Dave Hunt Classic/TBC Extra

Excerpt from Seeking and Finding God

Facing the Facts

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.

—Psalm:14:1(To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.) The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
See All...; 53:1 

WITHOUT TAKING TIME to explain the many disagreements, it is undeniable that there are such great basic differences between the world’s religions that it seems irrational to suggest that they are essentially in agreement and all lead to the same place. Nevertheless, in spite of these differences, there is evidence that those who follow world religions will indeed all end up in the same place—but not where they promise to take their followers. Interestingly, we find in the world’s various religious systems the same teachings that are woven throughout the communications (doctrines of devils) to which we have earlier referred as coming from the spirit world. 

All religions have in common a universal opposition to the God of the Bible and His gospel concerning salvation by grace and faith alone through Christ Jesus and His sacrifice on the Cross. This commonality places them all on one side—and Christianity on the other. 

Christianity vs. All Religions 

Indeed, so wide is the chasm between Christianity and all the world’s religions that it seems equally clear that Christians will definitely arrive at a different eternal destiny from everyone else. Yes, the various religions differ in the details relevant to the appeasement of their particular god or gods and the methods of attaining to nirvana, moksha, or whatever paradise they may offer. However, they all have in common the belief that their religious goals can somehow be achieved through their own good efforts and/or faithful participation in rituals and sacraments. Whether by yoga or paying off bad karma for the Hindu, or by good deeds for the Muslim (or dying in jihad [holy war] or on the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca), or through appeasing the spirits in African tribal religions and Shintoism, or by meditation techniques to escape desire and return to the void for the Buddhist, or by the sacraments of a supposed Christian church—it is all a matter of self-effort, which the God of the Bible firmly tells us He will not accept as even partial payment for having broken His laws. 

The Bible clearly states: “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Romans:4:5But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
See All...). Jesus said, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Mark:2:17When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
See All...). Paul emphasized that point: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy:1:15This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
See All...). The world’s religions, along with the false Christianity that trusts in works and sacramentalism, attempt to make a person righteous enough for heaven. In contrast, the Bible says that everyone by very nature sins, must confess it, and must believe the gospel to receive forgiveness of sins and thereby be admitted eternally into the true God’s presence. 

Biblical salvation is by faith, and faith necessarily involves that which is unseen. It is not faith to believe in that which is present in visible form. Faith reaches out to the unseen world of the spirit and the eternal. And right here we encounter a major problem with ritual and sacraments: they attempt a moral rescue of the unseen and nonphysical spirit and soul of man with physical and visible ceremony. That won’t work. 

Sacraments and Rituals Cannot Pay for Sin 

This grave error of sacramentalism persists even among a majority of those who call themselves Christians. They imagine that through participation in the visible, and thus temporal, sacrament, they receive invisible and eternal spiritual benefits. Clearly, this is impossible. The Bible declares, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews:11:1Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
See All...). Salvation, because it necessarily involves the eternal and invisible, not that which is seen and is therefore temporal, must be by faith, not by physical works or ritual. 

Furthermore, ritual and sacraments have nothing to do with either justice or punishment and therefore cannot possibly pay for sin. One might as well imagine that some ritual could satisfy a court of law in paying the penalty prescribed for a major crime as imagine that God would accept sacraments in payment of the infinite penalty He has prescribed for breaking His law. 

The Bible gives two sacraments for the Christian: baptism and communion (also called the Lord’s supper). Both are symbolic reminders of a spiritual and eternal transaction that has already taken place: Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, and our identification with Him by faith in His full payment of the penalty for our sins. 

Neither baptism nor communion is efficacious. To imagine that they are—and therefore to rely upon either or both of them to effect, even partially, one’s salvation—is to reject the salvation God offers in grace to those who believe His promise. 

In none of the world’s religions is there any concept of God’s perfect justice having to be satisfied for the sinner to be forgiven. Instead, works and rituals and mystical experiences are offered to appease God and/or to earn one’s salvation. The Bible, however, finds all the world guilty of rebellion against God and insists that human guilt can be forgiven only on a righteous basis. The penalty that God decreed must be paid in full. 

God’s Justice Must Be Satisfied 

No one can pay for his own sins, either by sacrifice (even of himself in death) or by good works. Only Christ, who is God and man in one person and who lived without any sin, could pay for the sins of the world. Nor can we merit, earn, or purchase from God—who is perfectly holy and just—the benefit of Christ’s sacrifice in forgiveness of our sins. If we are to receive the pardon that Christ has earned, we must receive it by faith as those unworthy of it—the gift of God’s grace. 

The purpose of the Ten Commandments was not to offer salvation to those who could keep them (no one has ever done so except Christ), but to show us our guilt so that we would accept Christ’s payment that satisfied God’s justice on our behalf (Galatians:3:24Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
See All...; Romans:3:19-20 [19] Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. [20] Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
See All...; 11:32; 6:23).

The attempt to offer works or rituals in payment for salvation is true even of some groups who claim to be Christian but who set up their own rules for gaining heaven in opposition to the biblical gospel of salvation by faith and grace alone without works. The Bible clearly says, “...that whosoever believeth in him [Christ] should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John:3:16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
See All...); “For by grace are ye saved through faith...Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians:2:8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
See All...–9); and “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us...That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus:3:5-7 [5] Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; [6] Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; [7] That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
See All...). Any attempt to make even a partial payment for God’s gift by His grace is a rejection of that gift. 

That good deeds cannot pay for sins is not only biblical but logical. Even a traffic ticket cannot be paid on that basis. It will not avail to ask the judge to dismiss the charge for speeding because the guilty party has driven more often within the speed limit than he has exceeding it. Nor would the judge waive the payment of any crime in response to the defendant’s promise never, ever to break the law again. The judge would simply say, “If you never break the law again you are only doing what the law requires. You receive no extra credit by which to pay for having broken the law in the past. That penalty is a separate issue and must be paid as prescribed.” 

The Bible further asserts that God’s justice is infinite and that man, being finite, could never pay the infinite penalty it demands. We would be separated from God forever if we tried to work off the debt owed to His justice. God, being infinite, could pay that infinite penalty, but it wouldn’t be just, because He is not one of us. Therefore, God became a man through the virgin birth in order to take upon Himself, in our place, the judgment we deserve. And it is only on the basis of that penalty having been paid in full that God can justly offer forgiveness. 

Why Faith Is Essential 

How amazing that religions that rely upon good works and rituals are considered to be “faiths.” Faith can only engage the unseen and eternal and, therefore, does not mix with works and ritual. In search of a valid faith, it is folly to look at that which is visible. Even to look to a visible cross or crucifix is of no merit. What occurred on the cross for our salvation was invisible and must be accepted by faith. 

The visible torture men inflicted upon Christ, the scourging, mocking, and nailing to the cross, is not the basis of our salvation—though that was the message of the popular film The Passion of the Christ. There is no virtue in making the “sign of the cross” or waving a cross or crucifix to ward off Satan or evil. It was the judgment Christ endured at the hands of God in payment of the penalty for our sins that makes it possible for God to offer salvation. That suffering, endured by Christ, was totally invisible to man and must ever be. It is by faith alone that we believe Christ paid the penalty and by which we receive the eternal salvation He offers.

The Bible speaks of “the faith which was once [for all time] delivered unto the saints” and declares that we must “earnestly contend” for this unchangeable truth because there are false teachers even inside the church who will seek through subterfuge to oppose it (Jude 3–4). Jude is not referring to faith in the sense of believing that a prayer will be answered or an event will occur. “The faith” is the body of truth that must be believed for one to be a Christian. 

The Bible allows for no compromise, no discussion, no dialogue with the world’s religions (remember, Christianity is not a religion but distinct from all of them) in search for common ground. There is no common ground as far as God, Jesus Christ, and salvation are concerned. The very suggestion that dialogue may be appropriate denies that “the faith” has unique doctrinal content as a definitive body of truth for which we must earnestly contend, and opens the door to compromise in the interest of public relations. 

Jesus didn’t say, “Go into all the world and dialogue about faith.” He said, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel…” (Mark:16:15And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
See All...). Paul didn’t dialogue with the rabbis and philosophers and pagan priests. He “disputed in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily…” (Acts:17:17Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him.
See All...). Was it because he was angry and argumentative? No, because the eternal destiny of his hearers depended upon whether they believed or rejected the gospel. 

A reasonable and genuine faith must take very seriously what Jesus said—not what somebody says about what Jesus said, but His very words as recorded in the Bible. And we must face this truth for ourselves, not look to someone else to interpret it for us, no matter what credentials that person or church or institution might claim qualifies them to think for us. We must arrive at this serious faith personally, for true faith is between each individual and God.

Prophetic Proof

Only the Bible has written the details of history centuries and even thousands of years before they happened. It is this fact, above all, that puts the Bible in a class of its own. Its many plainly stated prophecies (not in guarded, ambiguous language like the French quatrains of Nostradamus) were recorded centuries and even thousands of years before their accurate fulfillment. These prophecies are so numerous, stated in perfect agreement by so many different biblical prophets who had no contact with one another, and many of the prophecies so unlikely ever to happen given the normal course of events, that the probability of fulfillment by chance is infinitely remote. Yet they have all been fulfilled with 100 percent accuracy—a fact that cannot be explained away by the skeptics on any rational basis. One is forced from this evidence alone to admit the supernatural origin of the Bible. 

There are no prophecies of verifiable date of origin and documented fulfillment centuries later—not one—in the Qur’an, in the Hindu Vedas, in the sayings of Buddha, in the sayings of Confucius, or in any other scriptures of the world’s religions. The Bible, however, is about 28 percent prophecy, and its thousands of prophecies cover a wide range of subjects and events. 

Most Prophecy Has Already Been Fulfilled 

Some biblical prophecy awaits future fulfillment: the Rapture (the catching up by Christ of all true believers to heaven), the revealing of Antichrist and the establishment of his world government, the Great Tribulation, Armageddon, and the Second Coming of Christ to rescue Israel. Most Bible prophecies, however, have already been fulfilled, and these constitute irrefutable proof that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. Repeatedly, the God of the Bible reminds us that He alone declares what will happen in advance and proves that He is the only true God by specific fulfillment of prophecy. For example: 

Behold, the former things [I foretold through my prophets] are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them. I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them. (Isaiah:42:9Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.
See All...; 46:9–10; 48:5) 

There are two major topics of prophecy in the Bible: Israel and the Messiah who comes to Israel and through Israel to the world. There are hundreds of prophecies concerning Israel (God’s chosen people) that have been fulfilled, and many more are in the process of fulfillment, as we are witnessing in our day. The fulfillment of prophecies concerning Israel is found throughout vital parts of history acknowledged by the entire world. Here is a brief outline. 

False Claims By “Palestinians” 

According to the Bible, God gave the land of Israel exclusively to His chosen people, the Jews. It was specifically promised to the descendants of “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (Genesis:12:7And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.
See All...; 13:15; 15:7, 18-21; 17:7-8, 19, 21; 26:3-5; 28:13; Exodus:6:4And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.
See All...,8; 1 Chronicles:16:16-18 [16] Even of the covenant which he made with Abraham, and of his oath unto Isaac; [17] And hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant, [18] Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance;
See All..., etc.). Israel was the new name given by God to Jacob, and it is from this name that the Promised Land derives its proper title to this day. The importance of these people can be seen in the fact that God tells Moses, “I am...the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob...this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations” (Exodus:3:6Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.
See All...,15). The Bible identifies God in this way 12 times, the number of the tribes of Israel. Another 203 times He is called “the God of Israel.” 

Certain Arabs, who only within the last forty years began to call themselves “Palestinians,” claim the land of Israel as the surviving descendants of its original inhabitants. That clearly fraudulent assertion is the basis for their intended displacement of Israel and causes the conflict in the Middle East. 

These Arabs claim that they are descended from Ishmael, Abraham’s first son, and that therefore the Promised Land belongs to them. But Ishmael—even had there been a Palestinian people—was not a Palestinian. His mother was Hagar, the Egyptian maid (Genesis:16:1Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
See All...) of Abraham’s wife, Sarah, while Ishmael’s father was Abraham, who was from Ur of the Chaldees (Genesis:11:31And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.
See All...)—neither of them were Palestinians! When Abraham brought his wife, servants, and flocks into the Promised Land that God gave to him and to his heirs by an everlasting covenant (Genesis:13:15For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
See All...; 17:7, etc.), it was called Canaan and was inhabited by Canaanites (Genesis:12:5-6 [5] And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. [6] And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
See All...; 13:7,12, etc.). Arabs who make the impossible claim of descent both from Ishmael and from the original inhabitants of that land are simply lying. 

The land of Canaan, to which God brought Abraham, became Israel, a great kingdom of the Jewish people for more than 1,500 years. There was no such place as “Palestine” and no such people as “Palestinians” until the Romans, in anger, in AD 135, renamed Israel Provincia Syria-Palestinia after her chief enemies the Philistines. Thereafter, its inhabitants were called “Palestinians,” an appellation which the Arabs steadfastly refused, insisting that the Jews were the “Palestinians.” It was not until the early 1960s that certain Arabs began to claim that they were indeed “Palestinians” and that the Jews were occupying the land they had inherited from ancient ancestors. 

On the contrary, God told Abraham specifically that Isaac (his son by Sarah) and his descendants would inherit the Promised Land (Genesis:17:15-21 [15] And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. [16] And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her. [17] Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? [18] And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! [19] And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. [20] And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. [21] But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.
See All...). The earliest verses in the Qur’an support the writings of Moses as true. To escape the honest consequences of that embarrassing fact, Islam claims that the Bible was subsequently corrupted—a claim for which no evidence can be offered. In fact, we have Torah manuscripts both before and after Muhammad, and they are identical. The Qur’an itself declares repeatedly that Allah brought the Jews out of slavery in Egypt, destroyed Pharaoh’s pursuing army, gave Israel the Promised Land, and brought them into it (Surah 5:70; 10:91,94; 17:103-104; 44:30-32; 45:16; 95:20-21, etc.). 

Further Proof Supporting Israel’s Legitimacy 

Furthermore, God told Abraham that the heirs to the Promised Land would be slaves in a foreign land for 400 years before they took possession of the land He had given to them (Genesis:15:13-16 [13] And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; [14] And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. [15] And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. [16] But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
See All...). This happened to the Jews exactly as foretold—not to the Arabs. The Jews became an identifiable ethnic group from isolation as slaves in Egypt for four centuries and were then brought into Canaan. In contrast, the Arabs are not of pure descent from Ishmael but are a mixed race. They settled not in the Promised Land but in the Arabian Peninsula, where they became an identifiable people group. Arabs never came to “Palestine” in any numbers until they invaded it in the seventh century AD. 

Today, only the Jews, and no other people on earth, can legitimately trace their ancestry back to slavery in Egypt, their miraculous deliverance therefrom, their entrance as a unique people group into the Promised Land, and their existence there for centuries as a nation. 

As proof that they are the ex-slaves and chosen people, they alone keep the feast of the Passover as a memorial of this event, as God commanded (Exodus:12:14-28 [14] And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever. [15] Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. [16] And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you. [17] And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever. [18] In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even. [19] Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land. [20] Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread. [21] Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover. [22] And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. [23] For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. [24] And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. [25] And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the LORD will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. [26] And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? [27] That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD's passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped. [28] And the children of Israel went away, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.
See All...)— and have done so each year ever since. 

The descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, known as “the children of Israel,” were led to the Promised Land by Moses nearly 3,500 years ago. At that time, God warned His people through Moses that they would rebel against Him, and because of that, He would scatter them to every part of this world, where they would be hated, persecuted, and slaughtered like no other people (Deuteronomy:4:27And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you.
See All...; 28:37, 63-64; 2 Chronicles:7:20Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations.
See All...; Nehemiah:1:8Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:
See All...; Jeremiah:15:4And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.
See All...; 29:18; 44:8; Amos:9:9For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.
See All...; Zechariah:7:14But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.
See All..., etc.). And so it happened. Numerous prophets foretold in detail what we now identify as Antisemitism—that the Jews would be maligned, mistreated, killed, and discriminated against by all other nationalities. At the same time, God promised to preserve the Jews as an identifiable ethnic people and to bring them, in the last days, back into their own land of Israel (Jeremiah:30:7-11 [7] Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it. [8] For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him: [9] But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them. [10] Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the LORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid. [11] For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.
See All...; 31:8-12, 27-40; 36, etc.). No non-Jews, whether Arabs or any other nationality, have any claim upon that land, which God has promised to defend. 

Through the prophet Zechariah (12:1-3), God declared that in the last days preceding Christ’s Second Coming, when the Jews had been restored to the Promised Land, Jerusalem would be like a millstone around the necks of the nations. Today, it is the world’s major problem; a nuclear war could break out at any time over that Holy City. In remarkable fulfillment of prophecy, the United Nations Security Council has devoted nearly one-third of its deliberations and resolutions to Israel, a country with less than one-thousandth of the earth’s population. That would not be the case were it not for the fulfillment of another amazing prophecy: that tiny Israel would be so powerful militarily that she would defeat the surrounding nations that would attack her (Zechariah:12:6-9 [6] In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. [7] The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah. [8] In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them. [9] And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
See All...). 

Israel’s history is the undeniable unfolding of prophecy fulfilled, exactly as foretold in the Bible—and more is to come. Yet to be fulfilled in the near future are prophecies declaring that Israel will be deceived into making a false peace that will set her up for an attack by all the nations of the world under the leadership of Antichrist. Current events seem to be heading in that direction. That horrible war, which will take the lives of two-thirds of all Jews on earth (Zechariah:13:8-9 [8] And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. [9] And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.
See All...), will bring the intervention of Jesus Christ from heaven to rescue Israel and to destroy Antichrist and his world government. All indications today are that we are indeed heading toward a world government and Armageddon. 

Antichrist and Christ 

The Bible declares that Antichrist will control all banking and commerce in the entire world with a number (Revelation:13:16-18 [16] And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: [17] And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. [18] Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
See All...), a remarkable prophecy anticipating modern computer technology. Furthermore, Christ declared that if He did not stop Armageddon, no one would be left alive on earth (Matthew:24:22And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
See All...)—another astonishing prophecy that anticipated today’s weapons of mass destruction, unknown to past generations. 

There are thousands of verses in the Bible dealing with Israel. Prophecies pertaining to Israel are a major part of the Judeo-Christian Scriptures. Yet nothing about the great events foretold in the Bible concerning Israel is found in the writings of any of the world’s religions. Nor do they contain any prophecies concerning Israel’s Messiah—nor even for any of their founders. There are no verifiable and clear prophecies foretelling the coming of Buddha, Confucius, Muhammad, Zoroaster, the Bab, Baha’ullah, and others in any scriptures. 

But for the Jewish Messiah there are literally hundreds of specific prophecies, all of which were undeniably fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. The Bible prophesied where Christ would be born (Micah:5:2But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
See All...), that He would be betrayed for thirty pieces of silver, which would be thrown down in the temple (Zechariah:11:12-13 [12] And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. [13] And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.
See All...), and that He would be rejected by His own people (Isaiah:53:2-3 [2] For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. [3] He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
See All...). The Bible prophesied the calendar date of the very day the Messiah would ride into Jerusalem (Daniel:9:25Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
See All...; Nehemiah:2:1-8 [1] And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence. [2] Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid, [3] And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? [4] Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. [5] And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it. [6] And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. [7] Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah; [8] And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.
See All...), that He would be hailed as the Messiah, although humbly riding into Jerusalem on a donkey (Zechariah:9:9Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
See All...), then crucified four days later (Exodus:12:6And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.
See All...; Psalm:22:14-18 [14] I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. [15] My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. [16] For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. [17] I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. [18] They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.
See All...; Zechariah:12:10And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
See All...–all recorded centuries before crucifixion was practiced on earth), and that He would rise from the dead the third day (Psalm:16:10For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
See All..., Isaiah:53:8-12 [8] He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. [9] And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. [10] Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. [11] He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. [12] Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
See All...; Jonah:1:17Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
See All...). Many other details were also prophesied. 

No one can be an honest atheist or agnostic. Prophecy proves the existence of the true God and that the Bible is His Word. The fulfillment of numerous prophecies in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth cannot be explained by coincidence and proves beyond dispute that He is the only Savior of mankind, exactly as He claimed to be. If Jesus did not fulfill, without exception, what the Hebrew prophets declared in the Scriptures concerning the coming of the promised Messiah, then no matter how appealing we may find His teaching and personality, He would have to be rejected. 

The Conversion of Gentiles Foretold 

Furthermore, that millions of non-Jews all over the world would become believers in the God of Israel, and that this would happen through their faith in the very Messiah whom the Jews would reject, was prophesied repeatedly by Hebrew prophets throughout the Old Testament (Genesis:12:3And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
See All...; Psalm:22:27All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.
See All...; Isaiah:52:10The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
See All...; Malachi:1:11For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts.
See All..., etc.). The rabbis and even Christ’s disciples did not recognize these prophecies, not because the language was unclear, but because they were blinded by unbelief. That the conversion of hundreds of millions of Gentiles has happened in spite of the unbelief of the Jewish nation in their Messiah is one of the most remarkable developments in history. Today, there are about two billion people who, though they are not all true Christians according to the standards Jesus set, claim to believe in Him and, through Him, to believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 

Paul was not the inventor of Christianity, as some have claimed, nor even was Jesus. Christianity is the fulfillment of hundreds of prophecies. Not only that there would be multitudes of Gentile believers, but also the specifics of the doctrines of salvation were laid out clearly in the Old Testament. Christ himself pointed to these prophecies, and Paul made them the basis of the gospel he preached (1 Corinthians:15:1-4 [1] Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; [2] By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. [3] For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; [4] And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
See All..., etc.). This is absolutely unique. There is no comparable verification for any of the doctrines of any of the world’s religions. 

Prophetic Proof of the Bible 

Paul declared that “the gospel of God” that he preached was backed up by the Old Testament. He begins his epistle to the Romans with these words: “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures)” (Romans:1:1Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
See All...–2). In every city Paul entered on his missionary journeys, he went first of all into the synagogue and proved to the Jewish congregants that what their own prophets had foretold concerning the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ had fulfilled, including His death on the cross and His resurrection: “And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them [in the synagogue], and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the [Hebrew] scriptures, Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ” (Acts:17:2And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,
See All...–3). 

Christ did exactly the same. He scolded the two disheartened disciples, who knew the tomb was empty but didn’t believe that Christ had risen from the dead, as they were walking to Emmaus from Jerusalem three days after His crucifixion. He said: “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things [i.e., rejection by Israel and crucifixion], and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke:24:25-27 [25] Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: [26] Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? [27] And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
See All...). He told His disciples repeatedly that “all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me” (Luke:24:44And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
See All...). 

It would be folly to step into eternity trusting (in rejection of God’s Word) one’s own ideas or the ideas of some church or religious leader. All who would know their eternal destiny for certain must rely upon what the Bible itself proves to be true about salvation and living the Christian life. Because of the irrefutable proof that it is God’s Word, the Bible must be our authority. 

We commend the Bible to each reader. Do not take our word, but search God’s Word for yourself. Why is this personal study necessary? Because to whatever extent one relies upon some third party (pastor, priest, preacher, author, church, etc.) to interpret the Bible, to that extent one has lost contact with God and His Word. God wants to speak to each individual through His Word and through Jesus Christ, not through some intermediary.

The Bible itself says, “Faith cometh by hearing...the word of God” (Romans:10:17So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
See All...). In our earnest desire to know the one true God, we must turn to the Scriptures alone. It is up to each one to check it all out from there, the only infallible authority and, having examined the proofs, to believe the Word of God. Such is the basis of true faith—the only faith that saves for eternity.