• What Jehovah Foretells Comes to Be
    The Watchtower—2008 | January 1

    • Ancient Civilizations

      God foretold that Babylon would suffer permanent destruction and that Edom, Moab, and Ammon would also be destroyed forever. (Jeremiah 48:42; 49:17, 18; 51:24-26; Obadiah 8, 18; Zephaniah 2:8, 9) The disappearance of these peoples as distinct national groups testifies to the accuracy of God’s prophetic Word.

      Of course, one might argue that anyone can predict that a nation, however mighty, will eventually pass out of existence. But that argument ignores the vital fact that the Bible went further. For example, it provided details as to just how Babylon would be overthrown. The Bible foretold that the city would be conquered by the Medes, that the invading soldiers would be under the leadership of Cyrus, and that the city’s defensive rivers would be dried up.​—Isaiah 13:17-19; 44:27–45:1.

      Not in all cases did the Bible predict that a conquered nation or people would cease to exist forever. On the contrary, in foretelling the overthrow of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, God said that the city would experience a restoration, despite Babylon’s policy of never releasing its captives. (Jeremiah 24:4-7; 29:10; 30:18, 19) This was fulfilled, and the Jews’ descendants continue to exist as a distinct people to this day.

      Further, Jehovah foretold that Egypt would be overthrown as a world power but that “afterward she [would] be resided in as in the days of old.” In time, this ancient power would “become a lowly kingdom.” (Jeremiah 46:25, 26; Ezekiel 29:14, 15) This proved true as well. In addition, Jehovah predicted that Greece would be overthrown as a world power, but never did he say that this nation would cease to exist. What do we learn from the disappearance of civilizations about which Jehovah predicted annihilation and the presence of others about which he made no such prediction? That God’s Word contains genuine, reliable prophecy.