One of the strongest evidence that the Bible is the inspired Word of God is its predictive prophecy. In this particular category, the Bible is unlike any other book. It offers many specific predictions, some hundreds of years in advance, that have been literally fulfilled or that point to a specific future time when they will come true. There are 1817 predictions in the Bible, 1239 in the Old Testament and 578 in the New.
If an omniscient God exists who knows the future, then predictive prophecy is possible. And if the Bible contains such predictions, then they are a sign of the Bible's divine origin. With that said, not everything called "prophecy" in the Bible is predictive. Prophets proclaimed God's Word as well as foretelling the future. Prophecy is more than a vague guess. It cannot be a mere reading of the current trends. It deals with human contingencies that are normally unpredictable. Sometimes the miraculous nature of the prophecy is based on how far in advance the prediction is made, so as to reduce the probability of guessing.
There are 191 prophecies concerning the anticipated Jewish Messiah and Savior. Each one was literally fulfilled in the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus of Nazareth. The first prediction of Messiah's birth is found in Genesis 3:15, "I will put enmity between you (the serpent) and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." Jesus was born of a woman and he delivered the "crushing" head blow to the Devil, the Serpent of old, when he died and resurrected on the third day! Isaiah 7:14 predicted the name of the Messiah. "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call his name Immanuel (God with us)". This prediction was made 700 years in advance! In Micah 5:2 the prophet proclaims, "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will rule over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times".
If we were able to go back in time and asked God, " How will we recognize your Son when he comes to Earth? How will we recognize him as the Messiah, the eternal, incarnate Son of God?"
The conversation might have gone something like this:
God - "I will cause him to be born as an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham (Gen. 22:18)."
Us - "But, Abraham's descendants are too many!"
God - "I will make him a descendant of Isaac, not Ishmael (Gen.21:12)."
Us - "That's still too many people!"
God - "Let him be born from Jacob's line, eliminating half of Isaac's lineage (Numbers 24:17)."
Us - "Still too many people!"
God - "Jacob will have twelve sons; I will bring him from the tribe of Judah (Gen. 49:10)."
Us - "You need to be more specific, we still might not recognize him."
God - "OK, look for him in the family line of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1). And from the house and lineage of Jesse's youngest son, David (Jeremiah 23:5). And then I will tell you where he will be born: Bethlehem, a tiny town in the area called Judah (Micah 5:2)."
Us - "But wait, how will we know which person born there is your Son?"
God - "A messenger will come before him and prepare the way and announce his coming (Isaiah 40:3). He will begin his ministry in Galilee (Isaiah 9:1) and will teach in parables (Psalm 78:2), performing many miracles (Isiah 35:5-6)."
Us - "OK, that might help."
God - "But wait, I'm not done yet. He will ride into the city of Jerusalem on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9) and will appear suddenly and forcefully at the temple courts and and get angry at the money changers (Psalm 69:9; Malachi 3:1). And how about this, in one day he will fulfill no less than 29 specific prophecies spoken at least 500 years earlier about him!"
Yet we must admit that Jesus was not the only Jew to be born into the tribe of Judah, in the city of Bethlehem, and buried in a rich man's tomb. Could it be that some of the details of Jesus' life just happen to coincide with all those Old Testament prophecies? Let's turn to the science of statistics and probabilities for the answer to that question. Professor Peter W. Stoner, in an analysis that was carefully reviewed and pronounced to be sound by the American Scientific Affiliation, states that the probability of just 8 out of those 29 specific prophecies being fulfilled in one person is 1 in 10 to the 17th power (that's 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000)!
Let's say for example, that if we were to take that many silver dollars and spread them across the state of Texas, they would not only cover the entire state but also form a pile of coins 2 feet deep! Then, take one more silver dollar, mark it with a big red X, toss it into the pile, and stir the whole pile really good. Then, begin walking blindfolded from one end of the state to the other, stop and reach down into the pile and pick up one silver dollar. Take your blindfold off and look at the silver dollar in your hand. What are the chances that you would pick the marked coin out of a pile of silver dollars the size of Texas? The same chance that one person could have fulfilled just 8 messianic prophecies in one lifetime! In other words, it is unimaginable and nearly unthinkable that 8 prophecies about the Messiah could have come true in one man, let alone the 60 major prophecies that were fulfilled in Jesus!
There are so many more prophecies in the Bible dealing with other people, places and events, that it would take a book to list them and explain them all! For the sake of time and space, I have limited it to the particular and specific prophecies involving Jesus birth and ministry.
1/28/2008
James
Information compiled from:
Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics
by: Norman L. Geisler
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