Proving the Bible is Divine By Examining Its Prophetic Writings
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Table of Contents
Prophecies Concerning World History
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Introduction
Is the Bible true? Is it really the word of God? Do not all religions have sacred scripture that is just as valid as the Bible? These are questions we have all asked ourselves, regardless of our religious affiliation, or lack thereof. These are very important questions. Our understanding of the answer impacts the way we live and how we relate to others.
I would like to answer these questions flat out: yes, the Bible is true; yes, it really is the word of God; no, there is no other religion that has as its foundation sacred scripture comparative to the Bible. Now, there you have it. What is that you say? Prove it! Well, if you insist. I base my answers to the opening questions partially upon the prophet writings of the Bible. The Bible contains numerous prophesies about events far into the future-events verified by historical evidence. As a matter of fact, the Bible contains 1,817 prophecies. Twenty-seven percent of the Bible is prophecy! (1)
Other religions do not have specific, repeated, and unfailing fulfillment made many years in advance of contingent events over which the predictor had no control. (2)
Most of the events can be validated through sources as common as the Encyclopedia. There are, however, times where the events require sources that go into greater depth and detail than Encyclopedias and Dictionaries, which only provide a cursory look at events. The topics cover: (1) prophecies concerning Israel, (2) prophecies concerning Israel’s neighbors, (3) prophecies concerning world history, and (4) prophecies concerning Jesus.
Prophecies Concerning Israel
Israel is God’s chosen nation and much of the Bible is centered around her. Not surprisingly many of the prophecies in the Bible concern Israel.
Israel To Be Conquered By Assyria
The book of Leviticus was written by the prophet Moses around 1444 B.C. This was during the time that the children of Israel were wandering is the wilderness, before they even became a nation established in their own land. It was during this time that Moses prophesied the fate of Israel if they were not obedient to God, saying: “I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out my sword and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste, and your cities will lie in ruins” (Leviticus 26:33 NIV).
Here Moses clearly predicts the Israelites will be scattered among other nations as well as being in the land of their enemies. In 722 B.C., the Assyrian conqueror Sargon II, conquered Israel. He scattered 27,000 of its inhabitants among Mesopotamia and Media (3), fulfilling the prophecy hundreds of years after the prophet spoke.
Israel To Return To Their Land
The book of the prophet Jeremiah was completed around 586 B.C. At the time of his writings, Israel had ceased to be a nation for well over a hundred years. The nation had been destroyed and its people scattered among the other nations. They were assimilated by other peoples and disappeared from history (4). Yet this prophet prophesied what must have seemed impossible to the people of his day. He prophesied that the people of Israel will return to their land: “The days are coming, ‘ declares the LORD, ‘when I will bring my people Israel [emphasis mine] and Judah back from captivity and restore them to the land I gave their forefathers to posses, says the LORD” (Jeremiah 29:3 NIV).
Notice here that the prophet says “my people Israel and Judah.” He is referring to both kingdoms conquered. The people of Judah were released from captivity in 538 B.C. However, the re-population of Israel (northern kingdom) did not begin to occur until the eighteenth century(5), over 185 centuries after this prediction and death of the prophet.
Judah To Go Into Babylonian Exile
Both the prophets Isaiah and Micah predicted that the nation of Judah would go into Babylonian exile. The prophet Isaiah tells Hezekiah, the king of Judah: “The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD. And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon” (Isaiah 39:5-7 NIV).
In 586 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, conquered Jerusalem, capital of Judah. He striped the city of everything of value. His army burned the royal palace, temple, and many private homes. They destroyed the wall surrounding the city. Nearly all of the population was carried into exile.(6) Isaiah accurately predicted these events around 700 B.C., 114 years before the actual exile took place.
The prophet Micah also writes of the impending doom for Judah: “Writhe in agony, O Daughter of Zion, like a woman in labor, for now you must leave the city to camp in the open field. You will go to Babylon; there you will be rescued. There the LORD will redeem you out of the hand of your enemies” (Micah 3:10 NIV).
The book of Micah was written between 742-687, long before Babylon became a powerful empire. This prediction occurred 101-156 years before the event.
The People Would Return From Exile
Even before the exile began , God promised to free his people from the Babylonian rule that was about to come:
This is what the LORD says-your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself, who foils the signs of the false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense, who carries out the words of his servants and fulfills the predictions of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be inhabited,’ of the towns of Judah, ‘They shall be built, and of their ruins, ‘I will restore them,’ who says to the watery deep, ‘Be dry, and I will dry up your streams,’ who says of Cyrus [emphasis mine], ‘He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, “Let it be rebuilt,” and of the temple, “Let its foundations be laid.”‘
‘This is what the LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut: I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. (Isaiah 44:24-45:2 NIV)
This is an amazing prediction. Not only does the prophet Isaiah predict that God will deliver His people, he mentions their delivered by name! Here God makes it clear that He has chosen a deliverer named Cyrus to deliver his people from the bondage of the Babylonians. He also says that Cyrus will allow the people to rebuild their temple in Jerusalem. “Cyrus The Great” was born between 590 and 580 B.C. and became known as, conqueror of Persia. History clearly states that it was this Cyrus who overthrew the Babylonians in 539 B.C.(7) In 538, Cyrus released the captives from exile to return to their homeland and rebuild their city and sanctuary(8). In 536 B.C., they began work rebuilding the temple(9). This story is told in the book of Ezra. These events occurred exactly as Isaiah predicted, approximately 150 years after his prophecies were written.
Rebirth Of Israel As A Nation
The Assyrians had conquered the nation of Israel (northern kingdom) over 120 years before Ezekiel became a prophet. How strange it must have been to those listening when this prophet of God told the people that this very same Israel would one day be a nation again: “And say ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. I will make them one nation [emphasis mine] in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or divided into two kingdoms” (Ezekiel 28:21-22 NIV).
The prophet Isaiah give amplifying information about this prophecy concerning Israel becoming a nation once again. He predicts that it will happen suddenly, overnight: “Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children” (Isaiah 66:8 NIV).
This is exactly what happened more than 2,000 years after the prophet wrote these words. After much persecution around the world, Jews started returning to their homeland where they could feel safe. The migration began in the 1800’s and increased rapidly. Between 1922 and 1939, the Jewish population rose from 83,790 to 445,457. On May 14, the state of Israel was proclaimed and immediately recognized by the Soviet Union and the United States.(10) The new country consisted of one government ruled by one leader.
The significance of these predictions cannot be ignored. Israel ceased being a united kingdom in 930 B.C. Yet, these prophets predicted that not only would Israel rise again, but as a united nation. These events occurred thousands of years after Israel had been destroyed and it’s existence erased.
Prophecies Concerning Israel’s Neighbors
The Bible contains prophecies concerning almost every nation within a thousand miles of Jerusalem.(11) Every one of these nations had their entire history foretold in detail in the Bible.
Prophecy Against Tyre
Tyre was an import commercial seaport city during the time of the prophet Ezekiel. It was the principle seaport of the Phoenician coast and a world capital during the life of the prophet Ezekiel. Tyre was easily defended because it had a sea on the west, mountains on the east, and several rocky cliffs around it making it difficult for invaders.(12) Yet it was during its height of power that Ezekiel predicted its downfall.
Ezekiel predicted: (1) many nations would come against Tyre: “Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, O Tyre, and I will bring many nations against you, like the sea casting up its waves”; (Ezekiel 26:3 NIV) (2) Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar would be the first to attack: “For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: From the north I am going to bring against Tyre Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, with horsemen and a great army”; (Ezekiel 26:7 NIV) (3) Nebuchadnezzar would destroy the settlements and setup a siege against the city: “He will ravage your settlements on the mainland with the sword; he will set up siege works against you, build a ramp up to your walls and raise his shields against you”; (Ezekiel 26:8 NIV) (4) the city would not fall to Nebuchadnezzar: “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon drove his army in a hard campaign against Tyre; every head was rubbed bar and every shoulder made raw. Yet he and his army got no reward from the campaign he led against Tyre”; (Ezekiel 29:18 NIV) (5) Tyre’s walls and towers would be broken down: “They will destroy the walls of Tyre and pull down her towers; I will scrape away her rubble and make her a bare rock”; (Ezekiel 26:4 NIV) as well as: “He will direct the blows of his battering ramps against your walls and demolish our towers with his weapons”; (Ezekiel 26:9 NIV) (6) Tyre eventually would fall, it’s inhabitants killed, it’s stones, rubble, and timber would be thrown into the sea: “The hoofs of his horses will trample all your streets; he will kill your people with the sword, and your strong pillars will fall to the ground. 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”; (Ezekiel 26:11,12 NIV) (7) the city of Tyre would never be rebuilt: “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 26:14 NIV).
History is a witness that all of the prophecies came true. As predicted, many nations did come against Tyre. Some of the nations were the Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, Muslims, and Crusaders. The first was Nebuchadnezzar who laid siege to Tyre for a period of thirteen years. He also massacred all of the inhabitants except for those that escaped to an island fortress a half mile out on the Mediterranean Sea.(13) However, he was not able to capture all of Tyre.(14)
Years later in 332, Tyre fell to Alexander the Great. The Encyclopedia Britannia records this event “Probably the best-known episode in the history of Tyre was its resistance to the army of the Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great, who took it after a seven-month siege in 332. He completely destroyed the mainland portions of the town and used its rubble to build an immense causeway . . . to gain access to the island section. After the town’s capture, 10,000 inhabitants were put to death, and 30,000 were sold into slavery. Alexander’s causeway, which was never removed, converted the island into a peninsula.”(15)
Notice how item (6) states “They will break down your walls and demolish your fine houses and throw your stones, timber and rubble into the sea.” and history says that is exactly what Alexander did to conquer the island.
The most incredible prediction that Ezekiel made about Tyre was that it would never be rebuilt. This is incredible considering it is located on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It also contains the Springs of Reselain, which pump ten million gallons of fresh water daily, which is more than enough to take care of the needs of a modern city.(16) Yet after a number of invasions, history tells us that after the city fell to the Muslim Mamluks in 1291, it never recovered to it’s former importance.(17) Today Tyre has become a place for the drying of fishermen’s nets-just as the prophet said 2,500 years ago.(18)
Prophecy Against Sidon
Sidon is an ancient Phoenician city on the Mediterranean coast of northern Palestine.(19) The book of Ezekiel pronounces the following judgment on this city: “The word of the LORD came to me: ‘Son of man, set your face against Sidon; prophesy against her and say: “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: ‘I am against you, O Sidon, and I will gain glory within you. They will know that I am the LORD, when I inflict punishment on her and show myself holy with her. I will send a plague upon her and make blood flow in her streets. The slain will fall within her with the sword against her on every side. Then they will know that I am the LORD'” (Ezekiel 28:2-23 NIV).
In fulfillment of the prophecy, Sidon rebelled against the Persian king Artaxerxes Ochus. In 345 B.C., Artaxerxes marched against Sidon.(20) Rather than submitting to the vengeance of Persia, 40,000 citizens shut themselves up with their wives and children and set their dwellings on fire in an act of suicide.(21)
In addition, the city was ruled in turn by Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, Alexander the Great, the Seleucids of Syria, the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt, and the Romans.(22)
Unlike the prophecy of its neighbor Tyre, no doom or extinction was pronounced against her. History records that although it was conquered and destroyed several times, Sidon was always rebuilt. It survives as an important city to this day.
The book of Ezekiel containing this prophecy was written around 571 B.C., yet the prophet foretold it’s future hundreds of years in advance.
Prophecy Against Edom
Edom was a neighboring hostile nation to Israel. Throughout the Bible the two nations were in constant conflict. The prophet Ezekiel writes: “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: ‘Because Edom took revenge on the house of Judah and became very guilty by doing so, therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will stretch out my hand against Edom and kill its men and their animals. I will lay it waste, and from Teman to Dedan they will fall by the sword. I will take vengeance on Edom by the hand of my people Israel, and they will deal with Edom in accordance with my anger and my wrath; they will know my vengeance, declares the Sovereign LORD'” (Ezekiel 25:12-14 NIV).
The prophet Jeremiah also prophesied the demise of the nation and it’s inhabitants: “But I will strip Esau [Edom] bare; I will uncover his hiding places, so that he cannot conceal himself. His children, relatives and neighbors will perish, and he will be no more” (Jeremiah 49:10 NIV).
Jeremiah prophesied further against the nation of Edom saying “Like a lion coming up from Jordan’s thickets to a rich pastureland, I will chase Edom from it’s land in an instant. Who is like me and who can challenge me? And what shepherd can stand against me?” (Jeremiah 49:19 NIV).
History has proven both prophets correct. Some time after this prophecy, Edom was conquered by the Nabataeans.(23) As a result, the people left for southern Judea; fulfilling “I will chase Edom from it’s land in an instant,” just as the prophet Jeremiah said in his book, which was written around 571 B.C.
The final blow came to its descendants by the nation of Israel just as the prophet Ezekiel said. John Hyrcanus I, high priest and ruler of the Jewish nation from 135/134 to 104 B.C., conquered the territories of Edom and forced them to convert to Judaism.(24) Thus the land of Edom perished along with its identity as a nation and people. The book of Jeremiah was written between 627-586 B.C., hundreds of years before the Hyrcanus was born.
Prophecies Concerning World History
The book of Genesis gives an account of the beginning of the world, while the book of Revelation gives an account of the end and beyond. In between, there are many prophecies concerning the fate of many nations. An outline of world history is given in the Bible.
Rise And Fall Of Babylon
Isaiah delivered prophecies concerning Babylon more than a century before it had risen to power, and, while the nation was still in obscurity with no indication of its coming greatness.(25) Not only that, but the prophet also predicts its downfall to the Medes, even before its rise to power: “See, I will sir up against them the Medes, who do not care for silver and have no delight in gold. Their bows will strike down the young men; they will have no mercy on infants nor will they look with compassion on children. Babylon, the jewel of the Babylonians pride, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah. She will never be inhabited or lived in through all generations; no Arab will pitch his tent there, no shepherd will rest his flocks there” (Isaiah 13:17-20 NIV).”
The prophet gave even more details about Babylon’s fall: “[Babylon] Both of these will overtake you in a moment, on a single day: loss of children and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and all your potent spells . . . . Disaster will come upon you, that you cannot ward off with a ransom; a catastrophe you cannot foresee will suddenly come upon you” (Isaiah 47:9,11 NIV).
Both events occurred in 539 B.C., 142 years after the prophecy was written when the Persians and Medes walked into Babylon with little or no resistance(26).
Rise And Fall Of Persia
The prophets not only accurately foretold the rise of the Persian empire, but also about its rulers as well as its downfall. An angle tells Daniel about the future kings of the Persian empire: “Now then, I tell you the truth: Three more kings will appear in Persia, and then a fourth, who will be far richer than all the others. When he has gained power by his wealth, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece” (Daniel 7:2 NIV).
This is exactly what history teaches happened. The three kings that succeeded the current king (Cyrus II) where Cambyses II (527-522 ), Smerdis (the pretender, 522), and Darius I, Hystaspis (522-485). The fourth king was Xerxes. Xerxes did turn his attention to Greece. He invaded Greece in 480 B.C. In what is became known as the Greco-Persian war of Xerxes, 480-479.(27)
The prophet also sees a vision that predicts the fall of the Medes to the Greeks: “As I was thinking about this, suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between his eyes came from the west, crossing the whole earth without touching the ground. He came toward the two-horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and charged at him in a great rage. I saw him attack the ram furiously, striking the ram and shattering his two horns. The ram was powerless to stand against him; the goat knocked him to the ground and trampled on him, and none could rescue the ram from his power” (Daniel 8:5-7 NIV).
The angel gives the interpretation a few verses later : “The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia. The shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and large horn between his eyes is the first king” (Daniel 8:20-21 NIV). It could not possibly be clearer. The Medes were to fall at the hand of the Greeks and their first king, who was Alexander the Great. This is exactly what happened, Alexander the Great conquered the Medo-Persian Empire around 330 B.C., over two hundred years after Daniel’s prophecy.(28)
Rise And Fall Of Greece
Daniel prophesied the rise of Alexander the Great and the great power he will have: ” Then a mighty king will appear, who will rule with great power and do as he pleases” (Daniel 11:3).
Alexander was a mighty king and conqueror. During his short twelve year reign, he conquered most of the known world. He defeated the greatly superior Persian forces. Most of the Mediterranean coast yielded to his great army without a fight. Alexander subdued all of Asia Minor and conquered the entire country of Egypt.(29)
The book of Daniel not only tells about the rise of this great king, but also about the demise of the Greek empire and this great king. The angle tells the prophet the fate of Alexander’s empire after Alexander’s death around 323 B.C.(30) “After he has appeared, his empire will be broken up and parceled out toward the four winds of heaven. It will not go to his descendants, nor will it have the power he exercised, because his empire will be uprooted and given to others” (Daniel 11:4 NIV). The angle also tells Daniel: “The goat became very great, but at the height of his power his large horn was broken off, and in its place four prominent horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven” (Daniel 8:8 NIV).
After his death, Alexander’s empire was divided between four of his generals. The resulting four weaker nations were: (1) Egypt (2) Babylonia and Syria (3) Asia Minor and (4) Macedon and Greece.(31) The empire was uprooted and given to other just like the prophet said. The prophet Daniel wrote these events around 535 B.C., over two hundred years before the events occurred.
Prophecies Concerning Jesus
The Bible contains more than 127 fulfilled prophecies about life of Christ.(32)
Time Of Death
Around the 5th century, the prophet Daniel prophesied the coming of Jesus as well as the very year and month of his death: “Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be cut off, but not for himself . . . .” (Daniel 9:25-26 NIV).
Other scripture makes it clear that the “sevens” refer to a seven year periods. Leviticus tells us that Israel used this method of counting years: “Count off seven sabbaths of years-seven times seven years-so that the seven sabbaths of years amount to a period of forty-nine years” (Leviticus 25:8 NIV). As we can see here, this was a customary manner of reckoning time.
When we calculate the number of years , we have (7 x 7) + (62 x 7)= 483 years between the issuing of the decree and the Anointed One being “cut off.” The Hebrew word translated “cut off” is the common word used in the Mosaic Law and simple means “to be killed.”
This is exactly what happened. If we start our counting beginning in the year that the Babylonian King Artaxerxes gave the official decree and authorization to rebuild the city of Jerusalem, we come to April of the year 446 B.C.(33) If we take into consideration the differences in the Jewish calendar, the number of years predicted becomes 476,(34)bringing us to A.D. April 30. When we also take into consideration that when the division between time B.C. and time A.D. was made in the 6th century of our era, a mistake of four years was made, the year A.D. 1 was really the A.D. 5. So the year A.D. 30 in our chronology was really the year of our Lord’s death,(35) just as predicted 500 years before the event.
Manner Of Death
The prophet Isaiah predicted that Christ would suffer a violent death. Isaiah says: “By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken” (Isaiah 53:8). He also says: “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).
This is exactly what happened to Jesus as reported by the Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus (ca. 55-120 A.D.). He has been called the “greatest historian” of ancient Rome, and generally acknowledged among scholars for his moral integrity and essential goodness.(36) In his work the Annals, written around A.D. 115, Tacitus made this comment concerning Jesus: “. . . Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurator, Pontius Pilatus . . .”(37) According to Tacitus, Jesus was killed. Consequently, the death of Jesus is a historical fact.
Not only does Tacitus document the fact that Jesus died, he also gives us details concerning his death: ” It is scarcely fanciful to suggest that when he adds that ‘A most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out’ he is bearing indirect and unconscious testimony to the conviction of the early church that the Christ who had been crucified had risen from the grave.”(38)
We can see from this statement clear documented evidence that Jesus Christ was crucified on a cross. Taking both statements from Tacitus, we can see that the prophecy in Isaiah concerning the Messiah dying a violent death did occur and is a matter of historical record. Isaiah predicted these events almost 700 years before they occurred around A.D. 32.
Conclusion
It should be clear from the evidence presented here that the Bible is trustworthy and that the prophets of the Bible speak for God. The very nature of the prophecies and the climate in which the prophets spoke should remove any suspicion of luck or coincidence. There are far many more prophesies mentioned in the Bible, just as incredible as the ones mentioned in this article. Most significantly, all of the prophecies of the Bible occurred exactly as prophesied by these men of God. Our modern so called psychics would like you to believe they can tell the future. The truth of the matter is that they fail far more that they succeed in their predictions. If anyone make enough predictions, they are bound to get some correct.
The accuracy for true prophets of God is one hundred percent. As a matter of fact, according to the Bible, the penalty for being false prophet, or even giving a single false prophecy, was death (Deuteronomy 18:20). Only God knows the future, He knows it because He knows all things. Time is simply a property of the universe. “God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). It follows then that its limitations or properties do not bind God. He can see into the future and the past at the same time.
It is true that other religions do have beautifully written scriptures filled with wisdom. So does the works of Shakespeare. The validity of a religion should not be based upon these things, but whether it is the word of God and whether its origin is truly divine. The prophetic writings of the Bible clearly demonstrate that the Bible is the divine word of God.
Having said these things, I will once again, answer the questions posed to you in the beginning of this paper, now having provided support for my position. Yes, the Bible is true; yes, it really is word of God; no, there is no other religion that has as its foundation sacred scripture comparative to the Bible.
End Notes
1. Barton J Payne, Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1980), 681.
2. Dr. Norman Geisler, AP1: Introduction to Apologetics, excerpts by the author, cassestte.
3. Albert Edward Bailey and Charles Foster Kent, History Of The Hebrew Commonwealth, (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1935), 197.
4. Encyclopedia Britannica, s.v. “Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.”, [Online], Available:< http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/printable/9/0,5722,71659,00.html. > [12 February 2000].
5. Encyclopedia Britannica, s.v. “Israel, history of.”, [Online], Available:< http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/printable/5/0,5722,106445,00.html. > [12 Feburary 2000].
6. Albert Edward Bailey and Charles Foster Kent, History of the Hebrew Commonwealth (New York: Charles Scribners’s Sons, 1949), 248.
7. Encyclopedia Britannica, s.v. “Cyrus II.”, [Online], Available:< http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/printable/3/0,5722,28433,00.html. > [1 January 2000].
8. Bailey and Kent, History of Hebrew Commonwealth, 269.
9. Ibid., 273.
10. Encyclopedia Britannica, “Israel, History of”.
11. Hank Hanegraaff, “Fufilled Prophecy as an Apologetic”, Christian Research Journal 12 (Fall 1989) : 7.
12. Herbert Locker, Illustrated Dictionary of the Bible (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1986), 1077.
13. Hanegraaff, 7.
14. Encyclopedia Britannica, s.v. “Tyre.”, [Online], Available:< http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/printable/6/0,5722,74016,00.html. > [17 January 2000].
15. Ibid.
16. Hanegraaff, 7.
17. Encyclopedia Britannica, “Tyre”.
18. Hanegraaff, 7.
19. Herbert Locker, Illustrated Dictionary of the Bible (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1986), 989.
20. Encyclopedia Britannica, s.v. “Artaxerxes.”, [Online], Available:< http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/printable/5/0,5722,9675,00.html. > [21 January 2000]. 21. John Urquhart, The Wonders Of Prophecy (New York: Christian Alliance Publishing Company, [1925]), 20.
22. Encyclopedia Britannica, s.v. “Sidon.”, [Online], Available:< http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/printable/0/0,5722,67650,00.html. > [21 January 2000].
23. Encyclopedia Britannica, s.v. “Edom.”, [Online], Available:< http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/printable/9/0,5722,32019,00.html. > [25 January 2000].
24. Encyclopedia Britannica, s.v. “John Hyrcanus I.”, [Online], Available:< http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/printable/7/0,5722,43837,00.html. > [25 January 2000].
25. John F. Walvoord, The Nations in Prophecy (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1967) 63.
26. Encyclopedia Britannica, s.v. “Babylon.”, [Online], Avaiable:< http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/printable/8/0,5722,11618,00.html. > [27 Decemeber 1999].
27. Payne, 389.
28. Walvoord, 77.
29. Ibid.
30. George Rawlinson, Ancient History (New York: The Colonial Press, 1900),164.
31. Ibid., 79.
32. Payne, 389.
33. Urquhart, 205.
34. The Hebrew year consisted of 360 days. Multiplying 483 by 360 we get the entire number of days. We then change them into calendar years by dividing the result by 365.
35. Urquhart, 206.
36. Gary R. Habermas, Ancient Evidence for the Life of Jesus (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1984), 87.
37. Cornelius Tacitus (A.D. 55?–after 117), Annals 15.44.
38. Ibid.
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