CLEARING THE PATH

As seen in the Archaeology page and the Historicity page, Jesus is an historical figure who cannot be denied.  We have also seen proof  that the Old Testament prophecies concerning Jesus were made and were written down before Jesus was born, thus ruling out any possibility that they were made after the fact.  For example, the book of Isaiah makes many very clear prophecies which were clearly fulfilled by Jesus,   The finding of a complete copy of Isaiah within the Dead Sea Scrolls, which are proven to have been written centuries before Jesus, proves these prophecies were written long before Jesus' time.

The prophecies concerning the first coming of the Messiah are among the most precise in Scripture.  They provide details about the place and time of His coming, His unique character and nature and His unparalleled manner and message.  In the Old Testament there are sixty major messianic prophecies and approximately 270 ramifications that were fulfilled in one person, Jesus Christ.  There are more than three hundred references to His coming. 

Using the science of probability, we find the chances of just forty-eight of these prophecies being fulfilled in one person to be one in 10^157 (a one followed by 157 zeros!).  As we saw on the Probability page, the “universal probability bound” is 10^150 and is a number beyond which any specified event of probability will remain improbable even after all conceivable probabilistic resources from the universe have been factored in.  In other words, it is beyond all probability and moves to the realm of miracle. 

During the last day of the Jesus’ earthly life at least 33 prophecies were fulfilled in a single 24-hour period of time.  Professor Peter Stoner has calculated that the probability of only eight of these prophecies being fulfilled in one man by chance to be 1 in 10^17 (100,000,000,000,000,000 to 1). (1)  To put this number in perspective, there are less than 10^17 seconds in 20 billion years!

Over the course of history approximately forty major claims to be the Jewish Messiah have been made by men.  Only one—Jesus Christ—appealed to fulfilled prophecy to substantiate His claims, and only His credentials back up those claims.  Let’s look briefly at some of the prophecies that help eliminate all others who claim to be the Messiah. (2)

In Genesis 3:15 we have the first messianic prophecy.  In all of Scripture, only one man was “born of the seed of a woman”—all others are born of the seed of a man. 

In Genesis 9 and 10 the possibilities are narrowed down further. Noah had three sons,  Shem, Japheth, and Ham.  Today all of the nations of the world can be traced back to these three men. But in this passage, God effectively eliminated two-thirds of them.  It is declared that the Messiah will come through the lineage of Shem.

Continuing on to the year 2000 B.C., we find God calling a man named Abraham (Abram) out of Ur of the Chaldees.  God stated that the Messiah will be one of Abraham’s descendants (Genesis 12; 17; 22).  Abraham had two sons, Isaac and Ishmael. Half of the possibilities were again eliminated when God selected his second son, Isaac (Genesis 17; 21).

Isaac had two sons, Jacob and Esau, and God chose the line of Jacob (Genesis 28; 35:10-12; Numbers 24:17).  Jacob had twelve sons, out of whom came the twelve tribes of Israel.  God singled out the tribe of Judah as the line of the Messiah and eliminated 11/12ths of the Israelite tribes.  And of all the family lines within Judah’s tribe, the line of Jesse was the divine choice (Isaiah 11:1-5).  Jesse had eight children and in 2 Samuel 7:12-16 and Jeremiah 23:5 God eliminated 7/8ths of Jesse’s family line:  We read the Messiah will come from the house of David.  The probability of Jesus, and no one else, being the Messiah is building.

In Micah 5:2, some seven hundred years before the birth of Christ, the prophet Micah predicted that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem Ephrathah (Mic. 5:2).  Such foreknowledge is an evidence of the supernatural nature of the Bible when we note that there were two Bethlehems—one in northern Palestine, Bethlehem Zebulun, and one in southern Palestine, Bethlehem Ephrathah, or Bethlehem of Judah. 

A prophecy dating 1012 B.C. (Psalm 22:6-18; cf. Zechariah 12:10 and Galatians 3:13) also predicts that this man’s hands and feet will be pierced (i.e., He will be crucified).  This description was written eight hundred years before crucifixion began to be practiced by the Romans. 

Isaiah 7:14 echoes Genesis 3:15, adding that this man will be born of a virgin—a natural birth of unnatural conception, a criterion beyond human planning and control.  His own people, the Jews, will reject Him and the Gentiles will believe in Him (Isaiah 8:14; 28:16; 49:6; 50:6; 52:53; 60:3; Psalms 22:7,8; 118:22).  There will be a forerunner for Him (Isaiah 40:3; Malachi 3:1), a voice in the wilderness, one preparing the way before the Lord.  This was fulfilled by John the Baptists.

Then, through a series of prophecies, a time sequence is defined that would set this man apart.  For example, Malachi 3:1 and four other Old Testament verses (Psalm 118:26; Daniel 9:26; Zechariah 11:13; Haggai 2:7-9) require the Messiah to come while the Temple of Jerusalem is still standing.  This is of great significance when we realize that the Temple was destroyed in A.D. 70 and has not since been built.  The precise lineage; the place, time, and manner of birth; people’s reactions; the betrayal; the manner of death; these are just a fraction of the hundreds of details that identify God’s Son, the Messiah, Jesus.

All the prophecies of the Messiah were made at least 400 years before He was to appear.  Critics might contend that these prophecies were written down after the time of Christ and fabricated to coincide with His life.  Unbelievers have no choice but to make this contention.  As in the prophecies of Daniel, the prophecies are to exact to disclaim them in any other manner.  

However, this contention is disputed by the fact that the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, was translated around 150-200 B.C.  This Greek translation shows that there was at least a two-hundred-year gap between when the prophecies were recorded and their fulfillment in Christ.

Another objection that critics have put forth is that these fulfilled prophecies were coincidental.  But as we have seen above, the laws of probability simply prohibit this. 

A third objection raised is that Jesus deliberately tried to fulfill the Jewish prophecies. This objection seems plausible until we realize that many of the details of the Messiah’s coming were totally beyond human control.  Examples include, the place of His birth, the time of His coming, the manner of His death, the people’s reaction, the mocking and spitting, the staring, casting of dice for His clothes, the non-tearing of His garment, none of His bones would be broken, etc.  

Half the prophecies are beyond His control to manipulate.  He couldn’t work it out to be born of the seed of the woman, the lineage of Shem, the descendants of Abraham, born in Bethlehem, etc.  

It is no wonder Jesus and the apostles appealed to fulfilled prophecy to substantiate His claim !! 

The following charts highlight the major prophecies concerning Jesus’: 

• lineage
• birth 
• ministry 
• other"s reaction to him
• and His death.  

As hard as critics have tried, the truth is undeniable.  

IF YOU ARE USING A MOBILE DEVICE PLEASE TURN IT SIDEWAYS TO VIEW THE FOLLOWING CHARTS PROPERLY !!

Prophecy                                                    Topic                                                         Fulfillment 

Genesis 3:15                                  Born of the seed of woman                                    Galatians 4:4 

Genesis 21:12                                 Descendant of Isaac                                               Matthew 1:1,2 

Genesis 22:18 & 12:2,3                   Seed of Abraham                                                     Matthew 1:1 

Genesis 49:10                                Of the tribe of Judah                                               Matthew 1:1,2 

Numbers 24:17                              Descendant of Jacob                                              Matthew 1:1,2 

Isaiah 11:1, 10                                  Descendant of Jesse                                               Matthew 1:1,6 

Jeremiah 23:5, Psalm 132:11          Descendant of David                  Matthew 1:1,6, Revelation 22:16 

Psalm 2:7, Proverbs 30:4              Son of God                           Matthew 17:5, Luke 3:38, Luke 22:70

Prophecy                                                  Topic                                                              Fulfillment 

Psalm 72:10                                      Kings will present gifts                                          Matthew 2:1-11 

Isaiah 7:14                                        Born of a virgin                                    Matthew 1:23-25, Luke 2:7 

Isaiah 7:14                                        Will be called Immanuel                                          Matthew 1:23 

Jeremiah 31:15                                 Children will be killed                                           Matthew 2:16-18 

Micah 5:2                                         Will be born in Bethlehem                                           Luke 2:4-7 

Prophecy                                                  Topic                                                             Fulfillment 

Deuteronomy 18:15-18                    Will be a Prophet                         Matt 21:11, John 6:14, John 4:19 

Psalm 29:11                                     Will bless His people with peace               Acts 10:36, John 14:27 

Psalm 31:5                                      Will commit Himself to God                                         Luke 23:46 

Psalm 45:2                                     Will speak words of grace                                             Luke 4:22 

Psalm 68:18 & 110:1               Will ascend to the Father's right hand           Acts 1:9, Heb 1:3, Mk 16:19                                                                                                                                                                                                

Psalm 69:9                                      Will have a zeal for God                                           John 2:15-17 

Psalm 78:2                                      Will teach parables                                           Matthew 13:34,35 

Psalm 110:4                                       Will be a priest                                 Hebrews 5:5,6, Hebrews 3:1 

Isaiah 2:4                                         He will judge & rebuke many                                Matthew 11:20 

Isaiah 9:1                                         Will begin ministry in Galilee                               Matthew 4:12-17 

Isaiah 9:6                                          He's eternal                               John 8:58, John 1:1, Romans 9:5 

Isaiah 11:2                                         Anointing of the Holy Spirit                                       Mark 1:10-11 

Isaiah 33:22                                         Will be Judge              Acts 10:40-42, Matt 25:31-34, 2 Tim 4:1 

Isaiah 35:5,6                           Will have a ministry of miracles       John 5:5-9, Luke 7:22, Matt 11:4-6 

Isaiah 42:1, 49:1                               He will minister to Gentiles                                            Luke 2:32 

Isaiah 53:12, Isaiah 59:16                  Will make intercession                        Luke 23:34, Romans 8:34 

Isaiah 60:3                                       Will be a Light to Gentiles                                        Acts 13:47,48 

Mic 5:2, Isa 9:6&41:4, Ps 102:25-27     Jesus' pre-existence                             Colossians 1:17, John 1:1 

Zechariah 9:9, Psalm 2:6                   Will be King                                 John 18:33-38, Matthew 27:37 

Zechariah 9:9                                    Triumphal entry on a donkey                               Luke 19:35-37 

Malachi 3:1, Isaiah 40:3                  Will be preceded by messenger            John 1:23, Matthew 3:1-3 

Malachi 3:1                                         Will enter the temple                                           Matthew 21:12  

Prophecy                                                 Topic                                                                 Fulfillment 

Psalm 69:4                                      Will be hated without cause                                   John 15:24,25 

Psalm 69:9                                        Will be reproached                                                 Romans 15:3 

Psalm 110:1, Jeremiah 23:6                 Will be called LORD                                 John 20:28, Luke 2:11 

Isaiah 9:6                                           Will be called God                                    John 20:28, Titus 2:13 

Isaiah 11:10                                         Gentiles will seek Him                                             John 12:18-21 

Isaiah 28:16, Psalm 118:22      Jews will reject Him, but He will become

                                                           the Chief Cornerstone       Acts 4:11,12, I Peter 2:7, Matt 21:42,43                                                                   

Isaiah 53:3, Psalm 31:11 & 69:8          Will be ignored by His own people                                John 1:11