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 Did Yeshua Fulfill the Messianic Expectation as Prophesied in the Hebrew Scriptures?
I remember reading some astonishing facts published by mathematician Peter Stoner about the probabilities of any one person fulfilling even a small number of the biblical prophecies concerning the Messiah - they were mind boggling. The chance of one single man fulfilling only 48 Messianic prophecies found in the Tanakh (Old Testament) would be 1 in 10^157* - to understand, that would be like the chance of finding, on the very first attempt, one specific electron out of all of the electrons in all the known mass of the entire universe! *1 followed by 157 zeros
Yeshua however, fulfilled not just 48 Messianic prophecies - He fulfilled more than 324 individual prophecies that the Prophets wrote concerning the Messiah! Math not being my gift, the first calculation was amazing enough for me. To extrapolate the mathematical probability of the 324 prophecies being fulfilled by any ONE MAN must be a number beyond comprehension for anyone! Although I already “knew that I knew that knew” that Yeshua was the Messiah of Israel, this little mathematical study was another powerful confirmation.
To the Jewish People, this is more than a matter of random interest. The Messiah has been prophesied in Scripture with great specificity, though sometimes hidden and sometimes allegorical and poetic - beginning with Genesis 3:15...
Following is a list of important Messianic prophesies that were fulfilled by Yeshua with their corresponding New Testament references:
Messiah is to be born in Bethlehem
Micah 5:2; fulfilled in Matt. 2:1-7; John 7:42; Luke 2:47.
Messiah is to be given vinegar to quench His thirst
Psalm 69:22; fulfilled in Matthew 27:34
Messiah is to be executed without having a bone broken
Exodus 12:46; Psalm 34:21; fulfilled in John 19:33-36
Messiah is to be buried with the rich when dead
Isaiah 53:9; fulfilled in Matthew 27:57-60
Messiah is to be raised from the dead
Isaiah 53:9-10; Psalm 2:7; 16:10; fulfilled in Matthew 28:1-20; Acts 2:23-36;13;33-37; 1 Corinthians 11:4-6
Messiah is to be executed by crucifixion as a thief
Psalm 22:16; Zechariah 12:10; Isaiah 53:5, 12; fulfilled in Luke 23:33; John 20:25; Matthew 27:38; Mark 5:27, 28
In his book, Science Speaks1 mathematician Peter Stoner says that by applying the modern science of probability to just eight of these prophecies, “… We find that the chance that any man might have lived to the present time and fulfilled all eight prophecies is 1 in 10^17.” That would be one in 100,000,000,000,000,000. In order to comprehend this staggering probability, Stoner illustrates:
“… we take 10^17 silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly. Blindfold a man and tell him that he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this 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 just eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time, providing they wrote in their own wisdom.
“Now these prophecies were either given by inspiration of God or the prophets just wrote them as they thought they should be. In such a case the prophets had just one chance in 10^17 of having them come true in any man, but they all came true in Christ [Mashiach].
“This means that the fulfillment of just eight prophecies alone proves that God inspired the writing of those [eight] prophecies to a definiteness which lacks only one chance in 10^17 of being absolute.”
1Stoner, Peter W. Science Speaks. Chicago: Moody Press, 1963, pp 100-107
For a complete list of Prophecies and their fulfillments, click here.
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