The Statistical Probability of certain Biblical Prophecies being Fulfilled

The Statistical Probability of certain Biblical Prophecies being Fulfilled

By the foretelling of persons, places and events hundreds of years before their occurrence, the Bible demonstrates knowledge of the future that is too specific to be labeled a good guess. By giving examples of fulfilled prophecy, the scriptures give a strong testimony to their own inspiration.

The acid test for identifying a prophet of God is recorded by Moses in Deuteronomy 18:21-22. According to this Bible passage (and others), God's prophets, as distinct from Satan's spokesmen, are 100 percent accurate in their predictions. There is no room for error.

There is an acronym that I like to use when it comes to proving the scriptures are the true inspired word of God: "MAPS"

M - Manuscripts A - Archaeology P - Prophecy S - Statistical probability that these prophecies could all be fulfilled

Josh McDowell: (pp34-35 Answers to tough questions) (Quotes Peter Stoner) An example of this would be the prophecy of King Cyrus (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1). The prophet Isaiah, writing about 700 B.C., predicts Cyrus by name as the king who will say to Jerusalem that it shall be built and that the temple foundation shall be laid. At the time of Isaiah's writing, the city of Jerusalem was fully built and the entire temple was standing. Not until more than 100 years later would the city and temple be destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C.

After Jerusalem was taken by the Babylonians, it was conquered by the Persians in about 539 B.C. Shortly after that, a Persian king named Cyrus gave the decree to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. This was around 160 years after the prophecy of Isaiah! Thus Isaiah predicted that a man named Cyrus, who would not be born for about 100 years, would give the command to rebuild the temple which was still standing in Isaiah's day and would not be destroyed for more than 100 years. This prophecy is truly amazing, but it is not isolated.

There are, in fact literally hundreds of prophecies which predict future events and prophecies that have already been fulfilled. Just to name a couple:

Jesus will be born in Bethlehem: Prophecy – Micah 5:2; Fulfilled – Matthew 2:1,Luke 2:4-7

Kings shall bring him gifts, fall down before him: Prophecy - Psalm 72:10-11, Fulfilled - Matthew 2:1-11

Some 400 years before crucifixion was invented, both Israel's King David and the prophet Zechariah described the Messiah's death in words that perfectly depict that mode of execution. Further, they said that the body would be pierced and that none of the bones would be broken, contrary to customary procedure in cases of crucifixion (Psalm 22 and 34:20; Zechariah 12:10). Again, historians and New Testament writers confirm the fulfillment: Jesus of Nazareth died on a Roman cross, and his extraordinarily quick death eliminated the need for the usual breaking of bones. A spear was thrust into his side to verify that he was, indeed, dead. John 19:31-36 John 20:25-29

(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 1013.)

In the fifth century B.C. a prophet named Zechariah declared that the Messiah would be betrayed for the price of a slave—thirty pieces of silver, according to Jewish law-and also that this money would be used to buy a burial ground for Jerusalem's poor foreigners (Zechariah 11:12-13). Bible writers and secular historians both record thirty pieces of silver as the sum paid to Judas Iscariot for betraying Jesus, and they indicate that the money went to purchase a "potter's field," used—just as predicted—for the burial of poor aliens (Matthew 27:3-10).

(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 1011.)

The prophet Moses foretold (with some additions by Jeremiah and Jesus) that the ancient Jewish nation would be conquered twice and that the people would be carried off as slaves each time, first by the Babylonians (for a period of 70 years), and then by a fourth world kingdom (which we know as Rome). The second conqueror, Moses said, would take the Jews captive to Egypt in ships, selling them or giving them away as slaves to all parts of the world. Both of these predictions were fulfilled to the letter, the first in 607 B.C. and the second in 70 A.D.

God's spokesmen said, further, that the Jews would remain scattered throughout the entire world for many generations, but without becoming assimilated by the peoples or of other nations, and that the Jews would one day return to the land of Palestine to re-establish for a second time their nation (Deuteronomy 29; Isaiah 11:11-13; Jeremiah 25:11; Hosea 3:4-5 and Luke 21:23-24).

(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 120.) Became a Nation in 1948

Ladies, the statistical probability that any or all of the Bible's very specific, detailed prophecies could have been fulfilled through chance, good guessing, or just a coincidence is absurd in light of the evidence. God has given sufficient evidence of His existence and of the divine inspiration of the Scriptures by means of fulfilled prophecy.

Josh McDowell, one of the leading apologists who wrote Evidence that demands a― Verdict, has quoted Professor Peter Stoner regarding statistical probability. Professor Stoner(1888-1980) was Chairman of the Departments of Mathematics and Astronomy at Pasadena City College until 1953, and Chairman of the Science Division of Westmont College from 1953 to 1957.

Stoner calculated the probability of one man fulfilling only a handful of the over 300 Messianic prophecies. In 1944, he published his research results in Science Speaks: Scientific Proof of the Accuracy of Prophecy and the Bible.

Which has been given the stamp of approval by the American Scientific Affiliation. Stoner concluded that the probability of one person fulfilling just eight of the specific prophecies was one chance in 1017 (one followed by 17 zeros).This is equivalent to covering the entire state of Texas with silver dollars two feet deep, marking one of them, mixing them all up and having a blind-folded person select the marked one at random the first time.

How about one person fulfilling just 48 of the over 300 prophecies? Stoner calculated these odds at one chance in 10157 -- way beyond statistical impossibility!

So we see through prophecy and the statistical probability of them being fulfilled proves the accuracy of the scriptures. If all of these prophecies have been fulfilled in great detail with no error, we know the prophecies predicted in the future will also be fulfilled in detail with no error.

When we look at prophecies that have been fulfilled and yet to be fulfilled in the future we look to the book of Daniel.