The Promised Messiah

God alone knows the future. Only he can "call the things that are not, as though they were" (Romans 4:17). He declares "the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done." (Isaiah 46:10; Acts 15:18). Jesus Christ fulfilled every prophecy written about the coming Messiah over three hundred of them. As all of these were fulfilled in Jesus Christ, and they established a solid confirmation of his credentials as the Messiah; the Anointed One (King; Priest; Saint); Intercessor (to release or deliver; help; meet; seek; accompany). Many of the prophecies concerning the messiah were totally beyond human control: Birth: The place, time, manner of. Death: Peoples reactions, piercing of side, burial resurrection. By using the modern science of probability in reference to eight of these prophecies, the chance that any man might have lived to fulfill all eight prophecies is one in one hundred trillion! The chance of any one man fulfilling all of 48 prophecies is one in 10 to the 157 power. One amazing prophecy predicts the exact time, as to year and day, of Christ’s final entry into Jerusalem, or what we call “Palm Sunday.” Daniel 9:20-27, written about 535 B.C. when Jerusalem was lying in ruins and the Israelites were in captivity by the Babylonians, states that there will be 69 periods of 7 years until the Messiah would come. The calendar used was the Hebrew lunar calendar based on 360 day years. The time count begins when there is a decree issued to rebuild Jerusalem. This happened during the reign of Artaxerxes Longimanus, a known figure of history mentioned in standard encyclopedias. The decree was issued in 444 B.C. (Nehemiah 2:5). Daniel 9:25-26: “So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty two weeks; it will be built again; then after the sixty two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.” This prophecy plainly states that after the specified time period, the Messiah will be killed (“cut off”) and the city (Jerusalem) and sanctuary (the Temple) will be destroyed. It is a well known fact of history, that some years after Christ was crucified, in 70 A.D., the Romans totally destroyed Jerusalem and the temple. This shows the Messiah had to come before the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. Anyone armed with a calculator and some easily verifiable facts of history can compute this amazing prophecy. Luke 3:1 states John the Baptist’s ministry began in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar. History tells us his reign began in 14 A.D. Thus the fifteenth year of his reign would be 29 A.D. Jesus' ministry began shortly after John the Baptist. His public ministry lasted 3.5 years, which brings us to 33 A.D. as the year of his crucifixion. The time clock begins with the decree of Artaxerxes in 444 B.C. 69 weeks of 360 day years adds up to 173,880 days (69 X 7 = 483 years; 483 X 360 days = 173,880 days). To find out the number of years used in our calendar, divide 173,880 days by 365 ¼ which equals 476 solar years. Add 476 to -444 (B.C.) and it equals 32. Since 1 B.C. to 1 A.D. is one year, a year must be added to 32, making 33 A.D. as the year the Messiah comes to Jerusalem and is killed. Further study shows that the prediction actually narrows it to the exact month and day. Artaxerxes issued his decree in the month of Nissan. Again, this is a lunar calendar month used by the Hebrews. Nissan begins on the first day of a full moon which falls between March-April on our calendar. Astronomical charts show this day, Nissan 1, would have been on March 5 in 444 B.C. The Jews celebrated Passover on Nissan 14. Christ was crucified on this day (John 19:14). Astronomers show that in 33 A.D., Nissan 14 fell on a Friday, April 3. But Christ entered Jerusalem on the donkey on Monday, Nissan 10, and publicly offered Himself as Israel’s King and Messiah. In 33 A.D. this day fell on March 30. When one uses the exact solar year of 365.24219879 days, or 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 45.975 seconds added to March 5, 444 B.C., (the day of Artaxerxes decree), it falls precisely on March 30, 33 A.D. Concerning the subject of Passover, there is another amazing fulfillment. The revelation in the Old Testament about the Messiah was progressive, starting with vague hints and increasing in detail. One of the methods used is called “type” and “shadow.” The Passover feast is one example. This feast was instituted by God to celebrate the

deliverance of the Hebrew people from bondage in Egypt. When they applied the blood of a lamb, crossed over the door posts of their home, they were delivered from the judgment of death that came upon the Egyptians. The apostle Paul called Christ “our Passover” (1 Corinthians 5:7) in that the feasts actual meaning indicated that when a person has the blood of Christ applied through faith in Him, the judgment of death passes over us. For centuries Nissan 10 would be the day the lamb to be sacrificed would be picked out by a Hebrew family. On Nissan 14 the lamb would be slain, beginning at 3:00 P.M. On Nissan 10, when people all over Israel were picking out the lambs to be sacrificed, Christ publicly offers himself to Israel as their King, riding into the eastern gate of the city on a donkey. On Nissan 14, Christ was crucified and died at exactly 3:00 P.M., the exact same time people all over the nation of Israel began killing their lambs for the Passover feast. (John 19:14; Mark 15:25,33) Here are some of the more than 300 prophesies concerning Christ. The Old Testament verses are the prophecy, the center portion is the subject, and the New Testament verses proclaim it's fulfillment. 1.Prophetic Scripture 2.Subject of Prophecy 3.Event Fulfilled Genesis 3:15 Seed of a woman Galations 4:4 Genesis 12:3 Descendant of Abraham Matthew 1:1 Genesis 17:19 Descendant of Isaac Luke 3:34 Numbers 24:17 Descendant of Jacob Mathew 1:2 Genesis 49:10 From tribe of Jesse Romans 15:12 Jeremiah 23:5-6 Descendant of David Matthew 1:1 Micah 5:2 Born in Bethlehem Luke 2:4-5, 7 Daniel 9:25 Time of His birth Luke 2:1-2 Isaiah 7:14 To be born of a virgin Luke 1:26-27, 30-31 Psalm 72:10, 15, Isa 60:3 Honored by great kings Matthew 2:1-11 Jeremiah 31:15 Slaughter of children Matthew 2:16-18 Isaiah 40:3-5 Flight to Egypt Matthew 2:14-15 Isaiah 53:3, 8:14, 28:16 Rejected by His own people John 1:11, Luke 23:18 Psalm 41:9, 55:12-13 Betrayed by a close friend Luke 22:47-48, Matt 27:40 Zechariah 11:12 Betrayed for 30 PCs silver Matthew 26:14-15 Zechariah 11:13 Money to buy potters field Matthew 27:6-7 Isaiah 53:6-7 Spat upon, struck, scourged Matt 26:67, 27:26, 30 Isaiah 53:12 Crucified with malefactors Mark 15:27-28 Zechariah 12:10, Ps. 22:16 Pierced through hands, feet John 20:25-27 Psalm 34:20, Zech 12:10 No bones broke, side pierced John 19:32-34, 36 Isaiah 53:9 Buried with rich Matthew 27:37-60 Psalm 16:10, 30:2, 49:15 To be resurrected Mark 16:6-7 Now the children of Israel had already left Egypt and were wandering in the wilderness, Numbers 21:4-6 tells how, "they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread (the manna that God gave them daily). And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died." Verses 7-9 tells how this serious situation was remedied. "Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, we have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived." This was a real even that literally took place, but it also served as a symbolic foreshadowing of the real saving power that came through Christ's crucifixion. The snake represents sin, and the snake bitten person is like a lost person who is dead in their sins. Those bitten by the

serpents needed a Savior. Jesus Christ became sin for us when all our sin was placed upon him on the cross. He became like the brazen serpent. Jesus said in John 3:14-16, "as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up (on the cross): That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Just as the snake was lifted up on a pole in the wilderness, Christ was lifted up on the cross. Jesus gave his life for all sin and rose from the dead. Now all being baptized by faith (Into his death, burial, and resurrection state Romans 6:4, Colossians 2:12, and Mark 16:16 among many others) into his name, will be saved from the actions of their sin.