that this be the day? Is this not what we should expect from the One who indicated that obedience to his law would contribute toward preserving the people’s health?

That the Bible does contain statements of outstanding wisdom cannot be denied. There definitely are clear indications that the Bible could not have been simply the product of human wisdom. It contains statements revealing wisdom not shared by the world’s wise men at the time it was recorded. Yet there is an even stronger factor that identifies the Bible as a book from God. What is this factor?

Knowledge That Cannot Come from Men

“YOU do not know what your life will be tomorrow. For you are a mist appearing for a little while and then disappearing.” These words, quoted from the Bible, express an undeniable truth​—we humans cannot say positively what tomorrow will bring.​—Jas. 4:14.

In view of this, would it not be far more difficult, yes, impossible for men to foretell major future events with unerring accuracy and in clear terms centuries in advance? Would the presence of such forecasts or prophecies in the Bible not be a strong substantiation for its claim to be inspired of God? But are there such prophecies in the Bible? Consider:

THE FATE OF BABYLON AND NINEVEH

Babylon, built on both sides of the Euphrates River, was once the impressive capital of the great Babylonian Empire. Surrounded by palms, equipped with a permanent water supply and situated on the trade route from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea, the city indeed had an excellent location. Nevertheless, even before Babylon’s status changed from a mere satellite of the Assyrian Empire to that of the capital of the world-conquering Babylonian Empire, the Hebrew prophet Isaiah declared in the eighth century B.C.E.: “Babylon, the decoration of kingdoms, the beauty of the pride of the Chaldeans, must become as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. She will never be inhabited, nor will she reside for generation after generation. And there the Arab will not pitch his tent, and no shepherds will let their flocks lie down there.”​—Isa. 13:19, 20.

No one today can deny the fulfillment of these words. For many centuries already Babylon has lain in ruins. Even in the spring there is nothing on which sheep and goats might be seen feeding. Babylon has indeed come to an inglorious end. Curator-in-Chief of the French National Museums André Parrot said:

“The impression it always made on me was one of utter desolation. . . . [Tourists] are generally deeply disappointed and almost with one voice exclaim that there is nothing to see. They expect to find palaces, temples, and the ‘Tower of Babel’; they are shown only masses of ruins, most of them consisting of baked brick​—that is to say, sun-dried clay blocks, grey-coloured and