Evidence the Bible Is God’s Word. 15 Reasons to Believe.

COUNTDOWN WEEKLY. Reasons #1 – #15 are posted below. By Monday morning each week we will add a reason as we countdown 15 Reasons to Believe the Bible Is God’s Word.

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Reason #1

The Events of Act 24-26 Were Only a Few Years Before Luke Wrote!

How can we trust that the N.T. was describing actual, historical events? Why should we trust their gospel message?

Consider the apostle Paul and his last few years before he is taken to Rome and tried. Luke (in the ‘Acts of the Apostles’) writes about the early church and ends with Paul being under house arrest in Rome awaiting his opportunity to ‘appeal to Caesar’.

It is very interesting to note that Paul would have come to Jerusalem AFTER 57 AD (the time when Governor Felix would soon leave). His case before Caesar would have happened BEFORE 63 AD; so there is a window of at most 5 years. What does Luke say about these very recent events?

Luke mentions many specific names of very influential people (making any fictitious accounts very obvious): Gamaliel – considered as one of the greatest teachers by Jewish tradition; a Chiliarch (a commander of 1000 men) of the Roman army named Claudius Lysias; the high priest Ananias who personally went to Caesarea in an attempt to have Paul condemned; Felix and Drusilla (Felix’s brother was a very powerful and wealthy man in Rome – Pallas); Festus who was replacing Felix as governor; and King Agrippa II and his sister Bernice – both of whom were very influential and known to history.

All of these people are claimed by Luke to have had very specific contact with the apostle Paul and with his zealous teaching of the gospel. Luke says there was an official letter from Claudius Lysias to Governor Felix regarding Paul and the plot against him (these events would have been within 5 years of Luke’s writing). How could Luke claim this if it were not true?

Paul was held for two years in Caesarea and when Festus became the new governor, immediately the Jews urged that Paul be condemned. This led to Paul having opportunity to present his case before Festus, Agrippa II and Bernice, the Chiliarchs (stationed there) and the prominent men of this Roman city (Act 25:23).

This public opportunity for Paul would have been within 3 years of Luke finishing his history (Acts). Some might argue that Luke was actually written much later, but the evidence for an early date is substantial and it still doesn’t change the fact that these details were written by an eye-witness (Luke sails with Paul from Caesarea to Rome as signified by ‘we’ of Act 27:1).

So, what about this meeting was so special? Paul stated many details that were part of his case. What he says now would dramatically affect whether he was found guilty or not. If he lied, that would certainly go against everything else he said. So what did Paul have to say in front of so many prominent witnesses?

Festus publicly began by saying the Jews felt he should be killed but that it seemed to him that Paul hadn’t done anything worthy of death, but that It was for the purpose of having something to tell Caesar regarding this case. Paul appeals to King Agrippa II’s knowledge of the Jewish worldview. Paul was able to claim that his good character as a Pharisee was known by the leaders of the Jews. He said their accusations against him are all about the promises the Jews have in God sending a Messiah and the eventual resurrection of the faithful; explaining that most Jews can’t accept that God would have raised Jesus from the dead. Paul admits that even he himself had rejected the possibility.
He then says he chased after many of the followers of Jesus and punished them and tried (and failed) to get them to blaspheme (= deny Jesus was the Son of God). He was even willing to pursue them to foreign cities. It was then, while traveling to Damascus that Jesus appeared to him; striking him blind and giving him instructions on how he was to preach the gospel from now on.

Paul then tells King Agrippa that he did exactly what the heavenly vision implored him to do – preach the gospel; imploring people to turn from their sins and begin doing good deeds. Only for this teaching did the Jews attack him in the temple. All of what he taught was already predicted by Moses and the prophets – that the Christ had to suffer and die and yet be raised from the dead. Festus admittedly didn’t understand and thought Paul was driven mad with his great learning, but Paul insisted he was speaking ‘words of sober truth’. He then appealed to the king and said: I speak confidently before him as ‘I’m persuaded that none of these things escape his notice; for this has not been done in a corner’.

Paul then challenged the King by asking “Do you believe the Prophets, I know that you do”. Paul also tells everyone listening that he wanted them to become as he was – a Christian. The leaders then acknowledge that Paul is not worthy of punishment but that since he had already appealed to Caesar, he had to be sent to Caesar.

Knowing these events were just a few years before, how could Luke make up any part of this?!

You can’t give so many specific details unless you are speaking the truth! All of this must be exactly as it happened. Paul indeed must have been a well known Pharisee; a persecutor of Christians; a sudden conversion taking place; a few decades of boldly teaching the gospel; his attempts to influence all those people that day; and his focus on the resurrection of Jesus and its implications.

Most of all, the explanation for the great change that occurred earlier in his life – that Jesus Himself had appeared to him on the road to Damascus and that Jesus’ words and commission to Paul forever changed his life. Paul could not have said these things if they were not true. Luke could not have written them if they were not true. We can trust that Paul’s gospel was heard that day by people who could have proven it wrong if it were untrue. Finally, it is almost impossible to explain the life of Paul without accepting His claim of that encounter on the road.

What other answer is there for the life of the apostle Paul? Listen to his story! Please feel free to let us know if you have any questions or would like to learn more about God’s word. – Greg Whipple

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Reason #2

Men Who Wrote the Gospels Show Their Own Foolishness and Weakness

The details of the life of Jesus are only preserved through other men. Most were a part of the story. You would think they would be eager to include details of what they themselves accomplished with Jesus – yet surprisingly there aren’t!

Also, when men are telling the story, they typically avoid anything that would bring embarrassment to themselves, especially when they are now the leaders of the movement. But the gospels shockingly contain many details that expose the disciples as being ignorant, foolish and weak.

This provides further credibility that these accounts were given to us by men who were humble and lovers of truth. Most of these examples can even be taken from near the end of Jesus’ ministry. One would think that they might allow exposure of their ignorance at the beginning, but to reveal that even after spending several years with Jesus that they still had much to learn is even more amazing.

So, what is recorded in the gospels that make His disciples look so bad?

Less than one year before His crucifixion, Jesus is transfigured on a mountain before Peter, James and John. Matthew, Mark and Luke all record how Peter misunderstood just how special Jesus was in that He offered to build tabernacles for Jesus, Moses and Elijah: God tells them that they were to listen to Jesus alone (Mt 17:1-5).

Shortly after this, Jesus rebukes the rest of the disciples as having “little faith” after being unable to cast out a demon (Mt 17:19-20).

Later, many people are bringing children to Jesus and it is recorded that Jesus rebuked His own disciples for misunderstanding the importance of all souls – saying “the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (Mt 19:13-15).

In another event, James and John want to call fire down from heaven to destroy the Samaritans for rejecting Jesus and are rebuked …“you do not know what kind of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them” (Lk 9:52-56) – a huge lack of understanding of God’s love and mercy!

At another point He tells them He must die and it says “they understood none of these things” (Lk 18:31-34). Even on the night before He dies, the disciples seem to be both clueless and in need of much improvement in their character. Jesus tells them that He is about to be betrayed and killed; their response is to argue among themselves “which one of them was regarded to be greatest” (Lk 22:20-24). This response seems especially prideful and lacking in any empathy towards Jesus and His teachings.

Jesus tells them that they all will deny Him and flee from Him. Their response is that they would never do that and that even if they had to die with Him, they would never deny Him – and yet they all did. Peter denied Him 3 times that night; the 3rd time even came an hour after Jesus’ warning – giving him (one would think) enough time to think better of what he was doing (Mt 26:31-35; Lk 22:57-61).

After Jesus rose from the dead the disciples responded with unbelief – even after the women reported that angels had told them He had risen and that the tomb was empty; even after Mary reported seeing two angels and then speaking with Jesus Himself; and even after the two on the road to Emmaus reported that they had seen Jesus. Jesus rebuked them for not accepting their testimony (Mk 16:14). And when they themselves saw Jesus, they responded with fear (Lk 24:36-39).

During the 40 days in which Jesus appeared to them at different times, Jesus challenged Peter to feed His sheep and told him to “follow Me”, yet Peter had to ask “but what about this one?” Jesus had to tell him it doesn’t matter what happens to others, only that Peter needed to follow Him (Jn 21:17-22). And even after they are now the apostles – the leaders of the church – Paul records that he had to rebuke Peter for separating Himself from the Gentiles when eating (Gal 2:11-14). More examples could be provided, but these illustrate that the writers must have simply been explaining what happened as Jesus taught and prepared them for what was coming.

Most of these examples, it seems, could have been written in such a way that their own foolishness could have been omitted while still effectively describing what Jesus had taught. Very few men who are leaders would write so freely of their own short-comings.

The gospel accounts also leave out the disciples’ likely achievements (for example, only Matthew mentions that Peter walked on water with Jesus). These honest biographies of Jesus’ life give us even more confidence that they are recording an unbiased history of the events.

It’s also interesting that through all their honesty about their own shortcomings, not once do we see any indication that Jesus acted in a less than perfect way. The New Testament later records that Jesus was a perfect sacrifice for sins. The Hebrew writer says that Jesus was tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin (Heb 4:15). Even if men were trying to invent a perfect caricature of a man, they would likely fail. Jesus was God in the flesh. That is why He told Philip, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (Jn 14:9).

Truly the gospels are like no other writings. This further confirms they were inspired to speak the truth, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

How are you responding to this truth? Please feel free to let us know if you have any questions or would like to learn more about God’s word. – Greg Whipple

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Reason #3

The Significance of the ‘Triumphal Entry’

Many of the events of Jesus’ ministry have proven to be of great significance. One of these is Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey’s colt only days before His crucifixion. It is interesting that it is one of only a handful of details of Jesus’ life that is recorded in all 4 gospels. Christians now look back on that event and see that it was fulfilling Scripture – calling it “the triumphal entry.”

Jesus initiated it by telling His disciples to go and get the donkey and her colt from a nearby village. The fact that He made predictions about exactly how they would get them further suggests the importance of what was about to take place. They are only a few miles from Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives. As He is riding on the colt, people are welcoming Him as the entering king. The Jews however believed God was sending them a physical king to free them from their Roman oppressors. God was doing something far greater – sending a king to defeat their greatest oppressors: Satan, sin, and death!

The imagery might point back to Solomon riding on David’s donkey to show he was the rightful king; Adonijah had tried to take the throne before Solomon was crowned (1Ki 1:24-27; 32-35). And the laying down of garments might be like what happened when the prophet Elisha told Jehu he would be the next king (2Ki 9:11-13). Many Jews had come to believe Jesus was indeed the Messiah that God promised to send, and the recent raising of Lazarus swelled the numbers (Jn 12:12-18). The apostle John tells us that only later did they realize that Jesus’ action was fulfilling Scripture (Jn 12:16).

The prophet Zechariah, over 500 years earlier, had written the following:

Zec 9:9 “Behold your king is coming to you (Jerusalem), he is just and endowed with salvation, humble and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey”

9:10 …He will speak peace to the nations (Isa 9:6-7 says the king would do this! + Rom 5:1; Eph 2:14-17)

Matthew and John’s gospels tell us that Jesus was fulfilling this prophecy (Mt 21:4-8; Jn 12:14-15). Note also a prophecy made by Jacob to his son Judah (Gen 49:8-12) which also speaks of a donkey’s colt.

Several other verses in Zechariah are quoted by the gospel writers showing that this prophet was predicting many things surrounding Jesus’ crucifixion: His being betrayed for “30 pieces of silver” (11:12-13 + Mt 26:15; 27:3-10); how they would look on Him whom they have pierced (12:10 + Jn 9:37); and how “My shepherd will be struck and the sheep will scatter” (13:7 + Mt 26:31). Many other details of Zechariah are also pointing to God’s promise to send a king (3:8-10; 6:9-15; 13:1,…).

The crowd believed Jesus was the king and were proclaiming: “Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” (Mat 21:6-9 quoting Psa 118:26). These are words said about the future Messiah (also, it might be noted that Psa 118:19 speaks of entering through the gates of righteousness; + Isa 26:1-2 into God’s ‘city’). The leaders however were not accepting Him and in fact in just a few days they would succeed in pressuring Pilate to crucify Him – all of which was prophesied.

An example of this can be found in Acts where Peter quotes Psalm 2 which was written by King David: “…The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against His Christ.” “For truly in this city there were gathered together against Thy holy servant Jesus, whom Thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and …Israel, to do whatever Thy hand and Thy purpose predestined to occur” (Act 4:25-28).

It is very interesting that as the religious leaders reject Jesus as the king, He quotes this same Psalm. In Matt 21:38-42, Jesus tells them that they will reject and kill Him and that this is a fulfillment of that same Psalm – “the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone” (Psalm 118:22); the crowd had just quoted Psalm 118:26! They were denying what the people were believing about Jesus being the king and yet their actions would bring about Jesus’ victory and provide for forgiveness of sins and prove that Jesus was indeed the fulfillment of that Psalm.

Later, Peter rebukes the leaders for having crucified Jesus and tells them: “let it be known to all of you, …that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead – by this name this man stands here before you in good health. He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the very corner stone. And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:10-12).

Notice in this passage Peter clearly describes the significance of that verse in Psa 118. He tells them that Jesus is the stone and the religious leaders are the builders who would reject Him and yet God has made Him the corner stone. He has brought salvation to mankind; just as the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 said.

Could Jesus really be a king? How could He hope to defeat the Roman Empire’s grip on His people?! With God, all things are possible. Within one week, Jesus had victoriously conquered the greatest enemies of mankind and had secured His position at the right hand of God. Amazing!

Please feel free to let us know if you have any questions or would like to learn more about God’s word. – Greg Whipple

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Reason #4

The Prophet Jonah’s Life Pointed to Jesus

As one reads Jonah, there are no clear prophecies pointing to the future Messiah. But Jesus mentions him several times, indicating that events of Jonah’s life that are recorded are pointing to significant events in the life of the future king, Jesus.

This pattern occurs many times in the Old Testament history: Melchizedek being a high priest and king; Abraham sacrificing Isaac; Joseph’s sufferings and elevation to the right hand of Pharaoh; the birth and life of Moses; Israel’s being led out of Egypt and brought into the land of Canaan; the life of David (shepherd and king); and many more.

Jonah lived about 800 years before Jesus, during the days of Jeroboam II, King of Israel. 2Ki 14:25 says that Jonah correctly predicted that Israel’s border would be restored and mentioned that Jonah was from Gath-hepher. Joshua 19:10-13 helps us to understand that this town was in the region of Galilee and in fact was only a few miles from the future town of Nazareth where Jesus would be raised. Later it would be said in Mat 2:23 that the Messiah would be called a Nazarene. As Jesus gained more of a following, the religious leaders dismissively rejected the idea of Him being the Messiah by saying that ‘no prophet arises out of Galilee’ and yet Jonah came from Galilee and it was predicted by Isaiah that the Messiah would be called a Nazarene (branch) and that a great light would shine in Galilee (Isa 4:2; 9:1-2, 6-7).

In the short book, it records God sending Jonah to the great, foreign city of Nineveh (capital of the Assyrian Empire) to warn them of God’s coming wrath because of their cruelty. Jonah doesn’t want Nineveh to have the opportunity to repent as they are enemies of Israel and he knows God is merciful. He tries to flee but God sends a storm against the ship he is in. He ends up thrown overboard and is as good as dead when God sends a great fish to swallow him; 3 days later he is spit up on land and told once again to go to Nineveh and warn them. This time he obeys but still he does not want to see them spared. After Jonah preaches to them, they repent and Jonah is angry. God teaches him a lesson about how wrong his attitude was.

How does this relate to Jesus?

As mentioned earlier, many examples can be provided of God creating and recording events that would point to significant details of the Messiah’s life and purpose. In the case of Jonah, Jesus Himself refers to the part of Jonah’s life recorded in the Old Testament.

The religious leaders were unwilling to accept Jesus and He tells them that the great sign they would be shown was His resurrection from the dead (‘just as Jonah was 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of the sea monster, so shall the Son of Man be 3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth’). AND Jesus told them that the men of Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah yet the Israelites of Jesus’ time would NOT repent, even though HIS preaching was greater (Mt 12:38-41).

What were the details of Jonah that Jesus was referring to? Jonah was trying to rebelliously flee God who had sent him to preach to Nineveh. Jonah deserved to die but God appointed the fish to save him and on the 3rd day he was given his life back. When he preached to the people of Nineveh, they believed and repented (Jonah 1:9-17; 2:10, 3:1-5). Jesus is saying that His own people (who are supposedly God’s people) should have believed Him more than the Ninevites (corrupt foreigners) believed Jonah.

In another passage, Jesus says that Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites and the Son of Man would be to His generation. This seems to indicate that the real message would be AFTER the 3 days mentioned (Luk 11:29-30). Luke later records Jesus as saying ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead’ (Luk 16:29-31).

There are other details that seem to point to Jesus’ great sacrifice. God’s wrath was removed by Jonah sacrificing himself (telling them to throw him into the sea); whereas Jonah caused the wrath, Jesus innocently took on the wrath for others. His sacrifice brought foreigners to come to believe in God. Jonah reluctantly went preaching; Jesus whole-heartedly! Jonah was angry when Nineveh WASN’T destroyed; Jesus wept over Jerusalem knowing it WOULD be destroyed (Luk 19:41-44 and 23:34).

It’s very interesting to note that Nineveh was told it had 40 days; Jesus had told His people that the destruction of their city Jerusalem would happen before that generation passed away (= 40 YEARS later), as predicted by Jesus (Luke 21:5-7, 20, 32).

There is also an event in the life of Jesus that sounds very similar to what happened to Jonah. In Mat 8:23-27, Jesus gets into a boat with His disciples and a great storm came upon the Sea of Galilee. They were certain they were going to die and called upon Jesus to save them (to their surprise, He was asleep – like Jonah). He calms the sea with a word and rebukes them for not trusting in God (Luk 8:22-25). They should have known that their God cares for them! Read the first chapter of Jonah again. Why are the details so similar and yet very different in a few key points? Jesus was faithful to God while Jonah was in rebellion at that time.

The details of Jonah only imperfectly point to something ‘far greater than Jonah’. Are you like the majority of Israelites who wouldn’t listen to the One who is much greater than Jonah? Or, are you that small minority who humbly repents and begins to respect and obey God?

Please feel free to let us know if you have any questions or would like to learn more about God’s word. – Greg Whipple

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Reason #5

Daniel 7 reveals the rise and fall of kingdoms until the Messiah

Daniel was a prophet of God who lived through the fall of the Assyrian Empire, the rise and fall of the Babylonian Empire and the rise of the Medo-Persian Empire. Daniel provided the guideposts that led from his time to the time of the Messiah (which would be almost 600 years later). He spent most of his life in the captivity and yet attained positions of great power and influence in the Babylonian and even into the Medo-Persian Empire. His many visions revealed the rise and fall of 4 empires (beginning with Babylon and ending with Rome). He predicted the ultimate victory of God’s Messianic kingdom in the days of the 4th empire (Rome).

Each vision or prophecy seems to add more detail to this trajectory of history. Daniel 2 records the dream God gave Nebuchadnezzar (1st king of Babylon) and interpreted by Daniel. A statue with 4 section; ultimately destroyed by the ‘stone cut out without hands’ that struck the feet; and the stone itself forming into a great mountain (God’s kingdom) that would last forever.

Daniel 7 seems to repeat the dream of Daniel 2 but with a different theme and with more detail added. It describes 4 beasts coming up out of the sea. The 1st (Babylon) was like a lion with wings [head of gold of Dan 2]; the 2nd (Medo-Persia) was like a bear [chest of silver]; the 3rd (Greece) was like a leopard with 4 heads [belly and thighs of bronze]; and the 4th (Rome) was a dreadful, terrifying beast [legs and feet of iron/clay] who waged war with the saints – who received a kingdom that would not be destroyed [stone hitting the feet and turning it to dust and becoming a great mountain].

It’s important to remember that Daniel had this vision near the end of the Babylonian Empire (1st year of Belshazzar). This vision however added some significant details. It describes God sitting on His throne in heaven and ‘one like a son of man’ (yet also in heaven!) being presented to Him and given glory and the everlasting kingdom. It also describes the judgment that would be brought against this 4th kingdom as it dared to attack God’s saints. In Dan 2, the stone cut out w/o hands was not explained; here in this chapter, we understand that a man would receive a heavenly kingdom. In other prophets and in the New Testament we come to understand that the stone was Jesus (Isa 8:14; 28:16; Psa 118:22 and 1Pe 2:4-8).

It introduces saints who would be a part of this new kingdom and how war would be waged against them and yet they would find victory with God’s help. Jesus Himself pointed to this passage the night before He was crucified; when the religious leaders asked Him if He was the Christ, He responded by saying that they would ‘see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power’. Jesus was quoting from Daniel 7:13-14 which was describing His ascension to the right hand of God as David also recorded in Psalm 110:1. Acts 1:9-11 appears to be that same moment in time, only from an earthly perspective: the disciples seeing Jesus ascend (a cloud received Him out of their sight) and being told that He was ‘taken from them into heaven.’

So Daniel 7 predicted that it would involve ‘one like a Son of Man’ and God’s saints. There would also be a king of this 4th empire (a little, boasting horn) who would wage war with the saints and yet in the end be defeated and thrown into the fire. The saints would have a part in this struggle and have to endure persecution before sharing in this kingdom. This vision did NOT directly reveal which Empires were being described, only that one would follow the other until God established His kingdom. Later visions of Daniel help us to understand that the 2nd and 3rd Empires were Medo-Persia and Greece respectively (see Daniel 8:20-21); and provided many details concerning these 2 empires (Dan 8 and 11).

Daniel 9 also helps us to understand that God’s Messiah and His kingdom would come in about 500 years (the ’70 weeks’ of Dan 9:24-27) and that a destruction of Jerusalem would be connected with this. The details of Daniel 11 describe parts of the Greek Empire from about 300 to 175 BC and are so specific that most people who deny Scripture try to say that Daniel could not have been written when claimed. Careful study of the book of Daniel and the surrounding history confirm that this book was indeed written well before any of these events took place.

Fulfilled prophecy is one of the ways that God has given mankind to be assured that He has spoken to them and that He has sent His Son into the world that we might be saved. Only those who are willing to humbly follow His teachings will share in His sacrifice and enjoy the blessing of life eternal with God. The book of Revelation also speaks of this conflict between the 4th empire and God’s people. Rev 13:1-8 speaks of a beast coming up out of the sea with features of a leopard, a bear and of a lion and how this beast was to make war with the saints and to overcome them. John the apostle was living in the time that these final events of Daniel 7 were taking place. We see that most of mankind would worship the beast and yet some would remain faithful and be victorious (Rev 14:8-13).

We learn from this that we have the same choice today! Will you stand with God and His people or will you compromise with the world to avoid persecution and to have temporal things? How you live your life determines whether you will have God’s eternal rest or not. Amazing detailed prophecies were fulfilled; proving God had sent these prophets.  We can trust the Bible.  

Please feel free to let us know if you have any questions or would like to learn more about God’s word. – Greg Whipple

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Reason #6

Jeremiah Predicted they would return from captivity after 70 Years!

God had promised through Abraham that his descendants would be given the land of Canaan after being slaves in a foreign land. As God was about to give them the land, he warned them through Moses (Deu 28:15, 63-66; 30:1-4) that He would destroy their nation and send them into captivity if they were unfaithful and yet would mercifully allow a remnant to return. God gave them the land through Joshua but they were often rebellious. God began warning them that judgment was coming.

Isaiah spoke of their destruction by Babylon and their captivity – but also of a return through a man named Cyrus (all 100-200 years before these events). Among many predictions, Isaiah said:

Isa 44:28 “It is I who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd! And he will perform all My desire.’ And he declares of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built,’ And of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.‘” …

Isa 45:13 ….He will build My city, and will let My exiles go free, …says the LORD of hosts. +Isa 6:9-16; 39:6

Later, God spoke through Jeremiah saying that the captivity was now about to happen. God assures them that the temple in Jerusalem would soon be destroyed (Jer 7:14). He also more specifically stated:

Jer 29:10 “For thus says the LORD, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place.

Jer 25:11-12 ‘And this whole land shall be a desolation and a horror, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. ‘Then it will be when seventy years are completed I will punish … Babylon,…’

God destroyed Judah along with Jerusalem and its temple and a remnant was taken into captivity by Babylon and lived there 70 years, just as God had predicted. God then used the Medo-Persian Empire to destroy Babylon; and Cyrus (their first emperor) decreed that they could return and rebuild – just as God had also predicted (2 Ch 36:20-23).

As the 70 years in captivity were nearing an end, Daniel prays that God would remember His merciful promise:

Dan 9:2 …I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years…

God assures Daniel that a decree will be made (Dan 9:11-13, 17, 24-25). Very shortly afterwards, Cyrus, the Persian Emperor, makes the decree. Amazingly, archaeologists have discovered evidence which supports this – it is known as Cyrus’ Cylinder – a decree on clay allowing all captive nations to return to their own lands. This happened 70 years after the Jews were first taken into captivity.

After the Jews returned, Ezra the priest records that this was in fulfillment of what God had promised:

Ezra 1:1-3 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. ‘Whoever there is among you of all His people, may his God be with him! Let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and rebuild…

All of this would be impossible to predict and yet it all happened just as God’s prophets said; proving that God is in control and He was indeed speaking through these men. More importantly, God was preparing the world for His plan to send His Son to provide a sacrifice for our sins. Jesus was sent by the Father so that we might learn to respectfully love and obey Him; the evidence is overwhelming. Are you humbly trying to please Him by obeying the gospel?!

Amazing detailed prophecies were fulfilled; proving God had sent these prophets.  We can trust the Bible.   Please feel free to let us know if you have any questions or would like to learn more about God’s word. – Greg Whipple

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Reason #7

How could Isaiah predict a great light would come around the Sea of Galilee?!

Isaiah the prophet wrote at a time when the northern kingdom of Israel had just been taken into captivity by Assyria. This included the land of Galilee (the northern-most part of Israel) which had fallen even earlier (2Ki 15:29; 17:6). He also spoke of how Judah (the southern kingdom) would be taken into captivity as well and also predicted that a great foreign king named Cyrus would allow them to return and rebuild Jerusalem. All of these events took place within 150 years of Isaiah (44:26-28; 45:13).

Isaiah also spoke of the far future and how God would send His great Servant. In one of these passages, He prophesies that a child would be born and would be called among other things ‘Eternal Father’ and ‘Mighty God’ and would reign on David’s throne forever (= the Messiah). All of this can be read in Isa 9:6-7. This same passage of Isaiah also predicts that a great light would come to the region around the Sea of Galilee:

Isaiah 9:1-2 But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them.

This passage gives several important details: a] the land around the Sea of Galilee would be in darkness at the time; b] it would be made glorious by shining a great light upon them; and c] this land would be a land of foreigners (Gentiles). When Isaiah wrote this, that region no longer had any Jewish presence due to their rebellion – yet he predicted these 3 things.

So what happened after Isaiah wrote? Well, the rest of the Jews ended up in captivity and after 70 years (predicted through Jeremiah), a remnant of them returned only to the southern part of Canaan which became known as Judea. Other peoples had taken over the land just north of this and became known as the Samaritans. Even further north than this was the area that is known as Galilee. This land is shown by archaeologists to have been mostly desolate for a few hundred years until foreigners started to move in (Phoenician farmers and Greek mercenaries). It wasn’t until perhaps 100 BC that some Jews from Judea started to move up to this area – starting many Jewish villages.

By the time of Jesus, there was now a strong Jewish presence in this region even though mostly inhabited by foreigners. Other prophecies of Scripture clearly placed the Messiah/King as being born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2) as discussed when the Magi came to seek the recently born ‘king of the Jews’ (Mat 2:1-6). Yet other prophecies seemed to put His kingship in Jerusalem and Scriptures even pointed to His death in Jerusalem (Gen 22:2,14; Zec 12:9-10 and 13:1). Other passages describe the gospel as spreading out from Jerusalem (Mic 4:2; Isa 40:9 and Act 1:4-8). Isaiah also spoke of the Messiah as ‘the branch’ and Mat 2 says that because Jesus grew up in Nazareth (southern Galilee) that He would be called a ‘Nazarene’ (which is very similar to the word ‘branch’ in Hebrew); the demons even calling Him “Jesus the Nazarene” (Luk 4:34).

So which is it? How would He be born in Bethlehem, raised in Nazareth and killed at Jerusalem and YET be described as bringing great light to the region around the Sea of Galilee?!

The gospels record that ALL of these details were fulfilled in the life of Jesus. What is more, Jesus declared that He (personally) was only sent to the ‘lost sheep of the house of Israel’ (Mt 15:24) and yet the Jews only recently had begun resettling that region. How could Isaiah predict that Galilee would be filled with Gentiles and yet enough Jews would be there to hear this message of light (Jesus described Himself as ‘the light of the world’)?

So much of the gospels record events that took place very close to the Sea of Galilee – including:

• preaching from a boat;
• calling the fishermen to follow Him;
• calming the sea;
• the demons going into the pigs and rushing off a cliff into the sea;
• condemning Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum (which are all beside the Sea of Galilee) due to their rejection of Him even though many of His miracles were performed there;
• many of His parables were spoken there;
• the feeding of the 5000 and then the 4000 took place beside the sea;
• Jesus and Peter walking on the water;
• Peter catching a fish with the coin in its mouth and Jesus (twice) causing great quantities of fish to be caught in a net.
• Matthew summarizes by saying that Jesus went throughout Galilee teaching and healing (Mat 4:23).

Why would Jesus spend so much of His time preaching by the sea; doing so many of His miracles and choosing all His disciples from that region if He was to die in Jerusalem and the gospel was to go forth from Jerusalem?! The Jews of Judea had little respect for the Jews who were now living up in Galilee (Jn 7:52).

It makes sense when we know that it was prophesied and that the Jews of Judea were in general unfaithful and would mostly reject His message and even crucify Him. We can also understand that He taught much but that the full gospel could only be preached AFTER His crucifixion and resurrection. Jesus told His disciples that He as a prophet couldn’t perish outside of rebellious Jerusalem (Luk 13:33-34). There are too many conflicting details that just happen to fall into place for all of it to be dismissed as coincidence. These prophecies strongly point to the truth that Jesus is the Messiah.

If Jesus is the Messiah, then He is our judge on the last day. Are you living by His words (Jn 12:48)? Follow Him! Please feel free to let us know if you have any questions or would like to learn more about God’s word. – Greg Whipple

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Reason #8

Scripture Continually Narrows Down Who the Messiah Would Be!

The Scriptures make multitudes of accurate predictions. This is one of the ways God provides evidence to stubborn mankind to prove His existence and to prove that the Scriptures can be trusted to be His will for us.

Predictions inherently create LIMITS as to what will happen. If someone predicts who the presidential candidate will be for an upcoming election, it naturally is a claim that EXCLUDES others. The more options there are and the more unlikely the predicted choice, the more impressive the prediction. Another factor that is very important is the time frame: If the candidate is predicted 6 months before the election, it won’t really be much of a prediction. If it is made decades before, many will take notice! Most predictions about a future candidate draw on many KNOWN factors; yet this is NOT what happens in Scripture! God makes it clear that His predictions are really just statements of fact as to what will happen in the future and so every single one of them will come to pass.

God made many statements of fact regarding who the Messiah would be – impossible to explain by educated guesses, human efforts to fulfill, or even luck. Each of them challenges an honest and open mind to understand that the only credible answer to all these predictions is that the Scriptures truly are inspired of God. Men have tried to suggest many of the supposed predictions were actually written AFTER the fact but all of these arguments have proven to not be credible – most predictions were written well over 500 years before!

What does the Bible have to say about God’s plan to overcome the curses brought by sin and to ultimately provide blessings?

• God told Adam and Eve that a future descendant of woman would defeat Satan (Gen 3:15);
• God told Abraham that through His seed, all nations would be blessed – likely would have been millions of people at this time (Gen 12:3, 22:18);
• Then God reveals the blessings would come through Isaac and NOT any of the other sons of Abraham (Gen 26:2-4; 25:1-2);
• Through Jacob and not Esau (Gen 28:12-15);
• As Jacob’s family ends up in Egypt (over 1700 years before Jesus), it is recorded that the kingship would be through Judah’s family and not any of his brothers – 1 brother out of 12 (Gen 49:8-12).
• Later, God tells David that his descendant would be a king forever and build God’s temple – the census showed there were 500,000 men in Judah at the time (2Sa 7:12-16; 2Sa 24:1,9);
• It was declared that the Messiah would rule over the nations even though rejected by them and that God would declare Him ‘My Son’ and blessings would come to any who took refuge in Him (Psalm 2).
• While the nation was being destroyed by Babylon, Jeremiah revealed that the Messiah WOULD come, but NOT through Coniah – one of the last kings from the line of Solomon (Jer 22:30; 23:5-6);
• Micah tells us that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (even though they will end up in captivity and only return after 70 years which makes even the existence of this town less likely) and that the kingship of David’s family would end and that there would be no rightful king until the Messiah (Mic 5:2-3; 4:9).
• After the return from captivity of mostly descendants of Benjamin and Judah, Ezra records that only 123 out of 42,000 Jews returned to Bethlehem – David’s town (Ezra 2:1,21,64);
• Daniel reveals that it would occur in the days of the Roman Empire – the 4th empire; likely after 40 BC when Roman emperors began (Dan 2:40-45; 7:16-27); and that it would be BEFORE the temple would be destroyed which happened in 70 AD (Dan 9:24-26).
• In the time shortly before Jesus, Zacharias said it would be in the lifetime of his son, John (Luke 1:67-79);
• An old man Simeon said the Messiah would be born before he died and even identified Jesus as the one (Luke 2:25-35);
• John the Baptist then declared that the kingdom of God was at hand and also pointed to Jesus as the one (Mat 3:2);
• It was also predicted that the gospel would primarily be preached in Galilee (Mat 4:12-17). On top of all this, He would be rejected; He would be crucified; He would be seated at the right hand of God as king over all nations and that the Holy Spirit would be poured out shortly afterwards.

If any one of these conditions were NOT met, then His being the Messiah could be disputed. Modern Jews try to reject Jesus by saying that He didn’t fulfill some important details, but a more careful examination proves He fulfilled them all; His kingship and temple are spiritual and eternal. Determining the odds of ‘X’ AND ‘Y’ AND ‘Z’ all happening are found by multiplying fractions. For example, the odds of 5 dice being rolled randomly and all being 2’s are: 1/6 x 1/6 x 1/6 x 1/6 x 1/6 = 1/7,776. If just 3 more dice are added, the odds are now 1/1,679,616. This number gets smaller and smaller with each factor added, bringing the odds effectively to ‘impossible’. Applying this to the possibility that a man from these narrowing conditions would end up claiming to be the king and proving it in many ways – random chance becomes impossible.

This is so even if we simply say that he had to be a descendant of David who was born in Bethlehem in the early 1st century, who would preach primarily in Galilee, be rejected and killed by His own people through foreign powers, with His message beginning in Jerusalem and spreading throughout the world. This doesn’t even include the many, many specific predictions surrounding Jesus’ crucifixion.

It takes more faith to believe it all somehow just happened by chance.

Have YOU honestly considered whether the Bible is just a book written by men or is what it claims to be – the inspired word of God? Please feel free to let us know if you have any questions or would like to learn more about God’s word. – Greg Whipple

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Reason #9

Pattern of Prophecy: King will be sent; Rejected by Man yet still made King!

One of the most amazing aspects of Scripture is how so many different books (written over a millennium) are so consistent in pointing to many details of what God was planning through Jesus. There are threads or themes that weave throughout the O.T. and fit together in ways that are impossible if these books were just a product of man’s efforts.

One example of this is the assurance in the O.T. that God would send a great king who would be rejected by mankind in general; and yet would still be made king. Many of these passages indicate that this king, appointed by God, would be much more than just a man.

A few of the passages that point to these facts:

1] Psalm 2 describes how kings would be against God and His anointed; how God declared Him to be ‘My king’ and ‘My Son’; and how He would rule with a rod of iron [Psa 2:1-2,6-9] (see also: Act 4:25-26 with 4:13,18; Act 13:33, with 13:22-23, 27-32,34; Heb 1:5, with 1:3,8-9; Rev 2:26-27)

2] Psa 118 describes how ‘the stone (Jesus) which the builders (religious leaders) rejected has become the chief cornerstone’ (see also: Mat 21:42; Act 4:11 with 4:10; 1Pe 2:7 with 2:6-9 – note context used) [Psa 118:22] ‘blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD’ [Psa 118:25-26] (see also: Mat 21:1-10; 23:39; Luk 19:38 and John 12:13 ‘the one’ = king) Isa 8:14 and Isa 28:16 also are connected with 118:22; Peter connects these 3 passages (1Pe 2:5-8). Also, Isa 8:14 is surrounded by Isa 7:14 (a child being born of a virgin named ‘God with us’) and Isa 9:6-7 (a child being born who would be called Mighty God and would have David’s throne forevermore)

3] Psa 110 describes someone king David calls ‘Lord’ being seated at the right hand of God; how He would rule ‘until God makes His enemies a footstool’; how He would ‘rule in the midst of His enemies; and how He would ‘shatter kings in the day of His wrath’ [Psa 110:1-4] (see also: Mat 22:42-45; Act 2:30-36; Heb 1:13 with 1:3-5,8-9; Heb 10:12-13; 1Co 15:23-27).

4] Zec 9-14 describes how your king is coming on a donkey; how they would mourn for Him whom they pierced; [Zec 9:9; 12:10] how the shepherd would be struck; and how the He would be king over all the earth in that day [Zec 13:7; 14:9] (see also: Mat 21:5 with 21:6-13; Jn 19:37 with 19:18-22; Rev 1:7 with 1:5-6; Mat 26:31 with 26:24,29)

5] Isa 53 describes how God is king; how ‘My Servant will be greatly exalted’; how ‘kings will shut their mouths on account of Him’; how He was ‘despised and forsaken of men’; and how ‘He will divide the booty with the strong’ [Isa 52:7,13; 53:3,12]

6] Dan 7 describes a battle between earthly kingdoms and God’s kingdom; ‘one like a son of man’ given dominion [Dan 7:13-14; 17-23] and also in Dan 9:25-26 it speaks of the Messiah coming and yet being ‘cut off.’

All of these passages powerfully point to God sending a king but the kingdoms of the world resisting and rejecting God’s will.

In addition, we can note the lives of Joseph and Moses and see a pattern that God raised up both of these men who were then rejected by ‘God’s people’ BUT then exalted by God to a position of supreme power. Joseph had dreams that He would rule over His family but was later sold as a slave and then ended up in prison; yet ending up at the right hand of Pharaoh. Moses was raised in the house of Pharaoh and he tried to help his fellow Jews but was rejected; yet later God sent Him to lead Israel out of Egypt.

Acts 7 speaks of these two men and what happened in their lives. Stephen then finishes (Act 7:51-56) by saying that the Jews of Jesus’ time were doing just like their fathers – resisting the Holy Spirit. Stephen accused Israel of having persecuted the prophets and how his own generation had done even worse by murdering Jesus. He then declared to them that He saw the heavens opened and saw Jesus at the right hand of God; exactly as Jesus and the O.T. predicted!

Also, David himself who was a type of the Messiah and for many years AFTER being anointed by God’s prophet (Samuel) to be the next king, was hunted down by King Saul. Saul tried to prevent him from becoming king and yet in the end, David became king just as God had promised. Jesus came and declared that He was the king whom God promised to send (Luk 24:26; Mat 26:63-68; Mat 16:15-16 + Mat 20-21, 28). John the Baptist also pointed to Jesus as being the king and yet talked of Him being sacrificed (Jn 1:29; 3:28; 3:35).

How can so much about the rejection and yet kingship of Jesus have been predicted by so many men long before if the Bible is just a bunch of books written by men? Impossible!

Are you following Jesus? Please feel free to let us know if you have any questions or would like to learn more about God’s word. – Greg Whipple

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Reason #10

Details of Jesus’ Crucifixion Were Prophesied! (Psalm 22 of David)

This Psalm is one of the most powerful proofs that the Scriptures are inspired of God and that He had long ago planned to sacrifice Jesus on the cross.

King David seems to be speaking of his personal experiences with his enemies who wanted to destroy him. Remember that David had been promised that a descendant of His would be king forever; thus, many of David’s Psalms were Messianic in that they predicted many details about that future king. In Psalm 22, David (a prophet!) speaks in figurative language to describe how he feels as his enemies attack him. He often used exaggeration to help the reader to understand the depths of his suffering; for example, not literally having his hands and his feet pierced. YET, these very same words are exactly describing what happened to Jesus on the cross – absolutely, astoundingly amazing! It is no surprise therefore that Jesus’ words on the cross and the events of his death pointed to this Psalm.

Many ask how Jesus could have made the statement ‘My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me (found in Psalm 22:1)?’ Some suggest that Jesus was simply pointing people to the prophecies contained in the Psalm. Perhaps, but it seems more likely that David was expressing his feelings which would also be the feelings of the Messiah (Jesus). Both FELT like God had forsaken them but both knew that God always delivers those who trust in Him (Psa 22:1,4). Neither was actually forsaken by God but because of the depth of suffering both FELT as if it were happening. Just as David continued to trust that God would deliver him from his enemies, so Jesus, the descendant of David, continued to trust in God even when suffering excruciating pain on the cross (note that the word ‘excruciating’ itself comes from the Latin word for cross –‘crux’).

Psalm 22 is referred to many times in the New Testament in connection with Jesus’ crucifixion:

(v. 1) ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ (in Mat 27:46 Jesus literally spoke these words on the cross);

(v. 7) ‘all who see me sneer at me’ (Luke 23:35 describes the people’s reaction as he’s being crucified);

(v. 7) ‘wagging their heads’ (Mat 27:39 also describes the reaction of the Jews as He was being crucified);

(v. 8) ‘He trusts in God; let Him deliver Him now, if He takes pleasure in Him’ (Mat 27:43 records what the leaders were saying to mock Him);

(v. 16) ‘My hands and My feet’ (in Luk 24:39 Jesus tells His disciples to ‘see My hands and My feet’ when He first appeared to them);

(v. 18) ‘they divide my garments among them’ (in Mat 27:35 Jesus’ clothes are stripped off of Him at the cross);

(v. 18) ‘for my clothing they cast lots’ (Jn 19:23-24 – amazingly Jesus also had a very nice, one-piece garment that they didn’t want to ruin and so cast lots for it);

(v. 22) ‘I will proclaim Your name to My brethren, in the midst of the congregation I will sing praise’ (in Heb 2:11-12 the writer makes the point that because of Jesus’ victory on the cross we can be called ‘brethren’).

(v. 24) Perhaps also ‘when he cried to Him for help, He heard’ (Heb 5:7 Jesus prayed to God to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety).

Other details of this Psalm also seem to fit what happened to Jesus at the cross: ‘despised by the people’ (22:6) obviously fits how the leaders viewed Jesus; ‘Thou hast been my God from my mother’s womb’ (22:10) describes His life of perfect faithfulness; ‘there is none to help’ (22:11,19-21) all had deserted Jesus – only God was with Him; ‘a band of evildoers has encompassed me’ (22:16) the leaders rejected Him; the two thieves; the Roman soldiers; ‘when he cried to Him for help, He heard’ (22:24) He was not left to the grave; God glorified Him by His resurrection and ascension; and ‘all the ends of the earth will remember and turn to Jehovah’ (22:27) speaking of the gospel to the whole world; and ‘for the kingdom is Jehovah’s and He rules over the nations’ (22:28) which points to the fact that the kingdom was now established and Jesus now rules over the nations as Psalm 2:8-9 also describes.

Details of this Psalm also seem to perfectly match the horrors of crucifixion, even though this method of killing someone wouldn’t be practiced for another 500 years: ‘all my bones are out of joint’; ‘My heart is like wax; it is melted within me’; ‘my tongue cleaves to my jaws’; ‘they pierced my hands and my feet’; ‘they look, they stare at me’.

One of the most amazing aspects of the predictions of Psalm 22 is what the Jewish leaders did at the cross; we read about it in the gospels. Matt 27:41-43 In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him, and saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we shall believe in Him. “He trusts in God; let Him deliver Him now, if He takes pleasure in Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.'”

The Jewish leaders wanted to destroy the claims of Jesus by humbling and destroying Him in the most shameful way ever imagined, and yet their very actions and words at that time were actually fulfilling Scripture, which only further PROVED the truth of Jesus being the Messiah of which David spoke! What an amazing God we have who not only predicted the rebellious acts of those who rejected Jesus by crucifying Him, but also predicted their very words, thus causing them to be unwilling witnesses to the truth of Jesus’ claims!

There are many other things that the Jewish leaders did in the last few days of Jesus’ ministry that amazingly PROVED that Jesus was who He claimed, even as they tried to DENY Him. Jesus alone is the sacrifice that makes forgiveness of our sins possible. It is conditional upon living faithfully. Are you following Him? Please feel free to let us know if you have any questions or would like to learn more about God’s word. – Greg Whipple

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Reason #11

God Promised Eli that One Day the Corrupt Priests Would Be Replaced.

God made a covenant with Israel at Mt Sinai and gave Aaron and his 4 sons the priesthood. Immediately, the two oldest were destroyed because they offered strange fire before the LORD (Lev 10:1-4). Now his surviving two sons (Eleazar and Ithamar) formed the two lines of the priesthood. For the first few generations, the sons of Eleazar were the high priests; then Eli became the first from Ithamar’s line. Eli’s sons then served very corruptly in their priesthood and Eli allowed it.

A prophet later came to Eli to declare the consequences saying:

1] The strength of your father’s house will be broken;

2] I will not cut off every man of yours;

3] Your two sons will die on same day;

4] I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest and build an enduring house for Him; He will walk before My anointed always;

5] Everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to Him saying ‘assign me to one of the priest’s offices’ (1Sa 2:27-36).

Why was it so important for Eli to be told these things? Not only did a man of God prophesy to Eli, but Samuel was told similar things by God shortly afterwards – reinforcing the truth of what was told Eli (1Sa 3:11-14). How were these details fulfilled?

1] The strength of your father’s house broken? Not only did his two sons die, but many of his descendants were slain by Doeg with only Abiathar escaping (1Sa 22:9-20). Interestingly, Josephus, a Jewish historian of the 1st century, says this was a fulfillment of what was said to Eli (Ant 6:260-261).

2] God promised that he wouldn’t cut off every man? We see even after Abiathar was rejected as high priest, his descendants (sons of Ithamar) were still part of the divisions of the priests (1Chr 24:1-4). In the time of Solomon, Abiathar was told he (and his sons) could no longer be high priests because Abiathar had been disloyal to David. It was then mentioned that this fulfilled what had been said to the house of Eli (1Ki 2:26-27).

3] Your two sons will die on the same day? The Israelites were foolish and rebellious enough to take the ark of God into battle – Eli’s two sons agreeing. They died in battle shortly after the prophecy had been given (1Sa 4:1-4, 11, 15-21).

4] Who is the faithful priest God would raise up? Jesus is the only one that fits this promise. God promised the Messiah would be a priest forever (Psa 110:1-4; Zech 6:9-15; Heb 7:23-26). Also, that He would do according to what is in God’s heart; very similar to what Moses said about ‘The Prophet’ (Deu 18:15-19). He would walk before His anointed always. Who are these anointed? (*See note below regarding Habakkuk 3:13.) He walks before them like a Shepherd before His sheep (1Pe 2:25; 1Pe 2:9; Isa 61:6; Rev 1:6; Jn 10:2-4); ‘His anointed’ are those that follow Him: In Hab 3:13, it shows that God’s anointed and God’s people are interchangeable terms.

5] When would those who were left come begging for a priest’s job? Aren’t they already priests? When Jesus died on the cross, He became a high priest on the order of Melchizedek with a change of priesthood because of it (Heb 6-19-20; 7:11-12; 23-24). In Acts 6:7 it is mentioned that ‘a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.’ This fits very well with what was told Eli over 1000 years before.

The priesthood was supposed to be guiding the people to be holy; instead they proved to be a corrupting influence (like Aaron making the golden calf). Later, many of the prophets spoke of their corruption (Hos 4:6-8; Eze 22:26-28; Mal 1:6-7; 2:7-9). In the time of Jesus, we see the priests having a primary role in the rejection of Jesus and later His followers as they preached the gospel (Mt 26:57-68; 27:12,20,41-43,62; 28:11; Act 4:1-22; 5:17-18,27-32).

It is important to note that God sent prophets to provide evidence of what He was planning. Whenever anyone spoke of the Messiah that would come, it was important that everyone KNOW that it could be trusted. How did God accomplish this? There was a prophecy that was immediately fulfilled – Eli’s two sons died on the same day shortly after predicted. The whole prophecy was recorded by Samuel (a trusted prophet) and so future generations would know about the rest. When king Solomon rejected Abiathar and his sons from the high priesthood, the writer informs us that this fulfilled another part of the prophecy spoken to Eli.

So, generations later, his words are being re-confirmed! But there were also parts of the now-trustworthy prophecy which had yet to be fulfilled; so when Jesus became a High Priest forever who walks before ‘his anointed’, many of the priests of Aaron became followers – giving up their Levitical priesthood to become a priest of Jesus’ heavenly priesthood.

What can anyone honestly do but accept that the Bible must be God’s word and therefore follow after the faithful High Priest! God was teaching mankind that our sins needed to be atoned for by a priest who would make a sacrifice on our behalf. Psalm 40 as mentioned by the writer of Hebrews was predicting that someone would come who would make a sacrifice that was truly pleasing to God (Heb 10:1-12).

Jesus alone is that sacrifice that makes forgiveness of our sins possible. It is conditional upon living faithfully. Are you following Him? Please feel free to let us know if you have any questions or would like to learn more about God’s word. – Greg Whipple

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Reason #12

Moses Said God Would Raise Up a Prophet Like Him From Among Israel!

Moses was sent by God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt as proven by all the signs God performed through him. In the last two months of his life (about 1400 years before Jesus), he tells the Israelites the following:

Deut 18:15-19 “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him. This is according to all that you asked of the LORD your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, let me not see this great fire anymore, lest I die.’ And the LORD said to me, ‘They have spoken well. I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And it shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him.”

What are some key details of this passage?

1] A specific, special prophet (from Israel);

2] He would be RAISED UP by God;

3] He would be LIKE Moses;

4] He would allow God’s voice to be heard more easily;

5] He would speak ALL that God commanded Him;

6] We must listen to Him or face the consequences.

How were each of these fulfilled in Jesus?

1] Acts 3:22-26 tells us MANY prophets proclaimed the coming of THE prophet (the context points to Jesus 3:13-26). Heb 1:1-2 tells us God sent many prophets (compared to): ‘in these last days God has spoken to us in His Son’; Passages in John demonstrate that the Jews knew of ‘The Prophet’ that would be sent by God (Jn 1:21-25; 6:14; 7:40).

2] Many Messianic passages throughout the O.T. speak of God raising up someone (2Sam 7:12; 1Sam 2:35; Jer 23:5) and Acts 3:22, 26.

3] There are many passages pointing to Moses being a type of Jesus (Jn 3:14-15; Heb 3:2-6; 1Co 10:1-4).

4] They were afraid to hear God’s voice at Mt. Sinai so God promised to do it differently; He sent His Son! Jesus is God; He came in the flesh (Jn 1:1,14), so that mankind could more easily LISTEN to God’s voice – just as they begged Moses!

5] Jesus is recorded as saying He speaks ONLY what the Father commanded Him to speak (Jn 7:16; 14:21-24; 15:15; 17:6-8).

6] God tells us that we must listen to Jesus His Son or face consequences (Mat 17:5; Jn 12:47-50).

Also, this passage itself is referring back to what happened at Mt. Sinai when God gave them the 10 commandments. The people told Moses: “Speak to us yourself and we will listen, but let not God speak to us lest we die” (Exo 20:19-22). The people said that they would listen to Moses; did they listen? If you read the rest of the Old Testament you will see that in general they did NOT.

In the N.T., Peter (Acts 3:13-26) says that Jesus is the one that God raised up as a fulfillment of Deut 18:15-19. So, the N.T. affirms that Jesus is THE Prophet that Moses promised would be sent by God.

Acts 3:13 and 3:26 both refer to Jesus as God’s servant who was ‘raised up’ which refers back to Deut 18 just quoted; the Messiah was described as ‘God’s Servant’ in Isaiah (52:13; 53:11; 49:6). Acts 3 also says that what Moses said about ‘The Prophet’ was reinforced by the rest of the prophets (3:21-25).

In addition, the gospel of John points to Jesus being the fulfillment of what Moses promised. Jesus rebuked the Jewish leaders by saying: “Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote of Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” (John 5:45-47). Other verses in John also point to Jesus fulfilling Deut 18 (see #1 and #5).

Another interesting thing to notice about Deut 18 is that Moses doesn’t exhort them to listen to the Law that God had just given them, but to listen to a future prophet that would be sent. Of course, there are many other passages where Moses exhorts them to keep the Law but the context here is about NOT listening to the voice of occult forces. You would therefore expect the contrast to be ‘listen to God’s Law that was just given to you.’ But instead Moses says: ‘listen to a future Prophet.’

This passage also describes an obvious concern: “How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?” The answer is that a prophet will prove Himself by making clear predictions that will come to pass. Moses proved that he himself was a prophet with predictions and with powerful signs that God performed through Him. In Acts 7 Stephen reminds the religious leaders that the people STILL refused to respect Moses and that Moses also had spoken of a future prophet that must be obeyed (Act 7:36-39). Stephen was rebuking them for rejecting Jesus as that prophet Moses said God would send (Act 7:51-52). Was there any excuse for Israel not respecting Moses? No, his signs and miracles and predictions left them with no excuse. How much more Jesus!

What will happen if YOU are unwilling to heed His voice? Please feel free to let us know if you have any questions or would like to learn more about God’s word. – Greg Whipple

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Reason #13

Moses Struck the Rock and Water Came Forth! (another story that points to Jesus’ life-giving death)

In the book of Exodus we read of a time, shortly after God brought the Israelites out of Egypt:

Exodus 17:1-6 Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed …and there was no water …Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water that we may drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?” 3 But the people thirsted …and grumbled … “Why, now, have you brought us up from Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” 4 So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, “What shall I do to this people? A little more and they will stone me.” 5 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pass before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 …you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink…”

This story’s importance is made obvious by the many references to it found throughout the Bible – Deu 8:15-16; Psalms 78:15-20; 105:41-42; 107:4-9; 114:8; Isa 48:21; Neh 9:15 and 1Co 10:4. Are there any other thoughts found in Scripture that might connect this story with what God planned through Jesus?

The Bible often refers to the Messiah as a stone or rock:

• Psalm 118:22 ‘the stone which the builders rejected became the chief cornerstone’ (quoted in Mat 21:42; Act 4:11 and 1Pe 2:7).
• Isa 28:16 + Isa 8:14 (quoted in Rom 9:33 and 1Pe 2:6-8) also refer to the Messiah as a stone.
• Daniel 2:31-35 refers to God’s kingdom defeating the kingdom of man and growing from a stone into a mountain.
• Jesus Himself said “upon this rock I will build My church” (Mat 16:18) and Paul mentions Him as the cornerstone (Eph 2:20).

The Bible also speaks of living waters (connected with the Messiah) that would bring spiritual blessings:

• Isa 41:17-18; 44:3-4; 49:10 (+Rev 7:16-17); Isa 55:1 (+ Rev 21:6); Mat 5:6; John 4:14; John 6:35 and John 7:37-38.
• Also, when a person is to become a part of Christ, we are to be baptized into Christ (immersed in water). It is then that we are connected with Him and have forgiveness of sins and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Act 2:38; 22:16).

Are these connections just imagined? The inspired apostle Paul made them in his first letter to the Corinthian brethren.

1 Corinthians 10:1-4 For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.

The apostle Paul makes a connection by speaking of Jesus as the spiritual rock from which they were drinking; just as Moses struck the rock with the ‘rod of God’ (Exo 17:9) to bring forth life-saving water for thirsty Israel in the desert, so God struck Jesus (the spiritual rock!) to bring forth life-giving, spiritual water for those who thirst for righteousness (spiritual Israel).

Later, the people were again complaining of no water and God told Moses to speak to the rock but Moses struck it this time also. Perhaps one of the reasons it was so wrong for Moses to strike the rock again (Num 20:1-12) was that God had used Exodus 17 as a type of Christ – as indicated by 1Co 10:4; and that it was only necessary for Jesus to be ‘struck’ ONCE (Heb 7:27; 9:12, 26; 1Pe 3:18).

Another interesting connection is found in the prophet Zechariah. In Zec 13:7 it is said “strike the shepherd that the sheep may be scattered” (the apostle Matthew records that Jesus referred to this verse to say that He would be crucified and that the disciples would scatter Mt 26:31-32). In Zec 13:1, it says “in that day a fountain will be opened …for sin and for impurity.” This section of Zechariah is pointing to the Messiah and it speaks of Him being struck and a fountain being opened for sins (+ Zech 14:8 living waters; Zec 12:10 I will pour out …the Spirit of grace…they will look on Me whom they have pierced).

Almost 800 years after Moses struck the rock, Isaiah says they didn’t thirst when He led them through the deserts; He made water flow out of the rock for them; He split the rock, and the water gushed forth (Isa 48:21). The context seems to make the point that God was going to mercifully redeem rebellious Israel in the same way He had done so by providing water (through the rock struck by Moses). Moses had used this rod to bring the plagues upon Egypt and part the Red Sea. Now God used it (representing God’s power) to strike the rock. It was God who planned long ago to strike Jesus for our sins (Gen 50:20; Act 4:27-28; Mt 26:24; Isa 53:10). After Jesus rose from the dead, more of the details of the Israelites leaving Egypt and coming to the land of Canaan were revealed to have been foreshadowing God’s plan to bring us out of our slavery to sin and to guide us to the eternal Promised Land (heaven).

God’s word is incredible; there are so many shadows and types found throughout the O.T. pointing to God’s plan to send His Son!

The Samaritan woman to whom Jesus spoke (John 4) was told by Jesus that He had living water to give the woman and she told Him that she wanted that water. Jesus didn’t leave her without giving her that water. The context clearly shows that through Jesus’ words, they came to believe in Him. This woman and many other Samaritans were partaking of that living water which leads to life eternal.

Let me know if I can be of any help in bringing you to the living waters that Jesus provides. – Greg Whipple

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Reason #14

Jacob’s Ladder: Was There Any Point to this Dream?

Genesis 1-3 records God’s creation and the special place man had in all of it. He made man in His image and provided a special garden for him to live in. When Adam and Eve sinned, they were cursed and separated from God and the garden. Mankind would now have to live with a cursed earth and many other very difficult consequences; and yet there was a hint of a future victory over Satan (Gen 3:15) and perhaps an end to the curses.

Much later, after the flood, God promised Abraham that through his seed all the nations would be blessed. It seems that God was going to provide a way to restore mankind and it was being promised through Abraham’s family. The promise was then repeated to his son Isaac (Gen 26:1-5).

Isaac later had twins – Esau and Jacob; Jacob has a dream and the 3 promises made to Abraham and Isaac were now given to Jacob as well. We read in Genesis 28:10-19:

10 Then Jacob departed from Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 And he came to a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head, and lay down in that place. 12 And he had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. 14 “Your descendants shall also be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15 “And behold, I am with you, and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” 18 So Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on its top. 19 And he called the name of that place Bethel; however, previously the name of the city had been Luz.

What is the significance of the ladder connecting earth with heaven and the angels ascending and descending upon it? There is no explanation in this account but Jacob concludes that the place was the ‘gate of heaven’. Why are the 3 promises given to his father and grandfather repeated during this dream? Nothing is clearly said in the account.

Then, almost 2000 years later, Jesus makes a comment to a faithful man named Nathaniel that John the apostle records: “And He said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you shall see the heavens opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (John 1:51).

What does Jesus mean by this? Clearly He is making a reference back to Jacob’s dream. But, instead of a ladder connecting earth and heaven with angels ascending and descending upon it, He says the ‘Son of Man’ is the connection between earth and heaven (and Jesus many times declared Himself to be the Son of Man).

Jesus’ sacrifice would provide the way to reconnect man (earth) and God (heaven). The cross would bring the blessings that would take away the separation from God and the curses that come with sin.

Jesus, at another point, told His disciples that there is a narrow gate and that only by entering through it can anyone have life. In another passage, Jesus tells His disciples that He is “the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (Mat 7:13-14; John 14:1-6). Remember that Jacob interpreted that his dream was speaking of ‘the gate of heaven.’

It is especially interesting that Jesus was responding to Nathaniel’s faith, who declared ‘you are the Son of God; the King of Israel’. He had most likely heard much from John the Baptist who had said that Jesus was ‘the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world’ and that Jesus was the Christ and also the Son of God.

The phrase ‘Son of Man’ pointed to Daniel 7:13-14 which helps us to understand that the King would be reigning in heaven (as also seen in Psalm 110:1-4). Jesus rewarded this man’s confession with a powerful proof of the truth of what he had just stated (Jn 1:29, 34; 45-51; 3:28).

The apostle Paul tells us that this promise made to Abraham (and later also to Jacob) was really the gospel: “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘All the nations shall be blessed in you’” (Galatians 3:8).

It is absolutely incredible that with one comment, Jesus can tie together the promises made to God with His purpose of being that ‘ladder’ that connected earth with heaven.

How is it possible that a story that was written 1500 years before by Moses could so powerfully be used by Jesus to describe what His sacrifice would accomplish?! He is telling men that that story was all about Him! The only answer is that the dream truly was given to Jacob by God and that Moses was inspired to write it down to provide one more piece of evidence that God had planned the reconciliation of mankind long ago.

There are many more passages throughout the Old Testament that prove the truth of the inspiration of the Bible – many of which will also be dealt with in future articles. If these stories perfectly point to Jesus’ sacrifice and the good news of blessings that result, it becomes impossible to deny the claims of the Bible.

Have you examined the evidences the Bible provides? How have you responded to them? Please feel free to let us know if you have any questions or would like to learn more about God’s word. – Greg Whipple

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Reason #15

The N.T. Consistently Claims Noah’s Flood is Historical

Many have heard that the story of Noah’s ark and the flood is just a myth. Those who want to reject the Bible would say that there is no evidence for it. Many arguments are made (against the flood) which ignore what the Bible actually says. Others who place more trust in what scientists say but still believe in God would say that the Bible NEVER really intended to claim that there was an actual, world-wide flood.

If the flood occurred, then much of what science claims about the past is false. It is vitally important then to take an honest look at all the evidence that points to a world-wide flood having taken place only 1000’s of years ago.

The book of Genesis was written by Moses about 1500 years before the N.T. and includes the details of Noah and the flood (Gen 6-9). What does the rest of the Bible have to say about this event? Did Jesus and His apostles have anything to say about it? If they have proven trustworthy on everything else they claimed, should we trust what they say about the flood? There is so much that could be discussed about this subject but for now, it will be limited to what the N.T. says about it.

Two of the books of the N.T. were written by a doctor named Luke who traveled around with the apostle Paul for many years. His books have been scrutinized by many and yet it is now acknowledged that he is a trustworthy historian. In Luke’s gospel, the genealogy of Jesus is given and it goes backwards from Jesus to King David, and even goes all the way back to Adam -mentioning Noah in this continuous list (Luk 3:34-38). If Luke is concerned about establishing the true genealogy of Jesus, how could he add legendary people?!

Also in Luke’s gospel, he records Jesus as warning that the wrath of God that was coming was just like what happened in the days of Noah: “And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it shall be also in the days of the Son of Man: they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all” (Luk 17:26-27). If Jesus is trustworthy, then we can know that there was an ark and that a flood took ALL the people by surprise; otherwise what He is promising is meaningless.

The apostle Peter also had some things to say about the flood. In his first letter, he wrote: “who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water” (1Pe 3:20). How could Peter speak of disobedient people if they weren’t? How could he speak of the construction of the ark if it never happened? How could he say that only a few people were saved? If there were no flood, how can you say that God was patiently waiting?!

In his second letter, Peter says that God didn’t spare the ancient world but preserved Noah with 7 others when he brought a flood upon the world. He also says that the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. If you look at the context, ‘at that time’ is referring back to “since the fathers fell asleep’ and ‘from the beginning of creation.’ If there was no wrath of God and destruction by water, then there is no reason to respect the warning of the final wrath that will be by fire (2Pe 2:5 and 3:4-7).

The most significant statement of all can be found in the letter known as “Hebrews.” In chapter 11, the writer mentions many men and women of faith who were pleasing to God and are examples for all of us. It reads: “By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith” (Heb 11:7). It says that God condemned the world and saved Noah’s household through building an ark. If these individuals were just fictional characters and NOT people that actually lived and demonstrated faith, then this chapter cannot encourage us and if even just one of these individuals didn’t act in faith as described then how can we trust anything else he discussed?!

Clearly Jesus and the N.T. writers viewed the flood as a literal event that occurred (according to the genealogies) only 1000’s of years ago and it was a flood where ONLY 8 people survived. Nowhere in the original story do we read of only some of the world being destroyed or of it only being a local flood. If we are to accept the Bible, we must accept what it says of a flood that covered ‘all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens.’ We must also accept that ‘He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land’ and that ‘only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark’ (Gen 7:19,23).

Even in the rest of the Old Testament there are references to a literal world flood (Isa 54:9-10; Psa 29:10). In future papers, much evidence from history, archaeology, geology and other sciences will be provided to reinforce the truth of the world-wide flood and Noah’s ark.

If you are interested in learning more about the multitude of evidences that support the Bible, please feel free to let me know. If you are curious about evidences proving the flood, please contact me and whatever questions you might have will be answered according to what the Bible has revealed and with scientific data and its many rational conclusions.

Please feel free to let us know if you have any questions or would like to learn more about God’s word. – Greg Whipple

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