TITLE: Bible is From God – Prophecy (1 of 4)
TEXT: 1 Kings 13:2
PROPOSITION: The statements of prophecy prove the Bible had to come from God and not a product of man.
Definition
Prophecy – most think about making predictions
Prophet = forth teller (speak for God) and foreteller (future events)
Today there are many charlatans in the religious world
Requirements
Specific – not some generic “there will be a disaster”
Time lapse – a space between the prophecy and the fulfillment
Clear statement – names, places, numbers
Not fit a historical pattern – mood, political climate
Follow the polls and predict next US president
This would be an educated guess
Historical Prophecy
Tyre – Ezekiel 26:3-5
Babylon will destroy the city – (7)
City will be scraped bare (4)
Rubble spread into the sea (5, 12)
Never be rebuilt (14)
People moved to an island
Babylon scraped the old city and threw it into the sea
This created a land bridge to the island
Assyria – Isaiah 10:5-6
Because of idolatry Israel will be invaded by Assyria (5-6)
But Assyria would be punished (12)
They will be punished for their wicked deeds (24-25)
Both parts of this prophecy came true
Josiah – 1 Kings 13:2
God named the man who would be king
Stated that he would be young child as king
More than 350 years before he was born
Josiah began to rule at age 8
Cyrus – Isaiah 44:28 and 45:1
The Temple will be rebuilt
Jerusalem will be restored
A king named Cyrus will decree it
More than 100 years before he was born
Can you name who will be US president in 2107?
Messianic Prophecy
There are about 300 statements in the OT about the birth, life, work, death and resurrection of Jesus
Select just 8 of them – ones that are beyond anyone's control to fulfill
What is the chance of “anyone” fulfilling these prophecies?
Peter Stoner, a computer statistician did the calculations
The number is too large to even understand or comprehend
The number is
10 to the exponent of 17 (1 followed by 17 zeros)
The odds are: 1 out of 100,000,000,000,000,000
Take silver dollars – LOTS of silver dollars
Cover the state of Texas with them
Cover Texas 2 feet deep in silver dollars
One coin has a mark on it
Walk into Texas; any direction, as far as you want
Dig as deep a you want; select one coin
What is the chance that the coin you select will have a mark on it?
Peter Stoner showed that if you did that with 48 prophecies – the number would 10 to the power of 157 (1 followed by 157 zeros)