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Prophecies of the Messiah
(1)
Some time before 500 B.C. the prophet Daniel proclaimed that Israel's
long-awaited Messiah would begin his public ministry 483 years after
the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem (Daniel
9:25-26). He further predicted that the Messiah would be "cut off,"
killed, and that this event would take place prior to a second
destruction of Jerusalem. Abundant documentation shows that these
prophecies were perfectly fulfilled in the life (and crucifixion) of
Jesus Christ. The decree regarding the restoration of Jerusalem was
issued by Persia's King Artaxerxes to the Hebrew priest Ezra in 458
B.C., 483 years later the ministry of Jesus Christ began in Galilee.
(Remember that due to calendar changes, the date for the start of
Christ's ministry is set by most historians at about 26 A.D. Also note
that from 1 B.C. to 1 A.D. is just one year.) Jesus' crucifixion
occurred only a few years later, and about four decades later, in 70
A.D. came the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus.
(Probability of
chance fulfillment = 1 in 105.)*
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(2)
In approximately 700 B.C. the prophet Micah named the tiny village of
Bethlehem as the birthplace of Israel's Messiah (Micah 5:2). The
fulfillment of this prophecy in the birth of Christ is one of the most
widely known and widely celebrated facts in history.
(Probability of
chance fulfillment = 1 in 105.)
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(3)
In the fifth century B.C. a prophet named Zechariah declared that the
Messiah would be betrayed for the price of a slave—thirty pieces of
silver, according to Jewish law-and also that this money would be used
to buy a burial ground for Jerusalem's poor foreigners (Zechariah
11:12-13). Bible writers and secular historians both record thirty
pieces of silver as the sum paid to Judas Iscariot for betraying
Jesus, and they indicate that the money went to purchase a "potter's
field," used—just as predicted—for the burial of poor aliens (Matthew
27:3-10).
(Probability of
chance fulfillment = 1 in 1011.)
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(4)
Some 400 years before crucifixion was invented, both Israel's King
David and the prophet Zechariah described the Messiah's death in words
that perfectly depict that mode of execution. Further, they said that
the body would be pierced and that none of the bones would be broken,
contrary to customary procedure in cases of crucifixion (Psalm 22 and
34:20; Zechariah 12:10). Again, historians and New Testament writers
confirm the fulfillment: Jesus of Nazareth died on a Roman cross, and
his extraordinarily quick death eliminated the need for the usual
breaking of bones. A spear was thrust into his side to verify that he
was, indeed, dead.
(Probability of
chance fulfillment = 1 in 1013.)
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Fulfilled
Prophecies from the Old Testament
(5)
The prophet Isaiah foretold that a conqueror named Cyrus would destroy
seemingly impregnable Babylon and subdue Egypt along with most of the
rest of the known world. This same man, said Isaiah, would decide to
let the Jewish exiles in his territory go free without any payment of
ransom (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1; and 45:13). Isaiah made this prophecy 150
years before Cyrus was born, 180 years before Cyrus performed any of
these feats (and he did, eventually, perform them all), and 80 years
before the Jews were taken into exile.
(Probability of
chance fulfillment = 1 in 1015.)
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(6)
Mighty Babylon, 196 miles square, was enclosed not only by a moat, but
also by a double wall 330 feet high, each part 90 feet thick. It was
said by unanimous popular opinion to be indestructible, yet two Bible
prophets declared its doom. These prophets further claimed that the
ruins would be avoided by travelers, that the city would never again
be inhabited, and that its stones would not even be moved for use as
building material (Isaiah 13:17-22 and Jeremiah 51:26, 43). Their
description is, in fact, the well-documented history of the famous
citadel.
(Probability of
chance fulfillment = 1 in 109.)
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(7)
The exact location and construction sequence of Jerusalem's nine
suburbs was predicted by Jeremiah about 2600 years ago. He referred to
the time of this building project as "the last days," that is, the
time period of Israel's second rebirth as a nation in the land of
Palestine (Jeremiah 31:38-40). This rebirth became history in 1948,
and the construction of the nine suburbs has gone forward precisely in
the locations and in the sequence predicted.
(Probability of
chance fulfillment = 1 in 1018.)
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(8)
The prophet Moses foretold (with some additions by Jeremiah and Jesus)
that the ancient Jewish nation would be conquered twice and that the
people would be carried off as slaves each time, first by the
Babylonians (for a period of 70 years), and then by a fourth world
kingdom (which we know as Rome). The second conqueror, Moses said,
would take the Jews captive to Egypt in ships, selling them or giving
them away as slaves to all parts of the world. Both of these
predictions were fulfilled to the letter, the first in 607 B.C. and
the second in 70 A.D. God's spokesmen said, further, that the Jews
would remain scattered throughout the entire world for many
generations, but without becoming assimilated by the peoples or of
other nations, and that the Jews would one day return to the land of
Palestine to re-establish for a second time their nation (Deuteronomy
29; Isaiah 11:11-13; Jeremiah 25:11; Hosea 3:4-5 and Luke 21:23-24).
This prophetic statement
sweeps across 3500 years of history to its complete fulfillment—in our
lifetime.
(Probability of
chance fulfillment = 1 in 120.)
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(9)
Jeremiah predicted that despite its fertility and despite the
accessibility of its water supply, the land of Edom (today a part of
Jordan) would become a barren, uninhabited wasteland (Jeremiah
49:15-20; Ezekiel 25:12-14). His description accurately tells the
history of that now bleak region.
(Probability of
chance fulfillment = 1 in 105.)
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(10)
Joshua foretold that if Jericho would be rebuilt by any man, the man's eldest son would die when the reconstruction began
and that his youngest son would die when the work reached completion
(Joshua 6:26). About five centuries later this prophecy found its
fulfillment in the life and family of a man named Hiel (I Kings
16:33-34).
(Probability of
chance fulfillment = 1 in 107).
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(11)
The day of Elijah's supernatural departure from Earth was predicted
unanimously—and accurately, according to the eye-witness account—by a
group of fifty prophets (II Kings 2:3-11).
(Probability of
chance fulfillment = 1 in 109).
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(12)
Jahaziel prophesied that King Jehoshaphat and a tiny band of men would
defeat an enormous, well-equipped, well-trained army without even
having to fight. Just as predicted, the King and his troops stood
looking on as their foes were supernaturally destroyed to the last man
(II Chronicles 20).
(Probability of
chance fulfillment = 1 in 108).
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(13)
One prophet of God (unnamed, but probably Shemiah) said that a future
king of Judah, named Josiah, would take the bones of all the occultic
priests (priests of the "high places") of Israel's King Jeroboam and
burn them on Jeroboam's altar (I Kings 13:2 and II Kings 23:15-18).
This event occurred approximately 300 years after it was foretold.
(Probability of
chance fulfillment = 1 in 1013).
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Since these thirteen
prophecies cover mostly separate and independent events, the
probability of chance occurrence for all thirteen is about 1 in 10138
(138 equals the sum of all the exponents of 10 in the probability
estimates above). For the sake of putting the figure into perspective,
this probability can be compared to the statistical chance that the
second law of thermodynamics will be reversed in a given situation
(for example, that a gasoline engine will refrigerate itself during
its combustion cycle or that heat will flow from a cold body to a hot
body)—that chance = 1 in 1080. Stating it simply, based on
these thirteen prophecies alone, the Bible record may be said to be
vastly more reliable than the second law of thermodynamics. Each
reader should feel free to make his own reasonable estimates of
probability for the chance fulfillment of the prophecies cited here.
In any case, the probabilities deduced still will be absurdly remote.
Given that the Bible
proves so reliable a document, there is every reason to expect that
the remaining 500 prophecies, those slated for the "time of the end,"
also will be fulfilled to the last letter. Who can afford to
ignore these coming events, much less miss out on the immeasurable
blessings offered to anyone and everyone who submits to the control of
the Bible's author, Jesus Christ? Would a reasonable person take
lightly God's warning of judgment for those who reject what they know
to be true about Jesus Christ and the Bible, or who reject Jesus'
claim on their lives?
*The estimates of
probability included herein came from a group of secular research
scientists.
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Conclusion
No where in the world
can we find such proofs of accurately predicted future events. How
would these mere humans have known these things to the year unless a
Supernatural power had revealed it to them? The Bible has indicated
time and time again that it is of Divine origin. To argue with this
would be a deliberate denial of historical facts. For those who insist
on believing there could be another explanation we challenge you to
find it! The burning question is, as previously mentioned, since these
past 2000 prophecies were fulfilled throughout the different eras of
the world, what says the remaining 500 prophecies wont? What if these
last prophecies have to do with us? Did God allow for us to know the
past fulfilled prophecies in order to place our confidence in the
Bible's predictions and warnings so that we can avoid a soon coming
universal deception?
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