filename : PREDICT
added    : July 14, 1988


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				WILL THEY DROP THE BOMB?

   Have you ever wondered what will happen in the world of tomorrow?
Most of us do. We constantly ask ourselves what the next day will
bring. Will we be happy? Will we be prosperous and contented? Will we
live to see our granddaughter or grandson sitting on our lap, asking
us to tell them "one more story" about the good ol' days?
   Thinking about the future causes other people to worry. The years
ahead look too unstable: World politics are shaky at best, too many
countries now have the bomb, and the number of kooks seems to be
increasing at an alarming rate. The outlook remains bleak.
   Whether your view of the future is optimistic or pessimistic,
you'll probably admit that what's in store is pretty uncertain. In
fact, to many of us, the only thing certain about the future is that
the future is certainly going to happen.
   Christians, on the other hand, have a different outlook. They know
what's going to happen because God has already told them what lies
ahead. Much of the Bible is devoted to prophecy, the foretelling of
future events. And those who study Bible prophecy intently, find that
the Lord is quite explicit in describing the view around the next
corner.
   But how can one rely on Bible prophecy? Don't the predictions
really refer to events that happened many years ago during the time of
the Apostles? Yes and no. Clearly, some of the happenings foreseen by
the old testament prophets came and went. There is no denying that.
But there are still many predictions yet to be fulfilled.
   Still, many "men of science" don't believe in such things as Bible
prophecy. They claim that the events "foretold" are merely
coincidences. They insist that the predictions are so unspecific that,
if you looked long enough and hard enough, you could explain every
Biblical prediction as fulfilled simply by bending the interpretation
of the words until they fit a particular event.
   Many men of science, however, fail to face up to the facts. Much of
Biblical prophecy is VERY specific. It often spells out events right
down to the minutest detail.
   Let's examine some predictions by one of the most prominent men in
the Bible: Jesus Christ. Besides being the son of god, He was also one
of the Bible's most prolific prophets. Here are seven of His many
prophecies. Just to be sure, look them up yourself. We don't want
there to be any misunderstanding as to their specificity. After all, a
man of science must be sure about his facts.

In A.D. 30, Jesus predicted:

1. Jerusalem would be surrounded by armies and destroyed. (Luke 21:20)
2. The Temple site would be leveled. (Mark 13:2)
3. The Jews would receive wrath. (Luke 21:23)
4. There would be great distress upon the land. (Luke 21:23)
5. The Jews would be led captive into all nations. (Luke 21:24)
6. Jerusalem would be dominated by the Gentiles. (Luke 21:42)
7. The Jews would eventually return. (Acts 1:6,7)

In A.D. 70, the Roman general Titus:

1. Surrounded Jerusalem with four armies.
2. Completely destroyed the temple.
3. Killed approximately 1.5 million Jews.

Over the next 1,900 years:

4. Israel was a wasteland.
5. Jews were dispersed through the world.
6. Jerusalem was controlled by Gentiles until 1967.
7. Israel was revived as a nation in 1948.

   Now, if you were a mathematician, you would realize that the odds
of such "coincidences" happening exactly as jesus said would be
something like 10 raised to the 16th power. That's one chance in
10,000,000,000,000,000! And yet, Jesus hit the mark exactly,
explicitly, and specifically in each and every case.
   We examined these prophecies of Jesus to prove a point:
Bible prophets are NEVER wrong. Since those whose predicted events
have already come to pass have been unfailingly accurate, so it must
be assumed that those who reveal things yet to come will also hit the
mark.
   Those people who read the bible see what God has in store for this
world. And since he has known the fate of each and every one of us
from the day we were born, you can be sure that whatever tomorrow
brings, it will be in accordance with his plan. And that is the most
comforting thing about the future.
   Nothing can prevent God from carrying out His divine plan for the
whole human race. People can't. Governments can't. Missiles can't.
   Perhaps the greatest proof of this is that of the man who once
said: "destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up
again." A nation took this "temple", destroyed it on a cross, and
buried it in a rich man's tomb. On the third day, this man rose from
the dead, proving that not even death, the final termination of
existence, can foil the wondrous plan that God laid out for us.

Narrow Way BBS
(603) 644-2255
Manchester, NH.