More than a quarter of the bible was prophetic at the time it was written. Much of the biblical prophecy has already been fulfilled. Here we want to present two categories of fulfilled prophecies; Israel becoming a nation again and Messianic prophecies with predictions of Jesus’ birth, life and death. Before we document those unlikely and profound fulfillments, let’s take note of what the bible says about prophecies.

2 Peter 1:16-23 states:

¹⁶ For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. ¹⁷ For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” ¹⁸ And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.

¹⁹ And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; ²⁰ knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, ²¹ for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

Israel Becoming a Nation Again

The following quote by Dr. David Reagan was published in my book “Rights vs Responsibility”.

Okay, the best for last, the most irrefutable proof that there is a God can be summed up in one word — Israel.

Go back 3,400 years! Moses reminds the Israelites that they were the only nation God ever took out from the midst of another nation — Egypt — using terrible plagues, and signs and wonders. God did this to prove to His people that the Lord Himself is God, and there is none other besides Him (Deuteronomy 4:25-40).

But this wouldn’t be the only time God rescued the Jewish people out from other nations. Moses’ last message to the people was a prophecy, a message from God. Moses warned that if they rebelled and broke their covenant with God, He would disperse them to the four corners of the earth and leave the land desolate. But, because of God’s great love, He would not abandon them, and in the last days a remnant would be regathered from the nations to return to the newly restored land of Israel (Deuteronomy 28-31).

When this happened, the world would know that God has proven His existence.

History confirms all of this happened just as Moses foretold. The Jews were dispersed — twice! — into the uttermost parts of the earth. But, in just one day — May 14, 1948 — the Jewish people became a nation once more after their country was destroyed nearly 1,900 years ago! The dead language of Hebrew was resurrected as the national language. The borders are restored. The strength is there, the bounty is there, and the power is there.

Messianic Prophecies

We will once again quote Dr. David Reagan on the Messianic Prophecies.

Dr. David Reagan of Lamb and Lion Ministries has written a “Christ in Prophecy” study guide that chronicles all the Messianic prophecies as well as other prophecies. Dr. Reagan states that the Bible has about 330 Messianic prophecies of which 108 or 109 are unique and every one of them was fulfilled exactly as predicted. He tells how Dr. Peter Stoner has taken just 8 of the 109 fulfilled Messianic prophecies and calculated the probability of them occurring in one individual (Jesus Christ). The chance of that happening by random chance is one chance in 10 to the 17th power.

Dr. Stoner gives us an example that shows just how small a chance that is. If Texas were covered with silver dollars two feet deep and one marked dollar was randomly placed, a blindfolded person would have to pick that marked dollar on the first try.

That is only for 8 of the 109 prophecies being fulfilled. The chance of these being fulfilled like Jesus Christ fulfilled them is impossible on a chance basis. That is the point. Jesus was exactly who the Bible said he was. He was the Son of God incarnated into a man.

Many critics claim the prophecies had to have been written after the events took place because they deny the possibility of the supernatural.

However, scholars agree that all of the Old Testament books were written before Christ. Ra McLaughlin states the following in an article titled “Old Testament Dates of Composition in answer to a question of ‘When was the Old Testament written?'”:

The Old Testament was written over a long period of time, ranging from approximately the 15th century B.C. for some of the older books (e.g. Genesis, Exodus) to perhaps as late as the 4th century B.C. for the final forms of some of the most recent books (e.g. Ezra, Nehemiah, Chronicles. Because the Bible itself does not date its books, these dates are the results of scholarly dialogues and conclusions. The date range I have provided includes the most extreme (earliest and latest) dates generally attested by conservative scholars. Liberal scholars tend to set much later dates for many books (into the 2nd century B.C. for some). It is also likely that even the oldest books relied to some degree on prior written sources which have not been preserved through the ages.

In the case of the birth, life, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus many critics claim that Jesus knew of the prophecies and fulfilled them on purpose. That explanation is completely wishful thinking because Jesus could not have made many of them come true even if he wanted to.

How could he control the following Old Testament prophecies?

This short list includes just 19 prophecies of the unique 108 or 109 that exist. Jesus had no control over any of these prophecies. The assertion of skeptics that Jesus simply made sure all the prophecies came true is impossible. The high specificity of the prophecies should be noted. These are not the vague type of prophecies like Nostradamus made. Each one can be and were readily validated. Also, it is interesting and revealing that each of the Old Testament prophecies has a text in the New Testament that verifies the fulfillment. It is also interesting that some of the prophecies from a natural standpoint had virtually no chance of being fulfilled. Crucifixion wasn’t even used by the Romans as a form of execution until more than 700 years after the prediction. Who would predict a virgin birth or a resurrection from the dead!

The messianic prophecies alone should convince us that God exists, the supernatural exists, and should give us great assurance that the Bible is true and reliable.