PROPHECIES FULFILLED CONFIRM JESUS AS THE MESSIAH, THE CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD

Objection: Fulfilled Prophecy in Jesus Was Deliberate

Answer: The above objection might seem plausible until we realize that many of the prophecies concerning the Messiah were totally beyond the human control of Jesus, such as -

1. Place of birth (Micah 5:2).
2. Time of birth (Daniel 9:25; Genesis 49:10).
3. Manner of birth (Isaiah 7:14).
4. Betrayal.
5. Manner of death (Psalms 22:16).
6. People's reactions (mocking, spitting, staring, etc.).
7. Piercing.
8. Burial.

Objection: Fulfilled Prophecy in Jesus Was Coincidental, an Accident

"Why, you could find some of these prophecies fulfilled in Kennedy, King, Nasser, etc.," replies the critic.

Answer: Yes, one could possible find one or two prophecies fulfilled in other men, but not all 61 major prophecies! In face, if you can find someone, other than Jesus, either living or dead, who can fulfill only half of the predictions concerning Messiah which are given in Messiah in Both Testaments by Fred John Meldau, the Christian Victory Publishing Company of Denver is ready to give you a $1,000 reward. There are a lot of men in the universities who could use some extra cash!

H. Harold Hartzler, of the American Scientific Affiliation, Goshen College, in the foreword of Stoner's book writes: "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."

The following probabilities are taken from Peter Stoner in Science Speaks to show that coincidence is ruled out by the science of probability. Stoner ways that by using the modern science of probability in reference to eight prophecies (1 - No. 10; 2 - No. 22; 3 - No. 27; 4 - No. 33 and 44; 5 - No. 34; 6 - No. 35 and 36; 7 - No. 39; 8 - No. 44 and 45 [crucified], "...We find that the chance that any man might have lived down to the present time and fulfilled all eight prophecies is 1 in 10¹⁷." That would be 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000. In order to help us comprehend this staggering probability, Stoner illustrates it by supposing that "we take 10¹⁷ silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time, providing they wrote them in their own wisdom.

"Now these prophecies were either given by inspiration of GOD or the prophets just wrote them as they thought they should be. In such a case the prophets had just one chance in 10¹⁷ of having them come true in any man, but they all came true in Christ.

"This means that the fulfillment of these eight prophecies alone prove that GOD inspired the writing of those prophecies to a definiteness which lacks only one chance in 10¹⁷ of being absolute."

Stoner considers 48 prophecies and says, "...We find the chance that any one man fulfilled all 48 prophecies to be 1 in 10¹⁵⁷.

"This is really a large number and it represents an extremely small chance. Let us try to visualize it. The silver dollar, which we have been using, is entirely too large. We must select a smaller object. The electron is about as small an object as we know of. It is so small that it will take 2.5 times 10¹⁵ of them laid side by side to make a line, single file, one inch long. If we were going to count the electrons in this line one inch long, and counted 250 each minute, and if we counted day and night, it would take us 19,000,000 years to count just the one-inch line of electrons. If we had a cubic inch of these electrons and we tried to count them it would take us, counting steadily 250 each minute, 19,000,000 times 19,000,000 times 19,000,000 years or 6.9 times 10²¹ years.

"With this introduction, let us go back to our chance of 1 in 10¹⁵⁷. Let us suppose that we are taking this number of electrons, marking one, and thoroughly stirring it into the whole mass, then blindfolding a man and letting him try to find the right one. What chance has he of finding the right one? What kind of a pile will this number of electrons make? They make an inconceivably large volume."

Such is the chance of any one man fulfilling 48 prophecies.

The Time of Messiah's Coming

THE REMOVAL OF THE SCEPTER

"The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples."
Genesis 49:10

The word which is best translated "scepter" in this passage means a "tribal staff." Each of the 12 tribes of Israel had its own particular "staff" with its name inscribed on it. Therefore, the "tribal staff" or "tribal identity" of Judah was not to pass away before Shiloh came. For centuries Jewish and Christian commentators alike have taken the word "Shiloh" to be a name of the MEssiah.

We remember that Judah had been deprived of its national sovereignty during the 70-year period of the Babylonian captivity; however, it never lost its "tribal staff" or "national identity" during this time. They still possessed their own lawgivers or judges even while in captivity (see Ezra 1:5,8).

Thus, according to this Scripture and the Jews of their time, two signs were to take place soon after the advent of the Messiah:

1. Removal of the scepter or identity of Judah.
2. Suppression of the judicial power.

The first visible sign of the beginning of the removal of the scepter from Judah came about when Herod the Great, who had no Jewish blood, succeeded the Maccabean princes, who belonged to the tribe of Levi and who were the last Jewish kings to have their reign in Jerusalem (Sanhedrin, folio 97, verso.) (Maccabees, Book 2).

Magath, in his book Jesus Before the Sanhedrin, titles his second chapter: "The legal power of the Sanhedrin is restricted twenty-three years before the trial of Christ." This restriction was the loss of the power to pass the death sentence.

This occurred after the deposition of Archelaus, who was the son and successor of Herod, 11 AD, or 7 VE (Josephus, Ant., Book 17, Chap. 13, 1-5). The procurators, who administered in the Augustus name, took the supreme power of the Sanhedrin away so they could exercise the jus gladii themselves; that is, the sovereign right over life and death sentences. All the nations which were subdued by the Roman Empire were deprived of their ability to pronounce capital sentences. Tacitus says, "...The Romans reserved to themselves the right of the sword, and neglected all else."

The Sanhedrin, however, retained certain rights:

1. Excommunication (John 9:22).
2. Imprisonment (Acts 5:17,18).
3. Corporeal punishment (Acts 16:22).

The Talmud itself admits that "a little more than forty years before the destruction f the Temple, the power of pronouncing capital sentences was taken away from the Jews." (Talmud, Jerusalem, Sanhedrin, fol. 24, recto.) However, it hardly seems possible that the jus gladii remained in the Jewish hands until that time. It probably had ceased at the time of Coponius, 7 AD. (Essai sur l'histoire et la geographie de la Palestine, d'apres les Talmuds et la geographie de la Palestine, d'apres les Talmuds et les autres sources Rabbinique, p. 90: Paris, 1867.) Rabbi Rachmon says, "When the members of the Sanhedrin found themselves deprived of their right over life and death, a general consternation took possession of them; they covered their heads with ashes, and their bodies with sackcloth, exclaiming: 'Woe unto us, for the scepter has departed from Judah, and the Messiah has not come!' " Josephus, who was an eye-witness of this decadent process, says, "After the death of the procurator Festus, when Albinus was about to succeed him, the high-priest Ananus considered it a favorable opportunity to assemble the Sanhedrin. He therefore caused James the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, and several others, to appear before this hastily assembled council, and pronounced upon them the sentence of death by stoning. All the wise men and strict observers of the law who were at Jerusalem expressed their disapprobation of this act...Some even went to Albinus himself, who had departed to Alexandria, to bring this breach of the law under his observation, and to inform him that Ananus had acted illegally in assembling the Sanhedrin without the Roman authority" (Josephus, Ant., 20, Chap. 9, 1).

The Jews, in order to save face, made up various reasons for eliminating the death penalty. For example, the Talmud (Bab., Aboda Zarah, or Of Idolatry, fol. 8, recto.) states, "The members of the Sanhedrin, having noticed that the number of murderers had increased to such an extent in Israel that it became impossible to condemn them all to death, they concluded among themselves [and said], 'It will be advantageous for us to change our ordinary place of meeting for another, so that we may avoid the passing of capital sentences.' To this, Maimonides adds in the Const. Sanhedrin, Chap. 14, that "forty years before the destruction of the second Temple was still standing. This was due to the fact that the members of the Sanhedrin quitted the Hall of Hewn Stones and held their sessions there no longer."

Lightfoot, in Evangelium Matthaei, horoe hebraicoe, p. 275,276, Cambridge, 1658, adds that "the members of the Sanhedrin...had taken the resolution not to pass capital sentences as long as the land of Israel remained under the government of the Romans, and the lives of the children of Israel were menaced by them. To condemn to death a son of Abraham at a time when Judea was invaded on all sides, and is trembling under the march of the Roman legions, would it not be to insult the ancient blood of the patriarchs? Is not the least of the Israelites, by the very fact that he is a descendant of Abraham, a superior being to the Gentiles? Let us, therefore, quit the hall of hewn stones, outside of which no one can be condemned to death, and in protestation of which let us show by our voluntary exile and by the silence of justice that Rome, although ruling the world, is nevertheless mistress over neither the lives nor the laws of Judea."

The Talmud (Bab., Sanhedrin, Chap. 4, fol. 51b) says, "Since the Sanhedrin no longer had jurisdiction in capital offenses, there is no practical utility in this ruling, which can become effective only in the days of the Messiah."

Once the judicial power was suppressed, the Sanhedrin ceased to be. Yes, the scepter was removed and Judah lost its royal or legal power. And the Jews knew it themselves! "Woe unto us, for the scepter has been taken from Judah, and the Messiah has not appeared!" (Talmud, Bab., Sanhedrin, Chap. 4, fol. 37, recto.). Little did they realize their Messiah was a young Nazarene walking in the midst of them.

THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE

"...And the LORD, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple..."
Malachi 3:1

This verse, along with four others (Psalms 118:26; Daniel 9:26; Zechariah 11:13; Haggai 2:7-9), demands that the Messiah come while the temple at Jerusalem is still standing. This is of great significance when we realize that the temple was destroyed in 70 AD and has not since been rebuilt!

"Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary..."
Daniel 9:26

This is a remarkable statement! Chronologically:

1. Messiah comes (assumed).
2. Messiah cut off (dies).
3. Destruction of city (Jerusalem) and sanctuary (the temple). The temple and city were destroyed by Titus and his army in 70 AD; therefore, either Messiah had already come or this prophecy was a lie.

Fulfilled Prophecy

In Daniel 9:24-27, a prophecy is given in three specific parts concerning the Messiah. The first part states that at the end of 69 weeks, the Messiah will come to Jerusalem. (The 7 and 62 weeks are understood as 69 seven-year periods.) The starting point of the 69 weeks is the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.

The second part states that after the Messiah comes, He will be cut off (idiom for His death). Then the prince to come will destroy Jerusalem and the temple.

All of the above, according to Daniel 9:24-26, takes place after the 69 weeks of years. But Daniel 9:24 mentions 70 weeks (7+62+1), not just 69. The final week is described in 9:27. Many scholars believe 9:27 discusses a different person and time than that of 9:26. Even though the author refers to the prince, the reference is probably to another prince who is to come later in history. (Double references are somewhat common in prophecy. For example, a reference may refer to King David and also later to Christ.) This is supported by their actions: The prince in 9:27 forces Jewish temple practices to stop, but the prince in 9:26 has just destroyed the temple! So probably this prince comes later after the temple is rebuilt, which has yet to occur. Anyway, no matter which way one interprets the 70th week (the last seven years of the prophecy), the first two parts of the prophecy still can be examined historically. For further study on this prophecy in Daniel, see Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ.

THE TEXT

"Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place.

"So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.

"Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.

"And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate."
Daniel 9:24-27

INTERPRETATION OF THE PROPHECY

Main features of this prophecy
(Taken from Dr. James Rosscup's class notes, Talbot Theological Seminary, California)

Concerns Daniel's people, Israel, and Daniel's city, Jerusalem (v.24)

Two princes mentioned:

1. Messiah (v.25)
2. Prince to come (v.26)

Time period of 70 weeks (v.24)

1. As a unit (v.24)
2. As a division of three periods: 7 weeks, 62 weeks, and 1 week (vs. 25,27)

Specified beginning of the 70 weeks (v.25)

Messiah appears at end of 69 weeks (v.25)

Destruction of city and sanctuary by people of prince to come (v.26)

covenant made between Israel and the coming prince at the beginning of last week (v.27); this covenant is broken mid-week (v.27)

At end of the 70 weeks, Israel will have everlasting righteousness (v.24)

Time measure indicated by 70 weeks:

Jewish concept of week

1. The Hebrew word for "week" is shabua and literally means a "seven." (We should disassociate any English concept of week with the concept intended by Gabriel.) The, in Hebrew, the idea of 70 weeks is "seventy sevens."
2. The Jews were familiar with a "seven" of both days and years. "It was, in certain respects, even more important."
3. Leviticus 25:2-4 illustrates the above face. Leviticus 25:8 shows that there was a multiple of a week of years.

Remembering what has been said previously,there are several reasons for believing that the 70 weeks mentioned in Daniel are 70 sevens of years.

1. Daniel had been thinking in terms of years and multiples of seven earlier in the chapter (Daniel 9:1,2).
2. Daniel knew that the Babylonian captivity was based on violation of the Sabbatic year, and since they were in captivity for 70 years, evidently the Sabbatic year was violated 490 years (Leviticus 26:32-35; II Chronicles 36:21 and Daniel 9:24).
3. The context is consistent and makes sense when we understand the 70 weeks as years.
4. Sahbua is found in Daniel 10:2,3. Context demands it to mean "weeks" of days. It is literally "three sevens of days." If Daniel meant days in 9:24-27, why don't we find the same form of expression as that in chapter 10? Obviously, years are meant in chapter 9.

Length of prophetic year

The calendar year used in the Scriptures must be determined from the Scriptures themselves.

1. Historically - Compare Genesis 7:11 with Genesis 8:4, and the two of these with Genesis 7:24 and Genesis 8:3.
2. Prophetically - Many Scriptures refer to the great tribulation under various terms, but all have a common denominator of a 360-day year.
   Daniel 9:27 - "Midst" of the 70th week (obviously 3 1/2 years) (KJV)
   Daniel 7:24,25 - "a time and times and the dividing of time" (KJV) (literally 3 1/2 times)
   Revelation 13:4-7 - "forty and two months" (3 1/2 years) (KJV)
   Revelation 12:6 - "a thousand two hundred and three score days" (KJV) (1,260 days or 3 1/2 years)

Beginning of 70 weeks

There are several commandments or decrees in Israel's history which have been suggested as the terminus a quo (beginning) of the 70 weeks. These are:

1. The decree of Cyrus, 539 BC (Ezra 1:1-4).
2. The decree of Darius, 519 BC (Ezra 5:30-7)
3. The decree of Artaxerxes to Ezra, 457 BC (Ezra 7:11-16).
4. The decree of Artaxerxes to Nehemiah, 444 BC (Nehemiah 2:1-8).

However, the only one that appears to fit the data accurately is number four, the decree of Artaxerxes to Nehemiah.

J. D. Wilson, comments on the starting point of the prophecy: "The...decree is referred to in Hem. ii. It was in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes. The words of the decree are not given, but its subject matter can easily be determined. Nehemiah hears of the desolate condition of Jerusalem. He is deeply grieved. The King asks the reason. Nehemiah replies,'the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire.' The King bids him make request. He doe so promptly, asking an order from the King that 'I be sent to the city that I may build it.'

And, as we read, he was sent, and he rebuilt Jerusalem.

"This decree then is the 'commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.' There is no other decree authorizing the restoration of the city. This decree authorizes the restoration and the book of Nehemiah tells how the work was carried on. The exigencies of their various theories have led men to take some other decree for the terminus a quo of their calculations, but it is not apparent how any could have done so without misgivings. This decree of Neh. ii is the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem; no other decree gives any permission to restore the city. All other decrees refer to the building of the temple and the temple only."

This decree was given in 444 BC, based on the following:

1. "...In the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes" (Nehemiah 2:1).
2. Artaxerxes' accession was in 465 BC.
3. There is no date specified, so according to the Jewish custom, the date is understood as the first day of the month, which would be Nisan 1, 444 BC.
4. March 5, 444 BC is our corresponding calendar date.

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