Purpose:? To help those who are either skeptical or lack sufficient faith to
move past some point in their Bible study.

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John 5:39,40?? Question:? What is Jesus claiming here???? He is claiming that
the Old

?Testament, written hundreds of years before he was born, was written

?about him!? Imagine the implications of this claim.

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Luke 24:44???? Jesus is claiming to have fulfilled all the prophecies of the
Messiah!

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The point:? If Jesus? claims above are true, then that would surely imply that
he is the Messiah and that the Bible is the inspired Word of God.? In that case,
the Bible would be unlike any other book ever written and Jesus would be a totally
unique figure in history.? There are only two possibilities:? Jesus? claim is either
true or false.? Our job is to investigate this claim.? We will examine the question
by taking the point of view of a die-hard skeptic.? As you look at the following
Old Testament prophecies and their fulfillment in the New Testament, for each
one, ask yourself the following questions:

?
??????????????? 1.? ????????? When? was the prophecy written down?
??????????????? 2.? ????????? Was? this clearly a prophecy about the Messiah, or could
it be just a random? passage taken out of context, but not obviously about the
Messiah?
??????????????? 3.? ????????? Can we? really be sure that Jesus actually did these things??
Are they recorded in historical records? outside the Bible?
??????????????? 4.? ????????? Could? Jesus have simply done these things so he could manipulate
his way into a? false claim to be the Messiah?

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As to the first question, the skeptic could argue with the conservative dates
we will supply for the writing of the books involved, but they should be aware
that the entire Old Testament was translated into the Greek in what is known
as the Septuagint Translation by around 200 BC.? Even the skeptic would have to
admit that we know without a doubt that these prophecies were written down at
least 250 years before they were fulfilled.

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Isaiah 53:1-9? Written about 750 BC.? It should be noted that the Jews themselves

?considered this passage to be about the Messiah.

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a.?????? v3? The Messiah to be despised and rejected.? Fulfilled in Luke 23:18-24
and

?????? many other places.

b.?? v5? The Messiah to be ?pierced? for our sins.? Fulfilled in John 19:31-37.

c.?????? v7? The Messiah will be silent and meek when accused and led to his
death.

?Fulfilled in Mark 14:60,61, Mark 15:1-5 and other places.

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These prophecies are a great inspiration to believers, but what about the questions
of the skeptics?? Knowing the Old Testament, if Jesus was trying to manipulate
his followers, he could have fulfilled v3 and v7, but what about v5?? Could
he have arranged to have been pierced when he was already dead?? Hmmm?? Well, yes, he
could have if he was truly the son of God as he claimed, then he could arrange
for this.? If he was just a man, he surely could not have caused this.

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Psalm 22:15-18?????????? Written about 1025 BC.? None of these events occurred
during David?s life, so who is he talking about?? This must be a Messianic prophecy.

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a.?????? v15? Thirsty.? Fulfilled in John 19:28.

b.????? V16? The Messiah to be crucified.? Fulfilled in Mark 15:25.? It should
be noted

That crucifixion was not invented for about six? hundred years after David lived.

c.?????? v17? No bones broken.? Fulfilled in John 19:32,33, when they broke
the bones

?of the thieves, but not of Jesus, because he was already dead.

d.????? v18? Divided up and gambled for the Messiah?s clothing.? These seem

?contradictory, yet both were fulfilled in John 19:23,24.

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Comment:? The crucifixion of Jesus is an historical fact which even the die-hard
skeptic cannot deny.? Jesus could not have arranged for the fulfillment of any
of these prophecies.

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Zechariah 11:12,13? Written about 520 BC.? Careful study of v7-11 shows this
to be a prophecy about the Messiah.

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a.?????? v12? The Messiah will be ?priced,?? ie. sold for thirty pieces of silver.?
Fulfilled in Matthew 26:14-16.

b.????? V13? The money will be thrown into the Lord?s house and ?to the house
of

the potter.?? Fulfilled in Matthew 27:3-10.

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Comments:? Jesus certainly was not there when Judas came to the Jewish council,
suggesting the price of 30 pieces of silver.? Neither were the chief priests
trying to fulfill this prophecy.? How did Zechariah know about the potter?s
field?

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Micah 5:2? Written about 750 BC.? This was a well-known Messianic prophecy to
the Jews in Jesus? day.

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a.?????? The Messiah must be born in Bethlehem.? Fulfilled in Matthew 2:1.

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Comments:? This event is a matter of historical record.? Unless Jesus is deity,
he could not arrange where he was born!? By the way, there were two towns called
Bethlehem in Israel, but Jesus was born in the one known as Bethlehem Ephrathah.

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Isaiah 9:1? Written about 750 BC.? See v 6,7 to prove this is a prophecy about
the Messiah.

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?????? ?????a. Despite Micah 5:2, the Messiah must be raised in Galilee.? Fulfilled
in Matthew

??????????????? 4:12-15.

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Comments:? Again, this is a matter of historical record, and if Jesus was a
human, he obviously could not have arranged this fulfillment.? If you look closely
at a map of the tribal territories, finding the border between Zebulun and Naphtali,
and compare it to a map which includes Nazareth, you will see that the town where Jesus
was raised is on the border of these two territories.

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Daniel 9:24,25?? Written about 550 BC.? This is a prophecy concerning ?The Annointed
One.?? The Hebrew word Messiah means literally the anointed one.

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??????????? The Messiah will appear in Jerusalem ?seventy sevens? (490 years)
after the

?decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.? This decree was issued by the Persian

?king Artaxerxes in the seventh year of his reign (Ezra 7:8-26), which was 458
BC.

?Counting 490 years from 458 BC brings one to the year 32 AD.? In other words,

?the Messiah would come to Jerusalem to bring in forgiveness of sins in about
32

?AD.

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Comments:? The modern-day Jews claim to be waiting for the appearance of the
promised Messiah, yet Daniel predicts he will come in about 32 AD.? Who, then,
are the Jews waiting for?? Clearly, this fulfillment is a matter of historical
record.

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Summary.? According to the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah, he must:

?
??????????????? 1.? ????????? be? despised and rejected.
??????????????? 2.? ????????? be? pierced.
??????????????? 3.? ????????? be? crucified.
??????????????? 4.? ????????? have? people divide and gamble for his clothing at his crucifixion.
??????????????? 5.? ????????? be? born in Bethlehem.
??????????????? 6.? ????????? be? from Galilee, in the vicinity of Nazareth.
??????????????? 7.? ????????? be? sold for thirty pieces of silver.
??????????????? 8.? ????????? come to? Jerusalem about 32 AD.
??????????????? 9.? ????????? etc?.??? There are many other messianic? prophecies.

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As he claimed in Luke 24:44, Jesus fulfilled all these prophecies and many more.?
Many of these events are a matter of historical record, not just from the Bible.?
Many or most could not have been fulfilled on purpose by a manipulative fake.?
Is there any other conclusion to all these facts except that:

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Jesus is the Messiah, sent by God

????????? and

The Bible is the inspired Word of God

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Question:? Can you think of any other logical explanation of the facts?

Question:? Do you see any implications for your life?

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Study created by John Oakes

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Challenge:? Begin reading the Bible every day for yourself to ?see if what Paul
said was true? (Acts 17:11)