I do not gamble, but while on my way to work one morning I couldn’t resist buying a lottery ticket—when I stopped at the local convenience store to get a cup of coffee. The Powerball – after all – was up to $400 million! As I drove to work I began to wonder what my chances were of winning and it reminded me of something I read in a book called The Nephilim and the Pyramid of the Apocalypse by born-again author, Patrick Heron.
No other book than the Bible contains as many prophecies concerning the future. There are 737 distinct prophecies in the Scriptures and 594 have been fulfilled to date, with one-hundred percent accuracy every time. In other words, eighty percent of the prophecies have already been fulfilled down to the last letter.
Did you know Jesus literally fulfilled 109 prophecies relating to Himself in His First Coming? In the last 24 hours of Jesus’ life, 25 specific prophecies came to pass, all of which were written into the Old Testament between 500 and 1000 years before his birth. Do you know what the odds are of 25 specific predictions coming to pass in one 24-hour period of a specific person’s lifetime? Billions to one!
Here are a few of the prophecies from the Old Testament which were fulfilled in the last 24 hours of Jesus’ life:
1. Jesus would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12).
2. Jesus would be betrayed by a friend (Psalm 41:9).
3. Jesus would be forsaken by His disciples (Zechariah 13:7).
4. He would be accused by false witnesses (Psalm 35:11).
5. He would be dumb in the presence of His accusers (Isaiah 53:7).
6. Jesus would be scourged (Isaiah 50:6).
7. He would have His garments parted (Psalm 22:18).
8. Jesus would be mocked by His enemies (Psalm 22:7, 8).
9. He would be given gall and vinegar to drink (Psalm 69:21).
10. Not one bone in His body would be broken (Psalm 34:20).
11. He would die in the presence of malefactors and thieves (Isaiah 53:12).
12. The 30 pieces of silver would be used to buy the potter’s field (Zechariah 11:13).
God promised to restore His people to their homeland and this would be a sign to other nations that we are living in the last days:
“And He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the world” (Isaiah 11:11,12).
This Scripture was written over 650 years before Christ and, now over 2,600 years later the Jewish people are returning to their homeland! Now here we are in the 21st century. The Jews have been back in Israel for over 50 years, so this prophecy has come to pass. We are told that in the future this world will perish on the rock which is Jerusalem.
“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.
In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness” (Zechariah 12:2-4).
Greg May