Seventy Weeks Prophecy of Daniel — Jesus and History
Critics and skeptics of the Bible claim that Daniel’s prophecy of the seventy weeks (Daniel 9:24-27) was written during the 160’s BCE, rather than the Biblically historically accurate date of “the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede” (Daniel 9:1 NLT) [539-538 BCE], and assert that the prophecy does not predict anything about the Messiah, Jesus Christ. The oldest extant manuscript of anything in Daniel 9:24-27 is the Dead Sea Scrolls manuscript 11Q13, dated to circa 100 BCE, which partially quotes Daniel 9:25, “until an anointed one, a prince”. This fact alone that that manuscript predates Jesus’ baptism by about 125 years, is powerful evidence of its prophetic accuracy. (For more facts and information about dating the entire book of Daniel, please see the article, “When Was the Book of Daniel Written?”, on this website). In the meantime, however, this present article investigates the Biblical and historical facts relating to the prophecy of the seventy weeks in Daniel 9:24-27, and its fulfillment.
Is Karma True?
The belief of Karma originated way back in antiquity in India, and, with variations, is held by the Eastern religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. Karma is also popularly believed in the Western world, and some even assert that Karma is a Biblical belief. What we need to know, then, is Karma true? The article on this website entitled, “Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People?”, discusses many aspects and ideas of Karma in the light of what the Bible says, so we won’t repeat all that here, but please reference what the article says about it. We will, however, further discuss other aspects of Karma in the light of the scriptures in this article.
The Triune God
The image above represents the views of the vast majority of Christian denominations, organizations and groups. The quotes below indicate how much belief in the Triune God is considered to be orthodox, or normal, for Christians.
“God is triune; there are within the Godhead three persons; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit”—J J Packer
“The
Holy Spirit, part of the Triune God Himself, lives in the hearts of each person who believes in the gospel of Jesus Christ—Billy Graham
When, and By Whom, Was the Gospel of John Written?
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/2048px-John_1-5c2d79b2c9e77c0001830496.jpg)
Today, critics often assert that the Gospel of John was written in the 100’s CE, not by the apostle John, but by someone, or even multiple writers, who weren’t even born until long after Jesus’ death. These critics, of course, deny the inspiration by God’s holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16), “as they do also the rest of the scriptures” (2 Peter 3:16 NKJV). Although the Gospel of John was written anonymously, it is important for us to know when, and by whom, was the gospel of John written, if possible. Every extant manuscript that includes the beginning of the book names John as the writer. Was this “John” someone other than the apostle John? This article investigates and analyzes the facts.
JOHN WAS LITERATE
Critics have claimed that John was an illiterate fisherman. However, this claim is unsupported by any facts. When Jesus “called” John and his brother James to follow him full time, “they . . . were in a boat mending their nets. So they left their father Zebedee in the boat in the boat along with the hired men and followed Jesus” (Mark 1:19,20 NAB). John was involved with his father’s fishing business on the Sea of Galilee, which was lucrative enough to have “hired men”. The Galilee area was an international crossroads, with Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek being spoken, and it is likely that John was fluent in these languages. He likely had business dealings with various people who spoke these languages.
Can Christians Be Homosexuals?
The issue of whether Christians can be homosexuals is hotly debated today. Those who say “No” to this question are often labeled as “narrow-minded,” “bigoted,” “homophobic,” “hateful,” “divisive,” etc.
Make no mistake about it, God loves people! “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16 NASB). But, does God’s love and concern for everyone mean that people have carte blanche to act any way they want without consequences? “The Lord . . . doesn’t want to destroy anyone but wants all people to have an opportunity to turn to him and change the way they think and act” (2 Peter 3:9 GWT). No, “each of us will give an account of ourselves to God” (Romans 14:12 NIV).
Physics Proves That God Exists
Nasa
The BBC article below asks if physics can prove that God exists. In this BBC article (reproduced below), notice in the paragraph above the photo under the subheading “The Multiverse,” the statement that “our universe seems fine-tuned for life to exist”. We naturally ask, “How could fine-tuning occur without a designer?” Could a fine-tuned machine exist without a designer? Obviously not. This secular article gives some evidence that physics proves God exists!
Darwinism Is Mistakenly Assumed To Occur
Researchers are doing commendable work to try to eliminate disease and cancer. The BBC article below is an example of how Darwinism is assumed to be true in this context. There are innumerable living things on earth, and new ones are being discovered all the time. As the Bible says, “O LORD, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you made them all. The earth is full of your creatures” (Psalm 104:24 NLT). Do living things gradually change from one species to another species over the course of millions of years, as Darwinism claims? Notice Merriam-Webster’s definition of Darwinism:
Scientists Learning More About Clouds
Satellite captures first-of-a-kind cloud image
27 June 2024 By Jonathan Amos, @BBCAmos, Science correspondent Share
ESA. The dark red represents the highest density of ice crystals, snowflakes and raindropsOur Introductory Comments
The BBC News article featured above (and below) focuses on clouds and new things scientists are learning about them. While clouds are common there is still a lot that humans don’t know. But, God fully understands them, because he created, and controls, them, as the book of Job illustrates with word pictures 3,500 years ago:
“He wraps up the waters in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight”—Job 26:8 NIV
“The clouds pour down their moisture and abundant showers fall on mankind, Who can understand how he spreads out the clouds”—Job 36:28,29 NIV
Can Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Be God’s Servant?
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is said by many to be Almighty God, “God the Son,” the second person of the Trinity. However, Jesus Christ, the Messiah, is mentioned in the Bible as being God’s “servant.” In view of the claims that Jesus is Almighty God, how can he be God’s servant? First, let’s look at some of the claims about him:
“Peter’s sermon identifies Jesus with the ‘I Am’ of Israel’s history”—The Word In Life Study Bible, page 1928, citing Acts 3:11-26 as “proof.”
Bible Accurately Mentions Oasis of Tema (Job 6:19)
Ancient long distance travelers were dependent upon having adequate water during their journeys, which could take days or months. This was especially true when traveling through deserts. In the case of caravans of animals carrying heavy loads, the need of large amounts of water was extremely important. That made the oasis of Tema a popular and indispensable stop for Sabean traders traversing across the major north-south in the Arabian desert. Notice the Bible’s passing reference to the oasis of Tema: