so i posted a response in a religous forum where someone had asked if any Bible prophesies had been fulfilled. I responded by posting a link to a David J. Stewart article about the prophesy of Tyre , this article:
http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/End%20of%20the%20World/tyre_in_prophecy.htm
then a girl responded by saying it was full of LIES and i have no idea how to respond or refute
The atheists are pretty much destroying the Christians in the forum and i would really appreciate if someone could refute what she's saying or at least give me something good to respond with. please? can ya help a Christian out? This is her response:
"Ok, time to deconstruct several LIES spouted by the site you are linking. I am going to be bold enough to call them lies, because it is literally impossible to reconcile its statements with history - or, for that matter, with the Bible.
1. "The city of Tyre (Tyrus) was a thriving Phoenician city in ancient times, a source of economic abundance and trading. God pronounced judgment upon the city of Tyre. The surviving inhabitants after Babylon's invasion moved all their possessions and families to a little isle just off of Tyre. They thought they'd be safe on their little island."
LIE #1. Ezekiel 26 itself calls the mainland part the "mainland settlements." That is to say, the author of Ezekiel knew Tyre to be the city on the island, and not the mainland portion plus a "little island."
2. "But 250 years after Babylon destroyed Tyre, Alexander the Great of Greece was determined to conquer that little island. So what Alexander the Great did was scrape the dust of Tyrus (just as God prophesied in Ezekiel 26:3-5), using the dust to build a causeway (a road that is raised above water or marshland or sand) reaching out to that little island where the remnant of Tyrus thought they were safe. Alexander the Great totally annihilated that little island and left it desolate just as God had foretold in prophecy. Right down to the last letter, God's Word has been fulfilled."
LIE #2. Ezekiel 26 is quite clear that the permanent annihilation of Tyre was to be accomplished by Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon. Ezekiel 29 betrays the failure of this prophecy, and then delivers another failed prophecy, this time that Nebuchadrezzar would plunder Egypt. In fact, Nebby was handed a critical defeat against Egypt and pretty much stopped making war after that. Amasis II's Egypt would eventually fall to Cyrus.
if Ezekiel had just penned his prophecies to cheer for Cyrus instead of Nebby, he'd have a pretty nice stack of "successful" prophecies - considering that he named a bunch of other nations that would fall to Nebby (but actually fell to Cyrus.)
LIE #3. While Alexander did sack Phoenician Tyre, he is described as having only destroyed half of it. In fact, Tyre was still mentioned frequently in the Gospels as the "area of Tyre and Sidon," so Alexander did NOT effect a permanent annihilation.
In addition, the destruction of Tyre and Sidon was specifically prophesied (cf: Ezekiel 28 ) as accomplishing a political situation in which Israel would be devoid of hostile neighbours.
3. "Today, fisherman cast their nets around Tyrus, just as God prophesied. That ought to be exciting to you my friend. I mean, if you get on a plane and fly to Tyrus today, you see fishermen casting their nets in Tyrus. It's a desolate area. The little island is desolate. God left Tyre desolate, just as the Bible says in Ezekiel 26:3-5)."
LIE #4. Actually, the ruins of Phoenician Tyre are still on what was the island; and the site is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so there's no arbitrary commercial fishing based out of the ruins.
LIE #5, finally, in that your source continually hammers on the specific text in Ez 26:3-5 while ignoring the context; no surprise, as the context through the next four chapters mark Ezekiel as being about as stonable as a failed prophet can get."
http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/End%20of%20the%20World/tyre_in_prophecy.htm
then a girl responded by saying it was full of LIES and i have no idea how to respond or refute
The atheists are pretty much destroying the Christians in the forum and i would really appreciate if someone could refute what she's saying or at least give me something good to respond with. please? can ya help a Christian out? This is her response: "Ok, time to deconstruct several LIES spouted by the site you are linking. I am going to be bold enough to call them lies, because it is literally impossible to reconcile its statements with history - or, for that matter, with the Bible.
1. "The city of Tyre (Tyrus) was a thriving Phoenician city in ancient times, a source of economic abundance and trading. God pronounced judgment upon the city of Tyre. The surviving inhabitants after Babylon's invasion moved all their possessions and families to a little isle just off of Tyre. They thought they'd be safe on their little island."
LIE #1. Ezekiel 26 itself calls the mainland part the "mainland settlements." That is to say, the author of Ezekiel knew Tyre to be the city on the island, and not the mainland portion plus a "little island."
2. "But 250 years after Babylon destroyed Tyre, Alexander the Great of Greece was determined to conquer that little island. So what Alexander the Great did was scrape the dust of Tyrus (just as God prophesied in Ezekiel 26:3-5), using the dust to build a causeway (a road that is raised above water or marshland or sand) reaching out to that little island where the remnant of Tyrus thought they were safe. Alexander the Great totally annihilated that little island and left it desolate just as God had foretold in prophecy. Right down to the last letter, God's Word has been fulfilled."
LIE #2. Ezekiel 26 is quite clear that the permanent annihilation of Tyre was to be accomplished by Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon. Ezekiel 29 betrays the failure of this prophecy, and then delivers another failed prophecy, this time that Nebuchadrezzar would plunder Egypt. In fact, Nebby was handed a critical defeat against Egypt and pretty much stopped making war after that. Amasis II's Egypt would eventually fall to Cyrus.
if Ezekiel had just penned his prophecies to cheer for Cyrus instead of Nebby, he'd have a pretty nice stack of "successful" prophecies - considering that he named a bunch of other nations that would fall to Nebby (but actually fell to Cyrus.)
LIE #3. While Alexander did sack Phoenician Tyre, he is described as having only destroyed half of it. In fact, Tyre was still mentioned frequently in the Gospels as the "area of Tyre and Sidon," so Alexander did NOT effect a permanent annihilation.
In addition, the destruction of Tyre and Sidon was specifically prophesied (cf: Ezekiel 28 ) as accomplishing a political situation in which Israel would be devoid of hostile neighbours.
3. "Today, fisherman cast their nets around Tyrus, just as God prophesied. That ought to be exciting to you my friend. I mean, if you get on a plane and fly to Tyrus today, you see fishermen casting their nets in Tyrus. It's a desolate area. The little island is desolate. God left Tyre desolate, just as the Bible says in Ezekiel 26:3-5)."
LIE #4. Actually, the ruins of Phoenician Tyre are still on what was the island; and the site is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so there's no arbitrary commercial fishing based out of the ruins.
LIE #5, finally, in that your source continually hammers on the specific text in Ez 26:3-5 while ignoring the context; no surprise, as the context through the next four chapters mark Ezekiel as being about as stonable as a failed prophet can get."
