(Prophecies dealing with kings and nations)
Biblical prophecy is history written in advance. The fulfillments of many Bible prophecies have been irrefutable proven by history and archeology. These specifically fulfilled Bible prophesies are perhaps the very most powerful proof that the Bible is God's inspired and infallible Word.
A prophet of God needed to validate himself by predicting events that came to pass for his immediate audience to see their fulfillments (Deut. 18:21-22), and he must not advocate following false gods (Deut. 13:1-4). There were often initial fulfillments for the people of the time followed by a later dual, multiple or continuous fulfillments. The prophecy had to be precise enough to prove that it was beyond human ability to manipulate or calculate it's fulfillment (Acts 15:18; Rom. 4:17). They had to stand up under the test of time (Isa. 46:10).
It should be noted that the spiritual gift of prophecy was done away with about 96 AD, when the New Testament was completed (1 Cor. 13:8-10; Rev. 22:18-19). There are no prophets speaking directly from God today.
The Bible is unique among the religious books of the world in this respect. Some of them contain a few vague forecasts, but nothing comparable to the vast number of specific prophecies found in the Bible. Likewise for the modern so-called "prophets" like Nostradamus, Edgar Casey, Jean Dixon and others who have made many predictions, but more often than not they are nebulous and capable of various meanings. A few of their prophecies seem to have been fulfilled, but most often they have completely failed.
Following are a few Biblical prophecies that have been thoroughly proven through history and archeology. The odds of them coming to pass by chance are infinitesimal.
Edom was a strong nation and Petra was it's capital. The people of Edom were proud of the strength of their cities, over which Petra reigned supreme. Petra or Seir was powerful because of it's location along a strategic trade route between Babylon and Arabia. Petra's location in Mount Seir provided it with a symbol of lofty position and strength. However, they were a very evil nation and each of the many prophecies about them in the Bible includes God’s judgment of their actions and a description of their future destruction.
The Old Testament book of Obadiah is completely devoted to thes topic of it's destruction.
The destruction of Edom and its capital city of Petra was prophesied by the prophets Ezekiel and
Ezekiel 35:1-8 (Approximate time of writing, 587 B.C.):
Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against mount Seir, and prophesy against it, And say unto it, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O mount Seir, I am against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate. I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD. Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end: Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: sith [since] thou hast not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee. Thus will I make mount Seir most desolate, and cut off from it him that passeth out and him that returneth. And I will fill his mountains with his slain men: in thy hills, and in thy valleys, and in all thy rivers, shall they fall that are slain with the sword. I will make thee perpetual desolations, and thy cities shall not return: and ye shall know that I am the LORD. (cf. Ezek. 25:12-14; Jer. 49:15-18; Isa. 34:10-15)
As in the book of Obadiah the prophecies of Ezekiel, Jeremiah and Isaiah were unbelievable! It would be like predicting that Denver would become desolated and inhabited only by wild animals. It happened!
In 1865, George Smith included several accounts by various authors that vividly describes fauna of Edom and Petra including, owls, satyr goats, lizards, vipers, scorpions, lions and leopards. [1]
During the fifth century B.C. Edom was overwhelmed by Arabs. In turn, these were taken over by the Nabataeans, who started living in Petra around 312 B.C. It was the Nabataeans who cut the temples in the sandstone walls of Petra. [2] The city of Petra flourished under the Nabataeans, until 106 A.D., when the Romans conquered it. [3] From that time it slid into disuse. Petra was finally totally destroyed by the Moslems in A.D. 629 - 632 never to be inhabited again. To this day ancient Edom is a wilderness and the Edomites have disapeared from the from her history. [4]
The fulfillments are very detailed, 1) Edom and Petra were overthrown and became desolate as Ezekiel 25:13; Ezekiel 35:4,7 and Isaiah 34:11-13 prophesied, 2) Peta has not been inhabited since 632 A.D. as Obidiah 4 and Jeremiah 49:18 predicted, 3) they had a bloody history as Ezekiel 25:13 and 35:6 and 8 foretold, 4) it became populated with wild animals and birds as Isaiah 34:13-15 prophesied. These were not chance fulfillments!
Ezekiel 26 which was written about 592-570 BC there were seven things are prophesied to happen to the city of Tyre:
1. Nebuchadnezzar wouuld destroy the mainland of Tyre (Ezekiel 26:8).
2. Many nations would come against Tyre (Ezekiel 26:3).
3. She would be made a bare and flat like the top of a rock (Ezekiel 26:4).
4. Fishermen would spread their nets over the site (Ezekiel 26:5).
5. Debris would be throw into the water (Ezekiel 26:12).
6. She would never be rebuilt (Ezekiel 26:14).
7. She would never be found again (Ezekiel 26:21)
Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to mainland Tyre three years after the prophecy and after a 13 year siege (585-573 BC) Tyre made terms and acknowledged Babylonian authority over them (4 xxii.452) 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 1/2 miles off the coast and fortified a city there. The mainland city was destroyed in 573 BC, as predicted. The city of Tyre on the island remained a powerful city for several hundred years.
Alexander the Great, in his war on Persia, marching southward called on each city to open their gates to him, as part of his plan to deny the use to the Persian fleet. 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 causeway 200 feet wide across the straits separating the old and new towns, erecting towers and war engines at the farther end. (4/xxii. 452) Tyre continually raided the causeway with fire-ships greatly retarding progress, until Alexander pressured conquered subjects to make ships for his operation. After attaining a superior naval force, Alexander finished the causeway, battered the walls of Tyre down killed eight thousand of the inhabitants and sold thirty thousand into slavery.
A history book by a secular historian reads, "Alexander the Great ... reduced Tyre to ruins... The larger part of the site of the once great city is now bare as the top of a rock --- a place where fishermen now spread their nets to dry."
Another historian, John C. Beck, says, "The history of Tyre does not stop with 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."
All the prophecies of Ezekiel about Tyre have come true: Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the mainland city of Tyre; Many nations were against Tyre; Alexander made her a bare rock and threw debris into the water to make the causeway; fishermen now spread nets over the site; (there is a city of Tyre today, but it is located down the coast from the original Tyre) the old city of Tyre has never been rebuilt, even though a great freshwater spring are located at the site, providing 10,000,000 gallons daily. It is still an excellent site today but has never been rebuilt, although many have tried. All seven of the predictions came true in the minutest detail.
END NOTES:
1. Smith, George, The Book of Prophecy, Longmain, Green, Reader, and Dyer. London, 1865, pp. 221,222.
2. Thompson, J.A., The Bible and Archaeology, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI, 1962, pp. 232,233.
3. Millard, Alan, Treasures From Bible Times, Lion Publishing, Oxford, England, 1985, pp. 60-63.
4. LaHaye, Tim, Tim LaHaye Prophecy Study Bible, AMG Publishers, Chattanooga, TN, 2000, p. 949.
The most important of all end-time prophecies is the re-establishment of Israel as a nation in it's ancient homeland. Israel was completely destroyed as nation by the Romans in 70 AD, it's people slaughtered and those who survived scattered from one end of the world to the other, it’s lands occupied and ruled by aliens for over 1878 years. Yet Israel survived with a distinct ethnicity, and returned to its homeland and became recognized as a nation once again in 1948. Nothing like this has ever occurred in history, yet both Israel's disbursement and her return to the land in the last days was prophesied by every major Biblical prophet. Numerous prophecies of this issue have been fulfilled multiple times.
The Lord Jesus Himself predicted the fall of Jerusalem in Luke 19 and 21, and the destruction of Temple in Matthew 24. This was fulfilled 40 year after Jesus spoke the words.
Deuteronomy 28:64 prophesied that the Lord would scatter Israel among the nations from one end of the earth to the other.
A few Jews have always remained in the Land, but they began to return to their Land in small numbers in the early part of the twentieth century, and then in larger numbers after World War I. After World War II the Israeli nation was re-established on May 14, 1948 and were immediately attacked the next day by Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. They not only won that war but miraculously increased their territory. Then in 1967 in the "six-day war" Israel recaptured the "old city" of Jerusalem and it is now completely under Jewish control, with the except of the Temple Mount. The Temple Mount will be the center point of which will make Jerusalem a "a cup of trembling" and "a burdensome stone for all people" according to Zechariah 12:2-3.
Much will be said about Israel and Jerusalem on Real World News in the course of time, and additional fulfilled prophecies will be added to the list below as time permits.
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| During World War I, on December 11, 1917, the British General Edmund H. Allenby,at war with the Ottoman Turks, did not want the city to be destroyed. He sent wave after wave of his planes flying low over Jerusalem and the Turks fled the city. No bombs were dropped and no blood was shed. He assembled his soldiers together and read them Isaiah 31:5 and told his troops, "Men, this day has this scripture been fulfilled before your very eyes." As a boy Allenby had been taught to pray for Israel: "Forget not Thine ancient people. Hasten the day when they shall be restored to Thy favour and to their land." | ||
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Fulfilled 40 years later in 70 A.D. when the Roman General Titus and his sacked the city and left not one stone of the Temple upon another. |
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God allowed Israel to be exiled from their land their land, because of their disobedience, but their enemies would never destroy the people of Israel. About 721 BC the Assyria took the northern kingdom into exile. In 586 BC Babylon took the southern kingdom of Judah. In 70 AD the Romans killed over a million Jews and destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple. In 135 AD, the Romans killed an estimated 580,000 Jews and exiled many others. In the 1930s and 1940s, the Nazis killed an estimated 6 million Jews. Since then, millions of Jews worldwide have returned to their ancient homeland and the nation was reestablished on May 14, 1948. God has preserved the people of Israel. |