Fulfilled prophecy is evidence of Bible’s truth

The Bible is very unique among all the books ever written. It accurately foretells specific events- in detail- many years, sometimes centuries before they occur. Dr. Hugh Ross says, “Approximately twenty-five hundred prophecies appear in the pages of the Bible, about two thousand of which have already been fulfilled to the letter- no errors. The remaining five hundred or so reach into the future and will be fulfilled.” He calculates that the odds of all these prophecies having been fulfilled by chance without error is less than one in 10 to the 2000th power.

Matthew 2 focuses upon the Christmas story. Matthew 2 is built around four great prophecies. Each of these predictions are linked to a geographical location. The four locations are Bethlehem, Egypt, Ramah and Nazareth.

The first prophecy was fulfilled in Bethlehem. Verse 1 says, “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.’” The Greek word translated star means “radiance, brilliance.” This was not a normal star. The wise men followed the shekinah glory. The shekinah glory of God announced the birth of Jesus to the wise men.

The East in the Bible is always Babylon and never China! How did these wise men from Babylon know of Jesus? Only one book in the Old Testament pinpoints when the Messiah will be born. Daniel 9:24-27 predicted exactly how many years would transpire before the birth of the Messiah. Where was the book of Daniel written? It was written in Babylon. Daniel served as the leader of the wise men almost six hundred years before the birth of Jesus (Daniel 2:48)!

The wise men learned the approximate time of the Messiah’s birth from Daniel 9. But how did the wise men know that a star like brilliance would announce the birth of the Messiah? Daniel said nothing about this. In Numbers 24:17 a prophet named Balaam said, “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; a star shall come out of Jacob….” Balaam connected the coming of the Messiah with a star. Where was Balaam from? Balaam was from…. Babylon! Numbers 22:5 and Deuteronomy 23:4 tell us that Balaam was from Babylon.

The wise men saw the glory of God blazing like an extremely bright star. The wise men did not know where the Messiah would be born. The prophet Micah predicted the messiah’s birthplace. Micah served in Jerusalem- not Babylon. Herod the Great gathered together the chief priests and scribes. He asked them where the Christ was to be born. They answered, “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a ruler who will shepherd Israel.” This is a direct quotation of Micah 5:2. Micah spoke seven centuries before the birth of Jesus!

The second prophesy was fulfilled in Egypt. Herod desired to kill the baby Jesus. An angel appeared to Joseph in a dream. Joseph had to leave Bethlehem quickly and flee with his family to Egypt. Matthew 2:14-15 reads, “When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod that it might be fulfilled which was spoken to the Lord through the prophet, saying, ‘Out of Egypt I called My Son.’” The prophecy mentioned is Hosea 11:1. Again, Hosea spoke seven centuries before the birth of Jesus!

The third prophecy was fulfilled in Ramah. Jeremiah 31:15 is quoted in verse 18. “A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning. Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they were no more.” The context of Jeremiah 31 is the Babylonian captivity. The Jewish young men were taken by the Babylonians from Jerusalem northward past Ramah. Ramah was very close to the place where Rachel was buried. Rachel was the symbol of Jewish motherhood. Jewish mothers centuries earlier came out of Ramah weeping for sons they would never see again. This was typified by Rachel weeping for her children. In Matthew 2 Jewish mothers were weeping for their children who were slaughtered by Herod.

The fourth prophecy was fulfilled in Nazareth. After Herod’s death, Joseph and Mary and Jesus moved back to Nazareth. Verse 23 reads, “And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, ‘He shall be called a Nazarene.’” In this prophecy Matthew is summarizing the Old Testament. Over and over again the prophets said that the messiah would be despised and rejected by men. A Nazarene during the first century was a person who was despised and rejected. The rabbis had a favorite saying, “If you want to get rich, go north. If you want to get wise, go south.” The place of wisdom was in the south- Jerusalem and Judea. The place to make money was Galilee- where Nazareth was located. Even one of Jesus’ early disciples asked, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46).

Matthew built this chapter around four major fulfilled prophecies. You can trust God’s Word. God has spoken. There is more than enough evidence to trust the Bible. You must respond to God’s message. He expects us to obey. The Scriptures always point to Jesus. He is the Messiah. The Bible teaches that Jesus lived a sinless life, offered an infinite sacrifice and paid for our sins. Your life must be characterized by repentance from sin and faith in Jesus. This Christmas season, focus upon Jesus. Make him the center of your life. You will never be disappointed.

Ethan Hansen is pastor at Faith Bible Fellowship in Big Lake. Contact him at ethanchansen@gci.net.