…Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father and brothers, with their flocks and herds and everything they own, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in Goshen.” He chose five of his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh. Pharaoh asked the brothers, “What is your occupation?” “Your servants are shepherds,” they replied to Pharaoh, “just as our fathers were.” They also said to him, “We have come to live here for a while, because the famine is severe in Canaan and your servants’ flocks have no pasture. So now, please let your servants settle in Goshen.” Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you, and the land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land. Let them live in Goshen. And if you know of any among them with special ability, put them in charge of my own livestock.” Then Joseph brought his father Jacob in and presented him before Pharaoh. After Jacob blessed Pharaoh, Pharaoh asked him, “How old are you?” And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and difficult, and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers.” Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence. So Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, the district of Rameses, as Pharaoh directed. Joseph also provided his father and his brothers and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their children. There was no food, however, in the whole region because the famine was severe; both Egypt and Canaan wasted away because of the famine. Joseph collected all the money that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan in payment for the grain they were buying, and he brought it to Pharaoh’s palace… So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields, because the famine was too severe for them. The land became Pharaoh’s, and Joseph reduced the people to servitude, o from one end of Egypt to the other… Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly in number. Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years, and the years of his life were a hundred and forty-seven. When the time drew near for Israel to die, he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, put your hand under my thigh and promise that you will show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt, but when I rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.” “I will do as you say,” he said. ”Swear to me,” he said. Then Joseph swore to him, and Israel worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

Genesis 46:31-47:31 (NET)

How can we live as heaven-bound pilgrims on earth?             

In Genesis 46-47, Jacob relocated his family to Egypt so they could survive the world-wide famine. The region they moved to was Goshen, a fertile area located on the eastern delta of the Nile.¹ In Goshen, Joseph, the governor of Egypt, prepped his family to meet Pharaoh (Genesis 46:31-34). Though Joseph was second-in-command over Egypt, he could not give Jacob’s family the land of Goshen without Pharaoh’s permission. Joseph told his family to mention that their occupation was shepherding. Since Egyptians despised shepherds, they would not want shepherds to live in or near their communities. Sending them to live in Goshen would solve this situation, and Pharaoh confirmed and approved Joseph’s request.

Joseph was not only a godly man and wise administrator, but he was also a savvy politician. He understood people and how to use the right words to get things done. He not only understood that Egyptians despised shepherds, but that they also looked down on other nations. Egyptians believed they originated from the gods and other peoples from lesser origins. These two realities (their occupation and ethnicity) would allow Joseph’s family to live separately in Goshen, prosper, and yet keep their identity as Hebrews. If they lived among the Egyptians, they would have assimilated into the culture—taking on many of the bad practices of the Egyptians, such as polytheism. If the Israelites couldn’t keep their identity in Canaan, where they began to practice the sins of the Canaanites, they wouldn’t be able to do it in Egypt, either.

Joseph put together a delegation of five brothers—probably, the most impressive of the eleven—and had them meet Pharaoh. After Pharaoh heard about their occupation, he agreed that they should live in Goshen. He also encouraged Joseph to allow his brothers to oversee the royal flocks if any of them had special ability (47:6).

After the brothers met Pharaoh, Joseph’s father was brought in to meet him. Immediately, Jacob blessed Pharaoh. Then Pharaoh asked Jacob’s age. Jacob replied, “The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and difficult, and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers” (47:9 NIV). Isaac lived to 180 and Abraham lived to 175. Ancient Egyptian literature says that the ideal age was 110.² Possibly, Pharaoh had never met a man as old as Jacob. After their conversation, Jacob blessed Pharaoh again.

Later we find out that Israel prospered in Egypt—gaining property and bearing many children—while the Egyptians suffered (47:11-27). In return for food, the Egyptians first gave all their money to Pharaoh. Then, in an inevitable domino effect, they sold their animals, property, and finally themselves. In contrast, during the Israelites’ sojourn in Egypt, as pilgrims waiting their future land, God blessed them in the midst of the famine.

As we study this narrative, we learn something about our pilgrimage on earth. Like the Israelites in Egypt, we are temporary residents on earth—awaiting our heavenly homeland. In fact, when speaking to Pharaoh, Jacob summarized his life as a pilgrimage (Gen 47:9 NIV), one which seemed to refer to more than Jacob and his family’s earthly nomadic lifestyle. The writer of Hebrews used the same language to describe Abraham and the other patriarchs living in Canaan and yet looking forward to heaven while on earth. Hebrews 11:8-10, 16 says,

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, and he went out without understanding where he was going. By faith he lived as a foreigner in the promised land as though it were a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with firm foundations, whose architect and builder is God… But as it is, they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

The fact that Jacob was ultimately looking forward to heaven is clearly implied at his death. Genesis 49:29 and 33 says,

Then he [Jacob] instructed them, “I am about to go to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite…When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.”

When Jacob referred to going to his people, it meant something other than being buried. ‘Going to his people’ referred to Jacob’s heavenly hope. In heaven, Abraham, Isaac, Rachel, and Leah were all still “alive” and, at death, Jacob knew he would be reunited with them.

Though not having the revelation of Scripture, God made it known to the patriarchs that they were called to a heavenly country. They had a heavenly hope. In fact, Canaan has always symbolized heavenly hope for the Jews. When God gave Moses the description of the tabernacle, it was based on the heavenly tabernacle. Hebrews 8:5 says,

The place where they serve is a sketch and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary, just as Moses was warned by God as he was about to complete the tabernacle. For he says, “See that you make everything according to the design shown to you on the mountain.”

Also, Jerusalem was meant to help the Jews think about ‘heavenly Jerusalem,’ as Hebrews 12:22 calls it, which was their eventual eternal home.

Like the patriarchs, David understood this heavenly reality, as he also referred to himself as a pilgrim on earth:

For we are resident foreigners and nomads in your presence, like all our ancestors; our days are like a shadow on the earth, without security.

1 Chronicles 29:15

Hear my prayer, O Lord! Listen to my cry for help! Do not ignore my sobbing! For I am dependent on you, like one residing outside his native land; I am at your mercy, just as all my ancestors were.

Psalm 39:12

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David were all pilgrims, even while they lived in the promised land. This was because they were waiting for their eternal abode.

Scripture teaches the same reality about believers: Philippians 3:20 says, “But our citizenship is in heaven—and we also await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” First Peter 2:11 says, “Dear friends, I urge you as foreigners and exiles to keep away from fleshly desires that do battle against the soul.”

Therefore, as we look at Jacob and his family’s pilgrimage in Egypt, we learn principles about being pilgrims in this world. Our citizenship is in heaven and our sojourn on earth is temporary; therefore, these realities should significantly affect our daily lives and how we prepare for the future.

Big Question: What principles about being faithful, heaven-bound pilgrims on earth can we discern from Israel’s pilgrimage in Egypt?

To Live as Pilgrims, We Must Practice Holiness—Separation from the World

Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and speak to Pharaoh and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were living in the land of Canaan, have come to me. The men are shepherds; they tend livestock, and they have brought along their flocks and herds and everything they own.’ When Pharaoh calls you in and asks, ‘What is your occupation?’ you should answer, ‘Your servants have tended livestock from our boyhood on, just as our fathers did.’ Then you will be allowed to settle in the region of Goshen, for all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians.” Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father and brothers, with their flocks and herds and everything they own, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in Goshen.” He chose five of his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh. Pharaoh asked the brothers, “What is your occupation?” “Your servants are shepherds,” they replied to Pharaoh, “just as our fathers were.” They also said to him, “We have come to live here for a while, because the famine is severe in Canaan and your servants’ flocks have no pasture. So now, please let your servants settle in Goshen.” Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you, and the land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land. Let them live in Goshen. And if you know of any among them with special ability, put them in charge of my own livestock.”

Genesis 46:31-47:6

As mentioned, God’s placement of Israel in Egypt, and specifically Goshen, was strategic. While in Canaan, infant Israel was beginning to conform to the ways of that nation. Jacob’s sons had murdered a village of men. Reuben, the firstborn, had slept with one of Jacob’s wives. Judah impregnated his daughter-in-law. Ten of Jacob’s sons had enslaved Joseph. Two of the sons married Canaanite women (Judah and Simeon; 38:2, 46:10). Such intermarriages would not have happened in Egypt due to the Egyptians’ extreme prejudice towards other nations and particularly towards shepherds. For these reasons, the Israelites were segregated from the Egyptians and allowed to dwell in Goshen. There they would grow into a great nation (Gen 46:3) and cultivate their religious distinctiveness. Egyptian society was built around a plethora of gods, one of whom was Pharaoh himself, but Israel would be built around the one God. Living in Goshen would allow them to be separate—set apart for God.

This is also true about our pilgrimage on earth as Christians. If we are going to live as pilgrims on earth, we must maintain our distinctiveness. We must be “in the world but not of the world” (John 17:15-16 paraphrase). We must never adopt the world’s sinful practices or ideals. We must develop and maintain the ideals and character which accords with our heavenly citizenship.

James 1:27 says, “Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their misfortune and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” Religion that God accepts is not only merciful but holy—it keeps itself unspotted from the world. That was God’s plan for Israel while they lived in Goshen, and that is God’s plan for us while we are in the world.

Interpretation Question: What does the process of a believer being conformed to this world look like?

According to Scripture, it’s very easy for Christians to lose their distinctiveness and begin to assimilate into the world culture. The process is gradual but has distinct stages: First, they befriend the world—becoming “comfortable” with its relationships, ideals, and practices. James says friendship with the world is enmity with God (Jam 4:4). Because of their friendship with the world, they become stained by the world (Jam 1:27), as they adopt various aspects of the world’s customs that are ungodly—language, clothing, sexual ethics, worldviews. As they immerse themselves more and more into the world, they begin to fall in love with it—enjoying its culture and wealth. First John 2:15 says, “Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in them” (paraphrase). Loving the world and the things of the world continually draws believers away from God and the things of God. Also, it is harder to give things up that we love. Finally, Christians become conformed to the world, where they look just like the world and it’s hard to distinguish whether they are Christians or not. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (paraphrase). For example, Paul called the Corinthian Christians “worldly” and “infants in Christ” (1 Cor 3:1 NIV). It was hard to distinguish them from the world, as they had totally assimilated to the culture: They worshipped their pastors as if they were rock stars (1 Cor 1). They were suing one another (1 Cor 6). They practiced gross sexual immorality including incest and visiting temple prostitutes (1 Cor 5 and 6), and they even started to doubt the resurrection (1 Cor 15). They were very much like some liberal, worldly churches today.

As Christians conform to the world, they not only open the door to the devil but lose God’s blessing in the process. Psalm 1:1-3 (NIV) says,

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. He is like a tree planted by flowing streams; it yields its fruit at the proper time, and its leaves never fall off. He succeeds in everything he attempts.

God blesses those who separate from the world and continually draw near God and the things of God. He blesses them—in fact, prospering everything they do.

Like any good parent, God can’t bless his children as he would like to when they are living in sin. To bless them in that state would just harden them further into sin. Instead, he disciplines them so they can become holy. Hebrews 12:6 says, “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son he accepts.” He disciplines believers so we can share in his holiness. Since God had a great plan for Israel—they would be the stewards of God’s Word, God’s temple, and the messiah would come through them—they had to be separate and holy. They had to be vessels fit for him to use.

Certainly, this is also true for believers today. We are God’s workmanship created in Christ for good works, which he prepared beforehand (Eph 2:10). Like Israel, God desires to bless us and draw the world to himself through us. Therefore, as pilgrims on this earth, we must be holy—set apart from the world and sin and separated to righteousness.

Are you practicing holiness—separating from the world, its practices and worldviews? Are you drawing near God through his Word, prayer, and growing in righteousness so God can use you greatly?

Application Question: How do we see many Christians (including churches and denominations) adopting the world—its ideals and practices? Why is this so common? How can Christians be in the world and not of it?

To Live as Pilgrims, We Must Practice Blessing Others

Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and presented him before Pharaoh. Jacob blessed Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How long have you lived?” Jacob said to Pharaoh, “All the years of my travels are 130. All the years of my life have been few and painful; the years of my travels are not as long as those of my ancestors.” Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence.

Genesis 47:7-10

After Joseph’s brothers met with Pharaoh and asked to live in the land of Goshen, Jacob was introduced to Pharaoh. It appears that Jacob walked into the room with hands raised and immediately began to pray over Pharaoh. No doubt, he was thankful for how God used Pharaoh to save them from the famine, but he also wanted Pharaoh to know the blessing of the true God. As Jacob blessed him, he was operating in God’s promise to his family. Through Abraham and his descendants, all nations of the earth would be blessed.

What’s interesting about this is that Pharaoh was the most powerful man in the world at that time. He was considered the incarnation of Ra, the sun god.³ However, Pharaoh’s worldly preeminence didn’t stop Jacob from blessing him. After a short conversation, Jacob prayed again for Pharaoh. The man whom God chose to bless the world prayed for the most powerful man in the world. Jacob was not shocked or humbled by the greatness of Pharaoh, for Jacob knew whom he represented.

Steve Cole tells a story about Pastor Peter Cartwright’s comments when he found out the U.S. President, Andrew Jackson, was attending his service.

On one occasion a man named Peter Cartwright was about to preach when his deacons informed him that President Andrew Jackson had unexpectedly showed up. They asked him to be careful what he said. He stood up to preach and began, “I understand that Andrew Jackson is with us today, and I have been asked to be guarded in my remarks. Andrew Jackson will go to hell as quickly as any other man if he does not repent!” The congregation was shocked, wondering how the President would react. At the close of the meeting, President Jackson shook Cartwright’s hand and said, “Sir, if I had a regiment of men like you, I could whip the world.”⁴

Perhaps, Pastor Cartwright went a little overboard; however, the basis of his comments were correct. As a preacher, he spoke for God, and he knew that all people needed God’s blessing, including the U.S. President.

God has called all believers to be agents of his blessing on the earth. Christ called believers the salt and light of the world (Matt 5:13-14). As salt, we keep society from moral decay and ultimate judgment by living godly lives and challenging immoral practices. As light, we are maintainers of the truth. As society becomes darker, moral principles are lost, even such principles as the marriage between a man and a woman or the value of life (including infants, those with disabilities, or the elderly). God has called us to positively influence the world. The greatest way that we bless the world is obviously by sharing the gospel with them. Christ died for our sins and rose again. If we believe in him and follow him as Lord and Savior, God will save us from eternal damnation and give us eternal life. This is the blessing we should share with great and small. We are pilgrims with great blessings to offer the world.

Obviously, our Christian influence in the world will not be without cost. Since people prefer to continue in sin, they will become angry with us, perhaps even leading to our persecution. This is what happened to Christ—culminating in his crucifixion—and persecution will eventually happen to us in various ways. John 3:19-20 says:

the light has come into the world and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil deeds hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed.

Likewise, Peter wrote this to Christians who were being persecuted for their faith throughout the Roman empire: “and maintain good conduct among the non-Christians, so that though they now malign you as wrongdoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God when he appears” (1 Pet 2:12). Though these unbelievers persecuted Christians, many of them will ultimately glorify God on the day Christ appears, because at some point they became believers through the Christian witness. We don’t know if Pharaoh ever became a believer, but God blessed him through Joseph and Jacob for that purpose. When Nebuchadnezzar was ruling the world from Babylon, God used Daniel to help bring about his conversion (Dan 4). That is God’s plan for us as pilgrims on this earth as well. We are called to show people the love of God and consistently point them to the land we’re waiting for—a heavenly land.

Application Question: What are some ways that Christians can be a blessing to unbelievers? In what ways is God calling you to be salt and light to those around you that don’t know Christ? In what ways is persecution towards Christians growing around the world?

To Live as Pilgrims, We Must Recognize the Brevity of Life

Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How long have you lived?” Jacob said to Pharaoh, “All the years of my travels are 130. All the years of my life have been few and painful; the years of my travels are not as long as those of my ancestors.”

Genesis 47:8-9

As mentioned, after Pharaoh was initially blessed by Jacob, he asked for Jacob’s age. Pharaoh could tell Jacob was old. After Jacob replied that he was 130, he described his years as “few” and “painful” (v. 9). They were few in comparison to his fathers’ years, Isaac and Abraham, who lived to 180 and 175. However, Jacob probably also was considering his life in comparison to eternity. It’s clear that Jacob believed he would die soon. He mentioned it in Genesis 45, 46, and at the end of 47, as he prepared for his burial (47:28-31).

Recognizing the brevity of life is crucial for pilgrims. God has given us all a limited time on the earth, and how we live our lives will affect our lives in eternity. As believers, how we live is not about going to heaven or hell, as we are saved by faith in Christ’s work for us (Eph 2:8-9). However, the manner in which we live affects our lives in eternity and, specifically, our rewards in eternity. Second Corinthians 5:10 says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” First Corinthians 3:12-15 says,

If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

Believers will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ to be evaluated for rewards; unbelievers will go before the Great White Throne of Judgment, where their works will reveal that they never accepted Christ and determine the quality of their eternal judgment (Rev 20). At the Judgment Seat of Christ, believers will receive rewards for faithfulness and lose rewards for unfaithfulness. Christ said those who practice his commands and teach others to do so will be called great in the kingdom of heaven, and those who break his commands and teach others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven (Matt 5:19).

How we use our time on earth matters! Life is like a vapor—it is here briefly and then gone (Jam 4:14). Psalm 90:10 and 12 (NIV) says:

Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away... Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

The Psalmist essentially says that if we don’t realize how short our time on earth is, we risk living unwisely. Christ intimated something similar in a parable about a master who left his servant at home in Luke 12:45-46. He said,

But if that slave should say to himself, ‘My master is delayed in returning,’ and he begins to beat the other slaves, both men and women, and to eat, drink, and get drunk then the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not foresee, and will cut him in two, and assign him a place with the unfaithful.

Since the servant thought his master was delaying his return (or wasn’t coming at all), he ceased to be a good steward. He lived in discord, waste, and drunkenness—he didn’t live a wise life because he wrongly evaluated his time. We probably would live wiser lives if we knew that Christ was returning soon or that we would die soon. Understanding the brevity of life is important to living as pilgrims. It helps us live wisely—in a way that honors God.

In Genesis 45:28, after Jacob’s sons told him that Joseph was still alive, he said, “I’m convinced! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.” Then in Genesis 46:30, when he met Joseph he said, “Now I am ready to die, since I have seen for myself that you are still alive.” As mentioned previously, Jacob thought he was about to die soon; however, he lived for seventeen more years (Gen 47:28). This is important to consider because we don’t know the time of our deaths. For those who think they will live many more years, death may come quite quickly. For others, God might grant them many years of life. For others still, Christ may return in their lifetime, and they may never taste death. Whatever our futures hold, as servants of our heavenly King, he will hold us accountable for the instructions, talents, and time he gave us (cf. Matt 25:14-30).

Are we using our time wisely? Are we living as pilgrims, realizing that our time on earth may be short? God has prepared a heavenly city for us, and how we live here affects our eternal life there. In the Parable of the Talents, the person with one talent who didn’t use his gift or time well received God’s discipline instead of God’s commendation and reward (cf. Matt 25:24-30).

How are you using your time? Ephesians 5:15-16 (ESV) says, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” To live faithfully as pilgrims, we must recognize the brevity of life in order to use our time well.

Application Question: Why is recognizing the brevity of life so important to being a faithful pilgrim? What are some helpful principles or disciplines that can help us use our time better for the Lord? How can we recognize the brevity of life and yet not become fatalistic?

To Live as Pilgrims, We Must Expect Difficulties in Life

Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How long have you lived?” Jacob said to Pharaoh, “All the years of my travels are 130. All the years of my life have been few and painful; the years of my travels are not as long as those of my ancestors.”

Genesis 47:8-9

Jacob not only mentioned the brevity of life but also the difficulty of it. Jacob had experienced a challenging life: He ran from his father’s home out of fear for his life, as his brother, Esau, wanted to kill him. He was deceived by his father-in-law, Laban, into marrying the wrong sister, leading him to marry both sisters. Because of that polygamist marriage, there was constant friction in his family between the wives and sons. Soon after Jacob left his uncle Laban’s house, Jacob’s sons murdered all the men in a village. His oldest son, Reuben, slept with Jacob’s wife in a power grab. His sons sold Joseph into slavery, whom he believed was dead for twenty-two years. He indeed had a difficult life. Much of the difficulty was not only a direct result of his own sins, but also stemmed from the sins of others and living in a world under God’s curse.

The difficulty of life is also important for us to recognize if we are going to live as faithful pilgrims on earth. For many, they are under the illusion that life becomes easier once we become Christians. Some might even believe the error of the prosperity gospel—that believers are promised health and wealth here on earth. However, that is not the true gospel message, and believing so can often cause great discouragement when people do not experience the “promised” prosperity. Job said: “people are born to trouble, as surely as the sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7).

We are always negatively affected by our sin, the sin of others, and the consequences of sin to the earth. These realities are true for everybody; however, Christians will often experience more difficulties because of their faith. In 1 Peter 4:12, Peter said this to Christians who were being persecuted for the faith, “Dear friends, do not be astonished that a trial by fire is occurring among you, as though something strange were happening to you.” Following Christ often will cause more difficulties in our lives, including our fight against sin in our flesh and the world, spiritual warfare, and persecution from those antagonistic towards Christ. Nonetheless, in the midst of those difficulties, there is certainly grace and, most importantly, God’s presence to carry us through them.

Christ indirectly described the importance of understanding the difficulties that come from following him in the Parable of the Sowers. In Matthew 13:20-21, he described the shallow ground which received the seed of God’s Word:

The seed sown on rocky ground is the person who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. But he has no root in himself and does not endure; when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away.

When trouble or persecution happened, the person with shallow faith turned away from God. Maybe he was disappointed with God because he expected God to protect, heal, or prosper him. Or, he simply didn’t understand the costs that came with following Christ (sometimes loss of family, friends, or career). The parable implies that such a person fell away from God and apparently never returned.

The life of a Christian includes difficulties, some of which are common to all people, others experienced only by believers. As Christians, we are uniquely subjected to temptations from the flesh, Satan, and the world. We experience a mourning over sin that the world doesn’t (Matt 5:4) and a groaning for our heavenly home (Rom 8:23). This is the pilgrim’s life as we await our true home.

For Jacob, his years of pilgrimage were both few and difficult, and we should expect the same. But even more importantly than those difficulties, we should understand the greater glory that trials bring in our life. In 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Paul said:

Therefore we do not despair, but even if our physical body is wearing away, our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary, light suffering is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison because we are not looking at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen. For what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.

Though we experience many difficulties in this pilgrim life, God uses all difficulties to help renew our spiritual life—creating perseverance in us, character, and hope in God (Rom 5:3-4). Difficulties are necessary, as they help remind us that earth and these bodies are not our permanent home—we were made for something else. Difficulties help us not hold the temporary things of life so tightly and help us cling more to eternity. Difficulties also prepare us for a greater glory in heaven as we persevere in faith. James 1:12 says, “Happy is the one who endures testing, because when he has proven to be genuine, he will receive the crown of life that God promised to those who love him.”

How are you responding to your difficulties? Do you realize that they are par the course for pilgrims in a world that is not ours? Our home is in heaven, and one day we will be with Jesus there. When Christ returns to the earth, he will renew the heaven and the earth, and they will be our eternal home (Rev 21).

Application Question: Why is it important for believers to recognize and expect difficulties (cf. Jam 1:2)? In what ways have you experienced how difficulties help us cling less to the temporary and cling more to the eternal? What specific difficulties is God currently using in your life to help change your character and help you cling more to him and your ultimate home?

To Live as Pilgrims, We Must Live by Faith, Both in Good and Bad Times

So Joseph settled his father and his brothers. He gave them territory in the land of Egypt, in the best region of the land, the land of Rameses, just as Pharaoh had commanded. Joseph also provided food for his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household, according to the number of their little children. But there was no food in all the land because the famine was very severe; the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan wasted away because of the famine. Joseph collected all the money that could be found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan as payment for the grain they were buying. Then Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s palace. When the money from the lands of Egypt and Canaan was used up, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food! Why should we die before your very eyes because our money has run out?” Then Joseph said, “If your money is gone, bring your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock.” So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for their horses, the livestock of their flocks and herds, and their donkeys. He got them through that year by giving them food in exchange for livestock. When that year was over, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We cannot hide from our lord that the money is used up and the livestock and the animals belong to our lord. Nothing remains before our lord except our bodies and our land. Why should we die before your very eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we, with our land, will become Pharaoh’s slaves. Give us seed that we may live and not die. Then the land will not become desolate.” So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. Each of the Egyptians sold his field, for the famine was severe. So the land became Pharaoh’s. Joseph made all the people slaves from one end of Egypt’s border to the other end of it. But he did not purchase the land of the priests because the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh and they ate from their allotment that Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land. Joseph said to the people, “Since I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you. Cultivate the land. When you gather in the crop, give one-fifth of it to Pharaoh, and the rest will be yours for seed for the fields and for you to eat, including those in your households and your little children.” They replied, “You have saved our lives! You are showing us favor, and we will be Pharaoh’s slaves.” So Joseph made it a statute, which is in effect to this day throughout the land of Egypt: One-fifth belongs to Pharaoh. Only the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh’s. Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen, and they owned land there. They were fruitful and increased rapidly in number.

Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; the years of Jacob’s life were 147 in all. The time for Israel to die approached, so he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh and show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt, but when I rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.” Joseph said, “I will do as you say.” Jacob said, “Swear to me that you will do so.” So Joseph gave him his word. Then Israel bowed down at the head of his bed.

Genesis 47:11-31

The narrator, Moses, contrasts the blessing and favor over the Israelites with the hardship that the Egyptians endured. Statements of God’s provision for Israel bracket the impoverishment of the Egyptians in Genesis 47:11-12, 27-29. Joseph gave his family property and food (47:11-12), and eventually the Israelites increased greatly in number and acquired even more property (47:27-29). However, the Egyptians were so impoverished in the final five years of famine, they first gave all their money to Pharaoh, then sold their animals, and finally themselves and their land (47:13-26). Some struggle with understanding Joseph’s enslavement of the Egyptians. However, it is important when studying the Bible to take off our cultural lenses and read it according to the lens of that particular ancient culture. In Genesis 47:19, because the people did not want to perish, they asked Pharaoh to take their lands and enslave them. That was how they would survive. This was not uncommon in the ancient world, where people often struggled with extreme poverty. For many, slavery was a preferred institution. Compare slavery to the day worker: the day worker got paid at end of a day’s work, and it was usually only enough to buy food for that day—it did not pay for housing, medical, clothing, or other expenses. For slaves, their costs for housing, food, clothing, and medical needs were all covered by their master. Often slaves and masters had good relationships. For instance, Abraham’s chief servant would have received Abraham’s inheritance if Abraham never had a child (Gen 15:2-3). Instead of looking at their slavery as a negative experience, the Egyptians praised Joseph for saving their lives and giving them a reasonable deal (Gen 47:25). They only had to pay twenty percent of their harvest to Pharaoh, which was cheap for a tenant farmer in those days. Forty percent was not uncommon in Mesopotamia and some ancient documents show people paying as much as sixty percent.⁵ Again, this compelled the people to praise Joseph for saving them.

In contrast, the Israelites had a very different experience: They received property while the Egyptians sold theirs. They were fruitful and increased greatly in number (47:27). God blessed them even during a famine. Certainly, this was common throughout the patriarchs’ narrative: While Abraham visited Egypt, even though he lied about his wife and almost lost her to Pharaoh, he left Egypt with great wealth (Gen 12). When he went to war with just a few hundred men against four armies, he conquered them (Gen 14). When his wife was barren, God gave her a miracle child named Isaac in their old age (Gen 21). When Isaac experienced a famine, instead of going to Egypt, he sowed seed and God gave him a 100-fold harvest (Gen 26). While Laban kept mistreating Jacob, God prospered Jacob and made him wealthier than Laban (Gen 30). When Joseph was sold into slavery and then put in prison, he prospered in both institutions (Gen 39-40) and then was promoted to governor of Egypt (Gen 41). In bad situations, God continually used evil and difficulties to bless his people. In Genesis 50:20, Joseph said this to his brothers, “What you meant for bad, God meant for good” (paraphrase). The same thing was happening to Israel while they dwelt in Egypt. During the famine, God prospered them while others suffered. Therefore, God’s favor over his people while in Egypt and throughout the patriarchs’ story reminds us to have faith in God, both in hard times and good times.

We see the need for faith clearly demonstrated with Jacob when he was about to die: He approached Joseph and asked that his body be buried back in his parents’ cave in Canaan (47:29-31). Jacob’s seventeen years in Egypt were probably his most peaceful and prosperous years. He had his entire family together; they were growing, living in peace, and prospering. It would have been easy for Jacob to settle down in Egypt, accept his lot there, and forget about Canaan. However, Jacob remembered God’s promise: Jacob’s family would possess Canaan. Therefore, being moved there after his death was a step of faith—one that his family would remember. Jacob and the Israelites were not polytheistic Egyptians! They were worshipers of the true God, who were temporarily residing in Egypt. Their home was past the border of Egypt, in Canaan. They were only pilgrims in Egypt.

Similarly, as pilgrims on this earth, we must live by faith both in bad times and good times. With trials come a temptation to doubt God’s goodness. In those times, we must remember God works all things to the good of those who love the Lord (Rom 8:28). Just as God provided for Israel in the famine and ultimately prospered them, God will do the same with us, in various ways. However, in times of prosperity, there is the temptation to forget God and live for this world. Many believers have done so. With Demas, a former apostolic associate, Paul said this about him, “For Demas deserted me, since he loved the present age, and he went to Thessalonica” (2 Tim 4:10). Unfortunately, many, instead of living by faith, fall in love with ‘Egypt,’ making their home there and becoming ‘Egyptianized.’ Instead of storing their riches and ultimate dreams in heaven, they store them on earth, which makes their hearts worldly (Matt 6:19-21).

If we are going to be faithful pilgrims on earth, we must live by faith. We must set our minds on things above instead of earthly things (Col 3:2). We must live by faith, as only those who live by faith on this earth will be rewarded by God. Hebrews 11:6 says, “Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

Are you living by faith in God’s promises or by sight—focusing all your hopes and dreams on this earth? We are saved by faith and we live by faith (Rom 1:17). This is the life of a pilgrim—a life of faith in God.

Application Question: Why is it so hard to keep our eyes on the promises of God including heaven, eternal reward, and ultimately seeing and knowing God eternally? How is God calling you to trust him more either in a time of hardship or prosperity?

Conclusion

How can we faithfully live as pilgrims on the earth—citizens of heaven?

1. To Live as Pilgrims, We Must Practice Holiness—Separation from the World
2. To Live as Pilgrims, We Must Practice Blessing Others
3. To Live as Pilgrims, We Must Recognize the Brevity of Life
4. To Live as Pilgrims, We Must Expect Difficulties in Life
5. To Live as Pilgrims, We Must Live by Faith, Both in Good and Bad Times

Copyright © 2020 Gregory Brown

Unless otherwise noted, the primary Scriptures used are taken from the NET Bible ® copyright © 1996-2016 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

Holy Bible, New International Version ®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NASB) are taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, and 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked (KJV) are from the King James Version of the Bible.

All emphases in Scripture quotations have been added.

BTG Publishing all rights reserved.

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¹ Wiersbe, W. W. (1997). Be authentic (p. 136). Colorado Springs, CO: Chariot Victor Pub.

² Hughes, R. K. (2004). Genesis: beginning and blessing (pp. 532–533). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

³ Guzik, D. (2013). Genesis (Ge 47:7–10). Santa Barbara, CA: David Guzik.

⁴ Accessed May 10, 2019 from https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-78-prosperity-counts-genesis-4631-4731

⁵ Hughes, R. K. (2004). Genesis: beginning and blessing (p. 535). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

And entrust what you heard me say in the presence of many others as witnesses to faithful people who will be competent to teach others as well.

2 Timothy 2:2 (NET)

Paul’s words to Timothy still apply to us today. The church needs teachers who clearly and fearlessly teach the Word of God. With this in mind, The Bible Teacher’s Guide (BTG) series was created. This series includes both expositional and topical studies, with resources to help teachers lead small groups, pastors prepare sermons, and individuals increase their knowledge of God’s Word.

The Bible’s Uniqueness: An Introduction to Scripture can be used for personal study or as a small group curriculum for around eighteen weeks. For small groups, the members will read a chapter and discuss the reflection questions (and anything else that stood out in the reading) within their gathering. The chapter can also be read before the gathering, with the meeting focusing only on discussion.

What exactly does it mean to say, “the Bible is inerrant”? It simply means that the Bible is without error in its original autographs and therefore the copies can be trusted. There are two prevailing views in Christianity regarding inerrancy. One view is called limited inerrancy. This view limits the scope of inerrancy to such things as matters of faith and practice, or to the message of salvation. For example, one might say: “The Bible is infallible, as I define that term, but not inerrant. That is, there are historical and scientific errors in the Bible, but I have found none on matters of faith and practice.”¹ Christians from liberal backgrounds often take this view.

The other view is absolute inerrancy. It teaches that “Scripture in the original manuscripts does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact.”² In general, a simple definition might be “that the Bible tells the truth.”³ Christians from conservative backgrounds take this view. When there is an apparent error in the Bible, they claim that it is an error of the manuscript, its translation, or our understanding. Absolute inerrancy is more consistent with what the Bible teaches about itself—that the Bible is perfect and without fault.

Why is believing in absolute inerrancy so important? Simply, if the Bible is in error at even just one point, it can be presumed to be erroneous in any place. This then begs the question, “How can we trust anything the Bible says?” As soon as the foundational belief of Scripture’s inerrancy is lost, every other doctrine comes under scrutiny. First one doubts the accuracy of miraculous stories, like Moses parting the Red Sea, Jonah being swallowed by a big fish, or the flood story. Then, they doubt doctrines with greater consequences, like the creation story, Christ’s resurrection, his second coming, hell, and salvation itself. It is a very slippery slope.

Why should we believe in the Bible’s inerrancy? Essentially, for four reasons:

1. Evidence for Scripture’s inerrancy is found in God’s character.

Titus 1:1-2 says: “to further the faith of God’s chosen ones and the knowledge of the truth that is in keeping with godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the ages began.” Paul encouraged Titus with the fact that eternal life is promised by God, who cannot lie. That is why we can trust all of Scripture. Scripture is God’s Word, and God cannot tell a lie. Numbers 23:19 says this: “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a human being, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it happen?”

In fact, Christ called himself “the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6). Jesus is the truth because there is nothing false in him. Everything he says and does is true because he is God and that is his character.

2. Evidence for Scripture’s inerrancy is substantiated by what the Bible teaches about itself—that every word is true, not just the ideas of Scripture.

In Matthew 4:4, Christ said this, as he quoted Deuteronomy 8:3: “It is written, ‘Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Jesus said that man lives on “every word” that comes from the mouth of God, not SOME words or SOME ideas. Likewise, 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “Every scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” In agreement, the Psalms say:

The law of the Lord is perfect and preserves one’s life.

Psalm 19:7

All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.

Psalm 119:160 (NIV)

The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.

Psalm 12:6 (ESV)

Scripture teaches that every part of it is true, not just some parts or the main ideas of Scripture.

3. Evidence for Scripture’s inerrancy is proven by Scripture’s preservation.

Jesus said this, “I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter will pass from the law until everything takes place” (Matt 5:18). As we have already examined, God has indeed preserved his Word, as seen in its historical reliability. It is more reliable than any ten ancient manuscripts combined.

4. Evidence for Scripture’s inerrancy is demonstrated by how the authors of Scripture use Scripture in such a way that supports its inerrancy.

In the Bible, at times, an entire argument rests on a single word (e.g., “God” in John 10:34–35 and Psalm 82:6), the tense of a verb (e.g., the present tense in Matt 22:32), and the difference between a singular and a plural noun (e.g., “descendant” in Gal 3:16). Let’s consider an example: In Matthew 22:30–32, the entire argument rests on a single word. The Sadducees were the liberal believers in Christ’s day—they did not believe in miracles, the resurrection, or even an afterlife. One day, they tested Christ on his belief in the resurrection. They concocted a scenario wherein a woman’s husband died and so she married his brother. The brother died and she married another brother. He died and she married another and so on until the seventh brother died. Then she died. Then, the Sadducees asked Christ, “At the resurrection, whose wife will she be?” “Basically, they argued that the idea of resurrection posed insuperable difficulties, hence it was not reasonable, therefore it was not true.”⁴ Consider Christ’s response:

Jesus answered them, “You are deceived, because you don’t know the scriptures or the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. Now as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living!”

Matthew 22:29-32

Here, Christ’s argument rests on the tense of the word “am.” Essentially, Christ said, “Didn’t you notice that ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’ was written in the present tense?” Christ was saying that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are all still alive, and therefore, would one day be resurrected. This logic confronted the Sadducee’s lack of belief in the afterlife and the resurrection. Every word has been chosen by God, even down to the tense.

We also see this in how Paul handled Scripture. In Galatians 3:16, he said:

Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his descendant. Scripture does not say, “and to the descendants,” referring to many, but “and to your descendant,” referring to one, who is Christ.

Galatians 3:16

When looking at God’s promises to Abraham and his descendant, Paul argues that the promises were not to the nation of Israel specifically, but to one descendant, Christ, and therefore, everybody in Christ (cf. Gal 3:29). He clarifies that the promises were to Abraham’s “descendant,” singular, and not “descendants,” plural. The argument rests on the singularity of a specific word God chose to use in Scripture.

The Bible is inspired and inerrant even down to the tense and plurality of the words. Every word is inspired by God and not just the ideas of Scripture. This gives credence to studying and meditating on each word of the Bible since we believe God chose them for a purpose. This is one of the reasons many Bible students study the original languages of Scripture. They do this because they are convinced of the validity of each word. Jesus said, “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt 4:4).

Questions About Inerrancy?

1. Some Might Ask, “How Can The Bible Be Without Error If Mere Humans Wrote It? I Know God Made It But So Did Humans, And Humans Are Fallible.”

This statement is true; therefore, Scriptural inerrancy must be clearly recognized as a miracle. People are sinful and prone to error. However, God is perfect and cannot err. The Holy Spirit inspired the authors in such a way that he kept them from error in the writing of Scripture.

2. Some Might Ask, “What About Apparent Errors In Scripture Such As Scientific, Historical Or Grammatical Errors?” Here Are Some General Principles To Consider:

• The Bible can be inerrant and still speak in ordinary, everyday language.

For example, today people commonly use jargon like the sun rose (sunrise) or the sun went down (sunset). However, the sun technically never moves—the earth does. Though these are not scientifically accurate statements, they are culturally acceptable statements which are deemed truthful. Scripture uses similar statements. In Joshua 10:13-14, Scripture describes how the sun and moon stood still, as God enabled Israel to defeat an army. What really happened is God miraculously made the earth stand still. However, the narrator describes the event by how it appeared visually, just as people do today. Though not written in scientific language, it is still truthful language.

Likewise, the Bible also uses approximations. In today’s language, if one says his or her house is 5 miles away, but it is actually 4.5 miles away, the statement is not considered deceptive. The distance is understood and accepted as an approximation. If the person really lived 100 miles away, then the statement would be an exaggeration and thus considered a lie. Sometimes, approximations are used on the news when accounting for death and injury tolls after a major accident. Likewise, when we share with others about these tragedies, we, too, often use approximations. Our intent is to share the truth and the seriousness of a situation but not necessarily the precise numbers. The authors of Scripture frequently did that in their writings when counting people or deaths. For them, the focus was truthfulness and not necessarily exact precision.

• The Bible can be inerrant and still include loose or free quotations.

Ancient Greek did not have quotation marks. When quoting someone in the ancient world, it simply had to be an accurate representation of the content of what one said.⁵ It didn’t have to be word for word. Therefore, authors in Scripture routinely followed that same pattern in their translations. They would often paraphrase an Old Testament text. This is how we often share what someone else said today, especially when shared verbally. Our intent is to relay the truth, and not necessarily the exact words.

• The Bible can be inerrant and still contradict accepted historical or scientific beliefs.

It should be remembered that current scientific and historical beliefs often contradict previously held beliefs. Science and history are still evolving as more findings are discovered, but Scripture does not change. It is complete. Therefore, we can be assured that when all subsequent discoveries are revealed, Scripture will be proved correct. For this reason, Christians should not doubt Scripture’s accuracy because of scientific or historical theories, as compelling as they may be. God is the Creator of the world, and he established how the world runs (science); he also knows the beginning from the end and is in control of both (history). Therefore, we can trust what the Bible says in all areas of science and history.

3. Someone Might Ask, “If We Do Not Have The Original Manuscripts, Isn’t The Argument Of Inerrancy In The Original Manuscripts A Moot Argument?”

When we consider how the apostles and the early church viewed the copies of Scripture, their belief in the reliability and authority of the copies is clear. Therefore, we should trust them as well. Consider the following:

• In 2 Timothy 3:16, when Paul spoke about Scripture being God-inspired and useful for training in righteousness, he was using copies, not the originals. The early church was using copies just as we are now. The original texts were copied and passed from church to church. Yet, the early church believed those copies were inspired and authoritative.
• It is clear that the early church believed the copies were authoritative by their use of Old Testament quotations in the New Testament. The majority of the OT quotes in the NT were from the Septuagint, which was the Greek version of the Old Testament.⁶ Even though the original verses were in Hebrew, the writers of the NT still considered the Greek translation authoritative. Even Jesus quoted the Septuagint in his rendering of Isaiah 29:13, from Mark 7:6–7:

He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. They worship me in vain, teaching as doctrine the commandments of men.’

Again, this is a quote from a translated copy, but it was still inspired by God. The apostles primarily quoted from Greek copies of the OT in the inspired New Testament. If Jesus and the apostles trusted the copies, then we can trust them as well.

Here is a contemporary argument. If I apply for a job, the company will most likely take a photocopy of my driver’s license and social security card to keep for its records. The company knows the copy is not perfect, it may have a smudge here or there, but in general, the copy is considered accurate and acceptable. This is how the early church handled the copies of Scripture, and so should we. God has preserved his words, and they are still authoritative.

As mentioned, when we compare the thousands of copies of Scripture, they are in 95 to 99% agreement.⁷ The errors are typically small copyist errors. When comparing a manuscript error with the content of thousands of other manuscripts, what was originally penned is typically clear. This is what we call textual criticism.

If there are errors in the Bible, they are errors in our understanding of the text, with the copy of the manuscript used, or with the translation. But the Bible itself cannot have errors because God is its author, and he cannot err. He has promised to preserve his Word.

Application

What does all this mean for us?

1. Scripture’s Inerrancy Means We Can Trust What The Bible Says.

We should not doubt spectacular stories in Scripture, such as the universal flood, Moses parting the Red Sea, Jonah being swallowed by a big fish, the virgin birth, Christ’s sinless life, the resurrection, or prophecies about the end times. We can believe the Bible’s teaching about history, science, morality, wisdom, Christ, salvation, and the end times. Scripture holds the very words of God, and therefore, it is not only authoritative and powerful, it is also trustworthy.

2. Scripture’s Inerrancy Gives Us Insight Into How To Study God’s Word.

As mentioned, it is good to occasionally meditate on individual words—noting their tenses, meaning, position in a sentence, etc.—because each word was specifically chosen by God. Every part of Scripture (including each word) is God-inspired and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so God’s people can be equipped for every good work (2 Tim 3:16-17).

To the Sadducees, Jesus said, “Have you not read?” Yes, they had read Scripture, but they hadn’t studied and meditated on each word—and therefore missed the powerful truth of the resurrection, which would have changed their lives (cf. Matt 22:30–32). Many times, we miss a great deal in our study of the Bible as well. Therefore, we should study Scripture both telescopically (trying to understand the big picture) and microscopically (trying to understand details). Both approaches will greatly enrich our time in God’s Word.

Reflection

1. In the reading, what aspect of the Bible’s inerrancy stood out most to you and why?
2. What is the difference between limited inerrancy and absolute inerrancy?
3. What are some reasons to believe in the absolute inerrancy of Scripture?
4. How should the absolute inerrancy of Scripture affect a person?
5. What other questions or applications do you have from the reading?

Copyright © 2020 Gregory Brown

Unless otherwise noted, the primary Scriptures used are taken from the NET Bible ® copyright © 1996-2016 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

Holy Bible, New International Version ®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^® (ESV^®) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NASB) are taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, and 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked (KJV) are from the King James Version of the Bible.

All emphases in Scripture quotations have been added.

BTG Publishing all rights reserved.

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The Bible is unique in that one quarter of it is prophetic; it contains about 1000 prophecies, 500 of which have not yet been fulfilled.¹ In fact, God used prophecy to prove his deity and to disprove the deity of other “gods.” Isaiah 41:21-24 says:

Present your argument,” says the Lord. “Produce your evidence,” says Jacob’s king. “Let them produce evidence! Let them tell us what will happen! Tell us about your earlier predictive oracles, so we may examine them and see how they were fulfilled. Or decree for us some future events! Predict how future events will turn out, so we might know you are gods. Yes, do something good or bad, so we might be frightened and in awe. Look, you are nothing, and your accomplishments are nonexistent; the one who chooses to worship you is disgusting.

God challenged other so-called “gods” to share their past prophecies or to share new ones to prove their deity. He then declared that those who worship these false gods were disgusting. In Isaiah 42:8-9 and 48:3, God said this about himself:

I am the Lord! That is my name! I will not share my glory with anyone else, or the praise due me with idols. Look, my earlier predictive oracles have come to pass; now I announce new events. Before they begin to occur, I reveal them to you.

I announced events beforehand, I issued the decrees and made the predictions; suddenly I acted and they came to pass.

God presented prophecy as proof that he is the true God—he foretold events and they happened. Since prophecy is given as an evidence of God’s deity, these prophecies must be diligently studied to strengthen the faith of believers and used apologetically with nonbelievers. What are some of these prophetic evidences? First, we’ll consider fulfilled, past prophecies and then unfulfilled, future ones.

Fulfilled Prophecies

Prophecies About King Cyrus And King Josiah

At times in Scripture, God gives names of prominent people and the works they would accomplish even before they were born. In fact, after challenging the false gods to prove themselves by giving and fulfilling prophecies, God predicted that he would send Israel back from captivity through a future leader, named Cyrus. Consider Isaiah 44:28 and 45:1-4:

who commissions Cyrus, the one I appointed as shepherd to carry out all my wishes and to decree concerning Jerusalem, ‘She will be rebuilt,’ and concerning the temple, ‘It will be reconstructed.’”

This is what the Lord says to his chosen one, to Cyrus, whose right hand I hold in order to subdue nations before him, and disarm kings, to open doors before him, so gates remain unclosed: “I will go before you and level mountains. Bronze doors I will shatter and iron bars I will hack through. I will give you hidden treasures, riches stashed away in secret places, so you may recognize that I am the Lord, the one who calls you by name, the God of Israel. For the sake of my servant Jacob, Israel, my chosen one, I call you by name and give you a title of respect, even though you do not recognize me.

What makes this prophecy even more interesting is the fact Israel had not yet been exiled to Babylon. To the Israelites, Isaiah must have appeared crazy. The book of Isaiah was written between 739—681 BC, during Isaiah’s prophetic ministry to Judah.² In Isaiah 39, Isaiah actually prophesied to Hezekiah that in a later generation, Babylon would take Judah into exile. Then he prophesied that Cyrus, the king of Persia, would send Israel back to their land to rebuild it, which happened in 538 BC. Isaiah gave this prophecy approximately 100 years before Cyrus was born and an almost 150 years before his rule.³

Because of the difficulties of this prophecy, liberal scholars teach that Isaiah must not have written the book. They declare there must have been two or three authors (Deutero-Isaiah or Trito-Isaiah) writing the book at different times.⁴ Since liberal scholars don’t accept the miraculous nature of prophecy and it would be impossible for Isaiah to have lived before Israel’s exile, throughout their exile, and after their eventual return, the only conclusion for them is that the book had multiple authors. They speculate that one author would have written before the exile, another during the exile, and the final author after the exile. However, this does not correspond with the internal and external evidence of the book. In Isaiah 1:1, the author claims to have lived during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah—the kings of Judah. In addition, New Testament authors affirm Isaiah as the book’s author by their citations (cf. Matt 12:17, 15:7, etc.).⁵

Though the miracle of prophecy may be hard to accept for some, God predicting the future and proving himself to be God is the exact point of the context. God essentially said, “False gods, perform a miracle! Predict the future to prove yourself!” and then God predicted the future to prove his deity to all. Again, Isaiah 41:21-23 says:

Present your argument,” says the Lord. “Produce your evidence,” says Jacob’s king. “Let them produce evidence! Let them tell us what will happen! Tell us about your earlier predictive oracles, so we may examine them and see how they were fulfilled. Or decree for us some future events! Predict how future events will turn out, so we might know you are gods…

The fulfillment of the Cyrus prophecy happens in 2 Chronicles 36:22-23 (and Ezra 1:1-11), when Cyrus issued an edict to rebuild Israel and sent a delegation to accomplish it. Second Chronicles 36:22-23 says:

In the first year of the reign of King Cyrus of Persia, in fulfillment of the promise he delivered through Jeremiah, the Lord moved King Cyrus of Persia to issue a written decree throughout his kingdom. It read: “This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: ‘The Lord God of the heavens has given to me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build for him a temple in Jerusalem in Judah. May the Lord your God energize you who belong to his people, so you may be able to go back there!”

King Josiah

Likewise, God also prophesied about King Josiah—calling him by name and telling of his future works long before he was born. In 1 Kings 13:1-2, God predicted that a king named Josiah would arise and sacrifice the false priests on specific high places. First Kings 13:1-2 says:

Just then a prophet from Judah, sent by the Lord, arrived in Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing near the altar ready to offer a sacrifice. With the authority of the Lord he cried out against the altar, “O altar, altar! This is what the Lord says, ‘Look, a son named Josiah will be born to the Davidic dynasty. He will sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who offer sacrifices on you. Human bones will be burned on you.”

This prophecy was fulfilled 300 years later in 2 Kings 23:14-20, as earlier prophesied.⁶ Second Kings 23:14-20 says:

He smashed the sacred pillars to bits, cut down the Asherah pole, and filled those shrines with human bones. He also tore down the altar in Bethel at the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who encouraged Israel to sin. He burned all the combustible items at that high place and crushed them to dust; including the Asherah pole. When Josiah turned around, he saw the tombs there on the hill. So he ordered the bones from the tombs to be brought; he burned them on the altar and defiled it. This fulfilled the Lord’s announcement made by the prophet while Jeroboam stood by the altar during a festival. King Josiah turned and saw the grave of the prophet who had foretold this. He asked, “What is this grave marker I see?” The men from the city replied, “It’s the grave of the prophet who came from Judah and foretold these very things you have done to the altar of Bethel.” The king said, “Leave it alone! No one must touch his bones.” So they left his bones undisturbed, as well as the bones of the Israelite prophet buried beside him. Josiah also removed all the shrines on the high places in the cities of Samaria. The kings of Israel had made them and angered the Lord. He did to them what he had done to the high place in Bethel. He sacrificed all the priests of the high places on the altars located there, and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

Prophecies Dating The Messiah And About Israel’s Future

What are some other major prophecies in Scripture? Daniel 9:24-27 is often called “God’s Prophetic Time Clock” and “The Backbone of Bible Prophecy.”⁷ As background, Daniel was praying about the future of Israel (Dan 9:1-3) when the angel, Gabriel, appeared and shared with Daniel about Israel’s future, including the coming of the messiah. Consider verse 25:

So know and understand: From the issuing of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until an anointed one, a prince arrives, there will be a period of seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It will again be built, with plaza and moat, but in distressful times.

This prophecy gives not only information about Israel’s future but also the actual date that the messiah would be on the earth. When the angel referred to “weeks,” it could also be translated “sevens,” as in the NIV. This could mean seven days or years.⁸ Years makes the most sense, because the context deals with Israel’s long-term future including the coming of the messiah, and also because Daniel already had been thinking in terms of years (Israel’s seventy years of exile, Daniel 9:2). The angel Gabriel told Daniel that it would be seven sevens (49) plus sixty-two sevens (434) until the messiah comes. Altogether, that equals 483 years (49 + 434 = 483). From the issuance of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem until the messiah came would be 483 years. Gabriel adds that Jerusalem would be rebuilt in “distressful times.” The book of Nehemiah tells us that while Nehemiah led Israel in rebuilding Jerusalem’s walls, there was much persecution. In one scene, the Israelites did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other (Neh 4:17).

Though Israel was sent back to their land by Cyrus, the issuing of the decree to rebuild Israel was given by King Artaxerxes to Nehemiah in 444 B.C (Neh 2).⁹ When one takes into account that the Jewish calendar was 360 days and not 365 as ours is today, 483 years later would be 33 AD—right around the time of Christ’s death.¹⁰

Those who have actually counted the days claim that the prophecy was fulfilled on Palm Sunday¹¹—the day when Jesus road into the streets of Jerusalem on a donkey, and the people shouted, “Hosanna! Hosanna!” as they recognized Jesus as the messiah. Consider what Jesus said about the city on that very day:

Now when Jesus approached and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “If you had only known on this day, even you, the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and surround you and close in on you from every side. They will demolish you—you and your children within your walls—and they will not leave within you one stone on top of another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”

Luke 19:41-44

Daniel 9:25 prophesies the exact day Christ would be on the earth, so Israel would be ready to accept their messiah. However, they failed to give attention to the prophecy and instead crucified the Son of God—bringing judgment upon themselves.

Prophecy Of Israel’s History After Christ

Along with announcing the time-period when Christ would be on the earth, the prophecy also shares glimpses into Israel’s future history. In Daniel 9:26 (ESV), the angel specifically describes Israel’s history after the 483 years, which has certainly come true. It says:

And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed.

The angel prophesied that Christ would be killed, the city and temple would be destroyed, and Israel would continue in a state of war and desolation until the end of days. In AD 70, the Romans destroyed the temple and Jerusalem. Israel’s history since then has proven the prophecy true as well. The nation has constantly been in a state of war and desolation, even until this day. Later, we will consider Israel’s future as prophesied in Daniel 9:27.

The Destruction Of The City Of Tyre

In Ezekiel 26-28, God predicted the destruction of a famous city named Tyre, years before it began and over 250 years before it was finally completed.¹² The name Tyre means “Rock.” It was an impregnable city, known for its sea commerce. Tyre consisted of two parts: the mainland city on the coast of Lebanon and the island city off the coast of Lebanon. The city had a double wall around it that was 150 feet tall, with 25 feet of earth packed in between. In 587 BC, Ezekiel wrote three long chapters prophesying about the city’s destruction, which ultimately was fulfilled.¹³

Why would it be destroyed? Israel and Tyre were bitter trade-competitors until Babylon besieged and later conquered Israel in 586 BC. ¹⁴ Tyre had previously “dominated the sea routes, while Jerusalem controlled the caravan routes.”¹⁵ Without Jerusalem controlling the land routes, Tyre would be more prosperous. Therefore, when Babylon besieged Jerusalem, Tyre scoffed at the nation and boasted in its own future prosperity. This prompted God to prophesy coming judgment on Tyre—he promised to bring “many nations” against them. Ezekiel 26:2 says:

Son of man, because Tyre has said about Jerusalem, ‘Aha, the gateway of the peoples is broken; it has swung open to me. I will become rich, now that she has been destroyed,’ therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am against you, O Tyre! I will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves.

In Ezekiel 26:7-11, Ezekiel prophesied the demise of Tyre years before it began. The first nation to judge them would be Babylon. Verse 7-11 says:

For this is what the sovereign Lord says: Take note that I am about to bring King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, king of kings, against Tyre from the north, with horses, chariots, and horsemen, an army and hordes of people. He will kill your daughters in the field with the sword. He will build a siege wall against you, erect a siege ramp against you, and raise a great shield against you. He will direct the blows of his battering rams against your walls and tear down your towers with his weapons. He will cover you with the dust kicked up by his many horses. Your walls will shake from the noise of the horsemen, wheels, and chariots when he enters your gates like those who invade through a city’s broken walls. With his horses’ hoofs he will trample all your streets. He will kill your people with the sword, and your strong pillars will tumble down to the ground.

History says that Nebuchadnezzar conquered Israel in 586 BC, then headed north in 585 BC to besiege Tyre. The siege lasted for thirteen years, until Tyre was defeated in 573 BC, as prophesied by verses 7-11.¹⁶ Afterwards, Tyre still existed but never regained its former power.

However, in verse 12, the prophecy considers the other nation which would conquer Tyre. Ezekiel changed the pronoun “he”—referring to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon—to “they”—referring to Greece. Babylon started the destruction of Tyre, but Greece completed it. Ezekiel 26:12-14 says:

They will steal your wealth and loot your merchandise. They will tear down your walls and destroy your luxurious homes. Your stones, your trees, and your soil he will throw into the water. I will silence the noise of your songs; the sound of your harps will be heard no more. I will make you a bare rock; you will be a place where fishing nets are spread. You will never be built again, for I, the Lord, have spoken, declares the sovereign Lord.

In 332 BC, Alexander the Great destroyed the city after a seven-month siege.¹⁷ To reach the island city, he had his soldiers throw the ruins of the mainland city into the ocean to build a causeway to reach it—fulfilling the prophecy on the stones, soil, and trees being thrown into the sea (26:12).¹⁸ After destroying the city, he left it a “bare rock” (26:14). The island city has never been rebuilt, just as God foretold (26:14). Ezekiel predicted this about 250 years before it happened.¹⁹

William MacDonald, in the Believer’s Bible Commentary, said:

Over a hundred years ago a traveler described the ruins of Tyre as being exactly as predicted: The island, as such, is not more than a mile in length. The part which projects south beyond the isthmus is perhaps a quarter of a mile broad, and is rocky and uneven. It is now unoccupied except by fishermen, as “a place to spread nets upon.”²⁰

Today, the island city of Tyre is just a bare rock which has never been rebuilt, as Scripture predicted. However, the coastal mainland still exists, as they are currently part of Lebanon.

Consider that in Ezekiel 26, there are eight prophecies alone about Tyre:

1. Many nations would come against Tyre (Ezekiel 26:3)
2. The walls of Tyre would be broken down (Ez. 26:4)
3. Dust would be scraped from her and she would be left like a bare rock (Ez. 26:4)
4. Fishermen would spread their nets at Tyre (Ez. 26:5)
5. King Nebuchadnezzar would build a wall against Tyre (Ez. 26:8)
6. King Nebuchadnezzar would plunder the city (Ez. 26: 9-12)
7. Nations would come to destroy the city and the stone ruins would be cast into the sea (Ez. 26:12)
8. The city would never be rebuilt (Ezekiel 26:14)²¹

Mathematician Peter Stoner says the probability of all these prophecies happening as it did are 1 in 400 million.²² Truly amazing!

Prophecies Of Alexander The Great

What other major prophecies are found in the Bible? In Daniel, there are some very detailed prophecies about the rise and fall of Alexander the Great—given almost 200 years before his birth.²³ It should be mentioned that, like Isaiah, the book of Daniel is a battle ground for the liberal-minded. The prophetic details are too accurate for someone with a naturalistic mindset to accept. Therefore, they deny the internal and external evidence and declare, “Somebody else had to have written the book of Daniel! It couldn’t have been written around 530 BC²⁴ before the historical events happened! It is history! Not prophecy!” Mark Hitchcock shares a story which illustrates how ludicrous some of these attacks are:

A professor at a liberal theological seminary was teaching from the book of Daniel. At the beginning of one of his lectures he said, “Now I want you to know that Daniel was written during the Maccabean period in the second century B.C. The facts were written, as all history is, after the events took place.” One young man raised his hand and asked, “How can that be, sir, when Christ said in Matthew 24:15 that the book of Daniel was written by Daniel?” The professor paused for a moment, looked the student square in the eyes, and said, “Young man, I know more about the book of Daniel than Jesus did.”²⁵

Daniel’s prophecies about Alexander the Great are most emphasized in Daniel 8 and 11, but Greece is prophetically introduced in Daniel 2 and 7. In Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream, which Daniel interprets, of four successive nations that would rule the earth. Initially, they are not all named, but eventually they become clear by prophecies given later in Daniel and through the confirmation of historical events. The nations are Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. In Daniel 2:37-40, Daniel’s interpretation of the dream is given:

You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has granted you sovereignty, power, strength, and honor. Wherever human beings, wild animals, and birds of the sky live—he has given them into your power. He has given you authority over them all. You are the head of gold. Now after you another kingdom will arise, one inferior to yours. Then a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule in all the earth. Then there will be a fourth kingdom, one strong like iron. Just like iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything, and as iron breaks in pieces all of these metals, so it will break in pieces and crush the others.

In the dream, there was a statue with a gold head representing Babylon, a silver chest and arms representing Persia, a bronze belly and thighs representing Greece, and iron legs with feet made of clay and iron representing Rome (Dan 2:33-34). In Daniel 5:28-31, part of the prophecy was fulfilled as Persia eventually conquered Babylon. The prophecy of Greece, the kingdom of bronze, conquering Persia, the kingdom of silver, happened many years after Daniel’s writings. But the details of these conquests are seen in Daniel 7, 8, and 11. In Daniel Chapter 7, Daniel again prophesied about these four kingdoms, through the symbolism of various beasts. In these prophecies, Greece was symbolized by a winged leopard. Daniel 7:6 says: “After these things, as I was watching, another beast like a leopard appeared, with four bird-like wings on its back. This beast had four heads, and ruling authority was given to it.” The leopard with wings represented the great speed and ferociousness of the nation’s conquering power. Alexander the Great, the king of Greece, left with his army in 334 BC at the age of twenty-two²⁶ and essentially conquered the world in 323 BC by age thirty-three.²⁷

Specifics about Alexander are added to this prophecy in Daniel 8, as it described the battle between Persia and Greece (334-331 BC).²⁸ Persia was symbolized by a ram with two horns with one longer than the other, and Greece was symbolized by a goat with a conspicuous horn (or “large horn,” NIV). Daniel 8:1-8 says:

In the third year of King Belshazzar’s reign, a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after the one that had appeared to me previously. In this vision I saw myself in Susa the citadel, which is located in the province of Elam. In the vision I saw myself at the Ulai Canal. I looked up and saw a ram with two horns standing at the canal. Its two horns were both long, but one was longer than the other. The longer one was coming up after the shorter one. I saw that the ram was butting westward, northward, and southward. No animal was able to stand before it, and there was none who could deliver from its power. It did as it pleased and acted arrogantly. While I was contemplating all this, a male goat was coming from the west over the surface of all the land without touching the ground. This goat had a conspicuous horn between its eyes. It came to the two-horned ram that I had seen standing beside the canal and rushed against it with raging strength. I saw it approaching the ram. It went into a fit of rage against the ram and struck it and broke off its two horns. The ram had no ability to resist it. The goat hurled the ram to the ground and trampled it. No one could deliver the ram from its power. The male goat acted even more arrogantly. But no sooner had the large horn become strong than it was broken, and there arose four conspicuous horns in its place, extending toward the four winds of the sky.

What does the ram with two horns, with one larger than the other, and the goat with one large horn represent? The ram with two horns represented Persia and the Medes, with Persia being the prominent horn. In 550 BC, Cyrus, the King of Persia, conquered the Medes²⁹ and then united the two tribes by putting officials from both kingdoms in charge of making a great army. This army eventually conquered Babylon in 539 BC.³⁰ Then Greece conquered Persia in 331 BC³¹, as symbolized by the goat with a prominent horn.

Though not explained in Daniel 8, the symbols of the ram and goat probably would have been understood by the ancient audience without further clarification. Harold Wilmington shared this: “Marcellius, a historian in the fourth century, states that the Persian ruler bore the head of a ram as he stood in front of his army.”³² Similarly, there are ancient drawings which depict Greek armies as a horned goat.³³ Using animals as national symbols was common in the ancient world, even as it is today.

The large horn on the goat clearly represented Alexander the Great, as clarified by Daniel 8:8. In describing him, it says: ”The goat became very great, but at the height of his power his large horn was broken off, and in its place four prominent horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven.” This appears to represent how Alexander the Great died at the young age of thirty-three, and his kingdom was divided into fourths. The “four horns” were his four generals: “Cassander over Macedon and Greece, Lysimichus over Thrace and Asia Minor, Seleucus over Syria and Babylon, Ptolemy over Egypt.”³⁴

Daniel 11:2-4 further clarifies this prophecy, without symbols, by naming Persia and Greece and giving more detail about Alexander. It says:

Now I will tell you the truth. “Three more kings will arise for Persia. Then a fourth king will be unusually rich, more so than all who preceded him. When he has amassed power through his riches, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece. Then a powerful king will arise, exercising great authority and doing as he pleases. Shortly after his rise to power, his kingdom will be broken up and distributed toward the four winds of the sky—but not to his posterity or with the authority he exercised, for his kingdom will be uprooted and distributed to others besides these.

As shared in Daniel 11:4, when Alexander died at age thirty-three, his kingdom would not go to “his posterity” but to “others.” Alexander’s wife was pregnant with his only child when he died. Since no one knew the sex of the child, it caused dissension amongst his army about who would be king. The dissension continued even after Alexander’s son was born. Eventually, it led to the kingdom being divided amongst Alexander’s generals.³⁵

To further add to the wonder of these prophecies, Josephus, an ancient Jewish historian, shared a story about Alexander reaching Jerusalem during his military campaign. Upon entering the city, he was met by Juddua, Israel’s high priest, who came dressed in a magnificent garb. The priest declared to Alexander how Daniel predicted his defeat of the Persians hundreds of years earlier. After reading Daniel 8, King Alexander fell down and worshiped him.³⁶

The accuracy of Biblical prophecy is clearly seen in Daniel’s prophecies of Persia’s defeat of Babylon, Greece’s defeat of Persia, and even more specifically, the details about Alexander the Great—the large horn on the goat which breaks into four horns in Daniel 8 and the mighty king whose kingdom was broken up and distributed to “the four winds” in Daniel 11. Though liberal theologians try to deny that Daniel wrote these prophecies, internal evidence (what Daniel says about himself in the book) and external evidence (the NT authors’ beliefs and the writing of ancient Jews) support that Daniel wrote these amazing prophecies—some of them over 200 years before they happened. God’s Word is truly amazing!

Prophecies Of The Syrian Wars And Antiochus Epiphanies

The next prophecy we are going to briefly consider has been called the “Battleground of Daniel.”³⁷ It is called this because the prophecies are so accurate, people say they must be history, not prophecy. Instead of accepting the traditional dating of 530 BC, liberal scholars date it to around 165 BC. In Daniel 11:1-35, at least 100 prophecies are recorded, and maybe as many as 135.³⁸ John Walvoord said, “Probably no other portion of Scripture presents more minute prophecy than Daniel 11:1-35, and this has prompted the sharpest attack of critics seeking to discredit this prophetic portion.”³⁹ John Phillips noted, “When Daniel 11 was written, they were not history but prophecy. We see them as history; Daniel saw them still ahead in the unborn ages. No other chapter in all of Scripture gives us such exhibition of God’s power to foretell the future.”⁴⁰

Daniel 11:1-35 covers three topics: the battle between Persia and Greece (v. 2-4), the Syrian Wars between Syria and Egypt (v. 5-35), and specifically, the rise of a Syrian king named Antiochus Epiphanes, who was a vicious enemy of the Jews (v. 21-35). In Scripture, he is used as a “type” of future Antichrist. In fact, verses 36-45 stop describing Antiochus and begin to describe the Antichrist, an end-time figure who will hate God and persecute both Jews and Christians. Because the current focus is prophecies that have been fulfilled, only the basics of verses 1-35 will be covered.

Persia Versus Greece (V. 2-4)

Daniel 11:2-4 says,

Now I will tell you the truth. “Three more kings will arise for Persia. Then a fourth king will be unusually rich, more so than all who preceded him. When he has amassed power through his riches, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece. Then a powerful king will arise, exercising great authority and doing as he pleases. Shortly after his rise to power, his kingdom will be broken up and distributed toward the four winds of the sky—but not to his posterity or with the authority he exercised, for his kingdom will be uprooted and distributed to others besides these.

The first part of the prophecy is somewhat of a repetition. God gave Daniel visions of what was going to happen to Israel in the future, adding more details with each successive vision. Babylon had already been conquered by Persia, but God was revealing more about the future conflict between Greece and Persia.

In verse 2, the angel said there would be four more kings who would rule in Persia and the fourth would be very wealthy and stir the nation up against Greece. As clearly seen from history, “Those four kings were Cambyses (530–522 B.C.), Pseudo-Smerdis (522–521), Darius I Hystaspes (521–486), and Xerxes (486–465).”⁴¹

The fourth king, Xerxes, was the king who married Esther, a Jewish woman who protected the Jews as detailed in the book of Esther. As mentioned, Xerxes led Persia to advance against Greece; the advance was unsuccessful, creating a bitter rivalry between the two kingdoms. Eventually, the “mighty king,” Alexander the Great, defeated Persia in 331 BC. When Alexander died, the kingdom did not go to his young son, but instead to his four generals who oversaw Egypt, Syria-Babylon, Asia Minor, and Macedon-Greece.⁴² Again, the Bible predicted this over 200 years before it occurred.⁴³

The Syrian Wars: Syria Versus Egypt (V. 5-35)

Daniel 11:5-6 says:

Then the king of the south and one of his subordinates will grow strong. His subordinate will resist him and will rule a kingdom greater than his. After some years have passed, they will form an alliance. Then the daughter of the king of the south will come to the king of the north to make an agreement, but she will not retain her power, nor will he continue in his strength. She, together with the one who brought her, her child, and her benefactor will all be delivered over at that time.

Verses 5-35 is an account of the relationship and battles between the Northern Kingdom, Assyria, and the Southern Kingdom, Egypt. The first king of the South was Ptolemy I; the subordinate, who would grow strong and rule a greater kingdom, was Syria’s prince, Seleucus I. Initially, these two were allies, but as Seleucus grew in power, he eventually took control of Syria and they became antagonists.⁴⁴ This was the beginning of 160 years of discord between Egypt and Syria⁴⁵, during which the stronger kingdom always maintained control of Israel.⁴⁶ After their initial alliance was split, the two kingdoms were eventually yoked by marriage. Antiochus II, king of Syria, married Berenice, the daughter of Ptolemy II, the king of Egypt.⁴⁷ “Yet the agreement would not continue nor would Berenice retain her position of power, as Antiochus’s former wife Laodice would murder Antiochus, Berenice, and their child.”⁴⁸ Daniel 11:5-35 chronicles the 160-year struggle between the two dynasties from approximately 323 BC to 164 BC.⁴⁹ This information was given to Daniel because it would greatly affect Israel. The rest of the prophecy describes these battles, but we will not consider all the minute detail here.

Syrian Wars: Antiochus Epiphanes (V. 21-35)

Daniel 11:21-23 says:

Then there will arise in his place a despicable person to whom the royal honor has not been rightfully conferred. He will come on the scene in a time of prosperity and will seize the kingdom through deceit. Armies will be suddenly swept away in defeat before him; both they and a covenant leader will be destroyed. After entering into an alliance with him, he will behave treacherously; he will ascend to power with only a small force.

Verses 21-35 highlight the rise of an infamous Syrian ruler named Antiochus Epiphanes. He was an enemy of the Jews and their religion. Verse 21 says that he was not royalty and that he actually seized the kingdom by deceit. Antiochus was the uncle of the rightful heir to Syria but seized control of it, since the true heir, his nephew, was only a child. Later, the prophecy details his war with the king of Egypt (v. 25) and his persecution of the Jews.

Daniel 11:31-34 says this about Antiochus’ attack on Israel:

His forces will rise up and profane the fortified sanctuary, stopping the daily sacrifice. In its place they will set up the abomination that causes desolation. Then with smooth words he will defile those who have rejected the covenant. But the people who are loyal to their God will act valiantly. These who are wise among the people will teach the masses. However, they will fall by the sword and by the flame, and they will be imprisoned and plundered for some time. When they stumble, they will be granted some help…

Antiochus stopped Jewish worship by abolishing the sacrificial system, setting up an altar of Zeus in the temple, destroying Jewish Bibles, forbidding circumcision, sacrificing a pig on the altar, and making the Jewish priests eat pig meat. According to David Guzik, Antiochus was also said “to have killed 80,000 Jews, taken 40,000 more as prisoners, and sold another 40,000 as slaves. He also plundered the temple, robbing it of approximately $1 billion by modern calculations.”⁵⁰

In verse 31, the “abomination that causes desolation” was the idol of Zeus set up in the temple, which, according to Christ, was a foreshadowing of what the Antichrist will do during the end times. In Matthew 24:15-16, Jesus warned the Jews: “‘So when you see the abomination of desolation—spoken about by Daniel the prophet—standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee to the mountains.” The initial abomination was just a foreshadowing of a later rebellion against God during the end times. Second Thessalonians 2:3-4 describes this:

Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not arrive until the rebellion comes and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction. He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, and as a result he takes his seat in God’s temple, displaying himself as God.

Daniel 11:32, in describing Antiochus’ works, says a number of Jews rejected their covenant with God to follow Antiochus. Likewise, verses 33-35 describe how those loyal to God will “act valiantly” and teach many during that time period, but also suffer for their faith. Specifically, this describes the Maccabean brothers and the rebellion they inspired—eventually leading to Antiochus’ defeat. This story is more fully told in 1 and 2 Maccabees which is part of the Apocrypha. Today the Jews still celebrate this great victory. It is called the “Festival of Lights” or “Hanukkah.”

Purpose Of The Daniel 11 Prophecy

We must ask ourselves, “Why did God give such minute detail about the Syrian Wars and the future of Israel in Daniel 11?” It was primarily so the Jews would not lose hope during those hard years, especially when they were persecuted by Antiochus. Also, as they experienced the fulfillment of prophecy, it would help sustain their hope in the coming messiah and all of God’s promises in Scripture.

In verses 36-45, which we will not cover, there is a prophetic gap, as Daniel’s prophecy skips ahead to the Antichrist, foreshadowed in the person of Antiochus. The prophecies described in those verses were not fulfilled by Antiochus, which is clearly seen by their ending with the resurrection of the righteous and the unjust (12:2). It says, “Many of those who sleep in the dusty ground will awake— some to everlasting life, and others to shame and everlasting abhorrence.” The final prophecy focuses on the end times.

Similar to Antiochus, the Antichrist will greatly persecute the Jews (and Christians), as Revelation 12 and 13 describes. He will declare himself as God in the rebuilt Jewish temple, and the people of God will be tempted to fall away because of the great persecution. However, Daniel’s prophecy, as well as other prophecies, encourage God’s people to not give up hope, as Christ will eventually return to reward his people and bring justice.

Though liberal scholars try to discount these prophecies, they are important to confirm the faith of God’s people, to help unbelievers come to know God, and to encourage God’s people to persevere in hard times. To reject or minimize them is to rob people of great blessings.

Reflection

1. In the reading, what fulfilled prophecy stood out most to you and why?
2. What are some fulfilled prophecies about Tyre, as mentioned by Ezekiel?
3. Why do liberal scholars reject Isaiah and Daniel as the authors of their respective books? What are some evidences that Isaiah and Daniel were the actual authors of their books?
4. What are some specific prophecies about Alexander the Great in Daniel?
5. What chapter in Daniel is called “The Battleground of Daniel” and why?
6. What other questions or applications do you have from the reading?

Copyright © 2020 Gregory Brown

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