FULFILLED  BIBLE  PROPHECY
        

     There are hundreds and hundreds of prophesies in the Bible predicting the rise and fall of nations, kings, and many other significant events in history. Here, we will only focus on one group of prophesies, those concerning the Old Testament predictions of Christ.

     These predictions of Christ were made hundreds and hundreds of years in advance.  No one can deny that these detailed predictions are in documents given to the public hundreds of years before He appeared.  No one can deny or challenge the fact that these documents were widely circulated among men prior to His birth.  Who can imagine anyone to have pre-written a life of George Washington or Abraham Lincoln written from 1500 to 500 years before their births?  Nowhere in any other religion in the world, not in the writings of Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, or any other, is there this amazing miracle of specific detailed fulfilled prophesy, as the pre-written life of Christ.

    Only God can know the future, therefore fulfilled prophesy is indisputable evidence that Christianity is true. It has been said that there would not be one honest skeptic in the whole world were the prophecies centered in Christ studied.  Some may object that others have made prophesies, such as Jean Dixon or Nostradamus.  Not really.  It is questionable whether half their prophesies have come true, and even then the prophesies were quite vague.  Even if  80% came true, 20% are wrong.  That is a false prophet (Dueteronomy 18:22), for if it comes from God 100% of the predictions would come true 100% of the time. 

     Since the Bible’s message is so important in that it declares man’s eternal destiny depends on His acceptance of Christ, we have a right to know whether the Bible is true.  No man, unaided by Divine inspiration can tell the future.  Only an almighty and all-knowing God can infallibly predict the future because He has the power to control history.   Fulfilled prophesy is one of God’s methods of proving His own truth, and that the Bible is in fact God’s Word,  in a way the average man can understand.    

      To put these prophesies in context, a brief summary would be helpful.  The Old Testament is the account of a Nation.  The New Testament is the account of a Man. The nation of Israel  was founded and nurtured by God to bring that Man into the world.  God Himself became Man, to give mankind an understanding of what God is like, and to provide a means of salvation to a fallen race.  Jesus Christ, the Son of God, second member of the Godhead, was God in human form.  Consequently, His appearance on earth was the central event of all history.  The main reason the Old Testament was written was to create an anticipation of, and pave the way for, the coming of Christ. But why was it necessary to work through one nation, and why are Israelites called the “chosen people?”

     After the fall of man God gave a veiled hint in Genesis 3:15 of a coming Redeemer, yet in the next 2000 years spanning through Genesis 11, man degenerated  from the monotheistic belief in the one God to the polytheism of false religions.   The judgment of the flood in Genesis 6 resulted in a new beginning which restored belief in the true God, yet degeneration into false religion again occurred until the judgment at the tower of Babylon (Genesis 11).
     Finally, the fast moving chronology of 2000 years (Genesis 3-11) slows down and the rest of the Bible, beginning with Genesis 12, spans 2000 years of Israel’s history.  Since dealing through the world as a whole always resulted in degeneration from the essential truth about God, God now commits to the forming of one nation in which He will make sure they will retain the knowledge of Himself.  God decided in Genesis 12 to create a nation out of two people, Abraham and Sarah.  It details how they go from two to 70 people by the time they move to Egypt.  Then they increased to 2 million people when they are delivered from slavery in Egypt and brought into the land of Canaan.   God now has the ingredients for His nation - people and a country (land).  The Old Testament then shows how God revealed Himself to Israel, not only about His own nature, but about the problem of sin and the hope of a coming Redeemer.  He also made sure they did not degenerate into the polytheism of  false religions by disciplining them and bringing them back to Himself when they strayed too far.  He was to use this nation as a vehicle for His revelation and blessing to the whole world.

     Throughout the history of Israel runs another story then, that is far more important than its own history.  It is the expectancy of the coming of one majestic Person, who would save, rule, and bless the whole world.   Long before He arrived, this Person came to be known as the Messiah.  “Christ” is from the Greek word  which means “Messiah.”

     Jesus Himself frequently cited Old Testament prophecies fulfilled in Him.  “And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures”(Luke 24:27).  The early Christians did the same thing - “and according to Paul’s custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead...” (Acts 17:2-3).

    The Old Testament contains over 300 references to Christ.  The following is only a brief survey.
Genesis 3:15 is the first hint of the virgin birth, where He is called the “seed of the woman” who will crush Satan’s head. His ancestors are prophesied as Abraham (Genesis 12:3, 22:18), Isaac (Genesis 17:16; 21:12), Jacob (Genesis 35:10-12), Judah (Isaiah 11), and David (2 Samuel 7:12-16; Jeremiah 23:5). Each one of those prophesies state that a descendant from that family line would one day come into the world, and further details about this Majestic Person continued to be progressively revealed.  With Abraham, every country on earth was eliminated except Israel.  Abraham bore Isaac, Isaac had two sons, Jacob and Esau.  Half of Israel is eliminated when the Messiah is said to come from Jacob.  Jacob had 12 sons, and the sons, as they multiplied with their families, became the 12 tribes of Israel (equivalent in our terminology to 12 states in a country).  By the choosing of Judah, 11/12ths of Israel is eliminated.  Then later King David is born in the line of Judah, and it is his descendant that will be the one who will have an everlasting throne and is even called God (Jeremiah 23:6).  Further, the city He would come from is prophesied to be Bethlehem (Micah 5:2).

      Think about this amazing fact.  If you were going to write a letter and send it to just one person out of the 5½ billion people on the planet, what information would you need?  You would need to know the country, state, city, and family name to pick that one person out  from everyone else in the whole world!  That is exactly what we have in Christ!  The prophesies get even more specific.
1. BORN OF A VIRGIN

Prophecy (Isaiah 7:14)

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call his name Immanuel.

2. BORN AT BETHLEHEM

Prophecy (Micah 5:2)

But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel, His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.



3. BOTH GOD AND MAN

Prophecy (Isaiah 9:6)

For a child we be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.





4. KING ON A DONKEY

Prophecy (Zechariah 9:9)

...O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with Salvation, humble, mounted on a donkey, Even a colt, the foal of a donkey.... He will speak peace to the nations and His dominion will be from sea to sea.


Fulfillment (Matthew 1:23)

Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel which translated means, "God with us."



Fulfillment (Matthew 2:1, 4-6)

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea... And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he began to inquire of them where the Christ was to be born. And they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judah, for so it has been written by the Prophet."


Fulfilllment (John 1:1,3, 10, 14)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.... All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.... He was in the world, the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory.



Fulfillment (Matthew 21:7-8)

...and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid on them their garments, on which He sat, and most of the multitude spread their garments in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road.
Consider the following prophecies predicted in Psalm 22, written 1000 B.C.

5. CHRIST/MESSIAH WOULD SUFFER

6. CRUCIFIXION DESCRIBED 1000 YEARS BEFORE IT HAPPENED (and before it was even a known form of punishment)

7. QUOTING THE VERY WORDS AND GESTURES OF THOSE AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS

8. HANDS AND FEET PIERCED

9. CASTING LOTS FOR ROBE

All this foretold 1000 years before it happened! Note the Old Testament passages quoted below and the New Testament fulfillments paying particular attention to the italicized words.
Prophecy (Psalm 22:1, 6-8, 14-18)

My God, my God, why has Thou forsaken me? But I am a worm, and not a man, a reproach of men and despised by the people. All who see me sneer at me; they separate with the lip, they wag the head saying, Commit yourself to the Lord; let Him deliver Him; let Him rescue him, because He delights in him. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It is melted within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaves to my jaws; and thou dost lay me in the dust of death. For dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil-doers has encompassed me; they pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones. They look, they stare at me. They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.
Fulfillment (Matthew 27:46, 39,               41, 43)
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice... "My God, My God; why hast Thou forsaken me?" And those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads. In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him, saying... He trusts in God; let Him deliver Him now, if He takes pleasure in Him; for He said, "I am the Song of God."



And when they had crucified Him.... they divided up His garments among themselves, casting lots.
The intense thirst during crucifixion, (“tongue cleaves to my jaws”) the bones which separate from their sockets because of the weight of the body (“all my bones are out of joint”), people standing around staring at Him, hands and feet pierced (“they pierced my hands and my feet”), all clear descriptions of a man suffering the death of crucifixion.  The further descriptions of people wagging their heads (a gesture of scorn), and quoting their very words (“let Him deliver Him now if He takes pleasure in Him”), the dividing of His garments and  casting lots for his clothing, all amazing minutely detailed prophesies foretelling what men, using their own free will, would do and say one thousand years before they did it!
10. VINEGAR TO DRINK

Prophecy (Psalm 69:21)

...And for my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink (KJV).

Fulfillment (John 19:28, 29)

...Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, "I thirst"... and they filled a sponge with vinegar...and put it to His mouth (KJV).
11. WHIPPED, BEATEN, AND SPAT UPON

Prophecy (Isaiah 50:6; 52:14)           Fulfillment (John 191, 3;
                                                      Matthew 26:67; Mark 15:19)

I gave my back to those who            Then Pilate therefore took Jesus,
strike me.... I did not cover my         and scourged Him.                       face from humiliation and spitting.
                                                     Then they spat in His face and beat
So his appearance was marred          Him with their fists; and others
more than any man, and His form      slapped Him.
more than the sons of men.             
                                                      And they kept beating His head
                                                      with a reed, and spitting at Him,
                                                      and kneeling and bowing before
                                                      Him.

12. NUMBERED WITH THE WICKED,
YET WITH A RICH MAN IN HIS DEATH

Prophecy (Isaiah 53:12, 9)                Fulfillment (Mark 15:27-28;
                                                      Matthew 27:57, 60)
And was numbered with the              And they crucified two robbers
transgressors; yet He Himself            with Him, one on His right and
bore the sin of many.                        one on His left. And the Scripture
                                                      was fulfilled which says, "And He
His grave was assigned with              was numbered with the trans-
wicked men, Yet He was with            gressors."
a rich man in His death.
                                                       There came a rich man from
                                                       Arimathea, named Joseph...and
                                                        laid it in his own new tomb.

13.  BETRAYED FOR 30 PIECES OF SILVER (Not 29 or 31; of silver, not copper, bronze, or any other medium of exchange.)

14.  MONEY THROWN INTO GOD’S HOUSE (Also called the temple or  sanctuary;  and note, the money is not placed, not given, but thrown)

15.  MONEY USED TO BUY A POTTER’S FIELD

Note how all these prophecies are fulfilled in following Scripture:          

Prophecy   (Zechariah  11:12-13)           Fulfillment (Matthew 26:15;
                                                                            27:3,5,7)
...So they weighed out thirty                  ...and said, "What are you
skekels of silver as my wages.               willing to give me to deliver
Then the Lord said to me, "Throw          Him up to you.?" And they
it to the potter, that magnificent              weighed out to him thirty
price at which I was valued by               pieces of silver.
them." So I took the thirty shekels          ... he felt remorse and returned
of silver and threw them to the               the thirty pieces of silver....
potter in the house of the Lord.              And he threw the pieces of
                                                          silver into the sanctuary...
                                                          and with the money (they)
                                                          bought the potter's field.  

16. SUBSTITUTIONARY DEATH FOR THE SINS OF THE PEOPLE

Prophecy (Isaiah 53: 3-6; 9, 11-12)          Fulfillment                       

He was despised and forsaken of              Matthew 1:21: ...and you will
men, a man of sorrows and acquainted     call his name Jesus, for it is He
with grief.... He was despised, and we      who will save His people from
did not esteem him.                                 their sins.
Surely our griefs He Himself                    
bore, and our sorrows he carried;             Romans 5:8:  But God demon-
... He was pierced through for                  srates His love towards us, in
our transgressions, He was crushed          that while we were yet sinners
for our iniquities; the chastening               Christ died for us.
for our well-being fell upon Him,
and by His scourgings we are healed.        1 Corinthians 15:3: ....Christ died
All of us like sheep have gone astray,         for our sins, according to the
each of us has turned to his own way,       the scriptures (NKJV).
but the Lord has caused the iniquity          
of us all to fall upon Him.                         1 Peter 3:18: For Christ died for
... His grave was assigned with                 sins once and for all, the just for
wicked men, yet He was with a rich          the unjust in order that he might
man in His death.... My Servant                bring us to God.
will justify the many, as He will bear
their iniquities... and He was numbered      2 Corinthians 5:21:  He made
with the transgressors; yet He Himself       Him who knew no sin to be sin
bore the sin of many and interceded           on our behalf, that we might
for the transgressors.                               become the righteousness of
                                                              God in Him.

17.  TIME OF CHRIST’S COMING PREDICTED 500 YEARS
        BEFORE IT HAPPENED.

    This amazing  prophecy predicts the exact time, as to year and day, of  Christ’s final entry into Jerusalem, or what we call “Palm Sunday.”
Daniel 9:20-27, written about 535 B.C. when Jerusalem was lying in ruins and the Israelites were in captivity by the Babylonians, states that there will be 69 periods of 7 years until the Messiah would come.  The calendar used was the Hebrew lunar calendar based on 360 day years.   The time count begins when there is a decree issued to rebuild Jerusalem.  This happened during the reign of Artaxerxes Longimanus, a known figure of history mentioned in standard encyclopedias.  The decree was issued in 444 B.C. (Nehemiah 2:5).

Daniel 9:25-26:  “So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty two weeks; it will be built again... then after the sixty two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.”

     This prophecy plainly states that after the specified time period, the Messiah will be killed (“cut off”) and the city (Jerusalem) and sanctuary (the Temple) will be destroyed.  It is a well known fact of history, that some years after Christ was crucified, in 70 A.D., the Romans totally destroyed Jerusalem and the temple.  This shows the Messiah had to come before the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. Anyone armed with a calculator and some easily verifiable facts of history can compute this amazing prophecy.

     Luke 3:1 states John the Baptist’s ministry began in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar.  History tells us his reign began in 14 A.D.  Thus the fifteenth year of his reign would be 29 A.D.  Jesus’ ministry began shortly after John the Baptist.  His public ministry lasted 3 ½  years, which brings us to 33 A.D. as the year of His crucifixion.

     The time clock begins with the decree of Artaxerxes in 444 B.C.  69 weeks of 360 day years adds up to 173,880 days (69 X 7 = 483 years;  483 X 360 days = 173,880 days).  To find out the number of years used in our calendar, divide 173,880 days by 365 ¼ which equals 476 solar years.  Add 476 to -444  (B.C.) and it equals 32.  Since 1 B.C. to 1 A.D. is one year, a year must be added to 32, making  33 A.D. as the year the Messiah comes to Jerusalem and is killed!

     Further study shows that the prediction actually narrows it to the  exact month and day! Artaxerxes issued his decree in the month of Nissan.  Again, this is a lunar calendar month used by the Hebrews.  Nissan begins on the first day of a full moon which falls between March-April on our calendar. Astronomical charts show this day, Nissan 1, would have been on March 5 in 444 B.C. The Jews celebrated Passover on Nissan 14.  Christ was crucified on this day (John 19:14). Astronomers show that in 33 A.D., Nissan 14 fell on a Friday, April 3.  But Christ entered Jerusalem on the donkey on Monday, Nissan 10, and publicly offered Himself as Israel’s King and Messiah.  In 33 A.D. this day fell on March 30.  When one uses the exact solar year of 365.24219879 days, or 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 45.975 seconds added to March 5, 444 B.C., (the day of Artaxerxes decree), it falls precisely on March 30, 33 A.D. ! [1]

     Concerning the subject of Passover, there is another amazing fulfillment.  The revelation in the Old Testament about the Messiah was progressive, starting with vague hints and increasing in detail.  One of the methods used is called “type” and “shadow.”  The Passover feast is one example.  This feast was instituted by God to celebrate the deliverance of the Hebrew people from bondage in Egypt.  When they applied the blood of a lamb, crossed  over the door posts of their home, they were delivered from the judgment of death that came upon the Egyptians. The apostle Paul called Christ “our Passover” (1 Corinthians 5:7) in that  the feasts actual meaning indicated that when a person has the blood of Christ applied through faith in Him, the judgment of death passes over us.  For centuries Nissan 10 would be the day the lamb to be sacrificed would be picked out by a Hebrew family.  On Nissan 14 the lamb would be slain, beginning at 3:00 P.M. 

     On Nissan 10, when people all over Israel were picking out the lambs to be sacrificed, Christ publicly offers himself to Israel as their King, riding into the eastern gate of the city on a donkey.  On Nissan 14, Christ was crucified and died at exactly 3:00 P.M., the exact same time people all over the nation of Israel began killing their lambs for the Passover feast!  (John 19:14; Mark 15:25,33)2 [2]

     These are just some of the more than 300 prophesies concerning Christ.

•   Were the prophecies written after Christ?

     Certain skeptics, who desire to remain skeptics despite the inexplicable fulfilled prophesies have tried to offer several explanations.  Some have said the documents predicting these things must have been written after Christ. 

    This is quite impossible, as actual manuscript copies of the Old Testament have been found that predate Christ.  The Dead Sea Scrolls have copies of Old Testament manuscripts that are dated 100 B.C.  Furthermore, a well known translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek, called the Septuagint, was known to be made at 250 B.C.

•   Deliberately fulfilled?

     Others have said the fulfilling of these prophecies were deliberate and planned by a human Jesus who read them and tried to fulfill them.  This is also impossible as so many of these prophecies were totally beyond the control of Jesus.  How can one deliberately plan his place of birth? Or time of birth?  Or being betrayed for 30 pieces of silver and used for the potter? Or people’s reactions - mocking, spitting, staring, gambling for His robe, piercing His hands and feet, the words and gestures at the foot of the cross quoted... all things beyond the control of a mere human Jesus.

•   Coincidence?

     Others have proposed a coincidental fulfillment.  Professor Stoner in a book called “Science Speaks,” showed how coincidental fulfillment is impossible.  His book was carefully reviewed by other scientists who determined the book was totally accurate as to its scientific material.  He points out that by using the mathematical science of probabilities in reference to just 8 prophecies concerning Christ, as  being fulfilled accidentally is equivalent to one in 10 to the 17th power.  That is a 10 with 17 zeros after it.  To illustrate the improbability of this idea, he gives an example.

     Suppose “we take 1017th silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas.  They will cover all of the state two feet deep.  Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state.  Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that his is the right one.  What chance would he have of getting the right one?  Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time, providing they wrote them in their own wisdom.”[3]   Stoner further considers 48 prophecies instead of 8, and the coincidental chance goes up to 1 in 10 to the 157th power.

     There are three great truths that are most powerfully demonstrated by these facts of fulfilled prophecy.
             1. The Bible is the Word of God, both the Old and New Testaments.  The future is totally unknown to us, only God can do this.
             2. It proves the God of the Bible is the true living God, as only He has the power to fulfill what He predicts; all the other supposed gods, those of Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism, whose writings are utterly devoid of any supernatural fulfilled prophecy, are false.
             3. It also demonstrates the fact that Jesus Christ is exactly who He said he was; it authenticates His Deity, that He is the Savior of the world, and that everything He said is true.

[1] Harold W. Hoehner, Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1977), p. 138
[2] Ibid., p.89
[3] Peter W. Stoner, Science Speaks (Chicago: Moddy Press, 1963), pp. 100-107.


                                                                            





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