Was the Bible Inspired by God?

If we’re going to live by what the Bible commands, shouldn’t we know for sure that it is what it claims to be, the very inspired Word of God?

What does it mean to be inspired?  The English Standard Version (ESV) translates “theópneustos”  in 2 Tim. 3:16 as, “breathed out by God,” and that’s exactly what it means.  2 Peter 1:20-21 tells us that the writers of the Bible were “carried along by the Holy Spirit,” the Third Person of the Trinity.  So, the Bible itself claims to be inspired by God.  If the Bible is from God, there should be a supernatural aspect to it.  Predicting things before they happen would be pretty good evidence.

The ancient city of Tyre existed in two parts, half on the coast of the Mediterranean and half on an island about a half mile off shore.  Early in the sixth century B.C., Nebuchadnezzar II laid siege to Tyre for 13 years.  Nebuchadnezzar’s forces eventually broke through the walls of Tyre but found the people had packed up and moved to the island offshore.  With no navy to reach the island, Nebuchadnezzar was forced to return home.

In 332 B.C., Alexander the Great came to Tyre demanding they surrender.  Since Alexander also had no navy, the Tyrians on the island felt safe in denying Alexander.  Over the following seven months, Alexander’s men took the rocks and debris from the old city of Tyre and built a land bridge between the mainland and the island city, even scraping the rocks and the very dust from the site of the old city.  Alexander then conquered the island city.  Today, fishermen spread their nets to dry there as there are no rocks to snag the nets.  Ezekiel predicted this very thing about 586 BC.

In 70 A.D., Titus, Roman Emperor Vespasian’s son, broke through the walls and sacked Jerusalem including setting fire and destroying the temple such that nothing is left of it today except one of the walls of the outer court, the Wailing Wall.  40 years earlier, Jesus predicted this very thing.

The Bible is filled with supernatural occurrences, prophecies, and descriptions.  These are just two that can be checked by examining secular sources for their fulfillment.  So, the Bible does, in fact, have a supernatural aspect.

As always, a more extensive version of this post can be found on this page through a link with the same title.