The walls of the ancient city of Jerusalem are pierced by a number of gates, which are still the only way through today. These gates are mentioned in various biblical prophecies. Among them is the Golden Gate, once the main entrance gate from the east. The prophet Ezekiel writes about it:

„Then the Lord said to me, ‘This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened again, and no man shall pass through it, for the Lord God of Israel has passed through it; therefore it shall be shut.’ “ Ezekiel 44:1, 2

Six hundred years later, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, entered the city through this gate. (The event is reported in all four Gospels: Matthew 21:7-11; Mark 11:7-11; Luke 19:35-45; John 12:12-19). This fulfils one part of the prophecy. But what about the other part? Who would be foolish enough to shut the main gate of the city? When Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans, the walls and gates were torn down. The new city was built further west of the Golden Gate.

When Sultan Suleiman rebuilt the walls in 1543, he did something strange. He had the gate with its arches and ornaments restored and then immediately bricked up with blocks of stone. The Golden Gate is still firmly closed today and stands as a silent witness to the accuracy of biblical prophecy.

About 180 kilometres south of Jerusalem lies the city of Petra, the former capital of the land of Edom. This land is rocky and rugged and therefore difficult to cross. The road to Petra is a narrow gorge with almost vertical cliffs. The city controlled the great caravan route along which treasures were transported from Arabia and the eastern lands. The wealthy inhabitants carved magnificent tombs and temples into the red rocks surrounding the city. As wealth and culture grew in Petra, so did cruelty and pride. The prophet Jeremiah predicted the outcome:

„‘O you who dwell in the clefts of the rocks and occupy high mountains, though you have made your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there,’ says the Lord. So Edom will be a wasteland.“ Jeremiah 49:16, 17

How foolish such a prophecy must have seemed to the complacent inhabitants of the rich and impregnable city. But today Petra is deserted, an uninhabited city in ruins. The prophecy was fulfilled.

More than 1,000 kilometres from Petra flow the great rivers Tigris and Euphrates, which irrigate ancient Mesopotamia. This is the cradle of human civilisation. The most beautiful city in this land was Babylon.

It was famous for its hanging gardens and the most beautiful city wall ever built. When Nebuchadnezzar founded his great empire, Babylon fell into lust and sin. That is why the prophet Jeremiah proclaimed:

„Let the land tremble and be dismayed, for every purpose of the Lord shall be fulfilled.“

„to make the land of Babylon a desolate place where no one lives“ ... „and Babylon will become a heap of stones and a dwelling place for jackals.“ Jeremiah 51:29.37

And all this happened. Barely a hundred years later, the city had to surrender to the Persian army and completely lost its importance.

Alexander the Great wanted to rebuild the city, but he died before the work could begin. The city remained completely uninhabited for 2,000 years, a testimony to fulfilled biblical prophecy.

One of the most remarkable prophecies is directed against Tyre, the famous city of the Phoenicians. Ezekiel prophesied:

„Behold, I will bring Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon upon Tyre. He will slay your people with the sword and pull down your strong pillars to the ground. Behold, I am against you, O Tyre; I will bring up many nations against you.“ ... „and they shall destroy the walls of Tyre, and break down the towers: I will also take the dust from her, and make her like a bare rock.“ ... „you shall be a place where nets are spread. You shall no longer be cultivated. For I, the Lord, have spoken it.“ Ezekiel 26:7, Ezekiel 11:3,4,14

Nebuchadnezzar attacked Tyre, fought his way into the city and killed most of the inhabitants. This fulfilled the first part of the prophecy. But the wealthy citizens fled to a small island a kilometre from the coast and built a new city. There they lived in prosperity and security for more than two centuries. Then Alexander the Great arrived with his armies from Macedonia, Greece, Tracia, Crete, Rhodes, Cyprus, Sidon and other countries and islands and also conquered the new city on the island. However, Tyre's splendidly equipped fleet and a cleverly devised underwater network system prevented an attack from the sea. Alexander therefore had a causeway built from the mainland to the island so that his master could attack. He used the stones and rubble from the old city for this purpose. Finally, the dust was swept up and filled in the gaps. And he took the city and killed all the inhabitants.

Today, old Tyre is barren and deserted, a place where a few fishermen stretch out their nets to dry. There are only the springs of Ras El Aïn left, which could supply a large city with water. But the place remained uninhabited, and so the prophecy was fulfilled.

How is it that these prophecies were so completely fulfilled? Some say it is very simple: the prophets predicted so much that some of it had to come true. If we want to accept this, we have to ask: to what extent were the prophets lucky with their predictions?

Well, there is a branch of mathematics called probability theory. This method can be used to mathematically calculate the probability of an event occurring or not.

Professor Peter Stoner has studied the probability of biblical prophecy. He used figures from studies of more than 600 students who investigated all the questions under his supervision. Here are the results of their estimates.

1. Closing the Golden Gate 1:1,000
2. The fall of Petra 1:10
3. The Desolation of the Land of Edom 1:50
4. The uninhabitability of the land of Edom 1:100
5. The Conquest of Babylon 1:10
6. The uninhabitability of Babylon 1: 100
7. The destruction of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar 1:2
8. The destruction of Tyre by Alexander 1:5
9. The construction of the causeway to the island 1:10
10. The use of the last dust for dam construction 1:2,000
11. Stretching the nets in the ruins 1:10
12. The permanent desolation 1:20

If these values are summarised, the following probability is obtained from these 12 estimates:

1:1,000 x 1:10 x 1:50 x 1:100 x 1:10 x 1:100 x 1:2 x 1:5 x 1:10 x 1:2,000 x 1:10 x 1:20 = 1 : 2,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

The probability is therefore one in two trillion that all twelve individual prophecies would have been fulfilled if the prophets had only guessed.

Well, two trillion is a big number, but what does it really say?

Let's assume we have two trillion silver dollars, one of which is labelled. Two trillion silver dollars would cover the total area of the state of Texas at a height of about 12 metres. Now we blindfold a man and send him out to find the silver dollar. He can go wherever he wants. He can dig as deep as he wants. But one day he has to say: Here is the silver dollar he has drawn. What chance does the man have of finding this dollar? It is the same chance as the fulfilment of the biblical prophecies we have just looked at.

The estimate refers to only four prophecies. And how many are contained in the Bible? We only need to add a portion of these prophecies to arrive at a number of silver dollars that would fill the entire universe. How is it then that so many prophecies have been fulfilled, even though their estimates can no longer be calculated using probability theory? It follows that there is no way they could have been guesses.