Confidence instead of "blind faith"

We're continuing our study from last week; we are looking at reasons that, as my grandma used to say, "You can hang your hat on," -- good, solid reasons why we can vouch for the Bible as truth. We can be confident, and not be accused of having "blind faith."

For the next two studies, we will focus on prophecy. There are a lot of prophetic words in the Bible, and this is one thing we can say: the Bible only contains accurate prophecies of God's will. Unbelievers may question this, but we can stand our ground.
Let's look closer . . .
If you think about it, we live in a world of self-proclaimed prophets. It's usually short term, but you can see it everywhere. Some people check the newspaper daily for a psychic reading or a horoscope. Some eagerly tear open the fortune cookie to read the slip of paper inside. We listen to the prognosticators to figure out whether we need an umbrella each day - personally, if they say it will be sunny, I grab my raincoat! Many people listen to the "talking heads" that discuss the economy and the business climate; they hang on every word about stocks and bonds, and where those commodities will be going -- up or down.
But there are big differences in Bible prophecies.
First, they came true centuries later. Not tomorrow. Not next week or next year.
Secondly, the prophets were extremely specific. They were not vague or generic, like a fortune cookie that says "you will meet someone who brings you happiness" or "good fortune is coming your way."
Another difference was that the prophets that we read of in our Bible exalted God. Their announcements and teachings about Him were accurate and brought glory and reverence to God in their listeners. So-called psychics today tend to exalt themselves, and make money off gullible people who are searching for guidance in their lives. Most of the prophets lived low-key, even poverty-level lives, and in the New Testament, Paul was often working at a trade to support himself. He may have collected money for others, but he didn't collect for himself and then live a lavish lifestyle.
Lastly, the Bible prophets had a 100% accuracy rate.
Seriously.
Look:

You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?” 22 If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed. (Deuteronomy 18:21-22)

No wiggle room there!
Let's take a look at a few prophecies and see for ourselves, OK?
Hmmmm, let's say we are on a tour of New England, seeing the sites that are important to the early days of the colonies, when the longing for independence from England had reached a boiling point, the war had been fought, and the colonies were struggling to come together as one nation.
At one of the historical sites, our guide points to a yellowed, dilapidated document dating back to the year 1800. That piece of paper tells of a man that would hail from a place called Austin, in a region called Texas; the man's name would be George W. Bush, and he would be President of the United States in approximately two hundred years.
I know, I know, right?
Texas wasn't even part of the United States in 1800. How could anyone know a city and town and the name of a man, more than a century before he would be elected President?
Only God can foretell the future!
Through His prophet Isaiah, He foretold the rise of a man named Cyrus, and tells the history yet-to-be of two nations -- Babylon and the Medo-Persian empire. God vividly described (through Isaiah) how He would destroy the kingdom of Babylon through the hands of the Medes and the Persians. This is pretty remarkable, since Cyrus wouldn't even be born (much less assume power) for almost one hundred and fifty years after Isaiah wrote this down! Isaiah also announced that after overthrowing Babylon, Cyrus would actually serve as God's shepherd, and release the Jews from captivity. He would also assist them in returning to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple.
Let's look at these amazing verses of prophecy:
Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms,
    the pride and glory of the Babylonians,
will be overthrown by God
    like Sodom and Gomorrah. (Isaiah 13:19)

“This is what the Lord says to his anointed,    to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold ofto subdue nations before him    and to strip kings of their armor,to open doors before him    so that gates will not be shut: I will go before you    and will level the mountains;I will break down gates of bronze    and cut through bars of iron. I will give you hidden treasures,    riches stored in secret places,
so that you may know that I am the Lord,    the God of Israel, who summons you by name.
For the sake of Jacob my servant,    of Israel my chosen,I summon you by name    and bestow on you a title of honor,    though you do not acknowledge me. I am the Lord, and there is no other;    apart from me there is no God.
I will strengthen you,    though you have not acknowledged me, so that from the rising of the sun    to the place of its setting
people may know there is none besides me.    I am the Lord, and there is no other.
  I form the light and create darkness,    I bring prosperity and create disaster;
    I, the Lord, do all these things. (Isaiah 45:1-7)

And here's more:

"who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd    and will accomplish all that I please;he will say of Jerusalem, “Let it be rebuilt,”    and of the temple, “Let its foundations be laid.”’ (Isaiah 44:28)

All of these prophecies were made, calling Cyrus by name, almost two hundred years before Cyrus overthrew Babylon.
That's amazing enough, but how about prophecies that were made hundreds of years before Christ, and then have been fulfilled in the 1900's?
Ready?

Do not be afraid, for I am with you;    I will bring your children from the east    and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’    and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’Bring my sons from afar    and my daughters from the ends of the earth— (Isaiah 43:5-6)

 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “I will save my people from the countries of the east and the west. 8 I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem; they will be my people, and I will be faithful and righteous to them as their God.” (Zechariah 8:7-8)

This was written somewhere in the neighborhood of 700-681 BC, and was fulfilled most completely in the late 1900's. Let me explain, because I didn't know all of this, either! In this passage, Isaiah specifically says that the Jews would return to their homeland from all directions of the compass. When Isaiah was living, the Assyrians had forced many Jews into exile; then the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD, scattering the people to virtually every corner of the world.
Many Jews living in the Middle East moved back to Israel by the early 1900's, and in the middle of the 1900's, many thousands of Jews living in Europe and the US (the west) began moving back. From the north? Well, the Soviet Union (now Russia) is north of Israel, and for years they refused to let the Jews there move back to Israel. After years of pressure from other countries, they began allowing them to leave in the 1980's and go back to their homeland.
Ethiopia, in the south, also refused to allow Jews there to leave. But in 1985, a deal was struck between the two countries and in 1991, there were over 14,000 Jews who left Ethiopia for Israel. Isaiah's and Zechariah's prophecies of the Jewish people returning from the east, the west, the north, and the south, were fulfilled.

The Jewish people returned to what was described in the late 1800's as a "wasteland." Isaiah had something to say about that, too:

The Lord will surely comfort Zion    and will look with compassion on all her ruins;
he will make her deserts like Eden,    her wastelands like the garden of the Lord.Joy and gladness will be found in her,    thanksgiving and the sound of singing. (Isaiah 51:3)

These words foreshadow what is happening in the present day in Israel. The Jewish people have been irrigating, cultivating, and using innovative technologies to repurpose and restore much of the land in their country. Many of the swamps have been converted to fertile farmland and water from the Sea of Galilee has been channeled through desert areas. At least two million trees have been planted in the past century, and Israel is blooming again - it is even a food source for many countries besides itself.

Truly, the prophecies that we see in the Bible have been accurately fulfilled. This is a testimony that we can be confident in!
We'll study more on this next time.
Hope you will join us!