Genuine Predictions IN THE BIBLE?

Unlike any other sacred text in ancient or modern history, the Bible is unique in its prophetic claims. The vague prophecies of people like Jean Dixon, Nostradamus, Edgar Cayce are not in the same category at all. Only the Bible manifests this remarkable prophetic evidence, and it does so on such a scale as to render absurd, any explanation other than divine revelation.

The argument about prophecy is essentially an argument about omniscience- the quality of knowing everything. Prophecy is a declaration of events, such as no human wisdom or forecast is sufficient to make. Prophecy must be more than a good guess or conjecture. It must possess sufficient precision so as to be capable of verifying the out-come. By its very nature prophecy is a manifestation of non-human ability to know.

SCIENCE & PROPHECY

Scientific predictions are very different from prophecy. For instance, predictions of eclipses are in reality a judgment of confidence in a continued orderly routine of nature. Similarly, predictions in chemistry, physics, or biology are not prophecies. Such predictions are based on consistent observable patterns of activity.

Prophecy deals with contingencies or those events that just happen. In other words, prophecy deals with human affairs which are to human mentality contingent and therefore unpredictable. Whereas science depends of scholars to predict, prophecy does not. The predictions of the prophet are not dependent on the skills of the prophet. The prophet is basically a conduit though whom information is conveyed.

FALSE PROPHETS

Because of the importance and high value placed on prophecy, the Bible demands that false prophets be severely punished. The false prophet was one who contended that the information he or she was conveying, was received from a source that was beyond human knowledge. This is how the Old

Testament summarizes that teaching: “But a prophet who presumes to speak in My name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death” (Deuteronomy 18:20).

One hundred percent accurate fulfillment of prophecy was the standard of authenticity set in the Bible. In challenging false prophets, the book of Isaiah states: “Bring in your idols to tell us what is going to happen. Tell us what the former things were, so that we may consider them and know their final outcome…” (Isaiah 41:22).

 

SCHOLARSHIP & PROPHECY

Unlike any other sacred text, prophecy pervades the entire Bible – it is not an isolated phenomenon. It is believed that the Bible contains some 2,500 prophecies. If it can be proven that even one of these is false, the credibility of the entire text is at stake. In addition, the integrity of divine knowledge is also in question. Interestingly, some Bible scholars believe that about 80% of all prophecies in the Bible have already been accurately fulfilled.  

However, other biblical scholars who are skeptical about divine intervention, challenge this analysis. They often question the authorship and dating of texts. By suggesting that the dates of reporting events are later than the life of the prophet, these scholars are able to remove the predictive nature of the text. In other words, the text is mere history and not prophecy.

 

JESUS & PROPHECY

Jesus did not view prophecy as some scholars do today. Following His resurrection, He said to His disciples: “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms” (Luke 24:44). Here Jesus refers to the three divisions of the Hebrew Bible to make the point that His resurrection was a fulfillment of what was predicted. On other occasions, Jesus referred to events in His life as the fulfillment of predictions from the Hebrew Bible.

New Testament writers wrote with a conviction that what they were saying was “according to the Scriptures” – an expression referring to the Hebrew Scriptures.
 

To suggest that Bible prophecies are authentic, is to suggest that the writers were divinely empowered to write what they did. In addition, the fact that their predictions continue to be accurately fulfilled validates their claim to prophecy. The writer to the book of Hebrews was therefore correct when he said: “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways…” (Hebrews 1:1).

From this overview, it is obvious that when one reads the Bible, one is reading much more than mere ancient literature. From the Bible’s ability to bring about significant behavioral change, it would seem reasonable to conclude that when one reads, one is actually reading the Word of God.