Mark Hitchcock - The Amazing Claims of Bible Prophecy: What You Need to Know in These Uncertain Times

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE, OREGON

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THE AMAZING CLAIMS OF BIBLE PROPHECY

Copyright 2010 by Mark Hitchcock
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hitchcock, Mark.

The amazing claims of Bible prophecy / Mark Hitchcock.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-7369-2645-4 (pbk.)

1. BibleProphecies. I. Title.

BS647.3.H58 2010

231.7'45dc22

2009039320

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 / DP-NI / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Dr. Stanley Toussaint, whose life
and teaching have greatly impacted mine.
Thank you for being a mentor,
a friend, and my favorite Bible teacher.

A lmost everywhere you go today, its there. Deep-seated fear. A brooding sense of uneasiness. Fear about the future, pandemic plagues, the economy, war, monstrous natural disasters, nuclear weapons falling into the wrong hands, and even the environment. And every time a major new crisis occurs, people begin asking the big questions: Is this the end? Are we approaching Armageddon? Are there any real answers? Is there any way to know for certain what the future holds? Is there a sure word about tomorrow? Is there any possibility of hope, or are we all doomed?

Modern man is asking questions about the future as never before. They are solemn questions; they are searching questions. The Bible is certainly the best place to look for answers. We know this because many of the prophecies in the Bible have already been fulfilled with stunning accuracy, and others are coming true right before our eyesor at least the stage is being set for their fulfillment. Even the most skeptical person can put the Bible to the test by noting the literal, precise fulfillment of past prophecies. For this reason, biblical prophecy is being discussed more than ever before. In these prophecies, its possible to probe for clues that help us determine where we are in Gods program and the events we can expect to occur in the days ahead. Prophecies that were formerly brushed aside as too incredible are now being studied again.

Unlike the self-proclaimed prophets of yesterday and today, such as Nostradamus, Edward Cayce, or Jeanne Dixon, Jesus and the biblical prophets did not peddle predictions that were so vague and general they could be adjusted to any situation. The prophecies recorded in the Bible are very precise and so specific that when they are fulfilled, its very clear theres something unique and special about them.

Many people are not aware that more than one-fourth of the Bible was prophetic at the time it was written. The Bible is a book of prophecy. It contains about 1000 prophecies, about 500 of which have already been fulfilled down to the minutest detail. With this kind of proven track record500 prophecies fulfilled with 100 percent accuracywe can believe with confidence that the remaining 500 yet-to-be-fulfilled prophecies will also come to pass at their appointed times.

Someone has well said, We dont believe in prophecy because its contained in the Bible, but we believe in the Bible because it contains prophecy. Prophecy is the most credible proof of the uniqueness and divine inspiration of the Bible. Its importance can hardly be overstated. Fulfilled prophecy validates the Bible

The God of the Bible is so certain that only He can foretell the future that He issues a challenge to any would-be rivals to His place of supremacy in the universe. The basis of the challenge is that only He can accurately predict the future. Read what God says about His unique ability to forecast the future:

Present your case, the LORD says. Bring forward your strong arguments, the King of Jacob says. Let them bring forth and declare to us what is going to take place; as for the former events, declare what they were, that we may consider them and know their outcome. Or announce to us what is coming; declare the things that are going to come afterward, that we may know that you are gods; indeed, do good or evil, that we may anxiously look about us and fear together. Behold, you are of no account, and your work amounts to nothing; he who chooses you is an abomination.

Behold, the former things have come to pass, now I declare new things; before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.

Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me.

Daniel said, Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him. It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men and knowledge to men of understanding. It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him.

The simple purpose of The Amazing Claims of Bible Prophecy is to demonstrate the reliability and 100 percent accuracy of the Bible in predicting stunning events that have already come to fulfillment. The Bibles proven track record gives us assurance that the events that are still future will indeed come to pass. That is a source of hope for us in these perilous days in which we live.

Prophecy is history written in advance. In the first section of this book, I want us to consider ten prophecies that we can now look back upon with the benefit of 20:20 hindsight and see how they really were history written in advance. I have selected these specific prophecies because I believe they fit the definition of