An amusement park psychic told me I would travel, come into money, and find love. I took a bus, found a quarter between the seats, and a woman smiled at me when I picked it up. It's a miracle!
That's nothing at all like the prophecies God gave to people so they could come to faith in Him. Not only does God have a 100% accuracy record for fulfilled prophecies, but there aren't any that cannot be fulfilled, meaning there aren't any prophecies given that somehow events took place that prevented their being fulfilled. Think of it like this: if the prophecies were made by deranged prophets who tried to say certain things would happen in the future based on their own ability to guess correctly, how many prophecies would they get wrong before getting one right? For instance, the prediction in the Old Testament that none of Jesus' bones would be broken, yet the soldiers broke the bones of the other 2 criminals crucified at Jesus death, but they did not break Jesus bones (the reason being that Jesus had already died and the reason for breaking the leg bones was to speed up the death process). In that one instance, a prophecy would have become false, IF the soldiers had simply broken Jesus' legs. So not only do we have a record of prophecies fulfilled, but we do not have prophecies that have proven to have been false. https://portlandbiblecollege.org/2014/07/the-devils-advocate-on-prophecy-fulfillment/ One of the impressive claims regarded the mathematical law of compound probabilities. Here’s the argument in summary: There were hundreds of Old Testament prophecies regarding the Messiah. The odds of a man fulfilling just one of these are slim. But the odds decrease at a compounded rate if a man were to fulfill two or three or four. Pastor Marc shared that the odds of a single person perfectly fulfilling only eight of these prophecies is one in 1017 (or one in 100,000,000,000,000,000). As you can see, it’s hard to fathom the fact that Jesus has already fulfilled hundreds of these prophecies during his first coming. Now, forgive me, but sometimes I like to play devil’s advocate with these claims. Not because I disagree with them, but because I want to make sure I understand them. The first objection that came to mind was, “But this doesn’t apply to someone who intentionally manipulated the circumstances to appear as if he were fulfilling the prophecies. Can’t a critic simply claim that Jesus only fulfilled the prophecies because he was trying to? If so, the whole ‘argument from compound probability’ falls apart.” Fair enough. There are certainly examples where Jesus specifically tried to fulfill prophecies. In Matthew 21 Jesus instructs his disciples to bring him a young donkey in order to fulfill the prophecy in Zechariah 9. Matthew 4 states that Jesus ministered in Galilee to fulfill a prophecy in Isaiah 9. A dozen similar examples of “intentional fulfillment” come to mind. But. The more I considered the prophecies that Jesus fulfilled, the more I realized how many of them a mere man would have little to no control over. Here are only a few of the more notable ones. The odds of Jesus fulfilling these alone are unfathomable. Born in the obscure little town of Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). Born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14). From the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10) and the family of David (Isaiah 11:1). A messenger would come before him to prepare the way (Isaiah 40:3; Malachi 3:1). There is no reasonable evidence that Jesus engineered the ministry of John the Baptist in order to fulfill these prophecies. Hands and feet pierced (Psalm 22:16). His executioners divided up his garments and cast lots for them (Psalm 22:18). He was given vinegar to drink on the cross (Psalm 69:21). None of his bones were broken. This fulfills the statement about the Messiah in Psalm 34:20 as well as the prophetic type of the Passover Lamb, whose bones were not to be broken (Exodus 12:46). This is particularly impressive given that the criminals being crucified with Jesus had their legs broken to speed the process; but they did not break Jesus’ bones because he was already dead at that point. He was pierced through (Zechariah 12:10).
If Jesus isn't the Person who fulfilled the numerous Old Testament prophecies, some listed at the end of this video posted below, then what other person in history or in the future has or will fulfill them? That person would need to fulfill all these prophecies just as Jesus did...be born in Bethlehem, be eternal, suffer for the sins of His people, die during the time that Daniel predicted he would die. Daniel 9:25, 26a BSB "Know and understand this: From the issuance of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, until the Messiah, the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of distress. Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off..." Daniel 9:25b The 70 sevens are divided into three separate units—seven sevens, 62 sevens and one seven. During the first time period (49 years) Jerusalem would be "built again, with street and moat, even in troublous times." The second block of time (62 sevens, a total of 434 years) immediately followed the first for a total of 69 sevens, or 483 years. It is at this point that we are told what the ending point is of the 69 sevens: "unto Messiah the Prince." As clearly as Daniel could have stated it, he taught that 483 years after the decree to rebuild Jerusalem had been issued, Messiah would be here on earth. The obvious conclusion is this: If Messiah was not on earth 483 years after a decree was issued to rebuild Jerusalem, then Daniel was a false prophet and his book has no business being in the Hebrew Scriptures. But if Daniel was correct and his prophecy was fulfilled, then who was the Messiah of whom he spoke? https://jewsforjesus.org/publicatio...ic-time-table-according-to-daniel-the-prophet
He was invented, in the manner of previous deities - singular or plural, to account for the seasons or anything else that could not be explained with existing knowledge for that time. As populations grew in size leaders sought to control their group(s) by advocating religion as a social glue. The ruling elites, like those of today, whether in the West or the East propound their religions as a way of life together with laws built around those religions. The ruling elite can escape these religeous edicts, such as "no alcohol," simply by travelling to another country of different values to indulge in "vices" that would get them into trouble at home. Others simply use their position to disparage any accusations of wrong doing on their part.In truth many humans are afraid of death being the end of their existence ( as with any other animal) and invent a "hereafter" and guardian to allay their fears and ignore the thought of oblivion.
I haven't researched this, just thinking logically, out loud: Have you considered the possibility that both are true? Has it ever happened throughout history where a nation tried to conquer another, and failed; only to years later, succeed? Or where a nation first succeeded, lost to an uprising or third nation, only to years later, succeed again?
"Nebuchadnezzar plundering Egypt (Ezekiel 29:3 – Ezekiel 30:26)" "Nebuchadnezzar invaded Egypt around 568 BC. However, the armies of Pharaoh Amasis II defeated the Babylonians" So I guess the logic is Nebuchadnezzar plundered Egypt (maybe he pickpocketed a scarab or two ) before, during, or after his failed invasion. Sure, that could have been the way it happened, ..., or maybe the translation missed the word "not" before "plundering." The simplest explanation is the prophecy predicting Nebuchadnezzar plundering Egypt, if it existed, was wrong.