Bible prophecy

“Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation.” 2 Peter 1:20
Most of us take the Bible for granted. We have easy access to it, multiple translations in our own language, a vast supply of dictionaries, concordances and other tools, all in book format, electronic format, or online. Intellectually we may know its origins, but how often do we stop to consider that the Bible is truly God-breathed, and not merely man’s thoughts?
Prophecy is the watermark of the Bible. Prophecy authenticates it as the word of God. How else could Daniel write about the four world empires – Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome – with such accuracy? How else could over 300 specific prophecies about Jesus Christ – where he would be born (Mic. 5:2), where he would grow up (Isa. 9:1-2), how He would be betrayed (and the amount of money, Zech. 11:12-13), how He would die (Ps. 22:16), and even the words He would utter from the cross (Ps. 22:1) – how could these be written about in such detail by men living hundreds of years before the event, and retain a 100% track record?
Therefore, we can have complete trust in what the Bible has to say. It is to be the foundation of what we believe. Peter also tells us that the word of prophecy (i.e. the Bible) is more certain than eyewitness experiences (2 Pet. 1:18-19) – this coming from a man who saw Jesus walking on water and even tried it himself, saw Him perform miracles, saw Him transfigured, and saw Him rise from the dead. We don’t need to see these kinds of things to believe – we just need to read the Bible for what it is: the word of God.