Bible Prophecy as Evidence of a bible writers trustworthiness

[nPeace]

The persian empire extended far north of Babylon. They were Northern invaders.

Quoted from World History article
From its 537 bce conquest by the Medes and Persians, it went into a steady decline until it eventually became a mound of ruins....as it still is today.
After Alexander's death at Babylon in 323 BCE, in the Wars of the Diadochi, his successors fought over his empire generally and the city specifically to the point where the residents fled for their safety (or, according to one ancient report, were relocated). By the time the Parthian Empire ruled the region in 141 BCE, Babylon was deserted and forgotten. The city steadily fell into ruin and, even during a brief revival under the Sassanian Empire, never approached its former greatness.
In the Muslim conquest of the land in 650 CE whatever remained of Babylon was swept away and, in time, was buried beneath the sands.



So you think that because Isaiah mentioned 'Cyrus' by name, it means he wrote it much later then claimed? That sounds like a denial of prophecy because it was too accurate.

He certainly did mention Cyrus by name and Isaiah lived in the 7th century. He certainly wasnt around in the 5th century to write the prophecy.

Yes.
North
Since various lands and kingdoms are assigned a northern location, the context and other related scriptures are often helpful in determining what is meant by “north” or “land of the north.” For example, Isaiah 21:2, 9 and Daniel 5:28 show that the nations from “the land of the north” mentioned at Jeremiah 50:9 include the Medes, Persians, and Elamites. Apparently the nations attacking Babylon are viewed as a united army or common foe of Babylon, “a congregation.” Many of the nations involved were far N of Babylon (Jeremiah 51:27, 28), and much of Media was at least NE of Babylon. The attack, too, evidently came from a northern direction, since Cyrus stopped the flow of the river N of the city.

 

[nPeace]

Isaiah wrote 200 years prior and began in the days of Uzziah the king of Judah.

Isaiah 1:1 The vision that Isaiah*+ the son of Aʹmoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uz·ziʹah,+ Joʹtham,+ Aʹhaz,+ and Hez·e·kiʹah,+ kings of Judah:+

Uzziah - Wikipedia He began his reign in 783 bce

Isaiah lived during the empire of the Assyrian world power 200 years before Babylon was a world power.

Yes.
w98 4/1 p. 20 pars. 19-20 A Book From God

Spoiler: Excerpt

In the second century B.C.E., about the time the Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah was copied, the Parthians took control of Babylon, which was then viewed as a prize over which surrounding nations fought. Jewish historian Josephus reported that “a great number” of Jews were living there in the first century B.C.E. According to The Cambridge Ancient History, Palmyrene merchants founded a prosperous trading colony in Babylon in 24 C.E. So, as late as the first century C.E., Babylon was still not completely desolate; yet, Isaiah’s book had been completed long before then. - 1 Peter 5:13.

Isaiah never lived to see Babylon become uninhabited. But true to prophecy, Babylon eventually became mere “piles of stones.” (Jeremiah 51:37) According to Hebrew scholar Jerome (born in the fourth century C.E.), by his day Babylon was a hunting ground in which “beasts of every type” roamed, and it remains desolate to this day. Any restoration of Babylon as a tourist attraction might lure visitors, but Babylon’s “progeny and posterity” are gone forever, as Isaiah foretold. - Isaiah 14:22.

w76 10/1 p. 603 Cyrus, a Man with a Prophetic Role

Spoiler: Excerpt

“In the first year of Cyrus’s reign - this was the seventieth year from the time when our people were fated to migrate from their own land to Babylon - God took pity on the captive state and misfortune of those unhappy men and, as He had foretold to them through the prophet Jeremiah before the city was demolished, that, after they should have served Nebuchadnezzar and his descendants and endured this servitude for seventy years, He would again restore them to the land of their fathers and they should build the temple and enjoy their ancient prosperity, so did He grant it them. For he stirred up the spirit of Cyrus and caused him to write throughout all Asia, ‘Thus says King Cyrus. Since the Most High God has appointed me king of the habitable world, I am persuaded that He is the god whom the Israelite nation worships, for He foretold my name through the prophets and that I should build His temple in Jerusalem in the land of Judea.’

“These things Cyrus knew from reading the book of prophecy which Isaiah had left behind two hundred and ten years earlier. For this prophet had said that God told him in secret, ‘It is my will that Cyrus, whom I shall have appointed king of many great nations, shall send my people to their own land and build my temple.’ Isaiah prophesied these things one hundred and forty years before the temple was demolished. And so, when Cyrus read them, he wondered at the divine power and was seized by a strong desire and ambition to do what had been written; and, summoning the most distinguished of the Jews in Babylon, he told them that he gave them leave to journey to their native land and to rebuild both the city of Jerusalem and the temple of God, for God, he said, would be their ally and he himself would write to his own governors and satraps who were in the neighbourhood of their country to give them contributions of gold and silver for the building of the temple and, in addition, animals for the sacrifices.” - Antiquities of the Jews, Book XI, Chap. 1, pars. 1, 2, translated by Ralph Marcus.

 

[ElishaElijah]

As the website recognize, the prophecy is a complete failure; only by playing semantic can it be mildly salvaged. All in all, Tyre was not destroyed and consigned to oblivion. It wasn't conquered by the Babylonian. The damage they casued was fully repaired. Another conquerer took the city and destroyed, yet is was repaired again and stands, inhabited to this day. It was never forgotten or abandoned completely.

So you’re saying the Tyre Island fortress was fully repaired? Not even close, the causeway is there though
What Happened To Tyre?

 

[nPeace]

It’s interesting that naysayers of the Biblical prophecies almost always point out seeming discrepancies within these prophecies, or at least what seems to be, but with other prophecies where they can’t find inaccuracies, they almost always say, “Well, these were written after the fact.”

Basically, this amounts to accusations of deliberate fraud perpetrated by these ancient Israelite/Jewish authors.

But if that were so, these ancient Biblical books would not have been held in such respect and esteem by their ancient contemporaries, who would’ve known the truth, and future generations as they have... these books would have been severely censured as fraudulent.

But this so-called “Higher criticism“ has only occurred within the last 200 years or so.

If Isaiah, Jeremiah and others had been written “after the fact,” why would they have spent so much effort in writing many pages & begging the Israelites/Jews to turn around & repent so that such discipline / punishment not come upon them from Assyria, Babylon, etc....if the events had already happened?

What motive could there possibly be from these writers? It certainly wasn’t money.
And these Israelite/Jewish authors as individuals weren’t doing it to promote Jehovah to the world....they were happy with their own tribes & way of life, known to avoid interaction with other nations.

The authors of these Biblical prophecies, if writing solely to mislead, would’ve had some pretty dark motives for such a clandestine effort!

Of course, many of us are aware of the motives of a few Biblical detractors: the Bible sets forth some guidelines that “interfered with our sexual freedom,” as Aldous Huxley stated in “Ends and Means” & a lot of people don’t want to follow these guidelines, and others set forth in Scripture.

I would suggest that in the interests of accuracy, detractors should re-examine their own motives, and apply some critical thinking and reasoning to what is assumed, and what is actually known.

Examining the writings of Sir Frederic G. Kenyon, would be a fine start.

@Bree , good thread. I leave it with you, my sister.

You know Hockey, I laugh my head off to think that people actually make the claim that someone would sit and write that Jesus warned of the destruction of Jerusalem in such detail, and nobody living then and after objected to it being a fraud.
Interesting uh. Only centuries - nearly 2000 years after, people that had no idea even of Roman life, are the ones claiming fraud. What do they know? Nothing.
Yet historians, both Roman and Jewish, support the writings. Hmm.

 

[epronovost]

So you’re saying the Tyre Island fortress was fully repaired? Not even close, the causeway is there though
What Happened To Tyre?

It wasn't destroyed by the king of Babylon. It was destroyed by someone else. I can't say that France droped two nuclear bomb on Japan in 1945. That's false. Alexandre the great destroyed the island fortress over three centuries later and the city of Tyre itself, more than its citadel was rebuilt. It remained a fortified and occupied city up to today.

 

[PruePhillip]

As noted the actual history of Babylon
is a poor fit.
USA is Rome.
This is a worse fit.
The there's the Tyre "prophecy"
which is a total flop.
Id be impressed with real
prophecy.

the 'new Rome' being America is an expression
John Lenon, winning a drug charge that would have expelled him from USA said
that in a speech - it was the first time I had heard it. There is the spirit of Rome
in the West. Rome was the Italian empire, Rome was the Catholic Church, Rome
was the European empire, Rome was Hitler and Mussolini. Heck, now many more
Romes can we have?
Rome, the nation that will carry away the Jews, the nation that will destroy the
Messiah (but He will die for His people) and Rome that will fall without allies, the
nation that will never fall --- came true in prophecy.

But Babylon is a sea of mud.

 

[blü 2]

A desperate need to relegate all prophecy to history is at the root of this atheistic, or humanistic, revisionism of traditional dating.

Or more accurately, the total absence of credible evidence to support either the idea of fortune-telling or the idea of the supernatural as aspects of reality rather than of human psychology.

As you are well aware, without prophecy there is no evidence for 'special revelation', or of God revealing His will to mankind through the Bible.

Reasoned skeptical enquiry will go where the evidence goes rather than where faith or folktale go. Sometimes for example archeological and historical enquiry find evidence supporting this or that bible story, and sometimes they find evidence contradicting this or that bible story.

Such revisionism, IMO, appeals only to the adversaries of God.

It appears to be the case that the only manner in which God and gods and supernatural beings exist is as concepts / things imagined in individual brains. For example God never appears, never says, never does, and exists in hundreds of thousands of incompatible versions across history and geography.

Anyone who looks into this carefully will see that there is good evidence to support prophetic utterance. Prophets were a feature of life in Israel under the Law. The kings of lsrael and Judah relied upon their advice to guide the nation. [In the NT, prophecy is a manifestation of the indwelling Holy Spirit.]

So you accept the prophecies of, for example, the Delphic sybil? Of Nordic religion? Or the psychics industry in the US and other Western countries?

After all, if it's possible for humans to know aspects of the future that can't be reasoned from existing evidence and trends, why would this talent be limited to one particular and ancient group?

But sceptics have recently attempted to suggest that the book of Isaiah was written after the events he prophesied, including the prophecy about Cyrus.

As far as I'm aware, no believer has left an account of how prophecy actually works, just as there's no description in the bible or (as far as I can find) in theology of what is supposed to have actually happened when God says "Let there be light!" in Genesis. What processes were initiated by those words, such that the EM spectrum was brought into existence? How did the physics of "the heavens and the earth" work without the EM spectrum before this happened?

Or do you agree that this too is just folktale?


Oh, and what about these prophecies?

Mark 9:1 And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.”

Mark 13:28 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 30 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away before all these things take place.

Matthew 10:23 When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

Matthew 16:28 Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.”

Matthew 24:32 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away till all these things take place.

Luke 9:27 But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”​

 

[Bree]

The heart of his Empire is situated in Persia which is East to Babylon. Both capitals of Cyrus were even South East not North.

the medes were directly north of Babylon. The Medes and Persians joined forces to defeat babylon as the prophecy says.

Except it wasn't destroyed by Cyrus at all. It remained a large prosperous city, even the capital of Alexander the Great capital after he conquered it. It was largely abandoned during the Diadochi war, as I mentionned when people migrated to Seleucia, situated 40 km north. You just also quoted yourself that the city had a brief rival during under Sassanid Empire, which is also "not being destroyed" and finally disappeared following the Muslim conquest and the construction of Bagdad 40 km South of it. The city was never "forgotten" though if only because of the preserved writings of the Greeks. In other words, if the prophecy is: the city of Babylon will be destroyed by Cyrus the Great and forgotten by time, then the prophecy is false. Cyrus the Great took the city without destroying it and it remained one of the most important city in the world for 200 years before slowly decaying due to wars and migrations until it was definitely abandoned during the Middle Ages.

When an invading army overtakes a city, they destroy those rulership of that city and its inhabitants are subjugated. The ruling monarch at the time was put to death and Babylon came under the rule of the Medes and Persian and specifically Cyrus of Persia... but you cant deny that it went into decline until it eventually became nothing but ruins and still is today.

The character of Isaiah is fictional. The text was written in 3rd century BC. Anybody can add anything they want to the supposed saying of Isaiah in meantime (if he ever existed).

that is quite ingenuous to claim he didnt exist. I dont like Alexander the great so im going to say he did not exist. Thats how silly it sounds to claim he didnt exist.

He wrote the historical record of several kings Isaiah1: 1 The vision that Isaiah*+ the son of Aʹmoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uz·ziʹah,+ Joʹtham,+ Aʹhaz,+ and Hez·e·kiʹah,+ kings of Judah

He wrote the history of these kinds in the book of 2nd Chronicles. So if Isaiah the son of Amoz did not exist, then nor should the record of all those kings in the book of Chronicles.

 

[Bree]

PS: The OT was written over a span of 5 centuries for the parts quoted in this thread. Some parts are as recent as AD dates, while others dat back to the early exile period. Isaiah dates back from the 3rd century BC which is about the average. There re older parts.

Thats just not correct. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls have a complete book of Isaiah which is carbon dated to around 100bce

The isrealites had very skilled copyists who would continually be creating new copies of the scrolls in order to preserve them. They only had perishable materials to write on so they needed to keep making copies. That pattern of making copies continued into the christian ere and beyond because they wrote on parchment.

They were not reinventing the wheel, they were preserving what was already written.

 

[Bree]

.

So the people God was looking to convince got actual, firsthand miracles?
Not hearsay accounts of miracles?
Not "fulfilled if you interpret certain terms in a certain way and squint a bit" prophecy?

Yes they did. And those people saw the evidence of truth and made the commitment to follow moses. at least 3 million of them...the entire nation saw it and responded in faith.

What that says to us, who did not see the miracles first hand, is that it was real.

Did you walk on the moon with Neil Armstrong? No. But you believe it because you saw the pictures right? but pictures can be faked, even recorded images can be faked. You weren't there when they landed on the moon yet im sure you believe they did. NASA told you they landed, NASA showed you pictures, NASA explained the process. You believe NASA don't you?

So likewise, we dont have to be there to actually see it for ourselves. We can believe the eyewitness testimony of those who were directly involved and who did see it for themselves.

.
I think we have a few threads here from some of our Jewish members about all the ways that Paul didn't conform to Jewish scriptures, and the Skeptic's Annotated Bible sure lists a lot of contradictions in the Pauline Epistles.

All that aside, we haven't seen any actual miracles from Paul; we only have unverifiable hearsay stories of miracles, which isn't exactly compelling.

Paul was preaching that Jesus was the Messiah. Not too many jews today like to hear that so of course they will try to discredit paul.

But Pauls explanation of the hebrew scriptures is sound. Even Moses said a new prophet would come and then the Jews would have to 'listen to him and do whatever he tells you' The Jews reject Jesus teachings and wont do as he tells them...they want to keep following the law of Moses so of course they will claim Paul is out of whack.


Pauls resurrected a young man who fell out of a window and died.
Acts 20:On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to have a meal, Paul began addressing them, as he was going to depart the next day; and he prolonged his speech until midnight. 8 So there were quite a few lamps in the upper room where we were gathered together. 9 Seated at the window, a young man named Euʹty·chus sank into a deep sleep while Paul kept talking, and overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was picked up dead. 10 But Paul went downstairs, threw himself on him and embraced him,+ and said: “Stop making a commotion, for he is alive.”+ 11 He then went upstairs and began the meal and ate. He continued conversing for quite a while, until daybreak, and then he departed. 12 So they took the boy away alive and were comforted beyond measure.

Acts was written by the apostle Luke.

 

[ElishaElijah]

It wasn't destroyed by the king of Babylon.

King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed mainland Tyre but not the Island Fortress of Tyre that Alexander the Great destroyed, many nations were to come against Tyre as the information I cited described, also verified by archeology and other sources. This also verifies the Biblical prophecy and account.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

It wasn't destroyed by the king of Babylon. It was destroyed by someone else. I can't say that France droped two nuclear bomb on Japan in 1945. That's false. Alexandre the great destroyed the island fortress over three centuries later and the city of Tyre itself, more than its citadel was rebuilt. It remained a fortified and occupied city up to today.

Reminds me years ago, with predictions of the 2012 Mayan thing, I read in some books and heard from many the Mayans just mysteriously vanished. Which, of course, is utterly absurd as they're still around today.

 

[epronovost]

King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed mainland Tyre but not the Island Fortress of Tyre that Alexander the Great destroyed, many nations were to come against Tyre as the information I cited described, also verified by archeology and other sources. This also verifies the Biblical prophecy and account.

That's also not entirely true. The city was to be destroyed utterly by Nebuchadnezzar and he failed and forgotten by time. The citadel held and the city was repaired. Tyre was never consigned to oblivion. Even Alexandre the Great, 4 centuries after Nebuchadnezzar didn't completely destroyed the city. He destroyed the fortress and reconnected the citadel to the mainland, but Tyre remains to this day an inhabited city.

 

[epronovost]

Thats just not correct. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls have a complete book of Isaiah which is carbon dated to around 100bce

That's 200 years AFTER the first draft and almost 500 years after the conquest of Cyrus. Please, learn some basic math!

 

[alex2165]

Why do you say such a thing? Archeologists and historians have clamored and repeated for the better part of a century that the Bible isn't history. On this very thread I have completely debunked one supposed prophecy of the Bible, but there are so much more like that. The prophecy of the destruction and oblivion of the city of Tyre in modern day Lebanon being another one.

There are also plenty of completely unsupported historical events and characters, some deeply important to the Bible's narrative, like the Exodus from Egypt for which we have evidence of absence, the character of Moses and the conquest of Canaan, most famous of which the fall of Jericho which is completely invented too. The Bible does get some elements of history mostly correct, like the name of famous emperors and empires, if only because they relate to famous events that occurred prior to when the text was written like when in the Book of Isaiah talks about the capture of Babylon by Cyrus; the book being written about 200 years after those famous events recorded numerous time prior by other historians and chroniclers isn't exactly surprising. The legends and stories of the Bible do have a pseudo-historical setting after all.

How can you tell such a huge lie without being red in the face? It's the equivalent of listening to a dumb action movie set in the medieval ear and say this is highly supported by historians because some of the names of the country, some of the equipment and the names of a few places match the historical record despite the fact the same historians would point out to a large swath of anachronism and downright cases of fabrication that shows the story to be fictional.

You wrote:

"There are also plenty of completely unsupported historical events and characters, some deeply important to the Bible's narrative, like the Exodus from Egypt for which we have evidence of absence, the character of Moses and the conquest of Canaan, most famous of which the fall of Jericho which is completely invented too."


For one who is godless, archeological evidence and stories of the Bible always look like " unsupported historical events and characters" and "completely invented."


Why? Because such people expected from historians, archeologists, and the Bible, to provide them with all listed documents sealed with stamp of authority, personal signatures, and photographic and video evidence, otherwise they will never believe it.


Such resistance and demands done by many people who want to discredit the truth, facts, and evidence, because there is no truth in the Bible, there is no GOD.


Above all, if the Bible is the WORD of GOD, it must be taken by FAITH, supported by evidence or not, means believe to every Word written in it.


Otherwise the Bible will be like another book of literature.


This is why I said such a thing, sir.

 

[alex2165]

Not necessarily. Even very religious people, sharing the same bits of Scriptures with you, do not believe in the most important prophecy fulfilment of your own religion. Namely, that Jesus was the fulfilment of a prophecy. These people are the Jews.

And if you do not even agree among yourself about the most basic tenets allegedly entailed by the same books, I wonder how you can expect skeptics to do that.

Ciao

- viole

I do not follow traditions, customs, and doctrines of any religious groups.


I only have FAITH in the Bible, and whatever is written in it, I fully believe.


Concerning Jesus, He was fulfillment of many prophesies, and the prophesies about Jesus, fulfill their part in the history of humankind.


All prophesies came from GOD, directly or through the prophets.


" if you do not even agree among yourself... "


Do you know any one, or a group of people, or a country, that would agree on anything?

 

[ppp]

Why? Because such people expected from historians, archeologists, and the Bible, to provide them with all listed documents sealed with stamp of authority, personal signatures, and photographic and video evidence, otherwise they will never believe it.

Lying about the positions of the people one disagrees with harms your credibility. And it breaks the 8th commandment.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

For one who is godless, archeological evidence and stories of the Bible always look like " unsupported historical events and characters" and "completely invented."

Then what of theists who also state such things?

Such resistance and demands done by many people who want to discredit the truth, facts, and evidence, because there is no truth in the Bible, there is no GOD.

Then what of Sheiks, Wiccans, Egyptians, Norse, Celts, and others who were religious but rejected the God of Abraham? What of those like Einstein who stated he was not an atheist but also that he felt belief in a deity and afterlife was childish?

 

[Hockeycowboy]

Ok, let’s do some critical thinking.

Appeal to motive is a logical fallacy. It would be like me telling you that in truth you reject the Quran, not because you find the Bible more convincing, but because you do not want to renounce your pork chops and beer.

Therefore, your explanation why people reject prophecy, like all arguments spoiled by one or more logical fallacies, can be considered technically irrational.


ciao

- viole

The errors in your assessment:

1) I said “a few” detractors had that motive, not everyone.
2) I then gave a documented example, quoting Mr. Aldous Huxley, who stated that very motive.

in fact, here’s his *agenda* in more detail (quote from “Ends & Means”)….
“I had motives for not wanting the world to have a meaning; and consequently assumed that it had none, and was able without any difficulty to find satisfying reasons for this assumption. The philosopher who finds no meaning in the world is not concerned exclusively with a problem in pure metaphysics. He is also concerned to prove that there is no valid reason why he personally should not do as he wants to do. For myself, as no doubt for most of my friends, the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation from a certain system of morality. We objected to the morality because it interfered with our sexual freedom. The supporters of this system claimed that it embodied the meaning - the Christian meaning, they insisted - of the world. There was one admirably simple method of confuting these people and justifying ourselves in our erotic revolt: we would deny that the world had any meaning whatever.”

I respect his honesty in revealing his agenda.

 

[firedragon]

There have been many so called prophets and 'holy men' who claim to have been the mouthpiece of God. We have many historical religious leaders and those who have created entire new branches of christiantiy. We've seen new religions spring up all claiming divine authorship.

So this is to look specifically at how fulfilled bible prophecy gives us confidence and trust that the bible is a source that is truly from God.

An outstanding prophecy is about the destruction of the ancient city of Babylon.
The prophets Jeremiah, & Isaiah wrote about its coming destruction hundreds of years before it happened.
Jeremiah wrote in 625bce

Jeremiah 50
1 The word that Jehovah spoke concerning Babylon,+ concerning the land of the Chal·deʹans, through Jeremiah the prophet:...3. For a nation has come against her from the north.+
38 There is a devastation on her waters, and they will be dried up.+....She will never again be inhabited,
Nor will she be a place of residence throughout all generations.”+
40 ... “no one will dwell there, and no man will settle there.+

Isaiah actually named the ruler who would be the one to destroy Babylon 200 years before the event.

Isaiah 44:24 This is what Jehovah says,...25 I am frustrating the signs of the empty talkers,*
...26 The One making the word of his servant come true
And completely fulfilling the predictions of his messengers;+The One saying of Jerusalem, ‘She will be inhabited,’+And of the cities of Judah, ‘They will be rebuilt,+And I will restore her ruins’;+
27 The One saying to the deep waters, ‘Be evaporated,And I will dry up all your rivers’;+
28 The One saying of Cyrus,+ ‘He is my shepherd,And he will completely carry out all my will’;+
The One saying of Jerusalem, ‘She will be rebuilt,’And of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.’”+

After the destruction of Babylon the jews were released and were able to return to their homeland, Jerusalem, which lay in ruins. They rebuilt the city and temple as foretold.


The destruction of Babylon is explained by the historical facts (see link)
Babylon - World History Encyclopedia

"The Persian Conquest & Babylon's Decline
The Neo-Babylonian Empire continued after the death of Nebuchadnezzar II and Babylon continued to play an important role in the region under the rule of Nabonidus and his successor Belshazzar (featured in the biblical Book of Daniel). In 539 BCE the empire fell to the Persians under Cyrus the Great at the Battle of Opis. Babylon's walls were impregnable and so the Persians cleverly devised a plan whereby they diverted the course of the Euphrates River so that it fell to a manageable depth.

UNDER PERSIAN RULE, BABYLON FLOURISHED AS A CENTER OF ART & EDUCATION.
While the residents of the city were distracted by one of their great religious feast days, the Persian army waded the river and marched under the walls of Babylon unnoticed. It was claimed the city was taken without a fight although documents of the time indicate that repairs had to be made to the walls and some sections of the city and so perhaps the action was not as effortless as the Persian account maintained."


And thousands of years later the ancient city of Babylon has never been inhabited, it has never prospered and it remains a heap of ruins today.
This is just 1 example of bible prophecy that can build confidence in the bible as Gods Word.

Interesting.

Can you give me an explanation of how you date these writings?

E.g.

1. When did the destruction of Babylon take place?
2. When was the "Prophecy" written down and how do you date it?

Thanks.