History and the Bible

As we enter a new millennium, it is obvious that man in his emptiness is reaching out, searching for truth. In the New Age movement, man has turned to meditation, Eastern philosophy and other ways to become self reliant.

Since man is searching for the truth, I felt it appropriate to start this series by sharing some of God's prophecies and their fulfillment as recorded in history. I encourage you to go to the library and read up on the early history of world leaders as well as the nations of Israel, you will find some very fascinating facts.

History shows that the first world empire was ruled by Babylon (586 B.C.), under the reign of Nebuchadnezzar who was then conquered by the Medes & Persians under the command of Cyrus. Next came the Grecian Empire under the command of Alexander the Great. Finally, the last world leader was Rome, headed by Julius Caesar.

Rome in the first century conquered the civilized world, while their destruction fell within their own power. Since the Roman Empire, we have not had a world leader, although many have tried (i.e., Napoleon, Hitler, etc.)

In the book of Daniel, chapter 2, King Nebuchadnezzar has a dream in which Daniel, a prophet of God, was given a vision from God to interpret. In Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Daniel, chapter 2, verses 31-35) he saw a large statue with a head of gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet mixed partly of iron and partly of clay. He saw a rock being carved out, but not by human hands. It smashed the statue on its feet, destroying it without leaving a trace, and then the rock that destroyed the statue became an awesome mountain and filled the earth.

Disturbed by this vision, the king sought advice from his counsel. He gathered his advisors and commanded them to interpret his dream without revealing the dream to them. They said, “Oh King, how can we interpret a dream that has not been described to us?” He replied, “If you are such wise counsel, then surely you can explain its meaning.” They responded by saying that “there is not a man alive who could fulfill such a request, nor has any ruler ever demanded such.” Nebuchadnezzar said, “If you cannot do as I commanded, there is only one decree for you. You have been lying to me, which proves your counsel is not to be trusted. Therefore I have no other choice then to declare death upon you.” So the decree went out and Daniel, being part of the King’s Counsel told the king, “There is not a man alive who can interpret your dream. But there is a God in Heaven who can reveal secrets.” So Daniel left and prayed that God would reveal the dream to him. God revealed this dream to him as well the interpretation. The interpretation (Daniel chapter 2, verses 36-45) was that the head of gold represented King Nebuchadnezzar & his kingdom, Babylon. In the vision the chest & arms represented two kingdoms combining their strength, who we now know were the Medes & Persians. Daniel continued with the interpretation: “Next a third kingdom will rule the earth, as represented by the belly and thighs of bronze (Grecian Empire). Finally, a fourth kingdom, strong as iron will rule and crush all.” Clearly this was a description of the Roman Empire whose brute force dominated the world. It would later collapse from within and became the individual countries of Europe. This fulfilled the next prophecy as Daniel explained, “This kingdom will divide into smaller and weaker nations as iron and clay.” He then added, “When these kingdoms come to power, the God of heaven will come down and destroy these kings and set up an everlasting Kingdom.” So as we can see, the Bible actually foretold history in advance--which leads us to another astonishing prophecy which is given in the book of Isaiah (chapter 45, verse 1) that states that Cyrus will conquer nations and strip kings of their armor, “and I the Lord will open doors for him.” This prophecy was written 150 years before the fact and describes how Cyrus would enter into the city. History shows that Babylon was a city with walls so high and wide that it could not be captured. Cyrus (Medes and Persian Empire) conquered Babylon by backing up the river Euphrates and going under the walls, where he found the gates of the city left opened--he then took the city by surprise. When Cyrus came to power, Daniel showed Cyrus that his name was written in the scrolls of Isaiah’s writings. Cyrus was so in awe of this that he allowed the Jews to leave Babylon and return to Jerusalem.

Continuing on with Bible Prophecies, we have Psalm 22 that predicts the crucifixion of Christ thousands of years before crucifixion was even invented by the Romans. In Matthew, Chapter 24, Jesus gave a prophecy as he was leaving the temple. Jesus said that “not one stone would be left on another,” and that “every stone would be thrown down.”

History shows that in 70 A.D. when Titus took the city of Jerusalem, a soldier set fire to the Temple and all the gold melted into the cracks of the rocks. The soldiers then disassembled each stone individually, gathering up all the gold--fulfilling yet another prophecy.

Before I was a believer in Christ, I was quite skeptical about the Bible and passages like these. My question was, how do I know that the Bible was not written after the fact? I mean it would not seem like a difficult task to predict something that has already happened. As this question kept entering my mind, I felt a need to do some research into history. I was amazed to find that in 1947 The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. These Scrolls consist of nearly 500 scrolls and fragments (including the complete book of Isaiah) that archaeologists have dated back to well over 2,500 years. I then started researching the nations of Israel, both ancient and modern days. I found that in the late 1800’s, Israel’s land was wiped out by the Arabs and Turks. They cut down all the trees and turned the land into marshland. In the 1930’s during the Zion movement, the Jews purchased back the property and started planting trees. Today Israel is the fourth largest producer of fruit in the world. In fact, Israel produces fruit for all of Europe during the winter. In Ezekiel, Chapter 36, the Lord states, “This land that laid waste, I will make like the garden of Eden, and replant what was once desolate, then the surrounding nations, will know that I am the Lord, for I have spoken it, and will do it.” Could this be a coincidence? Or was God telling us that he has spoken it and it will happen? Do you realize that Israel is the only country in the world that has lost its land, yet never lost its citizenship? The Jews have been dispersed around the world and yet on May 14^th, 1948, Israel became a nation (in fulfillment of Ezekiel 37:21). The passage states, “I will gather the Israelites from all the world, and make them a nation in their one land,” sayeth the Lord. Again I would ask the question, is this a coincidence? Or has the Lord given us forewarning of history in advance?

In 1967 during the Six-Day War, Israel again defended its land. Yet again God’s word was right, stating, “I will curse those who curse my people and bless those that bless my people.” In October of 1973 during Yom Kippur, Syria and Egypt attacked Israel from opposite ends. Since Yom Kippur is the Jews’ holiest day of the year; the Israelites were not militarily prepared for battle. The Syrians attacked a 20-mile area with nearly 1,200 tanks while Egypt had 3,000 tanks and heavy artillery. With minimal support, the Israeli Army managed to again overthrow their attackers. May I also add, Jerusalem has had more wars fought at its gates than any other city in the world.

We are living in very exciting times to see the fulfillment of the Lord’s words coming to pass. In the early 1900’s a British scholar condemned the Bible as a hoax, because of a verse (Revelation, chapter 11, verse 9) stating that every nation, tribe, language and people will witness an event that takes place. This was of course before TV was invented. What excites me the most is that we are seeing Bible prophecy unfold in front of our eyes. I was on a flight coming back from Europe recently, and a young student from Switzerland was sitting next to me. He saw me reading my Bible and told me that his Grandma has been saying for years that Christ is coming back, and to him it seemed more like a myth. I quickly pointed out that the Bible states that knowledge will be increased in the End Times and that when we see and hear of these events stated in the Bible, that we should look up, for our redemption is near.

Actually, in the book of Revelation (chapter 1, verse 1), when it states, “these things will soon take place,” in the original Greek language, the word “soon” means rapidly, more as a domino effect. This means that once it is ready to happen, it will happen quickly. I then showed him Revelation 13:17, which talks about a cashless society, “where no man will be able to buy or sell without taking a mark.” If you were to think about a cashless society 25 years age, you would say “NO WAY…not possible!” However today with ATM’s, point of sale, electronic banking, etc., one would say that there is no way that it will NOT come to pass. Think about the advantages; the crime rate would decrease greatly, banks and merchants would not have to worry about checks bouncing, and drug lords would be left with large amounts of cash that they would not be able to account for. As you can see, the list goes on and on. I am sure that at a governmental level, this cashless society would seem very attractive, especially to the IRS. To the consumer, just think about the convenience! Every time I travel abroad, I find it a lot easier to use the ATM machines to receive that country’s currency. That way I do not have to pay a bank commission fee and I get the current international market exchange rate, which is a higher rate. Revelation, Chapter 13, Verse 17 speaks of the new world leader giving everyone the mark on their right hand or forehead. Could this mark be a computer chip or possibly a laser tattoo? As some of you might know, there are several states in the U.S. who tag animals by injecting a device in them. And in Singapore during the spring of 1998 it was documented that they installed a microchip in a man’s forehead. That same spring, Time magazine also reported on the benefits of a cashless society. Just think of going to buy groceries and having the cashier scan your forehead to deduct your payment. It is also interesting to note that the FDA will not approve a drug, medicine or technology until it has been tested for a seven-year period. If this were in the works now, perhaps in a period of testing, could we be within seven years of this taking place?

So today as we watch the news and read the paper, we find current events and the Bible running a parallel line. Going back to the book of Daniel, we already discussed the world empires that have already reigned, however, what about the rest of the prophecy, “the feet mixed with iron and clay and the rock cut from a mountain, yet not by human hands, that crushes the feet and toes”? Well, let’s start by addressing the feet and toes, which come out of the legs of iron (which history has defined as being the Roman Empire). We know by reading this prophecy that the fourth empire (Rome) will reunite (“…ten nations joining together, stronger and weaker nations forming a united community.”) This is extremely fascinating because we know that before we entered the ‘90s, the Berlin Wall came down and then Europe started working on what is now known as the ECC or the United States of Europe. In the past, as a traveler through Europe, one would have to stop at border patrols in each country and receive a passport entry. But today whatever is your first port of entry into Europe, that’s your only passport stamp. This makes it easy to travel about Europe without any other documents needed. Also one should note that as of January 1, 1999, the Euro dollar went into effect, where Europe now has only one currency (excluding the UK, Sweden, and Switzerland).

Looking back fifty years ago at Nazi Germany and how Hitler attacked and destroyed most of Europe, would one ever think that these countries would unite and give up their sovereignty, military, and currency and join forces? Well, the Bible has predicted it and in our lifetime we have seen this with our own eyes. The Lord has spoken it and it has happened. One must also note that the Lord said that he has “written these things so we would not be ignorant of the things that will take place.” In other words, the word coincidence is not in the Lord’s Vocabulary!

In the New Testament (Matthew, Chapter 12) the Pharisees asked Jesus to perform a miracle and Jesus stated “This wicked and adulterous generation will not get another sign, other than as Jonah was three days & nights in the belly of a fish, the son of man will be three days & nights in the heart of the earth.” The Bible clearly lays out history, including the past, present, and most importantly, the future. Jesus also states that “I have come in my Father’s name and you have rejected me, yet I tell you another will come in his own name and he you will receive.” Could this perhaps be the next world leader? Daniel’s prophecy declares that the next world leader will come out of the Roman Empire (or be of Roman descent) and will establish a one-world government. This world leader is defined as the Antichrist. The word Anti in Greek means, instead of or other than. We see this leader appearing on the scene in Revelation, Chapter 6, Verse 2 identified as the “rider of the white horse.” In Daniel, Chapter 9, there were 70 seven-year periods declared upon the nation of Israel. Sixty-nine [we spell the number out here because it’s the beginning of a sentence.] of the seven years have been fulfilled by Christ appearing, suffering and dying for our sins, which gave everlasting life to those who accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. The last seven-year cycle has not started yet and it will be ushered in by the world leader. Daniel, Chapter 9, Verse 27, referring to the world leader states, that “he will make a treaty with the nation of Israel and rebuild their temple, yet after three and a half years he will walk into the Temple and claim that he is The Christ.” (In Biblical terms that is called the abomination of desolation.)

So going back a bit, we find that according to the book of Daniel, that this world leader will arrive from the Roman Empire and bring peace to Israel. It is also noted, that if you ask a Jewish scholar who their Messiah will be (for Jews do not believe that Christ is the Messiah) they will tell you that the Messiah will bring peace to Israel and rebuild the Temple. The Bible describes this new world leader as a charismatic man, “who brings peace to the earth,” and seems to be the answer to economic problems. The world will love this charismatic leader and participate in his One World government. Think about this scenario; in the last 50 years we have seen NATO join together as a world peacekeeper (to some degree), the Soviet Union collapsing, the United States of America closing down military bases and decreasing their manpower. Could this all be part of God’s plan to unite a One World government? I realize that it is hard to visualize this, but after World War II, who would have thought that all the nations of Europe would be joining forces with Germany, as we see today?

In Revelation, Chapter 13, Verse 3, it talks about the world leader having an assassination attempt on his life, and he will miraculously recover from a fatal wound, and the people of the earth will be astonished and worship him. Verse 11 refers to the world leader also having a sidekick (partner) who does miracles and wonders, who perhaps could be a religious figure. Daniel, Chapter 12, Verse 11, (in referring to the End Times) states that when the World Leader steps into the Temple (the abomination of desolation) there will be 1,290 days until the end (for all of you that are familiar with the Bible, when Scripture states “no man knows the hour or the time when the Son of Man will appear,” this is referring to the Rapture of the Church, when Christ comes back for his Church.).

After this event, the wrath of God will be poured out upon the earth (as described in Revelation, Chapters 6-19). And then the final battle will take place in the valley of Megiddo, which is the event described as Armageddon (Revelation, Chapter 16, Verse 16). And from here we go back to the conclusion of Daniel’s prophecy, stating that “a rock not cut with human hands will crush the kingdom, and the God of Heaven will set up His kingdom that will never be destroyed.” Revelation, Chapter 19, Verse 11, says “I saw the heavens open and the rider on the White Horse (this is Jesus Christ) coming with all of his angels and Saints (this refers to the church) to conquer all.”

The Bible teaches that man is made for eternal life, although our flesh only lives for so long, our spirits and souls shall live for eternity in either Heaven or Hell. It is so hard to be in this world and not of this world, “for we are flesh and flesh shall reap fleshly or worldly things.” To be a child of God we have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us, and we can understand spiritual things. Remember the flesh seeks this world’s realities and does not understand the power of our Lord.

So the question is, have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? Are you ready to live eternally in Heaven? If you were to die today would you go to Heaven? To do so, you need to ask Christ to come into your life, believe that He is the Son of God who was raised from the dead, repent from your sins and ask for the Holy Spirit to take residence in your heart. If you have not already accepted Christ, I strongly urge you to do so and secure your place with Him in eternity.

May the Grace and Peace of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be with you.

Psalms For The World Ministries