Why the Prophecies?

I mentioned that I'm reading Why the Nativity? by David Jeremiah with my women's small group in a previous post. It's an easy read at only about 150 pages or so and so far I've been enlightened. There are 25 questions Jeremiah asks over the 25 days of December. In my own sort of study, I thought I'd share some of his writings here to help enlighten you as well!

Question #1: Why the Prophecies? 

The people of Israel suffered greatly as they encountered times of grief and despair. They were frequently under attack by powerful tribes and empires since they occupied the most contested area of the world. Repeatedly, their homes and Temple were built, destroyed, and rebuilt. After this suffering, it isn't surprising that they started to lose hope and became doubtful that anyone would come to save them. They were carried away into slavery and many became bitter, cynical, and lost their faith. They yearned for a great king like in the days of David and Solomon.

This is when God sent prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Micah to urge them to keep the faith. They spoke of a better future with the greatest of all kings. A king that would end their struggle forever. Did you know that there are over 300 specific prophecies in the scriptures about the promised king - the Messiah as they called Him? I was surprised to read this fact. Three HUNDRED times. Wow. The stories were specific over hundreds of years and several different writings. It's not like they had Google to look up the stories to be sure they were all fabricating the same mythical story!

Do you know what the prophecies of this Messiah were? I didn't know all of them, so I'll mention only a few reviewed by the author:

1. The Messiah would be born of a virgin. (See Isaiah 7:14)
2. He would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)
3. He would be "despised and rejected - a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief" (Isaiah 53:3)
4. He would be killed by crucifixion. An interesting fact about this prophecy was the surprising references to crucifixion by a writer who had never witnessed such a thing (see Psalm 22). To learn more about this, I found a website with a lot more detailed information about the Messianic prophecies. At the time that Psalm 22 was written (and long after), the penalty for blasphemy was stoning. When Jesus was condemned, the council no longer had the legal right to put people to death. Therefore, the sentence was put forth by the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, who crucified Him according to Roman custom.
5. "He would be pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed." (Isaiah 53:5)  This coming king would prove that God had never abandoned them.
6. He would bring salvation to the ends of the earth. (Isaiah 49:6)

Nearly all of the 300+ prophecies have already come true, yet some are reserved for our future.  As the author notes, "One mathematician determined that the odds of one person's fulfilling even 60 specific prophecies are 1 in 1 plus 157 zeroes."

So why the prophecies? As Dr. Jeremiah writes:

...we behold a magnificent God who works his purposes out through the march of time, patiently but faithfully down to the smallest detail. We know that this is a God who can be trusted, and this is a Messiah who fulfills every hope in our hearts.

Don't forget to check out my friend, Lisa's, blog as she writes about Why the Nativity? this month in preparation for Christmas. Oh, and GET.THIS.BOOK.AND.READ.IT! ;)