Thanks to all of the encouragement from you guys, I have once again put finger to keyboard and produced three new articles, this is one of them. There are still another five or so rattling around upstairs. As always, if anyone would like an ms-word formatted copy of the whole book, just drop me your email.
A NON-PROPHET ORGANIZATION
There is a piece of logic that gave me pause for many years. When I was younger, I was always told that we can rely on the Bible as God’s word. How can we be sure that it is God’s word? Well, one of the arguments behind this assertion was the accuracy of prophecy. Since the Bible made many prophecies, and every one of them came true in every detail, we could be certain that it was the work of an all knowing God. After all, only divine foreknowledge could explain the Bible’s uncanny prophetic accuracy.
Well, I thought about this for many years. On numerous occasions, I squelched a doubt by falling back on this reasoning. But, unknown to me at the time, there was a flaw. No one told me that the Bible’s prophecy record was spotty, at best. Here are some examples of what I mean:
1. Many of the Bible prophesies were not fulfilled at all. There are a lot of these. Take a look:
“From the north I am going to bring against Tyre Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon … They will plunder your wealth and loot your merchandise; they will break down your walls and demolish your fine houses and throw your stones, timber and rubble into the sea. … I will make you a bare rock, and you will become a place to spread fishnets. You will never be rebuilt, for I the LORD have spoken, declares the Sovereign LORD.”.- Ezekiel 26:7-14
Ezekiel’s prophesy regarding Tyre failed. Although Tyre was destroyed, which was not uncommon in those days, it was indeed rebuilt. Many years later, we find that Jesus and Paul both visited Tyre.
"Egypt will become a desolate wasteland.. I will make the land of Egypt a ruin and a desolate waste from Migdol to Aswan, as far as the border of Cush. No foot of man or animal will pass through it; no one will live there for forty years. I will make the land of Egypt desolate among devastated lands, and her cities will lie desolate forty years among ruined cities. And I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them through the countries.” – Ezekiel 2:-12
Egypt has never been uninhabited at any point in its history.
“So desert creatures and hyenas will live there, and there the owl will dwell. It will never again be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation.” – Jeremiah 50:39
”And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.” – Jeremiah 51:37
“But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.” – Isaiah 13:21
Babylon is currently inhabited, and pretty much dragon and satyr-free.
“Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedeki'ah king of Judah! Thus says the LORD concerning you: `You shall not die by the sword. You shall die in peace.’” – Jeremiah 34:4,5
God tells Zedekiah that he will come to a peaceful end. Unfortunately, he ends up watching his children get killed, then his eyes are poked out and he is shackled and taken to Babylon, where he remained in prison until the day of his death – not exactly my idea of a peaceful end.
Josiah was another one to whom God promised a peaceful passing:
“Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace…” – 2 Kings 22:20
Unfortunately, Josiah was killed in battle.
There are a whole lot more examples, but I’m getting tired of this. The point is made.
2. Some prophecies were written after the events they predicted. The book of Daniel makes some predictions regarding political events. If they had been uttered in the sixth century BC, they would have been spookily accurate. Unfortunately, it has been well established that the book was written around the second century BC, which moves the book from prophecy to history – still accurate, but not exactly divine.
3. Many of the accurately fulfilled prophecies were contrived. They aren’t really prophesies at all, just statements that are later twisted to fit events. Matthew was a big offender in this way. Notice the prophetic fulfillment regarding Jesus’ life:
“Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: ‘A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.’” – Matthew 2:17, 18Matthew tries to pull a fast one by claiming that Herod’s fictional slaughter of the young boys was foretold. But, if you look up the passage that he quotes, which is Jeremiah 31:15, you find that it clearly was talking about the Babylonian captivity. It had nothing to do with Herod’s massacre. So, the uncannily accurate prophesy is really nothing more that a guy trying to connect two unrelated dots.
4. Some prophecies were just common sense. The Bible is stacked with denunciations of destruction. But, if you predicted that a nation or city would be destroyed, and weren’t particular about timing, you could pretty well be assured that it would happen, sooner or later. Jerusalem was thoroughly destroyed twice. So, if a prophet predicted Jerusalem’s destruction, and was willing to wait a few centuries, he would be right on the money. Likewise, Jesus’ prophesy in Matthew of earthquakes and war isn’t exactly clairvoyant. Just try to find ten consecutive years in history without earthquakes and war.
5. Some of them are so vague that they could be applied to just about anything. Read the book of Revelation and tell me what the hell it means. Revelation has been interpreted hundreds of different ways. It’s like catnip to the kookier religions. A prophecy that vague is not a prophecy. It’s just a rant.
I believe I have already announced my own divinity. Allow me to prove it by making some prophecies.
• There will be a war.
• A large earthquake will kill many people.
• In 1991, the US will declare war on Iraq (note to self: backdate this one).
• My birth was predicted in scripture, specifically Genesis 16:11, “The angel of the LORD also said to her: ‘You are now with child and you will have a son.’”
Uncanny, isn’t it?