Prophecies of the OT Fulfilled in Jesus Christ:
Websites to visit:
Introduction:
There have been described in the Old Testament 300 prophecies of the first coming of the Messiah and 500 of the second coming, all of then made hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus and fulfilled to the letter in Jesus Christ, the Messiah.
George Heron, a French mathematician, calculated that the odds of one man fulfilling only 40 of those prophecies are 1 in 10 to the power of 157. That is a 1 followed by 157 zeros. Compare it to this; your odds on winning the state lottery are 14 followed by 6 zeros.
Another mathematician and Bible Theologian, Dr. Peter S. Ruckman, claims the odds of being fulfilled only 60 of them by the only person who claimed to be the Son of God, and who died on a "tree" on Calvary, and who rose the 3rd day are astronomical!... not just one in one trillion, but one out of ten to the 895th power. That is a one over a one followed by 895 zeros.
Messianic Prophecy – What Are The Odds of Fulfillment Without God?
Messianic Prophecy is so powerful because of the statistical odds that one man would fulfill every single one of them. If we just analyze seven of the more specific prophecies in the Old Testament, that were later fulfilled in the Person of Jesus Christ, we are stunned by the statistical impossibility of such an historical reality. As an illustration, we have inserted some conservative "odds" alongside seven established prophecies. Please feel free to propose you own prophecies and your own odds - the dramatic point will still be made!
Messianic ProphecyOdds without God
1.Jesus would be a descendant of David.104 (1 in 10,000)
2.Jesus would be born in Bethlehem.105 (1 in 100,000)
3.Jesus would be a miracle worker.105 (1 in 100,000)
4.Jesus would present Himself as King riding on a donkey.106 (1 in 1,000,000)
5.Jesus would be betrayed by a friend for 30 pieces of silver.106 (1 in 1,000,000)
6.Jesus would be crucified.106 (1 in 1,000,000)
7.Jesus would first present Himself as King 173,880 days
from the decree of Artaxerxes to rebuild Jerusalem.106 (1 in 1,000,000)
Total Probability (without God)1038 (1 in a 100 billion, billion, billion, billion)
And still more, because every page of the Old Testament talks, prophecies and characterizes the coming of the Messiah, the Christ in Greek... so, there are actually thousands of prophecies on the coming of the Messiah, all of them fulfilled to the letter in Jesus Christ and His Church as they are shown in this site.
Philip found Nathanael and told him,
"We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote--Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. (John.1:45)
On the road to Emmaus after His resurrection Jesus said this to two of His disciples:
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. (Luke.24:27)
He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms”. (Luke.24:44).
He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,” (Luke.24:46).
At first, this may sound simple, but there are a staggering 8,145,060 unique combinations of six numbers which can be selected from 45 numbers. This means that you have a 1 in 8.145 million chance of correctly picking the 6 winning numbers from 45 numbers. Or, in other words, you would have to play all 8.145 million six-number combinations to guarantee winning the 1st Division prize (at a cost, incidentally, of more than $3.5 million!!).
Two major passages from the OT are found in Psalms and Isaiah – let’s look at them quickly
Old Testament prophecy / Fulfilment in Christ"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Palms. 22:1). / These were the very words of Jesus on the cross (Matthew. 27:46).
"I am despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: let him deliver him" (Palms. 22:6-8). / Israel despised Jesus and mocked him (Luke. 23:35; 8:53); they shook their heads (Matthew. 27:39), and said this as He hung on the cross (Matthew. 27:43).
"My tongue cleaves to my jaws...they pierced my hands and my feet" (Palms. 22:15,16). / This was fulfilled in Christ's thirst on the cross (John. 19:28). The piercing of hands and feet refers to the physical method of crucifixion used.
"They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture" (Palms. 22:18). / The precise fulfilment of this is found in Matthew. 27:35.
Note that Palms. 22:22 is specifically quoted as applying to Jesus in Hebrews 2:12.
The whole of Isaiah 53 is a remarkable prophecy of Christ's death and resurrection, every verse of which had an unmistakable fulfillment. Just two examples will be given:
"As a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth" (Isaiah. 53:7) / Christ, the Lamb of God, remained silent during his trial (Matthew. 27:12,14)."He made his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death" (Isaiah. 53:9). / Jesus was crucified along with wicked criminals (Matthew. 27:38), but was buried in the tomb of a rich man (Matthew. 27:57-60).
One of the most remarkable prophecies of Christ again in Isaiah 53 found in the 4th and 5th verses
Isaiah 53:4-5
4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,and by his wounds we are healed. NIV
The verse is again quoted by Peter himself in 1 Peter 2:23-25
23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. NIV
It is a truth HISTORICALLY that a man named Jesus was crucified on the Mount of Calvary just over 2,000 years ago – no thinking person with a scrap of intellectual integrity would even attempt to deny this fact. The historical proof is beyond doubt – there is a mountain of proof.
What many do have difficulty with is was this person Jesus really the Son of God and that what he accomplished did really have spiritual implication for those who decide to believe and for those who decide to not believe.
Look again at this scripture:
- His demeanour during crucifixion – they hurled insults, he did not retaliate – when he suffered he made no threats.
- His response was a spiritual one that said He would entrust himself to Him who judges justly – there was a sense in which He knew that what He was doing had implications and He completely trusted the judge of all the earth – the very comment speaks of a Judge – who judges justly and universally. Some struggle with this concept – Jesus did not
- He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree–historically and mathematically the prophecies of Christ from the Old Testament were fulfilled in the New Testament – these are historical records with apologetic and intellectual providence – so one must conclude that we must at least conclude there may be spiritual substance to His claims that there was and is spiritual power behind a statement like this – He bore our sins – it is at this point many have difficulty as the word sin is just so politically incorrect – we stumble over the concept we are in need of salvation – or we need to believe in a God we can’t see – one thing people can’t argue too much over is another persons experience of knowing Christ – a persons testimony is their witness of what took place when they said they would believe in the Jesus described in the Bible.
- So that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; - our call is to live a life worthy of His call upon us – die to sin and live for righteousness – what an awesome call to us and this generation – to die to sin – to say we are going to live another kind of life – this is not our condemnation on another’s lifestyle but a comment on the power of God in our own lives -
- By his wounds you have been healed – some have minimized this healing to physical healing – I personally believe in the power of God to heal a person physically - so many know that the need for healing is not only confined to the physical body – the bible makes reference to this as well when the Book of Isaiah as well as the words of Jesus recorded in Luke 4 says the “Spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon Jesus to heal the broken of heart”
- For you were like sheep going astray,- this is a metaphor – coming from Australia I happen to know a lot about sheep – and its true without leadership, with out shepherds they tend to stray – stay from the straight and narrow – stray with out leadership – God placed leadership within the church – the local church – Ephesians 4 gives us the list – we need to be those who are committed to planted and working with our local churches – if you are a Christian and do not regularly attend a local church you in contravention of a stated and important principle of God’s word - Hebrews 10:24-25, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” NIV
- But now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls – returning to Jesus from whence we strayed – He is the great shepherd of the sheep – and is the example to those us who operate the gift of being shepherds or pastors – Jesus Himself stated the obvious when He said: Matthew 9:35-37 “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” NIV
Conclusion:
Satan's purpose has always been to obscure, and falsify the simplicity of the cross in its application to our sin problem.
Many claim it is unintellectual to believe in God and His love for us through Jesus Christ – some maintain it is utterly fanciful to believe One man could die for the sins of the world
Man is intrinsically broken and in need of healing – Jesus came to do that healing – all you need to do is believe -
Our responsibility is to respond to God – if you don’t know Him then a response in salvation – if you have gone astray then to return – as we walk with Him we are to live righteously