No other volume claiming to be a holy book provides the ironclad proof of fulfilled prophecies.
Let’s have one more lesson on God’s prophets. First, we should distinguish between their role in forthtelling, or speaking in a forthright way about present conditions, and foretelling—predicting future events. Both were vital to the nation. Israel, unlike the Gentile nations, was God’s timepiece. In grand style He unfolded to them what He was doing before it came to pass. Then we must think of their mode of communication. There were both writing and speaking prophets, some doing both. We also should notice their audiences. Moses, the greatest of the Old Testament prophets, addressed the whole nation. Later, after the nation was divided, some addressed the 10-tribed Israel in the north, others spoke to Judah, while still others spoke to Gentiles, Jonah being the most famous. The prophets are also divided by their time of ministry: those before the Mesopotamian captivity, those during (like Ezekiel and Daniel), and those after their return to the Land (like Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi), called pre-exile, exile, and post-exile prophets. But most important is their message. There are four themes interwoven through the prophetic books: 1. speaking to present needs, like Israel’s lapses into idolatry, or their lack of care for widows and the poor; 2. warnings of approaching judgment if they didn’t repent and return to the Lord; 3. the promise of a coming Messiah, who would largely be rejected by the nation but become their sin-bearing Lamb in His atoning death; 4. the ultimate triumph of God in restoring His people, defeating their foes, and establishing His King in a glorious eternal reign. As these prophecies are literally fulfilled, they prove beyond doubt that God’s Word is absolutely true.