Transcription
A man by the name of Peter Stoner, a professor of mathematics, attempted to calculate the probability of one person accidentally fulfilling several messianic prophecies written about themselves. He calculated that the odds that any one person could somehow arrange their life to be at the right place at the right time to fulfill even just eight of these prophecies was 1 * 10 to the 17th power. And for those who are not mathematicians, that's a one with 17 zeros after it. To illustrate just how rare that would be, he said you could cover the entire state of Texas with silver dollars 2 feet deep and label one of the coins with an X, blindfold someone, and tell them to wander throughout the entire state of Texas and randomly choose a coin. The chance they would select the coin marked with an X on the first try is, yeah, you guessed it, 1 * 10 to the 17th power.
And so the question is, was Jesus just somehow coincidentally in the right place at the right time for all of these prophecies? Or was there something someone divine behind the scenes orchestrating the events of his earthly life so that every single prophecy written about him would be fulfilled.
In this video, I'm going to show you how Jesus fulfilled prophecies written about him hundreds of years before regarding his birth, his life, even how he would later be betrayed, the way he would die, and even the timing of his death, and even prophecies about his resurrection. All of this and more was predicted hundreds of years before and Jesus fulfilled every single one. And when you see how all of these prophecies connect together, it is going to blow your mind wide open just like it did mine.
All right, we're going to break down all of the prophecies. It's going to be a super long video. You might have to pause it. May have to come back and watch it again. I'm not going to rush through this and I'm telling you if you click off of this video, you're going to miss out on some unbelievably mindblowing prophecies towards the end of this video. So, I want to encourage you to stay tuned.
All right. Prophecy number one regarding his birth is that the Messiah would be from the tribe of Judah. Now, you might say, "Well, brother Par, what's that have to do with anything?" Hold on. Okay. So around the time uh I'd say about 1,400 years before Christ, this is in Genesis 49, chapter 10, it says this, "The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from his descendants until the coming of the one to whom it belongs, the one whom all nations will honor." H I wonder who that's talking about.
So what's the context here? So right before Jacob died, he blessed each of his 12 sons. So when he got to Judah by using the phrase the scepter will not depart from Judah, he essentially said that the royal line of kings in Israel would always come from the tribe of Judah. Now this is fascinating. I'm going to show you in just a moment how Jesus fulfilled this. But this is fascinating because essentially what is happening here is that God is narrowing the scope of who the Messiah could be. Remember he started off and he said,"Abraham, through you Abraham, all the families of the earth will be blessed." Meaning someone is going to come through you Abraham who's going to be able to provide a blessing for all the families on the earth. And then of course we know Abraham, Isaac, and then Jacob whose name was changed to what? Israel. So we now know that the Messiah has to come through Abraham and then also he has to be an Israelite. We know that. But then now we see that God narrows the scope even more. And out of 12 sons out of 12 tribes, now we see that the rulership, the kingship, the Messiah must be narrowed down to the tribe of Judah.
Well, did Jesus fulfill that? Let's see what the New Testament said. Notice Hebrews 7:14. What I mean is our Lord came from where? The tribe of Judah. And Moses never mentioned priests coming from that tribe. And then later Jesus is described as in Revelation 5:5. But one of the 24 elders said to me, "Stop weeping. Look, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David's throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals." So by Jesus being of the tribe of Judah, he automatically fulfills this prophecy and earns his rightful place of being the king of Israel. and ultimately the Messiah.
But that's just the first prophecy about his birth. Let's dig into the second one. And that is the fact that the Messiah would be born of a virgin. Now, this prophecy was given by Isaiah approximately about 730 years or so before Jesus was even born. And Isaiah says this, "All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look, the virgin will conceive a child. She will give birth to a son and will call him Emmanuel, which means God is with us." Guys, I'm telling you, your mind is about to be blown. We're just digging into the surface right here, okay? I've got some crazy ones coming up.
All right, but I just want you to imagine as you are reading the book of Isaiah 700 some years before, and you're like, "Wait, a baby's going to be born to a virgin? How's that possible?" Right? What is he talking about? Right? So Isaiah says God is going to give his people a miraculous sign. And that sign that he's going to give them is that there will be sometime in the future a child who will be born of a virgin. And notice he goes even deeper and he says the name that that child will bear is Emmanuel, which suggests that this child, whoever this child is, would represent God's presence among his people. Hence the name God with us.
But it gets even deeper. Matthew 1:18, it says, "This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother Mary was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still what? A virgin." There it is. She became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. Guys, make these connections. Notice this. By being conceived through the Holy Spirit, but being physically born through a woman, we see how Jesus became both fully God and fully man possessing two natures. Notice he was conceived by the Holy Spirit. That is divine nature. But yet, he was born through a woman. That's his human nature. And now we see these two natures, which we call the hypothatic union, a fancy theological word. the fact that this Messiah, this Jesus, this savior can be both fully God and fully man at the same time.
Now, that prophecy about the virgin birth is incredible just by itself. But the Old Testament didn't just predict how the Messiah would be born. No, no, no. It goes further and also predicts where he would be born. And the location it names is incredibly specific because 700 years or so before Jesus was born, the prophet Micah identified the exact town where the Messiah would enter the world.
Prophecy number three, the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Now once again, 700 years before the birth of Christ, he says this, "But you, Bethlehem, Ephtha, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to me the one to be ruler in Israel, whose going forth are from of old, from everlasting." Okay, we're going to dig into that.
All right, so notice this verse prophesies that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. But let's stop right there and notice one small detail that often gets overlooked. Did you notice that in Micah's prophecy he says Bethlehem Epheretha? You have to understand that during Micah's time, you can see on the screen a map of the time where Micah lived, there were actually two cities named Bethlehem. And by naming Bethlehem of Ephritha, Micah is specifically saying that the Messiah would come from David's hometown of Bethlehem, not the other Bethlehem located elsewhere. So, we see very specific. Micah is like, "No, no, no. Just to be clear, to make sure you know that this prophecy is going to be fulfilled perfectly, we're not talking about the Bethlehem up here in the north. No, we're talking about the Bethlehem in the south, which by the time of Christ, there was only one city of Bethlehem. But at the time of Micah, there were actually two.
Now, let's keep going deeper. Finally, by using the phrase whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting, Micah implies that this ruler could not have been or will not be a human one because no human being has ever been described as being everlasting. So once again, similar to the virgin birth, we see both of Jesus's natures present here. His human nature, he was born in a literal town called Bethlehem. But his divine nature, he is everlasting in his existence. So we once again see this connection with with his two natures.
Now, how was this fulfilled? Unbelievable. Jesus's parents lived in Nazareth about 70 miles away and would not have just randomly coincidentally happened to be in Bethlehem for just some random reason. No. But around this time it says this. At that time the Roman emperor Augustus decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. So this guy is like hey we need to see how many people we have in our Roman Empire. So I am going to create a law that makes every single person return to their hometown no matter where you live. Right? So now Joseph and Mary because Joseph was from there had to travel back from Nazareth all the way back to Bethlehem. And notice in verse four it says this. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David's ancient town. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. And so while they were there, as we know, Jesus the Messiah was born, fulfilling the prophecy that he would come from Bethlehem. This is fascinating because we see here that Jesus being a not even being physically born. There's no way that he could force the situation and make sure that he was in the right place at the right time. For my goodness sake, he was in the womb of Mary. And yet, we see God behind the scenes pulling the strings, orchestrating all the events of time to ensure that this prophecy and every other prophecy written about Jesus is indeed fulfilled exactly the way it was supposed to.
Now, the Old Testament didn't just predict details about the Messiah's birth. It also described what his ministry would look like. And now we're going to take a look at a few of them. Okay, it's about to get even better.
Prophecy number four, the Messiah would be a prophet like Moses. Now, this is one of my favorite ones. In Deuteronomy 18:15, Moses prophesies that one day in the future, God is going to raise up another prophet similar to himself. So, you're saying, "God, I I know I'm a prophet. I'm Moses, right? I'm I'm I'm God's voice to the people. One day, there's going to come a prophet that's greater than me. Notice he says this. Moses continued, "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him." Well, you think, "Yeah."
Now, the question becomes, in what ways was Jesus a prophet like Moses, thus fulfilling this prophecy that Moses gave? Well, there's so many different ways. First, Moses escaped a king who ordered the killing of baby boys. You may recall that's why his mother floated him down the river. Pharaoh. Jesus also escaped a king who ordered the killing of baby boys. Herod. Okay. Moses delivered the people from slavery. Jesus delivers people from sin. Moses was the mediator of the old covenant, the old law, the Mosaic law. But Jesus brings in or is the mediator of the new covenant. Moses gave the law. Jesus fulfilled the law. Moses spoke to God face to face. And we know Jesus spoke to his father face to face. Let's go deeper. Moses gave the people bread in the wilderness so they could survive for the 40 years when they were wandering around. Jesus said, "I am the true bread." That Moses spoke of. So, in every way, Jesus fulfilled this prophecy concerning himself.
Now, does the New Testament confirm this? It sure does. Acts chapter 3, it says this. Moses said, "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people. Listen carefully to everything he tells you." Then Moses said, "Anyone who will not listen to that prophet will be completely cut off from God's people." So, we see that the New Testament points to Jesus as being the fulfillment of this prophet that Moses said would raise up who would be like him.
But it gets better. Prophecy number five, the Messiah would perform miracles. Notice Isaiah writes once again approximately 700 years before Christ. First of all, wrap your brain around that. How could you even begin to think about what's going to happen 7 minutes from now, 7 hours from now, 7 days from now, 7 years from now, let alone 700 years? But yet indeed we see Isaiah saying this. And when he comes, he will open the eyes of the blind and unplug the ears of the deaf. The lame will leap like a deer, and those who cannot speak will sing for joy.
So you may recall when John the Baptist was sitting in prison awaiting to be beheaded, he was struggling with his faith. And he questioned whether Jesus was the Messiah they were all waiting for. And Jesus replied and said in Matthew 11:4 and5, Jesus told them, "Go back to John and tell him what you have heard and seen. While the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the good news is being preached to the poor." All the things that Isaiah said the Messiah would do, indeed Jesus fulfilled.
Okay. Now, prophecy number six. the Messiah would be rejected by his own people. Once again, Isaiah writes this around 700 years or so before Christ. He says this, "He was despised and rejected, a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised and we did not care." Who wrote this? Isaiah wrote this. Who is Isaiah? He's an Israelite. So Isaiah is saying our people, we will turn our backs on the Messiah. He's speaking of a time in the future where God's own chosen people would reject the Messiah.
Now, how was this fulfilled? All through the gospels, John wrote this. He came to his own people and even they rejected him. Later, John wrote this. But despite all the miraculous signs Jesus had done, most of the people still did not believe in him.
Prophecy number seven, the Messiah would come riding on a donkey. All right. Zechariah now wrote some 500 years before Christ. Rejoice, O people of Zion. Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem. Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious. Yet he is humble, riding on a donkey, riding on a donkey's colt.
So notice this that the this prophecy specifies that the Messiah will ride into Jerusalem specifically on a donkey. So instead of arriving on some glorious waror presenting himself as I am the king, I am, you know, believe in me. No, no. Jesus presented himself as the Messiah in humility by riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. Notice it says this in verse 4 and 5, chapter 21. This took place to fulfill the prophecy that said, "Tell the people of Jerusalem, look, your king is coming to you. He is humble, riding on a donkey, riding on a donkekeyy's colt." Matthew is saying the fact that Jesus did the triumphal entry shortly before he was crucified and rode in Jerusalem on a donkey. That was done just to fulfill what Zechariah had written about him some 500 years before. Unlike many of the prophecies that were outside of his direct control, Jesus intentionally fulfilled this one by specifically requesting and arranging that a donkey be given to him.
Now, the crowd clearly understood him to be the Messiah because this is how they responded. Jesus was in the center of the procession and the people all around him were shouting, "Praise God for the son of David. Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Praise God in highest heaven." Now at this moment the crowds were celebrating Jesus as the promised king. They were shouting hosana hosana in the highest welcoming him into Jerusalem.
But what happens next in the story takes a shocking turn because the very Messiah who was welcomed by the crowds would soon be betrayed by one of his own disciples. And remarkably the Old Testament even predicted the exact amount of money that would be paid for that betrayal. And this one's going to blow your mind.
Prophecy number eight. The Messiah would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver. Wow. This is this is this is one of my favorite ones. Nearly 500 years before the time of Christ, Zechariah prophesied how the Messiah would be betrayed. All right, this one's deep. I'm warning you. In Zechariah 11, Zechariah is sent to act as a shepherd for God's people. All right, he's a prophet. God says, "Okay, I want you to be the shepherd." But they reject Zechariah to be their shepherd, just as they would reject Jesus as being their shepherd some 500 years later. But they do give Zachchariah some money for his service to them. Notice it says this, "And I said to them, if you like, give me my wages, whatever I am worth, but only if you want to." So they counted out for my wages 30 pieces of silver. And the Lord said to me, "Throw it to the potter, this magnificent sum at which they valued me." So I took the 30 coins and threw them to the potter in the temple of the Lord.
Now I want you to pay close attention to the words silver, temple, and potter. Silver, temple, and potter. Keep those three words in the back of your mind before we look at how Jesus fulfilled this. One very important detail. 30 pieces of silver was not a random amount. No, in fact, it was the price of a slave. Wow. Let that kick in. 30 pieces of silver was the going rate or the price of a slave. Notice it's all going to make sense in Exodus 21:32. But if the ox gores a slave, either male or female, the animals owner must pay the slaves owner 30 silver coins. and the ox must be stoned. Wow. So notice that according to the Mosaic law in the Old Testament, the price of a dead slave was 30 pieces of silver. Keep that in mind.
Fast forward to the New Testament, Matthew 26. It says this, "Then Judas a Scariot, one of the 12 disciples, went to the leading priest and asked, "How much will you pay me to betray Jesus to you?" And they gave him 30 pieces of silver. Notice that the price they offered to pay Judas to betray Jesus was the price of a slave. That's how much they valued Jesus. That goes to show you how much they thought about Jesus. They valued Jesus as a slave, highlighting the ultimate rejection, the ultimate humiliation. He ain't nothing worth. He ain't worth nothing more than just the slave money, slave wages.
But notice what Judas did with the money. Remember I told you those three words. Then Judas threw the silver coins down in the temple and went out and hanged himself. Remember silver temple potter. H sounds exactly what Zechariah said. But notice what happens next. The money is used to buy a potter's field. Notice here the leading priest picked up the coins and said it wouldn't be right to put this money in the temple treasury. They said since it was payment for murder. After some discussion, they finally decided to buy the potter's field and they made it into a cemetery for foreigners. Wow. Do you see this? Do you see how the scriptures, how Jesus is fulfilling everything that was written about him?
Now, after Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, everything began to move quickly. Jesus was arrested, he was brought before the Jewish leaders and then ultimately handed over to the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. False accusations were brought against him and the crowd demanded that Jesus be crucified. But what's remarkable is that even the events surrounding Jesus's trial and crucifixion had been predicted centuries earlier in the Old Testament.
All right, we're going to camp out in this part of the video for some time because there are several prophecies about the crucifixion of Christ that are just fascinating.
Prophecy number nine, the Messiah remains silent before his accusers. Notice Isaiah said this. He was oppressed and treated harshly. Now, let's just stop right there. I want you to notice here that first and foremost, Isaiah is speaking in the past tense as if these things had already happened because in his mind, in God's mind, it was all part of God's plan. It's a done deal. Even though this was written 700 years before, Isaiah is saying it's as good as done. He was oppressed and treated past tense harshly. Yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the sheerers, he did not open his mouth. Instead of protesting and fighting back, Jesus willingly submits to the suffering he knew he was called to endure. And by comparing the Messiah to a lamb, he makes the connection that the Messiah would be sacrificed for sins in the same way that innocent lambs were sacrificed in the Old Testament under the Mosaic law.
And notice Jesus fulfilled even this. Matthew 27, but when the leading priests and the elders made their accusations against him, Jesus remained silent. Don't you hear all these charges they are bringing against you? Pilate demanded. But Jesus made no response to any of the charges, much to the governor's surprise.
Prophecy number 10, the Messiah would have his hands and feet pierced. Now, this particular prophecy was given around a th000 BC or so. So, we're talking about, you know, a thousand years or so, a millennium before the time of Christ. Psalm 22:16, David said, "My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs. An evil gang closes in on me. They have pierced my hands and feet." Now you might say, "Well, David wrote this. Wasn't he talking about himself?" Ah, how do we know this is a prophecy about Jesus and not David talking about himself? Very clear. During David's time, the primary way in which people were executed was by stoning, not by piercing, not by crucifixion, not by nailing somebody's hands and feet. That hadn't come to be yet. that form of execution had not even yet been developed which indicates that David was speaking of something far beyond his own generation and time.
And we see this being fulfilled in John 20:25. They told him, "We have seen the Lord." But Thomas said, "Hey, I won't believe it until I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side." And then in Luke 24:39, it says this. Jesus said, "Hey, if you don't believe I am who I say I am, that I rose from the dead, look at my hands. Look at my feet. You can see that it's really me. Touch me and make sure that I am not a ghost because ghosts don't have bodies as you see that I do."
But that same Psalm 22 contains another striking detail about what would happen while the Messiah was being crucified.
Prophecy number 11, they would cast lots for the Messiah's clothing. Notice it says here in verse 18 of that same Psalm 22, they divide my garments among themselves and throw dice for my clothing. So where did Jesus fulfill this? In John chapter 19:23 and 24. When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they divided his clothes among the four of them. They also took his robe, but it was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. So they said, rather than tearing it apart, let's just throw dice for it. This fulfilled the scripture that says they divided my garments among themselves and threw dice for my clothing. So that is what they did.
Look guys, notice this. Roman soldiers would have no reason to purposely carry out Jewish prophecy written hundreds of years before. And yet without even realizing it, God orchestrated the events of time to ensure that they were fulfilling prophecy about the Messiah once again without even knowing what in the world they were doing.
But in the same psalm, it says this
Prophecy number 12. The Messiah would be mocked and ridiculed. Notice it says here, "Everyone who sees me mocks me." They sneer and shake their heads, saying, "Is this the one who relies on the Lord? Then let the Lord save him. If the Lord loves him so much, let the Lord rescue him."
Now, let's look at the exact fulfillment of this in the New Testament. And I want you to see the similarity between the language of what we're going to read and what we just read in Psalm 22. In Matthew 27:39, it says, "The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. Look at you now." They yelled at him. "You said you were going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in 3 days." "Well then, if you are the son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross." The leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders also mocked Jesus. He saved others, they scoffed. But he can't save himself. So he is the king of Israel, is he? Let him come down from the cross right now, and we will believe in him. He trusted God. So let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, "I am the son of God." You can't make this up. You can't make it up. All right?
Now, notice this. The Old Testament doesn't stop there because Isaiah also predicted something about who the Messiah would be crucified alongside.
Prophecy number 13, the Messiah would be crucified with criminals. Once again, some 700 years before Jesus came on the scene, Isaiah says this, "Therefore, I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors. Yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors." Wow. Notice the phrase numbered with the transgressors means that the Messiah will be treated as if he were a criminal and grouped together with other lawb breakakers which we know is what happened on the cross because Jesus was crucified alongside of two criminals, two lawb breakakers. He was numbered with the transgressors. But it also says at the same time bearing the sins of many.
Notice it says here, "With him they also crucified two robbers, one on his right and the other on his left." So the scripture was fulfilled which says, "And he was numbered with the transgressors." Oh my goodness. And there's more. There's more. Did you notice that Isaiah also said that he will make intercession for the transgressors? What happened on the cross? One of the criminals said to Jesus, "Hey, I know I'm guilty. I know I deserve death, but when you get into your kingdom, would you just remember me? And what did Jesus say? Surely today you will be with me in paradise. What did he do? He made intercession for one of the transgressors. I'm telling you guys, it's blowing your mind. It's blowing my mind how Jesus if you have ever questioned whether the Bible is true. If you've ever questioned whether G Jesus is the way or Christianity is the only way. Is there any other religion? Is there any other religious figure who can boast about somehow happen being in the right place at the right time to fulfill all these prophecies perfectly? No. Not one.
Prophecy number 14. None of the Messiah's bones will be broken. Now, on the surface, this may seem insignificant. That is until you understand the context. Oh my goodness, this one's deep. David said in Psalm 34, "For the Lord protects the bones of the righteous. Not one of them is broken." Now, what we need to understand is that God gave specific instructions through Moses as to how the Passover lamb should be treated when the people would celebrate the Passover. Stay with me. All right, we're talking about how the Passover lamb should be treated when the people celebrate Passover. Keep the word Passover in your mind. Keep that date in your mind. Exodus 12:46, each Passover lamb must be eaten in one house. Do not carry any of its meat outside and do not break any of its bones.
What do we know about the time in which Jesus was killed? It just so happened to be the week of the Passover. Notice John 19:14. It was now about noon on the day of preparation for the Passover. And Pilate said to the people, "Look, here is your king." Was this just a coincidence that it happened to be the week of the Passover when Jesus was crucified? No. Jesus was meant to be killed and crucified during the Passover because he had always been destined to represent and symbolize and become the Passover lamb such that no longer just putting blood on the doorpost, he will pass over you and you'll be saved. No. If you believe in the blood of the lamb of Jesus Christ who has been shed for you, the Passover lamb, then God will pass over and he will allow you to enter into eternal life.
But let's go even deeper. You have to understand that during crucifixion, victims would often die very slowly from suffocation. But they would use their hands and their legs to hold themselves up on the cross to hopefully try to last just a little bit longer. So in order to speed up the death, often times the Romans would break the legs of the victims so that they could not hold themselves up on the cross, thus speeding up their death. But notice this, John says, "So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead, so they didn't break his legs." And notice what John said. These things happened in fulfillment of the scriptures that say not one of his bones will be broken.
But the prophecies didn't stop at the crucifixion itself. Isaiah even predicted something surprising about the Messiah's burial.
Prophecy number 15. The Messiah would be buried among the rich. Notice it says this. He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal. He was put in a rich man's grave. Guys, this was written about 700 years before the time of Christ. That the Messiah would be executed like a criminal even though what? He had done no wrong and never deceived anyone. Speaking of the perfect sinless nature of Christ, but buried honorably by being put in a rich man's grave. Well, what happened whenever Jesus was buried and crucified? It says here in Matthew 27, "As evening approached, Joseph, a rich man from Arya, who had become a follower of Jesus, went to Pilate and asked for Jesus's body. And Pilate issued an order to release it to him. Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a long sheet of clean linen cloth. He placed it in his own new tomb, which had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance and left." Guys, do you see this? Do you think that Pontius Pilate would be trying to fulfill prophecy? Right? No. Like God was orchestrating the events so that he released the body to a rich man so that the prophecy in Isaiah could be fulfilled that he would be crucified and killed like a criminal but buried honorably with the rich. Notice this is totally out of the norm because crucifixion victims were oftent times left for dead. They were seldom given an honorable burial. And yet in this situation, we see that Jesus was
Prophecy number 16. The Messiah would die before the destruction of the temple. Now, here's one of the most fascinating prophecies of all. The prophet Daniel didn't just predict that the Messiah would die. He predicted the time period in which it had to happen. Notice Daniel 9:26. And after the 62 weeks, Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself. Let's just stop right there. Notice that this verse represent says several things. It names him as Messiah. It also says he will be cut off, which means he will die, but he says he'll be cut off, but not for himself, meaning not because of something that he did. He'll die not for himself, but for other people. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with the flood until the end of the war desolations are determined.
Notice that Daniel says that the Messiah will be killed before one major event happens in human history. What is that major event? The destruction of the second temple of Israel. Listen guys, Jesus was crucified in somewhere AD 30 to 33 depending upon when you date it. This was several decades before history, all of history tells us that the temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD, which fulfills Daniel's prophecy perfectly. This prophecy mandates that the Messiah must have come before the destruction of the temple, giving proof that Jesus indeed was the Messiah that the Old Testament had promised. We're not waiting for another Messiah because this verse says the Messiah had to come and be crucified before the destruction of the temple which we know was in 70 AD.
But the story doesn't end with the Messiah's death. The Old Testament also predicted something even more extraordinary.
Prophecy number 17, the Messiah would rise from the dead. Once again, approximately a th000 BC or so before the time of Christ. It says this, "For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave." Now, at first glance, you might think, well, David is talking about himself, right? I mean, he wrote this. But we know that David did die and his body did decay, which leads us to believe that David was referring to someone greater than himself. Also, using the term your holy one would be indicating someone set apart by God himself. In addition, the New Testament sees Jesus's resurrection as a fulfillment of this scripture because notice it says here in Acts 13, another psalm explains it more fully. You will not allow your holy one to rot in the grave. This is not a reference to David. For after David had done the will of God in his own generation, he died and was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed. No, it was a reference to someone else. someone whom God raised at whose body did not decay. Here's the amazing thing that usually after a few days decomposition would set in and the body would begin to decay. God raised Jesus from the dead before this usual process began to take place in just 3 days.
Well, you know, we had to have seven sections to this particular video because seven is the number of completion, the number of perfection. And yeah, I love this one because prophecy number 18 is going to go all the way back to the first book of the Bible. And that is the prophecy that the Messiah would destroy Satan. In Genesis 3:15, we have what's called the protoeangelium or the first gospel, the first set of good news. Notice this prophecy was given by Moses, the author of Genesis, which means it was written over 1,400 years before the time of Christ. And it says, "And I will cause hostility between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head and you will strike his heel."
Now, this verse indicates that there will be constant conflict between Satan and his offspring, his followers, and Jesus and his followers. And we see this played out throughout human history where Pharaoh was trying to destroy Israel whom the Messiah would ultimately come from. Herod tried to destroy Jesus and kill Jesus as a baby because Satan knew exactly what Jesus was going to do. The religious leaders oppose Jesus. So we see the conflict is being fulfilled all throughout the Bible. Second thing to consider here is that it says the victor here will come from the offspring of the woman. Now, usually people are identified as coming from the seed of the man. But mentioning that the victor will be the seed of the woman indicates or prophesies a very unique birth. Finally, it also says that Satan will strike his heel. But this victor, who we believe is Jesus, will crush Satan's head. One speaks of a harmful blow. Okay, you're gonna strike his heel. He's gonna hurt a little bit, little little something. the suffering that Jesus experienced on the cross. But a head injury is a fatal blow indicating that Jesus, the Messiah, would one day completely crush and destroy Satan. And all of this was prophesied over 1,400 years before Jesus came.
Now, let's look at the fulfillment and we're done. Hebrews says, "Because God's children are human beings made of flesh and blood, the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die and only by dying could he break the power of the devil who had the power of death."
At the beginning of this video we talked about mathematician Peter Stoner who calculated the probability of one person somehow accidentally arranging their entire life to be at one place at one time at the right time accidentally fulfilling just eight Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah. His conclusion was that the odds would be about 1 in 10 to the 17th power. Once again, that's one with 17 zeros behind it. And remember, that's just eight prophecies. In this video alone, we looked at at least 18 of them. And scholars estimated that Jesus fulfilled somewhere around 100 to 300 of them. These prophecies were written hundreds and in some cases more than a thousand years before Jesus was born. Yet when we read the New Testament, we see these events unfold exactly as the scriptures had described.
So once again, the question becomes, was this just an incredible coincidence or was it exactly what the Bible claims it to be? God revealing his plan of redemption long before it ever happened. And for Christians, the fulfilled prophecies of Jesus are not just interesting historical details. No, these are powerful evidences that Jesus truly is the promised Messiah, that the Bible is true, that Christianity is true, and that the story of redemption written throughout the pages of scripture ultimately points to him.
So, the final thing I'll say is if you're watching this video and you're a Christian, I want to encourage you to share this video with somebody who's not a Christian and engage in conversation with them and ask them the question, is there any other religious figure that can boast of fulfilling all these prophecies? If you aren't a Christian, I want to encourage you to consider Christ. Consider Jesus. Whatever you believe, if it's another religion, ask yourself the question, is this just a coincidence or is it possible that there's a God in heaven who orchestrated the events of time to be carried out perfectly in someone's life and predicted it hundreds of years before? I personally think it was the hand of God all along. What do you think? I'll see you in the next video. Bye for now.
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