Who is God?
The quest to find God has filled millions of volumes
throughout history. This quest for God translates into
our search for meaning. Why do we need to know, who God
is? Because, once we
find God, we might understand the meaning of our life.
Is there life beyond this life? What is our purpose? If
we can find God, we can answer these questions. The
question is can we find God?
Logically, we can prove the greater probability of God’s
existence. By reason and logic, we know the universe is
finite. We also know it was “Caused” in
the past. The depletion of energy (2nd
law of Thermodynamics), the Radiation Echo,
The Law of Relativity and the universe’s
expansion all point to a finite universe.
In addition, the complexity of life
requires, a First Cause, God to exist. Cell
intricacy, infrastructure, DNA and cellular
communications all defy laws of probability, logically
demonstrating the need of an intelligent designer.
Evolution, the alternative to intelligent
design, is dependent on “accidental gene mutation”,
which can logically be eliminated based on
improbability. Logically, we can conclude the
probability of God (The First Cause); outweighs His
non-existence.
Is
it logical to think man can find out who is God?
We may be able to see evidence of God’s
existence and some of his attributes by using reason,
but unless God chooses to reveal Himself, we will always
be limited to our senses. If God created the Heavens
with an expanse measuring more then 15 billion light
years,
and the smallest living thing, a cell, still beyond our
understanding, it is only logical to assume our
knowledge of God is limited to the extent of His
revelation. If He made the eyes to see, and the ears to
hear, it would be logical to conclude that unless He
chooses us to know Him we could not.
Has
God revealed Himself?
If God revealed Himself, can we use logic
find Him? Truth is that which corresponds to
reality. Again, it would be logical to think the facts
of reality correspond to God’s existence. Our
understanding of God’s identity is dependent on God’s
revelation of Himself. If we examine the faiths of the
world, can we use reason and logic to discover truth? On
the other hand, is faith separate from reason?
Is
faith separate from reason and logic?
To understand the connection between faith
and reason we need to define the terms, faith and
reason. Faith means to trust in that which is unseen.
Reason translated in Greek, as “Logos”, means plan or
word. Reason is the systematic assembling of facts,
plan, to arrive at a conclusion.
For many the term faith is strictly a
religious, term while science is associated reason and
logic. However, someone does not need to be religious
to operate on faith. Faith is required for any living
rational being. Without faith, even the most ardent
atheist could do no more then stand in a corner and wait
for reality. Let us look at some examples of how faith
operates.
Flying
in an airplane
If
Joe Atheist, wanted to leave Cleveland and go to Hawaii,
Joe would more then likely choose to go via an airline.
Faith, means to put trust in the unseen. Joe will use
reason to understand that airplanes fly. Joe will
probably connect several points of reason.
-
He has seen planes fly.
-
He has read about how planes fly.
-
He has friends who fly.
-
He has experienced flight.
Using this collection of facts Joe, believes
that if he enters an airplane in Cleveland he will be
able to fly and land in Hawaii. Joe has faith he will
be able to fly to Hawaii, faith is confirmed when it
becomes reality. Joe does not know as fact, he
will arrive in Hawaii he has faith. The airplane could
crash, Hawaii might not have room for the plane, and Joe
could die on the plane before it arrives. Joe is
operating on probability, obtained from reasoning with
the facts. The high probability gives credence to his
faith. This probability with reason is the basis of his
faith in his plan to fly to Hawaii.
Belief in Santa
The child who believes in Santa Claus as the
source of gifts on Christmas is based on the credibility
of the child’s parents. The child reasons thus:
·
My parents tell me what is right and wrong
·
My parents words have become reality in the past
·
My parents tell me, Santa is real and will bring me
presents.
·
I have presents therefore Santa must be real.
The child has faith that Santa exists and is real. This
faith is based on the parent’s credibility, and the
experience of receiving presents. The child has faith
that is reasoned and logical. However, if the child
could examine the facts, (correspondence with reality)
the child would see his parents as the source of
presents.
If we observe the different religions of
the world, many claiming revelations from God, (First
Cause) is there a logical way to determine which is
true. Not all religions can be true since they
contradict each other (Law of Non-contradiction). Truth
is the correspondence to facts. Since, truth
corresponds to fact, logically if God would reveal
Himself, his revelation would also correspond to fact.
This is in contrast to the idea of blind-faith.
Blind faith is faith without evidence, which would be
superstition. The Bible does not call us to blind faith.
The Bible calls us to faith in evidence. Various truth
claims, including Christianity, can be evaluated on
evidence.
Types of Evidence
Encyclopedia Britannica defines evidence as,
Evidence in law, any of the material items or
assertions of fact that may be submitted to a competent
tribunal as a means of ascertaining the truth of any
alleged matter of fact under investigation before it.
The
Depart of Justice defines evidence
as,
Information presented in testimony or in documents that
is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to
decide the case for one side or the other.
In
addition, The American Heritage Dictionary of the
English language defines evidence as
The
data on which a judgment or conclusion may be based, or
by which proof or probability may be established.
Evidence
comes from the word “Evident” which means easily
recognizable or perceived. Evidence is the data used to
prove a case; the evidence should correspond with
reality (Truth).
We could classify evidence for the existence
of God into four main classifications with several
subcategories.
·
Objective Evidence:
is
concerned with material evidence as opposed to a mental
concept idea or belief. This type of evidence can be
categorized into several categories
1.
Historical:
Evidence, which is a part of history and verified
through actual locations, events, tombs, documents and
witnesses.
Example; The Roman empire’s conquest of Jerusalem is
documented Roman history, verified in the Arch of Titus
in Rome.
2.
Archeology:
is systematic recovery by scientific methods of material
evidence remaining from man’s life and culture.
Example: The discovery of the Black Obelisk of
Shalmaneser which shows Jehu, King of Israel bowing and
paying tribute to the Assyrian King Shalmaneser.
3.
Documentary:
is anything serving as evidence or proof, as a material
substance bearing a revealing symbol or mark.
Example: The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls verified
the textual integrality of the oldest existing Hebrew
manuscripts.
4.
Scientific:
is the observation, identification, description,
experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation
of natural phenomena.
Example: The radiation echo demonstrates the
universe is finite and therefore has a cause.
·
Eyewitness Accounts
Testimonies: this is often part of a documentary
evidence since many times eyewitness accounts become
part of the written record.
Example: Jesus appeared to the 11 disciples after his
resurrection, their testimonies of this are recorded in
the scripture.
·
Subjective Evidence:
Is
concerned with emotions and environment and takes place
within a person’s mind. For example to have a vision or
dream is personal and subjective to the individual.
Subjective evidence is not objectively verified, since
no one can enter a person’s mind and verify.
1.
Emotions: Evidence based on a feelings and emotions.
Example: When I read the Bible, my spirit is calm.
2.
Experience: Evidence based on personal experience.
Example: I prayed that God would heal me of cancer, and
my last doctor’s visit showed the cancer was completely
gone.
·
Super-natural Objective Evidence:
Pertaining to evidence, which is outside the natural
world; and especially not attributable to natural
forces.
Prophecy:
The foretelling of events before their occurrence
demonstrates super-natural knowledge about future
events.
Example: The destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple was
foretold in the book of Daniel (Daniel 9:27) over 600
years before the event.
Verified Miracles: are
Events occurring outside the natural order of things,
such as raising somebody from the death. Naturally,
people once they die do not come back to life.
Example: The Resurrection of Jesus after He was
crucified.
What Tests could we apply to discover the Truth?
The population of the Earth is now well over 6
Billion people. There are over 20 major religions
and hundreds of subsets, is there any way to use
reason, logic and evidence to find the truth?
Based on Logic, we come to several conclusions;
·
We know we exit.
·
We are aware of our existence
·
We can logically deduce there is cause for the
universe.
·
We can logically deduce there is intelligent design.
·
We can logically deduce that unless the
First Cause and Intelligent Designer
wanted us to know about Him, we could not.
Therefore, we can deduce knowledge about
the First Cause, a.k.a God, is revealed in the
world. To assume we cannot know God, would mean we
know something about God.
Can we use Logic, reason and evidence to discover
who God is?
Characteristics define who we are. Birds are
identified by feathers and beaks, fish by scales,
fins and water, and man by intelligence,
communication and domination. We can logically
deduce characteristics of God from logic,
Super-intelligent, Very powerful, and outside of the
natural order. If God were to reveal of Himself, it
would be logical to assume it would be outside of
nature, in other words Super-natural.
Logically speaking we should be able to compare the
truth claims of “Reveled works”
to corresponding reality. Is there a logical test
for revealed works that claim to have divine origin.
The Test of A Prophet
A prophet is someone who claims to speak for the
“First Cause”, God. Is there a logical test for such
a claim? The Bible has a test, of “Revealed” words
that would not only apply to the Bible but to any
book, claiming “Super-natural” inspiration.
17“And
the LORD said to me: ‘What they have spoken is good.
18I will raise up for them a Prophet like
you from among their brethren, and will put My words
in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I
command Him. 19And it shall be that
whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in
My name, I will require it of him. 20But
the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name,
which I have not commanded him to speak, or who
speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall
die.’ 21And if you say in your heart,
‘How shall we know the word which the LORD has not
spoken?’— 22when a prophet speaks in
the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen
or come to pass, that is the thing which the
LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it
presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.
Deuteronomy 18:17-22
The logic is simple, if God is the source of the
revelation and God is beyond nature, then God would
not be subject error. Since God is inerrant, his
revealed words could also be expected to be without
error. If someone claims to speak for God, but his
claimed revelation is not fulfilled, then speaker is
lying. The “prophets” words do not correspond with
reality
The
future foretold in the past
Its easier to claim to know the future then to prove
the claim. If someone told you the lottery number 3
days in advance and gave the right number most
people would acknowledge three options are
available.
-
You guessed the right number
-
You conspired with lottery
-
You have super-natural information
If the feat can be repeated a 2nd and 3rd
time without deception, then it would be logical to
accept a super-natural cause to the information.
The Bible claims super-natural evidence of
inspiration, separating it from any other book. The
ability to proclaim the future in the past.
If the Bible is a revelation from God, then it
should have characteristics that can only be
attributed to God. The ability to proclaim details
of future events is outside of nature. Its
super-natural, to proclaim what the future will
be, such an ability is outside of natural realm.
6“Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel,And
his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts:‘I am the
First and I am the Last;Besides Me there is
no God.7And who can proclaim as I do?Then
let him declare it and set it in order for
Me,Since I appointed the ancient people.And
the things that are coming and shall
come,Let them show these to them.
8Do not fear, nor be afraid;Have I not told
you from that time, and declared it?You are
My witnesses. Is there a God besides Me?
Indeed there is no other Rock;I know not
one.’” Isaiah 44:7-8
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9Remember the former things of old,For I am
God, and there is no other;I
am God, and there is none like Me,
10Declaring the end from the beginning,And
from ancient times things that are not yet
done,Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,And I
will do all My pleasure,’ Isaiah 46:9-10
3“I
have declared the former things from the
beginning;
They went forth from My mouth, and I caused
them to hear it. Suddenly I did them,
and they came to pass.4Because
I knew that you were obstinate,And
your neck was an iron sinew,And your
brow bronze,5Even
from the beginning I have declared it
to you;Before
it came to pass I proclaimed it to
you,Lest
you should say, ‘My idol has done them,And
my carved image and my molded imageHave
commanded them.’ Isaiah 48:3-5
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If the Bible is God’s revealed word then we can
look for characteristics fitting only with God’s
nature.
-
Revealed words come to past (Super-natural
objective evidence)
-
The ability to proclaim the future in the
past (Super-nature objective evidence)
-
Correspondence with reality (Truth)
Does the Bible pass the Test?
The Bible is a book revolving around
facts. We can compare the Bible to
corresponding reality. Was there a King
Cyrus of Persia? Can we verify this fact outside
of the Bible? Yes, we can actually go and visit
the tomb of Cyrus of Persia, who is spoken about
in 2 Chronicles, Isaiah, Daniel and Ezra as an
historical figure. This fact is confirmed to
correspond with the Bible. Cyrus’ Tomb can be
classified, as an “Objective Archeological”
evidence the Bible is true.
The Bible records an Assyrian invasion of
Jerusalem during Hezekiah’s reign, (Isaiah
36-37, 2 Chronicles 32, 2 Kings 18-19) can this
fact be substantiated outside of the Bible?
Yes, we have an Assyrian document known as the
Sennacherib Prism that records details of the
invasion from the Assyrian viewpoint in 701 BC
when Hezekiah was King of Judah. This evidence
would be an “Objective Document” affirming
“Objective Historical” evidence about Assyrian
invasion of Judah.
These are just a few instances, which can be
multiplied thousands of times confirming the
correspondence of historical, and archeological
facts in the bible.
The facts of the matter are that the
Bible is absolutely the most reliable book of
antiquity. And archaeological discoveries,
which have really come into prominence only in
the last 25-40 years, have persistently and
consistently supported historical declarations
of the Scriptures. Nelson Gulik, a renowned
Jewish archaeologist, has made this statement:
"No archaeological discovery has ever
controverted a biblical reference."
However, if the Bible were just a
history book this would be stupendous, but
hardly proof of inspiration, this is what is
expected of what is true. The Bible in fact
goes beyond the claim of just being truthful on
historical information. The Bible makes the
claim of “Super-natural” objective
evidence.
Super-natural Objective Evidence, Some examples
The creation of the state of Israel,
involved the gathering after almost 2000 of the
Jewish people from all over the world. This
event was foretold many times in scripture as a
future part of Israel’s destiny, along with the
promise that Israel would be scattered first
then gathered.
Promise of Scattering and Gathering of
Descendents of Jacob 1400 BC.
64“Then
the LORD will scatter you among all peoples,
from one end of the earth to the other, and
there you shall serve other gods, which neither
you nor your fathers have known—wood and stone.
65And among those nations you
shall find no rest, nor shall the sole of your
foot have a resting place; but there the
LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing
eyes, and anguish of soul. 66Your
life shall hang in doubt before you; you shall
fear day and night, and have no assurance of
life. 67In the morning you shall say,
‘Oh, that it were evening!’ And at evening you
shall say, ‘Oh, that it were morning!’ because
of the fear which terrifies your heart, and
because of the sight which your eyes see.
Deuteronmy 28:64-67
3that
the LORD your God will bring you back from
captivity, and have compassion on you, and
gather you again from all the nations where
the LORD your God has scattered you. 4If
any of you are driven out to the farthest
parts under heaven, from there the LORD
your God will gather you, and from there He will
bring you. 5Then the LORD your God
will bring you to the land which your fathers
possessed, and you shall possess it. He will
prosper you and multiply you more than your
fathers. Deuteronmy 30:3-5
Ezekiel
writes the Israel will be gathered from many
nations after a long period of time. 590 BC.
8After
many days you will be visited. In the latter
years you will come into the land of those
brought back from the sword and
gathered from many people on the mountains
of Israel, which had long been desolate;
they were brought out of the nations, and
now all of them dwell safely. Ezekiel 38:
The assembling of Israel from the nations after
many years was a super-natural revelation that
was fulfilled 2500 to 3400 years after Ezekiel
and Deuteronomy. There were only two times in
Israel’s history they were gathered after they
were scattered. The first time followed the
Babylonian captivity in 537 BC, and the second
occurred in the 20th century
involving the founding of the State of Israel.
Seventy-Weeks of Daniel
This
is just one of many prophecies we could classify
as “Super-natural objective” evidence the Bible
is revealed from God, the First Cause. One of
the more detailed prophecies, the Seventy
weeks of Daniel give us the exact day which
The Messiah would be rejected by Israel, and
later be killed. Following His death, the city
of Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed
this occurred in 70 AD.
When we examine the accuracy of the
super-natural objective evidence along with
the historical, archeological and documentary
evidence, we are forced to the conclusion that
the Bible is God’s revelation.
In the example of the airplane, you can know the
airplane flies, you can study how the airplane
flies, you can talk to people how have flown in
airplanes but still you need faith to believe
the airplane will take you to the desired
location. Trusting the Bible’s words also
requires faith; however, this is not “Blind
faith”. Faith in the Bible is based on both
objective and “Super natural objective”
evidence. Since the Bible’s words are correct,
telling its readers’ about events thousands of
years before they occurred, we can trust its
words about our eternal destiny. You can study
the Bible, visit the locations, read the Bible
in the original languages but you still need to
make a choice if you will put your eternal
destiny in the “Revealed word” of God.
Web sites of interest
http://www.gospelcom.net/faithfacts/quest_blind_faith.html
http://www.christiananswers.net/archaeology/home.html
http://www.biblelight.org/arch1.htm
http://www.bib-arch.org/
http://www.israelmybeloved.com/history_prophecy/intro/index.htm
http://contenderministries.org/prophecy/endtimes.php
Objective-Evidence |
Description of Evidence |
Importance of the Evidence |
Objective Historical Israel and
Judah.
As
a nation and people Israel and Judah
have an objective history with kings,
cities, wars and dealings with other
nations. The bible revolves around the
formation of Israel and Judah and their
interaction with God and mankind around
them.
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Today we can go to the cities and towns
of ancient Israel. We can investigate
buildings, roads, mountains and rivers
and compare them to the historical
writings. By using Archeology we can
place the history under a microscope.
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We can compare the historical records of
other nations and writers with the
history of Israel. We can corroborate
facts to the bible records. People
such as Rameses II of Egypt,
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Cyrus
the great are all historical figures
that interacted with Israel and the
Jewish people. We can compare the
objective evidence, what the writers of
these nations say to what the bible
says about the same events.
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Objective Historical Persian History
The
nation of Israel and the nation of
Persia of come into contact with each
other from 539 BC to 333 BC.
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The Persian-Median Kingdom defeats
Babylon and the Jewish people and their
lands come under Persian control.
Kings, cities and events are mentioned
during this period of time.
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We can compare historical records of
Persian history with that of the
biblical accounts. We can see that
history corroborates the objective
points that are recorded in the bible by
the authors.
Books such as Ester, Nehemiah, Ezra,
Daniel, Habakkuk, interact with Persian
history.
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Objective History Roman
The nation of Israel and the Jewish
people came into contact with Rome from
54 BC to the present. Rome first came
to settle a dispute with the Hasmomite
Jewish Kingdom. Roman control existed
during the time of Jesus.
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Roman rulers such as Ceaser, Augustus,
Nero and others are mentioned in the new
testament. Roman Legions, cities,
coins, customs are all part of the
records found in the New testament.
Roman history can be compared to actual
people, cities.
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Roman history validates the New
testament records. Small details about
people and their positions have been
verified in archeological discoveries
many times over. The existence of
Pontus Pilate was questioned by many
critics but recent discoveries have
confirmed his existence as governor of
Judea.
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Objective: Archeological
City of Babylon
The Ruins of ancient Babylon, capital of
Babylonian Kingdom, cover 2000-3000
acres in Iraq, 56 miles south of
Baghdad.
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Babylon’s ruins include one of many
ziggurats (Stepped towers) from the
area.
Later finds include ruins of the palace
of
King Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4:29)
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The palace of Nebuchadnezzar, who
destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BC and sent
the Jews into exile, was the site of
Belshazzar’s feast in Daniel 5. Jeremiah
wrote that the Lord would make Babylon
desolate forever (Jer 25:12, 51)
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Objective: Archeological Black
Obelisk of Shalmaneser This 6.5 foot
tall black basalt obelisk (Four sided
pillar) reports in pictures and words
the conquests of Assyrian King
Shalmaneser III Israel’s foe.
|
The Black Obelisk was discovered in the
palace at Nimrud in 1846 and shows the
biblical Jehu, king of Israel, kneeling
down and bringing tribute to the
Assyrian king, Shalmaneser. Dating from
841 BC.
|
This find is the only picture we have so
far of an Israelite king. This is the
first mention of tribute paid to Assyria
by Israel. King Jehu’s reign is
mentioned in 2 Kings 9-10.
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Objective: Archeological The Moabite
Stone
In 1868, A German missionary found a
stone slab over three feet tall near
Dibon, east of the Dead Sea. Inscribed
on the stone were the accomplishments of
Mesha, King of Moab around 850 BC. This
stone is sometimes called the Mesha
Stele.
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The ancient Moabites were relatives of
the Israelites according to Genesis
19:37. On this stone King Mesha brags of
having driven the Israelites out of his
land. 2 Kings 3 tells that the king of
Moab rebelled against the king of Israel
after the death of King Ahab of Israel.
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The Moabite stone is one of the earliest
finds that mentions biblical people. The
stone says that King Omri and his son
Ahab “humbled” Moab for many years.
After Ahab’s death, King Mesha said he
had “Triumphed” over Ahab’s family and
that Israel had “perished forever”. Some
scholars say that the stone also
contains a reference to the “House of
David”
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Objective: Archeological Siloam
Carving
Two boys discovered this ancient Hebrew
inscription carved in stone along the
wall of a tunnel as they were wading
through the southern end of the tunnel’s
waters in 1880.
|
The inscription comes from the days of
Hezekiah (701 BC) who ordered the
tunnel to be made so the water from
Jerusalem’s Gihon Spring could be
brought in to the city to a man-made
reservoir, The Pool of Siloam. This
tunnel provided water to Jerusalem
during the anticipated siege of the King
Sennacherib of Assyria.
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The inscription celebrates the
completion of this remarkable tunnel as
mentioned in 2 Kings 20:20, 2
Chronicles 32:20.
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Objective: Manuscript Dead Sea
Scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls are actually
hundreds of scrolls and scraps that date
between 300BC and 70 AD. The first of
them was found in 1947 in the caves in
the Qumran area near the Dead Sea about
seven miles south of Jericho.
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Some of the scrolls were found in jars.
About 1/2 of the scrolls contain copies
of portions of Old Testament books every
book but Esther) These copies are over
1000 years older than most of the
manuscripts scholars previously had
available for study and translation.
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This was one of the most important finds
in history because it shows that the Old
Testament was copied very accurately
over the centuries. When the scrolls
were compared with the oldest Masoretic
text, on which most modern translations
are based, only insignificant
differences were found. Therefore we can
be confident of our current texts.
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Objective: Manuscript Septuagint
The Greek translation of the Old
Testament dating to 300-250 BC
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After the conquest of Alexander the
Great over the Persian kingdom. The
writings of many cultures were
translated into the Greek language.
Including the Old Testament. This
translation was called the Septuagint.
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The Septuagint was used by the early
church as their bible. But the
Septuagint pre-dates the Christianity by
250 to 300 years. The Septuagint
validates the accuracy of the original
Hebrew Bible.
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Super-Natural |
Objective Evidence |
|
Evidence |
Description of Evidence |
Importance |
Mosaic Covenant: Dispersion of Israel
Duet 28:64 3450 years ago Moses foretold
a scattering of the children of Israel
|
Two times in the history of Israel were
they scattered as a nation. First during
the Babylonian captivity in 608 BC and a
second time during the Roman occupation
54BC– 638 AD.
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70 AD Roman general and future emperor
destroys the Jewish Temple and city and
begins the process of scattering the
Jewish people throughout the Roman
empire to suppress opposition to Roman
rule. The events are recorded by Jewish
historian and writer Flavious Josephus.
The Arch of Titus in Rome celebrates the
Roman victory over Jerusalem.
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Mosaic Covenant: Gathering of Israel
Duet 30:3
3450 years ago Moses
foretold a gathering of the children of
Israel
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Two times in history were the children
of Israel gathered from the nations and
placed back in the land of Israel after
being scattered from the land. Once
after Persian victory over Babylon and
Second after creation of state of Israel
in May 1948.
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The creation of the State of Israel
after 2000 year period of occupation by
foreign forces was fulfilling part of
the Covenant Moses established but also
prophecies from the book of Jeremiah,
Isaiah, Ezekiel ,Joel, Amos and Micah.
All talked about a future gathering of a
dispersed Jewish nation.
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Gathering of Israel
Ezekiel 36-37
2600 years ago the Jewish priest Ezekiel
describes a detailed gathering of
Israel.
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Ezekiel gives a detailed description of
the gathering of the Jewish people after
1900 years of scattering. Jewish people
from all over the world be gathered into
a nation that was birthed into
existence.
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Nearly 1900 years after the Roman armies
expelled the Jews from the land of
Israel and renamed it Palestine they
returned. But 600 even before they were
expelled Ezekiel gave us a detailed
account of their return from near
extermination as a people with no hope
or recovery. The details of the
prophecy defies all laws of probability.
Some way Ezekiel knew the future in the
past.
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Gathering of Jews from Ethiopia.
Isaiah 11:11 750 BC Isaiah describes
Jews being gathered from Ethiopia
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In 1980 known as Operation Solomon and
In 1991 known as Operation Exodus
people known as the Falashi Jews of
Ethiopia were taken to Israel.
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2750 years ago the book of Isaiah
foretold of the gathering of Jews from
various nations including Ethiopia.
After a near extermination the nation of
Israel sent Cargo planes into Ethiopia
to save the remaining of Jews who
claimed descent from Dan.
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Jerusalem focus of world attention
Zechariah 12:3 2550
years ago the city of Jerusalem was
foretold to be a focus of world
attention.
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We are told that Jerusalem will be a
burden for the world and the object of
conflict. The nations of the world will
be at war with the descendents of
Israel.
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2550 years ago Jerusalem was not much
different then any other regional large
city. But today over 3 billion people.
Half the Earth population claim
connection to Jerusalem. 1.3 billion
Muslims believe the City and Dome of
the Rock belong to Islam. And Christian
nations feel connected to it because
Of Jesus. Zechariah was telling us the
future in the past.
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Abraham position
Gen 12:2-3
Abraham is promised greatness in the
Earth.
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Abraham was an individual that lived
over 4000 years ago in the city of Ur.
But his future is foretold with the
following points. 1. Great nation to
come descend from him.
2. Name great. 3. All people of Earth
blessed through him
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4000 years is a long-time. The chance
for one individual to be singled out and
projected as someone who would be great
in the Earth 4000 into the future is a
near impossibility. This was either
someone who had power over time and
space and could reveal the future in
the past or a very lucky guess. In fact
the name Abraham is the most popular
name in the world.
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70 Weeks of Daniel
Daniel 9:24-27
Daniel writes about the date of the
death of Messiah Prince, Destruction of
Jerusalem and Temple, Rebuilding of
Temple.
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The exact month and year are foretold in
Daniel when Messiah would die. Following
his death the city and Temple would be
destroyed. The Temple would later be
rebuilt.
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Jesus died in 33AD. Over 500 years
before his death Daniel would foretell
the Month and year of his death. As well
as the Roman destruction of Jerusalem
and the Temple. And a future yet to be
rebuilt Temple. The details of Daniel
prophecy are such that they are beyond
lucky guessing. The source of Daniel’s
writing is beyond Time and Space.
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Messiah Rejected
Isaiah 52:13-53
The person described in Isaiah is one
who is to be exalted above all but will
first be rejected and killed.
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Jesus claimed to be Messiah but told
that he must first suffer and be
rejected for the sins of man. 750 years
before his birth Isaiah describes events
that would parallel the life of Jesus
and concur with his purpose.
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Jesus who claimed to be Messiah was
crucified by the Romans. Isaiah foretold
events that were beyond the control of
human nature. “Raised and lifted up”
first be “appalled at”, “Pierced for
transgression”, “Die with the wicked”,
“Buried with the rich” and then “See the
light of life”. 750 years before his
birth. Today Christianity is the most
populous religion. What was Isaiah’s
source?
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Destruction of Temple
Matthew 24 :2 Jesus foretold the
destruction of the Jewish Temple in
which each stone would be thrown down.
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In 70 AD the Romans under Titus
destroyed the Temple 37 years earlier
that the Disciples admired. The Temple
was completely destroyed.
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In 70 AD the Romans burned the Temple.
The gold from the Temple melted and
poured into the rocks and crevices. The
Roman soilders pried all the stones to
get at the gold throwing each stone to
the ground. Fullfilling exactly what
Jesus foretold. The future foretold in
the past.
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