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Proof that the Bible Is God's
Communication to Us

 

I understand that relatively few people (in relation to the Earth's total population) believe that the Bible is God’s instruction book for mankind, preferring instead to believe the Bible is just a collection of very nice (or not nice) stories, certainly not something to be taken literally.

The Bible teaches much that a trader can use for self-improvement. Elsewhere, I will show you proof that the Bible is God’s instruction book for HOW TO TRADE — in fact, for how to live every facet of our lives.

In order to understand the spiritual aspects of trading, it’s necessary to first understand that there is a spirit world. Can you relate to that? A lot of people think such things are strictly nonsense! However, the Bible claims that it was recorded by men as they were inspired by the Spirit of God.

Here are the proofs I consider sufficient to assure me that the Bible is God's communicaton to us; God's "manufacturer's instruction manual" for how to live, given to us so that we can know that God exists, understand the meaning and purpose of our existence, and know what we should do about it.

PROOF 1: PROPHECY.

HAVE YOU ever taken time to prove whether or not the Bible is divinely inspired by a Creator God?

I am going to give you some of the proof. And I am going to tell the skeptics how to disprove the Bible, if it's not inspired, and how to disprove the very existence of God, IF THERE IS NO GOD.

The Bible dares to foretell the future!

In fact, there is a being in the Bible who says that a major proof that He is God is that only He can accurately foretell the future ("tell the end from the beginning.") I’m not kidding. He challenges us to tell the future accurately if we can, and that if we are able to do it, He will know that we are gods.

This book — the Bible — dares to write out the destiny of this world in advance — it dares to prophesy what is actually going to happen (or in some cases has already happened long after it was written) to various nations.

The Bible predicts what is yet to happen to your nation, but it names the nations by their ancient names. After all, a nation is nothing more than a family grown large. The Bible names the nations by their family names.

Many contemporary Jews and Christians do not believe that the Bible is the Word of God, or that it means what it says. We may or may not be ATHEISTS. We may or may not ridicule the Bible. But we are living now in an age of SKEPTICISM. We live in an age of doubt. Most highly educated people and men of science, even some Christian ministers and some Jewish rabbis, assume that the Bible is not the infallible revelation of a supernatural God, and they assume this WITHOUT THE SCIENTIFIC PROOF that they demand on material questions.

On the other hand, many fundamentalist Christian believers assume that the Bible is the very Word of God, but they do so on faith, not having taken the time and thought that is necessary to prove that this is true, even though it is provable.

And because they have not proved for themselves that the Bible is indeed a collection of the words and ideas God inspired men to write, very few people TREMBLE before what it says (that is, respect it) or regard it as having REAL AUTHORITY.

How could you prove it?

Some people seem to think that Jesus' miracles were recorded to prove His divine Messiahship. But the skeptics don't believe those miracles ever occurred.

Some people will say answered prayer is the proof of inspiration. But the skeptic has had no prayers answered. He doesn't believe that anybody ELSE has, either.

There is, however, one source of irrefutable PROOF!

The Bible itself purports to be the infallible, divine revelation of truth, revealed by the very Creator and divine ruler of the entire universe. In the Bible, someone is quoted, claiming that He is God, speaking in the first person, saying that He can make and unmake nations, that He can carry out His judgments over millenniums of time, claiming that He can foretell infallibly the future of cities and empires, but that no MAN can.

Taunting the skeptics

Skeptics say the Bible is merely the religious writings of a small, ancient Jewish race, groping in the darkness of human ignorance and of superstition, trying to develop a concept of God. But is it?

WHO IS this, quoted as saying, "I am God, and there is none like Me. I made known the end from the beginning; from ancient times, what is still to come. I say My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please"? Someone is quoted saying those very words in the book of Isaiah 46:9-10.

Who is this claiming to foretell the future? Is it merely some ignorant, ancient human with no power to make good his boast, who wrote this blistering challenge to the skeptics, recorded in Isaiah 41:21-23? — “'Present your case' says the LORD. 'Set forth your arguments,' says Jacob's king!"

Yes! "Show me your proof" is the challenge God gives us.

"…Let us hear what has happened in the past so that we can think about it, or show me what is yet to come, so that we can watch how it turns out. Yes, let us hear what is COMING, so we can be sure that you are gods. Come on, do something or other so we can marvel at it. But you are less than nothing. You can do nothing at all!"

There is the taunt of the one quoted as being God, and quoted in the first person, taunting skeptics, saying, "Why, you're nothing at all. Come on! Let's hear your proofs that we may watch to see how things turn out. Predict what is going to happen in the future, and let’s watch and see whether you can foretell it. Have you the power to bring it about? Are you God? Do you rule the universe? Can you make and unmake nations? Can you pronounce a sentence or a decree on a nation, and bring it to PASS?" That is the taunt of the GOD of the BIBLE to the doubter, the scientist, and the atheist.

PROPHECY is one PROOF of God's Bible

Prophecy is a proof of divine revelation. If someone in the Bible, speaking and claiming to be God, makes accurate predictions of what is going to happen in the future to nations, to cities, to empires; then if it actually happens in every case, and without a miss, you'll know that was a real God speaking.

But, if it were a mere mortal writing in ignorance, groping in superstition, making great boasts, and claiming that he could foretell what was going to happen to proud cities, to nations, to great empires, and those things never happen, you know that that man was creating his own fiction.

So here is the challenge to the skeptic. How long has New York City been in existence? About 350 years. About 350 years ago, New York City was a little village. Now it has grown to be a great city of millions of people.

Suppose that some human prognosticator predicted that New York will very soon, inside of 15 years, be totally destroyed, NEVER AGAIN TO BE REBUILT. Is there ANY MAN on this earth who could speak with such authority, make such a prophecy about a great city like New York — AND ACTUALLY MAKE IT HAPPEN?

The city that CONFOUNDS the skeptics

Now notice! Over 2,600 years ago, there existed a great city that already, then, was more than 1500 years old. That city was the mistress of the seas — of the whole world; it was the commercial center of the world. It was beautiful, rich, and stable. That city was ancient Tyre on the Mediterranean. It was located on the western coastal area of Phoenicia.

In the year of 604 B.C., the nation Judah had been invaded by the Chaldeans under King Nebuchadnezzar. The Jews had been conquered and taken captive, in a series of sieges between 604 and 580 B.C. The people of Tyre were looking with greedy eyes on Judah; and they were laying plans to go down and take part of the spoil, now that their rival king had invaded and conquered it.

Can this DECREE be broken?

Here’s what it says about Tyre in the book of Ezekiel 26:1-3:

"In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month" — this was in 585 B.C.— "the word of the LORD came to me." Ezekiel wrote this. He was just a mortal man, one of the prophets. But he said that the Word of God came to him, and he wrote it down.

"Son of man, because Tyre has said of Jerusalem, ‘Aha! The gate to the nations is broken, and its doors have swung open to me; now that she lies in ruins I will prosper,’ therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says:' I am against you, Tyre, and I will bring many nations against you, like the sea casting up its waves.'"

Who was this speaking? Was it God pronouncing this fate on this commercial metropolis, this New York City of the ancient world, this great, proud, mighty city of Tyre, because of its evils, and because it was threatening to take spoil from the kingdom of Judah?

What God said would happen

Let’s read Ezekiel 26: 3-6 (for those unacquainted with the Bible, each "book" within the Bible has been divided by scholars into chapters and verses so that people can find their way around in studying and discussing it. The reference above says we will read Chapter 26, verses 3-6, in the book of the prophet Ezekiel.)

"...the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, O Tyre, and I will bring many nations against you, like the sea casting up its waves. They will destroy the walls of Tyre and pull down her towers; I will scrape away her rubble and make her a bare rock. Out in the sea she will become a place to spread fishnets, for I have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord. She will become plunder for the nations,and her settlements on the mainland will be ravaged by the sword. Then they will know that I am the Lord."

Notice these points in what this one who claims to be God has said. He said that many nations would come up against Tyre, and attack her — one after another, like the waves of the sea. He said that they would destroy the walls; they would break down the towers and demolish the buildings of that city. He said then that they would scrape the stones, the timbers of the demolished buildings, and even the top soil into the Mediterranean Sea. He said that this city would become like the top of a rock; it would become a place on which to spread fishnets; and it would become a spoil to the nations — MORE than one nation — many nations coming ONE after the OTHER like the waves of the sea.

For over 1500 years the armed forces of other cities and nations had attacked this proud city of Tyre, but up to this time no army had ever been able to batter down its walls or actually to invade the city. (Notice the main part of Tyre was on an island, with settlements on the mainland.)

Going on, Ezekiel 26:7-11: "This is what God says [here is God quoted as speaking directly, and in the first person]:' Look! I will bring NEBUCHADNEZZAR, the king of Babylon, upon Tyre.'"

This becomes quite a specific prophecy. It tells distinctly the name of the king and of the nation that God is going to bring against this city of Tyre, "a king of kings [because he was an emperor over a number of nations] from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and many people. HE will slay your daughters in the field with the sword. . . HE will set engines of war against your walls, and with his axes he will break down your towers . . . HE will enter into your gates . . . and with the hoofs of his horses he will tread down all your streets: HE will kill your people with the sword, and your strong garrisons will go down to the ground" — or, "your strong pillars" as the margin has it, "will go down to the ground."

Here it is specifically speaking of Nebuchadnezzar, what HE will do. But remember God had said that many nations would come, one after the other, like the waves of the sea.

Notice! Nebuchadnezzar was not to take all of the debris, all of the stones, the timber, and the top soil and dump it into the Mediterranean. God had said many nations would come, others would do that.

Tyre's FATE sealed

Let’s read on. Notice how this prophecy becomes even more specific, beginning with verse 12 on through verse 14.

"And THEY"—no longer does God say, "and HE." It is speaking of "they." This would mean OTHER NATIONS to follow Nebuchadnezzar.

"They will make spoil of your riches, and make a prey of your merchandise: and they [other nations following Nebuchadnezzar] will break down your walls, and destroy your pleasant houses: they will lay your stones and your timber and your dust (top soil) IN THE MIDST OF THE WATER."

How’s that for authority? There is someone quoted, speaking in the first person—someone with great authority, pronouncing a dire sentence upon a great city of the world at that time. Was there a God in existence who was about to do it?

Notice! This prophecy said they would lay the stones, the timber and the soil in the Mediterranean, and after that, Tyre was to be completely destroyed!

Here is the challenge to tell whether or not the Bible is inspired. There is no other book where you can find someone speaking, saying, "I AM GOD," and speaking to nations and to cities, and pronouncing sentence in that fashion, and then centuries later bringing it to pass!

It happened as PROPHESIED!

Very soon after the prophecy was uttered there was a 13-year siege by King Nebuchadnezzar exactly as it had been foretold, as the one speaking and saying, "I am God," said it would happen! Finally, he took the city. It had never happened before. He demolished the fortified part of the city which was built on the shore of the mainland.

However, the people of the city fled the mainland and fortified the other part of the city, which was originally located on an island "in the sea" (Ezekiel 27:4; 28:2), only half a mile off shore.

The original site of Tyre on the mainland became known then as OLD TYRE, and the city on the island became known as NEW TYRE.

Many skeptics may say that that prophecy wasn't written in 585 B.C. before this happened, but that it was written after it happened. How can you prove that Ezekiel wrote it when he said he did?

There is ample proof of it, but Nebuchadnezzar's invasion is only the first link in the chain of this prophecy. This prophecy had said many nations would come like waves of the sea. It foretold many other things to happen. Only a part of those things were to be done by Nebuchadnezzar, to be brought about by him.

What Historians ADMIT

Let me quote for you a little of the history of these events from the Encyclopedia Britannica, Volume 22, under the article "Tyre."

It says: "Tyre, the mistress of the seas, in the 6th century, B.C., endured a 13-years' siege from Nebuchadnezzar." During this siege, Tyre, as already mentioned, was demolished. Nebuchadnezzar, as we read in verses 7 to 11 in Ezekiel 26, did everything that was prophesied for him. But, he did not move the stones, the timber or the soil into the Mediterranean. For about 250 years after Nebuchadnezzar had invaded Tyre, it seemed improbable that that prophecy ever would be completely fulfilled.

Then, after two and one-half centuries, Alexander the Great came down in his swift march, conquering everything before him.

Before quoting the actual history of what Alexander did, let’s first get in mind a clear picture of the geophysical layout of this once great city of Tyre.

The main part of the city, originally, was on the mainland of Phoenicia, on the Mediterranean coast. In Ezekiel 27:3, God is quoted as saying to Tyre: "You who are situated at the entry of the sea." It was on the mainland, but at the entrance to the sea. It was the chief seaport of the ancient world.

But, just as many cities today are located on rivers, with a main part of the city on one side, and another part of the city on the other side of the river, so a part of the city of Tyre was built on an island, one-half mile off shore. Apparently the commercial ships put in at docks both on the mainland and on the island.

Off the south and west shores of the island, the sea was very shallow. The Tyrians had built a huge wall around this portion of the island, shutting out the sea, and adding many acres of lowland in a narrow strip around the south and west portions of the island. The island portion of Tyre was built in this reclaimed lowland strip . . . The higher portion of the island, especially in its center, was used for their pagan "High Place" of idolatrous worship, the "Temple of Melkart," and the remainder of the original island as a great public park surrounding the temple.

Because of the small area of the reclaimed lowland, inside the sea-walls, this island portion of the city was built of skyscrapers taller than those of downtown Rome today — that is, taller than 8 or 10 stories — possibly 15 or 20 stories high. That seems incredible today, but such is the historic record! Ezekiel refers to this lowland strip portion of the city this way: "Your borders are in the midst of the seas" (Ezekiel 27:4).

After the main portion of original Tyre had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in the 6th century, B.C., this lowland strip on the island was built up as the main city. Since a foreign army had, at long last, proved able to batter down the walls of the mainland city, the Tyrians built up the island portion of their city, where the half mile of sea gave them security from attack by foot soldiers.

Now, let me quote for you from the Encyclopedia Britannica in this same article, "The siege of Tyre by Alexander the Great, 332 B.C." (He had won his battle at Issus, his first great battle in conquering the Persian Empire, in the previous year, 333 B.C.) "New Tyre was built on a small island about half a mile from the mainland upon which the old city stood . . . Alexander demolished [what remained of] Old Tyre, and with the debris built a mole (causeway) 200 feet in breadth across the strait so that he turned that island actually into a peninsula and it became therefore a part of the mainland. The reduction of Tyre was now but a matter of time . . . Alexander . . . scaled the city walls. Thus after a siege of seven months the city was taken, 8,000 of the citizens were slaughtered, 2,000 later on were executed, and 30,000 sold into slavery."

What Skeptics can't DENY

We quote further from the book The Bible as History, by Werner Keller, page 320:

"This Phoenician city, heavily fortified and protected by stout high walls, was built on a small island which guarded the coastline. Alexander performed here a miracle of military ingenuity by building a 2,000-foot mole in the sea out to the island city. To safe-guard the operations, mobile protective shields, so-called 'tortoises' had to be employed. Despite this, the construction of the causeway was greatly hindered by an incessant hail of missiles. Meantime his engineers were on shore building veritable monsters…These were mobile protective towers many stories high, which held detachments of bowmen and light artillery. A drawbridge on the front of the towers enabled a surprise attack to be made on the enemy's walls. They were the highest siege towers ever used in the history of war. Each of them had twenty stories and the topmost platform towered, at a height of over 160 feet, far above the highest city walls.

"When, after seven months' preparation, these monsters, bristling with weapons, slowly and clumsily rolled toward Tyre, the fate of the maritime stronghold, which was considered to be impregnable, was sealed."

Notice, the PEOPLE of the earth considered New Tyre to be impregnable. Suppose, as the critics and skeptics try to argue, that the Book of Ezekiel was written after Nebuchadnezzar's siege of Old Tyre. What human writer, making a purely human prognostication and guess, could ever by the wildest imagination have predicted what actually did happen to New Tyre?

Still another PROPHECY

Notice, now, still another prophecy about New Tyre: "The Lord God says: When I make you a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I will bring up the sea upon you, and great waters will cover you; . . . you will no longer exist." (Ezekiel 26:19, 21). The NIV translation makes that a little plainer: ". . . when I bring the ocean depths over you and its vast waters cover you..." THAT HAPPENED!

A visit to the ruins of Tyre reveals in the somewhat shallow water, out to a depth of some four feet, the foundations of ancient buildings, building blocks, and pillars — remains of what had once been the city of NEW Tyre!

Alexander the Great, after demolishing the buildings of New Tyre, demolished this huge sea wall which had reclaimed the lowland space on which the actual city of New Tyre had been built. So in complete fulfillment of the first half of the prophecy in Ezekiel 26:4, referring to NEW Tyre, the city was destroyed!

The CITY of Tyre was completely destroyed — both Old and New. God's prophecies are SURE! They HAPPEN!

However, after Alexander's untimely death, his kingdom was divided into four divisions. The Egyptian division (the "King of the South" of Daniel 11), the Ptolemys, built a city on the peninsula. This village again bore the name of Tyre. As the Britannica article continues: this new city, "with the marvelous vitality of those early times, recovered in a comparatively short time. The city passed under the sway of the Seleucids (198 B.C.), the "King of the North" of Daniel 11, and the Romans (68 B.C.). Herod the Great endowed it with a temple. On his journey from Ephesus to Jerusalem, St. Paul spent a week there while the ship 'unloaded her burden'. By the 2nd century it had become the see of a bishop. With the rest of Syria it passed into the hands of the Muslims in the 7th century. The Crusaders captured it (1124), and made it one of the chief cities of their kingdom of Jerusalem. After the fall of Acre, the Muslims destroyed it."

Currently, a town called Sur (meaning "rock," the Arabic name for Tyre) exists on the site of ancient Tyre. It is a minor and poor port city. As God predicted, the nations sapped her wealth in invasion after invasion!

Tyre's FINAL Conqueror!

But Ezekiel 26:4, 13-14 reveals something yet to happen: "...I [no longer they, but I, God!] will also scrape her soil from her, and make her like the top of a rock...I will put an end to the sound of your songs, and the sound of your harps shall be heard no more. I will make you like the top of a rock; you will be a place for spreading nets, and you will never be rebuilt, for I the LORD have spoken,' says the Lord GOD."

This is God's doing! He will cause the waters of the Mediterranean to wash over the site of Tyre till the accumulated millennia of rubble are washed away, and it is suitable only for the spreading of nets between tides. Today, fishermen do spread their nets to dry on what was formerly the great city of Tyre. But sometime in the future, yet another assault on Tyre will occur. This next time all of her soil will be swept away by the ocean waves.

The CHALLENGE of God Almighty

Ezekiel also wrote about another city, Sidon. Sidon is a city about 30 miles north of Tyre, on the Mediterranean, still more ancient. It was the mother city. Tyre was originally merely one of Sidon's colonies.

Sidon had been declining for centuries while Tyre had been building up as the great city of the world. In the year 590 B.C., when Ezekiel wrote the prophecy, Sidon was in a state of decay.

I want to read to you its present condition from the Encyclopedia Britannica, the current edition, article, "Sidon." "Sidon, once the principle city of Phoenicia, now the principle town of the southern district of Great Lebanon...is today a city of 10,000 inhabitants — the majority of whom are Moslems."

Continuing about Sidon: "History: Older than Tyre and acknowledged as its mother...the Philistines destroyed its fleet and laid the city in ashes. Assyria and Babylonia...led armies against her to disturb her peace and loot her treasures...The Persian yoke...supplanted the Babylonian and an injudicious revolt against Artaxerxes Ochus met with condign punishment."

In 351 B.C., Sidon was absolutely destroyed for its revolt. But Sidon rose again. Further, the Britannica says: "Unlike Tyre, [Sidon] submitted without resistance to Alexander the Great."

Some skeptics attempt to explain away Ezekiel's prophecy regarding TYRE by saying it was not written about 590 B.C., before Nebuchadnezzar's invasion and destruction of Old Tyre, but about 350 B.C. or even 330 B.C. instead. But they fail to take into account the fact that the same prophet at the same time wrote prophecies about SIDON. Now suppose Ezekiel's prophecy were written around 350 B.C. If Ezekiel's prophecy were merely human speculation, do you think it would have been a logical guess, about 350 B.C., that Tyre would be completely destroyed but that Sidon, on the other hand, would remain?

That is exactly what was prophesied!

Now let's turn to the prophecy in Ezekiel 28 beginning with verse 20: "Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Son of man, set your face against Sidon, and prophesy against it, and say, “The LORD says; Behold, I am against you, Sidon...For I will send into you pestilence, and blood into your streets; and the wounded will be judged in the midst of you by the sword upon your every side; and you will know that I am the LORD."

Now you will notice that there isn't one word saying that Sidon was to be destroyed. God's judgment on Sidon was not one of utter destruction as it was on Tyre, but blood in her streets, wounded in her city, the sword on every side — a continuously existing city — but reduced and in constant trouble!

NOT to be utterly destroyed

No other city on the face of this earth has ever undergone so much suffering, except the city of Jerusalem. Sidon has often been conquered and rebuilt, conquered and rebuilt, conquered and rebuilt. It is there today, with a population of about 10,000.

All is exactly as prophesied. There has been blood in her streets, wounded in the city, the sword on all sides. The article quoted in the Encyclopedia Britannica will give you history up till now. Sidon still lives — exactly as prophesied.

Another PROPHECY defies Skeptics

There is yet another striking prophecy bearing ample testimony of Biblical inspiration. It is about another famous city in the ancient world — the city of Ashkelon.

The prophet Zephaniah lived and wrote about 630 B.C. It was before the captivity of Judah. He was warning the Jews in the first chapter of his prophecy of the captivity that was coming. There is a principle of duality in this book, as there is in most prophecies, a type and anti-type. The prophecy refers literally to the Jews of that time, six hundred years before Christ; but it refers also to our time now, in the twentieth century A.D. in the years just ahead of us. Almost no one understands this type and anti-type, this duality in the prophecies. You can't fully understand prophecy unless you understand its duality. That is one of the vital keys to Biblical knowledge.

Chapter 2 in this book of Zephaniah foretells the fate of the nations neighboring on Judah, and hostile to Judah, especially the sea coast cities of the Philistines: Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod and Ekron.

Notice Zephaniah 2:4-7: "Gaza will be abandoned, and Ashkelon left in ruins: at midday Ashdod willl be emptied, and Ekron will be uprooted."

Now verse 7: "It will belong to the remnant of the house of Judah; there they will find pasture. In the evening they will lie down in the houses of Ashkelon. The LORD their God will care for them; he will restore their fortunes."

That has happened! It happened in my lifetime. I’ve been there and seen it for myself. That territory is today in the nation that is called modern "Israel." However, Jewish leaders, pressured mostly by the West, have given some of that land to the Palestinians.

Observe the seventh verse once again. "And the coast [of the Mediterranean, in Palestine] will be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they will find pasture there." The remnant is the last generation. In other words, the 21st century, right now, in our time!

Prophecy absolutely fulfilled

Turn quickly to Zechariah 9:3-6. "And Tyre has built herself a stronghold; she has heaped up silver like dust, and gold like the dirt of the streets. But, the Lord will take away her possessions and destroy her power on the sea; and she will be consumed with fire." (Yet another prophecy showing what would and did happen to Tyre.)

Continuing: "Ashkelon will see it, and fear, Gaza will writhe in agony, and Ekron too; for her hope and expectation will wither. Gaza will lose her king, and Ashkelon will be deserted. Foreigners will occupy Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines."

All that has happened. In the year 520 B.C., Zechariah, under inspiration of God, prophesied that God would smite Tyre into the sea to be devoured, as happened in 332 B.C. Gaza will be "sorrowful, forsaken," but not destroyed. Gaza rebounded — it is still there today and very much in the news. No king has since dwelt there. Ekron is populated today. In Ashdod, a foreign people abode until 1948, when they were driven out by the "remnant of the House of Judah." (Zephaniah 2:7). How and why the Jews are giving back what God gave to them is a story for another time.

From the Encyclopedia Britannica, here are the facts of how that prophecy has been fulfilled. "With the Moslem conquest after the 6th century A.D., [Ashdod] generally sank into insignificance." Foreign people — Arab and Philistine — were there. The city sank into insignificance.

Remember, "Ashkelon will be deserted — a place left in ruins" (Zechariah 9:5 and Zephaniah 2:4).

Notice what the Encyclopedia Britannica said prior to the rebuilding of Ashkelon by the Israelis: "Ashkelon, now a desolate site," and further, "protruding from this sandswept terrain, shattered columns and the remnants of ruined buildings and broken walls bear ample testimony to a past magnificence."

Does God Almighty exist? Could any but a divine God, a Creator, foretell these things and make them happen — all as He has?

The FATE of Egypt

Have you read of the playboy ex-king Farouk of Egypt? Did you know that he was really a foreigner; that he was not an Egyptian at all?

Whoever was the real inspiration behind the prophecies of the Bible knew 2,600 years ago the condition Egypt would be in today, and also the condition of the United States, and of Russia, and of China, and of Britain, and of all of the leading nations of the earth. He knew then what is going to happen in our future.

Notice the amazing FACTS

The prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel lived some 600 years before Christ. Egypt was then already very ancient. It was the leader of civilization, of the world at that time. It was far advanced in science and arts, luxury and magnificence. It was the granary of the world with its rich Nile valley. The mightiest buildings then on Earth — the pyramids — were there, the proud monuments to Egypt's greatness. Egypt possessed the longest dynasty ruling on the throne of any city or of any nation on the face of the earth at that time. Now who would have ever predicted an end to that kind of prosperity? Comparatively, it was greater then than the prosperity of the United States in today's world.

When Ezekiel wrote, Pharaoh Hophra was on the throne, and his military and commercial successes for 25 years had made him proudly secure. He had built Egypt to a mighty position in the ancient world. The historian Herodotus said in his history, Volume II, page 169, that Hophra boasted that no god could deprive him of his kingdom.

When he boasted that, the Eternal God responded. No man could have foreseen Egypt's downfall at that time, any more than a man can see the downfall of the United States or any other great nation today. God knew what would befall Egypt. God knows what's going to befall us today. It's recorded in the Bible.

God's REPLY

At that time, Judah had been conquered by Nebuchadnezzar. The Chaldean Empire was rising. A colony of Jews had been left behind in the land of Palestine. The rest of the Jews had been taken captives and slaves to the land of the Chaldeans in Babylon. This little colony of Jews which had been left behind wanted to flee down to Egypt.

Notice. They inquired about it from the prophet Jeremiah. They asked him to consult God about it.

"The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah...This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says...If you will stay in this land [Palestine], then I will build you up and not tear you down...Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon...But if you say, we will not...obey the voice of the LORD your God, saying, No, we will go and live in Egypt, where we will not see war...or be hungry for bread...then this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel says: The sword you fear will overtake you there and the famine you dread will follow you into the land of Egypt...and there will you die" (Jeremiah 42: 7-16).

Now notice Jeremiah 44:29 and 30:

"And this will be a sign to you...that I will punish you in this place, so you will know that my threats of harm against you will surely stand...I am going to hand Pharaoh Hophra, king of Egypt, over to his enemies who seek his life, just as I handed Zedekiah, king of Judah, over to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, the enemy who was seeking his life."

And it HAPPENED!

Pharaoh Hophra was dethroned by Nebuchadnezzar shortly after that was written. And Ahmoses was substituted as a vassal king by Nebuchadnezzar.

Why Egypt is a WEAK nation

I want you to notice Ezekiel's prophecy. Ezekiel 29:1-2: "The word of the LORD came to me, saying, Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt." Now the eighth verse: "Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will bring a sword against you, and kill your men and your animals. And the land of Egypt will become a desolate wasteland. Then they will know that I am the LORD: because you said," — that is, the Pharaoh had said — "The river (Nile) is mine, I made it.” Therefore I am against you, and your rivers." This is from the King James or the Authorized translation. Actually, the proper translation is not "rivers," but "irrigated canals." They had them in Egypt at that time.

Continuing: "And," God said, "I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate...No one will live there for 40 years." That 40 years happened in the days of Babylon's greatness, for Nebuchadnezzar carried the Egyptians captive, desolated their land, and then allowed numerous Greeks to migrate to Egypt. Historians know very little about what really happened at this time.

Now notice the 15th and the 16th verses of this same chapter. "It will be" — notice that God said Egypt would continue to exist, "I WILL MAKE IT SO WEAK THAT IT WILL NEVER AGAIN RULE OVER THE NATIONS. (THE KING JAMES BIBLE SAYS: “IT WILL BE THE BASEST OF THE KINGDOMS.”)

Egypt was to exist, but it was to be the basest of the kingdoms. It had been, prior to God's pronouncing sentence, the proud lion among the others. "Neither will it exalt itself above all nations any more," God says, "for I will diminish them." (King James Version.)

I want you to know what actually happened as recorded in history. This is from the Imperial Bible Dictionary in the article "Egypt." "The population of Egypt must have been very large in the earliest times. It has been placed at 7,000,000 under the Pharaohs — at 7,500,000 (exclusive of Alexandria) in the time of Nero..."

At the present time, Egypt has about 77,500,000 population in an area of 2,589,988 square kilometers (a million square miles). The bulk of the present population represents DESCENDANTS OF FOREIGN NATIONS. Egypt has not grown like other nations. It has remained comparatively small. Compare Egypt’s population with that of Germany: Germany is only 357,030 square kilometers (137,850 square miles) in size, but contains 82,400,000 people.

A POVERTY-STRICKEN land

Notice Ezekiel 30:10-13:

This is what the Sovereign LORD says: "I will put an end to the hordes of Egypt by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. He and his army — the most ruthless of nations — will be brought in to destroy the land. They will draw their swords against Egypt and fill the land with the slain. I will dry up the streams of the Nile and sell the land to evil men; by the hand of foreigners I will lay waste the land and everything in it. I the LORD have spoken.”

And again: This is what the Sovereign LORD says: "I will destroy the idols and put an end to the images in Memphis. No longer will there be a prince in Egypt, and I will spread fear throughout the land.”

A better, more accurate translation of Ezekiel 30:10-13 is as follows: "The LORD God says; I will also make the multitude of Egypt" — the word "multitude" is rendered by other translations as "wealth," for the wealth of Egypt is really meant — "I will make the wealth of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, will be brought to destroy the land: and they will draw their swords after Egypt, and fill the land with the slain. And," God says, "I will make the rivers " — or irrigation canals — "dry, and sell the land into the hand of the wicked." That is, outside or foreign nations.

"And," God says, "I will make the land waste, and all that is therein, by the hand of strangers," which means outside nations. "I the LORD have spoken it. So says the LORD; I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause their images to cease out of Noph" — which is Memphis — "AND THERE SHALL NO LONGER BE — notice — 'THERE SHALL NEVER AGAIN BE A PRINCE OF THE LAND OF EGYPT: and I will put a fear into the land of Egypt."

Egypt would never again be ruled by a native son — a native prince of Egyptian blood.

Egypt was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar just as the prophecy said. God set him over the kingdom (Daniel. 2:37). God is the Supreme Ruler of the universe. That is the lesson that the peoples and nations of the earth have FORGOTTEN.

The RECORD of history

I want to quote for you from Rawlinson's Ancient History, "The History of Egypt," Volume II. Here is the fulfillment of this prophecy in history. It actually happened!

Rawlinson says, "Thus perished this unfortunate monarch, the last of the long line of Pharaohs, which commencing with Menes had ruled Egypt as an independent monarchy for about 16 centuries" — nearly 1600 long years. "Frequent revolts characterize the period of their subjection to Persia. But again and again the Persians proved their superiority in the field, and forced the Egyptians to submit to them."

After the Persian conquest, the Greeks dominated Egypt. The descendants of one of Alexander's Greek generals began a line of foreign Pharaohs that ruled Egypt until 152 B.C. There has never since been a native Egyptian Pharaoh or king ruling over Egypt.

Consider what this record of history means: Egypt was conquered and ruled by Alexander the Great. Then it was ruled by one of Alexander's four generals, the one that is mentioned in the book of Daniel, chapter 11, as "the King of the South." Later, Egypt was ruled by Rome. Then by the Mohammedans, and later by the Turks. It has been ruled by the French, by the British, and most recently became a republic as of June 18, 1953.

Ex-king Farouk was the king until Egypt became a republic. But KING FAROUK WAS NOT DESCENDED FROM EGYPTIAN BLOOD. He was an Albanian. He was descended from Mohammed Ali. Since the time of King Farouk, all chiefs of state of Egypt have been Arabs, not Egyptians.

The Egyptian rulers today are NOT PRINCES. They are native Arabs. God said it would be like that, and it has been. NEVER IN THE LAST 2,600 YEARS HAS EGYPT BEEN UNDER A NATIVE PRINCE of Egyptian bloodlines. Nasser, Sadat, and now Mubarik are all of Arab descent. In fact, Hosni Mubarak is the current President of the Arab Republic of Egypt. Whatever happened to Egypt? You can read more of the details in Rawlinson's Ancient History.

It always HAPPENS

When these prophecies were written, there was nothing to indicate such futures as were predicted.

Think of it! God pronounced a fate of waves of destruction and plundering on the ancient city-state Tyre. That happened.

On Ashkelon, extinction, until rebuilt by the Israelis. That happened.

On Sidon, to suffer and to be diminished. And that happened. Sidon is a city of 37,500 population today, yet it is said to be the “most important” city in Lebanon!

Egypt was to continue to exist, but to be diminished, never again to be ruled by a native son. That happened.

The fate of Babylon was extinction. That happened.

But, how did Ezekiel know these things would happen, if it was just him writing all of this? This is why God Himself says to test His existence and his authorship of the Bible through studying the prophecies He inspires. Who is the real Ruler? I can tell you: It is God Almighty.

SKEPTICS can't disprove the fulfillment of prophecy

Even in the time of Christ, there was NOTHING to indicate Egypt's glory was gone forever, absolutely nothing. Then, Egypt was still very powerful. Its population was over 7,000,000. It was the breadbasket of the Roman Empire at that time. The Encyclopedia Britannica says that Alexandria, Egypt, continued through the 3rd century A.D. to be esteemed as the first city of the world after Rome. Egypt was predicted to survive as a nation, although inhabited and ruled by non-Egyptians, but as a minor nation.

Now, I want you to compare what happened to Egypt with what was prophesied to happen to Babylon and Rome.

Babylon and Rome, Too!

Think of it! The God quoted in the Bible did not limit Himself to foretelling the fate of only some one or two of the cities or nations of the Earth. But God took every important city — every nation in the then-known world with which His nation Israel had contact — and predicted through inspired human writers the fate of every one of them!

In most instances, the future decreed was the very opposite of that which every appearance, at the time, would logically have indicated! And yet, the events so paradoxically prophesied came to pass!

Look at this prophecy concerning the world's political and religious capital, Babylon.

“Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms, the glory of the Babylonians’ pride, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah. She will never be inhabited or lived in through all generations; no Arab will pitch his tent there, no shepherd will rest his flocks there. But desert creatures will lie there, jackals will fill her houses; there the owls will dwell, and there the wild goats will leap about. Hyenas will howl in her strongholds, jackals in her luxurious palaces. Her time is at hand [when Isaiah wrote], and her days will not be prolonged.” (Isaiah 13:19-22).

That decree from the Almighty was not delayed. It was carried out! That sentence has continued for 2,600 years! The condition described in the BIBLE, written while Babylon was the world's capital at the height of its might and power and glory, remains to this day! I have seen photographs of the desolation, and a stork's nest. But no man lives there.

A man I know asked the caretaker of the museum now maintained by the Iraqi government at Babylon, if he lived there.

"O my, no!" he exclaimed. "No one lives here. I ride here every morning on my donkey."

"Do Arabs ever pitch tents here?" my friend inquired. "Never!" was the emphatic answer. "They have a superstition against it."

How could Isaiah know, 600 years before the birth of Christ, that the utter DESOLATION of that world's capital of his day would become and remain a total desolation these 2,600 years into the future? HE COULDN'T — EXCEPT THROUGH THE DIVINE INSPIRATION THESE FULFILLED PROPHECIES PROVE!

Rome was mentioned in prophecy before it even came on the scene — all the prophecies about Rome were written even before there was a Roman Empire! Rome was like iron (Daniel 2:40) — the mightiest of all of those ancient nations, the most powerful — more powerful than Egypt or Greece, or than the Chaldean Empire, or than the Persian Empire. It came into being as predicted. But it was also foretold that it would fall.

In biblical language, Rome was to have a "deadly wound," but the "deadly wound" was to he healed (Revelation 13:3). Rome was to be revived seven different times after it fell. It has been revived and resurrected six times — under Justinian, Charlemagne, Otto the Great, Charles V, Napoleon, Mussolini — and the seventh resurrection may be in progress right now.

YOU may live to see it happen!

Everything that had been prophesied in the Bible for the past centuries has been fulfilled. But there are many, many more prophecies that are to be fulfilled from this time on! We are just now coming to the grand smash climax of this whole age, for which there are far more prophecies — far more world-shaking events — to happen than ever happened before in the history of the world!

Why are all these prophecies being fulfilled? Because God exists, and He promised thousands of years ago, in the Bible, that He would always let His people know what He is doing. That includes what He is about to do in the near future!

PROOF 2: THE BIBLE'S AMAZING UNITY.

This unity is achieved in spite of the long period of time involved in its writing. More than fifteen centuries elapsed between the writing of Genesis, the first book of the Bible, and Revelation, the last book of the Bible. At least 400, and possibly 600, years elapsed between the writing of Malachi, the last book of the “Old Testament,” and Matthew, the first book of the “New Testament.” Unity is achieved in spite of the many authors (some forty) and their various occupations (approximately nineteen). The Bible says of itself: "The Lord gave the Word: great was the company of those who published it." (Psalm 68:11).

Here are some of the names and occupations of those who either wrote down or are prominent persons in God’s communication to us:

1. Moses was an Egyptian prince.
2. Joshua was a soldier.
3. Samuel was a judge.
4. David was a king.
5. Esther was a queen.
6. Ruth was a homemaker.
7. Job was a rich farmer.
8. Amos was a poor farmer.
9. Ezra was a scribe.
10. Isaiah and Jeremiah were prophets.
11. Daniel was a prime minister.
12. Nehemiah was a cupbearer.
13. Matthew was a tax collector.
14. Mark was an evangelist.
15. Luke was a physician.
16. John was a fisherman.
17. Peter was a poor fisherman.
18. Jude and James were carpenters.
19. Paul was a tentmaker.

Unity is achieved in spite of the different geographical places where the Bible was written. Unity is achieved in spite of the many different styles of its writing. We find unity in the Bible as: history, prophecy, biography, autobiography, poetry, law, letter form, symbolic form, proverb form, and doctrinal form.

Let’s imagine a religious novel of sixty-six chapters which was begun by a single writer around the sixth century A.D. After the author has completed only five chapters, he suddenly dies. But during the next 1000 years, up to the sixteenth century, around thirty amateur "free-lance" writers feel constrained to contribute to this unfinished religious novel. Few of these authors share anything in common. They speak different languages, live at different times in different countries, have totally different backgrounds and occupations, and write in different styles.

Let’s further imagine that at the completion of the thirty-ninth chapter, the writing for some reason suddenly stops. Not one word is therefore added for a period of four to six centuries. After this long delay, the writing begins again, when eight new authors add the final twenty-seven chapters.

With all this in mind, what would be the chances of this religious novel becoming a moral, scientific, prophetic, and historical unity? The answer is obvious — not one in a million. And yet this is the story of the writing of the Bible.

PROOF 3: THE PERVASIVENESS OF BIBLICAL LAWS.

Does the Bible explain things so much better and earlier than man has explained them, and in such a way as to indicate divine authorship? Yes, it does to any sincere reader.

The Law of God is the most glorious set of laws ever known by man for his profit. Most of our modern law today is based on the simple setting of ten commandments. God gave everything we need to live by in ten simple laws for living and getting along together. That is the inspiration of God. Compare that with entire law libraries consisting of thousands of books written by men. In the simplicity of the ten commandments alone you can see the inspiration and genius of God. And that is just for those living on the physical level. For those who follow Him spiritually, there is only one law with two parts: love God with all your might, and love your neighbor as yourself.

PROOF 4: BIBLICAL WISDOM AND RULES FOR LIVING.

The laws for how to live were written in a morally depraved world, so the wisdom in it was not derived by analysis or assimilation of other legal systems.

However, realize that subsequent to the “Ten Commandments,” God had to give Moses additional laws because men could not understand the simplicity of the ten laws previously given.

A complete study of Moses’ law would be a large undertaking, so I will simply list a few examples of that law indicating divine wisdom, equity, and justice.

• Self-defense with deadly force was allowed for nighttime intruders, yet revenge for such actions was condemned (Exodus 22:2-3). And this is clearly stated.

• Cities of refuge saved the innocent from revenge or false charges (Numbers 35:9-29).

• Laws of consanguinity kept the Israelites from incest (Leviticus 18:6-18; 20:11-21).

• There must be two or three witnesses for conviction for any capital offense (Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15).

• Life begins at conception, and both mother and child were protected from any physical harm prior to the birth, even down to penalties for someone precipitating a premature birth (Exodus 21:22-25).

• Dowries were paid to the brides’ father to (a) protect women, (b) encourage virginity, (c) prove financial ability, and (d) compensate for losing a daughter (Exodus 22:16-17; Deuteronomy 22:29).

• Why does a woman have a hymen? Regardless of poppycock to the contrary, first sexual intercourse draws blood. The hymen proves virginity, and its evidence was to be protected by fathers for the protection of their daughters (Deuteronomy 22:13-21).

• How do you end date rape, protect girls, promote virginity, and make chaperoned dating popular? Check out Deuteronomy 22:22-29.

• True love for a child will result in reproof and discipline (Proverbs 13:24; 29:15).

• Loose women have destroyed many men (Proverbs 23:26-28), and many proverbs are to protect young men (Proverbs 2:16-19; 5:1-23; 6:20-35; 7:1-27; 22:14; 23:33).

• True wisdom listens to correction (Proverbs 1:5; 9:6-12; 13:18; 25:12; 26:12; 28:23).

• Offenses are more easily solved by gentleness than strife (Proverbs 15:1,18; 25:15).

• These verses define the perfect wife, identify her character, and honor her (Proverbs 31:10-31).

• Controlling your spirit is more important than conquering a city (Proverbs 16:32; 14:29; 15:18).

• The philosophy of the book of Ecclesiastes regarding life, man’s mind, purpose, wealth, wisdom, works, government, marriage, labor, women, inheritance, entertainment, folly, spending, wine, circumstances, relationships, money, oppression, greed, covetousness, speech, contentment, chance, charity, sobriety, death, and old age, among other subjects, is superior to any of man’s writings. You must consider its profound wisdom, extreme brevity, and powerful clarity; and then consider its incomparable, powerful conclusion.

• The Bible teaches men to love their wives as their own bodies, for they will receive the greater reward from kindness and love rather than force and cruelty (Ephesians 5:25-33). The Bible liberates and exalts women more than any other book or feminist movement.

• Child training, economics, marriage and divorce, vanity of life, leadership qualifications, brevity of life, support of widows, autocratic government bound by written constitution, care of the poor, civil obedience to foreign powers, employment relationships, sexual matters, and other subjects are taught better than in man's writings.

"A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education” (Theodore Roosevelt; 1848-1919; 26th President of the United States).

PROOF 5: THE SUBLIMITY OF THE BIBLE.

By sublimity I mean "belonging to the highest regions of thought, reality, or human activity. Standing high above others by reason of nobility or grandeur of nature or character; of high intellectual, moral, or spiritual level. Affecting the mind with a sense of overwhelming grandeur or irresistible power; calculated to inspire awe, deep reverence, or lofty emotion, by reason of its beauty, vastness, or grandeur."

But in this section, I'm only going to point you in a direction. Only by reading the portions of the Bible
itself (in English we would recommend a modern translation like the New International Version, but no later than their 1984 revision) to actually appreciate the beauty and wisdom of the writing.

There is no loftier definition of love than that found in I Corinthians 13:4-7, yet consider how concisely this single sentence summarizes fifteen aspects of perfect love. Each of its phrases is pregnant with meaning and valuable instruction for relationships. The “golden rule,” taught by Jesus Christ in the Bible is unmatched among men as a simple, comprehensive, and exalted rule of interpersonal conduct (Luke 6:31). It is a marvel in conciseness, simplicity, profound beauty, force, and obvious consequences.

The story of the good Samaritan condemns bigotry, revenge, and hatred in a simple and clear way. It promotes tender regard for personal enemies in need (Luke 10:25-37).

What works of literature, philosophy, or religion can be compared to the Psalms? The Proverbs? Ecclesiastes? Song of Solomon?

The virtuous woman described in Proverbs 31 is a challenge to all of us.

What apocalyptic writings can compare to Daniel’s prophecies and the Book of Revelation? What drama can compare to the simple but moving books of Ruth and Esther?

Who can read about creation in Genesis 1 without amazement at its brevity and power?

There has never been a plan of salvation like the one of the Bible. Who but a loving God would die for mankind in order to save us from the certain death our own sins have earned us? And salvation is a free gift without our having to earn it — in fact, we cannot do one single thing to earn salvation. And yet it provokes the greatest possible motivation for loving God and loving other people.

PROOF 6: BIBLICAL SCIENCE.

The more we learn about ourselves and our environment through modern scientific discovery, the more we find the Bible to be a book with astoundingly advanced knowledge. So true is this the case, we know God wrote it.

The Bible showed the Earth was round in 700 B.C., when God inspired Isaiah 40:22 to refer to the circle of the Earth.

In 2000 B.C., the Bible stated that the Earth hung in space, when God inspired Job 26:7 to refer to this very definite feature of the Earth.

The Bible required the quarantine of those with contagious diseases 3500 years ago (Leviticus 13:45), yet these rules were not followed for the next 3200 years and cost an unknown number of millions of lives. Now we follow such rules strictly in dealing with contagious diseases.

Remember, the greatest scientific and medical wisdom on earth at the time of Moses was among the Egyptians (I Kings 4:30; Acts 7:22), who manifested their gross darkness, superstition, and perversion in using excrement, semen, goat urine, and menstrual blood mixed with hyena ear, donkey tail, and ox hooves as cures. And accordingly, Israel was saved from their numerous diseases and afflictions by following the dietary, sexual, sanitation, and medical laws of the Bible (Exodus 15:26; Deuteronomy 7:15; 28:27).

Written in approximately 1500 B.C., the Bible clearly stated man’s life expectancy to be about 70, and that remains perfectly accurate, even today (Psalm 90:10). Consider this: the man writing this statistic lived to be 120, his father lived to be 137, his grandfather lived to be 133, and his successor lived to be 110. Consider also: the average life expectancy for other nations at the time of the writing was significantly less than 70, for the word of God presumes the application of His laws affecting diet, sanitation, infection, mental health, etc. Interestingly, the rule applies as well to Americans with vitamins, vaccinations, hospitals, health food stores, and health clubs, for our “advances” have not improved on God’s rules for life laid down in the books of the Bible.

What man in what nation could have predicted the modern scientific finding that man’s life expectancy under ideal conditions is 73? And what man could have given this statistic in 1500 B.C.? God wrote the Bible, and this point helps prove it.

God set the eighth day for circumcision, when blood-clotting compounds are at their highest levels (Genesis 17:11-12; 12:4; Leviticus 12:3; Luke 1:59; 2:21; Acts 7:8). A newborn’s liver and intestines do not begin producing prothrombin and vitamin K until about the fifth day after birth, when nursing has commenced and consequently bacteria has formed in the intestines. These two compounds reach the highest level on the eighth day after birth, estimated at 110% of normal levels of these two important clotting factors. We did not discover / isolate these two compounds and their effect until 1935.

How did Abraham in 2000 B.C., or Moses in 1500 B.C., know that the eighth day was the optimum day for cutting a newborn without risk of hemorrhage? While chance could have caused Moses to pick the eighth day? In fact there are many other days, like the 472nd day or the 1,384th day, that he could have chosen. Given all we read medically, we know God told Him.

Sanitation rules for human waste are biblical, and we observe them today with toilets. But the Bible taught them clearly in 1500 B.C. (Deut 23:12-13). Even people in "Mother England" emptied chamber pots into the street until a few years ago. People in Bible-rejecting countries like India still live and bathe in excrement, and often have it in their drinking water.

Several aspects of nutritional health were dictated in a few words in Psalm 104:14-15. The service of man comes from the field, where we find the basis for nutrition. Whole grain bread makes the heart of man strong, which we now know comes from its fiber, complex carbohydrates, B vitamins, iron, Vitamin E, protein, and other nutrients. Oil makes his face to shine, for we now know that there are essential fatty acids, which are necessary components of a healthy diet. Wine makes his heart glad, a combination of antioxidants and the relaxation created by moderate alcohol consumption. Some of these health aspects were not discovered / isolated until the last century.

Gluttony, one of the great curses of our modern society, is strongly condemned (Proverbs 23:1-3, 20-21). It is a well-known fact that the single most important dietary change you can make to live longer is to eat less than you desire; yet we live in a modern nation in which the majority of citizens are obese from our abundance of rich food and gluttonous attitude toward it.

The water cycle is clearly taught in Ecclesiastes 1:7 and Amos 5:8.

God stated in the Bible that bodily exercise is profitable, which modern medicine has confirmed; it is just not nearly as profitable as spiritual exercise (I Tim 4:8).

The Bible limited saturated fat consumption more than 3500 years ago (Lev 3:16-17; 7:23), well before it was known to have deleterious effects on human health.

The prohibition of certain kinds of animal food was very wise, especially without proper cold storage and more difficult cooking options (Leviticus 11; Deuteronomy 14).

Circumcision almost completely eliminates penile and cervical cancer. Penile cancer is extremely rare among circumcised men, and their wives have cervical cancer at a rate over 10 times less than wives of uncircumcised men. Remember, God promised to deliver Israel from the diseases of Egypt, if they would keep His laws (Exodus 15:26).

What is the true origin of species? Why does the whole world reproduce “after its kind” (Genesis 1:11-12, 21, 24-25; 6:20; 7:14)? Dogs can mingle breeds, but dogs and cats cannot produce cogs. Horses can mingle breeds, but horses and cows cannot make corses. If protoplasmic jelly can become a hummingbird (in evolutionary daydreaming), why can’t cats and rabbits mate for rats or cabbits? Where did these natural laws come from? And how did the writers of the Bible know about them in 1500 B.C.?

The Bible claims man’s body was formed of the dust of the ground (Gen 2:7), and scientific and chemical analysis have shown that the human body is made up of the same sixteen elements found in dirt. Should we be surprised? No! Cambridge University Press published a book in 1986 in which Hyman Hartman proposed that our origin occurred with the combination of clay and carbon dioxide. The dust of the Earth and God’s exhaled breath!

What about the seven stars of Pleiades mentioned in Amos 5:8? Are there seven stars in this constellation, or was the seventh star only recently discovered with the power of telescopes? It is claimed by several sources that only six stars are visible to the naked eye in the constellation Pleiades, yet the Bible admits to seven, if we presume that Amos is speaking of Pleiades. So compare Amos 5:8 with Job 9:9 and 38:31. Has this constellation been called the Seven Sisters due to God’s revelation of seven stars?

Where is the life of the body? It is circulating in the blood, as Leviticus 17:11, 14 declared 3500 years ago. It’s too bad our first President’s doctors didn’t know this, for maybe they would not have ignorantly bled him to death for a sore throat. And all races of men have the same blood, as taught by Paul in Acts 17:26, which today we understand enough to encourage blood transfusions without regard to race, even though we rejected this possibility as late as World War II. How did Paul know this in 55 A.D.?

Consider the stringent laws of cleanliness relative to dead bodies in Numbers 19:11-20, written about 1500 B.C., or 3500 years ago. And what does it require for those who do not want to follow these rules of sanitation and cleanliness? Read Numbers 19:20.

Monogamous and faithful marriages, and capital punishment for sexual sins, would have prevented all the STDs, AIDS, and other diseases ravaging our immoral world.

Where did this profound wisdom come from? Is having sex with an animal a capital offense? No one else is hurt, are they? Isn’t it a “victimless crime”? Didn’t we all evolve from the same protoplasmic gelatin? Won’t it help us get close to nature? Why not pass laws favoring perverts who prefer a goat? God condemned all these sexual perversions and their consequences, and established monogamous marriage as the norm (Genesis 2:24-25), and He demanded the death penalty for variations (Leviticus 20:10, 13, 15-16; Deuteronomy 22:5).

How much mental illness could biblical peace (Phillipians 4:6-7; Is 26:3-4) and love (I John
4:18) cure? Why are some people tormented? They have not learned how to love in the biblical way (I John 4:18; I Corinthians 13:4-7; Proverbs 15:17). And the Bible said this in 60 A.D.

How much psychosomatic illness could following the Bible cure? The Bible taught 1000 years ago the value of a cheerful spirit (Proverbs 14:30; 17:1, 22; 18:14; 27:4; Ecclesiastes 9:7-9). Yet modern psychologists and other practitioners think they discovered something new.

Balagvignus was a Jewish doctor of Strassburg, who implemented sanitation in the midst of the Bubonic plague, and almost eliminated it from the Jewish sector of the city. Consider that human waste and garbage were thrown in the street and rats ran wild in most cities. Sanitation was generally unknown except for God’s law (Deuteronomy 23:12-14). Such horrible sanitation conditions still exist in countries like India, where the Bible is rejected for the enlightened wisdom of Ganges worship and praying to idols.

What medical wisdom existed in 1500 B.C. to preclude the eating of animals that had died from natural causes or attacks from carnivores? Disease, bacteria, and parasites were not yet understood. See Exodus 22:31; Deuteronomy 14:21; Leviticus 7:24; 17:15-16; 22:8.

Ignaz Semmelweis was a Hungarian doctor who required strict washing hands of hands to eliminate frequent blood poisoning deaths in Budapest hospitals in the late 19th century. The great impact of running water and his discovery can hardly be overstated, yet Moses wrote about it 3500 years ago (Lev 15:13). Why was there such wisdom in the Bible, when the world did not identify germs, bacteria, and contagion until nearly the 20th century?

Where did stainless steel instruments and vessels come from in modern medical practices? Did they follow porous brass vessels, which did not have to be destroyed, but could be scoured and rinsed? Bacteria and germs were unknown until the latter 19th century. Look at Leviticus 6:28 and 11:33! God wrote the Bible.

What about social science? Is there any wisdom in the Bible that man cannot figure out for the benefit of our species, which would indicate the author of the Bible is truly God? The family was declared by God from the beginning, and man is still too foolish to recognize its preeminence as the necessary and fundamental social bond. Parents are to be supported by their children in their old age, to make most welfare unnecessary.

Restitution (two to seven times the theft), beatings (maximum of forty stripes), mutilation (for bodily injury to others), or death are far superior deterrents to crime than is prison, which is a non-effective system overall.

Marriage is superior to casual sex, temporary cohabitation, same-sex unions, etc. Child discipline is carefully defined and encouraged in the Bible, whereas many modern psychologists are lost, losing, and losers when it comes to child-rearing.

Tithing to support the poor is superior to the legalized plunder of welfare states. Gleaning by the poor requires them to work as they are able, to support themselves. How wise!

What arrogance and idiocy on the part of modern educators! They ridicule the notion held in the Dark Ages that the Earth was flat, but they exceed that ignorance by a factor of a million to one by believing salamanders chose to become pink pelicans.

A “big bang” of chaotic matter could no more fashion this Earth and life on it with its order, design, beauty, and laws, than an explosion at a newspaper factory would result in the Oxford English Dictionary bound and wrapped, or a tornado going through a junkyard would result in a Boeing 747 with pilots!

It takes much more “faith” to believe we accidentally descended from monkeys than to believe in an infinitely wise creator God. At least a creator makes sense in light of the evidence of design and order. Evolution does not.

One of the very strongest proofs of the Bible is its explanation for men like Carl Sagan and Charles Darwin. It declared thousands of years ago that God judged such men by removing their understanding of simple matters (Romans 1:20-32; I Corinthians 1:18-20; 3:18-20; Isaiah 8:20; 19:11-14; 44:20,25; Job 5:12-14).

It calls hallucinatory theories like evolution “science falsely so called” (I Timothy 6:20-21). God knew foolish ideas were coming, and condemned them thousands of years ago. The Bible knows science; but it also knows science falsely so called, so don’t believe everything you hear that our modern speculators call science.

Consider the so-called scientific method. Since we cannot observe the origin of the world, cannot reproduce it in a laboratory, and cannot confirm any human hypotheses of origination, it is far beyond the scientific method of evaluation. Instead of hypotheses from men who barely learn to read before they die, we have evidence and proof about our origins in the Bible. We believe the book that is proven to be God’s Word, and so we understand, especially with collaborating evidence, exactly how all things came to be (Genesis 1:1; John 1:1-3; Hebrews 11:1-3). And without this faith, men are unreasonable and to be avoided at all costs (II Thess 3:1-2).

PROOF 7: THE BIBLE WORKS!

The seventh evidence that proves the Bible to be the word of God is one which every person can test for himself. The Bible simply works! In Trading Is a Business, I paraphrased the wisdom of the Bible found in the book of Proverbs. I challenge anyone to show me that the wisdom found in the book of Proverbs would not help him become a more profitable and successful person and trader.

I could go on with even further proofs that the Bible was written as it describes itself — written down by men as they were inspired by God. However, if you don’t believe that by now, then the rest of what I would share with you would also be wasted. However, if you can see that there is a God and that the Bible is his instruction book to us, as well as one of the ways he communicates with us, then there is a lot more I can share with you.

 

Does God Exist?

The Short Answer

The man whispered, "God, speak to me," and a meadowlark sang, but the man did not hear. So the man yelled, "God, speak to me," and the thunder rolled across the sky, but the man did not listen. The man looked around and said, "God, let me see You," and a star shone brightly, but the man did not see. And the man shouted, "God, show me a miracle," and a life was born, but the man did not notice. So the man cried out in despair, "Touch me, God, and let me know You are here," whereupon God reached down and touched the man. But the man brushed the butterfly away and walked on.

(A friend e-mailed the above writing to me. I do not know who wrote it.)

The More Complete Answer

Many people believe in a god, or sometimes even gods, or some vague spiritual force. Currently, in man's own "wisdom," people look to combine various worldwide concepts into one picture of a force or entity that can be reached by "many paths" — leaving us free, in our own great wisdom, to choose our own path. And, of course, "evolution" has become the religion of those who prefer a creation with no obligation to a creator.

I am well aware that many people reading this do not believe in the creator God of the Bible. So in order for me to be able to convey to you the spiritual aspects of what I’ve learned about trading, it will be necessary for you to keep an open mind. If at this point, you cannot do that, then I invite you to STOP READING RIGHT HERE. The rest of what I have to say will be of no value to you.

On the other hand, if you can KEEP AN OPEN MIND, I will summarize part of my own journey through life as a trader — at least for the past 25 years of my life — that part in which I began to discover the spiritual side of trading.

In order to see the spiritual aspects of trading, it’s necessary to first understand that there is a spirit world. Can you relate to that? A lot of people think such things are strictly nonsense!

The best way for me to show you what I’ve learned about the spiritual side of trading is to describe to you what I found out. For me, it was proving to my own (not anyone else’s) satisfaction two things: 1) that God exists, and 2) that in some way God communicates with us. I found that the Bible is one of the ways God communicates with mankind.

Does believing that the Bible contains what we need to become happy and successful traders make me some kind of religious nut? Are you saying to yourself, “Let me out of here right now!”?

You can know that God exists! You can know that God is the author of the book people call the Bible. However, you are a free moral agent. You don’t have to read another word. But if you want to know how I achieved trading and teaching success beyond my wildest dreams, you’ll have to keep on reading.

There are many proofs God exists, but I’ve picked just seven to tell you about. Once I show you that God exists, and if you want to keep going, I’ll then show you just seven of the many proofs that the Bible is one way God lets us know of his existence. If there is a spirit world, it had to start somewhere. I will begin with a question:

Is it rational to believe in God?

Millions of people around the world believe that there is no God. Lots of people believe that science and religion cannot coexist. On the other hand, many who believe in God say that you should "just have faith." They tell you to not try to examine the evidence. I was told that a long time ago, by a priest. I’m glad I didn’t listen to him. I wanted to find out for myself.

Since I have to find a starting point, and I can't do that without first looking at the book that reveals to us that there is a God, l want to show you what the book called the Bible has to say. My hope is that you will stick with me as I get to the part where I show you the actual proofs of God's existence, and that what He has to say has plenty of impact on becoming and remaining a successful trader.

Contrary to what many believe, God does not ask anyone to have "blind faith." What I found was that in the Bible the being who says "I am God," challenged me in one place to test and prove whether or not He exists. Elsewhere He said to prove what is true and real. God tells us to: "Test everything and hold on to whatever is good.” Another way to say it is to “prove all things.”

I will mention that, for purposes of study and reference, people have divided the Bible into books, with chapters and verses. Some of the books have somewhat strange names, but don’t let that put you off. When I quote from the Bible, you will see the references written in this way: “John 3:16.” “John” is the name of the book. “3” is the number of the chapter, and “16” is the number of the verse.

Can anyone prove that God exists? What evidence would you need to believe God exists?

When I started looking, I discovered that people who believe in God have many different — often contradictory — ideas about the nature of God. As with most things, people have their opinions. But I wanted to know what exactly is revealed about the true nature of God? Since the Bible is the only book that reveals such things, containing direct quotes from the one who claims to be God, I must use the Bible to begin the proving process. Elsewhere, and if you are interested, I show proof that the Bible is literally God communicating with us, and also proofs in addition to the Bible that point in the same direction.

Here is what the person who says He is God says about himself: "‘Who are you going to compare Me with? Or who is My equal? Look up to see Who has created the heavens. Who else can count all the stars and call them all by name? By the greatness of My might and power; not one is missing."

This is talking about a God who provides evidence of His existence, as I will soon show you. But why should anyone believe that what I read was not just some crackpot who may have decided that He was God? I wanted proof, and at that point I hadn’t yet proven that God was the inspiration behind the writing of the Bible. If there was a God, I wanted proof apart from the Bible. I decided to look around.

Proof 1: Since all around us we see a creation, it seemed logical to think there must be a creator. Astronomers continue to reveal previously unknown galaxies. Our awesome universe is simply astounding. Under the night sky, King David of ancient Israel asked God: "When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?" (I read that quote in the book of Psalms, chapter 8, verses 3–4). But I didn’t need to read that in order to see the logic behind it. Surely, a creation demands a creator.

David called the universe the work of God’s fingers. He was sure that God created the universe. But could I believe what some character in the Bible believed?

I had to ask myself, “Did the universe have a beginning?” What do scientists say? Famous astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, in a lecture titled "The Beginning of Time," stated the view of most astronomers today. Check this out: "The universe has not existed forever. Rather, the universe, and time itself, had a beginning in the ‘Big Bang,’ about 15 billion years ago."

As Dr. Jeffrey Fall wrote: "Science now confirms that there has been no past eternity of matter!” Did you catch that? Matter has not always existed. So, where did it come from? King David said it was the work of God’s fingers. Was God the One who caused the Big Bang? Amazingly, it seems that science is finally realizing what King David said. It’s as though science is catching up in understanding something the Bible talks about concerning the origin of the universe.

Science agrees with the Bible that the universe has not always existed. But how, then, did the universe come into being? Did it come from nothing? Can you create matter from nothing? If so, how? Can science give us an answer? It seems to me that back in eighth year science class we were taught that matter cannot be created or destroyed.

Sir John Maddox, author of What Remains to be Discovered, wrote a Time magazine article titled "A Theory of Everything." He observed: "Only 70 years ago, the universe was found to be expanding, but now there is a model of how it began: the ‘Big Bang.’ At the beginning, it is said, there was literally nothing, not even space. Then there came into being a tiny speck of superheated space that contained enough energy to create all the stars and galaxies that fill the sky — with enough left over to drive the expansion of the universe ever since" (March 29, 1999, p. 206).

Maddox continues, "There are also serious philosophical problems created by the Big Bang, which can be described but not explained. Worse, nobody has been able to reconcile quantum physics with the other great triumph of 20th century physics: Einstein’s theory of gravitation. Until that is done, the true nature of our universe will remain beyond our ken." (ibid.)

You have to admire Maddox’s honesty. He recognizes that scientific truth is valuable, but limited. Science can describe the "how" of nature to only a certain extent. And it cannot answer the deeper philosophical questions, such as "why the universe?" and "what is the purpose of human beings?"

However, the Bible does answer those questions. Science can demonstrate that the universe began, but by itself it cannot reveal what — or who — caused that beginning, nor can science answer "why." Here, the Bible agrees with science, but adds a vital dimension to our understanding of the created universe: "By faith we understand that the universe was formed at the command of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible." I found that in the book of Hebrews, Chapter 11, verse 3.

So, whereas Science cannot explain the Big Bang, the Bible does explain it. The Bible says God spoke and the universe came into existence. Do you have a better explanation? Science doesn’t. On the one hand they say matter cannot be created or destroyed, and then they tell you that it came out of nothing. Were any scientists there when this so-called speck of superheated space somehow came into existence out of nothing? I thought scientists say that not only was there no matter, but also that there was no space!

I found myself wondering, is it any easier to believe the theory science was putting out, or is it easier to believe someone who says He was there at the beginning?

Proof 2: If there is life, doesn’t there have to be a life-giver? Scientists have tried in vain to create life from non-life, or even from "soups" of laboratory chemicals. They have utterly failed! The law of biogenesis states that life can come only from life. Astrophysicist Hugh Ross comments on these failed attempts: "Even under highly favorable conditions of a laboratory, these soups have failed to produce anything remotely resembling life. One problem is that they produce only a random distribution of left- and right-handed pre-biotic molecules. Life chemistry demands that all the molecules be either right- or left-handed. With all our learning and technology, we cannot even come close to bringing life together in the lab" (The Creator and the Cosmos, Ross, 1993, p. 148).

Even though science has never — not even once — created life from non-life, some scientists are so determined to reject the idea of a Creator God that they put aside their own scientific objectivity and stake their belief in the possibility of what science has shown to be impossible!

The scientific method requires observation, experimentation, and human reasoning. No physical experiment can "prove" God in a scientific sense. You can’t put God in a test tube or under a microscope. You can’t see God through a telescope.

Science can only produce experimental results that are either consistent or inconsistent with the hypothesis of a Creator God. Yet what happens when scientists encounter facts that are consistent with a Creator? Many will dogmatically declare that there cannot be a God, ironically making a "religion" out of their unscientific atheism!

Notice this quote by Nobel Prize-winning scientist George Wald: "The reasonable view was to believe in spontaneous generation; the only alternative, to believe in a single, primary act of supernatural creation. There is no third position. One has only to contemplate the magnitude of this task to concede that the spontaneous generation of a living organism is impossible. Yet here we are as a result, I believe, of spontaneous generation." ("The Origin of Life," Scientific American, August 1954, p. 46)

Amazing! A Nobel Prize-winning scientist calls it "impossible," yet believes it to be true! And you thought religious people are a little bit nutty. Maybe you are beginning to change your mind? Reading all the contradictions and blabbering theories of scientists surely made me change my mind. But what about the contradictions and blabbering theories of religionists? Those also exist, but we will not be able to get to them until much later. I’m sorry, but being human, I am forced to go one step at a time. Whereas my mind seems to be able to function in multiplex mode, writing is by nature only sequential.

I refuse to be deceived by scientific (or religious) theorizing that has no basis in reality. Wald’s phrase "spontaneous generation" may sound impressive, but however knowledgeable such a phrase may sound, it is not scientific truth, and does not agree with true science and the real world! As true science recognizes, life can come only from life.

The Bible explains that life originally came from the Life-Giver: In the very first book of the Bible it says: "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being" (Genesis 2:7). Or, as one translation of the Bible has it, "man became a living soul." God gave physical life to human beings and many other life forms. It seems God is also the creator of spiritual life. But that’s in another part of the Bible — the part where it explains that He created angels and other spirit beings.

Proof 3: If there are Laws, doesn’t there have to be a Lawgiver? Science has discovered that our physical universe appeared from nothing. But how did this happen? Science cannot explain the origin of the universe, but there must be an answer. Contrary to what some believe, the Bible’s simple answer is consistent with true science: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1).

Notice that the Bible does not tell us when this original creation occurred, only that there was a beginning of time, and a beginning of the universe. Interestingly, the Bible also tells us there will be an end to this present situation, and a new heavens and a new earth some time in the future.

Science and the Bible agree that the universe began, and that it immediately operated according to predictable natural laws. When the universe came into existence, all the laws of physics and chemistry were intact; they did not "evolve."

Patrick Glynn, in his book God: The Evidence, writes that everything had to be "‘just right" from the very start — everything from the values of fundamental forces like electromagnetism and gravity, to the relative masses of the various subatomic particles, to things like the number of neutrino types at time 1 second, which the universe has to ‘know’ already at 1043rd second. The slightest tinkering with a single one of scores of basic values and relationships in nature would have resulted in a universe very different from the one we inhabit — say, one with no stars like our sun, or no stars, period. Far from being accidental, life appeared to be the goal toward which the entire universe from the very first moment of its existence had been orchestrated, fine-tuned." (pp. 7–8).

Science has found no reason for the many laws of physics and chemistry, and for the many precise values and relationships, to have come into existence exactly as they are. From a mathematical point of view, the odds against our universe having just the right laws to sustain life are astronomical.

Remember, these laws were in existence at the first moment of creation. Scientists recognize that they had to be. As Hawking acknowledged in The Nature of Space and Time: "The only way to have scientific theory is if the laws of physics hold everywhere, including at the beginning of the universe." (p. 40).

Is it reasonable, then, to assume that these laws came about from nothing — from random chance? Absolutely not! The existence of such marvelous and predictable laws in nature points to a master intelligence and Lawgiver. Add to that evidence the existence of unseen spiritual laws, and you double the evidence of a great Lawgiver. These same spiritual laws affect markets and trading because they affect the human beings who compose the markets. Getting in tune with these laws gives the trader a much greater chance for success.

What is the origin of these natural laws that permeate our universe? As the Bible reveals: "There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy." I found that one in the book of James, chapter 4, verse 12. Since someone had to create those laws, it seems the only answer is that the Creator God is the Lawgiver of both natural law and spiritual law. One of the prophets named in the Bible says, "The Lord is our Lawgiver." (Isaiah 33:22).

Have some scientists recognized the significant evidence of intelligence behind the natural laws of our universe? Yes! Albert Einstein, the great physicist and Nobel Prize winner, saw awesome intelligence revealed in the existence of natural law. He wrote that the scientist’s "religious feeling takes the form of a rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law, which reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection." (Einstein: A Centenary Volume, ed. A. P. French, Harvard University Press, 1979, p. 305).

Einstein was amazed at the intelligence he saw in natural law. He called human intelligence, compared with that superior intelligence revealed in natural law, "an utterly insignificant reflection." I believe that far superior intelligence behind the laws of the universe is the God who created the universe — the great Lawgiver!

Proof 4: If there is design, surely there has to be a designer. Not only do we find predictable physical laws throughout the universe, we find tremendous evidence of intelligent design. The human body, for example, shows insurmountable evidence of design. Consider the human eye. Even Darwin admitted that "complex organs such as the eye would be difficult to explain in terms of the gradual stepwise process outlined by this theory." But Darwin did not realize the complexity of vision’s molecular biology, which science would later discover.

If we find design in the universe, we naturally expect a designer. Significantly, then, we may ask: was the universe designed for a purpose? As Patrick Glynn notes in his book, God: The Evidence:

"The most basic explanation for the universe is that it seems to be a process orchestrated to achieve the end or goal of creating human beings." (Glynn, p. 32). Glynn states further: "From the scientist’s viewpoint, the fact that the universe looks as though it had a definite beginning might be upsetting enough. But what appears to drive cosmologists nearly to distraction is the anthropic principle" — that the earth and the universe were created for mankind." (ibid., p. 42).

What is the alternative? Some scientists, like zoologist Richard Dawkins, support the idea that human beings are merely animals with no purpose in a purposeless universe. As he put it: "the universe we observe has… no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but pointless indifference… we are machines for propagating DNA… It is every living object’s sole reason for living" (Science, August 15, 1997, p. 892).

Can you believe that? Certainly you can ignore evidence of design behind the laws that govern the universe, and behind the universe itself. But in the face of so much evidence, it takes greater "faith" to believe in a godless universe than to follow the evidence to its logical conclusion: the existence of a Creator God who set His laws in place for a purpose.

Why would people exercise so much "faith" to ignore the evidence right in front of their eyes? Even some atheists and agnostics admit that by choosing to remain ignorant, they can continue living their lives without God, denying the consequences.

Aldous Huxley, the famous English author, expressed this perspective well: "Most ignorance is vincible ignorance. We don’t know because we don’t want to know. It is our will that decides how and upon what subjects we will use our intelligence. Those who detect no meaning in the world generally do so because, for one reason or another, it suits their books that the world should be meaningless." (Ends and Means, p. 312).

What an admission! Huxley’s statement sounds very much like what the Apostle Paul wrote: "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened." (The book of Romans, chapter 1, verses 20–21).

Do you want to be like these people? Examine the universe, creation and the purpose of human life, and you will find that design demands a designer!

I really have trouble understanding scientists ever since I began to understand spiritual things. Let me give you an example — time. Would you agree that time is nothing more than the reckoning we do as a result of the movement of the celestial bodies? I mean by that, a day is nothing more than one revolution of the Earth on its axis. A week is seven of those days. A month is the moon making one revolution around the Earth, and a year is the Earth making one revolution around the sun. It seems to me those celestial bodies form a gigantic clock!

Now let me ask you this: if you found an old clock somewhere and took it apart, would you not see design? Even if it were a digital battery operated clock, would there not be design in both the interior and exterior of that clock? Would you decide in your mind that all of that design just happened? Would you believe that the clock came from some sort of cosmic accident?

What if I told you that it came from nothing, and that some superheated space that never existed decided to manifest itself as a clock — would you believe me? Or would you think I had a little too much to drink. Am I way off base saying that a similar type of fiction is what scientists are trying to sell us?

Proof 5: Proven Fulfilled Prophecy. Hundreds of prophecies given thousands of years ago have been fulfilled, are right now being fulfilled, and will be fulfilled in the years soon to come.

One such prophecy involved Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, who had a dream that none of his advisors could interpret. The king not only demanded that the dream be interpreted, but also that his advisors tell him what the dream was! Only Daniel, through God’s revelation, was able to reveal and interpret King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. Daniel explained that the king had seen a mysterious image, with head of gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, and feet of iron mixed with clay. The head of gold represented Nebuchadnezzar. The rest of the image foretold future kingdoms.

"But after you another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which will rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom will be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. Just as you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom will be divided; yet the strength of the iron will be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with clay." (The book of Daniel, chapter 2, verses 39–41).

Reputable scholars and historians agree about the identity of these kingdoms (empires). After Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian Empire from 625bc to 539bc came the Medo-Persian Empire from 558bc–330bc, the Greco-Macedonian Empire of Alexander the Great from 333bc–31bc, and the Roman Empire from 31bc–476ad. Finally, the ten toes of iron mixed with clay represent a future revival of the Roman Empire. The prophecies of Daniel are genuine, and his predictions of these four empires did come to pass.

Also, there are more than 100 fulfilled prophecies in the part of the Bible called the “Old Testament” foretelling the coming of a Messiah, which means a deliverer, a savior. Among them is the prophet Isaiah’s prophecy that the Messiah would be a descendant of King David (the book of Isaiah, chapter 11, verse 1), that the Messiah would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14), that He would live in Galilee (Isaiah 9:1–2), that His mission would include the Gentiles (Isaiah 42:1–4), and that He would die with the wicked (Isaiah 53:9).

Other prophecies foretold that He would be born in Bethlehem (Micah, chapter 5, verse 2), that He would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver (Zechariah, chapter 11, verses 12–13), that He would enter Jerusalem on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9) and that He would be like a smitten shepherd (Zechariah 13:7). These are just a sampling of the many prophecies about the birth, life, and death of Jesus Christ, written hundreds of years before He was born, that came true.

There will be much more about prophecy when we get to proving that God inspired what is written in the Bible, and that the Bible is one of God’s ways of communicating with us.

Proof 6: If there is an effect, there must be a cause, right? Didn’t we learn that in school? The concept they called the “law of cause and effect?”

The universe exists and is real. Every rational person must admit this point. If it did not exist, we would not be here to talk about it. So the question arises, “How did the universe get here?” Did it create itself? If it did not create itself, it must have had a cause.

Let’s look at the law of cause and effect. As far as science knows, natural laws have no exceptions. This is definitely true of the law of cause and effect, which is the most universal and most certain of all laws. Simply put, the law of cause and effect states that every material effect must have an adequate cause that existed before the effect.

Are you thinking the same thing I am? If scientists are correct about a speck of super-heated space, what or who caused it?

Material effects without adequate causes do not exist. Also, causes never occur after the effect. In addition, the effect never is greater than the cause. That is why scientists say that every material effect must have an adequate cause. The river did not turn muddy because the frog jumped in; the book did not fall off the table because the fly landed on it. These are not adequate causes. For whatever effects we see, we must present adequate causes.

Five-year-olds are wonderful at using the law of cause and effect. We can picture a small child asking: “Mommy, where do peaches come from?” His mother says that they come from peach trees. Then the child asks where the trees come from, and his mother explains that they come from peaches. You can see the cycle. Eventually the child wants to know how the first peach tree got here. He can see very well that it must have had a cause, and he wants to know what that cause was.

How would you answer your child? Would you tell the child that the tree evolved? What did it evolve from? Did it come from some unhappy fungus that decided it no longer wanted to remain a fungus? And where did the fungus come from? Can you see where this takes you? You are going to have to explain at some point where the tiniest microbe came from and how it happened to become alive. Science cannot answer these questions, but the Bible can and does. It simply says: “God said: Let there be trees…”

One thing is for sure: the universe did not create itself! We know this for a scientific fact, because matter cannot create matter. If we take a rock that weighs 1 pound and do 50,000 experiments on it, we never will be able to produce more than 1 pound of rock. So, whatever caused the universe could not have been material.

Some people today are saying that the universe was created from nothing. Give me a break! However, if there ever had been a time when absolutely nothing existed, then there would be nothing now — because it is always true that nothing produces nothing. If something exists now, then something always has existed. God, in the Bible, says: "I am that I am." In other words God has always existed. Eternal existence is something we cannot fully comprehend. But God created time through the clock-like movement of the planets and stars. However, God stands outside of time, and also of space, since He created both. Spirit, being something other than material, occupies neither time or space.

The Bible certainly is not silent about what caused the universe. In the very first verse of the first chapter of the first book it says: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth.” The book of Acts, chapter 17, verse 24 records: “God, who made the world and everything in it…He is Lord of heaven and earth.” The book of Exodus, chapter 20, verse 11 notes: “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them.”

At least the Bible gives us a believable answer to something for which science hasn’t even a clue. This answer is what I meant when I said that one of the purposes for the God's communication to us is that of revelation. Scientists, no matter how hard they try, can neither prove nor disprove God. But God reveals Himself to us by telling us Who He is and what He has done. He also is able to tell us what is going to happen in the future. Standing apart from time, God can see the entire timeline of mankind's history and its future.

God is undoubtedly an adequate cause, since He says He is all-powerful. In Genesis 17:1, God told Abraham “I am Almighty God.”

He came before this material world, fulfilling the criteria that the cause must come before the effect. The psalmist wrote: “Before the mountains were born, you formed the Earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God” (Psalm 90:2).

And He definitely would instill within mankind the concept of morality, since He is a God of morals. Titus 1:2 says that He cannot lie.

Only the fact of the existence of God fits the criteria of an adequate cause that came before the universe. And there is something else: how did people in the Bible know the answer to all of these things that even scientists today can’t figure out? It seems to me that certain kinds of information can be known only by revelation. Someone — the Bible says God — revealed these things to the men who wrote the words of the Bible.

So now you are going to say to me: “Hold on just a minute! If I contend that every material effect must have a cause, and I say that only God could have caused the universe, then the obvious question is: 'What caused God?' Doesn’t the law of cause and effect apply to God, too?”

There is a single word in the law of cause and effect that helps provide the answer to this question — the word material. Every material effect must have a cause that existed before it. Scientists formulated the law of cause and effect based upon what they have observed while studying this universe, which is made out of matter. No science experiment in the world can be performed on God, because He reveals that He is an eternal spirit. He is not matter (John 4:24). Whatever spirit is, it is definitely not matter, and whatever that spirit stuff is, it’s what God consists of.

Science is far from learning everything about this material world, and it is even farther from understanding the eternal nature of God. There had to be a First Cause, and God was (and is) the only one suitable for the job.

The law of cause and effect is a well-established law that does not have any known exceptions. It was not conjured up from the creationists’ magic hat to prove the existence of God (although it does that quite well). The evidence is sufficient to show that this material universe needs a non-material cause. That non-material cause is God. If natural forces created the universe, randomly selecting themselves, then morality in humans could never be explained. Why is this universe here? Because “in the beginning, God….”

Proof 7: The human brain...simultaneously processes an amazing amount of information. Your brain takes in all the colors and objects you see, the temperature around you, the pressure of your feet against the floor, the sounds around you, the dryness of your mouth, the comfort of your seat. Your brain registers emotional responses, thoughts and memories. At the same time your brain keeps track of the ongoing functions of your body like your breathing pattern, eyelid movement, hunger and movement of the muscles in your hands.

The human brain processes more than a million messages a second. Your brain weighs the importance of all this data, filtering out the relatively unimportant. This screening function is what allows you to focus and operate effectively in your world. A brain that deals with more than a million pieces of information every second, while evaluating its importance and allowing you to act on the most pertinent information...can we say mere chance brought about such an astounding organ?

When NASA launches a shuttle mission, it is assumed a monkey didn't write the plan, but intelligent and knowledgeable minds. How do you explain the existence of the human brain? Only a mind more intelligent and knowledgeable than humanity could have created the human brain.