Does History Affirm The Book of Isaiah? (Bible vs. Science Part 3)

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Last part of our series on Bible vs. Science.

1. Intro

Isaiah was a prophet living during the time of several kings of Judah who reigned from 767 B.C. to 686 B.C.

Basically the 8th century.

2. Diving in: What does Isaiah say?

• Reading the prophecy about Cyrus.
• Isaiah 45:1-4
• Name specific, people specific.
• Cross references
  • 2 Chronicles 36:22
  • Ezra 5

3. What do the outside sources say?

• Empirical data of what Isaiah said that the outside sources corroborate.
  •  "His decree that is written on the cylinder matches perfectly what the Bible predicted he would do." 
  • The Dead Sea Scrolls

4. What do the skeptics say?

• Written later
  • Briefly explain ex eventu.
  • Written after Cyrus delivered Israel
  •  Multiple authorship: Differing styles and themes 
  •  Using literary differences to determine authorship 

5. How can we know Isaiah has one author?

Besides Isaiah himself: The New Testament

• Jesus in Matthew 13:14
• Paul Romans 11:8
• John 12:39-40

6. What does the physical evidence show us?

• One continuous scroll
• The Cyrus cylinder

7. Why do critics ignore these things?

• Methodological naturalism
• Their lens prohibits prophecy

8. The Gospel tie in

• Isaiah prophecies Jesus
• If they don't accept inerrancy, if they don't accept Jesus' words, they simply won't be willing to believe. Pray for them.
• This means that, if we follow this logically, that if Isaiah prophesied this, what else did he prophecy?
• Luke 4:21

9. How do we approach these conversations as believers?

• Spiritual conversations using history/science
• Those who reject the words of the Lord Himself will never be convinced by any other means. Pray for them. Let's speak the truth in love.
• It' s not about just knowing these things, it's about how God wants to use it to lead people to His Word and to Himself.

Next episode: exploring the importance of Biblical language for every believer! Planned for next Wednesday.

Resources:

Downloadable Infographic

Got Questions On Isaiah

Explore The Isaiah Manuscript On The Dead Sea Scroll Website

Evidence Unseen on The Book of Isaiah

Apologetics Press on The Book of Isaiah

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