http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=13&article=5150
Inspired Prediction is Proof of Bible Inspiration
| by | Dave Miller, Ph.D. |
Why
would anyone believe that the Bible is the Word of God, having been
transmitted through men who were supernaturally guided by God? Because
the evidence so indicates. One of the proofs of Bible inspiration is
predictive prophecy. Men committed to writing detailed predictions that
pertained to events several hundred years into the future. One such
example is the prophecy recalled by the writer of the book of Hebrews in
which he quotes from Psalm 40. He places the words in the mouth of
Jesus, applying the prediction to Jesus’ incarnation and sacrifice on
the cross. His citation is taken from the Septuagint version rather than
the original Hebrew:Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: Sacrifice and offering You did not de-sire, but a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. Then I said, “Behold, I have come—in the volume of the book it is writ-ten of Me—to do Your will, O God” (Hebrews 10:5-7, emp. added).
The Bible teaches that Deity came to the Earth in human flesh in order
to offer Himself as an atonement for the sins of the human race
(Galatians 2:20; 1 Timothy 2:6; Titus 2:14; et al.). The book of Hebrews
was written in the first century A.D. But the Psalms were written
several hundred years before that, with Psalm 40, written presumably by
David, a thousand years earlier. That means that a thousand years
separates the prediction from the fulfillment. Even the most liberal
treatment of the Psalms places their composition prior to the first
century A.D. The Greek Bible is generally believed to have been
completed in the third century B.C., which means the Psalms had to have
been completed prior to that time.
But how detailed was this prediction? Did it contain vague generalities
and ambiguous phrases that can be bent to refer to just about anything?
By no means. Among the details of the prediction, observe that the
passage represents God (the Father) as being responsible for
preparing/providing a body for Jesus (the Son) to inhabit. This body
would replace the animal sacrifices and offerings contained in the Old
Testament economy for dealing with sin. Such predictions are hardly
vague or ambiguous. In fact, they are extremely specific and complex.
One of the great marvels of the Christian religion is the virgin
conception in which Mary was impregnated by the Holy Spirit, enabling
her to conceive a child (Matthew 1:18-25). That child was Jesus Christ
who vacated the heavenly realm temporarily to fulfill the magnificent,
incomprehensi-ble purpose of sacrificing Himself for lost humanity
(Philippians 2:6-8). A physical, fleshly body was necessary to
accomplish this purpose. Hence, the need to be “born of a woman”
(Galatians 4:4; cf. Genesis 3:15) by which Deity could inhabit a human
body. Observe that the physical body was genetically derived from David
via his descendent Mary (Luke 3:23,31; Romans 1:3)—in ful-fillment of
another predictive prophecy (1 Samuel 7:12). But Jesus Himself is not to
be confused with His physical body. Jesus Himself preceded the
preparation and formation of the physical body that He inhabited in
first century Palestine. Jesus Himself has always existed since He is
Deity and eternal (Colossians 1:16; 2:9). Jesus Himself participated in
the creation of the Universe (John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:17).
How in the world could any mere human have predicted, hundreds of years
in advance, that a person would be born who, unlike all other humans
ever born, was in fact God inhabiting a physi-cal body? No mere human
could have predicted such an event. Hence, the Bible bears the
attributes of a supernatural origin.