In my thread, How We Can Know
There Is a God? I have answers about the authenticity of the Bible...
Quote by OmikamiHow do you know
it is the word of God and truth when it was written by human hands?
To illustrate: A businessman might have a secretary write a letter. That letter contains the businessman's thoughts
and instructions. Hence, it is really his letter, not the secretary's. In a
similar way, the Bible contains God's message, not that of the men who wrote it down. Thus, the entire Bible
truthfully is "the word of God." (1 Thessalonians 2:13)
"For you know this first, that no prophecy of Scripture springs from any private interpretation. For prophecy was
at no time brought by man's will, but men spoke from God as they were borne along by holy spirit."--1 Peter
1:20-21
The writers themselves testified that what they wrote originated with Jehovah, the almighty God himself. This is the
underlying reason for the Bible's beauty of expression and, more important, its surpassing value as the book of
life-giving knowledge and wisdom. Jesus, the Son of God, testified that the words he spoke "are spirit and are
life," and he quoted copiously from the ancient Hebrew Scriptures. "All Scripture is inspired of God,"
said the apostle Paul, who spoke of the Hebrew Scriptures as "the sacred pronouncements of God." (John 6:63; 2
Timothy 3:16; Romans 3:1, 2)
Perhaps you have noticed that many books offering advice become outdated in just a few years. What about the Bible? It
is very old, and almost 2,000 years have passed since its last words were penned. Some therefore feel that it is not
applicable to our modern age. But if the Bible is inspired of God, its advice should always be up-to-date despite its
great age. The Scriptures should still be "beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for
disciplining in righteousness, that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good
work."--2 Timothy 3:16, 17.
Close examination reveals that Bible principles apply just as much today as they did when they were first put down in
writing. When it comes to human nature, for instance, the Bible reflects keen understanding that applies to every
generation of mankind. We can easily see this in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, found in the book of Matthew, chapters
5 to 7. This sermon so impressed the late Indian leader Mohandas K. Gandhi that he reportedly told a British official:
"When your country and mine shall get together on the teachings laid down by Christ in this Sermon on the Mount, we
shall have solved the problems not only of our countries but those of the whole world."
No wonder people are impressed by Jesus' teachings! In the Sermon on the Mount, he showed us the way to true
happiness. He explained how to settle disputes. Jesus provided instruction on how to pray. He pointed out the wisest
attitude to have toward material needs and gave the Golden Rule for proper relationships with others. How to detect
religious frauds and how to have a secure future were also among the points covered in this sermon...
In the Sermon on the Mount and throughout the rest of its pages, the Bible clearly tells us what to do and what to avoid
in order to improve our lot in life. So practical is its counsel that one educator was moved to say: "Although
being a high-school counselor with bachelor's and master's degrees and having read a large number of books on
mental health and psychology, I discovered that the Bible's counsel on such things as having a successful marriage,
preventing juvenile delinquency and how to gain and keep friends is far superior to anything I had read or studied in
college." In addition to being practical and up-to-date, the Bible is dependable...
ACCURATE AND RELIABLE
Though the Bible is not a science textbook, it is scientifically accurate. For example, at a time when most people
believed that the earth was flat, the prophet Isaiah referred to it as a "circle" (Hebrew, chugh, which here carries the idea of "sphere"). (Isaiah 40:22) The idea of
a spherical earth was not widely accepted until thousands of years after Isaiah's day. Furthermore, Job
26:7--written more than 3,000 years ago--states that God is "hanging the earth upon nothing." Says one Bible
scholar: "How Job knew the truth, demonstrated by astronomy, that the earth hangs self-poised in empty space, is a
question not easily solved by those who deny the inspiration of Holy Scripture."
The style of reporting found in the Bible also strengthens our confidence in this age-old book. Unlike myths, the events
covered in the Bible are linked to specific people and dates. (1 Kings 14:25; Isaiah 36:1; Luke 3:1, 2) And whereas
ancient historians nearly always exaggerated the victories of their rulers and hid their defeats and mistakes, the Bible
writers were candid and honest--even about their own serious sins. (Numbers 20:7-13; 2 Samuel 12:7-14; 24:10)
A BOOK OF PROPHECY
Fulfilled prophecy gives conclusive evidence that the Bible is inspired of God. The Bible contains many prophecies that
have been fulfilled in detail. Obviously, mere humans could not be responsible for this. What, then, is behind these
prophecies? The Bible itself says that "prophecy was at no time brought by man's will, but men spoke from God
as they were borne along by holy spirit," or God's active force. (2 Peter 1:21) Consider some
examples...
The fall of Babylon. Isaiah and Jeremiah both foretold Babylon's fall to
the Medes and the Persians. Remarkably, Isaiah's prophecy about this event was recorded some 200 years before
Babylon was conquered! The following aspects of prophecy are now matters of historical record: the drying up of the
Euphrates River by diverting its waters to an artificial lake (Isaiah 44:27; Jeremiah 50:38); a careless lack of
security at Babylon's river gates (Isaiah 45:1); and the conquest by a ruler named Cyrus. (Isaiah 44:28)
The rise and fall of "the king of Greece." In a vision, Daniel saw a
male goat strike down a ram, breaking its two horns. Then, the goat's great horn was broken, and four horns came up
in its place. (Daniel 8:1-8) To Daniel it was explained: "The ram that you saw possessing the two horns stands for
the kings of Media and Persia. And the hairy he-goat stands for the king of Greece; and as for the great horn that was
between its eyes, it stands for the first king. And that one having been broken, so that there were four that finally
stood up instead of it, there are four kingdoms from his nation that will stand up, but not with his power."
(Daniel 8:20-22) True to this prophecy, some two centuries later, "the king of Greece," Alexander the Great,
overthrew the two-horned Medo-Persian Empire. Alexander died in 323 B.C.E. and was eventually replaced by four of his
generals. However, none of these subsequent kingdoms matched the power of Alexander's empire...
The life of Jesus Christ. The Hebrew Scriptures contain scores of prophecies
fulfilled in the birth, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus. For example, more than 700 years in advance, Micah
foretold that the Messiah, or Christ, would be born in Bethlehem. (Micah 5:2; Luke 2:4-7) Micah's contemporary
Isaiah foretold that the Messiah would be struck and spit upon. (Isaiah 50:6; Matthew 26:67) Five hundred years in
advance, Zechariah prophesied that the Messiah would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver. (Zechariah 11:12; Matthew
26:15) More than a thousand years beforehand, David foretold circumstances associated with the death of Jesus the
Messiah. (Psalm 22:7, 8, 18; Matthew 27:35, 39-43) And some five centuries in advance, Daniel's prophecy revealed
when the Messiah would appear as well as the length of his ministry and the time of his death. (Daniel 9:24-27) This is
just a sampling of the prophecies fulfilled in Jesus Christ. You will find it rewarding to read much more about him
later...
Many other long-range Bible prophecies have already been fulfilled. 'But,' you may ask, 'how does this
affect my life?' Well, if someone told you the truth for many years, would you suddenly doubt him when he said
something new? No! God has told the truth throughout the Bible. Should this not build your trust in what the Bible
promises, such as its prophecies regarding a coming earthly paradise? Indeed, we can have the same confidence as did
Paul, one of Jesus' first-century disciples, who wrote that 'God cannot lie.' (Titus 1:2) Furthermore,
when we read the Scriptures and apply their counsel, we are exercising wisdom that humans cannot achieve on their own,
for the Bible is the book that reveals the knowledge of God that leads to everlasting life... :D
Quote by OmikamiHow did you
come up with Christ dying on a stake?
Most Bible translations say Christ was "crucified" rather than "impaled." This is because of the
common belief that the torture instrument upon which he was hung was a "cross" made of two pieces of wood
instead of a single pale, or stake. Tradition, not the Scriptures, also says that the condemned man carried only the
crossbeam of the cross, called the patibulum, or antenna, instead of both parts.
In this way some try to avoid the predicament of having too much weight for one man to drag or carry to
Golgotha...
Yet, what did the Bible writers themselves say about these matters? They used the Greek noun stauros 27 times and the verbs stauroo 46 times, synstauroo (the prefix syn, meaning "with") 5 times, and anastauroo (ana, meaning "again") once. They also used the Greek word xylon, meaning "wood," 5 times to refer to the torture instrument upon which
Jesus was nailed...
Stauros in both the classical Greek and Koine carries no thought of a
"cross" made of two timbers. It means only an upright stake, pale, pile, or pole, as might be used for a
fence, stockade, or palisade. Says Douglas' New Bible Dictionary of 1985
under "Cross," page 253: "The Gk. word for 'cross' (stauros; verb stauroo . . . ) means primarily an upright stake or
beam, and secondarily a stake used as an instrument for punishment and execution."
The fact that Luke, Peter, and Paul also used xylon as a synonym for stauros gives added evidence that Jesus was impaled on an upright stake without a
crossbeam, for that is what xylon in this special sense means. (Acts 5:30; 10:39; 13:29; Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 2:24)
Xylon also occurs in the Greek Septuagint at Ezra 6:11, where it speaks of a single beam or timber on which a lawbreaker was to be
impaled...
"Christ by purchase
released us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse instead of us, because it is written: "Accursed is every
man hanged upon a stake."--Galatians 3:13
The New World Translation, therefore, faithfully conveys to the reader this
basic idea of the Greek text by rendering stauros as "torture stake,"
and the verb stauroo as "impale," that is, to fasten on a stake, or
pole. In this way there is no confusion of stauros with the traditional
ecclesiastical crosses. The matter of one man like Simon of Cyrene bearing a torture stake, as the Scriptures say, is
perfectly reasonable, for if it was 15 cm (6 in.) in diameter and 3.5 m (11 ft) long, it probably weighed little more
than 45 kg (100 lb). (Mark 15:21)
Note what W. E. Vine says on this subject: "STAUROS denotes, primarily, an upright pale or stake. On such
malefactors were nailed for execution. Both the noun and the verb stauroo, to fasten to a stake or pale, are originally
to be distinguished from the ecclesiastical form of a two beamed cross." Greek scholar Vine then mentions the
Chaldean origin of the two-piece cross and how it was adopted from the pagans by Christendom in the third century C.E.
as a symbol of Christ's impalement.--Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old and
New Testament Words, 1981, Vol. 1, p. 256.
Quote by OmikamiHow do you know
that only 144,000 are going to Heaven?
The Scriptures make clear that it was a happy earthly home that God gave
humankind to start with, and purposed that they should enjoy it. There is no indication in the Bible that God ever
promised the first human pair, Adam and Eve, that they would be transported to heaven to become angels if they continued
faithful to God for a time on earth. In fact, in all the inspired Scriptures from Genesis to Malachi, no promises of
heaven were held out to humans; nor did any person go to heaven...
We have the word of Jesus Christ for this. He said: "No man has ascended into heaven but he that descended from
heaven, the Son of man." (John 3:13) Jesus' apostle Peter thus said about the faithful servant of God, David:
"He both deceased and was buried and his tomb is among us to this day. Actually
David did not ascend to the heavens."--Acts 2:29, 34
A heavenly hope was not held out to those persons who lived before the death of Jesus Christ. That is why Jesus said
that "there has not been raised up a greater than John the Baptist; but a person that is a lesser one in the
kingdom of the heavens is greater than he is." (Matthew 11:11) Yet if a heavenly hope was not held out to faithful
servants of God before Christ came to earth, why does God promise to take certain Christians to heaven? The reason is
connected with God's original purpose to have an earth-wide paradise populated with happy, healthy humans...
:)
To carry out this original purpose, God introduced a new thing--a new government
to rule over the earth. God designated his Son, Jesus Christ, to be the king of this government, which is called in the
Bible the "kingdom of God" or "the kingdom of the heavens." (Luke 8:1; Matthew 4:17) And since the
days of John the Baptist, who baptized Jesus, God has been selecting from humankind persons to be corulers with his Son in that heavenly government. The Bible says: "They are to
rule as kings over the earth." (Revelation 5:9, 10) One prospective ruler, the apostle Paul, wrote to another, the
man Timothy: "If we go on enduring, we shall also rule together as kings."--2 Timothy 2:12; Luke
22:28-30.
So the reason God takes people to heaven is to form a heavenly government to rule this
earth. It is not to populate heaven, to pick children--"beautiful flowers"--for himself. No, for those
that God selects for heavenly life are tried and tested persons who qualify to be corulers with Christ. (Revelation
20:6; 2:10) Only a limited number will be taken to heaven to make up this heavenly
government, the Bible giving the number as "a hundred and forty-four thousand."--Revelation 14:1,
3.
How grand it will be in the future when Christ and his 144,000 Kingdom associates rule the earth! Among their earthly
subjects will be billions of resurrected dead, including such faithful men of pre-Christian times as David and John the
Baptist. The sure promise is that then "death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be
anymore. The former things have passed away."--Revelation 21:4 (John 5:28, 29)
_____________________________
Prophecies That Came True
Humans cannot foretell the future with any certainty. Time and again their efforts at prediction fail miserably. So a
book of prophecies that did come true has to attract our attention. The Bible is such a book...
Many Bible prophecies have come true in such detail that critics claim they were written after the fulfillment. But such
claims are untrue. God, being almighty, is fully capable of prophesying. (Isaiah 41:21-26; 42:8, 9; 46:8-10) Biblical
prophecies that came true are evidence of divine inspiration, not of late authorship. We will look now at some
outstanding prophecies that came true--providing additional proof that the Bible is God's word, not just
man's...
The Exile in Babylon
Hezekiah was king in Jerusalem for about 30 years. In 740 B.C.E. he witnessed the destruction of his northern neighbor
Israel at the hands of Assyria. In 732 B.C.E. he experienced God's saving power, when the Assyrian attempt to
conquer Jerusalem had failed, with catastrophic results to the invader. (Isaiah 37:33-38)
Now, Hezekiah is receiving a delegation from Merodach-baladan, king of Babylon. On the surface, the ambassadors are
there to congratulate Hezekiah on his recovery from a severe illness. Likely, though, Merodach-baladan sees Hezekiah as
a possible ally against the world power of Assyria. Hezekiah does nothing to dispel such an idea when he shows the
visiting Babylonians all the wealth of his house and dominion. Perhaps he, too, wants allies against a possible return
of the Assyrians. (Isaiah 39:1, 2)
Isaiah is the outstanding prophet of that time, and he quickly discerns Hezekiah's indiscretion. He knows that
Hezekiah's surest defense is Jehovah, not Babylon, and tells him that his act of showing the Babylonians his wealth
will lead to tragedy. "Days are coming," says Isaiah, "and all that is in your own house and that your
forefathers have stored up down to this day will actually be carried to Babylon." Jehovah decreed: "Nothing
will be left." (Isaiah 39:5, 6)
Back in the eighth century B.C.E., it may have seemed unlikely for that prophecy to be fulfilled. One hundred years
later, however, the situation changed. Babylon replaced Assyria as the dominant world power, while Judah became so
degraded, religiously speaking, that God withdrew his blessing. Now, another prophet, Jeremiah, was inspired to repeat
Isaiah's warning. Jeremiah proclaimed: "I will bring [the Babylonians] against this land and against its
inhabitants . . . And all this land must become a devastated place, an object of astonishment, and these nations will
have to serve the king of Babylon seventy years."--Jeremiah 25:9, 11
About four years after Jeremiah uttered that prophecy, the Babylonians made Judah part of their empire. Three years
after that, they took some Jewish captives, along with some of the wealth of the temple at Jerusalem, to Babylon. Eight
years later, Judah revolted and was again invaded by the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar. This time, the city and its
temple were destroyed. All its wealth, and the Jews themselves, were carried off to distant Babylon, just as Isaiah and
Jeremiah had foretold. (2 Chronicles 36:6, 7, 12, 13, 17-21)
The Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land notes that when the Babylonian onslaught was over, "the
destruction of the city [Jerusalem] was a total one." Archaeologist W. F. Albright states: "Excavation and
surface exploration in Judah have proved that the towns of Judah were not only completely destroyed by the Chaldeans in
their two invasions, but were not reoccupied for generations--often never again in history." Thus, archaeology
confirms the shocking fulfillment of this prophecy...
The Fate of Tyre
Ezekiel was another ancient writer who recorded divinely inspired prophecies. He prophesied from the end of the seventh
century B.C.E. on into the sixth--that is, during the years leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem and then during
the first decades of the Jews' exile in Babylon. Even some modern critics agree that the book was written at
approximately this time...
Ezekiel recorded a striking prophecy about the destruction of Israel's northern neighbor Tyre, which had gone from
a position of friendship with God's people to one of enmity. (1 Kings 5:1-9; Psalm 83:2-8) He wrote: "This is
what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said, 'Here I am against you, O Tyre, and I will bring up against you many
nations, just as the sea brings up its waves. And they will certainly bring the walls of Tyre to ruin and tear down her
towers, and I will scrape her dust away from her and make her a shining, bare surface of a crag. . . . And your stones
and your woodwork and your dust they will place in the very midst of the water.'"--Ezekiel 26:3, 4,
12
Did this really happen? Well, a few years after Ezekiel uttered the prophecy, the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, laid
siege to Tyre. (Ezekiel 29:17, 18) It was not, however, an easy siege. Tyre was partially situated on the mainland (the
part called Old Tyre). But part of the city was on an island about half a mile [800 m] offshore. Nebuchadnezzar besieged
the island for 13 years before it finally submitted to him...
It was, however, in 332 B.C.E. that Ezekiel's prophecy was finally fulfilled in all its details. At that time,
Alexander the Great, the conqueror from Macedonia, was invading Asia. Tyre, secure on its island location, held out
against him. Alexander did not want to leave a potential enemy at his rear, but he did not want to spend years in a
siege of Tyre, as Nebuchadnezzar had done...
How did he solve this military problem? He built a land bridge, or mole, across to the island, so that his soldiers
could march across and attack the island city. Notice, though, what he used to build the mole. The Encyclopedia Americana reports: "With the debris of the mainland portion of the city, which he
had demolished, he built a huge mole in 332 to join the island to the mainland." After a relatively short siege,
the island city was destroyed. Moreover, Ezekiel's prophecy was fulfilled in all its details. Even the 'stones
and woodwork and dust' of Old Tyre were 'placed in the very midst of the water.'
A 19th-century traveler commented on what was left of ancient Tyre in his day, saying: "Of the original Tyre known
to Solomon and the prophets of Israel, not a vestige remains except in its rock-cut sepulchres on the mountain sides,
and in foundation walls . . . Even the island, which Alexander the Great, in his siege of the city, converted into a
cape by filling up the water between it and the mainland, contains no distinguishable relics of an earlier period than
that of the Crusades. The modern town, all of which is comparatively new, occupies the northern half of what was once
the island, while nearly all the remainder of the surface is covered with undistinguishable ruins."
Babylon's Turn
Back in the eighth century B.C.E., Isaiah, the prophet who warned the Jews of their coming subjugation by Babylon, also
foretold something astounding: the total annihilation of Babylon itself. He foretold this in graphic detail: "Here
I am arousing against them the Medes . . . And Babylon, the decoration of kingdoms, the beauty of the pride of the
Chaldeans, must become as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. She will never be inhabited, nor will she reside for
generation after generation."--Isaiah 13:17-20
The prophet Jeremiah also foretold the fall of Babylon, which would take place many years later. And he included an
interesting detail: "There is a devastation upon her waters, and they must be dried up. . . . The mighty men of
Babylon have ceased to fight. They have kept sitting in the strong places. Their mightiness has run dry."--Jeremiah
50:38; 51:30
In 539 B.C.E., the time of Babylon's rule as the preeminent world power came to an end when the vigorous Persian
ruler Cyrus, accompanied by the army of Media, marched against the city. What Cyrus found, however, was formidable.
Babylon was surrounded by huge walls and seemed impregnable. The great river Euphrates, too, ran through the city and
made an important contribution to its defenses...
The Greek historian Herodotus describes how Cyrus handled the problem: "He placed a portion of his army at the
point where the river enters the city, and another body at the back of the place where it issues forth, with orders to
march into the town by the bed of the stream, as soon as the water became shallow enough . . . He turned the Euphrates
by a canal into the basin [an artificial lake dug by a previous ruler of Babylon], which was then a marsh, on which the
river sank to such an extent that the natural bed of the stream became fordable. Hereupon the Persians who had been left
for the purpose at Babylon by the river-side, entered the stream, which had now sunk so as to reach about midway up a
man's thigh, and thus got into the town."
In this way the city fell, as Jeremiah and Isaiah had warned. But notice the detailed fulfillment of prophecy. There was
literally 'a devastation upon her waters, and they were dried up.' It was the lowering of the waters of the
Euphrates that enabled Cyrus to gain access to the city. Did 'the mighty men of Babylon cease to fight,' as
Jeremiah had warned? The Bible--as well as the Greek historians Herodotus and Xenophon--records that the Babylonians
were actually feasting when the Persian assault occurred. The Nabonidus Chronicle, an official cuneiform inscription,
says that Cyrus' troops entered Babylon "without battle," likely meaning without a major pitched battle.
Evidently, Babylon's mighty men did not do much to protect her...
What about the forecast that Babylon would "never be inhabited" again? That was not fulfilled immediately in
539 B.C.E. But unerringly the prophecy came true. After her fall, Babylon was the center of a number of rebellions,
until 478 B.C.E. when she was destroyed by Xerxes. At the end of the fourth century, Alexander the Great planned to
restore her, but he died before the work had progressed very far. From then on, the city just declined. There were still
people living there in the first century of our Common Era, but today all that is left of ancient Babylon is a heap of
ruins in Iraq. Even if her ruins should be partially restored, Babylon would be just a tourist showpiece, not a living,
vibrant city. Her desolate site bears witness to the final fulfillment of the inspired prophecies against
her...
The March of World Powers
In the sixth century B.C.E., during the Jewish exile in Babylon, another prophet, Daniel, was inspired to record some
remarkable visions foretelling the future course of world events. In one, Daniel describes a number of symbolic animals
that displace one another on the world scene. An angel explains that these animals foreshadow the march of world powers
from that time onward. Speaking of the final two beasts, he says: "The ram that you saw possessing the two horns
stands for the kings of Media and Persia. And the hairy he-goat stands for the king of Greece; and as for the great horn
that was between its eyes, it stands for the first king. And that one having been broken, so that there were four that
finally stood up instead of it, there are four kingdoms from his nation that will stand up, but not with his
power."--Daniel 8:20-22
This prophetic foreview was fulfilled exactly. The Babylonian Empire was overthrown by Medo-Persia, which, 200 years
later, gave way to the Greek world power. The Greek Empire was spearheaded by Alexander the Great, "the great
horn." However, after Alexander's death, his generals fought among themselves for power, and eventually the
far-flung empire broke into four smaller empires, "four kingdoms."
In Daniel chapter 7, a somewhat similar vision also looked far into the future. The Babylonian world power was pictured
by a lion, the Persian by a bear, and the Greek by a leopard with four wings on its back and four heads. Then, Daniel
sees another wild beast, "fearsome and terrible and unusually strong . . . , and it had ten horns." (Daniel
7:2-7) This fourth wild beast prefigured the powerful Roman Empire, which began to develop about three centuries after
Daniel recorded this prophecy...
The angel prophesied regarding Rome: "As for the fourth beast, there is a fourth kingdom that will come to be on
the earth, that will be different from all the other kingdoms; and it will devour all the earth and will trample it down
and crush it." (Daniel 7:23) H. G. Wells, in his book A Pocket History of the
World, says: "This new Roman power which arose to dominate the western world in the second and first
centuries B.C. was in several respects a different thing from any of the great empires that had hitherto prevailed in
the civilised world." It started as a republic and continued as a monarchy. Unlike previous empires, it was not the
creation of any one conqueror but grew relentlessly over the centuries. It lasted much, much longer and controlled far
more territory than any previous empire...
What, though, about the ten horns of this huge beast? The angel said: "And as for the ten horns, out of that
kingdom there are ten kings that will rise up; and still another one will rise up after them, and he himself will be
different from the first ones, and three kings he will humiliate." (Daniel 7:24) How did this work out?
Well, when the Roman Empire started to deteriorate in the fifth century C.E., it was not immediately replaced by another
world power. Rather, it disintegrated into a number of kingdoms, "ten kings." Finally, the British Empire
defeated the three rival empires of Spain, France, and the Netherlands to become the major world power. Thus did the
newcomer 'horn' humiliate "three kings."
Daniel's Prophecies--After the Fact?
The Bible indicates that the book of Daniel was written during the sixth century B.C.E. However, the fulfillments of its
prophecies are so exact that critics claim it must have been written about 165 B.C.E., when a number of the prophecies
had already been fulfilled. Despite the fact that the only real reason for making this claim is that Daniel's
prophecies were fulfilled, this late date for the writing of Daniel is presented as an established fact in many
reference works...
Against such a theory, though, we must weigh the following facts. First, the book was alluded to in Jewish works produced during the second century B.C.E., such as the first book of
Maccabees. Also, it was included in the Greek Septuagint version, the
translation of which began in the third century B.C.E. Third, fragments of copies of Daniel were among the more
frequently found works in the Dead Sea Scrolls--and these fragments are believed to date to about 100 B.C.E. Clearly,
soon after Daniel was supposedly written, it was already widely known and respected: strong evidence that it was
produced long before critics say it was.
Further, Daniel contains historical details that would have been unknown to a second-century writer. Outstanding is the
case of Belshazzar, the ruler of Babylon who was killed when Babylon fell in 539 B.C.E. The major non-Biblical sources
of our knowledge of the fall of Babylon are Herodotus (fifth century), Xenophon (fifth and fourth centuries), and
Berossus (third century). None of these knew about Belshazzar. How unlikely that a second-century writer would have had
information that had been unavailable to these earlier authors! The record concerning Belshazzar in Daniel chapter 5 is
a strong argument that Daniel wrote his book before these other writers wrote theirs...
Finally, there are a number of prophecies in Daniel that were fulfilled long after 165 B.C.E. One of these was the
prophecy about the Roman Empire, mentioned earlier. Another is a remarkable prophecy foretelling the arrival of Jesus,
the Messiah...
The Coming of the Anointed One
This prophecy is recorded in Daniel, chapter 9, and reads as follows: "Seventy weeks [of years, or four hundred and
ninety years] are decreed upon your people and upon your holy city." (Daniel 9:24, The Amplified Bible) What was to
happen during these 490 years? We read: "From the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem
until [the coming of] the anointed one, a prince, shall be seven weeks [of years], and sixty-two weeks [of years]."
(Daniel 9:25, AB) So this is a prophecy about the time of the coming of "the anointed one," the Messiah. How
was it fulfilled?
The command to restore and to build Jerusalem 'went forth' in "the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the
king" of Persia, that is, in 455 B.C.E. (Nehemiah 2:1-9) By the end of 49 years (7 weeks of years), much of
Jerusalem's glory had been restored. And then, counting the full 483 years (7 plus 62 weeks of years) from 455
B.C.E., we arrive at 29 C.E. This was, in fact, "the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar," the year
when Jesus was baptized by John the Baptizer. (Luke 3:1) At that time, Jesus was publicly identified as God's Son
and began his ministry of preaching the good news to the Jewish nation. (Matthew 3:13-17; 4:23) He became the
"anointed one," or Messiah...
The prophecy adds: "And after the sixty-two weeks [of years] shall the anointed one be cut off." It also says:
"And he shall enter into a strong and firm covenant with the many for one week [seven years]; and in the midst of
the week he shall cause the sacrifice and offering to cease." (Daniel 9:26, 27, AB) In harmony with this, Jesus
went exclusively to "the many," the fleshly Jews. On occasion, he also preached to the Samaritans, who
believed some of the Scriptures but had formed a sect separate from mainstream Judaism. Then, "in the midst of the
week," after three and a half years of preaching, he gave up his life as a sacrifice and was thus "cut
off." This spelled the end of the Mosaic Law with its sacrifices and gift offerings. (Galatians 3:13, 24, 25)
Hence, by his death, Jesus caused "the sacrifice and offering to cease."
Nevertheless, for another three and a half years the newborn Christian congregation witnessed solely to Jews and, later,
to the related Samaritans. In 36 C.E., however, at the end of the 70 weeks of years, the apostle Peter was guided to
preach to a Gentile, Cornelius. (Acts 10:1-48) Now, the "covenant with the many" was no longer limited to the
Jews. Salvation was preached also to the uncircumcised Gentiles...
Because the Jewish nation rejected Jesus and conspired to have him executed, Jehovah did not protect them when the
Romans came and destroyed Jerusalem in 70 C.E. Thus, Daniel's further words were fulfilled: "And the people of
the other prince who shall come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and even to
the end there shall be war." (Daniel 9:26b, AB) This second "prince" was Titus, the Roman general who
destroyed Jerusalem in 70 C.E...
Prophecy That Was Inspired
In this way, Daniel's prophecy of the 70 weeks was fulfilled in a remarkably exact manner. Indeed, many of the
prophecies recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures were fulfilled during the first century, and a number of these had to do
with Jesus. The place of Jesus' birth, his zeal for God's house, his preaching activity, his betrayal for 30
pieces of silver, the manner of his death, the fact that lots were cast for his garments--all these details were
prophesied in the Hebrew Scriptures. Their fulfillment proved without a doubt that Jesus was the Messiah, and it
demonstrated again that the prophecies were inspired. (Micah 5:2; Luke 2:1-7; Zechariah 11:12; 12:10; Matthew 26:15;
27:35; Psalm 22:18; 34:20; John 19:33-37)
In fact, all the Bible's prophecies that were due to be fulfilled have come true. Things have happened exactly in
the way the Bible said they would. This is strong evidence that the Bible is God's Word. There must have been more
than human wisdom behind those prophetic utterances for them to have been so accurate...
But there are other predictions in the Bible that were not fulfilled in those times. Why? Because they were due to be
fulfilled in our own day, and even in our future. The reliability of those ancient prophecies makes us confident that
these other predictions will without fail come true... :D
