The Integrity of God’s Word
By Ryan Bridgeo
Avery County
In Matthew 5:18 Jesus says, “For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.” “Jot or tittle” is a phrase that means a very small amount. Jot comes from the Greek letter iota which is the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet. A tittle is a small dot or mark that helps identify one letter from another, similar to the dots in our i’s or j’s or an apostrophe in English. Jesus is saying in this text that everything will be fulfilled right down to the smallest, finest detail, even things that appear to be insignificant.
Henry Liddon, an English theologian said that in the Old Testament, there are 332 distinct predictions (prophecies) which were literally fulfilled through Christ.
Amazingly, these scriptures were written 400-1000 years before Jesus was even born. In this lesson, we will see the wonder of this by looking below at a mere 15 of the 332 prophecies.
Prophecies about the Birth of Jesus
Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”
Hosea 11:1 “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son.”
Psalm 72:10 “The kings of Tarshish and of the isles will bring presents; the kings of Sheba and Seba will offer gifts.”
Prophecies about the Life of Jesus
Psalm 78:2 “I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old.”
Isaiah 35:5-6 “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. 6 Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.”
Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.”
Prophecies about the Betrayal of Jesus
Psalm 41:9 “Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me.”
Zechariah 11:12-13 “Then I said to them, “If it is agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain.” So they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver. 13 And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—that princely price they set on me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord for the potter.”
Prophecies about the Flogging and Crucifixion of Jesus
Isaiah 50:6 “I gave My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting.”
Psalm 22:16 “For dogs have surrounded Me; the congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet.”
Psalm 34:20 “He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken.”
Psalm 22:18 “They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.”
Psalm 22:7-8 “All those who see Me ridicule Me; They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, 8 “He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!”
Psalm 69:21 “They also gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.”
Psalm 22:1 “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning?”
This doesn’t even include Isaiah 53.
Peter Stoner, M.S. Chairman of the Departments of Mathematics and Astronomy at Pasadena City College, and Robert Newman, Ph.D. in Astrophysics, Cornell University, also Professor of Physics and Mathematics, wrote the book entitled Science Speaks, Scientific Proof of the Accuracy of Prophecy and the Bible. In this book, they took eight of the 332 prophecies fulfilled by Christ and determined the odds of one person fulfilling those eight. The results were amazing! They calculated the odds to be 1 in 10 to the 17th power or 1 in 1.7 sextillion. Dr.Stoner said, “Suppose that we take 1017 silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the states two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time, providing they wrote using their own wisdom.”
Well, that is what Jesus did. Except Jesus didn’t fulfill only 8 prophecies, or 15, but over 300. The odds of one man doing all of these would be almost incalculable.
God honors His Word right down to the smallest jot or tittle. This should give us great assurance and comfort to know that the God who was faithful over these 332 prophecies will be faithful over every Word and promise that He has ever made. We can have confidence in the integrity of God and His Word. For God truly does watch over His Word to carry it out until completion (Jer. 1:12).
___________________________________________
Ryan Bridgeo is the Pastor of Plumtree Church in Avery County, NC. If you would like to know more or how you might become involved in this ministry please reach out to Pastor Ryan at pastor@plumtreechurch.com or call 828-765-6919.
Read more Christian news here.
___________________________________________
