Bible Prophecy: God's Affidavit

“If no one knows what will happen, who can tell him when it will happen?” (Ecclesiastes 8:7).  It is not unusual for people in legal proceedings or other official venues to execute what is known as an affidavit, a formal written statement that is signed by the author under oath or affirmation before an authorized official. So what does this have to do with Bible Prophecy?

The Bible makes numerous claims about itself. For example, it claims to be the Word of God and therefore perfect. David wrote, “The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple” (Psalm 19:7). He goes on to describe God’s word as being right, pure, clean, true, and righteous.

In the New Testament we are told, “All Scripture is inspired by God” (2 Tim. 3:16). Inspired means God-breathed, and since God, by His very nature is perfection, we know that He cannot breathe imperfection.  Sounds simple enough right?

It may sound simple but there is one problem. Other books, or so called sacred writings, make similar claims. I remember visiting a temple in India once and looking at a copy of the Bhagavad Gita, the most revered sacred writings of Hinduism. I shared with the attendant how I believe only the Bible is God’s word to us and he quickly responded, “This is the same thing.” 

I beg to differ and I would say the same thing about all other books that claim to be such. In fact, my challenge to those who make such claims about their sacred writings is straight forward: prove it! Only one problem—they can’t—I can. And it isn’t that I’m all that special—I’m not—but it is because I serve the True and Living God who has executed an affidavit of His own that the Bible is His divinely inspired word to you and me.

But wait! Who was the authorized official before whom He made this oath or affirmation? Himself: “For when God made the promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself” (Heb. 6:13). He said the same thing in the Old Testament: “Thus says the LORD, ‘If you can break My covenant for the day, and My covenant for the night, so that day and night will not be at their appointed time, then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant’” (Jer. 33:20-21a).

There is no higher authority than God so He issued His own affidavit and that affidavit is Bible prophecy. And when it comes to Bible prophecy the Bible bats one thousand! By the way, that’s a reference to a batting average in baseball meaning the batter has gotten a hit at every bat. Today it is an idiom that has come to mean a person is so successful he has never failed. God has never failed when it comes to predicting the future and Bible prophecy serves as Exhibit A that the Bible is His word to us.

John Walvoord points out “that every prophecy is related to other prophecies like the piece of a tapestry to the whole.” He also reminds us about the most significant fact concerning Bible prophecy: 

“Half of these prophecies—five hundred of them—have already been literally fulfilled, establishing beyond any intellectual question that the Bible was intended to be interpreted literally in prophetic passages.  Unmistakably, the evidence is overwhelming that God means exactly what He says as prophecy after prophecy has already been literally fulfilled. When history has run its course, every prophecy will be fulfilled.”

That, my friends, is more than a pretty good track record—it is perfect and on target—100% accuracy, 100% of the time, no exceptions!

This is important. It is important because our world is filled with groaners today. They groan on and on about the untrustworthiness of the Bible. We hear it in such statements as “The Bible is outdated” or “Jesus never said anything about gay marriage” or “The scriptures have been translated to the point of twisting their true meaning.” 

Things have gotten so bad that if one holds to a biblical definition of marriage or stands up for the rights of the unborn, he or she is written off as “uneducated” or “ignorant.”  I was really amused at a statement I read recently directed towards Christians who actually believe God when it comes to matters such as the sanctity of marriage: “At the end of the day, it’s a matter of justice and fairness. Nobody should need any help seeing that.” Oh really? I thought at the end of the day it was about what God has said which leads me to ask, do you want justice and fairness or do you want grace and mercy?

Yes, the attack on the Bible is alive and well. “Wake up and smell the coffee,” we are told. It reminds me of something I read several months ago about a fellow who sat in a Bible class at a “Christian” college where the professor announced on the very first day something to the effect of: “When it comes to the Bible, we don’t know what God said and what man said.” By the way, I attended the same college, sat in the same class, under the same professor, and was offered the same spoonful of manure. The only difference is I did not eat it because, like Paul, “I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day” (2 Tim. 1:12).

I thought at the end of the day it was about what God has said. Yes, it is and thankfully, we know what He has said. How do we know? Remember that 100% accuracy, 100% of the time rule? Jack Kinsella—now with Jesus—said it best:

“No body of literature in all history as been thoroughly studied, vetted, picked apart, argued and debated over as the Bible. Entire religions have sprung up for the express purpose of disproving the Bible; rationalists, atheists, humanists, etc.  Their entire doctrine depends on there being a Bible for them to reject. They don’t spend much time debating the sacred writings of other faiths – it is Christianity and the Bible that give their doctrine meaning. Most atheists, rationalists, humanists, etc., could find at least some common ground with most other world religions.  It is the Bible alone that raises their hackles and fires up their evangelistic fervor.”

Why their hackles and evangelistic fervor? It is simple, really. If the Bible is true then they are accountable to the one who gave it to us—the True and Living God. So maybe the ones who need to, “wake up and smell the coffee,” are all those who groan on and on about the supposed untrustworthiness of holy writ. The preponderance of evidence says the Bible—and only the Bible—is God’s word. 

It is true. It is without error. It is infallible. And it tells us one day soon—perhaps today—Jesus is going to return for His own. Then, those who have rejected, ridiculed, and ignored His word will get what they have longed for--justice and fairness.

God has executed His affidavit. He has done so through Bible prophecy, over half of which has already been literally fulfilled in history. Now much of what remains is seemingly coming to pass right before our eyes. Surely the Rapture is nearer now than it has ever been. 

What if the end is closer than you think? Wake up and smell the coffee! Forsake your sin and obey and embrace the gospel! “Behold, the judge is standing right at the door” (James 5:9).

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