Bible Prophecy - Part 3. The Proof of Proofs.
May 9, 2008 by René Greenwood
“If God can create us He must also have the ability to communicate with us. The problem is that there are countless other counterfeit ‘gods’ claiming the same. How could He then authenticate His message so that we know it is really from Him and not a fraud?”
In the first two articles in this introduction to Bible prophecy we showed you the great importance that this is given in the Bible. Not only are prophecies announced, but God openly talks about the topic of prophecy itself.
We showed in Bible Prophecy - Part 2 that God proclaims this as a sign of His own divinity, that He stakes His reputation on prophecy and that He required 100% accuracy from His prophets to prove that they were divinely inspired.
Before we finish this introduction we would like to emphasize again, and in some more detail, why prophecy holds such importance in scripture, and especially for you, the reader.
There is a battle going on for your soul. Your eternal destiny is at stake. There are many counterfeit ‘gods’ who are trying to steer you away from the truth. The decision you make about whether you return to the true God will affect your eternal future. You cannot escape this. There is no such thing as ‘no decision’. This counts as a rejection of God and His plan for salvation:
He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters. (Matthew 12:30)
This issue of salvation is so crucial and God is so merciful that He has given us all the proof we need for His existence and the trustworthiness of the Bible. We have no excuse for saying ‘but I didn’t know’.
If God can create us He must also have the ability to communicate with us. The problem is that there are countless other counterfeit ‘gods’ claiming the same. How could He then authenticate His message so that we know it is really from Him and not a fraud?
One way God did this is by relying on an attribute that is uniquely His. God is very vocal about and protective of this particular prerogative. What is this unique characteristic of God? It is this: that only He has the ability to communicate with us from outside time and space. This is God’s seal of authenticity and prophecy is the direct proof. Prophecy is God’s message from outside our space-time domain. To be able to foretell events with 100% accuracy requires one to be outside the dimension of space-time:
For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’; (Isaiah 46:9-10)
It is clear that in the scriptures God shows Himself to be outside time and space even before the topic of prophecy appears. The Bible starts with the words ‘In the beginning’ after which follows the creation account, indicating that God pre-existed our universe. In the last book of the Bible, Revelation, the Prophet John shows us a vision of the end of time and space as we know it:
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; (Revelation 21:1)
The Bible clearly shows that there is another dimension beyond the boundaries in which we now live. God is communicating with us from a perspective that is beyond our limits. He is outside our present space-time dimension. God is not restricted by time or space. This uniqueness is His personal imprint.
In the famous ‘burning bush’ discourse Moses asks God by what name He wishes to be known to the Israelites. God answers Moses directly:
God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM” and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” (Exodus 3:14)
The Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament describes the use of the words ‘I AM’ this way:
The repetition of the same word suggests the idea of uninterrupted continuance and boundless duration. (Emphasis added.)
This name ‘I AM WHO I AM’ is indeed a revelation of God to us about His unique nature. He is beyond time. He is who He is, self-existent, self-sufficient, all-sufficient, the fountain of all life and existence, unchangeable, always the same, all-knowing, faithful and true. Thanks be to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that no-one else can take His name. There is no possibility of confusion!
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Next in the series: His Entire Life Was Pre-Written: Bible prophecies about Jesus: Introduction and first prophecy - Messiah as the seed of a woman
Err… not excactly.
Note that I’m not neccesarily endorsing this particular brand of Enlightenment. I’m just pointing out that at the very least, the authority of ‘I AM WHO I AM’ isn’t quite as cut and dry as you might have thought.
Che, the ‘I am’ leaves no doubt that He, the God of the Bible, is the authentic I AM. If anyone else calls themselves that (implying they are god) they they are an imposter. The evidence is in prophecy, which has been given to us by the Lord of the Universe for authentication.
Can you give me a prophecy in particular?
My dear “bright” friend,
yes I could give you lots, but I am more inclined to do that for a sincere seeker, for whom this blog is intended. Knowing your spiritual leanings I can see us getting bogged down in a back and forth argument about minutiae very soon.
Should you be interested to explore sincerely please give some indication and I would be happy to talk some more.
Why don’t you check out my posts here on prophecy or visit some sites such as this:
http://www.aboutbibleprophecy.com/
Blessings,
René
Heh. That must be the politest example of someone dodging the question that I’ve ever come across. :P
The thing I was hoping to get into is the fact that prophecy is not uncontestable. The idea is that if a person (or a bunch of books) makes a whole bunch of foretellings of human behavior with an open time limit, eventually someone will come along who meets just enough of them to look like he has a valid claim. It’s kind of like how if you squint at a cloud you can see a face. If you squint at the ‘white noise’ of the lives of a bunch of different people, eventually one of them’s going to look just about right. All that person has to do is go around with the intent of fulfilling as many specific behavioral prophecies as he can - and hey presto, prophecy was fulfilled by that individual.
The whole point of prophecy in scripture is to prove, beyond question, the authority of the Bible as the Word of God. But it can be seen that the fulfillment of prophecies as documented in the new testament is are most definitely not beyond question.
Don’t get me wrong - you can believe whatever you wish. I’m not trying to force my views down your throat, here. I’m just trying to establish that the prophetic basis for the authority of the Bible is not beyond question. Your answer to that question is your own business, just as my answer is my own business as well.
I’m looking forward to your response.
Wow… I just realized how far off topic we’ve drifted in a very short length of time.
Back to I AM THAT I AM.
This concept is often used as a very concise way of meaning a combination of I am my own cause and I am without cause and That is its own cause is me.
It’s been an interesting topic for many people trying to integrate Buddhist philosophy with Christian philosophy. The idea of ‘that which is its own cause’ is often used as the Buddhist understanding of ‘Buddha-nature’ which can, if you look at it in the right context, vaugely resemble the Christian concept of the ‘Holy-spirit’.
But in any case, I AM THAT I AM is often the response some people who practice Buddhism for the purpose of achieving a mental state of Enlgihtenment use in order to describe the experience.
You can chalk that up to the individuals ’seeing’ God directly, or you can chalk that perpective up as blasphemy. It’s up to you.
But the fact of the matter is that it’s not as uncontested as you may have thought.
Oops.
The third bold phrase in the third paragraph should read:
that which is its own cause is me
I really wish these comments were editable while they were still awaiting moderation.