Is The Bible Really God's Word?

“In the first year of Darius…ruler over the Babylonian kingdom-in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years” (Daniel 9:1-2). Is the Bible really God’s word? After all, there are numerous books in existence today that claim to be the word of God. Therefore, what’s so unique about the Bible? Why has it been the all-time best seller in all of history? The answer is simple—because it is exactly what it claims to be—the word of the Living God. It is the word of God to the exclusion of all other writings that claim to be such. These excluded writings would include the Book of Mormon, the Koran, the Hindu Vedras, the writings of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and the sayings of Confucius or Buddha, just to name a few. One of the primary reasons we know all these other writings are not God’s word is because they cannot prove themselves to be such. The Bible on the other hand has authenticated itself to be of divine inspiration—the very word of God. It has done this through its prophecies. Prophecy makes up at least one-third of the Bible. No other book that forms the basis of a religion contains prophecy. So whereas it would take a foolish, misguided and blind faith to believe in all these other writings, one’s faith in the Bible as God’s word is rooted in sound, historical fact.

There are many prophecies in the Bible. One scholar has indicated there are over one thousand prophecies in the Bible about half of which have already been literally fulfilled. Some of these prophecies are Messianic in nature—they speak of the person and work of Jesus Christ. There are more than 300 of these Messianic prophecies about His First Coming. Some of them appear more than once so if we gather them together, counting them only once we end up with 108 prophecies that are separate and unique. All 108 were fulfilled in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ—a mathematical impossibility when one considers the probability of one person fulfilling them all. One of these prophecies tells us Jesus will be born in “Bethlehem Ephrathah” (Micah 5:2). That prophecy was given more than 700 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Often overlooked is the precision of this prophecy. It does not simply tell us Jesus will be born in Bethlehem. It says, “Bethlehem Ephrathah.” When Micah wrote this prophecy there were two Bethlehems in Israel—one in the north near the Sea of Galilee, and the other in the south near Jerusalem, in the area known as Ephrathah. How’s that for prophetic accuracy and precision?

Another amazing prophecy—one I believe to be amazing beyond compare and the greatest of all prophecies—can be found in Daniel 9 where Daniel wrote that the Messiah would present Himself publically as the Messiah of Israel on a certain day. This certain day would fall 173,880 days after a certain decree was issued to “restore and rebuild Jerusalem” (Daniel 9:25). This decree was issued by Artaxerxes on March 5, 445 B.C. 173,880 days later, on April 6, 32 A.D., Jesus entered Jerusalem as the Messiah of Israel (Luke 19:28-44). There are many other prophecies found in the Bible that verify the Bible is indeed the word of God. These include prophecies about the regatherinng of the Jewish people from the four corners of the earth (Isaiah 11:11-12) which began in the 20th Century and continues to this day; the re-establishment of the nation of Israel (Isaiah 66:7-8; Ezekiel 37:21-22) which occurred on May 14, 1948; all the nations of the world coming together against Israel over the issue of the control of Jerusalem (Zechariah 12:1-3) which is occurring before our very eyes on the evening news! All these prophecies the Bible says would take place in the last days, right before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

As a Christian, I find the fulfillment of these prophecies very exciting and encouraging. When most people, many of whom claim to followers of Christ, are expressing fear over the things that are coming upon the world today, I am encouraged. I am encouraged because things are happening just as the Bible predicted—proof positive that the Bible, and only the Bible, is the inspired, infallible, and inerrant word of God. All geo-political trends and events in nature indicate that Jesus will return for His Church at any moment. So for believers, we need not fear. We should be ready for His soon return while telling others how to be saved. For unbelievers, the situation is grim. God’s judgment will soon fall upon this world and all those who have rejected Christ will find themselves in a predicament that could have been avoided—in fact it can be avoided—by placing your faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.