Prophecy 101: Regarding the Incarnation of Jesus

Transcription

1 Prophecy 101: Regarding the Incarnation of Jesus I. Prophecy is history written in advance Isaiah 46: "Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other ; I am God, and there is no one like Me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, 'My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure '; II. Prophecy is reliable. More than Peter's eyewitness testimony 2 Peter 1: For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17 For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, "This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased "- 18 and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. 19 So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. 20 But know this frst of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. III. Jesus holds us accountable for knowing our prophetic scriptures Luke 19: When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying, "If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. 43 "For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, 44 and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation." IV. No other sacred books are equivalent to the Bible. No comparison to the Bible's absolute precision of the prophetic Word. A. Islam's Koran B. Hindu's Veda C. Bhagavad Gita D. Book of Mormon E. Nostradamus F. Edgar Cayce, Jeanne Dixon, New age channelers, etc V. Prophetic Scriptures A predictive verses B predictions C. 737 separate matters VI. Prophetic themes A. Israel and the church different origin, different destinies B. Jerusalem C. Temple D. The Messiah's 1 st coming Page 1/5

2 E. The 2 nd coming of Jesus F. Millennium G. Eternity VII. Old Testament A. Over 300 prophecies concerning the coming Messiah (1 st coming) About 2 times more prophecies concerning the 2 nd coming as the 1st VIII. Old Testament prophecies quoted in the Gospels A. He was to be of David's family (2 Sam 7:12-16;Ps 89:3-4;110:1;132:11; Isa 9:6,7;11:1) B. He would be born of a virgin (Gen 3:15;Isa 7:14) C. He would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2) D. He would sojourn in Egypt (Hos 11:1) E. He would live in Galilee (Isa 9:1,2) F....in Nazareth (Isa 11:1) G. To be announced by an Elijah-like herald (Isa 40:3-5; Mal 3:1;4:5) H. Would occasion massacre of Bethlehem's children (Gen 35:19-20; Jer 31:15) I. Would proclaim a Jubilee to the world (Isa 58:6; 61:1) J. His mission would include Gentiles (Isa 42:1-4) K. Ministry would be one of healing (Isa 53:4) L. He would teach through parables (Isa 6:9-10;Ps 78:2) M. He would be disbelieved, rejected by the Rulers (Ps 69:4;118:22;Isa 6:10;29:13;53:1) N. Would make a triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Zech 9:9; Ps 118:26) O. Betrayed by a friend for 30 pieces of silver (Zech 11:1-13; Ps 41:9) P. Would be smitten like a shepherd (Zech 13:7) Q. Would be given vinegar and gall (Ps 69:21) R. They would cast hots for His garments (Ps 22:18) S. His Side would be pierced (Zech 12:10;Ps 22:16) T. Not a bone would be broken (Ex 12:46;Num 9:12; Ps 34:20) U. Would die among malefactors (Isa 53:9,12) V. His dying words foretold (Ps 22:1; 31:5) W. Would be buried by a rich man (Isa 53:9) X. Rise from dead on 3 rd day (Gen 22:4; Ps 16:10-11; Jon 1:17) Y. Resurrection followed by destruction of Jerusalem (Dan 9:26; 11:31;12:1,11) IX. Is prophecy believable? How sure can we be that bible prophecy as yet unfulfilled will happen exactly as God said it would? Let's examine some specific examples of prophecies concerning Jesus and apply some statistical measure to it. We'll just consider 8 of these prophecies and try to measure in some way if Jesus is who He claimed to be the Son of the Living God. A. Prophecy #1: Born in Bethlehem Micah 5:2 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." Page 2/5

3 i. What is the probability of any person, taken at random, fulfilling this? P = 10,000/1,000,000,000 P = 10 4 /10 9 = 1:10 5 (1:100,000) B. Prophecy #2: King on a Donkey Zechariah 9:9 9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. i. How many people have presented themselves as a King to Jerusalem riding on a donkey? P = 1:100 (1:10 2 ) C. Prophecy #3 Thirty pieces of silver Zechariah 11:12 12 I said to them, "If it is good in your sight, give me my wages ; but if not, never mind!" So they weighed out thirty shekels of silver as my wages. i. How many people have been betrayed for 30 pieces of silver? D. Prophecy #4 Temple, Potter, etc Zechariah 11:13 3 Then the LORD said to me, "Throw it to the potter, that magnifcent price at which I was valued by them." So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the LORD. Matthew 27:6-8 6 The chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, "It is not lawful to put them into the temple treasury, since it is the price of blood." 7 And they conferred together and with the money bought the Potter's Field as a burial place for strangers. 8 For this reason that feld has been called the Field of Blood to this day. i. The precision of Zechariah 11:13: Price (30 pieces of silver); location of the transaction ( the House of the Lord Temple); who ends up with the money (the potter) P= 1:100,000 (1:10 5 ) E. Prophecy #5 Wounds on Hands Zechariah 13:6 6 "And one will say to him, 'What are these wounds between your arms?' Then he will say, 'Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.' Thomas unbelief John 20: So the other disciples were saying to him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my fnger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe." 26 After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you." 27 Then He said to Thomas, "Reach here with your fnger, and see My hands ; and reach here your hand and put it into My side ; and do not be unbelieving, but believing." 28 Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" 29 Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen Me, have you Page 3/5

4 believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed." i. How many people, taken at random, have been wounded in the hands in the house of their friends? F. Prophecy #6 No defense though innocent Isaiah 53:7 7 He was oppressed and He was afficted, Yet He did not open His mouth ; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. i. How many prisoners, accused of a capital crime, make no defense even though innocent? G. Prophecy #7 Died with the wicked, buried with the rich Isaiah 53:9 9 His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth. i. How many people ever died among the wicked, get buried with the rich? H. Prophecy #8 Crucified Psalm 22:16 16 For dogs have surrounded me; A band of evildoers has encompassed me; They pierced my hands and my feet. i. How many people, taken at random, have died by having their hands and feet pierced? Psalm 22 was written 700 years before crucifixion was invented. P = 1:10,000 (1:10 4 ) X. All 8 Prophecies taken together A. Micah 5:2 Born in Bethlehem 1:10 5 B. Zechariah 9:9 King on a Donkey 1:10 2 C. Zechariah 11:12 30 pieces of silver 1:10 3 D. Zechariah 13:6 Wounds on hands 1:10 3 E. Isaiah 53:7 No Defense, innocent 1:10 3 F. Isaiah 53:9 Died with wicked, buried with rich 1:10 3 G. Psalm 22:16 Crucified 1:10 4 H. Zechariah 11:13 Temple, Potter 1:10 5 Add all these up. XI. The probability of 1 person fulfilling, to the letter, each of these 8 prophecies is 1:10 28 If we assume total population of the earth as 100,000,000,000 (10 11 ) Then /10 11 = is the probability that 1 person who ever lived on the earth fulfilled each of these prophecies. XII. State of Texas and silver dollars Remember there are over 300 of them! XIII. What about 16? (10 28 x )/10 11 = /10 11 = Page 4/5

5 XIV. What about 48? ( x x x x10 28 x ) = /10 11 = This number is far greater than the total number of atoms in the universe. Today, we looked back to fulfilled prophecy in the life of Jesus. We saw How incredibly accurate God's word is How important prophecy is How reliable prophecy is Jesus expects us to know it! The next 2 weeks we'll take a look forward and see what the Bible has to say about: What about the future? The 70 weeks of prophecy of Daniel Daniel's 70 th week the last 7 years Doctrine of the rapture of the church Bema seat judgement of Christ The man of lawlessness, the Son of Perdition the Antichrist the 2 nd coming of Jesus Armageddon The 1000 year reign of Jesus on Earth The Great White Throne judgement Eternity Outline by E. Mack Duffey some excerpts from Learn the Bible in 24 hours by Chuck Missler All scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible Page 5/5