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Jews: Behold Your God
Fulfilled Prophecies are Proof of The Almighty God
PROPHECIES FULFILLED BEFORE NOAH’S FLOOD
The great question all of us face is: How do we prove whether the holy book of a religion is inspired by the supreme Creator God and is the true word of God? What criteria can we use to test the divine inspiration of a holy book?
The only real acceptable criterion must be a demonstration of the power of Almighty God in the pages of the holy book. This means that in the pages of the holy book God must have told us that He would do numerous great things (not just one, two or three events because they can come true by mere coincidence) well in advance and brought them to pass exactly as foretold.
Actually the God of the Old Testament Himself provided us the criteria we should use to test that He is the Almighty. Speaking through Isaiah, He challenges doubters to prove Him: "For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,'..." (Isaiah 46:9-10, NKJV).
God Himself says that prophecy is proof of the true God. He challenges gods of all other religions as well: "Let these idols come forward and foretell the future for us. Let them declare the meaning of these past events that we may reflect on it; let them predict the future to us that we may know what it holds. Declare what is yet to happen; then we shall know you are Gods" (Isaiah 41:22-23, Revised English Bible).
If God prophesied many great events in the pages of Old Testament and we can prove from history that ALL of them came true exactly as prophesied, then we have proof that the words of the Old Testament are inspired by the supreme God. Then we will know for sure that He is the Almighty.
Jews have failed to see the fulfillment of all the prophecies and promises. That’s why many of them have lost faith in their scriptures, and in their God. So let’s see if Old Testament prophecies have been fulfilled exactly as prophesied or not.
The first prophecy God gave to Adam and Eve was in Genesis 2:16-17 where God told them that they would certainly die if they ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That’s why every human being born has died.
Declaring the End from the Beginning
Then the next prophecy God gave is stated in Genesis 3:15, “And I will put enmity between you [the serpent] and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it shall bruise your head, and you shalt bruise his heel.”
In this prophecy God declared the end of the serpent or Satan’s rule from the very beginning. Satan was prophesied to bruise the heel of the seed of the woman, but the seed of the woman shall bruise Satan’s head, meaning put an end to Satan’s kingdom. The woman’s seed was Jesus Christ which will be proved later. Satan did bruise His heel by having Him put to death. The prophecy about the Seed bruising his head will be fulfilled after God’s kingdom is set up and Satan and the demons are removed as rulers of the earth.
Curse on the Earth
The next prophecy God pronounced was a curse on the ground which is still being fulfilled today.
After Adam and Eve had disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden and eaten of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God pronounced a sentence on them in Genesis 3:17-19 (NKJV): “17 Then to Adam He said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of it': "Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. 18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. 19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”
In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had their food provided for them. They just had to tend the Garden. But after they disobeyed God’s instructions, they were expelled from the Garden of Eden and had to produce their own food by toil and hard work. It has not been easy for humanity to feed itself since then. Many have starved to death in the history of mankind, and many don’t eat to the full every day even today, despite our so-called matchless advances in technology. We are always trying to play catch-up in feeding all of humanity. It will continue to be our condition until our Creator returns to earth, rules over all of humanity and lifts this curse.
Humanity has suffered from the ravages of this punishment throughout its history. And usually God does not have to intervene to make lives difficult for us. With Adam and Eve humanity chose to go its own way rather than obtain all its instructions from God. It is our own ways, and our wrong agricultural practices that bring this curse on us. But God prophesied this and this prophecy has continued to be fulfilled throughout man’s history.
Prophecy about Cain
One of the earliest prophecies about the future of a man in the Bible was about Cain, the first son of Adam and Eve who murdered his righteous brother Abel. After the murder God pronounced a curse on Cain, meaning predicted his future course of life, which is stated in Genesis 4:8-12(NKJV):
“8 Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?" 10 And He said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground. 11 So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. 12 When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.”
Here is evidence that this prophecy about Cain’s future came true as prophesied.
After God pronounced the curse on Cain, he complained about the severity of his punishment. Verses 13-15 state: “13 And Cain said to the Lord, "My punishment is greater than I can bear! 14 Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me." 15 And the Lord said to him, "Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." And the Lord set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.”
The mark God set on Cain has been misunderstood, but Deuteronomy 32:8 (NKJV) explains what happened: “8 When the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations, when He separated the sons of Adam [that is Cain from the other sons of Adam], He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel.”
The mark on Cain was simply a land boundary marker God set between Cain and the other descendants of Adam so that they would live separately and develop their own civilizations. Then verse Genesis 4:16 states: “16 Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden.”
Thus after separating from the other future descendants of Adam, Cain went away and traveled to the East. The details of what Cain and his descendants did are provided by the Jewish historian Josephus. [Jews regard Josephus as a traitor for having collaborated with the Romans in the siege of Jerusalem, but that does not mean that the history he wrote was unreliable. The authenticity of what he wrote could have been called into question by many Jewish scribes and historians of his day. Falsifying history would have put his life in jeopardy with the Roman emperor. So he had to be truthful in the history he wrote]. He states in Antiquities 1.1.2 that Cain “wandered over many countries.”
Thus Cain became a vagabond as prophesied. The reason he became a vagabond was the curse pronounced on his agricultural pursuits. God had said to him: “12 When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you.”
The reason Cain’s agricultural pursuits were cursed is provided by Josephus. He states in Antiquities 1.2.1: “But Cain was not only very wicked in other respects, but was wholly intent upon getting; and he first contrived to plough the ground.” Josephus further says that he was “a covetous man’ and “forced the ground.” In other words, Cain used farming methods that depleted the soil. He would use land for raising crops for a few years. Then when the soil got depleted, he would move on and raise crops on new soil. When that soil got depleted, he would be forced to move on to new land. That is why he became a vagabond on earth.
The problem with Cain was that he did not want to raise animals as he probably did not want to take the trouble of looking after them and cleaning up after them. The reason he became angry with his brother Abel was that Abel brought to God an offering of the best of his animals because he raised animals. Cain brought an offering of the grain and fruits and vegetables he raised. But God rejected Cain’s offering because God required an offering of animals and not of grain, fruits and vegetables. So Cain got angry with his brother because his offering was accepted, but his was rejected. That is why he murdered his brother.
Then after Cain was punished for murdering his brother, he began to hate God. In his rebellion he would not raise animals which would have helped maintain the fertility of the soil he used for agriculture. (This trait was passed on to Cain’s descendants through Ham after the Flood. Ancient Israel had to deal with it in the days of Joseph in Egypt because shepherds were an abomination to them).
Instead his agricultural practices depleted the soil and he was forced to till new land. Since Cain had to produce his own knowledge by trial and error, he did not know that his agricultural pursuits came to nothing because of lack of animal manure.
This story was repeated wherever he wandered on earth. He was forced to live by hunting and gathering. But he also had no good weapons for hunting. The clean animals like deer were too swift for him to hunt. So his descendants had to resort to hunting unclean slow animals like elephants, mammoths, bears and others to make a living. They also began to live in caves. Thus Cain and his descendants began to live a degenerate lifestyle, becoming wanderers and vagabonds on earth. Archaeology has provided evidence of this.
Finally when he was unable to make a comfortable living on the earth, he decided to move near the other descendants of his father Adam. Josephus again describes what happened in Antiquities 1.2.2: “And when Cain had traveled over many countries, he, with his wife, built a city, named Nod, which is a place so called, and there he settled his abode; where also he had children. However, he did not accept of his punishment in order to amendment, but to increase his wickedness; for he only aimed to procure every thing that was for his own bodily pleasure, though it obliged him to be injurious to his neighbors. He augmented his household substance with much wealth, by rapine and violence; he excited his acquaintance to procure pleasures and spoils by robbery, and became a great leader of men into wicked courses. He also introduced a change in that way of simplicity wherein men lived before; and was the author of measures and weights. And whereas they lived innocently and generously while they knew nothing of such arts, he changed the world into cunning craftiness. He first of all set boundaries about lands: he built a city, and fortified it with walls, and he compelled his family to come together to it; and called that city Enoch, after the name of his eldest son Enoch.”
Josephus shows that Cain after wandering the earth for more than a century came back and settled near the other descendants of Adam. He built a city fortified with walls and began to make a living by robbery, plunder and violence. He began to steal from the other descendants of Adam, forced them to pay tribute or he threatened them with violence. He fortified his city with high walls for protection. Because of his robberies, crimes and violence, he and his descendants began to be hunted. That’s how he became a fugitive. Thus each and every prophecy pronounced on him was fulfilled, providing us proof that it was indeed Almighty God who pronounced such a curse on Cain and brought it to pass on him and his descendants, precisely as prophesied.
The Flood
But Cain’s story does not end there. People before the Flood had very large families. Many children were born to Cain, and the non-white races originated in Cain’s line of descendants. Cain’s descendants continued in his way of robbery, violence, plunder and imposing tribute on others by force. One of his descendants named Lamech became a very powerful man in the world and ruled by imposing tribute on others by force. It was inevitable that Lamech and Cain would eventually clash because of trying to extract tribute from the same peoples. This clash eventually led to war between them in which Lamech killed his ancestor Cain. This is also indicated in Lamech’s statement to his two wives in Genesis 4:23 (NKJV): “23 Then Lamech said to his wives: "Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; Wives of Lamech, listen to my speech! For I have killed a man for wounding me, even a young man for hurting me.” According to Jewish tradition, it seems that the great man Lamech killed for wounding him was his ancestor Cain.
After Cain’s violent death, his descendants continued in his way. Genesis 4:17-24 provides Cain’s genealogy to the 7th generation which lived in the period just before Noah’s Flood, the last of which died in the Flood.
After Enoch the son of Cain, the names of the next 3 descendants of Cain are listed simply because they were part of the genealogy of Lamech. They did nothing significant to which God wanted to draw our attention. But when the Bible comes to Lamech, seven verses are devoted to seven key individuals in his family: Lamech himself, his two wives Adah who was racially white, and Zillah [name means dark] who was negroid black, his sons Jabal, Jubal, Tubalcain and his daughter Naamah. These were seven world famous individuals in the generation just before the Flood. That’s why their names are mentioned.
Paganized version of their story has come to us in the myths of various nations such as the Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Indian myths. These individuals deified themselves as gods and demanded to be worshipped by the people. Lamech was worshipped as the god Zeus, Adah as Hara, Zillah as Demeter, Jabal as Hercules, Jubal as Apollo, Tubalcain as Vulcan and Naamah as the goddess Athena.
They lived the way of Cain, forcing others to pay tribute to them or face violence. Also notice that Lamech had two wives that the Bible recognizes: Adah and Zillah. He apparently was the first bigamist in the history of mankind. But the myths tell us that he had many wives, mistresses and took other women as he chose. He and his descendants specially took white women of the line of Seth, the son of Adam, as they chose.
The Bible describes this condition in Genesis 6:1-2 (NKJV): “1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 2 That the sons of God [the Hebrew word used here is Elohim, the correct translation of which is gods] saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.”
The sons of gods referred to here are Lamech and his descendants who had deified themselves as gods. They took as many of the fair women of the line of Seth as they chose. These were interracial relationships. The result of these interracial marriages and relationships was violence in the extreme. The whole earth became saturated with violence. This condition is described further in Genesis 6 and what God decided to do about it.
“5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7 So the Lord said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them." 11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.12 So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.”
The Bible says that because of the evil ways of Cain’s descendants, all of humanity had become corrupt and every intent of the thoughts of each and every human being was only evil continually. As a result, the earth had become saturated with violence. All had become corrupt except Noah and a small part of his family.
Because Noah walked with God, God decided to destroy all of humanity in a Flood and save only Noah alive with his 3 sons and their 4 wives. So God instructed Noah to build an ark to save his family and animals of each kind. These instructions continue in Genesis 6:13-22.
God of the Bible prophesied about the Flood in Noah’s day and brought it to pass. Only an Almighty God could gather such quantity of water to cover the highest mountain tops to a depth of 22 ½ feet. That does provide strong evidence that the God of the Bible is indeed the Almighty God.
The Almighty God did really drown that world because of its wickedness, corruption and violence. But above all, Jesus Christ affirmed in Luke 17:26-27 that Noah’s Flood was a fact. He stated: “…as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.”
Prophecy About Destruction of the Earth
Now see another prophecy at the time of the Flood still being fulfilled today.
When God informed Noah of His intention to destroy all flesh on land, the Bible states in Genesis 6:12-13 (NIV): “12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.”
Did you catch that? God said He was also going to destroy the earth along with mankind. This was a further curse on the earth in addition to the curse in Adam’s time. Both these curses are still in effect today. That is why we see the crust of the earth broken up, resulting in all the violent volcanic, earthquake, flood, draught, tsunami, hurricane and tornado activity resulting in human death and destruction. Much of the earth remains covered in permafrost, and the geology of the earth has also produced large desert and mountainous areas which are not accessible for food production. Only about 10-15 percent of the earth’s land mass is cultivatable.
Further evidence of the destruction of conditions on earth which were conducive to good human health is that life span of human beings decreased from around 1000 years before the Flood to about 70 years today. Conditions on earth are simply not conducive to human health and longevity. We age and grow old quickly and die.
What caused the life spans of human beings to decline after the Flood? After the Flood the earth was very different. Changes in the climate, composition of the atmosphere, loss of water canopy, changes in the geology of the earth, kind of radiation reaching the earth, along with possibly genetic changes wrought by God and other natural factors were responsible for a rapid decline in the life spans of humans and animals. These changes in the earth that shortened human life spans and the destructive forces of nature such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, floods, draughts, tornadoes, only about 10-15 percent of the earth’s land being cultivatable are ongoing fulfillment of God’s prophecy that He would destroy man and the earth.
Only an Almighty God who has total control over the universe, the earth and everything in it could prophesy these great events before and at the time of the Flood and continue to uphold His prophecies for nearly 6,000 years now. Such prophecies are recorded only in the Bible, proving that its words are backed by the power of Almighty God. No holy book of any other religion can make that claim and prove it with prophecy.
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