One of the greatest claims for the trustworthiness of the Bible is fulfilled prophesy. 

The demise of the Babylonian Empire at the hands of the Medes was predicted in Jeremiah 51.  What he said is reminiscent of Isaiah’s predictions about the Medes, and more specifically of King Cyrus, in Isaiah 13, 44 & 45.  He made these predictions about Cyrus and the Medes before they were a nation, let alone a nation of power.  He predicted what would happen 150 years before it happened.  Likewise, Jeremiah predicted the same events many years before they happened.

Some suggest no one could predict events so precisely regarding individuals and nations many years in advance.  They declare that Isaiah and Jeremiah didn’t predict these things. These prophets, however, clearly declare that God gave them these prophecies. 

In fact, fulfilled prophecies are the mark that authenticates a prophet.  Listen to what Moses said many years prior to their lifetime, in Deuteronomy 18:21-22; “You may say to yourselves, ‘How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?’  If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken.  That prophet has spoken presumptuously.  Do not be afraid of him.” 

Why we should take these prophetical books seriously is because much of what they predicted has come true and Christ promised the rest will be fulfilled.  Some, even in our day