of Proof

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The Proof

of the BIBLE

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The BIBLE-

Superstition or Authority?

Did you ever stop to prove whether the Bible is the divinely inspired Word of God?

by

H E RB ER T

W.

ARMSTRO NG

Cop)'right1958 ByRADIOCnURCHOF GOD

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H ^{AVE YOU} ever stopped co rea lly prore w he ther or no t the Bible is divi nely inspired by a Creator?

I am going to givc you th e proof. And I am going to te ll the skeptics how to dis- pro ve t he Bible , if it 's not inspired, and how to di sprove the ve ry existence of God , IF THERE IS NO GOD .

It Dares to Fore tell t h e Future ! Here is a book- T he Holy Bib le- that da res to w rite o ut the futu re hi story of this wo rld i n advance- that dares to pro- phesy w ha t is actual ly going to happen within 15 or 20 years to specific nations, includi ng Russia , th e Brit ish Common- wea l t h, Chi na, th e United States, It al y , Tur key, Ethiopia , and man y ot he rs- mos t of th e major nati on s of this wor ld .

But tooult]

)'OU

be lieve it if I to ld you what thi s Book predicts? If I told you what it predicts about

)'Oll r

nation? Would y ou beli eve it?

You know , we have gotten away from believing that the Bible means what it says. We may not be ATHEISTS. We may not ridicule the Holy Bible . But we arc living now in an age of SKEPTICISM . We arc living in an age of doubt.

Most highly educated people, and men of science, assume that the Bible is not the infallible revelation of a Supernatural God, and they assume this WITHOUT THE SCIENTIFIC PROOF that thev demand on material questions . '

Most fundamentalist belie vers

tJ SSII1JJe ,

on sheer faith, never ha ving seen proof, that the Hol y Bible is the ver y Word of God . Ver y few people have stopped to prove whether or not the Bible is reall y the in- spired Word of God . Ver y few people TREMBLE before what it says or regard it us having REAL AUTHORITY.

How Could You Prove It?

Some people seem to think th at Jesus ' miracles were recorded to prove Hi s divine Messiahship. But the skeptics don't be-

Iieve those mira cles ever occurred .

Some people will say , ansrcered prapr is t he proof of inspiration . But th e skeptic has had no pra yers ans toerai , He doesnt believe th a t (1l1ybody ELSE has .

There is, however, one source of irrefu- table PROOF!

T he Bible i tself purports to be the in- fallible, divi ne revelation of truth, revealed by the very Creator and Div ine Ruler of the ent ire universe. In your Bible, One is quoted, cl aiming th a t HE is God , spea ki ng in the first person , saying that He can make and un mak e nation s, tha t He can carrv OUt His judg ments over mi llenniums ~f time, cl aiming that He can foretell infallib ly the fut ure of ci ties and empires, but t hat no MAN can .

TAUNTING the Skeptics Ske pti cs say the l3i blc is mercl y th e reli gi ou s writings of a small ancient Jew ish race, groping in the dark ness of human ign or an ce and of supersti t ion try ing to develop a conc ept of God .

But is it?

WHO IS this, quoted as saying, "I am God , and there is none like me, decl aring the end from the beginning , and from ancient times, the th ing s th at are not yet done , saying , my council shall st and " ? One is quoted saying th ose very words in Isai ah 46 :9-10.

Who is th is claiming to foretell th e future? Is it merel y so me ig no rant, an- cient h um an w ith no powe r to make good his boast , wh o wrote this blistering challenge to the skeptics, recorded in Isaiah 4l:21-23? - "N ow the Eternal cr ies, 'Bring yo ur case forward ,' Now Jacob's king cries, 'State yo ur proofs' ,"

Yes, state your PROOFS ! " Let us hear what has happened in th e past that we may pond er it, or show me w h at is yet to be, that we may w atch how it turns out.

Yes, let us he ar what is COMING , that we

ma y be sure that yo u are Gods. Come, do

something or other that we may marvel a t

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4 ^T ^he Proof of the BIBLE

the sight. Why,

^yOIl

are things of nau ght . You can do nothing a t all!" ( Moffat t).

Th ere is the taunt of th e On e quoted as bei ng God, and quoted in th e firs t person , tauntin g ske pt ics, sayi ng, "Wh y , you 're nothin g at all. Co me on! Let's hear your proo]: th at we may wa tch whether it turns out . Pred ict wh at is go ing to ha ppen in the fu ture, an d let us watch and see whether y ou can foretel l. Have

)'OU

the power to bri ng i t abo ut? Are yo u a Go d? Do )'ou rule the univ erse? Can you make and unmak«

nationsl Can yo u pro noun ce a sentence or a decree on a nat ion , and bring. it to PASS?"

That is the taunt of the GO D of the BIBLE to the do ubter .

Prophecy is the PROOF of God Prophe cy is th e proof of di vine re ue lari on!

H O ne, in th e Bib le, speaking and cl aim ing

to

be God, can make prophecies and tell w ha t is going

to

happen in the fu ture to nations,

to

cities, to emp ires, th en if it act ua lly happens in el'er)' case, an d wit ho ut a miss , you 'll know tb nt was a rea l God speaking .

But, if it were so me person wri ting th is, so me human mortal writing in ignorance, gro ping in supers ti tio n, making g reat boast s, and cla imi ng tha t he could foretell wh at w as go ing

to

happen t o pro ud ci ties ,

to

nati on s, to great empires, and then it ne ver hap pens, y ou know th at t hat man w as merel y ' wr iti ng mak e-believe out of bis own imagina t ion.

Yes, prophecy is the proof of God , t he proof of the divine revelation of the Bible . Pro phecy is a taun ting c haJlenge t ha t the skepti c dar es n ot accept !

So he re is the challenge to th e skepti c.

How lon g has New York City been in exis tence? Abou t 300 years. Ab out 300 years ago New Yo rk City wa s a little vill age. N ow it has grown

to

a great cit y of ov er 8 milli on population .

Suppose that som e hum an pro gnosticatOr made a prophecy that New York w ill very soon , inside of 15 yea rs, be totally des- troyed, never ag ain to be rebuil t. Wou ld any human be able to brin g th at to pass?

Wou ld an ybod y believe it if so meo ne would make such a proph ecy? !J th ere ANY MAN on tbis earth th at cou ld s

pea]:

with autbority , and make such a prophecy

ab out a grea t city lik e New York-AND BRING IT TO PA SS?

The City that CONFOUNDS the Skeptics

Now not ice ! O ver 2500 ye ars ago, there existe d a g rea t cit y th at already, th en, w as more th an 1500 years old . That city wa s the mist ress of th e seas- of th e whole world ; i t was th e commercia l center of th e world . It was beaut iful , rich , and st able.

That city wa s ancient Tyre on the Med i- terran ean. It w as loc ated on the western co ast al area of Ph oen icia.

In the year of 604 B.C. , the na tio n J uda h had been in vaded by th e Cha ldea ns un der Ki ng Nebuchadnezzar , of t he Cha ldea n Empi re. Th e J ew s had been co nque red and ta ken capti ve, in a series of sieges between 604 and 580 B.C. The people of T yr e were look in g w it h greedy eyes on J udah; and th ey were layin g plans

to

go down and take part of th e spoil, now th at th eir rival kin g h ad invaded , and co nquered it.

Can This Decree Be Broken?

We read of T vre in Eze kiel ·26 :1-3, the Moffatt trans lation , in a little plainer Eng lish :

"I n the 11t h yea r, on the first da y of the month"-n ow thi s was in 585 B.C.-

"this wo rd from the Etern al 'ca me

^to

me ."

Erekie! was wri ting t h is. He was just a mortal man, one of the prophets .

But this man said that t he ver y J ,y'ord of God came to Him , and he w ro te it down . Now th is is wha t God is quoted a s sayi ng- On e w ho is quo ted in the ji rJt person as being GO D , th e very Creator, and the very Ruler of all th e universe . He sa id :

" So n of man, sinc e Tyrc h as gloated over Jerusale m, 'A H A ! t h is door into the nations is brok en down! It lies o pen

to

me.

I sha ll prosper , now sbe is laid w aste . ' Therefore , the Lord , the Etern a l ut ters th is sentence : 'Tyrc , I am aga inst you . . . I will bring man)' a nat ion aga inst yo u,-as the sea brings m an)' a war'c' ."

Wh o uas tbis Jpeak in g? W as it some ig no r-

ant hu ma n, or wa s it God

_Almigh~y

w ho

pron ounced this fate on this commercial

metropol is , this New York of the ancie nt

w orld , thi s grea t , proud ,

mi,~ht)'

ci ty of

Ty re, because of its evils , and because it

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The Proof of the BIB L E 5

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6 He Proof of rbe BIBL E

w as threat eni ng to tak e a spoi l of th is k in gd om of Ju d ah ?

What God Said Would Happen Let us beg in w i th th is th ird verse from t he King J am es o r th e Au t ho rize d tr an s- la tion , and read on in cl udi ng the fift h verse :

"Therefore , t h us sa i t h the Lord God.

Beh ol d , 1 am again st thee, a T yre. And 1 w i ll cau se man)' nat ions to come up ag ain st thee

^,IS

the sea cau seth his waves to come up . And th ey shall destroy the wall s of Tvru s, and break down her towers . 1 w ill also scra pe her dust from her , and make her like the top of a rock . It sh all be a place for the spread ing of net s [fishers ' nets] in the midst of the sea , for 1 have spoken it, sa i th the Lord Eternal, and it sh all become a sp oil of the nations ."

Here is One qu oted in the Bible as say ing , "I am G od , 1 have spo ken it. This is goi ng to happen to that great city Tyre "

- one o f th e two greatest ci tie s of the world , as gre at in th e world in that day as Neu- Y ork o r London is today .

1 w ant yo u

to

notice these points , in what this On e who clanns t o he God ha s said . He sa id th at mall)' nat ions w ould come up agai ns t thi s Tyre, ^and ^a ^{ttack her} ^. ^{But how} were the,'

to

come ? He said l ike tbe tra res of tbe sea.' N ow th e waves of the se a come one after tbe other, not all to gether . Th ese a ttac k ing na t io ns woul d co me om after t he o ther. He said that t hcv w o uld dest ro y th e wa lls; th ey w oul d bre~k down th e towers and dem oii sh th e bu ildings of th at cit y.

He said th en th a t th ey would scrape the stones, the timb e rs of the de m olis bet! b"ildi lllu and eren tbe top .roil into tbe M editerram'an Sea . He sai d th at th is c ity wo uld become lik e the top o f a rock; it wou ld become a place to .rpretlt/ t he nets

011;

and it w ould beco me a spoi l to the Il ations- I\IOR E th an one natio n- mmq nat ions comillg O N E after the OTHER like tile

/N II -eJ

of the sea.

For over 1500 years th e arme d forc es of oth er ci t ies a nd na tio ns had at tac ke d thi s prou d city of Ty rc, b ut never had any arm y been able to ba tte r down its walls or actua lly to invade th e ci ty , Now could som e mere hu man morral, just w ri ti ng in the rel ig ious wor ks of th e ancient J ewi sh race- could so me morra l man pronoun ce

such a n astou nd ing fate on so great a city AN D BRI N G IT TO PASS?

But let us read o n, beg inning wi th Ezekiel 26- verse 7 on th ro ugh verse 11 :

" For th us sa i th God Ete rna l [here is God qu oted as speaking d ir ectl y , and in the

fi rst per .roll] : .Beho ld , I w ill bri ng upon

T yru s NEBUC HADNEZZAR, the king of Bab yl on . ' "

Th is beco mes qu ite a specific prophecy . It tells di stinctl y th e nam e of the king and o f tbe nat ion th at God is going to br ing agains t th is cit y of T yre, " a kin g of kings [because he wa s an emperor o ver a num- ber of nations] from the north , wi t h horses, with chariots, a nd with horsemen , and companies, and with much people, HE sh a ll sla y with the sw ord thy daugh- ters in the field . . . HE s h all set engines of war against th y w alls, and w ith his axes , he shall break down th v towers . . . HE shall enter into th y gate~ ^.. . and wi rh the ' hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all th y streets. HE sh all sl ay th y people by the sword, and th y strong garrisons sha ll go down to the gro u nd " - or, " your strong pillars " as the margin has it, " sh all go down to th e g rou nd . "

Here it is specifically speaking of Nebu- chadnez zar , wh at H E sh all do . Bur rem em- ber God had said that man }' nations s ha ll com e , not [us: one, but man } ' na tio ns, one afte r th e other Ii ke the w a ves of th e sea . N otice! Nebuchadnczzar w as not to take all of the debris, all o f the stones , the timber, and th e to p so il and dump it in to the M ed iterran ean. God h ad sa id man ) '

nations would come. -

Tyre's FATE Sealed

Let us read on. No t ice how this pro ph - ecy becomes even more specific, beginn ing with verse 12 on through verse 14. "And THE Y "-no lo nger d ocs God say, "and _ H E . " It is spea ki ng of " t hey . " This w o uld mean OTHER NATIONS to fo llow N ebuchadn ezzar .

"They sh all make spoi l of thy rich es,

and make a prey of thy merch a nd ise ,

and

tiN)'

[th at mean s ot he r nations fol -

low in g Neb uc h adn ezzar] s ha ll break dow n

thy walls and des troy thy pleasant

houses . T hey sha ll la)· th)· stones snd thy

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The Proof of the B I BLE 7 timb er and thy dnrt IN TH E M IDST OF

TH E WATER . " There it is !

God says, " I wi ll ca use the no ise of th v songs to cease, and the so und of thy harps shall be no mo re heard , an d I will make thee like the top of " roc k , and tho u sh al

t

he a place [() s prea d net s upon . T HO U SHALT BE BUILT NO rdOR E ; for I , the Eternal, ba re spoken it, .raith the Lord God:"

T HE RE is antborirv: T here is One quo ted , s pea ki ng in th e jir.rt persor: wi th great au rbority, prono uncing a d ire senrenee upon a grea r ci ty of th e wor ld a t t hat ri me. \Vas there any God ex ist i ng wh o was about

to

do it?

Notice t h is prophecy said th ey wo uld la y th e stones, the t i mber , the soi l in t he Mediterranean , and after that , Tyre was

to be com pletel y dest royed a nd BUI LT NO M O RE , NEVER AG AIN TO BE BUILT!

Was thi s the very Creator G od pass ing sente nce? Was th e R uler of the uni uerse a ble to bring it to pass, or was this mere HU- MAN conjecture?

Here is t he ch all eng e to tell whe ther or nor thi s Bible is ins p ired. There is no other book where you can find one spea k- ing, saying, " I AM GOD ," and spea k ing to nations and to cities, and pronounc ing sentence in that fashi on , and then cen tu ries la ter bringing it to pass'

Notice! This sam e God is telling what is going to happen to our modern nations today, yes , Russia, Ge rmany, Great Bri- tain, the United Stat es, Australia, Italy, Thes e moss -c overed, hewn stones were once part of the f ab ulo us buildin g s o f Tyre - the "New Yo rk" of the ancient world. Thoug h Tyre had wi th sto od e nemies for ce n- turies , God decreed through the prophet Eze kiel : "Th ey sha ll brea k down thy w all s . . . and lay thy stone s IN THE MIDST O F T HE WA TER " ( Ezek . 26 :12) . Those ve ry

stones a re lying the re today! _

WESTMINS TERFILMS

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8 T he Proof of the BI BL E

Med iterran ea n Sea

Orig ina lcity of Tyre

Walls surrounding Tyr e

Temple01Mel karlinva st park

The city of Tyre before the siege by Nebuc hcdnezzor. Tyre was a dual city, bui lt on the coa st of Palestine and in t he sea. Harbors o n the coast and on the isla nd made Tyre a mistress of commerce .

China, all of th e gre a t n at ion s, and ma ny of the minor na to ns of the worl d , p ro nou nci ng sentence on tI .r- wa rning of t hi ngs th at are to ha ppen to us in th e next 20 years. Can I-Je do it? Was He ab le to do w hat He said abo u t ancie nt Ty re?

I s this Bible inspired] Can yo u prol ie it ? Do Bible prophecies m ean what they say?

It Happened as P rophesied!

Very soon afte r t he prophecy was ut- te red t here was a 13-year siege by King Nebuchad nezzar cxactl

IT

as th is had been foretold , as the O ne s p~a k i n g and saying,

" I am God, " said it w ou ld h appen ! Fina llv, h e took the city . It ha d never h appened before. He demol ishe d t he forti- fied pa rt of th e ci ty whi ch was buil t on th e shore of the mainland .

H oirecer, the peo ple of th e ci ty fled the

" mainland and fort ified th e ot her part of th e

ci ty, which was o rigi na lly locat ed on an island " in the sea" ( Ezck . 27 :4; 28 :2) , on ly ha lf a mile off s hore. The or iginal si te of Tyre on the mainland beca me kno w n then

as OLD TYRE , an d the city on the isla nd became kn ow n as NEW TYRE .

Ma ny skep tics may say tha t th a t pro- ph ecy wasn t w r it ten in 585 B.C. before this ha ppened , but th a t it was wri tten after it happen ed . H ow can y ou prove th a t Ezekiel w rote it wh en he sai d h e did ?

T here is ample proof of it, b ut Ne buc had- nezza r' s invasion is on ly th e first link in the ch ain of th is prophecy. Thi s pro phe cy had said many nations wi II co me l ik e wa ves of th e sea. It foreto ld many other th ings to h a ppen. Only part of those t hings were to be do ne by Nebuchad nezzar , to be brought abo ut by him,

What H istorians ADMIT Let me quote for yo u a li t tle of the bistor y of these events from th e En cy clopedi a Britannica, vol ume 22 [t he latest edition of the En cyclopedia Britann ica] under the a rticle " Tyre. '·

It says: "T y re, the mistress of th e seas , in

the 6t h Cent ury, D.C. , end ured a 13 years '

siege fro m Ne buchadnezzar.·· During th is

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Tbe Proof of tbe BIBLE

Medit erra nea n Sea

City of NEWTyre

Walls surround ing NEWTyre

Causewa y built by Ale xander

9 After the siege by Nebuchadnezza r, tha t part of Tyre o n the islan d beca me known as New Tyre. Alexander broke down the w all s of Ne w Tyre . It lie s in ruins still visib le under the shallow Mediterranean waters. The area ma rked "R o man Ruins" re pr e se nts New Testament Tyre. Modern Sur is ou tlined on th e no rthwes te rn tip.

Medit erranean Sea

Sand forming new coastline

Ruinsof NEW Tyrevisible in the waters ofthe MediterraneanSea

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10 The Proo] IJfthe BIEL F.

s ieg e, Tyr c, as alrea dy men t ion ed , was dem oli shed .

Nebuchadnczza r, as we read in verses 7 to 11 in Ezekiel 26 , did e veryth ing th a t was pr o phesied fo r h im . But , he did not mo te the stones , tbe timber or the soi! into th e M edi- rerran ean . For abou t 2S0 year s af ter Nebu- chadnezzar had in\'adcej' Tyrc , it seem ed improbable th at rbat prop hecy ever wou ld be comple tely fulti JIed.

Tben, after two an d one ha lf centu ries ; Alexa nder the G reat came dow n in his swift march con q uer ing every t hing bef ore hi m .

Befo re quo tin g th e act ua l hi sto ry of what Alexander di d , let us firs t ge t in mi nd a cle ar pict ure o f rhc geophysical layout of t his once great ci ty of T y re.

The m a in pa rt of the ciry , originall y, was on the m a inl and of P hoenicia , on th e Med iterranean coast. In Ez ekiel 27 :3, G od is quoted as saying to T y re : " 0 th o u rh ar a rt situa re at th e ent ry of the sea. " I r was on the mainland , but a t the entrance

to

the sea. It was t he c h ief sea port of the ancient world.

Bur , JU St as m any cities rodav arc located on r ivers , w ith a main pan o f the ci ty on one side , a nd an oth e r part of th e ci tv on th e other side of t he ri vcr, so a part of th e cit y of T vrc w a s bu ilr on an isla nd , one- ha lf m il e ofT sho re. A p pa re nt ly th e commerci al sh ips pu t i n a r dock s both on t he mainl and and on t he is land .

OfT the sou t h and west s ho res of t he isl an d t he sea was ve rv sha llow . T he T yr ia ns had bu ilt a hu g e 'w a ll aro und this po rtion of th e islan d , s h urcing ou r the sea , and add i ng man y ac res of lowl an d in a narro w stri p aro u nd rh e sout h a nd west po rt ions of th e isl and . Th e is lan d portion of T vr c w as built in rh is recla i me d lo w - landstrip, ind ic ated by the s h ade d portion of the rna p. The h igh er po rtio n of th e isla nd, especi ally in irs center, wa s used for th eir pa ga n "H ig h Place " of id ola- tro us worship, tbe " Te m ple of M el kart,"

a nd rhe remainder o f rh e o r ig ina l islan d as a grea r pub lic park s ur ro u nd ing th e

temple .

Becau se of t he sma ll area of rhc re- claimed lowland, in side the sea-wa ll s. rhi s is la nd portion o f rhc ci ty w as bu il

t

o f

s kyscrapers ra l lcr r ha n th ose of down- town R ome todav-rhat is, ra l ler chan 8 or 10 s ror ies-e-poss ib lv I S o r 20 sto ries hig h . Th a r see ms incredible today, but su~h ^is ^the ^hi ^{s toric re} ^{cord !} ^E ^zekid ^{refer s} to t his lo w la nd st r ip port ion o f t he city thus : " Thy borders ar e ill t he m idst of t he seas " ( E zc k . 27 :4).

Afte r rhe main porti on of ori ginal Tyre had been desrrovcd bv Nebuch adne zzar in the 6 rh century: B .C~, rh is lowl a nd strip on th e isla nd was bui lt up as th e ma in city. Since a foreig n arm y h ad , at lon g Ias r, proved able to ba r ter down the wa ll s of the ma inlan d cirv , th e Ty r ians bu ilt up the Isla nd portion of rhci r cit y , w he re t he h al f m il e of sea gave them sec uri ty fro m a rrac k by fo ot so ld ie rs on lan d .

Fro m rha

t

ti me , the 6th ce ntury B .C. , th e mai n land po rtion became known as

" OLD Tyre ,." a nd the Is lan d po rt io n as

"N EW Ty re ."

Now, let me quote fo r yo u fro m the Encyclopedia Bri tann ica in th is same article,

" The .r/ege of Ty re bJ ' Alexander the Great, 332 B.C. " ( He had wo n h is bat tle a t Issus , h is first grea t ba tt le in co nquering the P er sian Emp ire, in t he previous yea r , 333 B .C. ) "N ew Tvre was built on a small is land a bo ut h a if a mi le from the mainland upon w hic h t he o ld city sto od.. . A lex- ander d em o lis hed [w ha r remained of] Old T vre , and w ith the debri s bui lt a mole 260 feer in br eadth ac ros s the stra i t so th a r he turned that island acruallv into a

pcninsu]«

and it bec am e th er efore a pa rt of t he main land. T he red ucti on of Tvre was now bu t a m atter of ti me . . . X lexan de r . . . sca led th e cit v w alls . T hus af te r a siege of seven month s the city was taken , 8,000 of th e c it izens w er e sla ug h t- ered, 2 ,000 later on were exec u ted , and 30,000 so ld in

to

sla very . "

What Skept ics Can 't D EN Y

We qu ote furth er fro m th e bo ok T he

Bibl e as Hi Jt IJIJ , by Wern er Keller , page

320: " T h is Pho enician citv , hcavilv fo r t i-

fied an d protec ted by sto u t hi gh ' walls ,

w as hu ilt o n a sm all isl an d wh ic h gua rde d

th e coa sr linc . Alexand er performed here

a mi racle of milirary in gen uity by buildin g

a 2,000-foot mole in the sea ou t ' to the

is land cirv . T o safe gu ard the o pe ra t io ns,

(11)

Tbe Proof of tbe BI BLE 11

- WESTMINSTERFILMS A la r g e fisherman's net and a fi sh i ng vessel nea r the siteof anci e nt Ty re .WhileTyre was still a mightycommercial metropolis, Ezekiel - underinsp i rat ion - decl a re dTyre would become a"p l a ce to spread netsupon" (Ezek.26:14).

mobile protecti ve s hie lds, so-called 'tor- toises,' had to be employed. Despite th is th e construction of th e cau sewav w as greatly hindered by an in cessant hail of mis siles . Meantime his eng inee rs were o n sho re building ve ri ta ble mon ster s.. ..

Th ese we re mobi le pro rcc ri ve towe rs

111,/11)'

sto ries high, wh ich hel d de tach men ts of bowmen and light art illery . A dr awbrid ge on the front of the rowers ena bled a s ur- prise a tta ck to be made on th e ene my's wal ls . Th ey were the h ig hes t s iege rowers eve r used in th e hist ory of war. Eucb of them had tll'W U stories and t he topmos t pla tform towered, at a heigh t o f o ver 160 fee t, far ab o ve t he h ig hest city w al ls.

" W hen , afte r seve n month s ' prepar a- tion , these mon ster s, bris d ing wit h w eap- o ns, slow ly and clumsi ly rolled toward Ty re , th e fa te of th e mar itim e strong ho ld,

tcbicb was consider ed to be illlpreglhlhle, w as sealed. "

Noti ce, th e PEOPLE of th e ea rt h co n- side red New Tyr c

to

be imp reg nab le . Sup- pos e, as the cr itics and s keptics tr y

^to

a rg ue, t ha t t he Book of Eze kie l was wri t- ten tift(/" Neb uchudnczzurs siege of Old Tyr c. Wh at hI/man w rit er, ma king a pure ly bnrna n prognos t icatio n and g uess, co uld eve r b v th e wi ldest imagin atio n have pre- dieted what ac tua lly di~j ^{ha ppen}

^to

^Ne ^w Tyr e?

No , but G O D knew w ha t was goi ng to h a ppen !

Still Another Prophecy

Notice, now , st ill anot her prophecy

about N ew Tv re : " T h us sait h the Lord

ETE RNAL : \\' hen I make th ee a deso la te

(12)

12 Th e Proof of tb e BIB L E city, li ke th e cities th at are no t inh ab it ed ;

lI 'b~1I I sbnl!

brillg

liP tb e deep s pon thee, and

grwf

u'ate~·!

shall co rer thee; .. . tbon shalt be

110

more . ( Ezek . 26 :19,21).

Th e Mo ffatt tran slat ion make s that a li t tl e plai ner : ... . . wh en I turn th e ocean u pon you a nd th e dee p waters co ver yo u."

vis ited th is si re in 1957, a yea r afte r I , with mv wi fe and son Rich ard D. Arm- s tro ng, had been th ere.

Our visi t

to

the ruins of THe, in 1956, w as forc ed to be br ief . It was th en in a mili tar y zone, a nd we we re not all owed as much t ime as w e needed for co m ple te expl or at io n. We w er e not sa tisfie d that T H AT HAP PEN ED ! we had foun d a ll that wa s there .

Mr . Herma n L. Hoch , Dean of Ins truc - In 1957, Dean Ho ch and Dr . Meredith t ion of Ambas sad or College , a nd Dr. C. had suflicie n r rim e

to

wa lk all over th e . Paul Mere dith , Direct or of th e Ambassa- peninsula th at wa s an island befo re Alex- dol' College Bib le Correspondence Course, ander 's inva sion.

The d e solate ruins o f Roman Tyre w hich e xisted in Ne w Testament times. Not eve n the Romans we re able to bu ild the ir city on the o rigi nal site of New Tyre which , prophecy sa ys , never ca n be rebu ilt! In the backg round of this picture lie a few pillars from the

period o f Roman occupation. _

WESTMINSTERf1lM~

(13)

Tt» Pr oof of the BI J3L E

I

, l

13 The CITY of Tvre w as co mple te ly dc- st ro ved-e-bo rh Old and New. I t h as ne ver bee n a n im po rta nt sea por t s ince . It becam e 'a si te for fis he r me n, and is to th is day, You can go th er e , allli see th e fish er s ' nets s pread our, st ill rod ay! God 's propheci es ar e SURE! T hc \' HAPPEN I

However , af ter Al ex and er ' s untimel y de ath , when hi s kin g d om was d i vid ed in to th e fo u r di vi si on s , th e Eg yptia n di - vision ( t h e " Ki ng of th e So u t h " o f Dani el 11) , th e Pto lcm ys. appar entl y bu ilt a city o n th e pcn insu la-e-nor w he re ei t her Old Tvre or New T vre had been built- b u t pro bab ly at a pp~~xi mately ^th ^{e si te of} ^th ^e

-WI DEWORLD PHOTO

View of the present-day town of Sur.As prophesied , fishe r men fro mthi stow n still ca st the ir nets from thei r boats onto the wave-wash ed rock founda tio ns of the anci ent metropo lis of Tyre. Tho ug h this village borders immedi ately upon the rui ns of Ty re, it has NEVER been buil t on the siteof that ancientcity .

They w a lk ed t he en t ire length of th e T vrc h as rem a in ed fro m tha t duv to th is so ut h and wes t sh o res of the prcscnc LI KE TH E TOP OF A ROCK! .

peninsula . T hey were able plain ly

to

see, in th e so me w h at s hall o w w a tcr, o u t

to

a dep th of so me four feet, th e foundations of anci ent buildings , bu ild ing b lock s , and p illa rs- re ma ins of w hat had once been the cirv of NEW Tvre! . .

Alexan der the Grea t, after de mol ish i ng

the buildi ng s of New T vre, demolished

this hug e sea wall w h ich had reclaimed

the IO~ land ^{spacc o} ⁿ ^which ^the ^actual

ci rv of New Tvre h ad been buil t. Thus,

in 'com ple te fulfilme nt of the p roph ecy of

Eze k iel 26 :4, 12-14, 19, 21 , referri ng

to

NE W T vre t he ci rv was destro ved : God

t urned 't he ' ocean upon t he ci t}:, ;u; d the '

deep tearers corer it t o tbis

I'CI)'

dd)'. NE \V

(14)

14 The Proof o f the B I BLf

shaded spot on the map labeled " Roman Ruins " on page 9.

Th is \'ill age again bore the name of Tvre- t houg h it was actua llv a new and different ro~'n ^{bui l t} ^nea ^r, ^bllt'ill

^1I

^different place. As the Britlllllliw article co nt m ucs : this new citv , " w i t h the mar vel ou s vital- i rv of t hos~ carlv tim es, recove red in a compara t ively shc)rt time . T he city passed under the sway of t he Scleuc ids (198 B.C.), the "King of th e Nort h" of Daniel 11, and the Ro mans ( 68 B. C. ). Hero d the G reat endowed it with a temple.

St. Pa ul s pent a week there w hi le t he ship 'unloaded her bu rden' on his jour- ney from Ephesus to J erusa lem.

B~'

t he 2nd centurv it h ad become the see of a bishop. Wit h the res t of Sy ria it passed into t he hands of t he Mus lims in the 7t h ce ntury . The crusaders ca ptured it ( 1124), and made it one of the chief cities of thei r kingdom of Jerusalem . After th e fal l of Ac re, the Muslims destroyed it."

Now rod av , a sma ll

IIC11'

town, called Sur - in a dlfrerent location out on t he r eninsu la, and in habited hv fisher men -is erroneou sly de signated as Tyrc on some maps; bur it is

1I0t

Tvrc. It is not on the site of ancient Tvrc, Anc ient Tvrc has

NEVER BEEN REBU ILT. .

How Ske ptics Could Disprove the Bible!

Was the author of this prophecy a mor- tal man, or God

AI))Ji,~h~)'?

Th is is one of h undreds of such pro phecies,

ma n ~'

of which have already come

to

pass.

£Z'el)'

yar, EVERY Dl\ Y, yes, EVERY HO UR that site of

NI'II/Tyr«

remains a desolate top of the rock for spread ing of fishermen 's nets - everv hour th a ti t remains un inh abi ted,

.and no ci tv is buil t there, it i.rSHOUTING

the PROOF of d rrine rerel at ion of the Bible to skept ics .

And now, just a wo rd to the skepti cs.

Here is ho w vou can disprore t he Bib le, and the verv existence of God -if t here is no God, a~d ^IF ^th ^{e Bible} is not inspired!

JII.rt

go orer and huild

II

smal]

ci~y

on the site of N ell' T)Te. A co llection of a dollar each from all of the American skeptics alone would be ample . Wh oet'er in.rpired E,ekie/

26

dares the skcptics to tr y to do it .

Now there is nothing to prevent them

from building a city there on the si te of New Tyre , except t ha t the Bi ble they scoff at JaYJ the y CAN'T!

He re is liring, dy na mic PROOF that the Bib le is dil'imly revea led .

The Challenge of God Almighty Ezekiel also wrote about ano t her ci ty , Sidon. Sido n is a ci ty abo u t 30 mi les north of Tvre, on th e M edi terranean, st il l more anc ient . It was t he mother ci tv . Tvr e w as or igina lly merel y o ne of Sido~'s co lo nies , Sidon had been declini ng for cen tu ries wh ile Tyre had been bui ld ing u p as t he grea t ci ty of th e wo rld . In the year 590 B.C. , w hen Eze kiel wro te t he proph- ecy, Sidon w as in a sta te of decay.

I wan t to read to yo u it.r presen t' condition fro m the Encyclopedi« Britannica, the curren t edition, arti cle, "S ido n ." "Sido n, once the principle city of P hoenicia , now th e prin- cip le t ow n of t he sout he rn dis tric t of Grea t Lebanon . . . is today a city of 10,000 inha- bi tant s-e-th e ma jority of ~vhom are Mos- lems, "

Co ntinuing abo u t Sido n: "Histo ry : Ol der t ha n Tyr e and ack now ledged as i ts mother . . . the Ph il ist ines des troyed its fleet and laid th e ci ty in as hes. Assyria and Bab yl o ni a . . . led armies aga inst her

to

distu rb her peace an d loo t her treasu res . ..

The Persian yo ke . . . s upplanted th e Baby- lon ian and an injudiciou s revolt ag ain st Artaxc rxes O ch us met wi t h con dign pun- ishment. "

In 351 B.C., j'idon teas abJollltel)' destroyed f or its rerolt . Bu t Sidon rose again. Further, the Brita nnica

.rtI)'J:

"Unli ke Tyre, [Sido n]

sub mitted w it ho ut res istance

^to

Alexander th e Great. "

Some s kepti cs atte mp t

to

explain away

Eze kiel's pro phecy reg ard i ng TYRE by

say ing it was not w ritt en about 590 B.C.,

before Neb uchad nczzars invasion and

destr uctio n of Old THe, bur about 350

B.C. or eve n 330 B.C. instead. Bur thC)'

fail to ta ke i nto account the fact th a t the

same prop het a t t he same time wrote

pro phecies about SiDON . Now suppose

Eze kie l's pro phecy were wri tten around

350 B.C. , if Ezekiel's prophecy were

merely human specu la tion, do you think it

woul d h ave been a log ical guess, abo ut 350

(15)

Th e Proof of the BIBLE 15

- WESTMINSTERFILMS

The busy harb or of Sidon. Prophecy fo reto ld that th e deca ying city of Sido n wou ld continue to be inhabited th ro ug h the cen tu ries, w her eas its pro sp e rou s siste r-cit y Ty re would be come de sola te . B oth p rophe cie s ha ve bee n fulfil le d e xa ctly . No po we r on e arth has been able to - o r e ve r shall be a bl e to - de stroy Sido n ! G od sa ys so.

B.C. , t h at T vrc would never be rebui lt but that Sidon , ' on the othe r hand , would remain?

That is exactly what was prophesied!

Now let 's turn to t he prophecy in Eze - kiel 28 beg inning with verse 20 : "Again the word of t he Eternal came unto me sa ying, Son of ma n, set thy face agai nst Sidon , and prophesy against it and say, Thus sa i t h the Lord Eternal, Beh old, I am agai nst thee, 0 Sidon. And I will send into her pestilence and blood int o her streets , and the wounded shall be judged in the midst of her by the sword on every side , and they shall know t h a t I am th e Eternal."

Now you will no tice th at there isn't one word say ing that Sidon was to be destroyed and never rebuilt. God 's judgment o n Sidon was not one of utter ex tinctio n as it w as on

T vre, btr r blood in her streets; icoa ndc d ill her ch v; t bc s uord

011

e1'C I)' side -a con ti nuo us ly exi sting city-but reduced a nd in con stant trouble!

Not To Be Utterly Dest r oye d No city on the face of thi s earth ha s ever undergone so much sufferi ng , except the c ity of Jerusalem . Sidon has been often destroyed a nd again rebui lr, destroyed and rebuil

t,

destroyed and rebuil t. It is there toda y wi th 10,000 population .

How did the prophet Ezekiel-h ow

co uld any human bein g- if this were not

divinely insp ired , have known that Sidon

could contin ue

to

exis t , suffering all the

while, but th at Tv re, the bi g city , would

never be reb uilt? T here is eve ry reason wh y

Tyre should be rebuilt - w ond erfu l soil all

(16)

16 Th e Proof of tb« B JBLE

around, wa ter, a wonderful har bor , every reaso n in t he world w hv it sho uld have been reb uilt. nUT GO D-SAID TH AT IT WOUL D N OT!

Sidon , h ow ever , is a city today of 10 ,000 popula tion . A ll is exac t ly as pro- phesied. There h as been bloo d in her stree ts , wo unded in th e ci tv, the sword on all sides. The a rt icle quot ed in t he En- cyclopedi a Brita nulca w ill g ive yo u history up t ill now . Sido n sti ll lives-exa ctly as proph esied . I was the re in 1956.

But Tv rc suffere d utter desolati on . N o ci ty is t'here to day- exactl y as th is pro- phecy said . Was th is div ine inspi ra tio n, or w as i t hu man guess? H oio did it bappen t bat tcboeuer tcrote tbi.r propbecy propbesied exactly as it l eas goil/g to bap pen BOT H TIMES?

NEVER HAS ANY UN INS PIRE D HU- MAN MADE SUCH A PROPH EC Y FOR

2,000 YEARS INT O T HE FUTURE AN D BRO UG HT ITTO PASS. No thing in th ose two cities wou ld h ave indicated th e fa te a t the tim e the prop hecy was wri t ten . Neithe r in 590 B.C. , nor, if th e skep tics wo uld prefer

to

say i t was wr itten abo ut 330 B.C., a t that time .

An oth er Prophecy Defies Skept ics

Th ere is yet ano ther ' striking pro phecy

bearing am ple test im ony of Biblic a l inspi-

rati on. It is about another famo us city in

the anc ient w orld- t he cit y of Ash kelon .

The prophet Zephania h lived and w ro te

abo ut 630 B.C. It was before the captivi ty

of J udah . He was wa rni ng the J ews in t he

first cha pter of his pro phecy of the captivi ty

tha t was com ing . Th ere is a princi ple of

duali ty in th is boo k as there is in ma st

pro phecies, a type and anti -type. The

The g ra ss-cove red ruins o f Ashkelon . Ove r 2500 ye a rs ago the p rophets fore told that

this o nce -f lourishing cit y wo u ld be DESOLAT E - and w o uld belon g to the J ews to day ,

Th is ha s happe ned ! No ske pt ic can d e ny it! _

WESTMI NS TERFILMS

(17)

The Proof of the BIBL E 17

Tha t ha s hap pened ! Tha t very ter rito ry Now verse 7 : "And th e coast sha ll be for t he rem nant of the ho use ofJ udah , th ey shall feed thereupon ."

No tice Zep han ia h 2:4-7: " G aza sh all be forsaken , and Ash kelo n , a desola tio n: th ey sh all dr ive ou t A shd od at th e noon day, and Ekron sha ll be roo ted up . "

- WIDEWORLD PHOTO

At Ashkelon archaeolog ists e xcavate ruins of Roman villa. Over 600 ye a rs after the p rophets fo retold the ultimate deso lat ion of this city, it w as st ill te emi ng w it h fine Roman buildin gs. Then sudden ly it w a s des t royed in 1270 A.D. b y th e Mos le ms ! There was no re a so n for thi s city to pe rish - except that God said it wou ld!

prophec y refers lite ra lly to the Jews of tha t the sea coast citi es of th e Philistines: Ga za , time, si x hundred vc ars before Christ ; but Ashkelon , As hdo d and Ekro n .

it refers al so

to

our t ime now , in the twentieth century A.D. in th e yea rs just ahe ad of us. Alm ost no one under st and s this t y pe and anti- ty pe, th is d uali ty in the prophecies. You can't und erst and prophe cy unle ss yo u underst and it. Th at is one of th e vit al keys

to

Bible kn owledge.

Chapter 2 in th is book of Zephaniah

fore tell s th e fa te of the nations neighboring

on J udah, and host ile to Ju dah, especial ly

(18)

18 Th e Proof of the BIB L E is to da y in th e nat ion th a t

IS

cal led

mod ern -..I srael .. .

Obser ve th e scvcut h vase once aga in . .. And the coast [of th e Med iterrane an , in Palestine] shall be for th e remn ant of the house of Judah : they shall feed thereupon ."

The remn ant is the la.r t f,e1Icratio ll. In other word s, th e tw entieth century, righ t now, in ou r time!

Prophecy Abs olutel y Fulfilled Turn quic k ly

to

Zec haria h 9:3-6. " And

T yrus did build hersel f a stro ng h ol d , and heaped u p sil ver as th e du st, and fine g o ld as th e mire in th e stree ts . Behold th e Eterna l w ill cast her out , and He will smi te her power in th e sea , and s he sh all be de- voured with fire. " Th ere is a no t he r pro- phecy sho w ing what happened to Tyr e.

Continuing : .. Ashkel on shall see it , and fea r; Gaza also shall see it, a lld be

I'ClJ'

sorrowful; and Ekron , for he r expec tation , shall be ashamed ; an d the ki n,g sha ll perisb f rom Ga z a, and Ashke lon shall not be

inh abited ...

A main st re e tin Gaza.Just recent ly,Gaza ha s again knownth e sorrows of war. It has often been temporarily forsaken - but never dest royed! This city always rebounds

with life as you see in thi spicture. - WID EWO RLD PHOTO

(19)

The Pr oo f of the BIBL E ] 9

-WI DEWORLD PHOTO

This is Gaza, once one of the chief cities of the Philist ine s. Pro ph ec y def ie s a nyo ne to destroy this c ity co mpl et ely and leav e it with o ut in ha b ita nt. G a za is still a thrivin g tow n.

He re yo u see the sho e ma ke rs' galler y wher e co b blers ply th eir tra de.

"A nd a mon g rel people sha l l dw cll in A sh dod , and I wi 11 cut off th e prid e of the Phili st ines " (M offat t translation ).

All tha t ha s ha ppened. In the

~'ear

of

520 D .C. , Zecharia h , under inspirat ion of

G od, prophesied th at God would s mite

(20)

20 The Proof of the BIBLE

Tyre into the sea to be devoured , as hap- pened in 332 B.C. Gaza sha ll be " sorrow- ful, forsaken," bllt not destroyed, Gaza rebounded -it is sti/! there today , a popllla- tion of

2/,000

people. No king has since dwelt there , Ekron has abou t 1000 people today , In Ashdod, a mong rel people abode unti l 1948 when rhe v were driven ou t bv t he "remnant of til e H o use of Judah "

( Z e ph aniah 2:7) .

Fro m th e Encyclopedia Britan nica, here arc th e fact s of h ow th at prop he cy has been fulfilled . "W ith th e Moslem conquest after the 6t h century A. D., [As hdod] gen- erall y san k into insig ni fi cance." Mon grel peopl e-A rab and Philistine-were t he re.

The city sank into insign ificance .

Remember , "Ash kel o n s h all not be in- habited " - " a desolati o n" ( Zech , 9:5 and Zeph . 2 :4).

Notice wh at the Encyclopedi« Britannica says : "As h kelo n,

^JlOW

a desolate site" - -t he same w o rd s t ha t God uses in th e Bib le- and fur th er , "pro truding from th is sa nd- swept terr ain, sha ttered co lum ns and th e rem nants of ruined build ings and broken wa lls bear ample test im on y to a past mag nificence.' ,

You can go to that deso la te site of Ashkelon rodav and sec with vour

OWIl

eyes-absolute ' desola t io n. YOli can see nothing is there . Does God Almigh ty exis t?

Could a

11\'

but a divine God, a Creator, forete ll tlle se things and bring them

to

pass all as He has?

Here is proof tha t no skeptic can doubt.

And God dares and c ha llenges any skeptic to tr y

^to

refute these prop hecies . If you can ref ute th e m, vou can refute t he aut hori tv

of th e Bible ! . .

The FATE of EGYPT

Ha ve you read of th e pla y boy ex-king Fa ro uk of Egypt? Did yo u kn ow tha t he was reall y a fore ig ner , th at he was not an Egyptia n at alI? Farouk was un Alban ian.

A nd do you know th at the present rule rs of Egyp t are Arabs, not actually Egyp- tians? Do y o u know this was prophesied

'i n you r Bible thousands of years ago?

Prophec y fulfillment is the PROOF o f the ex istence of God Almight)". It's the PROOF of di vine i nspiratio n o f the Bib l«, and that the

Bible is the recel ation o f fa cts from God Almigh ty that Ic e could 1I0t otherwis e fi nd aut;

Whoever was the rea l inspira tion be hind these prophecies of the Bible knew 2500 yea rs ago the condition Egypt w oul d be in to d a y , and also the condition of the Uni ted Stat~s and of R ussia, and of China, and of Britain , and of a ll of the leadin g na t ions of the eart h . He kn ew th en what is going to h ap pen in th e next 20 or 25 yea rs.

N o t ice the am azing facts.

The prophet s Isai ah , J eremiah , and Ezekiel li ved some 600 years before Ch rist.

Eg y pt was then a lready very ancient: It w as the leade r of ci viliz acion, of the world a t th at time . It wa s far adva nced in science, and ar ts , lu xury and magnificence. It was the grainery of the world wi th its rich Nile valley . The mightiest buildin gs on earth-the pyram ids-were there.

Th ose were th e prou d monuments to Eg ypt 's grea tness . Egypt possessed the lon gest dy nas ty rul ing on the throne of any city or of any nation o n th e face of th e earth at th at tim e. No w w ho would h a ve ever predi cted an en d to th at kind of prosper ity? Co mpa ra t ively, it was greater then th a n th e prosperi ty of th e Uni ted Sta tes in todays wo rld .

When Ezekiel wrote, Ph ar ao h Hophra w as on t he throne, and his mili ta ry and commercial successes for 25 yea rs had' made h im proud ly secure . He halbui lt Egypt to a mig h ty posi tion in t he an cient world . The h isto rian Hero dotus h as sai d in h is history, Vo lume II , pag e 169, th a t Hophra boasted th at no god co uld deprive h im of h is kingd om .

Wh en he boas ted tha t, the Etern al God respo nded . N o man could ha ve fore seen Eg ypt' s dow nfa ll a t t ha t time an y more th an a man ca n see the d ownfall of the U nit ed Sta tes or an y ot he r grea t nat ion tod ay. G od knew w ha t woul d befall Egypt. God kn ow s wha t's go ing to befall us today . It 's recorded in your Bibl e.

God's REPLY

A t t h at time, J udah had been conquered

by Nebuchadnezzar. The Cha ldean Empire

was rising . A colony of Jews had been left

behind in the l and of Palestine . The rest of

the Jews had been taken captives and slaves )

(21)

Th e Proo f of the BIBLE 21

- WESTMINSTERFilM S

The excavated remains above reflect the past glory of ancient Egypt. Centuries ago,

mighty Egypt could afford to construct these grand stone te mp le s and monuments-

today its people live in poverty. As prophesied, Egypt has beco me " the basest of

nations. "

(22)

22 T he Proof of tb e BI BL F:"

ro th e la nd o f th e Cha ldc.m s in Bahvl o n . T his lin k colony of J ew s wh ich ha d 'hem jeft be h i nd w a n te d to Ilcc do wn t o Egypt.

No t ice . T hey inquired a bou t it from th e pro p het J eremiah . Th e:' ask ed hi

III

to co n- s u lt God aho ur it.

. 'Th e word of the Eterna l cam e to J ere- m iah . Th us sa ir h th e Etern a l , If yOU wi lJ a bid e in thi s la nd [ Pa les tinc ], th en I w ill bu ild you . Be not afraid of the ki ng of Babvlon . Bu t if vo u s u v , we wi ll not .. , ohe{ ' t he voi ce o f the ' E rer n a l ou r God, sa Ying . no , hu t we w ill g o in to th e lan d of E g:' lx where we sha ll see no war, no r h a ve hun ger for h rc.ul , t h en sa i rh God, I t shalf co me to p .rs

.r

that t be .I'1I'(il't1 /{'hidJ

JOlt

feared shall orerralcc v att there ill tbe la ", 1 of

_r;~~)'l't,

a nd there

.r

D ,ill llIll d i ,," (Jer . 42:7-]6).

No w n oti ce j er emi ah 44:29 and 30 :

" A nd thi s sha ll be a sign unto vou tha t I w ill pun ish :' o u in thi\ place th a t you rnav kn o w

t

ha

t

m v word sha l l surel y sta;ld. 1 wi ll give Ph ;~ra oh Ho phr.i t he k ing of Eg nx inca t he hand o f h is ene m ies, and into th e h a nd of the m cha t see k hi s life, as r ga\'C Zedek ia h, t he kin g of jud ah in to th e hand of Neb uc hadnczznr , th e king of 1 1a h:'] o n, h is ene my th at so ug h t hi s li fe. "

Notice. Her e is

SOl1l C OIH:

quoted in th e Bi ble cl aimin g th a t H<.: is God Almig h ty.

He is tell ing w ha t He is goi ng

to

do to th e k ings of this earth . He cl ai ms

to

mak e and unm ak e th e ki ngd o ms of th is w o rl d ,

And it ha pp ened!

Ph ara oh Hophra was dethroned by N eb uc ha d nezzur short ly after t h a t w as written . And Ah moscs was su bs t i tu te d as a vass a l k in g b v N c b uc ha d uczzar .

Did man w r i te thi s prop hecy , or d id G od Alm ight y? Wh oe ver w ro te this had the po we r

to

m ak e and

to

unmake nat io ns and em pircs . T o d ay , th e high cr itics seem

to

h a ve the co nce pt io n that th e Bible is merel y th e lit er arv effo rts of an ancie n t sm a JI' Jcvv ish r ace', gro ping in darkness , try in g t o find a concept o f God . They don 't reall v bel ieve in a ny God . They don't be l ie've in any dil'ine' inspiration. '

Then , who is this quoted , sayin g, "I am God," and pa ssin g sen tence o n those an- cient city sta tes and now on this gre a t na rion of Egy pt and bringing it to pass over a peri od of

2JOO

years ]

Why Egypt Is a Weak Nation I want yo u ro notice Ezekiel's prophecy , Eze kiel 29 :1-2:

"The word of the E te rna l came un to me sa yi ng , So n of man , se t thy f ace aga ins t Pharaoh , th e king of Egypt , and proph es y ag ainst him and ag ai nst all Egy pt. " N ow the 8th verse:

"Therefore , thu s sai th th e L ord Eterna l, behold , I w i ll b rin g a sword lIpon th ee , a nd cur off man and beast ou t of th ee, a nd th e la nd of Egypt shall be desola te and w aste, an d they s ha ll kn o w that I am the Etern al, beca u;e he ha th sa id, " - th a t is, t h e Pbnraob h ad sa id - "the river is m in e , an d I ha ve ma d e it. Beh o ld , t her efore , I am ag ai ns t th ee , and thy rivers ." Thi s is fr om the Ki ng J a mes or th e Aut h orized Translation , Ac tually th e pro pe r transla- tio n is not " r ive rs , " but " irriga ted

c~na ls."

They had th em in Egy p t at' that

time.

Continui ng : " An d , " G od said , " I wi ll make the land of E,g_vpt utte rl)' traste and desola te. N ei t he r sha ll it be in h ab ite d for 40 yea rs . " Th at 40 :T a rs happened in the d a vs of Babvl ons grea t ness , for Ncbu - ch adne zza r car ri cd t he Eg yptians ca pt i ve, deso la ted their land an d then a llowed numerou s G reeks

to

mi g rate

to

Egyp t.

Hi storians kn ow ve ry little ab out what real ly h appened at thi s time ,

Now notice the 15th and the 16th verses of th is same chapter. " I t shall be " -no- rice that God sai d Egypt w ould continue to exist-"JT SHALL BE THE BASEST OF THE KINGDOMS ."

Eg ypt was

to

exist, bu tit was to be the basest of the kingdom s . It had, pr ior

to

God 's pronouncing se ntence, been the proud Iion amo ng the ot hers , " N either sh all it exalt it self any m ore abovea l! nations , "

sa ys God, "for I will d iminish them ."

Who is thi s speaking? -claiming that He can make and unmake nations? Wh o can say, "I will diminish thee, " diminish the g rea test nation on ear t h a t th at time?

Was that just some ig no r a nt, mortal Jew writing?

Whoever wrote it, brought i t

to

pass . It

h ap pened . What are y o u go ing

to

do with

that?

(23)

The Pro of o f the BI IJLE 23

- LEHNERT&LANDROCK

Poverty-stric ken Egypt to day. As prop he sied , Egypt ha s become " the basest of

Kingd oms . "

(24)

24 ^The ^Proof ^of ^the ^{BI BLE}

I wa nt yo u to know wha t actu all y h a ppened as recorded in history. T his is from the I m perial Bible D ictionar y on th e article , Egypt. " T he popula t ion of Egypt must h ave been very large in the earliest times . It has been placed at 7,0 00,000 under the Pharaohs-at 7,500,000 ( excl usive of Alexand ria ) in the time of Nero . . ." At t he present t ime, it is abou t 23,000,00 0.

The pop ulation of Egypt has ba rely tripled-thi nk of tha t-In 2000 years.

And the bulk of th e present population repre-

sents DESCENDANTS OF FOREIGN NA-

TIONS . Egy pt has not grown like other nations . It has rem ained comparati vely smal l.

A Poverty-Stricken Land No t ice Ezeki el 30 :10-13 :

"Thus sait h the Lord E terna l, I will also ma ke the mul t itude of Egypt" - the wo rd

" rnul titu de" is rendered by o the r t rans la - ti ons as "wea lth, " for th e w ealth of Egypt is rea llv mean t-" I wi ll make t he wea lt h of Egypt " to cease by th e hand of Nebucha d- nezzar t he ki ng of Baby lo n. And he and his peop le w it h hi m , th e te rri ble of the n ati on s, sha ll be b ro ug h t to destroy the lan d and th ey sha ll d raw th e swords af ter Egyp t, and fi ll th e lan d with th e sla in.

And," God says, " I w ill mak e the ri vers "

-or irr igatio n can als-"dr y , and sell the land into th e h and of the wicked ." That is, o uts ide, or foreign nations .

'..And," God says , " I will ma ke the land was t e and all th at is the rein by the hand of strangers ," which means outside nations .

"I the Eterna l have spoken . Thus says th e Eternal. I will also destroy the ido ls, and I will cause th eir images to cease out of Noph " - wh ich is Memph is - " AND THERE SHALL BE NO MORE"- no tice-"THERE SHALL BE NO M ORE A PRIN CE OF TH E LAND OF EGYPT.

I will put fear into the land of Egypt ."

Eg)'pt woul d never again be I'IIled b y a native .for i- a nati ve prin ce.

Was wh oever wrote th at in th is ancient bo ok of Eze k iel ab out to br in g that to pass? That is a "Thu s sairh the Lord." Is there a ny real G od back of i t? Or was it just a ma n wri ting?

Egy pt wa s conquered by N ebuchadnezzar just as the prophecy sa id. Go d set him over

th e ki ngd o m (D an. 2 :37). God is the Supreme Rul er of th e un iverse . T h a t is the lesson that the nat ions of the earth have FO RG OTTEN. Th at 's the lesson th at t he peoples of the ear th h ave FO RGOTTEN.

The Record of History

I want to qu ot e for you fro m R a wli nson's A ncient H istory , " T he History of Egypt, "

Vo lume II . Here is the fulfillment of this prophecy in history. It actually happened!

" Th us, " says Raw li nson 's h istory,

"Thus perished thi s 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" -nearl y 1600 long ye ars. "Frequ ent revolts ch aracteri ze the peri od of t hei r subj ecti on to Persi a, But ag ain , and again, the Persians proved th eir supe riority in the field, an d force d the Egyptians to submit to them ."

Afte r the Persian conq uest , th e Greek s do mina ted Egy pt. Th e descendants of one of Alexa nder ' s Greek generals began a lin e of fo reign Ph araoh s that ruled Egypt until 152 B.C. T here has never been a nati ve Egy pt ia n Pharaoh si nce. Th ere h as necer from that t ime been a nati ve ki ng ruling over Egypt.

Cons ider what thi s rec ord of hi story means: Egyp t w as conquered and ruled by Alexander the Great. Then it was ruled afte r tha t by one of Alex ander's four gen- era ls, the one t h at is mention ed in the book of D aniel, chapter 11, as " t he king of the sout h ." La ter, Egypt was ruled by Rome.

Then by t he Mohammedans. Then later by the Turks. It ha s been ru led by t he French , by th e Bri tish , and finally , it has recentl y been made a repub lic, J une 18, 1953.

Ex -king Farouk was the king until Egypt became a republic. But KING FA- ROUK WAS NOT DESCENDED FROM EG YPTIAN BLOOD. He was an Albanian.

He was descended from Mohammed Ali .

The Egypti an rulers toda y are NOT

PRINCES and mos t are NOT Egypti ans .

They are nat ive Arabs. God said it would

be like th at , and it has been. NEVER IN

2500 YEARS H AS EG YPT BEEN UNDER

A NATIVE PRINCE. You ca n read th e

full det ail s in R awlinson' s A nci ent H istory ,

(25)

The Proof of the BIBLE 25

It ALWAYS Happens

There was nothing when those prophe- cies were written to indicate such a future -such a future as has happened to Eg ypt-as the Bible prophecy said it would happen . Think of it! God pro- nounced a fate on the ancient city state Tyre, never to be rebuilt. That happened.

On Ashkelon, extinction , never to be rebuilt. That happened .

On Sidon, to be diminished , but to con - tinue to exist. And that happened. Sidon is a town of 10,000 population today .

Egypt was to continue to exi st , but to be diminished , neuer again to be ruled b)' a native son , That happened . The fate of Babylon was extinction. That happened.

But, how did Ezekiel kn ow , if a mere man wrote all of this? I ask yo u , HOW?

Here is a challenge to the s ke pti cs.

Skeptics don't want to ha ve an ything to do with prophecy. The skeptics run a wa)' from prophecy because they can 't answer it . And the o nly w ay to answe r it is to sneer at i t and to ridicule it. Skeptics ad mi t that Eg ypt , acco rding to the proph ecy , was to cont inu e to be a nat ion redu ced , no longer pro spero us, no lon ger a mighty w orld rul in g nat ion , no longer to be ruled by it s own nat ive princ e. They can ' t de ny it . The y are ab le only to rU1I from it. '

Who is the real Ruler? Wh y , God Al- mig h ty .

SKEPTICS Can't Disprove the Fulfillment of Prophecy Ever y detail of the pro phecies concerning Egypt ha s happened . This prophecy wa s not written after the fulfillment , because:

the fllifillment lias been l'appenillg , and bas been beillg ftt/jilled rigbt

⁰¹¹

doun tbrollgh bi.r- tory ecen to ray recent ye ars! It has been a slow , gr adual fulfillment , as prophecy said it w ould be.

Even ill tb e tim e of Cbrist , there uas NOT H IN G to indica te Egypt' .r glor)' teas gone [orerer , absalurely notbi ng , Then, Egypt was sti ll very powe rfu l. It s population o ver 7,000, 000 . It was th e bread basket of th e Roman Empi re at that time. In the 3rd century A .D ., the Encvclopedi« Brir annic«

says tha t Alexand ria, Egypt , continued

some time , esteemed as tbe fir.rt cit] of the uior l d after Rome.

Suppose that the Eterna l had said that Eg ypt was to be totall y destroyed , but that Babvl on would contin ue, dim ini shed . But He didn't. He didn't sav th at , and th at isn't the wa y it h appened. He said th at Bab ylon would be destroyed. And it wa s destroyed ! He sa id th at Egy pt would con- t;1111( .r ubmerged , as a min or nation . An d it has happened . And neuer o nce in 2500 yea rs h as Eg ypt been ruled from that time by a native Egyptian prince .

Never in world his tory h as any nation been subject to for eign governments and foreign rule so long as Egy pt has been.

Now, I want you to com pare what hap - pened to Eg ypt w ith what was prophesied to happen to Babylon and Rome .

Rome was mentio ned in pro phecy before it even cam e on th e scene-a ll th e prophe- cie s a bo ut Rom e w ere w rit te n ev en before th er e w as a Rom an Em pi re. Rom e: was like ir on ( Da n. 2:40)- t he migh t iest of all of th ose an cie nt nat ions, t he most powerful , -more powerful than Egypt or Gr eece.

or th an th e Chaldean Em pire . or than the Persian Empire. It h appened ! But it w as foretold t ha t it w ould fall.

In Biblical lan guage, Rome was to have a

"deadly w ou nd," but the " deadly wound "

was to be heal ed ( Rev . 13:3). Rome wa s to be revived sere n different times ,tfter it fell . It has been re vived and resurrected six ti mes, - under Justin ian , Ch arl emag ne, Ot to th e Grea t, Cha rles \ T , Napoleon . Mussol i ni-e-an d the seventh resurrect ion is taking place right

/IOU' .

You are go ing to live probably to see it ha ppen in th e next fcw y ears .

Always, e veryth ing that h as been pre- vio us ly proph esied in yo ur Bible for th e past cent uries h as hccnfu ltilled . But there are man y, many mor e prophecies that are to be fu lfilled

[rom

this moment

011.'

We arc jus t com ing no w

to

the grand smas h cli- max of t h is w hole agc w hen there are far more prophecies-far mo re world shaking events-to ha ppen in the nex t 15 or 20 years tbun erer happened before ill the bistory of the u- orld '

Wh y are all th ese prophecies bein g

fulfilled ? - be call.re God e xists and He has

(26)

26 ^The ^{Proof of} ^the ^BIBL ^E

revealed thousands of years ag o in the Bible w hat He is abou t to do today!

Babylon a nd Ro me , Too!

Ju st thin k of it ! The God qu oted In YO UR BIflLE did not limit Himsel f to foretelling the fate of only some o ne or two of th e ci ties or nat ion s of t he ea rth . If these writin gs were of mer e hum a n co n jec t u re t hat might ha ve been do ne , and by ra re coincidence , the predictio n m i,ght possib ly ha ve come to pass .

Bu t G od to ok erery important city- ererv nati on in t he then k now n world with whi ch His nati on Israel had contact, and ins pired th ru h uman writers th e fate of

(1'(~Y

one. '

In mos t instances , the fut urc decreed w as t he very opposi te of tha t whi ch every appea ranc e, a t t he time , wou ld log ically have indic ated! And ve t, th e eve nts so par ado xicall y pro phesied came to pass.'

Look

at

this prophecy conc erning the worl d 's po litica l and rel ig iou s ca pi tal, Bab vlo n l At th e ti me i t wa s w ri tte n a ny -ma n wo uld h a ve been th ou ght to be

m san e to mak e suc h an a pp aren tI y pre- postero us predic t ion for its future :

" An d Bab ylon, th e glory o f kin g do ms , t he beaut y of th e Cha ldees ' ex cellency , shall be as when G od ouertbreio Sodom a nd Gomorrah. It sball nerer be inbub ited; neit her shall it be dwc lt in