CHAPTER THREE


God's Unanswerable Challenge -- Self-Imposed and Exacting Conditions -- A Threefold Challenge -- Babylon And The Testimony of Travellers -- Egypt and The History Books -- The Immortal Jew -- A Future Promise -- Assaults of Modern Infidelity Absolutely Impotent -- A Fulfilment of Our Promise -- The Bible Must Be Divine

"We have also a more sure word of prophecy. " - Peter.

Our object in dealing with archaeology was to demonstrate the historical reliability of the Bible. Our object in considering prophecy is to demonstrate the divinity of the Bible; for no power except the divine can reveal the future.

A deplorable ignorance exists among many people of the nature and scope of Bible prophecy. When prophecy is cited as a proof of the Bible, they either assert that the forecasts are of a vague and general character capable of having any construction placed upon them, or susceptible of application to any event after it has occurred. If upon further pressure these arguments prove unavailing they will often take refuge in vague references to "Old Moore's Almanack ... .. Mother Shipton" and "Astrology."

A CHALLENGE

These petty objections merely beg the question. There are no possible grounds for comparison of popular paper astrologers with the prophets of Israel, and only wilful unbelief or hopeless ignorance would ever suggest that there was. Real prophecy, the power to foretell the future and not just guess at the probable outcome of a certain train of events, is not an attribute of mortal man but of God alone. Man does not and cannot know what a day may bring forth; if he did he himself would be a god. Indeed this is the point of a challenge which God issues to vindicate His supremacy in this field. and by it emphasizes man's utter powerlessness to foretell future events:

"Produce your cause, saith the Lord; bring forth your strong reasons . . . Let them bring them forth and shew us what shall happen . . . or declare us things for to come. Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods." (Isa. 41:21, 23.)

God on the other hand can declare:

"Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them." (Isa. 42:9.)

Here is an infallible test supplied by the Bible. Can the Bible stand the test? Can it show us "things to come"? We shall see.

EXACTING TERMS

First we would remark, that if we are to make out a successful case for Bible prophecy, we must prove that:

(1) The prophecies were written before the foretold events;

(2) The predicted events were of such a nature that NO AMOUNT OF HUMAN FORESIGHT COULD ANTICIPATE THEM;

(3) THE EVENTS WERE NOT PROBABILITIES likely to develop but rather improbable and seemingly impossible AT THE TIME OF THEIR PRONOUNCEMENT;

(4) The predictions were couched in clear and INTELLIGIBLE TERMS, INCAPABLE OF HAVING TWO OR MORE CONSTRUCTIONS PLACED UPON THEM;

(5) They were of such a nature as to be CONTINUALLY IN DANGER OF BEING FALSIFIED DOWN TO OUR OWN DAY.

If in addition to these very exacting conditions we can show that the prophecies were not petty or personal fore casts of single or quickly passing events but broad in their scope, embracing centuries of time, and affecting the destinies of modem nations, then, we submit, we shall have made out an unanswerable case.

This is a very ambitious programme, but we have no doubt that we can satisfy all these exacting requirements from recorded Bible prophecy.

Our examples for the present purpose will be few, but they will be of a nature that will defy the ingenuity of the most fervent unbeliever successfully to gainsay.

We are selecting prophecies the subjects of which are common knowledge. They concern three ancient peoples who existed contemporary with one another. Two of them are still with us, in our modern world; the other has completely disappeared. It was while their future fortunes were as yet unknown and undreamed of that three separate and widely differing destinies were declared for them. Their foretold calamities were to be as varied and diverse as it is possible to conceive, and to be of long duration.

Thus were these forecasts exposed every day to the vagaries of political change which could easily wreck them if they were anything short of divine.

ONE KINGDOM WAS TO CEASE UTTERLY AND HER PEOPLES TO DISAPPEAR AS COMPLETELY AS IF THEY HAD NEVER EXISTED. Its cities were to be destroyed, and its name disappear from world politics.

ANOTHER WAS TO BE REDUCED PERMANENTLY FROM A VERY HIGH TO A VERY LOW ESTATE, TO SUFFER PERPETUAL SERVITUDE, nevertheless to continue as a kingdom but as an ignoble one, always ruled over by foreigners with never again a king from among their own people.

WHILE A THIRD PEOPLE WERE TO BE DRIVEN OUT OF THEIR LAND, AND LIVE IN EVERY OTHER COUNTRY EXCEPT THEIR OWN; in those countries they were to endure, and always survive, the hatred and cruel persecution of all peoples; they were to be a nation of living fragments with no king, parliament, or priesthood to hold them together; and, left uncultivated by its conquerors, their abandoned country was to lie desolate until they were again gathered back at an appointed time.

AN ENTHUSIASTIC SCHOLAR

But this is anticipating. Our first task is to prove, beyond all question or doubt, the early date of the prophecies. This happens to be quite easy. All the prophecies with which we intend to deal are contained in the Old Testament portion of the Authorised Version of the Bible. The earliest books of the Old Testament were written at about the 16th century B.C. and the latest books about the 5th century B.C. But as this is a matter which might involve debate with the sceptic, we can afford to agree to a much later date which will still be early enough to fulfil our first requirement, i.e., "The prophecies were written before the foretold events."

There happens to be a notable event in secular history which will admirably serve our purpose in establishing the early age of the prophecies. Ptolemy, the Greek king of Egypt who lived in the 3rd century B.C. was an enthusiastic scholar. He collected a wonderful library and among his books, it is said, he wished to include the sacred books of the Jews. These books were written in Hebrew, so Ptolemy, it is said, commissioned seventy learned Jews to translate their Hebrew scriptures into Greek. Thus there came into being a version known to history as the Septuagint Version, i.e., The version of the Seventy. This version was largely used by Christ and his apostles. It is still extant today and contains every book of the Old Testament that is found in our Authorised Version of the Bible.

Here then is elementary and indisputable evidence that the Jewish Scriptures were a finished and complete production in the 3rd century B.C. How otherwise could a version be made from them at that time? Thus we can now consider the prophecies themselves confident of our age question. We can now examine them strictly on their merits of fulfilment.

A CITY BECOMES HEAPS

The first example is Babylon, which was at the height of her power under King Nebuchadnezzar when Jeremiah wrote his prophecy (about 600 B.C.), and was still a mighty city of the Greek Empire at the time of the translations of the Jewish Scriptures into Greek.

Here is a digest of some of the things predicted by Jeremiah, and by Isaiah over a century earlier, concerning Babylon. We have numbered the sections for ease of reference later. Note their contents very carefully in order to appreciate their fulfilment when we explain them:

From Jeremiah 50:

(1) "For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her which shall MAKE HER LAND DESOLATE AND NONE SHALL DWELL THEREIN: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast." (Verse 3.)

(2) "It (Babylon) shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate." (Verse 13.)

(3) "How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken; how is Babylon become a DESOLATION AMONG THE NATIONS!" (Verse 23.)

(4) "CAST HER UP AS HEAPS and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left." (Verse 26.)

(5) "A DROUGHT IS UPON HER WATERS and they shall be dried up." (Verse 38.)

(6) "Therefore the WILD BEASTS OF THE DESERT WITH THE WILD BEASTS OF THE ISLANDS SHALL DWELL THERE, AND THE OWLS SHALL DWELL THEREIN and it shall no more be inhabited for ever, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation." (Verse 39.)

(7) "SO SHALL NO MAN ABIDE THERE, neither shall any son of man dwell therein." (Verse 40.)

From Jeremiah 51:

(8) "We would have healed Babylon but SHE IS NOT HEALED." (Verse 9.)

(9) "O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, THINE END IS COME." (Verse 13.)

(10) "THEY SHALL NOT TAKE OF THEE A STONE for a corner nor a stone for foundations." (Verse 26.)

(11) "Thou shalt be DESOLATE FOR EVER, saith the Lord." (Verse 26.)

(12) "For every purpose of the Lord shall be performed against Babylon to make the land of Babylon A DESOLATION WITHOUT AN INHABITANT." (Verse 29.)

(13) "THE SEA IS COME UPON BABYLON, she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof." (Verse 42.)

(14) "BABYLON SHALL BECOME HEAPS, A DWELLING PLACE FOR DRAGONS (JACKALS), an astonishment . . . WITHOUT AN INHABITANT." (Verse 37.)

(15) "Her cities are a desolation, A DRY LAND AND A WILDERNESS, a land wherein no man dwelleth." (Verse 43.)

(16) "The broad walls of Babylon shall be UTTERLY BROKEN." (Verse 58.)

(17) "O Lord, thou hast spoken against this place to cut it off that none shall remain in it. neither man nor beast, but that IT SHALL BE DESOLATE FOR EVER." (Verse 62.)

(18) "THUS SHALL BABYLON SINK AND SHALL NOT RISE from the evil that I will bring upon her." (Verse 64.)

From Isaiah 13.

(19) "And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be AS WHEN GOD OVERTHREW SODOM AND GOMORRAH." (Verse 19.)

(20) "IT SHALL NEVER BE INHABITED, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation." (Verse 20.)

(21) "NEITHER SHALL THE ARABIAN PITCH TENT THERE, NEITHER SHALL THE SHEPHERDS MAKE THEIR FOLD THERE." (Verse 20.)

(22) "But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures, and OWLS SHALL DWELL THERE and satyrs (wild goats) shall dance there." (Verse 21.)

(23) "I will also make it A POSSESSION FOR THE BITTERN AND POOLS OF WATER, and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction." (Isaiah 14. 23.)

(24) "CUT OFF THE SOWER FROM BABYLON." (Jeremiah 50:16.)

FULFILMENT PAR EXCELLENCE

Travellers of three centuries ago and travellers and archaeologists up to our present day all concur in describing the state of Babylon exactly as these predictions would lead us to expect. Indeed they themselves repeatedly and often unintentionally use the very phrases employed by Bible prophets when describing what they saw. Some of them were not Bible believers and would therefore do nothing willingly to help the cause of Bible truth. They simply recorded what they saw, no more, and no less. And that is all we require them to do, for in the telling words of one writer:

"To diverge in the least from the most precise facts, would here weaken and destroy the argument, for the predictions correspond not closely with anything except alone with the literal and express reality ... THE ACTUAL FACTS RENDER ANY EXAGGERATION IMPOSSIBLE, AND ANY FICTION POOR."

Here is fulfilment par excellence if so be that such language is justified. That it is more than justified we shall now proceed to demonstrate.

RELIABLE WITNESSES

The following extracts are from various travellers and archaeologists; some quite modern, others not so modern. They include such names as Sir Ker Porter, Keppel, Rich, Keith, Mignan, Buckingham, Rassam, Rawlinson, Sir Henry Layard, and Professor Hilprecht. They shall speak for themselves.

"Neither shall the Arabian pitch his tent . . . neither shall the shepherds make their fold." See Section 21.

Rawlinson says: " On the actual ruins of Babylon, THE ARABIAN NEITHER PITCHES HIS TENT NOR PASTURES HIS FLOCKS -- in the first place, because the nitrous soil produces no pasture to tempt him; and secondly, because an evil reputation attaches to the entire site, which is thought to be the haunt of evil spirits."

"Captain Mignan was accompanied by six Arabs completely armed, but he 'COULD NOT INDUCE THEM TO REMAIN TOWARDS NIGHT, from the apprehension of evil spirits'."

"They shall not take of thee a stone for a corner ..." See Section 10.

"The famous excavator Rassam says: 'There is one fact connected with the destruction of Babylon and the marvellous fulfilment of prophecy which struck me more than anything else ... THE NON-EXISTENCE . . . OF ANY SIGN OF STONE WHICH HAD BEEN DUG UP FROM THE ANCIENT RUINS. It seems that in digging for old materials the Arabs used the bricks for building purposes, but ALWAYS BURNT THE STONES THUS DISCOVERED FOR LIME'."

"Babylon shall become heaps . . ." See Sections 4, 14.

"IMMENSE TUMULI of temples, palaces, and human habitations of every description."

"MISSHAPEN HEAPS of rubbish."

"Buried in SHAPELESS HEAPS."

"HEAPS of rubbish."

"VAST HEAPS NOW CONSTITUTE ALL THAT REMAINS OF ANCIENT BABYLON."

"I will make it pools of water..." See Section 23.

"While WORKMEN CAST HER UP AS HEAPS in piling the rubbish while excavating for bricks ... the numerous and DEEP EXCAVATIONS FORM POOLS OF WATER on the overflowing of the Euphrates."

"Deep cavities are also formed by the Arabs when digging . . . the ground is sometimes covered with POOLS OF WATER IN THE HOLLOWS."

"From the summit of Birs Nimrood," says Sir Henry Layard, the famous archaeologist, "I gazed over a vast marsh, for Babylon is made a 'POSSESSION FOR THE BITTERN, AND POOLS OF WATER'."

A TENANTLESS METROPOLIS

"It shall never be inhabited..." Sections 1, 2, 6, 7,12, 14,15,20.

"The eye wanders over a barren desert in which the ruins are nearly the only indication that it ever had been inhabited ... Babylon is spurned alike by the heel of the Ottomans, the Israelites and the sons of Ishmael ... it is A TENANTLESS AND DESOLATE METROPOLIS."

"Wild beasts . . . and owls shall dwell there." See Section 22.

"There are MANY DENS OF WILD BEASTS in various parts ... in most of the cavities are NUMBERS OF BATS AND OWLS . . . the refuge Of JACKALS AND OTHER SAVAGE ANIMALS ... THE KING OF THE FOREST (LION) now ranges over the site of Babylon."

"The sea is come up upon Babylon..." See Section 13.

"During spring and summer (Babylon) is almost a continual marsh, a veritable 'desert of the sea'. (Isa. 21:1.) While the inundations prevail, a dense vegetation springs from the stagnant waters. Large flocks of birds with brilliant plumage, pelicans and cormorants sail about in undisputed possession of their safe and tranquil retreats."

"Her cities a dry land and a wilderness." See Section 15.

"The lofty embankments (of the canals) like a perfect network, 'stretching on every side in long lines until they are lost in the hazy distance, or magnified by the mirage into mountains, still defy the hand of time,' bearing witness to the great skill and diligent labour which once turned these barren plains into one luxuriant garden. THE PROVERBIAL FERTILITY AND PROSPERITY OF BABYLONIA WHICH EXCITED THE ADMIRATION OF CLASSICAL WRITERS, HAVE LONG DISAPPEARED. 'HER CITIES ARE A DESOLATION, A DRY LAND AND A WILDERNESS'."

"A drought is upon her waters." See Section 5.

"The solitude and utter devastation which characterise Babylon in her present aspect are even more impressive and appalling. The whole country from 'Aqarguf Quorna looks as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. THE INNUMERABLE CANALS WHICH IN BYGONE DAYS, LIKE SO MANY NOURISHING VEINS, CROSSED THE RICH ALLUVIAL PLAIN, bringing life and joy and wealth to every village and field, are CHOKED UP WITH RUBBISH AND EARTH. Unattended by industrious hands and no longer fed by the Euphrates and Tigris, THEY ARE COMPLETELY 'DRIED up' -- 'A DROUGHT IS UPON THE WATERS OF BABYLON'."

"Cut off the sower from Babylon." See Section 24.

"Ruins composed, like those of Babylon, of HEAPS OF RUBBISH IMPREGNATED WITH NITRE, CANNOT BE CULTIVATED. The decomposing materials of a Babylonian structure doom the earth on which they perish to EVERLASTING STERILITY."

OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE

Here then are the prophecies which, we submit, were delivered at the time when Babylon was the magnificent capital of a mighty empire; when her fertile and smiling plains, irrigated by a gigantic system of canals, supported an enormous population of highly intelligent and skilled people; when a false prophet, depending on probability to guide him, would have predicted any other fate except the one outlined so clearly by Israel's prophets.

IF Babylon had ever been rebuilt, as indeed it almost was, by Alexander the Great -- IF the canals had been maintained, and perpetuated Babylon's fertility -- IF flocks grazed on the site of her ruins, as they do on those of other ancient cities -- IF an Arab could be induced to pitch his tent, and spend a night there, as he will among other ancient ruins -- IF a Babylonian kingdom still existed -- IF her ancient site could be sown and cultivated as are other mounds of ruins such as Nineveh -- IF wild beasts and owls were not now the only living inhabitants of Babylon -- IF the cormorant and other wild waterfowl did not live in lonely solitude in her marshes today -- THEN would Jeremiah and Isaiah have proved to be false prophets.

When the reader considers the chances against the natural outworking of such an unnatural, unheard of, and unique fate for any country and people, and the ease with which any of these "ifs" could happen -- then surely he or she will allow that we have here overwhelming evidence that a mind higher than man's was behind these amazing forecasts; the mind which knows the end from the beginning and who has declared:

"My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure." (Isaiah 46:10.)

THE LAND OF THE SPHINX

We now turn to consider the second example of the wonders of prophetic forecast. Egypt was a great nation contemporary with Babylon. She, too, was the subject of prophecy. Her future, however, was to be entirely different from that of Babylon, but like Babylon she was to have a unique future with NO POSSIBLE PARALLEL IN RECORDED HISTORY. We would emphasise this. Egypt was to meet with a fate which has befallen no other nation. To a person living at the time it would seem that the prophets of Israel were inviting disaster to overtake their predictions, so undreamed of, unlikely and seemingly impossible of fulfilment were their messages. But TIME, THE GREAT ACID TEST OF PROPHECY, HAS PROVED THEM TRUE. Our task is to show you in simple language how this has been done in the case of Egypt.

As before, we will quote the prophecies first. Ezekiel, who wrote at the time when Egypt was still a mighty power under her Pharaohs, declared for God:

"I WILL MAKE THE LAND OF EGYPT DESOLATE in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be desolate forty years: and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.

"Yet thus saith the Lord God; at the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered: and I will bring again the captivity of Egypt and will CAUSE THEM TO RETURN INTO THE LAND ... OF THEIR HABITATION; AND THEY SHALL BE THERE A BASE KINGDOM.

"IT SHALL BE THE BASEST OF THE KINGDOMS, neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish them, that THEY SHALL NO MORE RULE OVER THE NATIONS." (Ezek. 29:12-15.)

"And I will make the rivers dry, and sell the land into the hand of the wicked: and I WILL MAKE THE LAND WASTE AND ALL THAT IS THEREIN, BY THE HAND OF STRANGERS: ... AND THERE SHALL BE NO MORE A PRINCE OF THE LAND OF EGYPT . . ." (Ezek. 30:12, 13.)

There is no record in history of Egypt's forty years' captivity. But when we remember that it was Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who first defeated Egypt after the utterance of this prophecy, then matters become clearer. His policy was to take conquered nations away into exile, as we have seen already in the case of the Jews, whom he took into captivity for seventy years, until Cyrus the Persian conquered him and released and restored his Jewish captives to their own land. We can be sure that something of a similar nature happened to the Egyptians, but as yet there is no certain record of the event.

THE REAL TEST

The rest of the prophecy, however, provides the real test. The Egyptians, from being a premier nation, were to continue perpetually in a state of subjection in their own country, ruled over and impoverished by foreigners.

Truly a remarkable and seemingly impossible state of affairs, especially as it was to be a perpetual state and not a temporary one -- "they shall no more rule over the nations." Here is an unnatural situation, the continuation of which challenges eternity. What prospect of it ever happening, and, if happening, of continuing, if God were not behind it?

And now a brief history of Egypt, taken principally from a standard encyclopedia, will illustrate the prophecy almost without need of comment. This is how it should be, for prophecy is but history before it happens, and history is but prophecy after it has happened.

"Pharaoh Necho II was defeated by Nebuchadnezzar (king of Babylon) at Carchemish . . .

"Egypt fell under the Persian power when Cambyses conquered it and added it to his empire. After many rebellions, more or less successful, they were finally subdued by Ochus in 350 B.C. From that time to the present no native prince has ruled the land.

"Egypt remained a province of Persia till its conquest by Alexander, 332 B.C.

"Subsequently Egypt passed under Greek rule and the language of the government became essentially Greek. Epiphanes, 204-180 B.C., encountered repeated rebellion...

"After the battle of Actium, 31 B.C., Egypt passed into the condition of a province of Rome. Governed always by a Roman governor of the equestrian, not senatorial, rank . . .

"Egypt under Roman rule at the division of the (Roman) empire, 395 A.D., Egypt fell to the Eastern. empire . . . it became a province of Persia 616 A.D. for twelve years. The Coptic governor, John Mukowkis, governed Egypt in the name of Herachus at the period of the Arab invasion 639 A.D., and perceiving in the invaders a means of escape from the detested rule of the Greeks, submitted . . . to the Arab general 'Amir ibn el-Asi who took Alexandria 641 A.D. and soon made the whole country a province of the Calif 'Omar . . .

"Egypt remained an appanage of the Califat, and was ruled by Arab governors . . . This in turn gave place to the heretical line of the Fatimi Califs who advanced from their capital, conquered Egypt and founded modern Cairo, 969 A.D. . . .

A STARTLING ANOMALY

"The Fatimis were deposed by the Kurd general Saladin, 1169-93 A.D. . . . It was the last of the Saladin line, Es-Salih Ayyub, who introduced the famous bodyguard of Turkish Mamelukes, or white slaves, who on his death, usurped the supreme power 1250 A.D.

"For more than two centuries and a half Egypt was governed by a succession of slave kings one of the most startling anomalies of history.

"In 1517 A.D.... this brilliant series of rulers came to an end on the conquest of Egypt by the Ottoman Sultan Selim I. Nearly three centuries of weak and corrupt government by Turkish Pashas, varied by faction and rebellion of the Mameluke chiefs, brings us to the French invasion by Bonaparte in 1798 . . . The French, however, were soon expelled by the British in 1801 when the country was restored to (Turkey).

"The accession of the Albanian soldier Mohammed 'Ali to the pashalik in 1805 ... In 1816 Mohammed 'Ali reduced part of Arabia to his sway by the generalship of his son Ibrahim. Ibrahim sat on the throne for two months (1849) . . . Isma'il son of Ibrahim . . . took in 1866 the hereditary title of Khedive. The same firman made the succession to the throne of Egypt direct from father to son ...

"Egyptian finances were placed entirely under European management. A promise of constitutional government ended in 1879 in the summary dismissal of Nebar Pasha's ministry, and brought about the peremptory interference of the European governments . . .

"A law of liquidation, for regulating the condition of the public debt, was passed at the instance of five European powers in 1880 . . . growing dislike to European interference ...

"In 1882 British and French warships were despatched to Alexandria to overawe the rebels ... The British Admiral occupied the city ... The aim of the English Cabinet was to secure, as soon as possible, a firm and lasting government under the Khedive but a large measure of interference with the Egyptian government was, for the time being, inevitable ...

"A conference of the great powers in 1884 did not sanction the English scheme for managing Egyptian finance; and Britain had consequently to resume her exclusive responsibility in Egypt . . . Egypt under British rule."

Here then are history's comments on Ezekiel's ancient prophecy, details you may read for yourself in almost any encyclopedia. The writer of this history would doubtless be greatly surprised if he learned that we were quoting him to verify the words of Israel's prophet. But you must admit that what he has written is not just his biased opinion, but sober and well known history. Had he recorded less than the truth or more than the truth, his record would not confirm the prophecy but rather discredit it.

Surely we may say of Egypt's unique history what was said of her rule by imported slaves -- "it is one of the most startling anomalies of history." A happening in history that can be termed "startling" must needs be more startling still when found in prophecy! For surely "startling anomalies" are not things to be easily anticipated, neither will a probable trend of events make them occur to a would-be prophet; for they are not the expected but the unexpected. Well, the unexpected happened and has continued to our very day as the following extracts amply confirm:

"Of the present inhabitants of Egypt two-thirds of the fellahin (the cultivators of the soil), who form more than four-fifths of the entire population of Egypt, together with the Copts (Egyptian Christians), who form about one twelfth, are undoubtedly descendants of the ancient Egyptians.

"The level of material civilisation is very low among these people, and they have sunk to the level of a race of slaves, whose proud past of splendour and power is but a faded memory. Egypt exists in a state of suspended animation, a kingdom, but sunk very low."

Mr. Wendell Willkie, the American statesman, in a book, One World, records the following:

"Next day we drove back to Cairo for long conferences with King Farouk, the Prime Minister, and later with Sir Miles Lampson, the British ambassador in Egypt, and for all practical purposes its actual ruler.

"I asked one of my hosts, a young Egyptian paper man, 'Does a man become a Pasha by writing a great book?' He answered, 'I suppose he could, except that almost no one in Egypt writes books.'

"'Do you get to be a Pasha by painting pictures?' I asked. 'There is no reason why you couldn't, except that no one here paints pictures.'

"'Does a great inventor ever get to be a Pasha?' And I was told once more: 'We've had no great inventors that I know of since the time of the Pharaohs.'"

Then Mr. Willkie adds: "I was not in Egypt long enough to learn all the reasons for this cultural sterility."

Thus today do public men testify unconsciously that Egypt is a base and ignoble kingdom.

Her position in the Second World War of "nonbelligerent alliance" while foreign invaders desecrated her ancient soil when the German army threatened Cairo, would have been a standing reproach to any nation of spirit. But Egypt has no power or inclination to have it otherwise -- a base kingdom "sunk very low."

IF Egypt today were a first-rate world power -- IF today her people were intelligent, proud and accomplished as they once were -- IF Egypt today was only a name like Assyria and Babylon are, and it could well have been -- IF the thousand and one twists of political change had worked any other condition of affairs than the one that now exists -- THEN could the sceptic triumphantly point the finger of derision at such an audacious forecast.

But there are no such discrepancies to be found. Ancient prophecy and modern history harmonise and blend. They are complementary the one to the other. There is here no "fitting" of events to suit the prophecy. There are no long and prolix explanations needed to show how the events fulfilled the prophecy, because history is the best explanation.

Surely there can be only one reason that will appeal with irresistible force to an intelligent and logical mind -- "Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit."

"THE MIRACLE OF THE JEW"

It would seem that with the recital of the respective and diverse destinies of the ancient kingdoms of Babylon and Egypt, we should have exhausted the "startling anomalies" of history. Far from this being the case there is another anomaly of history differing from both of them and yet more remarkable than either of them. Thus the world, impressed by this unique phenomenon which we are now to deal with, speaks of "The miracle of the immortal Jew."

We shall now consider briefly the unambiguous prophecies concerning the Jew, and, as before, only appeal to things known by you or at least very easily ascertainable.

In the event of long continued disobedience to God, Moses foretold among other things the following evils which would befall the Jews:

From Deuteronomy 28:

(1) "The Lord shall cause thee to be SMITTEN BEFORE THINE ENEMIES. Thou shalt go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them, and SHALT BE REMOVED INTO ALL KINGDOMS OF THE EARTH . . . (Verse 25.)

(2) "Thou shalt be only OPPRESSED AND SPOILED EVER MORE and no man shall save thee . . . (Verse 29.)

(3) "And there shall be NO MIGHT IN THY HAND ... Thou shalt be ONLY OPPRESSED AND CRUSHED ALWAY . . . (Verses 32-33.)

(4) "Thou shalt become an astonishment, A PROVERB AND A BYWORD AMONG ALL NATIONS whither the Lord shall lead thee. (Verse 37.)

(5) "The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth as swift as the eagle flieth, a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand, a nation of fierce countenance which shall not regard the person of the old nor show favour to the young. (Verses 49-50.)

(6) "HE SHALL BESIEGE THEE IN ALL THY GATES until thy high and fenced walls come down wherein thou trustedst . . . throughout all thy land which the Lord thy God hath given thee. (Verse 52.)

(7) "THE TENDER AND DELICATE WOMAN AMONG YOU her eye shall be evil . . . toward her young one . . . which she shall bear for she SHALL EAT THEM FOR WANT OF ALL THINGS SECRETLY IN THE SIEGE. (Verses 56-57.)

(8) "THE LORD SHALL SCATTER THEE AMONG ALL PEOPLE from the one end of the earth even unto the other. . . (Verse 64.)

(9) "And among these nations shalt thou FIND NO EASE, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest . . . (Verse 65 .)

(10) "THY LIFE SHALL HANG IN DOUBT before thee and thou shalt fear day and night AND SHALL HAVE NONE ASSURANCE OF THY LIFE." (Verse 66.)

From Leviticus 26:

(11) "And I WILL MAKE YOUR CITIES WASTE and bring your sanctuaries into desolation. (Verse 31.)

(12) "And I WILL BRING THE LAND INTO DESOLATION and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it. (Verse 32.)

(13) "And I WILL SCATTER YOU AMONG THE HEATHEN and will draw out a sword after you and YOUR LAND SHALL BE DESOLATE AND YOUR CITIES WASTE. (Verse 33.)

(14) "Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths as long as it lieth desolate, and YE BE IN YOUR ENEMIES' LAND; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths. (Verse 34.)

(15) "And ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies." (Verse 37.)

"WITHOUT REMEDY"

These prophecies were well over a thousand years old before they received their fulfilment. During this time Israel suffered many temporary disasters to her national fortunes, but each one was followed by divine forgiveness and restoration. At last, however, the time came, as the prophet said it would, when the wrath of God arose "without remedy". The final tragedy was impending during the life of Jesus Christ. He warned his generation that the time was almost ripe for the fulfilment of these very curses pronounced by Moses in Deuteronomy and Leviticus. He says:

"And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh . . .

"For these be the days of vengeance, that ALL THINGS WHICH ARE WRITTEN may be fulfilled . . .

"And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be LED AWAY CAPTIVE INTO ALL NATIONS; and JERUSALEM SHALL BE TRODDEN DOWN of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." Luke 21:20, 22, 24.

And of the beautiful temple buildings he declared at this time that:

"There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." Matt. 24:2.

To sum up: Israel were to be besieged in all their cities until they were razed to the ground throughout the land -- Jerusalem was to be desolated; not one stone was to remain upon another in the temple buildings. After suffering terrible hardships and privations in the siege, women would be compelled to eat their own children. The Jews were to be scattered into all nations and sold into slavery -- thenceforth they were to suffer untold misery in every nation under heaven -- to be plundered and robbed to be a proverb and a curse, never allowed to settle down but driven from pillar to post finding no rest for the sole of their feet -- to be "Wandering Jews," yet always to remain a separate, distinct and an easily identifiable race. Their land was to be a possession of strangers yet never cultivated by them, but to remain in a state of desolation and ruin until the times of Gentile domination should expire; then Israel were to return and re-cultivate the soil which had lain fallow for centuries.

A GRUESOME MEAL

Our first quotation as illustrative of one part of the prophecy is taken from Josephus, who was himself an eye witness of the terrible siege of Jerusalem. The rest is an abridged copy of the history of Israel from a standard encyclopedia. These alone will admirably serve to illustrate the fulfilment of the points we have summarized.

"Now there was a certain woman . . . She was eminent for her family and her wealth ... The other effects of this woman had been already seized upon . . . What food she had contrived to save had also been carried off by the rapacious guards, who came every day running into her house for that purpose. (When all other food was exhausted or stolen) SHE SLEW HER SON, AND THEN ROASTED HIM, AND ATE THE ONE HALF OF HIM, AND KEPT THE OTHER HALF BY HER CONCEALED . . . Smelling the horrid scent of this food (the robbers) threatened her that they would cut her throat immediately if she did not shew them what food she had gotten ready . . . (She) uncovered what was left of her son ... they were seized with horror ... Come eat of this food; for I have eaten of it myself! Do not pretend to be either more tender than a woman or more compassionate than a mother.' " -- Josephus.

"A HORRIBLE CARNAGE was terminated 70 A.D. by the conquest of Jerusalem by Titus (the Roman general), THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE and the MASSACRE AND BANISHMENT of hundreds and thousands of the unhappy people, who were SCATTERED IN ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD.

"Their last attempt to throw off the Roman yoke in Palestine under Bar-Cochba was defeated after enormous and almost incredible butcheries. The suppression of Bar Cochba's insurrection, 135 A.D., marks the FINAL DESOLATION OF JUDEA, and the DISPERSION of its inhabitants.

"The whole of Judea, was MADE LIKE A DESERT; about 985 towns and villages lay in ashes, 50 fortresses were RAZED TO THE GROUND; the name of Jerusalem itself was changed into Aelia Capitolina . . . from entering which (or even viewing from a distance) every Jew was strictly forbidden on pain of death.

"In Europe the ascendency of Christianity was baneful to the Jews. Imperial edicts and ecclesiastical decrees vied with each other in the rigour of their intolerance toward this unhappy people . . . Yet no persecution apparently could destroy the immortal race . . . Constantine (the first 'Christian' emperor) terms them 'THAT MOST HATEFUL OF ALL PEOPLE.' . . .

"In the 5th century in the Byzantine empire THEY SUFFERED MANY OPPRESSIONS; while in the 6th and 7th centuries the Franks and Spanish Visigoths inflicted on them FRIGHTFUL PERSECUTIONS.

"In Christendom few and far between were the monarchs who rose above the barbarism of the churches . . .

"Less favourable was their lot in France. Under the weaker of the Carlovingians the church advanced with imperious strides, and a melancholy change ensued: kings, bishops, feudal barons, and even the municipalities, ALL JOINED IN CRUEL PERSECUTION.

"From the 11th to the 14th century their history is a series of successive massacres ...

"THE DETESTED RACE"

"A religious epidemic having seized the common people in . . the central regions of France, 1321 A.D., they signalized themselves by HORRIBLE MASSACRES OF THE DETESTED RACE . . . One shudders to read what followed; IN WHOLE PROVINCES EVERY JEW WAS BURNED . . . finally in 1395 they were BANISHED . . .

"In England (1189) a popular commotion against them broke out in London; THEIR HOUSES WERE PILLAGED AND BURNED . . . similar scenes were witnessed at Norwich, Edmundsbury, Stamford and York; in York Most Of THE JEWS PREFERRED DEATH to enforced baptism . . . King John IMPRISONED, MALTREATED AND PLUNDERED them in all parts of the country. Under Henry III they were mulcted enormously. Accused of clipping the coin of the realm, they had, as a penalty, to pay into the royal exchequer a third of their movable property ... The accession of Edward I did not mitigate their misery ... In 1253 the Jews, no longer able to withstand the constant hardships to which they were subjected in person and property, begged of their own accord to be allowed to leave the country . . . Ultimately in 1290 they were DRIVEN FROM THE SHORES OF ENGLAND, PURSUED BY THE EXECRATIONS OF THE INFURIATED RABBLE.

"In Germany they were looked upon as the special property of the sovereign who BOUGHT AND SOLD them . . . The Crusaders kindled a spirit ... through all Christendom, hostile to (the Jews) ... CITIES WERE DELUGED WITH THEIR BLOOD. . . . The Jews were expelled from Vienna . . . Mecklenburg . . . Frankfort ... Brandenburg. . . Nuremburg ... Prague . . . Ratisbon. The Black Death occasioned a great and widespread persecution, 1348-50. They were MURDERED AND BURNED BY THOUSANDS, and the race almost disappeared from Germany.

"Switzerland commenced to PERSECUTE them about the middle of the 14th century; in the 15th century they were EXPELLED.

In Spain there were HORRIBLE PERSECUTIONS by the Gothic princes in the 6th and 7th centuries ... outbursts of priestly and popular violence took place 1391-2; IMMENSE NUMBERS WERE MURDERED AND WHOLESALE THEFT WAS PERPETRATED BY THE RELIGIOUS RABBLE. Escape was possible only by flight to Africa . . . THE FATE OF THE JEWS in Spain during the 15th century, however, BEGGARS DESCRIPTION; we read of nothing but PERSECUTIONS, VIOLENT CONVERSION, MASSACRES, AND THE TORTURES OF THE INQUISITION. THOUSANDS WERE BURNED ALIVE ... Not less than 300,000 resolved to abandon the country . . . the incidents that marked their departure are HEARTRENDING. Almost EVERY LAND WAS SHUT AGAINST THEM. Some, however, ventured into Morocco in which . . . they suffered THE MOST FRIGHTFUL PRIVATION.

"THE WANDERERS"

"In Portugal. . . SOLD AS SLAVES. In 1495 king Emanuel commanded them to quit his territories, but at the same time issued a secret order that all Jewish children under 14 years should be torn from their mothers (and) retained in Portugal ... AGONY DROVE THE JEWISH MOTHERS INTO MADNESS; they destroyed their children with their own hands, and threw them into wells and rivers to prevent them falling into the hands of their persecutors . . .

"Russia in 1881 . . . a violent agitation against the Jews, accompanied by much OUTRAGE AND BLOODSHED, took place in the south and west of Russia.

"Frederick the Great, king of Prussia, shewed himself singularly harsh towards the Jews; his legislation almost throws us back into the middle ages SCATTERED THROUGH FIVE CONTINENTS."

"It was this (the Russian) State and its Czars that organised and even financed massacres of the Jews as late as the beginning of the 20th century, during the reign of Nicholas II. Here was the classical diversion and scape goat maneuvre which was to be emphasized so effectively in the thirties of the 20th century by Adolph Hitler."

"World War I affected the Jews primarily in the Eastern European zones. Hundreds of thousands of Jews were uprooted from their homes by the Russian overlords and shipped back to the lines in the most brutal fashion."

In 1918-20 "the Jews of the Ukraine were butchered by the thousands by invading troops and local guerrillas."

Hitler in 1933 "immediately set out to implement his programme which included the destruction of what was probably the most distinguished Jewry in Europe. In a series of laws, confiscations and pogroms, extending from 1933 to 1938, Hitler succeeded in destroying German Jewry . . . Jews lost their citizenship completely and were forbidden to inter-marry with other Germans ... Practically every synagogue in Germany was destroyed. Thousands of Jews were imprisoned in concentration camps, and the major part of German-Jewish wealth was confiscated. By the time war broke out in 1939 Jews were no longer citizens, could attend no public schools, engage in practically no business or profession, own no land, associate with no non Jew, frequent no park, library, or museum, and were ordered to live in ghettos. By 1941 boys over 12 were conscripted into munition factories, all use of the telephone and public transportation systems was forbidden, and all Jews over six years of age were required to wear the yellow badge."

"In World War II the situation of Jewry in the mass settlements of Eastern Europe was even worse (than World War I), for the national socialists set out deliberately to destroy large numbers of Polish and Russian-Jewish civilians. If but a fraction of the atrocities reported were accurate, then many thousands of defenceless Jewish non combatants, men, women and children, were butchered after September, 1939."

"The influence of World War II was felt most strongly by Jews in those European lands which had come under German domination . . . In the conquered lands from France to Poland, practically all Jews lost their political and civil rights; their property and businesses were confiscated and their children, in most lands, were driven out of elementary and higher schools . . . The Nazis carried out a series of expulsions and deportations of Jews . . . from nearly all European states ... Large numbers perished under the inhuman conditions under which they laboured."

UNDER THE PLOUGH

During most of this long time the land of Israel was to remain in a state of uncultivated desolation. After the Roman overthrow, which marked the commencement of the desolation, the land was successively overrun by Arab, Saracen and Turk. None of these nations exploited the fertile plains of Judea because they were mere desolators by nature: that was their mission. Their centuries of accumulated misrule at last turned Palestine into an unrecognisable desert.

Today the tide is on the turn; the land is coming under the plough -- orange groves are flourishing in what, until a few years ago, were malarial swamps; and it is a returned remnant of the Jews that are doing these things.

What does this mean? Are these ancient prophecies beginning to fail after 2,000 years' fulfilment? By no means. Indeed. It is a continuation of fulfilment in itself, for Israel's scattering, although to be of long duration, was not to be perpetual. Jesus explains it very simply in that passage already quoted. Jerusalem was to be trodden down of the Gentiles only "until" the times of the Gentiles had run their allotted course.

Current events in the Jews' partial return to Palestine self-evidently mark the termination of this "until", at least in an incipient sense.

TURN OF THE TIDE

When the waters of a tidal river reach the end of the ebb-tide, there is a short period of scarcely noticeable transition, which soon gives place to full flowing flood-tide.

The flood-tide of Israel's complete restoration to their ancient land is as clearly foretold by their own prophets as was their expulsion and punishment, and this preliminary return is a sign that the tide is just turning. For instance, God makes a comparison and gives a guarantee:

"For thus saith the Lord; like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised." (Jer. 32:42.)

The terrible reality of the evil and its divine origin we have seen clearly. If words mean anything, then just as really and in the same tangible way will God bring all the good He has promised. The good, as we learn from the many promises made by God, will be in ratio to the evil, but of an entirely opposite nature. First, as to the restoration of Israel to their land, God says:

"Yea, I WILL REJOICE OVER THEM TO DO THEM GOOD, AND WILL PLANT THEM IN THIS LAND assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul." (Jer. 32:41.)

Then the changed attitude of the nations toward Israel. Instead of the Jew being despised and persecuted his company will be sought and his favour courted:

"In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, WE WILL GO WITH YOU: FOR WE HAVE HEARD THAT GOD IS WITH YOU." (Zech. 8:23.)

Or again:

"The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all THEY THAT DESPISED THEE SHALL BOW THEMSELVES DOWN AT THE SOLES OF THY FEET." (Isa. 60:14.)

This final and complete reversal of Israel's national fortunes we have yet to see, but see it we shall; nothing is more certain. Israel has been preserved in the very fire for this purpose. That is why ALL THE ATTEMPTS TO EXTERMINATE THE JEW HAVE FAILED. HAD THEY SUCCEEDED, GOD'S WORD WOULD HAVE FAILED, for He declared:

"I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee." (Jer. 46:28.)

Hence the proverb -- " The immortal Jew."

Or again:

"If those ordinances (of sun and moon, day and night) depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation . . ." (Jer. 31:36.)

2,000 YEARS EXILE

The present turn of the tide is, as yet, unaccompanied by visible interference by God. But just as their long period of exile and persecution was apparently natural, so will the first stages of their restoration. The "until " has expired. Zionism is a growing power in the world. Palestine is awaking from her centuries' sleep of desolation and is putting on her beautiful garments. The plains and valleys are beginning to smile once more. The Jew is returning to the land which has been denied him for nigh on 2,000 years. This is only the beginning of the fulfilment of God's promises, such as:

"For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.

"And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by.

"And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited." (Ezek. 36:24, 34, 35.)

This explanation is just to shew that present tendencies, far from falsifying the prophecies, are but the beginning of a fresh series -- those of a predicted change, a new chapter in the fortunes of Israel. Of its significance to us, we shall have more to say in another place.

For the present, we hope that we have fulfilled our promise and justified our claim that Bible prophecy is not petty or ambiguous in its terms but clear, unequivocal, and of a nature and scope which precludes all possibility of human foresight or political sagacity. Entrenched within this threefold defence of Babylon, Egypt and the Jew, we can confidently defy all the assaults of modern scepticism. No one will suffer in these attacks unless it be the attackers. Their wisdom lies in leaving such prophecies severely alone.

FULFILLED TO THE LETTER

Let the reader quietly think over these facts which we have placed on record -- simple facts, few facts, unencumbered with a host of befogging explanations and irrelevant details. Destinies more diverse than those predicted for these three peoples it would be impossible to suggest, yet they have all happened to the very letter!

THERE IS TODAY NO ROYAL HOUSE OF BABYLON. There is no Babylonian ambassador at any European court. Her once mighty capital is now a shapeless mass of mounds whose identity was unknown and whose very site was in dispute until recent years.

THE ANCIENT LAND OF EGYPT IS STILL TO BE FOUND ON EVERY MODERN ATLAS. The Egyptians are still a nation in their own land. They are still, as ever, under the rule of strangers. They have a king in name -- but not an Egyptian king. They are still servile and base, as the prophecy requires.

Despite the partial restoration of the past 50 years. THE JEWS STILL REMAIN A SCATTERED PEOPLE in all nations under heaven. This will continue until the time is ripe for divine interference on their behalf.

If archaeology has proved the historical trustworthiness of the Bible beyond all question, then surely the prophecies we have just reviewed prove the divine authorship of the Bible. So we can now proceed, confident of the historical character of the Bible, and confident of the divine character of its many prophecies.

NOTE: Since the foregoing was written, events in Palestine have marched on very rapidly. In 1948 Britain relinquished the mandate which she had held since 1921, and the State of Israel was born. This new State has made remarkable progress during her short life.

As regards Egypt, although she has now lost her King, her ruler is still not a native Egyptian.

CONTENTS | 1 | 2(1) | 2(2) | 3 | 4 | 5(1) | 5(2) | 6