Me: Look at all the pigs!
Prodigal: Yes, are they all the same?
Me: I don’t know.
Prodigal: Maybe one of them is special, what do you think the odds of that are?
Me: I don’t know the odds of that but I was reading about other odds.
This comes from the book I have a Friend Who’s Jewish Do You? By Don Goldstein
One of the most amazing studies conducted was recorded by Professor Peter Stoner in Science Speaks. The purpose of the study was to determine the odds of one man in history fulfilling all the prophecies recorded in the Scripture that point to the Jewish Messiah. There are over 300 Messianic prophecies in the Scriptures. Stoner chose just those that are clearly defined and specific for his study. To begin, eight prophecies were chosen that were totally beyond the human control of Yeshua:
- His place of birth (Micah 5:2)
- Time of birth (Daniel 9:25)
- Manner of birth (Isaiah 7:14)
- Betrayal (Zechariah 11:12,13)
- Manner of death (Psalm 22:16-18)
- Piercing of hands, feet, and side (Zechariah 12:10)
- People mocking (Psalm 22:7,8)
- Burial (Isaiah 53:9)
The compound probability of just these eight prophecies being fulfilled is 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000 (1 in 10 to the 17th power). To understand this number, take that many silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They would cover the entire state two feet deep. Next, mark a single silver dollar, fly over Texas, and drop it anywhere. Then blindfold someone and let him parachute in anywhere he wants. The coin he picks is just once chance. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets had of writing eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man.
Now let’s raise the odds using 48 prophecies. We find the chances of one man fulfilling just 48 of these Messianic prophecies to
be (1 in 10 to the 157th power.)
Psalm 46:11
The Lord of host is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
