The Bible Is Right After All

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THE BIBLE IS RIGHT AFTER ALL 4/21/2019

We have been looking at the subject "The Bible Is Right After All." Today we continue our study in one of the most important areas available.

I. THE SCRIPTURES AND FULFILLED PROPHECIES

A. Prophecies in the Old and New Testaments that have been fulfilled add credibility to the Bible. B. The Scriptures predicted the rise and fall of great empires and kingdoms;

1. Daniel predicted that the "Head of Gold" which was Babylon would fall to the Meade's and Persians. (Daniel 2:37, 38) a. Babylon was known for its gold.

b. Isaiah called Babylon the city of gold: "That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! The golden city ceased!" (Isaiah 14:4) c. Jeremiah called Babylon a gold cup in the Lord's hand: "Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad." (Jeremiah 51:7)

d. At the entrance of Babylon, a gate with dozens of golden animals greeted its visitors e. The Babylonian Kingdom lasted from 636 BC to 539 BC.

2. As Daniel predicted Babylon was conquered by the Medes and Persians. a. "And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee", etc. (Daniel 2:39-a)

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b. "In that night was Belshazzar the king the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom being about threescore and two years old." (Daniel 5:29-30) c. The Medo-Persian kingdom lasted from 539 BC until 330 BC.

3. As Daniel again predicted the Medo-Persian empire was captured by the Grecian empire under Alexander the Great. "And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth." (Daniel 2:39) a. Alexander the Great established what was probably the largest empire in ancient times. b. In line with the prophecy of Daniel, brass was a superior metal during the reign of Alexander the Great.

1. They minted brass coins. 2. The soldiers wore brass armor.

3. The soldiers held brass shields. c. The Grecian kingdom lasted from 330-63 BC.

4. Again the predictions of Daniel came true hundreds of years later when Rome captured the Grecian's. (Daniel 2:40) "And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise."

a. History records that Rome was known as the "Iron Age."

b. The tenure of Rome lasted from 63 BC until 475 AD.

5. We stop for a moment to be greatly encouraged: a. Daniel accurately predicted kingdoms hundreds of years before they became a reality.

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b. In the predictions of Daniel, he recognized the coming of our Lord:

1. "And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever." (Daniel 2:44) 2. "Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth." (Daniel 2:35)

6. Jesus predicted the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. a. The temple had been over 46 years in a building program.

1. "Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." (John 2:19)

2. "Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days.?" b. The prediction of Jesus concerning the future: "And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you There shall not be left here on stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." (Matthew 24:1, 2) c. In AD 70 the Romans became the means of Divine wrath:

1. Titus and his army literally destroyed the Temple.

2. The soldiers of Titus literally used bars to prize the stones apart to garner the gold which was melted in the fires of destruction.

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3. In the Roman victory, thousands of Jews were slaughtered. 4. Thousands more of the Jews were enslaved and sent to toil in the mines of Egypt. 5. Large numbers of the Jews were dispersed to arenas throughout the Empire to be butchered for the amusement of the public.

6. The sacred relics of the temple were taken to Rome where they were displayed in celebration of the victory. d. The historian Josephus wrote a firsthand account of the judgment of that day: "While the Temple was ablaze, the attackers plundered it, and countless people who were caught by them were slaughtered. There was no pity for age and no regard was accorded rank; children and old men, laymen and priests, alike were butchered; every class was pursued and crushed in the grip of war, whether they cried out for mercy or offered resistance. Through the roar of the flames streaming far and wide, the groans of the falling victims were heard; such was the sight of the hill and the magnitude of the blazing pile that the entire city seemed to ablaze; and the noise—nothing more deafening and frightening could be imagined. Most of the slain were peaceful citizens, weak and unarmed, and they were butchered where they were caught. The heap of corpses mounted higher and higher about the altar; a stream of blood flowed down the Temple's steps, and the bodies of those slain at the top slipped to the bottom."

II. THE BIBLE WAS AND IS STILL RIGHT ABOUT THE FUTURE

A. Today we have looked at actual prophetic happenings. B. The facts are endless about historic Biblical truth.

C. "A wise man will hear, and will increase learning—(Proverbs 1:5)