Historical Evidence of Prophecy Points to Christ
ISAIAH the Prophet: Sculpture by Salvatore Revelli Photo by Angelo Cordeschi Dreamstime.com
Prophecy Against Assyria & Israel
Bible prophecy clearly shows historical evidence of the events that occurred in the Bible. If we can believe the historic events in the Bible, we can believe in the One that scripture points to which is Jesus Christ who is Savior of both Jews and Gentiles. As the Apostle Paul stated: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile” (Romans 1:16 NIV). Prophets had been part of Israelite Society since the days of Moses. Prophets were like ambassadors for God to protect His people. The prophets reminded Israel to obey the law and be truthful to God. Biblical prophecy is divided into three categories. 1) Future events concerning Israel and her surrounding nations. This covers a very broad history and can reach from the start of the Jewish nation to the intertestamental period. 2) Messianic Prophecy about Christ. 3) The Final Wrath or Judgment of God known as End Times prophecy or eschatology. In this blog I will only write about the first two categories; I don’t see how eschatology relates directly to apologetics. This blog article will deal with the first category that I mentioned which deals with Israel and her surrounding nations. Specifically, I will write about the demise of Assyria and the destruction of the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel on their seizure to the 70-year Babylonian captivity. I will finish with the capture of Babylon by Persia and the return of the Jewish people to Israel. This was all prophesied by Old Testament prophets.
Assyrian Idolatry
Assyria was known to be a great military power and very prideful of it. Assyrian King Sennacherib would boast in writing about his siege against Jerusalem. This siege was recorded on a fifteen-inch high six-sided clay prism known by archaeologists as the Sennacherib Prism. King Sennacherib’s written boastful prose claimed that he made the king of Judah Hezekiah prisoner, “like a bird in a cage.”1 Assyrian soldiers would war against countries to steal their wealth and their people to be used as slaves. They needed these slaves to build their buildings. Assyria was known for its aesthetic architecture. These massive palaces were decorated with ornate carvings and relief on the sides and facades of these structures. Assyria had a strong religious pagan interest. They worshipped many gods and goddesses. They engaged in the magic arts and heavy use of alcohol was practiced. Sex was practiced openly and the business of prostitution exceled.2 Surrounding nations looked at Assyria as evil and a powerful military nemesis. The God of the Hebrews was angered at the people of Assyria for their sinful acts of idolatry. Many prophets would speak against Assyria for its idolatry.
Prophet Jonah to Preach Repentance to Nineveh
God called Jonah to preach repentance to Nineveh the capital city in Assyria. God and Jonah knew Assyria to be a great sinful nation full of evil and idolatry. When Jonah heard of his summons to the land of Assyria Jonah decided to run from God because he knew that God was gracious and merciful and was slow to anger and was full of love. Jonah knew that if the Ninevites repented God would forgive these evil people which Jonah did not want any part of, so he ran away from God. Jonah was planning to go to Tarshish which today is in modern Turkey. God had other plans. On the ship bound for Tarshish Jonah found himself with the other passengers in a great storm. The passengers of the ship were greatly afraid. Every man on that ship prayed to their god. Jonah saw their distress. Jonah explained to the passengers that he was a Hebrew and feared the LORD God who made the sea and the dry land. He said he was in disobedience to his God and was fleeing from the Lord God. To quiet the sea Jonah told the passengers to throw him into the sea. After Jonah was thrown into the sea, the sea quieted. Next God prepared a fish to swallow Jonah. While in the belly of the fish Jonah prayed to God. Through the supernatural love of God Jonah was rescued from death. The fish vomited Jonah out on dry land. Jonah immediately preached to the people of Nineveh to repent. These people repented from the preaching of Jonah. The king of Nineveh removed his robe and covered himself with sackcloth and ashes. The people prayed and fasted to the Hebrew God. When God saw this, He relented from judging Assyria at this time and forgave their sin.
After many years after the repentance of Nineveh the people of Assyria forgot about the mercy of the God of the Hebrews which could have been their God too. Assyria went back to their old ways of evil and idolatry. The northern kingdom of Israel also multiplied in their evil and idolatry. God’s anger against the northern kingdom was kindled. Samaria, the capital city of the northern kingdom in Israel would be judged by Assyria even though they were an enemy of Israel. The prophet Hosea said: “Samaria shall bear her guilt, because she has rebelled against her God; they shall fall by the sword; their little ones shall be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open” (Hosea 13:16 ESV).
The Northern Kingdom: Israel
Isaiah the prophet spoke prophetic words from GOD that the northern kingdom of Israel due to their sin would be conquered by the Assyrians. God was very angry with the idolatry of the northern kingdom of Israel, but because of His love for Israel His anger would eventually end. “Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD of hosts: ‘O my people, who dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrians when they strike with the rod and lift up their staff against you as the Egyptians did. For in a very little while my fury will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction’” (Isaiah 10:24–25 ESV). Just before the exile of the northern kingdom of Israel King Hoshia was reigning in Israel during 732–722 B.C.3 He would be Israel’s last king. King Shalmaneser of Assyria put King Hoshia in prison and for three years invaded the land of Samaria and carried the Israelis off to Assyria (2 Kings 17:1–23). This invasion of the northern kingdom by Assyria took place in 722 B.C.4 During the Assyrian dominance of the Israelis the Old Testament Prophets at that time were Amos, Jonah, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, Nahum, and possibly Joel.5
Assyria Judged by God
After 150 years after the repentance of Assyria God was ready to judge Assyria for her on-going evil and idolatry. Nahum is the prophet who prophesied against the final judgment of Assyria and its capital city, Nineveh. “It shall come to pass that all who look upon you Will flee from you, and say, ‘Nineveh is laid waste! Who will bemoan her? Where shall I seek comforters for you’” (Nahum 3:7 NKJV)? Read chapter three of Nahum. It describes in detail what the destruction of Nineveh will be like. Zephaniah also prophesied against Nineveh. “And He will stretch out His hand against the north, Destroy Assyria, and make Nineveh a desolation, As dry as the wilderness” (Zephaniah 2:13 NKJV). Like all Bible prophecy the destruction of Assyria came true. The Babylonian empire took Nineveh in 614 and 612 B.C. and destroyed the Assyrian army in 609 B.C.6
The Southern Kingdom: Judah
Next God shows His anger to Judah for the same sins that the northern kingdom was guilty of. And the LORD said, “I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there” (2 Kings 23:27 ESV). Towards the end of chapter one of Micah, the prophet Micah calls out to the people of Jerusalem of Judah that because of their sin they will be taken captive. The last verse in Micah reads: “Make yourself bald and cut off your hair, Because of your precious children; Enlarge your baldness like an eagle, For they shall go from you into captivity” (Micah 2:16 NKJV). This exile of Judah by the Babylonians took place in three deportations. In the years 605, 598, and 586 B.C.7 King Nebuchadnezzar captured Judah. You can read about the event which was fulfilled in 2 Kings 24. Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, gave himself up to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.
Israel During the Babylonian Captivity
While the Israelis were captive in Babylon God assured His chosen people even though they sinned and were being held in captivity, He would be with them wherever they would be. God gave a message to the prophet Ezekiel for these captives in Babylon. “Therefore say, thus says the Lord GOD; I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel” (Ezekiel 11:17 ESV). GOD shows his love further to the Israelis by blessing them with a new covenant. “And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God” (Ezekiel 11:19–20 ESV). Jeremiah also had a strong message of hope for Israel. “For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:10–11 ESV). During the Babylonian captivity the Old Testament Prophets at that time were Jeremiah, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Ezekiel, and Daniel, and possibly Joel.8
Babylon
Babylon was a great city and was also the name of this great nation. In ancient literature it was known as “Babylon the Great.” Why was it so great? It was one of the oldest cities in the world. The tower of Babel probably originated here and possibly the Garden of Eden. Babylon has a long history which dates back as far as 4000 B.C.9 For this article I am interested in the time of the Babylonian captivity when Nebuchadnezzar II and Belshazzar were ruling. Babylon was not only a major business center but was known as a literary and educational center. Its libraries supported many technical works on astronomy and astrology. Astrology is a pagan religion, but astronomy is a science that took a while to develop. I believe one of the first steps to ushering astronomy into a true modern science was when Nicolaus Copernicus discovered that the Earth and all other planets revolved around the sun known as the heliocentric view of the solar system from 1543. Galileo Galilei held Copernicus’ view on the solar system and was the first to use a telescope to view the universe. Nebuchadnezzar II was a builder and built many buildings. The walls surrounding Babylon were huge. The walls were 300 feet high and 87 feet wide.10 The greatest building project that Nebuchadnezzar II undertook was the “Hanging Garden” which was also known as one of the seventh wonders of the ancient world. The king built this garden inside the walls of his palace to please his wife. Nebuchadnezzar married a princess from Media named Amytis. The garden was hanging because it was built high overhead on steps. It looked like a jungle hanging in the air. Water was piped in from the Euphrates River. This garden survived 200 years after Nebuchadnezzar’s II death.11
The Restoration of Israel
At the end of the 70-year Jewish captivity in Babylon Persia takes over the Babylonian Empire. This take-over of Babylon from Persia took place in 539 B.C.12 King Cyrus, the Persian king took over Babylon through God’s loving grace which was planted in the heart of King Cyrus to issue a decree for the Israelis. King Cyrus decreed that anyone who wanted to return home to Jerusalem was free to do so and rebuild the temple. This fulfilled prophecy is recorded at the beginning of the book of Ezra. Read Ezra 1:1–3. There were three waves of Jews returning home to Jerusalem in a nine-decade period. Zerubbabel the governor of Jerusalem led the first return in 538 B.C. The second return was led by the scribe Ezra in 458 B.C. The cupbearer for the Persian king Artaxerxes, Nehemiah led the third group of Jewish exiles to Jerusalem in 445 B.C.13 Now the Jewish temple could be rebuilt. Nehemiah leads his people to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. Nehemiah became governor of Jerusalem and served two terms.14 When Persia took over Babylon the land of Israel would now be called Samaria and Judah would now be called Judea. Thanks to a loving God the nation of Israel was restored once again as the Prophet Jonah reveals in Jonah 4:2 in his prayer to God. Jonah knew that God was gracious and merciful and was slow to anger and was full of love. AMEN.
Written By Lonnie Paulson
Historical Evidence of Prophecy Points to Christ: End Notes
1) Thomas Nelson Publishers; The New Open Bible Study Edition; The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville, TN 37214; (1982), “Sennacherib’s Prism” p 451.
2) Lawrence O. Richards, Ph.D., General Editor & Writer. The Revell Bible Dictionary; Fleming H. Revell a Division of Baker Book House Co.; Grand Rapids, MI 49516 (1973) p 103.
3) Rose Book of Bible Charts, Maps & Time Lines; RW Research, Rose Publishing, LLC; Peabody, MA 01961; (2005), p 108.
4) Ibid. The Revell Bible Dictionary; p 104.
5) J. Daniel Hays. The Message of the Prophets; Zondervan Academic; Grand Rapids, MI 49530 (2010) p 35.
6) Ibid. The Revell Bible Dictionary; p 104.
7) American Bible Society. Bible Prophecies; Time Inc. Home Entertainment; New York, NY 10020 (2009) p 24.
8) Ibid. The Message of the Prophets; p 35.
9) John J. Bimson, Consulting Editor. Baker Encyclopedia of Bible Places; Baker Book House Company; Grand Rapids, MI 49516 (1995) p 54.
10) Ibid. The Revell Bible Dictionary; p 119.
11) Ibid. Baker Encyclopedia of Bible Places; p 56.
12) Ibid. Bible Prophecies; p 30.
13) John MacArthur. The MacArthur Bible Handbook; Thomas Nelson, Inc. Nashville, TN 37214 (2003) p 122.
14) Ibid. p 134.