The Bible contains many prophecies, some of which take hundreds or even thousands of years to fulfill. Let’s look into a few examples of how God’s word stands the test of time.
Bible prophecies fulfilled: Egypt
“I will turn the fortunes of Egypt and make them return to the land of Pathros, to the land of their origin, and there they will be a lowly kingdom. It will be the lowest of the kingdoms, and it will not raise itself above the nations again. And I will make them small so that they will not rule over the nations.” (Ezekiel 29:14-15)
Ancient Egypt had been powerful and influential. But for many years, it had also come under the rule of foreign powers including Greeks, Romans, Turks, Arabs, and others. After British control in recent times, Egypt finally became an independent nation again in 1953. The modern nation of Egypt has since been small and can no longer dominate other nations.
Bible prophecies fulfilled: Tyre
“Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves. They shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers, and I will scrape her soil from her and make her a bare rock. She shall be in the midst of the sea a place for the spreading of nets, for I have spoken, declares the Lord God. And she shall become plunder for the nations, and her daughters on the mainland shall be killed by the sword….
They will break down your walls and destroy your pleasant houses. Your stones and timber and soil they will cast into the midst of the waters. And I will stop the music of your songs, and the sound of your lyres shall be heard no more. I will make you a bare rock. You shall be a place for the spreading of nets.” (Ezekiel 26: 3-6, 12-14)
Tyre was an ancient Phoenician port city, located in current day Lebanon. It had been attacked by Babylonians, Persians, Romans, Muslims, Crusaders, and Israelis. One of the most famous attacks was by Alexander the Great, who conquered it in 332 BC after a seven-month siege. “He completely destroyed the mainland portion of the town and used its rubble to build an immense causeway (some 2,600 feet [800 metres] long and 600–900 feet [180–270 metres] wide) to gain access to the island section. After the town’s capture, 10,000 inhabitants were put to death, and 30,000 were sold into slavery. Alexander’s causeway, which was never removed, converted the island into a peninsula.”[1]
According to the book Alexander the Great by Charles Mercer, “Mainland Tyre was leveled, and its rubble was carried to the construction site. Meanwhile, logs were dragged from the forests of Lebanon, and quarries were opened in the hills to supply stones for Diades’ fabulous highway…. Alexander himself carried stones on his back.”[2] Thus, they threw “stones, timber, and soil” into the midst of the sea in order to conquer Tyre.
In recent years, the city of Tyre has become “a place for the spreading of nets” (Ezekiel 26:14), just as the Bible says in Ezekiel, which was written around 593-571 BC. “Fishing remains a major source of income.”[3] And God declared that Tyre would never be rebuilt according to its former glory (Ezekiel 26:14).
Bible prophecies fulfilled: Babylon
“’I will wipe out Babylon’s name and survivors, her offspring and descendants,’ declares the Lord. ‘I will turn her into a place for owls and into swampland; I will sweep her with the broom of destruction,’ declares the Lord Almighty.” (Isaiah 14:22-23)
“Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘See, I will defend your cause and avenge you; I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry. Babylon will be a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, an object of horror and scorn, a place where no one lives.'” (Jeremiah 51:36-37)
Babylon was an ancient city in Mesopotamia, located in modern-day Iraq near the town of Al-Hillah. It had been the location of one of the richest and most powerful ancient civilizations. Israelites were exiled there during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II, also spelled Nebuchadrezzar II, (born c. 630—died c. 561 bce).[4]
Babylon was conquered by the Medes and Persians and retained most of its splendor for some time, until its temples were destroyed around 482 BC.[5]
“In 331 Babylon surrendered to the Macedonian king Alexander the Great, who confirmed its privileges and ordered the restoration of the temples. Alexander, recognizing the commercial importance of the city, allowed its satrap to coin money and began constructing a harbor to foster trade. In 323 Alexander died in the palace of Nebuchadrezzar; he had planned to make Babylon his imperial capital.”[5]
Since then, Babylon has deteriorated. “The city’s importance was much reduced by the building of a new capital, Seleucia on the Tigris, where part of Babylon’s population was transferred in 275.”[5]
Thousands of years later, traveler Claudius James Rich journaled in his book Narrative of a Journey to the Site of Babylon in 1811: “For the space of two months throughout the year the ruins of Babylon are inundated by the annual overflowing of the Euphrates so as to render many parts of them inaccessible by converting the valleys into morasses.”[6]
“The present site, an extensive field of ruins, contains several prominent mounds.”[7]
So just as God proclaimed, Babylon has not been rebuilt, turned into swampland, and lies in a heap of ruins.
Bible prophecies fulfilled: Petra (Ancient Edom)
“I will make you a permanent desolation, and your cities will not be inhabited…. As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so I will do to you. You will be a desolation, Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it. Then they will know that I am the Lord.” (Ezekiel 35: 9,15)
Petra is an ancient city located in present day Jordan. “Edomites are known to have occupied the area about 1200 bce.”[8]
Hundreds of years later, Petra was influenced and occupied by various peoples including Arabs and Romans. After an earthquake in 551, the population declined dramatically. An Islamic invasion took place in the 7th century and Crusader activity occurred in the 12th century. Since then, it was abandoned and forgotten until 1812 when Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burkhardt rediscovered it. He declared regarding ancient Edom, that “the whole plain presented to the view an expanse of shifting sands.”[9]
Today Petra and the surrounding area are uninhabited ruins. “The ruins are vulnerable to floods and other natural phenomena, and increased tourist traffic has also damaged the monuments.”[10]
Bible prophecies fulfilled: Israel
“Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.” (Genesis 32:28)
“The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones…. So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. Then He said to me, ‘Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.” ‘” (Ezekiel 37:1, 10-11)
“Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land. And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel.” (Ezekiel 37:21-22)
“Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment? For as soon as Zion was in labor she brought forth her children.” (Isaiah 66:8)
The nation of Israel has had a long and rich history. God made them a nation from the descendants of Jacob, grandson of Abraham. But because of the people’s sins and idolatry, the Israelites were ruled by the Assyrians, Babylonians, and Romans. They were exiled and dispersed among many nations. During the Holocaust, the Jewish people suffered great atrocities. But God has made them one nation again, and has gathered the Jewish people from all over the world into modern day Israel.
“This vast influx of Jewish immigrants into the region, however, caused tension with the native Palestinian Arabs, and violence flared between the two groups leading up to the United Nations plan to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab sectors and Israel’s ensuing declaration of statehood on May 14, 1948.”[11]
So in one day in 1948, Israel was born a nation just as God has said. Today, Israel has great military prowess and one of the most advanced weapons defense systems in the world.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) consist of the nation’s military departments. In Hebrew, IDF literally translates to “The Army of Defense for Israel”. This brings to mind the verse: “they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army” (Ezekiel 37:10).
Prophecies fulfilled: the Messiah
The Messiah was prophesied long before He came to earth. In fact, the Old Testament of the Bible was completed hundreds of years before Jesus was born. See how Jesus fulfilled biblical prophecies of the Messiah in the article Prophesied Messiah.
Ongoing prophecies: The End Times
“You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.” (Matthew 24:6)
“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14)
“But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase.” (Daniel 12:4)
The Bible contains prophecies of the times of the end, and what the world would be like before Jesus’s return to earth. The twentieth century alone saw two global World Wars. Then the US and Soviet Union, influenced in part by rumors and speculations, tried to one-up each other militarily during the Cold War. Recent history shows that we have already seen wars and rumors of wars.
What about the other prophecies? Nowadays, many people go quickly back and forth in their travels by planes, trains, ships, and automobiles. And knowledge has increased dramatically via the internet. With the help of the internet and increased world travel, the gospel is reaching the entire world.
Truly, these end times prophecies are being fulfilled today. Soon, all the prophecies written in God’s word that have not been fulfilled yet, will come into being.
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.” (Matthew 24:35)
Read the book of Revelation in the Bible.
[1] The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2020, April 27). Tyre, town and historical site, Lebanon. Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/place/Tyre
[2] Mercer, Charles. Alexander the Great (New York: Harper & Row, 1962), p.61.
[3] The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, Tyre.
[4] Saggs, Henry W.F. (2019, April 2). Nebuchadnezzar II, King of Babylonia. Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/
Nebuchadnezzar-II
[5] Saggs, Henry W.F. (2021, February 11). Babylon, ancient city, Mesopotamia, Asia. Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/place/Babylon-ancient-city-Mesopotamia-Asia
[6] Kennedy, James. Why I believe (Nashville: Word Publishing, 1980, 1999), p.11.
[7] Saggs, Babylon.
[8] The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2021, March 2). Petra, ancient city, Jordan. Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/place/Petra-ancient-city-Jordan
[9] Kennedy, p.9.
[10] The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, Petra.
[11] Elath, Eliahu. (2021, August 18). Israel. Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/place/Israel