I'm looking for evidence of fulfilled prophecy.

[Guest]

Can anyone give me examples of Biblical prophecies that where fulfilled and can be proven to be fulfilled Biblically and historically. I'm looking for prophecies that will make people who don't know the Bible stand up and say WOW!

[Guest]

I'm not surprised no one has come up with any yet. I think fulfilled prophecy is very important to know. Look what Paul did with it in Acts 28:23
"...he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening."

Prophecy is a great tool to reach the intellect and the law speaks to the conscience. Together you have an awsome witnessing tool.

I have some prophecies about Jesus like Matthew 27:33-56 and its parallel with Psalms 22. But, I would like some prophecies regarding other things besides Christ Cuase I have lots of great ones about my Lord and savior. See below...

Other Prophecies respecting Christ

As the Son of God
Psalms 2:7
Fulfilled
Luke 1:32,35

As the seed of the woman
Genesis 3:15
Fulfilled
Galatians 4:4

As the seed of Abraham
Genesis 17:7; 22:18
Fulfilled
Galatians 3:16

As the seed of Isaac
Genesis 21:12
Fulfilled
Hebrews 11:17-19

As the seed of David
Psalms 132:11; Jeremiah 23:5
Fulfilled
Acts 13:23; Romans 1:3

His coming at a set time
Genesis 49:10; Daniel 9:24,25
Fulfilled
Luke 2:1

His being born a virgin
Isaiah 7:14
Fulfilled
Matthew 1:22,23; Luke 2:7

His being called Immanuel
Isaiah 7:14
Fulfilled
Matthew 1:22,23

His being born in Bethlehem of Judea
Micah 5:2
Fulfilled
Matthew 2:1; Luke 2:4-6

Great persons coming to adore him
Psalms 72:10
Fulfilled
Matthew 2:1-11

The slaying of the children of Bethlehem
Jeremiah 31:15
Fulfilled
Matthew 2:16-18

His being called out of Egypt
Hosea 11:1
Fulfilled
Matthew 2:15

His being preceded by John the Baptist
Isaiah 40:3; Malachi 3:1
Fulfilled
Matthew 3:1,3; Luke 1:17

His being anointed with the Spirit
Psalms 45:7; Isaiah 11:2; 61:1
Fulfilled
Matthew 3:16; John 3:34; Acts 10:38

His being a Prophet like to Moses
Deuteronomy 18:15-18
Fulfilled
Acts 3:20-22

His being a Priest after the order of Melchizedek
Psalms 110:4
Fulfilled
Hebrews 5:5,6

His entering on his public ministry
Isaiah 61:1,2
Fulfilled
Luke 4:16-21,43

His ministry commencing in Galilee
Isaiah 9:1,2
Fulfilled
Matthew 4:12-16,23

His entering publicly into Jerusalem
Zechariah 9:9
Fulfilled
Matthew 21:1-5

His coming into the temple
Haggai 2:7,9; Malachi 3:1
Fulfilled
Matthew 21:12; Luke 2:27-32; John 2:13-16

His poverty
Isaiah 53:2
Fulfilled
Mark 6:3; Luke 9:58

His meekness and want of ostentatious
Isaiah 42:2
Fulfilled
Matthew 12:15,16,19

His tenderness and compassion
Isaiah 40:11; 42:3
Fulfilled
Matthew 12:15,20; Hebrews 4:15

His being without guile
Isaiah 53:9
Fulfilled
1 Peter 2:22

His zeal
Psalms 69:9
Fulfilled
John 2:17

His preaching by parables
Psalms 78:2
Fulfilled
Matthew 13:34,35

His working miracles
Isaiah 35:5,6
Fulfilled
Matthew 11:4-6; John 11:47

His bearing reproach
Psalms 22:6; 69:7,9,20
Fulfilled
Romans 15:3

His being rejected by his brethren
Psalms 69:8; Isaiah 63:3
Fulfilled
John 1:11; 7:3

His being a stone of stumbling to the Jews
Isaiah 8:14
Fulfilled
Romans 9:32; 1 Peter 2:8

His being hated by the Jews
Psalms 69:4; Isaiah 49:7
Fulfilled
John 15:24,25

His being rejected by the Jewish rulers
Psalms 118:22
Fulfilled
Matthew 21:42; John 7:48

That the Jews and Gentiles should combine against Him
Psalms 2:1,2
Fulfilled
Luke 23:12; Acts 4:27

His being betrayed by a friend
Psalms 41:9; 55:12-14
Fulfilled
John 13:18,21

His disciples forsaking him
Zechariah 13:7
Fulfilled
Matthew 26:31,56

His being sold for thirty pieces silver
Zechariah 11:12
Fulfilled
Matthew 26:15

His price being given for the potter’s field
Zechariah 11:13
Fulfilled
Matthew 27:7

The intensity of his sufferings
Psalms 22:14,15
Fulfilled
Luke 22:42,44

His sufferings being for others
Isaiah 53:4-6,12; Daniel 9:26
Fulfilled
Matthew 20:28

His patience and silence under suffering
Isaiah 53:7
Fulfilled
Matthew 26:63; 27:12-14

His being smitten on the cheek
Micah 5:1
Fulfilled
Matthew 27:30

His visage being marred
Isaiah 52:14; 53:3
Fulfilled
John 19:5

His being spit on and scourged
Isaiah 50:6
Fulfilled
Mark 14:65; John 19:1

His hands and feet being nailed to the cross
Psalms 22:16
Fulfilled
John 19:18; 20:25

His being forsaken by God
Psalms 22:1
Fulfilled
Matthew 27:46

His being mocked
Psalms 22:7,8
Fulfilled
Matthew 27:39-44

Gall and vinegar being given him to drink
Psalms 69:21
Fulfilled
Matthew 27:34

His garments being parted, and lots cast for his vesture
Psalms 22:18
Fulfilled
Matthew 27:35

His being numbered with the transgressors
Isaiah 53:12
Fulfilled
Mark 15:28

His intercession for His murderers
Isaiah 53:12
Fulfilled
Luke 23:34

His Death
Isaiah 53:12
Fulfilled
Matthew 27:50

That a bone of him should not be broken
Exodus 12:46; Psalms 34:20
Fulfilled
John 19:33,36

His being pierced
Zechariah 12:10
Fulfilled
John 19:34,37

His being buried with the rich
Isaiah 53:9
Fulfilled
Matthew 27:57-60

His flesh not seeing corruption
Psalms 16:10
Fulfilled
Acts 2:31

His resurrection
Psalms 16:10; Isaiah 26:19
Fulfilled
Luke 24:6,31,34

His ascension
Psalms 68:18
Fulfilled
Luke 24:51; Acts 1:9

His sitting on the right hand of God
Psalms 110:1
Fulfilled
Hebrews 1:3

His exercising the priestly office in heaven
Zechariah 6:13
Fulfilled
Romans 8:34

His being the chief corner-stone of the Church
Isaiah 28:16
Fulfilled
1 Peter 2:6,7

His being King in Zion
Psalms 2:6
Fulfilled
Luke 1:32; John 18:33-37

The conversion of the Gentiles to him
Isaiah 11:10; 42:1
Fulfilled
Matthew 1:17,21; John 10:16; Acts 10:45,47

His righteous government
Psalms 45:6,7
Fulfilled
John 5:30; Revelation 19:11

His universal dominion
Psalms 72:8; Daniel 7:14
Fulfilled
Philippians 2:9,11

The perpetuity of his kingdom
Isaiah 9:7; Daniel 7:14
Fulfilled
Luke 1:32,33

[Guest]

Jesus' prediction of the destruction of the temple readily comes to mind. Also his warning to his followers to flee this calamity which they did and escaped the destruction - that's pretty awesome!

In Christ, Homer

[Guest]

Thanks thats a good one, do you have scriptures and historical documents (like Josephus page 208, or any thing like that)?

[Guest]

Here's an example I like to share with others:
Before the Dead Sea Scrolls were uncovered, many critics arose who criticized the Bible, primarily the Old Testament because it lacked physical copies older than 1100 AD or so. There was a reason for that. As Old copies of the Jewish Scriptures got worn out, they were burned and new copies took their place. There were many rules scribes followed to make sure that the new copies matched the old exactly, which included formatting and letter counting to make sure all matched up. Before then, the best proof of the existence of the ancient Hebrew Scriptures came from the New Testament, Church Fathers, references to it from historians such as Josephus and of course the Septuagint referring to the 70+ scholars who translated the old Testament into the Greek of the day. The date of its translation was probably between 300 and 200 BC depending on which scholar you talk to.
The early church's Old Testament was this Greek translation. To 1st Century AD Greeks, reading the "Septuagint" meaning "70" is probably like us reading King James English. A 1st Century Greek speaker would easily recognize the archaic translation. So this translation has been around as proof that the Old Testament prophecies about the Christ were at least 200 years older than Christ.
Further proof of an older date for the OT is attributed to the fact that it was even translated at all. Its notoriety must have already been established for someone to spend considerable time and resources to translate it. As a side note, I've observed that at least the Babylonians, Persians and Greeks came to appreciation of God's sovereignty and I think that it is no coincidence that this early Greek translation is called the 70. Let me explain: When Judah was conquered by Babylon, God gave Daniel visions to encourage Israel to let them know that all was not lost. Daniel 2 prayer to God acknowledges that after God gave Daniel understanding. Daniel worked on king Nebbie until that day in Dan. 4:30 when he reached the height of hubris and became an animal easting grass for 7 years after which, Nebbie immediately recognized God's sovereignty. Babylon, through king Nebbie acknowledged God's sovereignty. Commensurately, Cyrus of Persia also acknowledges the same when they came to control Babylon and hence the world. Cyrus was favorable towards the Jews. Why? Well, he may have heard of Daniel - as we surmise he did since Daniel was elevated during the Persian/Mede reign. But more than that, Cyrus probably was amazed by the prophecies of Isaiah who some 200 years earlier actually named "Cyrus" as the one who would be his anointed king and shepherd, a type of Christ who come like a thief in the night to overthrow BABYLON, which Cyrus did (See end if Isa. 44 to Isa 45.) Cyrus decreed that the Jews go back and rebuild. Persia acknowledged the God of Israel. Again, the same happened with the Greeks, I believe. Daniel was written 200 years before Alexander the Great and yet much in chp 8 foretold of him. This I believe also greatly moved and impressed him to the point where he gave the Jewish nation special privileges in the Greek empire. I believe Alexander was also aware of Daniel 9:24-27 70 sets of 7 and he also had access to the Persian and Babylonians records going back to king Nebbie's time 270 years earlier. I believe he began the idea of making a translation that came to fruition later after his death and the 70 is in acknowledgment to this. This way this "gem" would be a central part of Alexander et al's combined acquisitions at the library of Alexandria. OK - enough on that rabbit trail that is just my idea. But I mentioned it to point out that:
1) People just didn't undertake translations into other languages of various texts for no reason. It was a costly endeavor.
2) The Old Testament had to have been renowned and held in esteem to even be translated.
With even that, scholars were skeptical until the Dead Sea Scrolls uncovered many Old Testament books. One such text was a complete book of Isaiah from about the same time period that the Septuagint was translated. In Isaiah, you will note the many references to Christ such as a virgin conceiving in Isa. 7:14, a child being born who is called Mighty God in Isa. 9:6 and the crucifixion description in Isaiah 53 " he was pierced for our transgression", etc. So this is a physical book, a physical copy, a blast from the past, you could touch and feel from hundreds of years before Christ. It’s on display in Israel. Skeptics have got to be really closed minded not to accept this, because the Jews used to accuse Christians of inserting these passages into their text - or so I have heard.
Another passage that could be used of interest is of course Daniel 9:24-27 prophecy about the first 69 sets of 7 and how they ended at the right time for the Messiah to be cut off in 32 AD or so.
I hope that helps.

[Guest]

It is not my intention to throw a monkey wrench into peoples' neat systems of prophecy and fulfilment. Yet, I must say I have difficulty with Matthew's explanation of the fulfilment of the word of the Lord:

Matthew 2:13-15
Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him." And he rose and took the child and his mother by night, and departed to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of Egypt have I called my son."

Now looking to the words of the prophet whom Matthew quoted:

Hosea 11:1-5
When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. The more I called them, the more they went from me; they kept sacrificing to the Baals, and burning incense to idols. Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them up in my arms; but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of compassion, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one, who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them. They shall return to the land of Egypt, and Assyria shall be their king, because they have refused to return to me.

It seems obvious that the words of Yahweh through Hosea "... out of Egypt have I called my son" refer to Yahweh leading the Israelites out of Egypt under Moses.

[Guest]

Matthew was obviously familiar with the Hosea passage (since he was able to quote it), and his readers (he would have reason to expect), would also know the passage as well as he. Yet, he seemed to think that they would find the connection between the Old Testament text and the event recorded impressive, as he did. So what was he thinking?

Some Christians, seeing the difficulty, and despairing of the possibilty of making sense of Matthew's hermeneutic (and several of the other passages he quotes in the same chapter are equally problematic), have simply decided that the Holy Spirit inspired Matthew to see a hidden meaning in the words of Hosea. Though the quotation makes no sense to the natural mind, they think, it is nonetheless a valid fulfillment of the prophecy's secret and imperceptible meaning.

This solution will hardly work, since it is (most likely) the skeptical mind of the natural Jewish man that Matthew desires to impress with such citations. If there is no way for a natural and uninspired man to see the validity of the fulfillment, it would have been much better for Matthew to have made no attempt at all to connect the Egyptian journey of the infant Chrtist with anything in the Old Testament. Yet he saw fit to include this.

The correct explanation, I believe, is that Matthew expected his readers to presuppose, as he did, that Israel's history served as a type and foreshadowing of the Messiah.

Thus the coming of the Messiah out of Egypt in His infancy would mirror the exodus of Isreal referred back to in Hosea 11:1. The assumption is that Israel's exodus from Egypt might reasonably be expected to have its counterpart or antitype in the Messiah's own youthful experience. Seeing this connection leads Matthew to point out the words in Hosea about Israel's experience: "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt." His citation is as if to say, "Interesting, don't you think, that Jesus, who is also God's son, came out of Egypt in His childhood? Thus Hosea's recollection of Israel's history serves as an implied anticipation of Christ's childhood 'exodus.' "

Though it might not have occurred to us to think of Israel as a type of the Messiah, it probably had occurred to the Jews, to whom Matthew wrote. It also seems a valid comparison on other grounds. The so-called "Servant of Yahweh" in Isaiah's famous servant songs, is sometimes Israel, asnd sometimes Messiah...suggesting a type/antiotype relationship between the two.

This event in Jesus' childhood might not be the only case of His fulfilling some type in the history of Israel. His baptism by John could be seen as an antitype of Israel's crossing of the Red Sea (compare 1 Cor.10:1-6), and Christ's forty-day temptation in the wilderness could reflect the forty years that Israel was tempted in the wilderness after the exodus. Interestingly, the scriptures that Jesus quoted to Satan during His temptation were all taken from Deuteronomy, a book recounting Israel's sojourn in the wilderness.

There may be few parallels between Israel's later years and those of Christ, since Israel went astray from the womb (Isa.48:8/Ps.58:3), and Jesus never rebelled against His Father. In this, Christ's life, after the temptation may present little data to compare with Israel's mature behavior and experiences.

This explanation of Matthew's citation of Hosea has satisfied me for some years now.