I posted that the Bible prophesied Alexander, the Great. I apologize to him/her I said I'd post it then I forgot. But it is in Ezekiel 26 and Jeremiah 51. Here it is,
The Biblical City of Tyre.
First, let me say this, there are other stories like this one in the Bible. Because folks don't know about them they tend to think the Bible is a man-made or error-filled book. The Bible cannot be God's word and have false prophecies, changed doctrines or failed revelations in it. It is either a full-blown lie or it is the word of Almighty God. There are no other options and only one of these two can be true.
First, let's examine some other so-called great religious leaders. Buddha, Confucius and Lao-tse (the great leader of Taoism [pronounced Dow-ism] which means 'The Way'). None of them ever gave a single example of predicted prophecy. Muhammad said that he would return to Mecca on the Last Day- a self-fulfilling one that cannot be tested.
Another self-described prophet (psychic) is Jeanne Dixon. She, like Joseph Smith, gave many predictions. Let’s see about hers (I use her as an example to Mormons because if they believe JS with no proof of Divine calling (only a deep-seated ‘feeling’ that he was a prophet) then they should certainly trust in Jeanne as a true prophet).
Jeanne gave predictions in three presidential elections- 1952, 56, 60. She said who the candidates would be and for each party and who would win all three elections. How do you think she did? Jeanne Dixon missed all the candidates, all the parties and all the presidential winners.
Ok, for the Bible. But this comment first, a well-known historian once said that historians know how difficult it is to predict the future because the wheels of the future turn on so many “ifs”.
One would think, naturally in that case, that the Bible’s writers would be hesitant to predict anything. Unless, of course, it was God doing the ‘predicting’. The Old Testament, alone, gives 2,000 predictive prophecies. The prophecies of the Bible are different from all the others in that they are specific and detailed.
Someone must have really thought folks would either forget about them in time (if they were guessing) or He knew He was right. Also, the Bible’s prophecies must also be fulfilled exactly as predicted! In fact, all prophecies and revelations coming from God must or they are not from God…people’s feelings notwithstanding.
Prophecies from God- if they are from God- cannot be considered as good guesses, either, because most are concerned with things that had no likelihood of ever coming to pass. They could not have been written after the event had taken place because in hundreds of predictions they were not fulfilled until hundreds of years after the prophet had died. Some did not come true until after the Old Testament was translated into Greek in 250 BC. We know of some 2,000 fulfilled prophecies from the Bible.
Here, then, are two comparative examples for you to consider- Tyre and Sidon (there are many more such examples- Edom, Babylon, Samaria, Jerusalem- but this one (Tyre) should convince all but the most seared conscience that the Bible IS the only Word of Almighty God and is provably true (if we would simply research the Bible thoroughly).
The details are out there to be found and are probably online somewhere so I won’t go into the added length of the story for them. But you should read about them so you can see that the Bible is from a source, God, that is impossible to deny, totally reliable and absolutely irrefutable as to the facts of history. They are true beyond man’s ability or comprehension.
For this proof that the Bible is true and from God the Cities of Tyre and Sidon (briefly and only for a comparison to Tyre) are mentioned.
Tyre and Sidon were great cities on the eastern Mediterranean coast. At the height of its power and prestige the O.T. prophet declared the city would be destroyed and never rebuilt or inhabited again… ever (Eze. 26:19-21).
That is like saying “America will be destroyed and never rebuilt or inhabited again” right after WWII. That would have been laughable even preposterous to think. But God said it about Tyre and we have the benefit of history to check God’s words against reality.
Sidon was also warned by God (the comparison). But while God told them they would be decimated He also said the city would continue to exist. History tells us their own king betrayed them and 40,000 died but the city is still with us to this day.
What about Tyre? Well, here are some specific prophecies about it. Ezekiel said this about Tyre when it was at its zenith,
“And they shall destroy the walls of Tyre, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock. It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea: for I have spoken, says the Lord God… And they will lay your stones and your timber and your dust (soil) in the midst of the water… And I will make you like the top of a rock…and you shall never be rebuilt, for I the Lord have spoken, says the Lord God.” (Eze. 26:4, 5, 12-14).
That is what we call being as specific as it gets. Can we trust the Bible? (Is it true or as the LDS church likes to say (repeatedly and without any substance of fact), is it error-filled, faulty, been mutilated by Christians, undependable and untrue? Let’s see the reality of history and God’s word.
Not long after this prophecy was given King Nebuchadnezzar came to visit Tyre. For 13 years Tyre staved off his army. But the walls of the city finally crumbled and the Babylonian army poured into the city and killed those inside. And the plot thickens….
Remember how God said, “And they will lay your stones and your timber and your dust (soil) in the midst of the water”? Aha, someone will say, Tyre was on the shoreline (dry land) so how can that part come true? I thought you would never ask. Thousands had escaped the city by boat and set up a new Tyre on an island about a half mile out. So, did the prophecy fail? Not at all- you know my God never fails.
Two hundred and fifty years went by- and yep, old Ezekiel was long gone and surely rotten to the core and way passed stinking by then (so he could not have written this prophecy ‘after the fact’ or known what God had intended when he wrote it)- and most of the walls of Tyre was still standing. Undoubtedly, millions of tons of stones, timber, and rubble and, of course, dirt were still where it had always been.
It would seem that the O.T. God was wrong…had lied. He did say, “I the Lord have spoken it.” Remember? Keep in mind, God didn’t set a specific date or a specific king/nation to destroy Tyre. He said He would do it in a very precise way (not time) and that is the point here. In God’s defense, He also said, “I…will cause many nations to come up against you” (26:3).
[The Greek army was comprised of soldiers from all of the countries Alexander had defeated. Thus “many nations” did go against Tyre, as well as the Babylonians before them.]
Then one day a mighty and valiant young man rode into the view of the eastern Mediterranean horizon with a new army. They called him Alexander, the 3rd- later, the Great. He defeated all comers one after the other even the great Persian army and navy fell before his powerful and overwhelming onslaught. Many cities after hearing what he had done to others simply surrendered at his amazing presence.
Then he came to new Tyre with its massive walls and a half mile out in the Mediterranean. He commanded them as he did the others to surrender. They laughed and mocked him and refused his commands. Alexander, a man, a soldier and a great leader who was as determined as any in the history of the world- before or since- devised a plan with his engineer that the world had never heard of or seen before.
God words ring true! Alexander began building a causeway (road/bridge) a half mile long into the Mediterranean Sea to the island of Tyre. But what would they use for such an enormous undertaking? Where would one find the materials needed to support an entire army, their supplies, the materials themselves, food, equipment and their weapons? Alexander commanded them to tear down the walls of old Tyre, take its timbers, stones, rubble and yes, the dirt and build the road. Alexander unknowingly fulfilled god’s words…to the letter!!
A side note about the story. Tyre was concerned (wouldn’t you be) but not scared- not yet- and they succeeded in burning up Alexander’s road (made of wood on top of dirt, rocks and rubble). Not one to accept defeat Alexander rebuilt the road. This time, however- having learned some hard lessons (I believe history has recorded it as taking about 6 months to rebuild), things turned out differently. The Greeks took Tyre, destroyed it and leveled it. There is no city where the original Tyre once stood. In fact, they use the place for fishing- they spread their nets over the ground to dry, just as God said (26:5).
I ask the anti-Christians, pseudo-Christian groups and the atheists to show evidence this didn't happen precisely as God prophesied. If it did occur as stated (it did) why would you not believe the Bible now that you see it does have a supernatural God who can see the future and direct it according to His plans for it? Jesus loves all of us. He proves He is God by saying then doing these things. No other book has these in such detail and truth.
