Mondo Gonzales, Pastor of CrossRoads Community Church in New Lenox
Moses, Jesus of Nazareth, Simon Bar Kochba, Muhammad, Joseph Smith, Jim Jones, David Koresh…. What do all these men have in common? Every one of these men have made claims that they have a unique message from God or have claimed to be the Messiah or one of God’s prophets. We could even add to this list all those from the Eastern Religions, but to keep it simple we will stick with these mentioned above. When you have such a variety of beliefs presented by various people, how do we know who really has the Truth? Is it even possible? We might go on to ponder how we are supposed to know which “holy” book is truly from God. For example, we have the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), Greek Scriptures (New Testament), the Koran (written around 630 A.D.), and Book of Mormon (ca. 1830 A.D.) along with the other L.D.S. works of the “Pearl of Great Price” and “Doctrine and Covenants” (also ca. 1830).
Has God left us to wonder and hopefully figure it out on our own? The Bible teaches very clearly what we are supposed to look for in discerning which book is from God. We are told in Deuteronomy 18:18-20 that a person who truly was from God would be judged according to whether their words (predictions) came to pass. If their words didn’t come to pass then God was not with them and we are not required to obey their words. God takes it up a notch when He mocks all the false religions, gods, and prophets and challenges them to a contest to prove whether there really is more than one god. He says, “Present your case, says the LORD. Set forth your arguments, says Jacob's (Israel’s) King. Bring in gods to tell us what is going to happen. Tell us what the former things were, so that we may consider them and know their final outcome. Or declare to us the things to come, tell us what the future holds, so we may know that you are gods” (Isaiah 41:21-23; also see Isaiah 42:8-9; 44:7-10; John 13:19).
God has said that He alone knows what the future holds and He alone will predict the future through His prophets. We are to judge whether the prophets’ message came to pass 100% accurately, which would show that he speaks for the only God. Additionally, any book that claims to be from God must also demonstrate its authenticity through prophecy. This is where the Bible stands head and shoulders above every other “holy” book. According to the Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy there are 1239 prophecies in the Old Testament and 578 in New Testament. This great percentage of the Bible is boldly claiming that it alone is the Word of God (over 8300 verses). This is an objective standard or test that any supposed book of God needs to pass. For information on how these very detailed prophecies have been fulfilled, see the above book or Evidence That Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell.
What about other books? A book by Q.I. Hingora was written in the 1960s highlighting approximately 22 verses that contained prophecies in the Koran (out of 6666 verses). However, upon examination, none of these are prophecies that can be verified today. Most are predictions about the end of the world, which cannot be verified at present. The Bible has some of these too, but hundreds more can be verified historically. Additionally, we are told in the Koran that miracles and prophecies aren’t necessary, that we should just believe its words (Sura 29:49-50). I find this unacceptable. If God has spoken, He should be willing to demonstrate it. He has done this hundreds and hundreds of time in the Bible and bids all of us to look at the objective test (Is. 41:21-23).
Lastly, the flyleaf of the Book of Mormon doesn’t appeal to prophecy but instead to a subjective experience in verifying whether it is from God. When it does make predictions they end up being false. One is predicting Jesus to be born at Jerusalem (Almah 7:9) when He was clearly born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). Space allows for only one more. Joseph Smith predicted in 1832 that a temple would be built in western Missouri by that generation (D&C 84). This never happened and demonstrates that Joseph Smith doesn’t measure up to 100% standard in Deuteronomy 18:18-20.
I conclude by saying that the Bible has hundreds of prophecies, which demonstrate that it alone is the word of God. It alone instructs us how we can for sure get to heaven. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, no one comes the Father, except through Me” (John 14:6). I encourage you to turn from your sin and receive Jesus today. You will be blessed if you do. Have a great week! (ccc-nl.org).
Gonzales, Mondo. "How Do We Know that the Bible is God’s Word?" New Lenox Patriot, 18 October 2007, Sec. A-7.