can make prophecies and tell what is going to happen in the future to nations, to cities, to empires, then if it actually happens in every case, and without a miss, you’ll know that was a real God speaking.

But, if it were some person writing this, some human mortal writing in ignorance, groping in superstition, making great boasts, and claiming that he could foretell what was going to happen to proud cities, to nations, to great empires, and then it never happened, you know that that man was merely writing make-believe out of his own imagination.

Prophecy is the proof of God, the proof of the divine revelation of the Bible. Prophecy is a taunting challenge that the skeptic dares not accept! So here is the challenge to the skeptic. How long has New York City been in existence? Around 200 years. About 200 years ago New York City was a little village. Now it has grown to a great city of several million people. Suppose that some human prognosticator made a prophecy that New York will very soon, inside of twenty years, be totally destroyed, never again to be rebuilt. Would any human be able to bring that to pass? Would anybody believe it if someone would make such a prophecy? Is there any man on this earth that could speak with authority, and make such a prophecy about a great city like New York? And bring it to pass?

Now notice! Over 2500 years ago, there existed a great city that already, then, was more than 1500 years old. That city was the mistress of the seas, of the whole world; it was the commercial center of the world. It was beautiful, rich, and stable. That city was ancient Tyre on the Mediterranean. It was located on the eastern coast of Phoenicia.

In the year of 604 B.C. the nation Judah had been invaded by the Chaldeans under King Nebuchadnezzar, of the Chaldean Empire. The Jews had been conquered and taken captive in a series of sieges between 604 and 580 B.C. The people of Tyre were looking with greedy eyes on Judah; and they were laying plans to go down and take part of the spoil, now that their rival king had invaded, and conquered it.

We read of Tyre in Ezekiel 26:1-3 the Moffatt translation, in a little plainer English:

“In the 11th year, on the first day of the month” – now this was in 585 B.C. – “This word from the Eternal came to me.” Ezekiel was writing this. He is just a human mortal man, one of the prophets who wrote this, but this man who wrote this prophecy said that the very Word of God came to him, and he wrote it down. Now this is what God is quoted as saying, One who is quoted in the first person as being God, the very Creator, and the very Ruler of all the universe. He said: “Son of man, since Tyre has gloated over Jerusalem, “Aha! This door into the nations is broken down! It lies open to me. I shall prosper, now she is laid waste.’ Therefore, the Lord, the Eternal utters this sentence: Tyre, I am against you. I will bring many a nation against you, as the sea brings many a waves.’”

Who was this speaking? Was it some ignorant human, or was it God Almighty who pronounced this fate on this commercial metropolis, this New York of the ancient world, this great proud, mighty city of Tyre, because of its evils, and because it was threatening to take a spoil of this kingdom of Judah?

Let us begin with this third verse from the King James Version, or the authorized translation and read on including the 5th verse.

“Therefore, thus saith the Lord God. Behold, I am against thee, O Tyre. And I will cause many nations to come up against thee as the sea causeth his waves to come up. And they shall destroy the wall of Tyrus, and break down her towers. I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock. It shall be a place for the spreading of nets (fishers net) in the midst of the sea, for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God, and it shall become a spoil to the nations.”

Here is One quoted in the Bible as saying, “I am God, I have spoken it. This is going to happen to that great city, one of the two greatest cities of the world, as great in the world in that day as New York or Paris is today.

I want you to notice these points, in what this One who claims to be God has said. He said that many nations would come up against this Tyre, and attack her. But how were they to come? He said like the waves of the sea. Now the waves of the sea come one after the other, not all together. These attacking nations would come one after the other. He said that they could destroy the walls; they would break down the towers and demolish the buildings on that city. He said then that they would scrape the stones, the timbers of the demolished buildings and even the top soil into the Mediterranean Sea. He said that this city would become like a top of a rock; it would become a place to spread nets on; and it would become a spoil to the nations, more than one nation, many nations coming one after the others like the waves of the sea.

For over 1500 years the armed forces of other cities and nations had attacked this proud city of Tyre, but never had any army been able to batter down its walls or actually to invade the city. Now could some mere human mortal, just writing in the religious works of the ancient Jewish race, could some mortal man pronounce such an astounding fate on so great a city and bring it to pass?

But let us read on, beginning with verse 7 of Ezek. 26 – verse 7 on through verse 11. “For thus saith God (here is God quoted as speaking directly, and in the first person): “Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon.”

This becomes quite a specific prophecy. It tells distinctly the name of the king and of the nation that God is going to bring against this city of Tyre, a king of kings (because he was an emperor over a number of nations from the north) “with horses, with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and with much people. He shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the field. He shall set engines of war against thy walls, and with his axes, he shall break down thy towers. He shall enter into thy gates and with the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets. He shall slay thy people by the sword, and thy strong garrisons shall go down to the ground,” – or, “your strong pillars’ as the margin has it, “shall go down to the ground.”

Now there it is specifically speaking of Nebuchadnezzar, what he shall do. Notice it was what he will do all the way through; but remember God has said that many nations shall come, not just one, but many nations, one after the other like the waves of the sea. Notice Nebuchadnezzar was not to take all of the debris, all of the stones, the timber, and the top soil and dump it into the Mediterranean. God has said many nations would come.

Now this prophecy becomes even more specific, beginning with verse 12 on through verse 14. “And they,” no longer does God say, “and He”; it is speaking of “They.” This would mean other nations to follow Nebuchadnezzar. “They shall make spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise, and they (that means other nations following Nebuchadnezzar) shall break down thy walls and destroy thy pleasant houses. They shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water.” There it is!

God says, “I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease, and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard, and I will make thee like the top of a rock, and thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon. Thou shalt be built no more; for I, the Lord have spoken it, saith the Lord God!”

There is authority! There is One quoted, speaking in the first person with great authority, pronouncing a dire sentence upon the great city of the world at that time. Was there any God existing about to do it?

This prophecy said they would lay the stones, the timber; the soil in the Mediterranean, and after that, Tyre was to be completely destroyed and built no more, never again to be built! Was this the very Creator God passing sentence? Was the Ruler of the universe able to bring it to pass, or was this more human conjecture?

Here is the challenge to tell whether or not this Bible was inspired. There is no other book where you can find one speaking, saying, “I Am God,” and speaking to nations and to cities, and pronouncing sentence in that fashion, and then centuries later bringing it to pass!

This same God is telling what is going to happen to our modern nations today, yes, Russia, Germany, Great Britain, America, Australia, Italy, China, all of the great nations of the world, and many of the minor nations of the world, pronouncing sentence on us, warning of things that are to happen to us in the next 15 to 20 years, or less. Can He do it? Was He able to do what He said about ancient Tyre?

Is this Bible inspired? Can you prove it? Do Bible prophecies mean what they say?

For over 1500 years, this great city, Tyre had defied all of its enemies. Many had approached it and tried to attack and invade it, but none had ever been able to succeed. Now notice! Could some ignorant man write out this decree and cause this very decree to be carried out?

Very soon after that, there was a 13-year siege by King Nebuchadnezzar exactly as this had been foretold, as the one speaking and saying “I am God,” said it would happened. Finally, he took the city. It had never happened before. He demolished the city, and it has never been rebuilt!

However, the people of the city fled, and built a new city on an island only half a mile off shore from Old Tyre. Now the original Tyre became known as Old Tyre, and the new city of the island became known as New Tyre.

Many skeptics may say that that prophecy wasn’t written in 585 B.C. before this happened, but that it was written after it happened. How can you prove that Ezekiel wrote it then?

There is ample proof of it, but that factor is only the first link in the chain of this prophecy. This prophecy had said many nations will come like waves of the sea. It foretold many other things to happen. Only parts of those things were to be done by Nebuchadnezzar, to be brought about by him. The prophesied events of New Tyre were not completed until the beginning of the 14rh century.

Let me quote for you a little of the unchallengeable history of these events from the Encyclopedia Britannica, vol. 22 under the article “Tyre.” Here it says: “Tyre the mistress of the seas, in the 6th century B.C., endured a 13 year siege from Nebuchadnezzar.” During this siege it was demolished and destroyed.

Nebuchadnezzar, as we read in verses 7-11 in Ezekiel 26, did everything that was prophesied for him, as you can read in the Encyclopedia Britannica or any other ancient historic authorities. But, he did not move the stones, the timber or the soil into the Mediterranean. For about 250 years after Nebuchadnezzar had invaded Tyre, it seemed improbable that the prophecy ever would be completely fulfilled. About two and one half centuries passed!

Then, after two and one half centuries, Alexander the Great came down in his swift march conquering everything before him.

Again, let’s read from the Encyclopedia Britannica in this same article, “The siege of Tyre by Alexander the Great, 332 B.C.” (He had won his battle at Issus, his first great battle in conquering the Persian Empire, in 333 B.C. at Issus.) “New Tyre was built on a small island about half a mile from the main land upon which the old city stood. Alexander demolished Old Tyre, and with the debris built a road 200 feet in breadth across the strait so that he turned that island actually into a peninsula and it became therefore a part of the main land. The reduction of Tyre was not but a matter of time. Alexander scaled the city walls. Thus after a siege of seven months the city was taken, 8,000 of the citizens were slaughtered, 2,000 later on were executed, and 30,000 sold into slavery.”

New Tyre was built right back up again. And later, the Roman Empire at its height of world power attempted to rebuild Old Tyre. But after constructing a costly amphitheater and two or three large buildings, on the site of Old Tyre, on the original main land, the Romans were forced to abandon the effort, and the amphitheater and the buildings lie in desolate ruins today, mute testimony to the inspiration of the Bible. Not even the might of Rome at its height of ancient glory, could break the sentence pronounced by whoever inspired the prophecy of Ezk. 26!

Here, in brief, is the history of New Tyre, from the time of Alexander’s siege quoted from the same article Encyclopedia Britannica: “However Tyre, with the marvelous vitality of those early times, recovered in a comparatively short time. The city passed under the sway of Seleucids (198 B.C.) and the Romans (68 B.C.). Herod the Great endowed it with a temple. St. Paul spent a week there while the ship unloaded her burden on his journey from Ephesus to Jerusalem. By the 2nd century it had become the see of a bishop. With the rest of Syria it passed into the hands of the Muslims in the 7th century. The crusaders captured it (1124), and made it one of the chief cities of their kingdom of Jerusalem. After the fall of Acre, the Muslims destroyed it.” So New Tyre, finally, was destroyed just some 700 years ago, at the beginning of the 14th century, never to be rebuilt.

Today, Old Tyre is like the top of a rock. It had originally, a rocky foundation, and they had imported a vast amount of top soil in order to build the city of Tyre there about 4,000 years ago. All of that top soil and the stones and timbers at Old Tyre had been scraped by Alexander into the sea. Now there is nothing but the rock foundation left. To this day, you can go there and you will find the fishermen’s nets spread out upon Old Tyre, precisely as whoever wrote this saying – “I am God” and there is none beside me in Ezek. 26 said it would happen! Old Tyre has never been rebuilt to this day.

Today, Old Tyre is like the top of a rock. There is no soil, though there is rich soil surrounding it. Ample water is there. You can go there and see the fishermen’s nets spread out to dry.

Today, a small new town, called Sur – in a different location out on the peninsula, and inhabited by fishermen is erroneously designated as Tyre on some maps; but it is not Tyre. Ancient Tyre has never been rebuilt.

Was the writer of this prophecy a human man, or God Himself? This is one of hundreds of such prophecies, many of which have already come to pass. Every year, every day, every hour that site of Old Tyre remains a desolate top of the rock for spreading of fishermen’s nets, it is shouting the proof of divine revelation of the Bible to skeptics.

 
The Church of God, New World Ministries P.O. Box 5536 Sevierville, TN 37864