On the day before Christmas, I thought it would be appropriate to reflect on the
coming of the Messiah. The Old Testament contains hundreds of prophecies that give
specific detail about the “anointed one” who is the Messiah. The prophets proclaimed
that He would come to save the people.
The Bible is unique in many ways, especially when it comes to fulfilled prophecy.
At the time when it was written, 27 percent (1800 verses) of the Bible was prophetic.
Large portions of those prophecies have been fulfilled, and that is a powerful argument
for the inspiration of the Bible.
What is the probability that these Messianic prophecies could be fulfilled in the
life of one person by chance? Peter Stoner, in his book Science Speaks, calculated the
probability of just eight Messianic prophecies being fulfilled by chance. These included
the prophecy in Micah 5:2 that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Another was
Malachi 3:1 that predicted that a messenger would prepare the way for the Messiah. Four
of the prophecies were from Zechariah. They predicted that the Messiah would be
betrayed, by a friend, for 30 pieces of silver, and it would be used to buy a potter’s field.
Another prophecy said that the Messiah would die by being pierced (crucified).
Multiplying all of these probabilities together, Peter Stoner produced a number of
10 to the 28th
lived since the time of the prophecies and came up with a number of 10 to the 17th
In other words, the chance that just eight prophecies could be fulfilled by chance is one in
one hundred quadrillion. In order to illustrate this, he says imagine we could fill the state
of Texas with silver dollars two feet deep. Put a red mark on one and then ask a
blindfolded person to travel anywhere in the state. The chance that he would pick up the
marked silver dollar on the first try would be one in one hundred quadrillion.
The conclusion is simple. Jesus is indeed the Messiah predicted by the prophets.
power. He then divided this number by the number of people who have
power.