GET OUT!!!!! (Elaine Shove)

I think Wikipedia says it best "Elaine's signature move is expressing incredulity by giving people a vigorous two-handed shove, occasionally knocking her victim to the floor from the force. Sometimes yelling "Get out!" in shock. " I think you'll find this video to be very appropriate, as it does a good job illustrating what I think your reaction will be after you read this post.

As promised, today we are going to examine the question “Was Jesus more than just a prophet and miracle worker?” The answer is yes. He was God. We know this because he fulfilled 322 prophecies of the Messiah that were laid out in the Old Testament. There are also other reasons why we know Jesus was God, but that will be addressed in a later post.

In the Old Testament, there were ~322 predictions (prophecies) about the future Messiah of the Jewish people. The predictions are in numerous books of the Old Testament, with multiple authors, and across 1,000 years of time. They were very specific predictions and Jesus fulfilled every single one. Now you may be thinking “ Well Jesus just got lucky” , or “ Jesus just altered his actions and behavior to fit the prophecies”, or “Jesus’s disciples went back and edited the original Old Testament scripts to make Jesus fit them.” Let’s walk through each of these objections one at a time. After we do, I think you’ll see that all of these scenarios are as valid as John Edward’s claim that he didn’t father Rielle Hunter's baby girl.

#1 Jesus just got lucky.

Initially, when we hear that a person would have to fulfill 300+ items to be considered the Messiah, it doesn’t sound difficult at all. Time consuming? Yes. But impossible? No way. Although it does sound like an easy feat, when you actually calculate the statistical probability of 1 person fulfilling various prophecies, you will see that it would be nearly impossible for a human to achieve, even if this person was a walking for leaf clover or even if this person had an easy button at his disposal. Thankfully, the research and number crunching has been done for us. Real quick, let’s walk through professor Peter Stoner’s findings and calculations regarding messianic prophecy fulfillment.

Probability of 1 person fulfilling just 1 of 322 prophecies is 1 in 300,000.

This probability relates specifically to the prophecy that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). Stoner calculated this by a simple division problem:

average population of Bethlehem (Micah time to present) = 2.8 * 10⁵ = ~300,000

average population of Earth (Micah time to present)

As you can see, Stoner found that the chance of 1 man being born in Bethlehem is 1 in 300,000.

Probability of 1 person fulfilling just 8 of 322 prophecies is 1 x10¹⁷.

Stoner used similar methods to calculate the probability of one person fulfilling 8 of 322 prophecies. The probability 1 x 10¹⁷ translates to 100,000,000,000,000,000. But how large is that? Stoner gave the following illustration as a means to comprehend the grandeur/ridiculousness of completing this by luck.

Imagine covering the entire state of Texas with silver dollars to a level of two feet deep. (You’d need 1 * 10¹⁷ coins). Choose one silver dollar and mark it with a pen. Stir coins. Find a blind man. Take him to Texas and ask him to select one silver dollar. The odds that he will select the coin are the same as one person fulfilling ONLY 8 of the 322 prophecies.

Probability of one person fulfilling 48 of 322 prophecies = 1 in 10¹⁵⁷

If you want an illustration for this number, you can here . The illustration involves electrons and when I tried to understand it almost made my head explode, so buyer beware.

Probability of one person fulfilling 322 of 322 prophecies = ???

Stoner didn’t do this calculation, but really is it necessary? We just saw how nearly impossible it was to fulfill only 8 (2.5% of total prophecies). Clearly, it would be impossible for anyone other than God to fulfill 8 prophecies, let alone all 322 prophecies.

Now, I know you may think this is “fuzzy math”, but it’s not. In fact, it’s verified by the American Scientific Affiliation:

“The manuscript for Science Speaks has been carefully reviewed by a committee of the American Scientific Affiliation members and by the Executive Council of the same group and has been found, in general, to be dependable and accurate in regard to the scientific material presented. The mathematical analysis included is based upon principles of probability which are thoroughly sound and Professor Stoner has applied these principles in a proper and convincing way.” ^“American Scientific Affiliation, H. Harold Hartzler, Ph.D., Secretary-Treasurer, Goshen College, Ind.

#2 Jesus simply did things to fulfill scripture.

Jesus, being an opportunist, could use his knowledge of the Old Testament to see what prophecies about the Messiah were made and then simply fulfill them. Hmm let's see.. ride into Jerusalem on a donkey.. check! (Zechariah 9:9; Matthew 21:4-9) Present yourself as king of Jerusalem exactly 173,880 days from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem….check! (Daniel 9:25; Matthew 21:4-11) Minister in Galilee…check! (Isaiah 9:1; Matthew 4:12-16). Preach good news… check! (Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:14-21)…Perform miracles …..check! (Isaiah 35:5-6; Matthew 9:35).

Last time I checked, I didn’t know that any man could simply slather mud on a blind man’s face and restore his sight, or heal a cripple by instructing the cripple to pick up his mat and walk. However, let’s be extra conservative, and for argument sake assume Jesus could orchestrate some of the aforementioned prophecies. This argument that a man could align himself to the Messianic prophecies by his actions alone is heavily flawed when we look at ALL prophecies and realize that most of them were out of Jesus’s control. I’ve constructed the chart below to highlight some key prophecies.

For example, how could Jesus control the prophecies about his birth ? The OT says the Messiah would be born of a virgin, born in Bethlehem, and a descendent of Abraham, Judah, and David. Additionally, how could Jesus control the prophecies about his enemies? The OT says he will be betrayed by a friend, he will be sold for 30 pieces of silver, the silver will later be used to buy potters field, and people will gamble for his clothing? Think about it. Would an enemy ever do something if he knew that it would help the cause of his nemesis? Of course not!!!!!!! And finally, how could Jesus control the circumstances of his death? I’m pretty sure Jesus wasn’t saying “hey, go ahead, spit on me, beat me, and mock me. Oh and also can you make sure that I will die on the cross before the other criminals being crucified so that you won’t have to break my bones which is the standard normal operating procedure? Also, don’t forget, once I’m dead, you’ll need to pierce my side to fulfill the scriptures…. Mmm k?! “ .

You guys, Jesus is God. That’s the only way any of this could be explained. Please believe me or I love you.

#3 Jesus’s disciples went back and rewrote OT prophecies to make them fit to Jesus.

This is easily put to rest thanks to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls between 1947 and 1956. The scrolls, which were found in various caves along the Dead Sea, prove that the Old Testament text (which includes Messianic prophecies) were unaltered since the time they were written. How do we know this? The Dead Sea Scrolls contain fragments of every book of the Old Testament (except for Esther). Specifically, the Isaiah Scroll, which is virtually intact, is 1,000 years older than any previously known copy of Isaiah. Note: Isaiah contains a ton of Messianic prophecy. Furthermore, carbon 14, paleographic and scribal dating methods were used to determine the age of the scrolls. These tests showed Dead Sea Scrolls were written during the period from about 200 B.C. to 68 A.D. Many crucial biblical manuscripts (such as Psalm 22, Isaiah 53 and Isaiah 61) date to at least 100 B.C. For more in depth details about the Dead Sea Scrolls go here.