Sermon Tone Analysis

Good afternoon.

Today I went to talk about prophecy.

For me one of the wonders of the Bible is that about 1/4 of it is prophecy.

This raises some interesting questions like: Have any of them come to pass? and Are there still prophecies yet unfulfilled?

Well, the test of the whether there are prophecies to be fulfilled is on how any prophecies have already actually happened.

Now, as Christians I know we do not need any proof given us about the reliability of Scripture but perhaps our faith is a little weak right now or perhaps someone has raised this before on how do you know that the Bible is God’s Word.

There are actually over 300 prophecies fulfilled in Jesus alone.

The chances of just 48 of them happening in real life is 1 in 10 with another 157 zeros after it.

We can imagine a billion - this has nine zeros, a trillion which has twelve zeros, a quadrillion has fifteen, a sextillion has 21 zeros.

This has 158 zeros after the 1.

It is such an astronomical figure that it is impossible that all these prophecies of the Old Testament could be fulfilled in one person.

But they were - not 48 but over 300!

Prophecies in the Old Testament about the Messiah

He would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14) 740-680 BC Matt.1:18–25

He would be the Son of God (Psalm 2:7) 1,000 BC Matt.

3:17

He would be a descendant of Abraham (Genesis 12:3, 22:18) 1,400 BC Matt.

1:1

The Messiah would be a descendant of Isaac (Genesis 21:12) 1,400 BC Matt.

1:2; Luke 3:34

The Messiah would be a descendant of Jacob (Numbers 24:17) 1,400 BC Matthew 1:2; Luke 3:34

He would be from tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10) 1,400 BC Matthew 1:2; Luke 3:33

He would be from the family of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1) 740–680 BC Matthew 1:6; Luke 3:32

He would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14) 740-680 BC Matt.1:18–25

He would be the Son of God (Psalm 2:7) 1,000 BC Matt.

3:17

He would be a descendant of Abraham (Genesis 12:3, 22:18) 1,400 BC Matt.

1:1

The Messiah would be a descendant of Isaac (Genesis 21:12) 1,400 BC Matt.

1:2; Luke 3:34

The Messiah would be a descendant of Jacob (Numbers 24:17) 1,400 BC Matthew 1:2; Luke 3:34

He would be from tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10) 1,400 BC Matthew 1:2; Luke 3:33

He would be from the family of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1) 740–680 BC Matthew 1:6; Luke 3:32

The Messiah would be from house of David (Jeremiah 23:5) 627–580 BC Matthew 1:1; Luke 3:31

He would be raised up as a prophet like Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15, 18) 1,400 BC Acts 3:22; 7:37

The Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2) 722 BC Matthew 2:1

After He was born, babies would be killed in Bethlehem (Jeremiah 31:15) 627–580 BC Matthew 2:16–18

He would be called Immanuel, meaning “God with us” (Isaiah 7:14) 740–680 BC Matthew 1:23

He would be called out of Egypt (Hosea 11:1) (Joseph and Mary fled to Egypt with Jesus) 720 BC Matthew 2:15

The Messiah would come from Galilee (Isaiah 9:1–2) 740–680 BC Matthew 4:13–16

The Spirit of the Lord would be upon Him (Isa.

61:1) 740–680 BC Luke 4:16– 21; Matt 12:17–18

He would be preceded by a messenger (Malachi 3:1) 430 BC Matt.

11:10

He would do miracles (Isaiah 35:5–6) 740–680 BC Matt.

11:2–5

Israel’s king would ride into Jerusalem on donkey (Zechariah 9:9) 470 BC Matt.

21:5–9; John 12:14– 15

The Messiah would be welcomed with “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” (Psalm 118:26) 1000 BC John 12:13

He would be hated for no reason (Psalm 35:19; 69:4) 1,000 BC John 15:25

He would be rejected by the religious rulers (Psalm 118:22) 1000 BC Matthew 21:42

He would be rejected by His own brothers (Psalm 69:8) 1,000 BC John 7:5

He would be betrayed by a friend (Psalm 41:9) 1,000 BC Matt.

10:4

His betrayer would eat bread with Him (Psalm 41:9) 1,000 BC John 13:18, 26; Mark 14:18

He would be betrayed for money—30 pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12) 470 BC Matthew 26:15

Predicted exactly 30 pieces (not 29 or 31).

The coins would be silver, not gold.

470 BC Matthew 26:15

The money would be returned (Zechariah 11:12–13) 470 BC Matthew 27:3

The money would be thrown in the house of the Lord (Zechariah 11:13) 470 BC Matthew 27:5

The betrayal money would pay for a Potter’s field (Zechariah 11:13) 470 BC Matthew 27:7

He would be forsaken by the disciples (Zechariah 13:7) 470 BC Matthew 26:31, 56

He would be silent before His accusers (Isaiah 53:7) 740–680 BC Matthew 26:62–63

The Messiah would be mocked (Isa.

53:3) 740–680 BC Matt.

27:29

He would be beaten with a rod (Mic.

5:1) 722 BC Mark 15:19

He would be spat upon in the face (Isa.

50:6) 740–680 BC Mark 14:65

The Messiah would be wounded, bruised (Isaiah 53:5) 740–680 BC Matt.

27:30; Luke 22:63

The Messiah would be scourged on His back (Isaiah 50:6, 53:5) 740–680 BC John 19:1

His hands and feet would be pierced (Psalm 22:16) 1,000 BC John 20:25

His garments would be divided (Psalm 22:18) 1,000 BC John 19:23

They would cast lots for His clothing (Psalm 22:18) 1,000 BC John 19:24

The Messiah would die with criminals (Isaiah 53:12) 740–680 BC Mark 15:28; Luke 22:37

Those watching the crucifixion would wag their heads (Psalm 22:7; 109:25) 1,000 BC Mark 15:29; Matt.

27:39

Those watching the crucifixion would mock Him for not saving Himself (Ps.

22:8) 1,000 BC Matthew 27:41–43

He would pray for those crucifying Him (Isaiah 53:12) 740–680 BC Luke 23:34

He would be given vinegar to drink (Ps.

69:21) 1,000 BC Matt.

27:34

“Why hast thou forsaken me?” (Ps.

22:1) 1,000 BC Matt.

27:46

“Into thine hand I commit my spirit” (Ps.

31:5) 1,000 BC Luke 23:46

His side would be pierced (Zech.

12:10) 470 BC John 19:34, 37

None of the Messiah’s bones would be broken (Psalm 34:20) 1,000 BC John 19:32– 36

He would be buried in a rich man’s tomb (Isaiah 53:9) 740–680 BC Matthew 27:57–60

He would be dead for three days and three nights (Jonah 1:17) 760 BC Matthew 12:40

He would descend into hell (Psalm 16:10; 49:15) 1,000 BC Acts 2:27, 31; Eph.

4:9

The Messiah would be resurrected from dead (Psalm 16:10; 30:3) 1,000 BC Acts 2:31; 13:33–35

Through His resurrection He would swallow up death in victory (Isaiah 25:8) 740–680 BC 1 Cor.

15:54

He would ascend into heaven (Psalm 68:18) 1,000 BC Acts 1:9; Eph.

4:8–10

He would be seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven (Psalm 110:1) 1,000 BC Acts 2:34–35; Col. 3:1

He would be a priest according to the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4) 1,000 BC Hebrews 5:6, 10; 6:20

The Messiah would be a light to the entire world, including non-Jews (Isaiah 42:6; 49:6) 740–680 BC Luke 2:32; Acts 13:47; 26:23

I have a list of over 300 prophesies fulfilled by Jesus -

===

But today I am not talking about these particular prophecies but about one of my favourite ones in the Old Testament.

It is the Golden Gate prophecy.

This has nothing to do with the Golden Bridge San Francisco but all to do with a gate in Jerusalem.

There are eight major gates to the Old City of Jerusalem.

The first and most important one is the Golden Gate which is also called the Eastern Gate.

It is the only external gate that gives access to the Temple Mount.

God gave Ezekiel a supernatural vision of this gate.