Defend Your Faith Devotional for KidsSample

Day 2: Path Through the Sea

What would you think if a friend told you that next Thursday you’d have a substitute teacher with blonde hair and glasses who spoke with a French accent and gave you homework that required frozen fish? Crazy, right? But what if that was exactly what happened? Would you listen to your friend more closely the next time he predicted something in the future? 

The Bible identifies many men and women whom God gave knowledge of future events. They’re called prophets. Through God’s inspiration, these prophets made hundreds of prophecies that came true in amazing detail.

One of the most interesting is a prophecy about the ancient city of Tyre. God’s prophet Ezekiel predicted the city would be completely destroyed because the people rejected God and practiced evil. At the time, Tyre was one of the most powerful cities in the world. Nobody would’ve thought it could be brought to ruins. But Ezekiel said even the stones, wood, and dirt of the city would be thrown into the water (Ezekiel 26:12).

Soon after Ezekiel gave his prophecy, the city was attacked for thirteen years by the army of Babylon. Babylon finally defeated Tyre and left it in ruins. Some people escaped to an island offshore and built another strong city. Nearly 250 years later, Alexander the Great conquered that island city by building a half-mile-long path through the water. History shows that Alexander’s armies created the “path” by throwing all the rocks, lumber, and dirt from the original site of Tyre into the sea. More recent geologic studies of the area show that the island was linked to the land by a stretch of sand that was about ten feet below the water. That made it a bit easier for Alexander to build the path and conquer the last remnants of Tyre.

Defend Your Faith

Ezekiel’s prophecy was fulfilled in amazing detail because God knew what would happen to Tyre and its people. In fact, this prophecy came true with such accuracy that some people claimed that the book of Ezekiel was written after Tyre was destroyed. But Ezekiel lived and prophesied nearly three hundred years before Alexander the Great attacked Tyre in 332 bc. 

The Bible is full of prophecies like this. At the time many prophecies were made, people didn’t believe they could come true. But they did. All of God’s Word is true. We can always trust what we read in the Bible . . . even when it seems impossible.