Monday, December 8, 2008

Scripture:
Prophecy: Isaiah 7:14 – Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Fulfillment: Luke 1: 26-33 – In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you. … You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”

Prophecy: Isaiah 53: 3, 5 – He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. But he was pierced for our transgression, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
Fulfillment: Mark 15: 25-30 – It was the third hour when they crucified him. The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS. They crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!”

Observation:
The history of Jesus began long before he even set foot on Earth. The above prophecies are just 2 of the 60 major prophecies (there are about 270 “smaller” prophecies)!
The prophecies foretold about Jesus tell about his birth, his life and his death.
What do you think the odds are of one person’s life fulfilling even just 8 specific prophecies, which were told hundreds of years before that person’s birth?
The chance that one person could have fulfilled all 8 prophecies is 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000! (Stoner, 1976)
The fact that Jesus fulfilled all 300+ prophecies definitely means that there is something special about him!

Application:
Are you as amazed at these prophecies and their fulfillments as I am?
Do these prophecies/fulfillments encourage you in your walk?

Prayer:
Take some time to just worship God and rest in his awesomeness. We can get so caught up with what’s going on everyday that we forget to spend time with the one who gave us the day.