The Torah, the Tanakh, and The New Testament
part 1: Judaism and an appeal to Christianity
First thing is first if anything is going to be established in this series, there needs to be a foundation which can be agreed upon. This introductory chapter will not be an in depth study of epistemology, nor will it be a brain breaking philosophical discourse. Rather, the introductory chapter will intend to establish a persuading argument for the concrete foundation of the reasoning for this proclamation. Although this will talk less about Judaism and christianity it is fundamental to life in general.
Judaism and Christianity have differences and disagreements in truth. They should not be associated by its people alone but firstly by its primary documents, the bible, its original meanings, and accessible evidence. It should not be considered people alone because plenty of people can claim Christainity or Judaism(religion) yet can not be defined as such. For example Christian in its Greek origins simply means follower of Christ(Jesus), if someone claims to be a Christain, but disregards the Jesus of history and the bible, they are not followers of the actual Christ. In other words someone saying “in the name of Moses'' or “Jesus!” means nothing if Jesus or Moses is a simply imaginary one in their mind. Similarly, if someone says “Robert told me to kill you”, and Robert does not tell that person to kill anybody, it has to be assumed that it is a different Robert, he's crazy, or it’s a lie. Therefore there is no blame to be associated with Robert Shell or the friends that listen to Robert Shell, but what people should look at is what Robert Shell really says. If someone wanted to blame Judaism or Christainity for something that is contrary to its core they would only be changing the Robert and do nothing to refute the actual Robert Shell. The only way you find out what is from Robert Shell would be the words that come out of his mouth. Now, it is not exactly accessible to walk up to middle easter Jesus or Moses and ask what they said but we do have the next best thing: their written words in primary documents. These documents prove themselves to be the Word of God through prophecy along with other things, but most of all it convicts the conscience.
Tyre
Skeptics often criticize the prophecy of Tyre, they will say “Aha! This prophecy is broken, Tyre is around today” but if they were to look closely they would see that not only is it fulfilled in a broad sense it is fulfilled in a way where it’s too crazy to be coincidence. The prophecy from Ezekiel 26 reads:
2 “Son of man, because Tyre has said of Jerusalem, ‘Aha! The gate to the nations is broken, and it's doors have swung open to me; now that she lies in ruins I will prosper,’ 3 therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against you, Tyre, and I will bring many nations against you, like the sea casting up its waves. 4 They will destroy the walls of Tyre and pull down her towers; I will scrape away her rubble and make her a bare rock. 5 Out in the sea she will become a place to spread fishnets, for I have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord. She will become plunder for the nations, 6 and her settlements on the mainland will be ravaged by the sword. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
7 “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: From the north I am going to bring against Tyre Nebuchadnezzar[b] king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, with horsemen and a great army. 8 He will ravage your settlements on the mainland with the sword; he will set up siege works against you, build a ramp up to your walls and raise his shields against you. 9 He will direct the blows of his battering rams against your walls and demolish your towers with his weapons. 10 His horses will be so many that they will cover you with dust. Your walls will tremble at the noise of the warhorses, wagons and chariots when he enters your gates as men enter a city whose walls have been broken through. 11 The hooves of his horses will trample all your streets; he will kill your people with the sword, and your strong pillars will fall to the ground. 12 They will plunder your wealth and loot your merchandise; they will break down your walls and demolish your fine houses and throw your stones, timber and rubble into the sea. 13 I will put an end to your noisy songs, and the music of your harps will be heard no more. 14 I will make you a bare rock, and you will become a place to spread fishnets. You will never be rebuilt, for I the Lord have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord.
15 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Tyre: Will not the coastlands tremble at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan and the slaughter takes place in you?16 Then all the princes of the coast will step down from their thrones and lay aside their robes and take off their embroidered garments. Clothed with terror, they will sit on the ground, trembling every moment, appalled at you. 17 Then they will take up a lament concerning you and say to you:
“‘How you are destroyed, city of renown,
populated by men of the sea!
You were a power on the seas,
you and your citizens;
you put your terror
on all who lived there.
Now the coastlands tremble
on the day of your fall;
the islands in the sea
are terrified at your collapse.’
19 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When I make you a desolate city, like cities no longer inhabited, and when I bring the ocean depths over you and its vast waters cover you, 20 then I will bring you down with those who go down to the pit, to the people of long ago. I will make you dwell in the earth below, as in ancient ruins, with those who go down to the pit, and you will not return or take your place[c] in the land of the living. 21 I will bring you to a horrible end and you will be no more. You will be sought, but you will never again be found, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
What Bible says
Prophesied before the fulfillment
Verse 3 There will be many nations that attack the city of tyre
Verse 7 Nebuchadnezzar will attack first, and siege the city
Verse 10 He(Nebuchadnezzar) will breach the wall and get through and kill people
Verse 12 They( not indicating Nebuchadnezzar) will break down the walls again, and
Verse 12 they will demolish much of the city and throw it into the sea
Verse 14 People will fish over the remains of the city
Verse 14 Tyre will not be rebuilt kingdom
Verse 16 all the princes of the coast will step down from their thrones and be terrified because of what happened to Tyre
What History says
It is agreed that this prophecy was written before the these events took place because it happened over hundreds of years
Many sieges of Tyre, by multiple kingdoms
Nebuchadnezzar attacks and sieged city for 13 years (AgainstApion, 1.21)(Ephʿal2003, p. 186)
Nebuchadnezzar broke the main wall and established a somewhat victory but not total because the people of Tyre retreated to one of the fortified islands of Tyre.
Alexander the great attacks Tyre
Alexander the Great demolishes the city, and takes the rubble of the city “scrapes it like a rock” and throws it into the ocean to make a bridge. He makes it all the way across.
The island where the people of Tyre made their last stand is now submerged under water, and is a great fishing spot and has been for a long time.
Did not go back to the existing state, it’s still called tyre but is not the queen of the seas, and you cannot rebuild something that is under water, and none of the old parts were used, and has no resemblance. It’s just like the fall of Rome. Is the Roman empire built today because there is a city there? The Tire is even more contrasted than that because it’s not in the same place where it used to be. (Edward, Creasy, Fifteen decisive battles of the World ch 4)
Alexander the great either kills everyone in Tyre or sells them into slavery and soon after hearing this, and how he swept through Tyre easily, all sea nations nations fearfully submitted to Alexander1
“It doesn’t mean anything”
Maybe someone is thinking “It doesn't mean anything, they got some stuff right, People have had prophecies before and they weren’t in the bible '' or maybe “ the texts have been altered so it’s still not trustworthy”. These statements are a frequent response to the biblical beliefs, most people will respond with exhaustive evidence, manuscripts, accuracy percentages, and quotes from skeptics. To address these problems which are deeply related I am not going to do that. Instead, I am going to use step by step logic.
They got some stuff right
The statement that they got “some” things right is understatement. Deuteronomy 18:20-22 states,
“But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuous in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, That prophet shall die. Now you may say in your heart, “how will we know the word which Yahweh has not spoken? When a prophet speaks in the name of Yahweh, if the thing does not come about or come true that is the thing which Yahweh has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him”
Notice it says the prophet who speaks a word, singular in My name which I have not commanded him to speak … that prophet shall die. Then it says if the prophecy they make does not come true, Yahweh has not spoken it. The requirements for prophecy in the bible are 100% accuracy. There are not partial prophets where sometimes they have earwax in their ears, or their tongue slips a word out improperly. If they are not hearing right or their tongue utters the wrong thing it’s not a slap on the wrist, it is death. “He shall die”. Therefore the requirement for what is in the bible is 100% accurate or they were not going to include it, write it down or revere it.
In all seriousness false prophecy is one of the things the bible teaches against the most. Ezekiel 13 is one of the many passages that show how much God hates false prophecy and false prophets,
“2 Son of man prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy from their heart, Hear the word of Yahweh! 3 Thus says Lord Yahweh, “woe to the wickedly foolish prophets who are walking after their own spirit and have seen nothing. 4 O Israel your prophets have been like foxes among waste places.
It says prophesy against those who prophesy from their hearts. Meaning this is teaching to not prophesy from imagination, or feelings, or heart. It not only says prophesy against them but when he has to articulate it The Lord says woe to the prophets. Woe is not a light accusation or warning. The archaic meaning of the word is similar to cursed, or damned. In this sense it is both warning and showing their state with God. The reason that God says to the prophets that they are cursed is because they are walking after their own spirit. In other words He condemned them for prophesying from their heart, or from their own imagination. If then the prophesying from feeling or imagination is cursed to the superlative degree, why then would someone assume that the prophets who wrote the bible were speaking from their imagination? If someone is going to think up a book, and make it a clear point that false prophecy is something that is absolutely and completely condemned, why would they include a plethora of prophecies? It is not a logical response to know that something is cursed and do it anyway especially when you should assume they believed it. It’s already irrational enough, but if someone keeps assuming they were making this up. This would have to be the line of logic: the prophets knew that they would be condemned and could die if they prophesy from their imagination. Then, they proceed to prophecy from their imagination. Then they choose to prophesy an unpopular subject. Then they become unpopular and persecuted. Then they still hold on to these prophecies to death, while knowing they are condemned. Lastly they just happen to get what they predicted right. It is a laughable line of reasoning.
Other People have prophesied stuff correctly.
The statement that other people have prophesied stuff “correctly” is only sort of true. If someone is talking about other major religions it is false. For example, the Quran has very no true prophecies. Not only that, the Quran makes no historical type prophecies. They have alleged “prophecies'. For example they see “And when the wild beasts are gathered together.” (81:6)” and say “Nobody could ever imagine that one day wild beasts shall be captured, tamed and put together in closed and open parks. The establishment of zoos has fulfilled this prophecy”(Fulfilled Prophecies of The Holy Quran by Ansar Raza, Canada). I think the verifiable historical depiction of what happened to Tyre is a lot different than zoo prophecy. If someone were to look at “fulfilled prophecy” in other religions, it would be similar to zoo prophecy where it feels either out of context, or completely vague, and an absolute stretch, this is completely unlike the bible. This does not mean that people don’t do foolish things with the bible where they say some verse “has been fulfilled this day” when it’s not a prophecy or has already been fulfilled. That doesn’t change the credibility of the bible but displays the lack of credibility to the person, because it has already been shown that there is real prophecy in the bible.
It is more than clear that the Bible is credible, But what is the reliable message it brings? Why is there a debate on the matter?
Most of this research on tyre is accredited to Mike winger, and he has a great video on it