Questions on Chapter 14.

rebuilt, Jerusalem to be rebuilt, the foundation of the temple to be relaid, the loins of kings to be loosed, the gates of brass opened, the bars of iron broken, and the treasures of darkness given to Cyrus! Here are ten distinct specifications, all plain and obvious to the senses of every beholder, so that misapprehension is an impossibility. But next, behold the fulfillment! Every single specification, according to the most authentic and uncontradicted testimony of all ancient history, is most fully and most clearly fulfilled. Who can doubt that the cities of Judea were rebuilt after the return of the Jews? that Jerusalem, their dilapidated capital, was again reared up? that the Jews returned, and again dwelt in their city? that the channel of the Euphrates was dried up, and its waters turned in another direction? that the temple was again erected under the superintendence of Ezra and Nehemiah? that the gates of brass and the bars of iron, placed at the passage of the river, gave way for the entrance of Cyrus and his army? that the “loins” of Belshazzar were “loosed,” and that his knees were smiting together, and that he was quaking with alarm from the “handwriting upon the wall,” at the very moment when Cyrus was entering with his hosts by the “two-leaved gates” that had been left open? and that Cyrus soon possessed himself, amid the darkness of the night, of the immense “treasures” of that wealthy metropolis? Thus all the specifications were met. The prediction and fulfillment embraced each other. The evangelical prophet was seen to be a faithful chronicler of posthumous history. His mission was honored with the seal of Heaven’s authority; and all evidence from prophecy in favor of the divine inspiration of the Scriptures was here exhibited for the confirmation of the Church, too overwhelmingly conclusive to be demolished by the assaults of infidelity. QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER 14.

QUESTION 1. What is the second grand division of external evidence?

2. In what sense is the evidence from prophecy miraculous?

3. Is the evidence from prophecy absolutely conclusive?

4. What is the character of the evidence based on our own senses or experience?

5. In judging of the evidence from prophecy, what two points are specially important?

6. What are the elements of a real prophecy?

7. What three rules are given for judging of the force of prophetic testimony?

8. What predictions concerning the Jews are given, and can their fulfillment be shown?

9. What was the prediction concerning their restoration from the Babylonian captivity, and how was it fulfilled?

10. What number of specifications are found in the prediction here given?

11. Can it be shown how each was fulfilled?