Why Believe In God? by Harvey Clark (church member)
Compelling Biblical Evidence
Perhaps the most important question everyone faces in their life is does God really exist? Few people come to believe in God based upon the testimonials and experiences of others. But the ability of the prophets of the Old Testament to accurately foretell of the coming of the Messiah hundreds of years before His coming would justify those prophets legitimacy, the legitimacy of Christianity and be highly compelling evidence of God’s existence. Foretelling hundreds of years beforehand of the happening of such an extremely important event that is totally unpredictable is something that only a real existing God could do. No human could do that. We are told that the Messiah would be the Son of God, that He would be born in Bethlehem, that He would bring a new covenant, and that He would heal many. We are told in an encrypted form when He would come. We are told that He would suffer and die for our iniquities and then be alive again. There are many more prophecies. While many of these prophecies may not clearly point to Christ, the last two are very compelling in that regard. Read on to learn more.
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Six Minutes that Might Change Your Life for the Better
When The Messiah Would Come
In Daniel Chapter 9 verses 25-26 from around 530 BC, the angel Gabriel says to Daniel: “Know therefore and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler (the Messiah) comes, there will be seven sevens (of years) and sixty-two sevens (of years). . . After the sixty two sevens (of years) the Anointed One will be unjustly killed.” The words ‘of years’ are included as Bible scholars have determined that the term ‘weeks’ used in some translations referred to seven years. Adding the seven sevens to the sixty two sevens gives sixty nine sevens or 483 years (7 times 69) as the time interval between the issuing of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem and the coming to Jerusalem of the Anointed One, or the Messiah. The decree to rebuild the walls of the city of Jerusalem versus the Temple was issued March 14, 445 BC by Artaxerxes the First.
Sir Robert Anderson, an English Presbyterian, in his book “The Coming Prince,” (1895) did a very in depth calculation about this verse. Anderson suspected that the angel Gabriel might have used something other than the inaccurate 354 day Lunar Calendar or the not yet existing Solar Calendar. So Anderson used what he called a ‘prophetic year,’ of 360 days with 30 days in each month. This is justified based upon Revelation Chapter 12 verses 6 and 14. 1260 days divided by three and one half years has each year having 360 days. Being that God has been around from the time of creation and will be forever He can use however long of a year He chooses. 3 billion years ago the Earth had over 1800 days in a year. In about 2 billion years the Earth will have a year with 360 days in it.
483 years times this 360-day year yields 173,880 days. When this number of days is then counted forward using our modern calendar Anderson determined that it results in the last day being April 6, 32 AD, or the first Palm Sunday with a Passover starting on the following Thursday evening. 32 AD is a very viable year for the last days of Christ. John the Baptist began his ministry in 29 AD leaving the right amount of time for John the Baptist to have had a ministry, been arrested and for Jesus to have had at least a two year ministry with 3 Passovers. Pontius Pilate and Herod Antipas of Galilee were both in power at the time. It was necessary for this prophecy to be encrypted so that the Jews of Jesus’ time would not have known without a doubt that He was indeed the Messiah or they would never have crucified Him. Only a real existing God could foretell over 500 years beforehand when the Messiah would come and have that day fit all we know about when Holy Week happened. It shows that God is really there.
The Suffering That The Messiah Would Endure
The description of the suffering that the Messiah would endure as described in Isaiah 53, written more than 500 years before Christ, closely matches what Christ endured leaving little room for doubt. Consider Isaiah Chapter 53 verses 5,6,10,11, and 12: “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with His stripes we are healed. . . and the Lord has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. . . Yet it was the will of the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief; when He makes Himself an offering for sin. . . by His knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous; and He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong; because He poured out His soul to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” The very central belief of Christianity is that Christ died a torturous death on the cross to bear our sins so that we can be forgiven of them and have eternal life in Heaven just as it was foretold in this prophecy. In verse 12 where God says that He ‘will divide with Him a portion with the Great’ He is also telling us that the Messiah will rise from the dead. Otherwise how could God divide with Him a portion with the great if the Messiah is dead? Only a real existing God Almighty could have controlled events to make this prophecy so accurate. Only a real God would send a Messiah that would save His people by being tortured to death. If the prophecies had been created by humans the Messiah would have been invincible. Jesus fits the prophecy perfectly and was indeed the Messiah! God is really there.
Other Prophecies
Isaiah 7:14 foretells that a woman will bear a son who will be named Immanuel which means God with us. Hence, it tells us that there will be a Messiah. Some translations report that the woman bearing the son is a virgin. We are told Mary is a virgin in Matthew and Luke. 2 Samuel 7:14 reports God telling us, ‘I will be a father to Him and He will be a Son to me.’ Hence the Messiah will be the Son of God as reported in the Gospels. Isaiah 9:6 reports that He will be called Wonderful Counselor (the Holy Spirit), Mighty God, Everlasting Father (God the Father), Prince of Peace (God the Son – a prince is the son of a king). Hence the Messiah would be part of a Triune form of God. Micah 5:2 tells us that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Due to a Roman census decree Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Jeremiah 33:14-15 tells us that the Messiah would be a descendant of King David. The first chapter in Matthew describes the lineage of Jesus establishing that He was a descendent of King David. Zechariah 13:1 foretells the coming of Baptism, “On that day a fountain shall be opened up . . . to cleanse them from sin and impurity.” Malachi 3:1 tells us that God will send a messenger to prepare the way for the Messiah. His name was John the Baptist. We are told that Jesus would come into Jerusalem riding a donkey which He did. Isaiah 61:1 describes the healing that the Messiah would do. This verse is quoted by Jesus in Luke 4:16-21 with Jesus telling us that He is the fulfilment of that scripture. Isaiah 25:6-7 describes a feast that will end death forever. We call it communion. Zechariah 2:10-11 tells us that in the day of the Messiah many nations will come into God’s realm. Christianity is the largest religion in the world including believers from most nations.
Validation of the Prophecies
Based upon the radiometric dating of the leather in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the 3rd Century B.C. translation of the Hebrew Bible (The Old Testament) into Greek, both of which include these prophecies, we know that all these prophecies were indeed written hundreds of years before Christ and not after. These prophecies provide very sound reasons to believe in God. The prophecies of the coming of Christ and His coming clearly involve the hand of God. There really is a God. To those who are lacking in faith or have never learned about Christianity, come and learn. We would love to see you at Eden Lutheran Church, 4725 Brockton. Worship is at 10:00 Sundays. All are welcome.