If a book claims to be from God then it should be able to reveal things about the future that couldn’t naturally be known. That would be strong confirmation that the writers were getting their information from God.
In Isaiah 41:21-24 God challenges the so-called gods of the nations to give evidence that they are real:
“Present your case,” says the Lord. “Bring forth your strong reasons,” says the King of Jacob. “Let them bring forth and show us what will happen . . . declare to us things to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods”.
The challenge of these verses is one that no religion has been able to meet, but it’s one the Bible readily accepts. The Bible is full of prophecy – not vague generalities that could be interpreted any way you like, but detailed specifics. For example:
- The world-wide fame of Abraham (Genesis 12:2);
- The exile of the Israelites from their land and the near-universal antisemitism they would experience (Deuteronomy 28:37, 64-66);
- The exploits of Alexander the Great (Daniel 8:5-8; 11:3-4; Zechariah 9:1-8);
- The overthrow of Tyre (Ezekiel 26);
- The conquering of Nineveh (in the book of Nahum);
- The destruction of Jerusalem (Daniel 9:26).
But my favourite prophecies are the ones that have to do with Jesus.
There are quite a few we could look at, but let’s just deal with two.
Back in June 2018 I was giving out invitations to some public meetings I was speaking at. I got talking to a man who told me that he was happy to chat with me, but one of the World Cup matches was just about to start, and “as soon as the match starts, our conversation ends.”
I told him about the meetings and said they were about the Christian gospel. I asked him did he ever think about what happens after death. He said he didn’t because no one can really know, so what’s the point in worrying. I agreed that if we were left to ourselves we couldn’t be sure what happens after death, but if the Bible is God’s Word then we can know. He jumped in at that point and said, “Well, no one’s ever been able to prove that the Bible is God’s Word.” I told him I would like to try, and it would only take a couple of minutes.
I read Psalm 22:14-18:
I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; it has melted within Me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death. For dogs have surrounded Me; the congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.
I also read Isaiah 53:3-7:
He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.
I asked him if he knew what I was reading about. He had no difficulty seeing these passages were about the crucifixion of Jesus. I went over some of the details in the verses and pointed out some other things in the surrounding verses. Here’s the portrait painted by Psalm 22:
- The sufferer is devoted to God yet is abandoned to suffer and God hasn’t intervened (vv.1-2,9-11).
- He is surrounded and mocked by hostile spectators (vv.6-8,12-13).
- He is stripped of His garments (v.18).
- He is pierced through hands and feet (v.16).
- His bones are dislocated, and He experiences extreme weakness and thirst (vv.14-15).
- He is then brought out of death by God, and the story of His suffering and vindication is told across the world and throughout history, resulting in multitudes turning to the God of Israel (vv.21-31).
Here’s Isaiah’s description:
- This person is marked by humility (53:2), sorrow (53:3), non-violence and integrity (53:9).
- He is condemned by an unjust trial (53:8).
- He is led submissively to execution (53:7).
- He suffers with criminals (53:12).
- He is terribly disfigured (52:14) and experiences piercing, bruising and scourging (53:5).
- He suffers as a substitute for the guilty and as a sacrifice for sin (53:5,6,10-12).
- He was appointed a grave with the wicked, but instead is buried in association with a rich man (53:9).
- His days are prolonged (53:10) – the One who died lives again.
- Although He is despised and rejected by His people (53:3), His fame spreads to the Gentiles (52:15).
We both agreed these passages were obviously describing Jesus. What he hadn’t realised was that they were written hundreds of years before Jesus was born (we even have copies of them in the Dead Sea Scrolls from before the time of Christ). That came as quite a surprise to him.
There’s no doubt these passages predate Jesus, and there’s no doubt they predict Jesus. What other victim of crucifixion has had his story told throughout the world resulting in multitudes turning to God?
I wanted to illustrate the point I was trying to make, so I said, “Suppose I told you what the final score of this football match is going to be. You watch the match and I get it right. Then I tell you what the scores of all the group games will be. You watch them all and I get them all right. Then we go to the knockout stage and for every match I am able to tell you in advance what the result will be, all the way through till we get to the final. What would you think if I told you what the score of the final was going to be?”
He said, “If you had got it right at every stage, I would be a fool to bet against you for the final.”
I couldn’t have put it better. If the Bible got it right at every stage, don’t bet against it when it comes to the final – what happens after death.
This book that has proven itself to get it right when it talks about the future talks about our future. It tells us death isn’t the end. There is God to meet and eternity to face. There is a heaven and a hell, and because of the wrong we have done it’s not heaven we are going to. Thankfully, the Old Testament prophecies don’t just tell us how Christ would die, but they also tell us why He would die – to provide salvation for us. He gave Himself to pay sin’s penalty, so that, if we repent and turn to Him, we will be forgiven.
What to do
- Read Psalm 22 and Isaiah 52:13-53:12 carefully for yourself. Ask yourself what these passages tell you about Jesus’ death on the cross and why it is relevant to you (look particularly at Isaiah 53:5-6).
- Ask a Christian to show you what else the Bible has to say about the future.
