Different Prophecies

Then said the Lord unto me, Pray not for this people for their good. When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.
Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place. (Jeremiah 14:11-13 KJV)

Who would you believe when two persons claimed to speak in the name of God and both accusing each other of being a liar?

Different King Different Response

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah sent Pashhur son of Malchijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah, asking, "Inquire of the Lord on our behalf, since King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will perform for us something like all his past wondrous works so that Nebuchadnezzar will withdraw from us." (Jeremiah 21:1-2 CSB)

King Zedekiah was hoping that God would perform a miracle and forced Nebuchadnezzar to withdraw, just as He had done in the days of King Hezekiah when God struck the Assyrian king Sennacherib.

King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz prayed about this and cried out to heaven, and the Lord sent an angel who annihilated every valiant warrior, leader, and commander in the camp of the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria returned in disgrace to his land. He went to the temple of his god, and there some of his own children struck him down with the sword. (2 Chronicles 32:20-21 CSB)

But King Zedekiah got a very different response from God.

Jeremiah answered them: This is what you should tell Zedekiah: The Lord, the God of Israel, says: I'm going to turn your own weapons against you, yes, the weapons you are using to fight the king of Babylon and the Babylonians who have surrounded you! I will round them up in the center of the city. Then I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and strong arm in fierce anger and rage. I will strike down those within this city - both people and animals - and they will die of a terrible plague. Afterward, declares the Lord, I will deliver Judah's King Zedekiah, his servants, and those in this city who have survived plague, war, and famine to Babylon's King Nebuchadnezzar and to their enemies who seek to do them harm. He will put them to the sword without pity, mercy, or compassion. (Jeremiah 21:3-7 CEB)

And the people were given a very clear choice.

This is what you should tell this people: The Lord says: I'm setting before you the way of life and the way of death. Whoever stays in the city will die by the sword, famine, and disease. But whoever leaves the city and surrenders to the Babylonians will live; yes, their lives will be spared. (Jeremiah 21:8-9 CEB)

Jeremiah Prophesied That God Would Destroy Jerusalem

Early in the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came from the Lord: "This is what the Lord says: Stand in the courtyard of the Lord's house and speak to all the people of the towns of Judah who come to worship in the house of the Lord. Tell them everything I command you; do not omit a word. Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from their evil ways. Then I will relent and not inflict on them the disaster I was planning because of the evil they have done. Say to them, 'This is what the Lord says: If you do not listen to me and follow my law, which I have set before you, and if you do not listen to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I have sent to you again and again (though you have not listened), then I will make this house like Shiloh and this city a curse among all the nations of the earth.'" (Jeremiah 26:1-6 NIV)

Jeremiah prophesied that the temple of Solomon and the city of Jerusalem would be destroyed. If you were a Jew living in those days, would you believe that God would destroy His own temple and His own city? Did not God promised that the dynasty of David would never end? How can Jeremiah's prophecy be true?

Would you believe that God would do something that seemed to be against His word?

Since you, my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build him a house, your servant has found courage to pray in your presence. Lord, you indeed are God, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. So now, you have been pleased to bless your servant's house that it may continue before you forever. For you, Lord, have blessed it, and it is blessed forever. (1 Chronicles 17:25-27 CSB)

Jeremiah and Hananiah

In that same year, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the Lord, in the presence of the priests and all the people, saying, "Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the Lord's house, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. I will also bring back to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon, declares the Lord, for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon." Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to Hananiah the prophet in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord, and the prophet Jeremiah said, "Amen! May the Lord do so; may the Lord make the words that you have prophesied come true, and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the Lord, and all the exiles. Yet hear now this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms. As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes to pass, then it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet." (Jeremiah 28:1-9 ESV)

Today, when we look at Jeremiah and Hananiah, it is so easy to identify who is the real prophet and who is the false prophet. However, if you were living in the days when Jeremiah and Hananiah are alive, who would you believe? As a Jew, would you believe in the patriotic prophet Hananiah who prophesied the fall of Babylon, or the traitorous prophet Jeremiah, who asked you to surrender to the enemy? Tell me frankly. Who would you believe?

Swap Israel with your own country and Babylon with your country's enemy. Then a Jeremiah appear and ask you to surrender to the enemy country. Will you listen to him?

And you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' (Matthew 23:30 NIV)

But they kept shouting, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" (Luke 23:21 NIV)

No Prophet Can Claim Credit for Prophecy Coming True

For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:21 ESV)

No prophet can know the future, unless God revealed it to him. Therefore, whatever God has revealed to the prophet, it is the word of God and the prophet cannot claim credit for knowing the future.

However, the maker of this YouTube video gave credit the prophet for knowing the future. Was he mistaken or was he taught by his prophet?

God Use Sinners

It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. The former, however, preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can add to the distress of my chains. What then is the issue? Just this: that in every way, whether by false motives or true, Christ is preached. And in this I rejoice. (Philippians 1:15-18b BSB)

By faith Rahab the prostitute wasn't killed with the disobedient because she welcomed the spies in peace. What more can I say? I would run out of time if I told you about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. (Hebrews 11:31-32 CEB)

God use sinners to do His will. He used Rahab, Jephthah and Samson. God also use unbelievers like Jeroboam II to save Israel. He even spoke through unbelievers like Balaam. He has no other choice. All men are sinners.

As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." (Romans 3:10-12 NIV)

All have turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. (Psalm 14:3 Psalm 53:3 BSB)

Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins. (Ecclesiastes 7:20 NIV)

Who can say, "I have kept my heart pure; I am cleansed from my sin"? (Proverbs 20:9 BSB, CSB)

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (1 John 1:8 ESV)

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption (ἀπολυτρώσεως) that is in Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:23-24 CSB)

And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Romans 8:30 ESV)

The State Of Israel Before First Exile

Then the LORD said to me, "Even if Moses and Samuel should stand before me, my compassions would not reach out to these people. Send them from my presence, and let them go. And if they ask you, 'Where shall we go?' tell them, 'This is what the Lord says:
"'Those destined for death, to death;
those for the sword, to the sword;
those for starvation, to starvation;
those for captivity, to captivity.' (Jeremiah 15:1-2 CSB)

Even Moses and Samuel could not intercede for them. Noah, Daniel, and Job could only save themselves and not their families. In the wilderness, Moses was able to intercede successfully for the Israelites after they worshipped the golden calf. During the flood, Noah could save his family. So the Israelites in the days of Jeremiah and Ezekiel were worse than the world during the flood and their ancestors during their wandering in the wilderness.

"Son of man, suppose a land sins against me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its supply of bread, to send famine through it, and to wipe out both people and animals from it. Even if these three men - Noah, Daniel, and Job - were in it, they would rescue only themselves by their righteousness." This is the declaration of the Lord God.

"Suppose I allow dangerous animals to pass through the land and depopulate it so that it becomes desolate, with no one passing through it for fear of the animals. Even if these three men were in it, as I live" - the declaration of the Lord God - "they could not rescue their sons or daughters. They alone would be rescued, but the land would be desolate.

"Or suppose I bring a sword against that land and say, 'Let a sword pass through it,' so that I wipe out both people and animals from it. Even if these three men were in it, as I live" - the declaration of the Lord God - "they could not rescue their sons or daughters, but they alone would be rescued.

"Or suppose I send a plague into that land and pour out my wrath on it with bloodshed to wipe out both people and animals from it. Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live" - the declaration of the Lord God - "they could not rescue their son or daughter. They would rescue only themselves by their righteousness. (Ezekiel 14:13-20 CSB)

How God Spoke To Believers - Bible vs Koran

The Lord said to Moses, "Thus you will tell the Israelites: 'You yourselves have seen that I have spoken with you from heaven. You must not make gods of silver alongside me, nor make gods of gold for yourselves. (Exodus 20:22-23 NET)

In the Bible (Exodus 20:1-21), God spoke directly to the Israelites and gave them the ten commandments.

In the Quran (42:51), Allah does not speak to men directly. However, the Quran (4:164) said that Allah spoke to Moses directly.

It is not fitting for a man that Allah should speak to him except by inspiration, or from behind a veil, or by the sending of a messenger to reveal, with Allah's permission, what Allah wills: for He is Most High, Most Wise. (Surah 42:51 Yusuf Ali version)

Thus, the ten commandments went directly from God to the Israelites, but the Quran went from Allah to Jibreel to Mohammad to the Muslims.

The Four Ins And Three Outs of Israel

Israel went in and out of the promised land three times before settling in securely with the coming of the Messiah.

IN1
Israel first go into the promised land when their ancestor Abraham migrated from Ur to Haran to Canaan.
The LORD had said to Abram, "Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you. (Genesis 12:1 NIV)

OUT1
Then they went to Egypt to escape famine.
The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all; Joseph was already in Egypt. (Exodus 1:5 NIV)

IN2
Then they return from Egypt to the promised land and God parted the Jordan river and Joshua led the Israelites to the promised land.
On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. (Joshua 4:19 NIV)

OUT2
God exiled Israel to Babylon for their sin for seventy years so that the land enjoyed its sabbath rests.
He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his successors until the kingdom of Persia came to power. (2 Chronicles 36:20 NIV)

IN3
After seventy years, the Jews returned to the promised land in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah.
In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:
"This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:
"'The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them. And in any locality where survivors may now be living, the people are to provide them with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.'" (Ezra 1:1-4 NIV)

OUT3
The exile of Israel to all nations was not described in the Bible but it was prophesied by the prophets.
The LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you. (Deuteronomy 4:27 NIV)

IN4
The return of Israel from all nations was not described in the Bible because it is a current event but it was prophesied by the prophets. Israel became a nation in 1948 and they will stay in the promised land until the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.
On that day the Lord will extend his hand a second time to recover the remnant of his people who survive - from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and the coasts and islands of the west. (Isaiah 11:11 CSB)

How God Spoke To Men - Bible vs Koran

God spoke to Moses directly.
The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent. (Exodus 33:11 NIV)

God spoke to the prophets in different ways, like dreams and visions or through angels.
Long ago God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways. (Hebrews 1:1 CSB)

God spoke directly to Israel through a thick cloud at Mount Sinai.
The LORD said to Moses, "I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you." Then Moses told the LORD what the people had said. (Exodus 19:9 NIV)
On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. (Exodus 19:16-20 ESV)

Allah does not speak to men directly.
It is not fitting for a man that Allah should speak to him except by inspiration, or from behind a veil, or by the sending of a messenger to reveal, with Allah's permission, what Allah wills: for He is Most High, Most Wise. (42:51 Yusuf Ali version)

Allah spoke to Moses directly.
Of some messengers We have already told thee the story; of others We have not;- and to Moses Allah spoke direct;- (4:164 Yusuf Ali version)

Moses, The First And Greatest Prophet

God spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. He did not speak to him in visions or dreams or through angels.
Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent. (Exodus 33:11 ESV)
And he said, "Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?" (Numbers 12:6-8 ESV)
And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel. (Deuteronomy 34:10-12 ESV)

God will raise another prophet in future from among the Israelites.
The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him. (Deuteronomy 18:15 HCSB)

How can we recognise this prophet and his message?
You may say to yourself, 'How can we recognize a message the LORD has not spoken?' (Deuteronomy 18:21 CSB)

Two conditions:
1. What the prophet say must come true.
When a prophet speaks in the LORD's name, and the message does not come true or is not fulfilled, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him. (Deuteronomy 18:22 CSB)

2. The prophet must cannot lead you to worship any other gods other than the God of Israel, who redeemed the Israelites from Egypt and led them to the land of Canaan.
"Suppose there are prophets among you or those who dream dreams about the future, and they promise you signs or miracles, and the predicted signs or miracles occur. If they then say, 'Come, let us worship other gods' - gods you have not known before - do not listen to them. The Lord your God is testing you to see if you truly love him with all your heart and soul. Serve only the Lord your God and fear him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him. The false prophets or visionaries who try to lead you astray must be put to death, for they encourage rebellion against the Lord your God, who redeemed you from slavery and brought you out of the land of Egypt. Since they try to lead you astray from the way the Lord your God commanded you to live, you must put them to death. In this way you will purge the evil from among you. (Deuteronomy 13:1-5 NLT)

Summary:
Moses received the message directly from God.
The LORD said to Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction." (Exodus 24:12 ESV)

Any prophet that followed after Moses cannot change the message.
See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it. (Deuteronomy 12:32 NIV)

God Informs In Advance

God informs us events before it happens so that you will believe that He is God.
Indeed, the Sovereign LORD never does anything until he reveals his plans to his servants the prophets. (Amos 3:7 NLT)
I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am he. (John 13:19 CSB)

God told Noah He will wipe out the world with a flood.
And God said to Noah, "I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. (Genesis 6:13 ESV)

God told Abraham He will destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.
The LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? (Genesis 18:17-18 ESV)

God told Habakkuk that He will use the Chaldeans to punish Judah and send them into captivity.
For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth, to seize dwellings not their own. (Habakkuk 1:6 ESV)

God told Jeremiah that the Jews will return from Babylon after 70 years of captivity.
"For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. (Jeremiah 29:10 ESV)
During the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, learned from reading the word of the LORD, as revealed to Jeremiah the prophet, that Jerusalem must lie desolate for seventy years. (Daniel 9:2 NLT)

God revealed to Daniel that another 490 years will be allocated to Jerusalem.
"Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. (Daniel 9:24 ESV)

God revealed to Daniel that the Anointed One will come and will be cut off after 483 years. Jerusalem will be destroyed.
Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until an Anointed One, the ruler, will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It will be rebuilt with a plaza and a moat, but in difficult times. After those sixty-two weeks the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the coming ruler will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come with a flood, and until the end there will be war; desolations are decreed. (Daniel 9:25-26 CSB)

God told Zechariah that the Anointed One will return by landing on Mount of Olives.
On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem. And the Mount of Olives will split apart, making a wide valley running from east to west. Half the mountain will move toward the north and half toward the south. (Zechariah 14:4 NLT)

The angels also told the apostles the same thing as Jesus the Anointed One ascended to heaven from Mount of Olives.
"Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day's walk from the city. (Acts 1:11-12 NIV)

Jesus the Anointed One personally told the apostle John that He is coming soon.
He who testifies about these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly." Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22:20 HCSB)

The Prophet's Disobedience

Now an old prophet lived in Bethel. And his sons came and told him all that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also told to their father the words that he had spoken to the king. And their father said to them, "Which way did he go?" And his sons showed him the way that the man of God who came from Judah had gone. And he said to his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me." So they saddled the donkey for him and he mounted it. And he went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak. And he said to him, "Are you the man of God who came from Judah?" And he said, "I am." Then he said to him, "Come home with me and eat bread." And he said, "I may not return with you, or go in with you, neither will I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place, for it was said to me by the word of the Lord, 'You shall neither eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by the way that you came.'" And he said to him, "I also am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, 'Bring him back with you into your house that he may eat bread and drink water.'" But he lied to him. So he went back with him and ate bread in his house and drank water.

And as they sat at the table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back. And he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, "Thus says the Lord, 'Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord and have not kept the command that the Lord your God commanded you, but have come back and have eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which he said to you, "Eat no bread and drink no water," your body shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.'" And after he had eaten bread and drunk, he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back. And as he went away a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his body was thrown in the road, and the donkey stood beside it; the lion also stood beside the body. And behold, men passed by and saw the body thrown in the road and the lion standing by the body. And they came and told it in the city where the old prophet lived.

And when the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard of it, he said, "It is the man of God who disobeyed the word of the Lord; therefore the Lord has given him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, according to the word that the Lord spoke to him." And he said to his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me." And they saddled it. And he went and found his body thrown in the road, and the donkey and the lion standing beside the body. The lion had not eaten the body or torn the donkey. And the prophet took up the body of the man of God and laid it on the donkey and brought it back to the city to mourn and to bury him. And he laid the body in his own grave. And they mourned over him, saying, "Alas, my brother!" And after he had buried him, he said to his sons, "When I die, bury me in the grave in which the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. For the saying that he called out by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and against all the houses of the high places that are in the cities of Samaria shall surely come to pass." (1 Kings 13:11-32 ESV)

The obvious lesson:
God never contradict Himself and we must obey His word.

The questions:
What was the motive of the old prophet?
Was he a true prophet? He seemed to have a lot of respect for God's word, but he deceived the other prophet.

The less obvious lesson:
You must know God's word very well. Otherwise you may believe men's word, just because of their credentials.

Warning Against False Prophets

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. (Proverbs 14:12 ESV)

Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (1 Thessalonians 5:21)

I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. (Romans 16:17–18 ESV)

The Purpose of Miracles Recorded in the Bible

The public showing of miracles, signs and wonders is written in the Bible as an evidence of divine power to authenticate the messengers and the message in the Bible were indeed sent by God.

God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will. (Hebrews 2:4 NASB)

Moses

1. Three signs to authenticate Moses as a prophet in the eyes of the children of Israel (Exodus 4:3-9)
2. The ten plagues of Egypt so that the Egyptians shall know God had stretched out His hand to bring out the Israelites (Exodus 7:3–5, Exodus 8,9,10,11)
3. God leading Israel in a visible manner by a pillar of cloud and fire (Exodus 13:21)
4. The parting of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21-22)
5. The giving of the Law at Mount Sinai (Exodus 24)
6. The daily manna (Exodus 16:35)
7. Water from rock (Exodus 17:5-7, Numbers 20:10-11)

These miracles performed publicly in the sight of all Israel (Deuteronomy 34:10-12)

Jesus

1. Jesus is the Messiah (Matthew 11:1-6; Luke 7:18-23)
2. Jesus is the Son of God (Matthew 14:25-33, John 20:30-31)
3. God is with Jesus (John 3:2)
4. Jesus is from God (John 9:1-33)
5. Jesus has authority on earth to forgive sins (Mark 2:10-11; Matthew 9:6-7; Luke 5:24-25)
6. Jesus is authenticated/approved/attested/accredited/endorsed by God (Acts 2:22)
7. The Father is in Jesus and Jesus is in the Father (John 10:37-38, John 14:11)
8. The kingdom of God has come (Matthew 12:28; Luke 11:20)

The Apostles

1. Confirm that the Word of God was preached by the Apostles (Mark 16:20, Acts 14:3, Romans 15:18–19, Hebrews 2:3-4)
2. Confirm the authority of the Apostles (2 Corinthians 12:12)

Old Testament Canonisation

The Torah is canonised by Moses.
Then Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel. (Deuteronomy 31:9 ESV)

It was recognized as scripture by his successors.
And there, in the presence of the people of Israel, he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written. (Joshua 8:32 ESV)

And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. (2 Kings 22:8 ESV)

Some process of canonisation may have occurred before the final canonisation of the entire Old Testament by Ezra.

David might have canonised some psalms.
This collection of the prayers of David son of Jesse ends here. (Psalm 72:20 NET)

Some canonisation of Old Testament may have occurred during the reign of Hezekiah by "the men of Hezekiah".
These also are proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied. (Proverbs 25:1 ESV)

There is a "the book of the LORD" in the time of Isaiah, but the contents of this book are not identified.
Seek and read from the book of the LORD: Not one of these shall be missing; none shall be without her mate. For the mouth of the LORD has commanded, and his Spirit has gathered them. (Isaiah 34:16 ESV)

Jeremiah quote from Micah.
And certain of the elders of the land arose and spoke to all the assembled people, saying, "Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and said to all the people of Judah: 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "'Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooded height.' Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Did he not fear the LORD and entreat the favor of the LORD, and did not the LORD relent of the disaster that he had pronounced against them? But we are about to bring great disaster upon ourselves." (Jeremiah 26:17-19 ESV)

Daniel also understood from some books about the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet.
In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a Mede, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans - in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. (Daniel 9:1-2 ESV)

Zechariah quoted from some former prophets.
Should you not have obeyed the words that the LORD cried out through the former prophets when Jerusalem was peacefully inhabited and her surrounding cities, the Negev, and the Shephelah were also populated? (Zechariah 7:7 NET)

"Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the former prophets called out, saying, 'The Lord who rules over all says, "Turn now from your evil wickedness,"' but they would by no means obey me," says the Lord. "As for your ancestors, where are they? And did the prophets live forever? But have my words and statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, not outlived your fathers? Then they paid attention and confessed, 'The Lord who rules over all has indeed done what he said he would do to us, because of our sinful ways.'" (Zechariah 1:4-6 NET)

The Old Testament refers to many non-Biblical sources, but they are not part of the scriptures:
The Book of the Wars of the Lord (Numbers 21:14)
The Book of Jasher (Joshua 10:13; 2 Samuel 1:18)
The Book of the Acts of Solomon (1 Kings 11:14)
The book of Nathan the Prophet (1 Chronicles 29:29)
The Book of Gad the Seer (1 Chronicles 29:29
The Prophecy of Ahijah the Shiloite (2 Chronicles 9:29
The Visions of Iddo the Seer (2 Chronicles 9:29)
The Book of Shemiah the Prophet (2 Chronicles 12:15)
The Book of Jehu the Son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 20:34)
The Sayings of Hosai (2 Chronicles 33:19)

Moses the First Prophet

Then Moses answered, "What if they won't believe me and will not obey me but say, 'The Lord did not appear to you'?"
The Lord asked him, "What is that in your hand?"
"A staff," he replied.
Then He said, "Throw it on the ground." He threw it on the ground, and it became a snake. Moses ran from it, but the Lord told him, "Stretch out your hand and grab it by the tail." So he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand. "This will take place," He continued, "so they will believe that Yahweh, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you."
In addition the Lord said to him, "Put your hand inside your cloak." So he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, his hand was diseased, white as snow. Then He said, "Put your hand back inside your cloak." He put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, it had again become like the rest of his skin. "If they will not believe you and will not respond to the evidence of the first sign, they may believe the evidence of the second sign. And if they don't believe even these two signs or listen to what you say, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the Nile will become blood on the ground." (Exodus 4:1-9 HCSB)

Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say, and about all the signs He had commanded him to do. Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the Israelites. Aaron repeated everything the Lord had said to Moses and performed the signs before the people. The people believed, and when they heard that the Lord had paid attention to them and that He had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped. (Exodus 4:28-31 HCSB)

Moses was established as prophet publicly by miracles. Moses asked God to prove to the Israelites that He had sent him. Go gave Moses three signs which Moses performed publicly before the Israelites to establish his credentials. After all, he is the first prophet and thus he laid the foundation for the rest of the prophets to follow.

God further confirmed Moses as His prophet with more public miracles:
1. The ten plagues of Egypt (Exodus 8,9,10,11)
2. The pillar of cloud and fire (Exodus 13:21)
3. The parting of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21-22)
4. The giving of the Law at Mount Sinai (Exodus 24)
5. The daily manna (Exodus 16:35)
6. Water from rock (Exodus 17:5-7, Numbers 20:10-11)

All these were done publicly, in the presence of Israelites and Egyptians.

Moses also established the criteria for true prophets.

"If a prophet or someone who has dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you, and that sign or wonder he has promised you comes about, but he says, 'Let us follow other gods,' which you have not known, 'and let us worship them,' do not listen to that prophet's words or to that dreamer. For the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul. You must follow the Lord your God and fear Him. You must keep His commands and listen to His voice; you must worship Him and remain faithful to Him. That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he has urged rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the place of slavery, to turn you from the way the Lord your God has commanded you to walk. You must purge the evil from you. (Deuteronomy 13:1-3 HCSB)

"The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him. This is what you requested from the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, 'Let us not continue to hear the voice of the Lord our God or see this great fire any longer, so that we will not die!' Then the Lord said to me, 'They have spoken well. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put My words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. I will hold accountable whoever does not listen to My words that he speaks in My name. But the prophet who dares to speak a message in My name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods—that prophet must die.' You may say to yourself, 'How can we recognize a message the Lord has not spoken?' When a prophet speaks in the Lord’s name, and the message does not come true or is not fulfilled, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him. (Deuteronomy 18:15-22 HCSB)

He said,
"Hear now My words:
If there is a prophet among you,
I, the Lord, shall make Myself known to him in a vision.
I shall speak with him in a dream.
"Not so, with My servant Moses,
He is faithful in all My household;
With him I speak mouth to mouth,
Even openly, and not in dark sayings,
And he beholds bthe form of the Lord.
Why then were you not afraid
To speak against My servant, against Moses?" (Numbers 12:6–8 NASB)

Since that time no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, for all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, all his servants, and all his land, and for all the mighty power and for all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel. (Deuteronomy 34:10-12 NASB)

Beginning At Moses

For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. (Revelation 19:10 NIV ESV NASB KJV)

All prophecy in the Bible centered on this person who is the Messiah and on the nation Israel. In fact, the very first prophecy in the Bible is about the Messiah (Genesis 3:15). Thus on the road to Emmaus, Jesus was able to explain to Cleopas and the other disciple what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. (Luke 24:27 KJV)

This is also one way to distinguish between false prophets and true prophets. No false prophet will ever make Jesus the center of his message. False prophets may talk about God, may prophecy, may perform miracles, but they will never talk about the Messiah and Israel. This will never be the center of their message because God had put enmity between the seed of the serpent and the Seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15).

Moses Wrote The Torah

And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early the next morning and set up an altar and 12 pillars for the 12 tribes of Israel at the base of the mountain. Then he sent out young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord. Moses took half the blood and set it in basins; the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. He then took the covenant scroll and read it aloud to the people. They responded, "We will do and obey everything that the Lord has commanded." (Exodus 24:4-7 HCSB)

Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the Lord’s covenant, and to all the elders of Israel. (Deuteronomy 31:9 HCSB)

When Moses had finished writing down on a scroll every single word of this law, he commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the Lord’s covenant, "Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God so that it may remain there as a witness against you. (Deuteronomy 31:24-26 HCSB)

For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, because he wrote about Me. But if you don’t believe his writings, how will you believe My words? (John 5:46-47 HCSB)

The Law Was Given Publicly

God revealed His Law to Israel publicly. First He established Moses's credentials as His prophet publicly by the ten plagues that hit Egypt (Exodus 8,9,10,11). Thus there were two groups of witnesses to God and Moses, the Israelites and the Egyptians. The most important plague is the last plague. It is the Gospel in its embryo.

Next, God led the Israelite visibly using the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night (Exodus 13:21). He led them across the Red Sea to escape the pursuing Egyptians. All these are public miracles, witnessed by both the Israelites and the Egyptians (Exodus 14:21-22).

God also reveal Himself at Mount Sinai (Exodus 24).

Thus the first book (Torah) was given to the First Prophet in a public manner which can satisfy the queries of lawyers and auditors. The Gospel of Jesus Christ was also given in its embryonic form. Thus God's message is always consistent, beginning at Moses.