Index To Section 2 .. Reasons To Believe

Understanding Prophecy and Typology
Western Protestants interpret prophecy in one of four different ways: Preterism, Historicism, Idealism, or Futurism. (These basic four or five schools of thought have lent themselves to several offshoots).
To a Western Gentile mind, one of these four methods, (or a derivative of) is the correct view of all Biblical prophecy. A Jew in the first century, however, would have been all four simultaneously, as Jesus was Himself. Western ideas of prophecy involve prediction and fulfillment. The Hebrew idea of prophecy is a pattern that is repeated, multiple fulfillments with one ultimate fulfillment. Each of the multiple fulfillments is both a type of, and a lesson on, the ultimate fulfillment.

Moses’ Great Messianic Prophecy
In one of his most specific predictions, Moses declared that God would raise up another Jewish prophet in the future whose life would closely resemble his. Perhaps the most compelling of all Messianic Prophecy.

The Seven Feasts of Israel
In order to understand the significance of the Jewish feasts, we must comprehend their purpose and timing. The most complete description of the feasts is found in Leviticus 23. Each of the feasts have both a historic and prophetic significance. They celebrate a historical event in Israel's past, but also are a prophecy of future events which have been, or will be, fulfilled. The first four feasts were fulfilled by Jesus Christ during the actual celebration of those feast days. The last three will be fulfilled at His second coming.

The Messianic Timetable
More than any other book of the Hebrew Scriptures, the writings of the prophet Daniel confront us with evidence of the time of Messiah's coming, evidence that many people would rather not see. But it is there and cannot be ignored.

Jesus Didn't Fulfill The Validating Prophecies
If God said that his Messiah would be a great political leader, would bring peace to the world, would rebuild the temple and reunite the Jews, then why do Christians believe Jesus was that Messiah?

The Virgin Shall Conceive
There has been great difficulty over the years in seeking to interpret the significance of this prophecy. "Few prophecies have been the subject of so much controversy, or called forth such a variety of exegesis, as this prophecy of Immanuel" [Pulpit Commentary, vol. 10, p. 129]. "This one verse has received more discussion than any other passage in the OT, yet without any consensus emerging among commentators. While Christians agree that it refers ultimately to the birth of Christ, they remain divided about its original and primary meaning"

Messianic Prophecies
We have in the Holy Scripture, an array of prophecies which extend over hundreds of years and yet find their complete fulfillment in the short thirty-year life span of one person, Jesus of Nazareth, many being fulfilled in one day.

The Testimony Of Messianic Prophecy
The Biblical prophecies about the Messiah indicate strongly that if the Messiah has come, he must be Jesus of Nazareth.

Messiah Revealed
Messianic prophecy is not easy to understand, but it is legitimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ, contrary to the arguments of skeptics. For example Psalm 22:16 declares that His hands and feet would be pierced...  long before crucifixion was invented as a form of capital punishment by the Persians and a thousand years before it was made common by the Romans.

Also See Section on Jesus

Israel’s History written in advance
According to an old story, the powerful Prussian King Frederick the Great had a chaplain who was a Bible-believer, though Frederick himself was a rationalist. One day, Frederick challenged his chaplain, "In a word, give me a good argument for the God of the Bible." His chaplain, a knowledgeable man, responded, "The Jew, your majesty!"

The Odds
Approximately 2500 prophecies appear in the pages of the Bible, about 2000 of which already have been fulfilled to the letter—no errors. (The remaining 500 or so reach into the future and may be seen unfolding as days go by.) Since the probability for any one of these prophecies having been fulfilled by chance averages less than one in ten (figured very conservatively) and since the prophecies are for the most part independent of one another, the odds for all these prophecies having been fulfilled by chance without error is less than one in 10²⁰⁰⁰ (that is 1 with 2000 zeros written after it)!

Other Prophecies
A fact often overlooked by critics is that the only one real case of fulfilled prophecy would establish Scripture’s supernatural origin. Even if most Biblical predictions could be explained naturally even one clear case establishes the rest and confirms the prophetic event. Includes The Closing of The Golden Gate, The Destruction of Tyre, The Flourishing of The Desert In Palestine and more

Section 2 ...Reasons To Believe

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