How Does God Prove That He Is God?

Donnie DeBord, Ph.D.

Existence of GodNature of God

One of the striking ways God proves His existence and distinguishes Himself from all false gods is by demonstrating His perfect knowledge of the future. Nowhere is this clearer than in Isaiah 45-46, where God declares that He alone is the Lord over history, able to foretell events before they occur. While idols are powerless, and human rulers are blind to what lies ahead, God alone knows and shapes the course of history. His ability to declare the future proves that He alone is God.

God’s Challenge to the Nations

In Isaiah 45, God speaks through Isaiah to Cyrus, the Persian king, over a century before Cyrus is even born.1 The Lord declares, “I call you by your name, I name you, though you do not know me” (Isaiah 45:4, ESV). This prophecy is stunning: God identifies Cyrus long before he appears in history and declares that he will be the instrument of Israel’s deliverance. Isaiah 46 continues this theme. Here, God contrasts Himself with the idols of Babylon, which must be carried on the backs of animals (Isaiah 46:1-2). These false gods are burdensome, helpless, and mute. In contrast, the Lord declares, “I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done” (Isaiah 46:9-10, ESV). 

This is a direct challenge to anyone who doubts God’s existence or God’s perfect knowledge of the future. Unlike the lifeless idols that require human hands to move them, God moves history itself. No pagan deity can do this. False gods and false conceptions of God must remain silent because they have no knowledge of the future. But the true God predicts and ensures what will happen.

Conclusion

God’s ability to declare the future is a display of His divinity. This is one reason why the prophecy of Cyrus is so significant. Cyrus does not know the God of Israel, yet he fulfills God’s will precisely as foretold. The Persian king’s actions are not outside of God’s influence but are part of His divine plan. This truth is meant to bring comfort to God’s people. If God alone knows the future, and if the future unfolds according to His purpose, then those who trust Him need not fear. The Israelites might have doubted their God, but Isaiah reminds them that their deliverance is already assured because the One who reveals the future remains Lord of the future.

The God of the Bible is God alone. He proves this through His perfect knowledge of the future. He alone declares the end from the beginning.

Endnotes

1 For evidence of the book of Isaiah being written in the 8th century B.C. (cf. Isaiah 1:1), 150 years before Cyrus of Persia lived, see Clyde M. Woods’ commentary on Isaiah; John Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah, chs 1-39; and E. J. Young, The Book of Isaiah.

REPRODUCTION & DISCLAIMERS: We are happy to grant permission for this article to be reproduced in part or in its entirety, as long as our stipulations are observed.