Truth in Prophecy

Jason ran through the backdoor and almost knocked his mother off her feet.
"Jason" she snapped
"Sorry, Mom" he said, "but you have got to see this book I got from Tim." He empted his backpack on the counter and lifted a book out of the pile of schoolbooks. "There are a lot of predictions and stuff by a guy named Notradame in it."
"That's Nostradamus"
"Yeah, that's it" Jason said. "So you've heard of this guy?"
"Yes I have," she said.
"Isn't this stuff interesting? He predicted all sorts of things before it happened, like World War II and Hitler, and President Kennedy's assassination. Tim said there is even something in here about M. C. Hammer."
"Is that what Tim said, huh?"
Looking at his mom suspiciously Jason said "Okay, Mom what's up? You've got that look again."
"Oh I just wonder if you see those 'prophecies' he made? I mean, did you look them up, or did someone show them to you, or what?"
"Well, Tim pointed them out to me."
"Didn't they seem kind of vague? Like they might apply to any number of situations or interpretations?
Jason thought a minute then shrugged. "I guess."
"It has always been amazing to me that people get so wrapped up in Nostradamus's prophecies and completely ignore the divinely inspired and clearly fuffilled prophecies of the Word of God, the Scriptures!"
Jason was interested. He put the Nostradamus book down. "Like what?"
"Well Jason, I'm surprised at you. Like Jesus being bom in Bethlehem. Micah predicted that. And Zechariah predicted that the Messiah would dde into Jerusalem, not on a mighty war horse, but on a donkey."
"Oh yeah," Nathan said. "And that He would be betrayed, too, right?"
"Right. Betrayed by a friend, for thirty pieces of silver, that His hands and feet would be pierced, that His bones would not be broken, details, Jason, not vague generalizations or lucky guesses, but dozens of specific predictions that came true with 100 percent accuracy. And that's just the Messianic prophecies. The same is true of prophecies about cities and nations all through the Bible."
"Makes Nostradamus look sick, doesn't it?" Jason concluded.
"Dead in the water," his mom said with a smile.
Jason's mom is right. Biblical prophecy reveals with startling force the unique character and reliability of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures.
Even a casual awareness of the prophecies concerning the Messiah must convince all but the most biased reader of the truth of the Bible.

But some people think that the fulfillment of biblical prophecy is due to coincidence, a fluke. "You could find some of those prophecies fulfilled in President Kennedy or Martin Luther King," some have said.

But could you find all the forty-eight major prophecies concerning the Messiah fulfilled in any one man other than Jesus? In a word, "NO."
The chances of that happening by coincidence, says Peter Stoner in Science Speaks, in I in 10 to the power of 157, or in other words, 10 followed by 157 zeroes. You can't imagine a number that big or a probability that small.
Such astronomical odds make it clear that the prophecies of the Bible were not lucky guesses, "For prophecy never had it's origin in the will of man," as Peter said, "but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:21).

Work Out

Increase you power to confront the Coincidence Myth by seeing how many of the following you can correctly match with the prophet who predicted it or the book in which it is found. The answers are:

A. Genesis    C. Isaiah    E. Micah
B. Psalms     D. Jeremiah   F. Zechadah

The questions are:

  1. Jesus would be bom of a virgin (Matthew 1:18-25)
  2. Of the tribe of Judah (Luke 3:23, 33)
  3. Descended from Jesse (Luke 3:32)
  4. Of the house of David (Luke 3:31)
  5. Bom in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:1)
  6. Preceded by a messenger (Matthew 3:1-2)
  7. Enter Jerusalem on a donkey (Luke 19:35-37)
  8. Betrayed by a friend (Matthew 26:48-50)
  9. Betrayed for thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 26:15)
  10. Silent before His accusers (Matthew 27:12)
  11. Hands and feet pierced (Luke 23:33; John 20:25)
  12. Crucified with thieves (Matthew 27:38)
  13. Interceded for His persecutors (Luke 23:34)
  14. Garments parted (John 19:23)
  15. Lots cast for garments (John 19:24)
  16. Gall and vinegar offered to Him (Matthew 27:34)
  17. His bones not broken (John 19:33)
  18. His side pierced (John 19:34)
  19. He was buded with the rich (Matthew 27:57-60)
  20. His resurrection (Acts 2:31)
Answers: 1. C (Isaiah 7:14)  2. A (Genesis 49:10)  3. C (Isaiah 11:1)  4. D (Jeremiah 23:5)  5. E (Micah 5:2)  6. C (Isaiah 40:3)  7. F (Zechariah 9:9)  8. B (Psalm 41:9)  9. F (Zechariah 11:12)  10. C (Isaiah 53:7)  11. B (Psalm 22:16)  12. C (Isaiah 53:12)  13. C (Isaiah 53:12)  14. B (Psalm 22:18)  15. B (Psalm 22:18)  16. B (Psalm69:21)  17. B (Psalm34:20)  18. F (Zechariah12:10)  19. C (Isaiah53:9)  20. B (Psalm 16:10).

Back to KidsKorner
Home