Can the Reality of Prophecy Be Proved?

It is no sin whatever to have just moved in from “Missouri” where things have to be proved. That is, if one is honest and sincere rather than an offensively conceited cynic who only sneers. To such people even the enrapturing majesty of the Grand Canyon is but “a matter of personal opinion” and the wonder of Divine redemption only “a matter relativity.” As the healing Lord has no trouble whatever in passing the most rigid medical examination, so does the revealing Lord easily pass the most rigid historical examination. You see, the Mighty God has no need to speculate or guess; He knows. Prophecy is objective reality! Its very existence proceeds from the simple reality that a measure of Divine omniscience (all-knowledge) is shared with humanity in a manner completely beyond the range of the human intellect. In most instances Divinity chooses to speak only through men Divinely selected. It follows as a matter of reason and logic that the Almighty Creator can certainly as easily communicate as He can create. The rejection of creative Divinity is as senseless as attributing the existence of an intricate electronic computer to some fortuitous combination of random atoms. The rejection of communicative Divinity is basically a denial of His supreme intelligence. Omniscience and Omnipotence are inseparably associated with Divinity; the Holy Bible declares it and all existence proves it.

The irrefutable proof of prophecy is solidly historical. Although it is not my present intent to proceed with exacting details, God’s Inerrant Book contains literally scores of prophecies which are a matter of both secular and sacred history/ some such prophecies involve minute details; others involve grand events. And not only have scores of prophecies been literally and exactingly fulfilled, no single prophecy in the entire Bible has failed to be fulfilled on schedule. Every unfulfilled prophecy in the whole Bible clearly relates to the End-Time. Prophetic fulfillment in the past has been precise, accurate, and inerrant. In like manner, scriptural Prophecies yet future to humanity are as certain as if they had already occurred. Prophecy always proves itself, given sufficient time. We call it history! That is proof enough for me!

Prophetic Precision is both Historical and Anticipated

The Holy Bible in its entirety is absolutely accurate; otherwise, it simply and manifestly would not be the Eternal Word of the Almighty God! Within the framework of that marvelous truth, however, several things must be said further. There is an occasional error in translation or even copying from the original manuscripts; yet nothing very consequential. There are statements of approximation, speaking in “round numbers” as we would express it. There are even statements which are adapted to the human expression of things which are not intended to be scientifically accurate, a classic example being references to the rising or setting of the sun. Understanding such things is necessary; yet, I underscore again for emphasis that the Eternal Word of the Immortal God is without error of any kind or degree whatever.

Prophecy, by definition, is an accurate prediction of the future –a prediction which by further definition can proceed only from Omniscient Divinity. And the Almighty can as easily communicate events of tomorrow. Holy Writ puts it this way; “I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done” (Isa. 46:9-10).

I emphasize that an entire book could easily be written regarding prophetic precision confirmed by history. Let me cite only one example. The whole story of the Great Flood –including its reason as well as its reality – is told in chapters 6 through 8 of Genesis. The prediction predated the events by a hundred and twenty years (Gen. 6:3). Surely Noah dutifully and compassionately warned his generation, not only by righteous preaching but also by the extended process of constructing the Ark in which his family alone among all men was destined to be saved (Heb. 11:7; II Peter 2:5). That Great Flood of universal destruction came 1,656 years after the creation of Adam in the 600^th year of Noah’s life, in the year 2348 B. C., to be precise about it. Can that be proved? Yes, in various ways although I cite only one item. The City of Ur where Abraham was born in 1812 B. C., 536 years after the Great Flood, is located just a few miles southwest of the Euphrates River and some 150 miles from the northern tip of the Persian Gulf. According to the December , 1967 map entitled Lands of the Bible Today produced by the National Geographic Society, archeological diggings as far back as 1929 revealed three separate occupation levels in Abraham’s hometown covered by eleven feet of water-laid silt, obviously by some Great Flood such as the Book of Genesis describes.

The more man learns through his modern sophisticated technology and the more he is able to penetrate to the reality of things rather than merely to theory and superficially, the more he verifies unfailingly the historicity of the Book of God! And not one single shred of scientific discovery discredits the inerrant accuracy of that singular Book of all books! With such historical confirmation, we can safely anticipate future confirmation by actual occurrence of all that Scriptural prophecy so precisely predicts for the End-Time!