Inspiration of the Bible: Bible Prophecy

Both the Old Testament and New Testament are filled with prophecy (the Bible is about 1/3 prophecy); this is how we know that the Bible is truly the word of God. Volumes have been written about Bible prophecy, but here we will only show a brief glimpse of how accurate the Bible is in predicting the future.

Prophecy Against the City of Tyre

One of the most remarkable prophecies the Bible has made was about the ancient city of Tyre, made in the book of Ezekiel (written between 592-570 BC)

Ezekiel 26:

1

In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:

2

"Son of man, because Tyre has said of Jerusalem, `Aha! The gate to the nations is broken, and its doors have swung open to me; now that she lies in ruins I will prosper,'

3

therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, O Tyre, and I will bring many nations against you, like the sea casting up its waves.

4

They will destroy the walls of Tyre and pull down her towers; I will scrape away her rubble and make her a bare rock.

5

Out in the sea she will become a place to spread fishnets, for I have spoken, declares the Sovereign LORD. She will become plunder for the nations,

6

and her settlements on the mainland will be ravaged by the sword. Then they will know that I am the LORD.

7

"For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: From the north I am going to bring against Tyre Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, with horsemen and a great army.

8

He will ravage your settlements on the mainland with the sword; he will set up siege works against you, build a ramp up to your walls and raise his shields against you.

9

He will direct the blows of his battering rams against your walls and demolish your towers with his weapons.

10

His horses will be so many that they will cover you with dust. Your walls will tremble at the noise of the war horses, wagons and chariots when he enters your gates as men enter a city whose walls have been broken through.

11

The hoofs of his horses will trample all your streets; he will kill your people with the sword, and your strong pillars will fall to the ground.

12

They will plunder your wealth and loot your merchandise; they will break down your walls and demolish your fine houses and throw your stones, timber and rubble into the sea.

13

I will put an end to your noisy songs, and the music of your harps will be heard no more.

14

I will make you a bare rock, and you will become a place to spread fishnets. You will never be rebuilt, for I the LORD have spoken, declares the Sovereign LORD.

15

"This is what the Sovereign LORD says to Tyre: Will not the coastlands tremble at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan and the slaughter takes place in you?

16

Then all the princes of the coast will step down from their thrones and lay aside their robes and take off their embroidered garments. Clothed with terror, they will sit on the ground, trembling every moment, appalled at you.

17

Then they will take up a lament concerning you and say to you: "`How you are destroyed, O city of renown, peopled by men of the sea! You were a power on the seas, you and your citizens; you put your terror on all who lived there.

18

Now the coastlands tremble on the day of your fall; the islands in the sea are terrified at your collapse.'

19

"This is what the Sovereign LORD says: When I make you a desolate city, like cities no longer inhabited, and when I bring the ocean depths over you and its vast waters cover you,

20

then I will bring you down with those who go down to the pit, to the people of long ago. I will make you dwell in the earth below, as in ancient ruins, with those who go down to the pit, and you will not return or take your place in the land of the living.

21

I will bring you to a horrible end and you will be no more. You will be sought, but you will never again be found, declares the Sovereign LORD."

Three years after this prophecy, Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to mainland Tyre. When Nebuchadnezzar broke the gates, he found the city empty because the Tyre citizens have moved by ship to an island about half a mile off the coast and had fortified a city there. The mainland city of Tyre was destroyed in 573 BC (Ezekiel 26:8 fulfilled), but the island city of Tyre remained a well fortified city for several hundred years.
The next incident with Tyre was with Alexander the Great. Alexander tried to lay siege to the island city of Tyre, but had no boat fleet to do so. Instead, he took the debrise from old mainland Tyre and built a causeway to the island (Ezekiel 26:4 fulfilled, as the mainland of Tyre has been made bare). In 332 BC, Alexander reduced the island city of Tyre to ruines. Since then, this island city was rebuilt, but only to be destroyed  by Antigonus in 314 BC and later by the Moslems, then the Crusaders (Ezekiel 26:3 fulfilled, where many nations will go against Tyre). After that, Tyre was never to be rebuilt (Ezekiel 26: 14 fulfilled). Today, the former island city of Tyre has become a haven for small fishing vessels and a place for spreading nets (Ezekiel 26:5 fulfilled).

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