How can this be explained?
Centuries before the birth of Christ, God promised to send a Messiah to save us. The Old Testament made so many accurate predictions of Jesus' arrival, 360 in total, it is easy to be overwhelmed by them all. Generations before His birth, these foretelling's told us everything we needed to know about Jesus, from where He would be born to His dying words. How can so many prophecies be right, unless an all-powerful, all-knowing entity wrote them? This foreknowledge is so precise; it takes more faith to think it's all a coincidence than it does to believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
"Near the beginning of the Old Testament it is stated that the Hebrew Nation was being founded for the purpose of Blessing All Nations. Then there begins to loom the figure of one person through whom the nation will accomplish its mission.
First He is called Shiloh, to arise in the Tribe of Judah, and rule the nations. Then He is called a Star, who will have Dominion. And next, a Prophet like unto Moses, through whom God will speak to mankind.
And then, over and over, He is spoken of as a King, to arise in David's family, to be called The Branch, The Prince, The Anointed One, God's First-Born, Wonderful, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
The exact time of His coming was foretold. He was to be born of a virgin, at Bethlehem. Part of His childhood to be spent in Egypt. He would be introduced to His nation by a Elijah-like forerunner. Galilee to be the scene of His ministry. He would work miracles of healing. And speak in parables. Be rejected by the leaders of His own nation. Be a smitten shepherd, a sufferer, a man of sorrows. He would enter Jerusalem riding on a colt. He would be betrayed by a friend, for thirty pieces of silver, the thirty pieces of silver to be spent for a potter's field. He would be led as a lamb to the slaughter.
He would die with the wicked, opening a fountain for sin, removing sin in one day. Even His dying words foretold. He would be given gall and vinegar in His agony. His hands and feet would be pierced. Not a bone to be broken. Lots to be cast for His garments. To be buried with the rich. To be in the tomb three days. To rise from the dead, and ascend to heaven at God's right hand.
It was foretold that He would introduce a new language into the earth, that is, a new idea, salvation. That He would offer a New Covenant to mankind, and give God's people a new name. That He would introduce an era of the Holy Spirit. That His Kingdom would include Gentiles, and be universal and endless.
This pre-written story of Jesus, recorded centuries before Jesus came, is so astonishing in detail that it reads like an eye-witness account of His life and work.
Suppose a number of men of different countries, who had never seen, nor in any way communicated with, one another, would walk into a room, and each lay down a piece of carved marble, which pieces, when fitted together, would make a perfect statue - how account for it in any other way than that some one person had drawn the specifications, and had sent to each man his part? And how can this amazing composite of Jesus' life and work, put together by different writers of different centuries, ages before Jesus came, be explained on any other basis than that one super human mind supervised the writing? The miracle of the ages!"
From "Halley's Bible Handbook" by Henry H. Halley, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan; pages 400-401.
"Here is an amazing thing: The complete story of Jesus' life, its main features, events, and accompanying incidents, even in minutest detail, is plainly foretold in the Old Testament scriptures. Is it not overwhelming evidence of the existence and working of a mind that transcends the human mind to a degree that awes us into wonderment?
Hundreds of years before it happened, the Old Testament prophesied that...
Jesus would be descended from King David -
2 Samuel 7:12-16; Psalms 89:3-4; 110:1; 132:11; Isaiah 9:6-7; 11:1
Jesus would be born of a virgin -
Isaiah 7:14
He would be born in Bethlehem -
Micah 5:2
He would be taken to Egypt -
Hosea 11:1
Jesus would live in Galilee -
Isaiah 9:1-2
Jesus would live in Nazareth -
Isaiah 11:1
Jesus' arrival would be announced by an Elijah-like figure -
Isaiah 40:3-5; Malachi 3:1; 4:5
The children of Bethlehem would be killed -
Genesis 35:19-20; 48:7; Jeremiah 31:15
Jesus would proclaim a jubilee to the world -
Isaiah 58:6; 61:1
His mission would include Gentiles -
Isaiah 42:1-4
He would heal -
Isaiah 53:4
He would teach by parables -
Isaiah 6:9-10; Psalm 78:2
He would be rejected by Jewish leaders -
Psalms 69:4; 118:22; Isaiah 6:10; 29:13; 53:1
He would make a triumphal entry into Jerusalem -
Isaiah 62:11; Zechariah 9:9; Psalm 118:26
That He would be like a smitten shepherd -
Zechariah 13:7
He would be betrayed by a friend for 30 pieces of silver -
Zechariah 11:12-13; Psalm 41:9
He would die with criminals -
Isaiah 53:9; 53:12
A rich man would bury Him -
Isaiah 53:9
He would be given vinegar and gall -
Psalm 69:21
They would cast lots for his clothes -
Psalm 22:18
Not one of Jesus' bones would be broken -
Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12; Psalm 34:20
His side would be pierced -
Zechariah 12:10; Psalm 22:16
He would be resurrected in three days -
Psalm 16:10-11
The Old Testament...
Also told us what Jesus' dying words would be -
Psalms 22:1; 31:5
And foretold the destruction of Jerusalem and the Tribulation -
Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:1; 12:11
Excepted from H. H. Halley
"Near the beginning of the Old Testament it is stated that the Hebrew Nation was being founded for the purpose of Blessing All Nations. Then there begins to loom the figure of one person through whom the nation will accomplish its mission.
First He is called Shiloh, to arise in the Tribe of Judah, and rule the nations. Then He is called a Star, who will have Dominion. And next, a Prophet like unto Moses, through whom God will speak to mankind.
And then, over and over, He is spoken of as a King, to arise in David's family, to be called The Branch, The Prince, The Anointed One, God's First-Born, Wonderful, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
The exact time of His coming was foretold. He was to be born of a virgin, at Bethlehem. Part of His childhood to be spent in Egypt. He would be introduced to His nation by a Elijah-like forerunner. Galilee to be the scene of His ministry. He would work miracles of healing. And speak in parables. Be rejected by the leaders of His own nation. Be a smitten shepherd, a sufferer, a man of sorrows. He would enter Jerusalem riding on a colt. He would be betrayed by a friend, for thirty pieces of silver, the thirty pieces of silver to be spent for a potter's field. He would be led as a lamb to the slaughter.
He would die with the wicked, opening a fountain for sin, removing sin in one day. Even His dying words foretold. He would be given gall and vinegar in His agony. His hands and feet would be pierced. Not a bone to be broken. Lots to be cast for His garments. To be buried with the rich. To be in the tomb three days. To rise from the dead, and ascend to heaven at God's right hand.
It was foretold that He would introduce a new language into the earth, that is, a new idea, salvation. That He would offer a New Covenant to mankind, and give God's people a new name. That He would introduce an era of the Holy Spirit. That His Kingdom would include Gentiles, and be universal and endless.
This pre-written story of Jesus, recorded centuries before Jesus came, is so astonishing in detail that it reads like an eye-witness account of His life and work.
Suppose a number of men of different countries, who had never seen, nor in any way communicated with, one another, would walk into a room, and each lay down a piece of carved marble, which pieces, when fitted together, would make a perfect statue - how account for it in any other way than that some one person had drawn the specifications, and had sent to each man his part? And how can this amazing composite of Jesus' life and work, put together by different writers of different centuries, ages before Jesus came, be explained on any other basis than that one super human mind supervised the writing? The miracle of the ages!"
From "Halley's Bible Handbook" by Henry H. Halley, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan; pages 400-401.
"Here is an amazing thing: The complete story of Jesus' life, its main features, events, and accompanying incidents, even in minutest detail, is plainly foretold in the Old Testament scriptures. Is it not overwhelming evidence of the existence and working of a mind that transcends the human mind to a degree that awes us into wonderment?
Hundreds of years before it happened, the Old Testament prophesied that...
Jesus would be descended from King David -
2 Samuel 7:12-16; Psalms 89:3-4; 110:1; 132:11; Isaiah 9:6-7; 11:1
Jesus would be born of a virgin -
Isaiah 7:14
He would be born in Bethlehem -
Micah 5:2
He would be taken to Egypt -
Hosea 11:1
Jesus would live in Galilee -
Isaiah 9:1-2
Jesus would live in Nazareth -
Isaiah 11:1
Jesus' arrival would be announced by an Elijah-like figure -
Isaiah 40:3-5; Malachi 3:1; 4:5
The children of Bethlehem would be killed -
Genesis 35:19-20; 48:7; Jeremiah 31:15
Jesus would proclaim a jubilee to the world -
Isaiah 58:6; 61:1
His mission would include Gentiles -
Isaiah 42:1-4
He would heal -
Isaiah 53:4
He would teach by parables -
Isaiah 6:9-10; Psalm 78:2
He would be rejected by Jewish leaders -
Psalms 69:4; 118:22; Isaiah 6:10; 29:13; 53:1
He would make a triumphal entry into Jerusalem -
Isaiah 62:11; Zechariah 9:9; Psalm 118:26
That He would be like a smitten shepherd -
Zechariah 13:7
He would be betrayed by a friend for 30 pieces of silver -
Zechariah 11:12-13; Psalm 41:9
He would die with criminals -
Isaiah 53:9; 53:12
A rich man would bury Him -
Isaiah 53:9
He would be given vinegar and gall -
Psalm 69:21
They would cast lots for his clothes -
Psalm 22:18
Not one of Jesus' bones would be broken -
Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12; Psalm 34:20
His side would be pierced -
Zechariah 12:10; Psalm 22:16
He would be resurrected in three days -
Psalm 16:10-11
The Old Testament...
Also told us what Jesus' dying words would be -
Psalms 22:1; 31:5
And foretold the destruction of Jerusalem and the Tribulation -
Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:1; 12:11
Excepted from H. H. Halley