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Is The Bible The Word Of God? God Does Not Leave Us To Wonder Variety of Evidence in Support :  Historical Accuracy – Ex. Hittites – more than 40 cities found  Unity in Diversity – Written over 1500 yrs., over 40 men, 3 languages, 3 continents, different materials (wood, clay, leather, papyri) – Yet one message!  Divine Content – Good men? They wouldn't lie. Bad men? Condemn themselves.  Fulfilled Prophecy

Is The Bible The Word Of God? What is Biblical prophecy? Defined: “A very specific and direct foretelling of future events that is completely removed from any present knowledge, circumstance or likelihood and cannot be fulfilled accidentally.”  More than clever guesses based on current trends  Ex. There will be great economic uncertainty in 2010  Nearly impossible to imagine in most cases  Very specific  Ex. There will be war with many lives lost  These do not resemble Bible prophecies

Is The Bible The Word Of God? Case Study – The City of Tyre  Ezekiel 27:12-17 Tyre in the Height of its Glory  Wealth – fine gold, precious stones, stockpiles of food for feasts, the best merchandise, slaves for menial labor, every modern convenience of the day  Power – At least three armies protecting her  In 721 BC, Shalmanesser, King of Assyria, conquered all of Syria and Phoenicia with relative ease. He laid siege to Tyre for 5 years, but never took the city.

Is The Bible The Word Of God? Pronouncement of Doom Ezekiel 26:3-5;  Extreme – Complete destruction  Explicit – “Wiped clean like the top of a rock”  Enduring - Never to be rebuilt  Why?  Arrogance – (28:1) – You say, “I am a god and not a man!”  Enemy of God's people – (26:2) – Rejoiced at Jerusalem's fall. Coveted the trade that had gone to Judah

Is The Bible The Word Of God? Prophecy Fulfilled Begun by Nebuchadnezzar  Within a few years of the prophecy, Nebuchadnezzar laid siege. It lasted for 13 years!  Walls finally breached and many slain  But, many had fled to an Island ½ mile off the coast and built a new city. The damaged walls were still there.  Unfulfilled for over 250 years

Is The Bible The Word Of God? Completed by Alexander  Alexander attacked the Persians from the North and drove them South into Syria.  The Persians fled East toward their capitol  Alexander decided to negate the great Persian navy, by sealing the ports on the Mediterranean. Many port cities fell without a fight.  Tyre was commanded to surrender. The city sat ½ mile out to sea with walls of 150 feet. They laughed, so he laid siege.

Is The Bible The Word Of God? Alexander Fulfills the Prophecy  Alexander's chief engineer Diades devised a plan – Build a causeway out to the city and destroy it. But with what materials?  Old Tyre was swept clean of millions of tons of stones, logs and rubble to build the causeway.  New Tyre was destroyed and the original site remains desolate to this day.

Is The Bible The Word Of God? God's Desire for Man – A Covenant Relationship  Titus 1:1-2 – God promised eternal life before time began  Genesis 17:7-8  “I will be their God.”  Because of Abraham's faithfulness, God chose to use him to begin fulfilling this promise  Exodus 6:7  “I will take you as My people and I will be your God”  God was about to use Moses to bring Abraham's descendants out of Egypt to be His special people. The people he would use to further unfold His plan and make good on His promise.

Is The Bible The Word Of God? God's Desire for Man – A Covenant Relationship  Exodus 19:5-8  “If you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me”  Now that the descendants of Abraham have been delivered out of bondage, they are free to enter an agreement (covenant) with God to be His people. But He makes it clear before they agree, that they can't be just any kind of people – They must listen to Him and keep the agreement they were making with Him.  Exodus 24:7-8  “All that the LORD has said we will do and be obedient.”  After reading the details of the agreement to them, the leaders of the people committed themselves to it. Moses then sprinkle them with the blood that seal them to the covenant. Very much like signing a contract.

Is The Bible The Word Of God? God's Desire for Man – A Covenant Relationship  Jeremiah 31:31-34  The promise of the New Covenant - “I will be their God and they shall be My people.”  Much of the Old Testament details God’s patience in working with His people and their failure to keep the covenant. They broke the covenant, so they could not be His special people.  God's plan, however, was not in jeopardy. In fact He had just demonstrated a key point that had to be made – Man needed His help to be His special people. They needed a Savior. He would provide all of mankind with a new opportunity to be His special people by a new covenant brought to them by this Savior.

Is The Bible The Word Of God? God's Desire for Man – A Covenant Relationship  Matthew 26:27-28  “This is the blood of the New Covenant.”  Jesus here makes it clear that it is through His sacrifice (blood) that we will enter into this New Covenant.  II Corinthians 6:16-7:1  “I will be their God and they shall be My people.”  Again, God shows that those who would enter into this agreement with Him, cannot live however they would like, but must live as He directs them. Notice that the basic covenant is the same as it always has been – the offer to be His special people and to have Him as our God.

Is The Bible The Word Of God? God's Desire for Man – A Covenant Relationship  Revelation 21:2-4  “He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.”  Here at the end of God's revelation to man, we see that God has kept His promise. Those who have entered into this special relationship with Him are His special people (the saved) and He is their God. This wonderful relationship will continue throughout eternity.

Is The Bible The Word Of God? God's Desire for Man – A Covenant Relationship  The amazing consistency and divine content of this beautiful revelation to man could not be the product of man.  The Bible is the Word of God  Tonight you can be in that covenant relationship with God. He will be your God and you can be one of His people.