Editor, Manteca Bulletin,
Each of us has wondered, “Is the Bible really the Word of God?  First we must understand the Bible is not one single book; but 66 books written by 40 different authors, inspired by a Divine God, over a period of roughly 2,000 years in three different languages on three different continents with no historical errors or contradictions. 
While the Bible is a book of law, history, and poetry; most are intrigued by its prophecies.  Had there been one contradiction, the entire Bible would be discredited. Yet, 90 percent of 1,817 prophecies have been completed and we are living in a period of time where the remaining 10 percent of the prophecies are taking place before our eyes.
While many prophecies were fulfilled through the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ; another significant and most recent prophecy was fulfilled on May 14, 1948 when Israel became an independent nation (following World War II when 6 million Jews were killed during the Holocaust) for the first time in over 2,500 years (Ezekiel 17:11) since the Babylonian takeover in 606 BC.
Israel is well documented as God’s land from Genesis through Revelation, but the people became evil (1 Kings 19:10, 19:18, 2 Kings 17:16-17) and were scattered (Leviticus 26:33-38, Deuteronomy 28:64-67) after Israel was conquered due to the wickedness of Israel’s kings (1 Samuel 8:18) and suffered years of persecution and massacre from various countries.  The land became “dry bones” until Israel became revived again in 1948. (Ezekiel 37:7-14)
In 1967, Israel recaptured Jerusalem during the 6 Day War.  Jerusalem has been called the “apple of (God’s) eye” (Zechariah 2:8) and although it is not a prophecy, is it coincidence that the letters USA are in the middle of Jerusalem, as the USA leads the world to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel once again?  Jerusalem will be restored. (Jeremiah 33:6-7)  This has set up another prophecy to be fulfilled as Jerusalem will become a “cup of trembling” (Zechariah 12:2-3) where nations will gather to battle against it (Zechariah 14:1-3) led by Persia, modern day Iran. (Ezekiel 38:2)
Imagine anyone reading the Bible prior to 1948 believing the Bible to be false since Israel had not existed as an independent nation with its own authority since 606 BC (2500 Years)?  What if Israel was just like any other county and not the centered focus of many nations throughout the world wishing to wipe Israel off the face of the earth?
Another prophecy being prepared is socialism through globalization.  Redistribution of wealth will be used (Daniel 11:21-24) for people to surrender their individual rights to the government, giving power to a world-tyrant to control the monetary system (Revelation 13:16-17) establishing the “666”, or what is known as the “mark of the beast”.
The last generation is described as lovers of themselves, lovers of money, disobedient, and unholy. (2 Timothy 2:3).  The generation today has been taught theories of evolution as fact while ignoring the evidence of Jesus as theories.  They will have “strong delusion” (2 Thessalonians 2:11) to do as they feel, accepting homosexuality as normal, and silencing and hating Christianity (Matthew 24:9) to feel guiltless of their own sin.
In 700 BC, the Bible references the “circle of the earth” (Isaiah 40:22) “and hangeth the earth upon nothing” (Job 26:7-10) with the Hebrew word meaning spherical.  The Bible made this claim long before mankind discovered and agreed that the earth was round.
Time and time again, the Bible has been proven to be emphatically correct with each of its prophecies accuracy fulfilled by twelve prophets written over 2,000 years.  While there are only a few prophecies remaining, there is no doubt that the Bible is the living and Devine Word of God!

Frank Aquila 
Manteca