Are the writings of the ancient prophets just all Jewish myths? Some people have written to tell me that the prophecies of Daniel are mere myths, with no historical foundation. I’m sure millions of people have heard and accepted that idea. But is it true? Are the prophecies of Daniel—or those of Isaiah, David, and other ancient prophets—just elaborate fabrications? Were they invented by clever men to deceive and control others?

To some of you, that may sound extreme. But, believe me, there are hundreds of millions of people who look at things this way and I hear from them nearly every day. And to be fair, it’s a valid question: how can we really know? These writings date back hundreds of years before the time of Jesus—ancient history, distant and remote for most people. It’s easy to assume that they’re unverifiable and irrelevant, perhaps even the cultural baggage of another race, religion, or nationality. Some go as far as to conclude that the entire thing is rubbish.

But is it? Can we get to the root of this question—can we find empirical, historical evidence—without slipping into mysticism or religious rhetoric? Thankfully, the answer is a resounding yes.

You may not share my nationality, faith, or background. You might not agree with my worldview, or even like “my people.” But some things stand beyond personal belief or identity.  For example, if I said “Two plus two makes four”, the majority of you would not find fault with that. (Don’t laugh; there are those who will definitely argue with that assertion.)

“So how can we factually know that the ancient prophets truly and fully existed in real time?”

The best answer I can give to as broad a range of people, beliefs and views of all kinds is this: research the Dead Sea Scrolls. This isn’t a matter of your faith verses mine, your nation verses mine. This is about one of the most concrete, well-documented archaeological discoveries of the modern era.

Here’s what happened. In 1947, a shepherd boy searching for a stray sheep threw a rock into a cave near the Dead Sea and heard something shatter. Curious, he climbed inside and discovered ancient urns, some containing scrolls with writing on them. This was the beginning of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls—a collection of manuscripts stored in caves around the time of Jesus, over 2,000 years ago. These scrolls have since been recognized as one of the most important archaeological finds of the last century.

And let me just add that this is not about, or contingent on Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Communism, Hinduism, Buddhism or any other faith. This is about something as definite and concrete as anything can be known to be real in our times. The reason these scrolls are so significant is that they contain at least parts of every book in the Old Testament except Ester. Some whole and complete books are in the Dead Sea Scrolls collection, like the book of Isaiah and the book of Deuteronomy.

These are the actual physical writings from 2000 years ago, visible, touchable, utterly verifiable and known to be real by scientists around the world, uncontested when it comes to the facts of their existence. Furthermore, when these ancient texts were compared to what are now found in the Old Testament scriptures in the Bibles of our times, they corresponded almost completely exactly to the way we have received the Scriptures that we have today.

So, if someone claims that the writings of the ancient prophets are just myths—like fairy tales rewritten over and over again until they’ve lost all original meaning, I suggest you do some research yourself on the Dead Sea scrolls. If English is not your first language, I’m sure there are reputable sources of scientific information in your language which explain in much more detail than I have here about these things.

You may not like what the ancient prophets told. Perhaps because of the crisis in the Middle East for the last 70 years, you may even be someone who has a strong prejudice against anything remotely Jewish. But I hope, if you are a seeker and lover of truth, pure and real truth from the God of truth, the God of Abraham, I suggest you research these things to find out if the ancient prophets of God were a reality. God bless you in your search. Jesus said, “Seek and you shall find.” (Matthew 7:7)