How Do You Prove the Bible is True?
Let's look at the prophecies of the Old Testament.
These verses were written hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus Christ and they state exactly what will occur.
Acts 3:22; For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you.
Isaiah 53:2-12
He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3
He was despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and pain and acquainted with grief;
And like One from whom men hide their faces
He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or esteem Him.
4
But [in fact] He has borne our griefs,
And He has carried our sorrows and pains;
Yet we [ignorantly] assumed that He was stricken,
Struck down by God and degraded and humiliated [by Him].
5
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing];
The punishment [required] for our well-being fell on Him,
And by His stripes (wounds) we are healed.
6
All of us like sheep have gone astray,
We have turned, each one, to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the wickedness of us all [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing] To fall on Him [instead of us].
7
He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth [to complain or defend Himself];
Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before her shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.
8
After oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation [His contemporaries], who [among them] concerned himself with the fact
That He was cut off from the land of the living [by His death]
For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke [of death] was due?
9
His grave was assigned with the wicked,
But He was with a rich man in His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.
10
Yet the Lord was willing
To crush Him, causing Him to suffer;
If He would give Himself as a guilt offering [an atonement for sin],
He shall see His [spiritual] offspring,
He shall prolong His days,
And the will (good pleasure) of the Lord shall succeed and prosper in His hand.
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Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
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Isaiah 9:6
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
God is telling Moses about the arrival of Jesus “a prophet like me”, 1,443 years before Jesus came to us.
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It also shows how God operates out of time. 1,443 years is nothing to Him. He knew the right time for Jesus to arrive.
This is Isaiah the Prophet writing 700 years before Jesus came to us.
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Who lists the exact events. of the life of Jesus
Matthew 27:57-60; As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. 58 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. 59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock.
Matthew is showing us how Isaiah’s prophecy came true. Matthew, over 700 years later, explains that Jesus was assigned a grave with the wicked, but was moved to a rich man’s grave. See Isaiah 53:9 above.
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Micah 5:2; “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel,whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
Micah 5:4; “ He will stand and shepherd His flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord His God. And they will live securely, for then His greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.
The prophet Micah, 700 years before the event, is stating the prophecy of God, that from this small town of Bethlehem Ephrathah, which is too small even to be part of the clans of Judah, would come a new ruler in Israel (Jesus). This prophecy even knows that the origins of this new ruler are from “old, from ancient times.”Bethlehem means ‘House of Bread’, and Jesus is known as ‘the Bread of Life’ (John 6:35). “Ephratah” means ‘fruitfulness’ or ‘abundance.’ Both names signify the fertility of the region. Then Jesus was born in the house of fruitfulness/abundance in the town called ‘House of Bread’ (Bethlehem) which is very fertile.
(NOTE: There were 2 Bethlehems in Israel, ‘Bethlehem Ephrathah' AKA 'Bethlehem of Juda/Judea', AKA 'City of David'. The other Bethlehem was larger and further North, known as Bethlehem of Galilee).
Psalm 22:16-18; Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet. 17 All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment. pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face.
David 5-600 years before the birth of Jesus, is describing His death.
Psalm 41:9: “Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.”
5-600 years before the birth of Jesus, David is describing what He would say soon before His death.
Psalm 55:12-13: “It is not an enemy who taunts me – I could bear that. It is not my foes who so arrogantly insult me – I could have hidden from them. Instead, it is you – my equal, my companion and close friend.”
This is so very sad.
DeadSea Scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls has proved the Bible True. Please see the excerpt below from Dr. Patrick Zukeran:
"After years of careful study, it has been concluded that the Dead Sea Scrolls give substantial confirmation that our Old Testament has been accurately preserved. The scrolls were found to be almost identical with the Masoretic text. Hebrew Scholar Millar Burrows writes, “It is a matter of wonder that through something like one thousand years the text underwent so little alteration. As I said in my first article on the scroll, ‘Herein lies its chief importance, supporting the fidelity of the Masoretic tradition"
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For the story, background, findings of the scrolls, and photo of the Qumran Caves where they were found, See rest of the article
Bible Study Tools wrote:
It also became the foundation to help in translating more modern versions of the Bible. Regardless, these scrolls gave validity to the messaging of the scriptures and the truth that the word of God remains the same and endures forever.
For the story, background and photos go to the rest of the article.
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Bibicalarcheology.org wrote: FREE EBOOK
The Dead Sea Scrolls are considered by many to be the most significant archaeological find of the 20th century. This year, 2022, marks the 75th anniversary of their initial discovery. To commemorate the occasion, we offer a new eBook, The Dead Sea Scrolls: Past, Present, and Future. It brings together articles and interviews with the world’s leading experts on the scrolls. Receive your free copy today!
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SUMMARY: These events were prophesied hundreds and thousands of years before the advent of Jesus. This proves the Bible to be a true and reliable book. It also proves the Book of Revelation and its events, are in our future.
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The Dead Sea Scrolls have further verified the Bible and it's integrity and truth.
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There are more.
For me at least, it demonstrates how the Bible was written for all ages and is the Book God has given us for our instruction.
Background credit: FaithDirection.com
