God Exists & the Bible is His Book—Part V: Christ or Coincidence?

“All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet….” Matthew 1:22

The Laws of Probability prove the random chances of a single event occurring is 1:5 (1 out of 5). The probability of a second event occurring is 1:10. Chances of both events occurring in sequence is 1:50 (1 in 50). Keep this in mind as we look at the Scriptures….

Following Grant Jeffrey’s method, I’ll focus on 17 prophesies the Old Testament gives of Jesus being the Son of God. When you think about the Probability of Chance that Jesus Christ fulfills these 17 ancient predictions, any reasonable person will conclude He indeed is the Son of God, the Messiah, our Savior. If you’d like to see the exact way these calculations are arrived at, see The Signature of God, by Grant R. Jeffrey (Chapter 8). Respecting the brevity we try to attain in Bread devotionals, I’ll only give you six (6) of the biblical predictions within the body of today’s Bread below, but will list predictions 7 through 16 at the bottom (as a large footnote) for anyone who wishes to see all 17 in detail…

1st Prediction: The Son of God will be born in Bethlehem from the Tribe of Judah. Micah 5:2 predicts this; Mt. 2:1 records its fulfillment. Probability calculates to 1:2,400 (i.e., 1 chance out of 2,400 times). There were 12 tribes so the odds are 12:1 that Moses’ prediction would be correct. There were over 2,000 villages allotted to Judah. Conservatively calculating, the odds of Jesus both being born in Bethlehem plus being form the tribe of Judah are 1 in 2,400.

2nd Prediction: The Son of God will be preceded by a messenger. Is. 40:3 predicts it; Mt. 3:1-2 records its fulfillment. Conservatively calculating, the odds of this happening are 1:20. Thus, the odds of these first two predictions occurring simultaneously are 2,400 times 20: which is 1 in 48,000!

3rd Prediction: The Son of God will enter Jerusalem on a colt. Zech. 9:9 predicts this. Lk. 19:35-37 records its fulfillment. Conservatively calculating, the odds of this happening are 1:50. There is no record of a king ever entering his capital on a colt. The combined odds of these first three predictions occurring simultaneously are (50 x 48,000) 1 in 2,400,000!

4th Prediction: Jesus would be betrayed by a friend. Ps. 4:19 predicts it; Mt. 26:47-48 records its fulfillment. Kings were often betrayed by close associates, but history doesn’t record a religious leader being betrayed close associates. The combined probability of these first four predictions occurring simultaneously are (10 x 2,400,000) 1 in 24 million!

5th Prediction: His hands and feet will be pierced. Ps. 22:16 predicts it; Lk. 23:33 records its fulfillment. The odd of this happening are 1:100. The combined probability of these first five predictions occurring simultaneously are (100 x 24 billion) 1 in 2.4 billion!

6th Prediction: He would be wounded by His enemies. Is. 53:5 predicts; Mt. 27:26 records its fulfillment. The odds of this are 1:10. The combined probability of these first six predictions occurring simultaneously are (10 x 24 million) 1 in 24 billion!

Predictions 7 through 16 are at the bottom of the page for anyone who wishes to see all 17 in detail… 17th Prediction: Darkness will cover the earth. Amos 8:9 predicts it; Mt. 27:45 records the fulfillment. The odds of this are 1:1,000.

The combined chances of these 17 things happening together are 1 in 480,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000! Or 1 chance in 480 billion x 1 billion x 1 trillion! And remember, these calculations are made with the most conservative assumptions.

Do you believe Jesus Christ is the prophesized Son of God, the Messiah, our Savior??

Blessings Always in All Ways,
Steve
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The Signature of God, by Grant R. Jeffrey (Chapter 8)

7th Prediction: His betrayal for 30 pieces of silver. Zech. 11:12 predicts it; Mt. 26:15 records the fulfillment. The odds of this are 1:10. The combined probability of these first seven predictions occurring simultaneously are (10 x 24 billion)1 in1 trillion & 200 billion!

8th Prediction: He will be spit upon and beaten. Is. 50:6 predicts it; Mt. 26:67 records the fulfillment. The odds of this are 1:10. The combined probability of these first seven predictions occurring simultaneously are (10 x 1 trillion, 200 billion) 1 chance in 12 trillion!

9th Prediction: His betrayal money would be thrown into the Temple and then given to buy a potter’s field. Zech. 11:13 predicts it; Mt. 27:5-7 records the fulfillment. The odds of this are 1:200. The combined probability of these first nine predictions occurring simultaneously are (200 x 12 trillion!) 1 in 2,400 trillion!

10th Prediction: (He would remain silent against His accusers, etc.). Is. 53:7 predicts it; Mt. 27:12-14 records the fulfillment. The odds of this are 1:100. I won’t continue giving individual odds of probability but will give you the final calculation at the end.

11th Prediction: He would be crucified with thieves. Is. 53:12 predicts it; Mt. 27:38 records the fulfillment. The odds of this are 1:100.

12th Prediction: People would gamble for His garments. Ps. 22:18 predicts it; Jn. 19:23-24 records the fulfillment. The odds of this are 1:100.

13th Prediction: His side would be pierced. Zech. 12:10 predicts it; Jn.19:34 records the fulfillment. The odds of this are 1:100.

14th Prediction: None of His bones would be broken. Ps. 34:20 predicts it; Jn. 19:33 records the fulfillment. The odds of this are 1:20

15th Prediction: His body would not decay. Ps. 16:10 predicts it; Acts 2:31 records the fulfillment. The odds of this are 1:10,000.

16th Prediction: His burial in a rich man’s tomb. Is. 53:9 predicts it; Mt. 27:57-60 records the fulfillment. The odds of this are 1:100.

God Exists & the Bible is His Book—Part IV: Biology

“And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the cattle according to their kinds, and everything that creeps upon the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

And God blessed them,…” Gen. 1:25-28

Modern science has developed two fundamental laws of thermodynamics: the Law of the Conservation of Energy, and the Law of Entropy. The Law of Entropy, which everything disintegrates to its lowest form, clearly disproves the theory of Evolution that life progressed into higher levels. Evolutionists maintain mankind has existed for more than a million years. The Bible maintains mankind was created 4,000 years before Christ. Let’s consider the earth’s population. The Bible maintains that four couples survived the Great Flood. Assuming an average repopulation of 2.5 children over the course of history (a very logical assumption) it calculates to a current population of approximately 5 billion people: today’s population is 5.5 billion! If we calculate according to Evolutionists’ theory, the current world population should be 10 to the 209th power: that means people would be stacked on top of people in layers all over the globe!

Consider the remarkable complexity of the human eye and ask yourself how this could happen by chance. The human eye can transmit over 1 million messages to the brain simultaneously. Our brain weighs only three pounds, yet contains over 30 billion special cells known as neurons and 50 billion glial cells that facilitate communication between neurons. This allows such precision that the brain can calculate the exact speed of a ball thrown at you without warning at 30 miles an hour, enabling you to catch or avoid it.

One of the most interesting medical facts in the Bible is the directive regarding male circumcision. The Bible instructs that a male child is to be circumcised on the 8th day. Remember, ancient people still did not know how to stop bleeding by causing blood clotting. Modern science shows there are two critical factors for blood clotting: Vitamin K and prothrombin…science has discovered they are at the highest level of our entire life on the 8th day of life!

Scientists show that over twenty different amino acids are required to produce the proteins that exist in the smallest living cell. Every attempt to create these twenty amino acids in the laboratory has failed. The odds against these twenty amino acids developing by chance are 10 to the 123rd power! In other words, impossible!

DNA controls every element and cell in the human body. Scientists conclude that the amount of information encoded in the DNA of the simplest form of life is more complicated than the computer software that manages all the costs, sales, and financial records of hundreds of General Motors’ plants. The probability of this occurring by random chance is 10 to the 400,000th power (Fred Hoyle, “Where Microbes Boldly Went” New Scientist, pp. 412-415)!

Proverbs declares, “A merry heart does good, like medicine….” (Pr. 17:22). Modern psychiatry documents that laughter heals, and a pleasant personality is most capable of healing the body and promoting overall good health.

The books of Moses provide detailed and correct medical as well as sanitation rules unknown to the contemporaries of Moses and unknown to people for thousands of years afterwards until modern science “discovered” these same facts.

Do you think the Bible is man-created or God-inspired?

Blessings Always in All Ways,
Steve
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The Signature of God, by Grant R. Jeffrey
Yeshua, Yacov Rambsel
Yeshua---The Name of Jesus Revealed in the Old Testament, Yacov Rambsel
The Genesis Factor, Yacov Rambsel

God Exists & the Bible is His Book—Part III Astronomy

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.” Gen. 1:1-2

“THEN JOB answered” ‘Truly I know that it is so: But how can a man be just before God? Who commands the sun, and it does not rise; who seals up the stars; who made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the chambers of the south…’.” Job 9:1-9 (parts)

Astronomy has been a hobby of mine for sometime. How can any logical human being look at the vastness of space and honestly believe there is no God?...

The Book of Amos speaks of the “seven stars in Pleiades” (a star constellation in the sky). This has been puzzling for hundreds of years as only six stars could be identified in the constellation Pleiades. With the creation of modern telescopes, a seventh star is clearly visible in Pleiades!

Consider the vastness of our universe. A ray of light leaving our closes neighbor, Alpha Cenaturi, traveling at a mind-boggling 24 trillion miles per hour, would take four years to reach earth!

“Anthropic” is the word scientists now use to describe the beginning of this world. It means, “Created by a superior intelligence.” Why would scientists come to this conclusion? Here’s only one of the many reasons: if our earth were located much farther away from our sun, we would freeze, like Mars. If we were much closer, we would burn on the surface like Venus at 860 degrees. If the magnetic forces in our system were either stronger or weaker, we couldn’t exist. If the earth didn’t revolve every 24 hrs, half the planet would be without vegetation and we’d die. If the earth didn’t revolve as it does, half the earth would be uninhabitable desert from the overwhelming heat of the sun unbearably concentrated on it. If our planet were not tilted at 23 degrees, we wouldn’t have the seasonal variation which produces the abundance of crops that feed our huge population. The moon produces the tides that continually replenish the oceans with oxygen. If the earth were smaller, the lessened gravity would be incapable of holding the atmosphere over the earth every day. If the atmosphere were thinner it would not provide the needed protection from the 25,000 meters that burn up in earth’s atmosphere every day. And a thinner atmosphere would not be capable of retaining the higher temperatures needed to sustain both animal and human life. In the words of the renowned Professor Robert Jastrow, “The smallest change in any of the circumstances…would have led to a universe in which there could be no life and no man.” (Dr. Robert Jastrow, The Intellectuals Speak Out About God, p.21).

When Columbus sailed the ocean blue, everyone thought the world was flat. But thousands of years before, the prophet Isaiah wrote, “It is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth….” (Is. 40:22). We all know modern science has proven who was right: is the world flat or a circle? “He stretches out the north over empty space. He hangs the earth on nothing.” (Job. 26:7). Consider Job’s first point, “He stretches out the north over empty space.” As I began to learn about astronomy, I soon learned modern astronomy shows that the area to the north of the earth’s axis toward the polar star is almost empty of stars in contrast to the other directions which contain far more stars. Job’s second statement says the earth sits on nothing. The ancient pagans believed either the earth rested on the back of an elephant or Atlas held it. We all now know which theory is correct: the Bible’s.

The Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament, describes the exact time that passes between the appearance of new moons: 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, 5 seconds: or, 29.53059 days. Thousand of years and billions of dollars later, modern science determined the time between the appearances of new moons is 29.530588 days!

There are so many other facts in the Bible that science is just now getting around to “proving.” I couldn’t begin to scratch the surface in this brief Bread devotion. But this should be good primer for you to share with any disbeliever.

“Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalms 46:10.

Blessings Always in All Ways,

Steve
<><

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The Signature of God, by Grant R. Jeffrey
Yeshua, Yacov Rambsel
Yeshua---The Name of Jesus Revealed in the Old Testament, Yacov Rambsel
The Genesis Factor, Yacov Rambsel

God Exists & the Bible is His Book—Part II: Integrity

“Make a special holy place in your hearts for Christ, the Lord. Always be ready to give an answer of defense to anyone who asks you why you have hope inside you.” I Peter 3:15

Is the Bible correct? Scholars agree that the New Testament was written and widely circulated throughout the Christian communities within 40-50 years of the events they describe. This is critical information. If details in the New Testament were incorrect, there would have been huge debates resulting in splits within the early Church, as people who witnessed these things firsthand would not tolerate misrepresentation of the true facts. Despite the fact that millions of early Christians were subjected to unthinkable torture and martyrdom, do you realize that not once is there any account in history of even one of them denying their faith? Why? Clearly they believed in their hearts and minds that all the things mentioned in the New Testament were true.

If anyone would have introduced an alteration of the Truth, it would have been instantly detected and denounced by the eye-witnesses who knew the Truth. Moreso, once the New Testament was translated into Hebrew, Syriac, Egyptian, Coptic, Latin etc. it would have been impossible for anyone to twist the Truth as they would have needed to do so into all these translations simultaneously since they were/are constantly compared.

When closely examined, we see the writers of the Bible, Old and New Testaments, were extremely careful and detailed in all their writings. This past century, historical and archeological findings confirm the remarkable accuracy of biblical descriptions. About one hundred years ago scholars supported the “Documentary Hypothesis” stating that one man, Moses, didn’t write the first five books of the Bible (the Torah): one example--- because God is referred to by multiple names (e.g., Elohim, Jehovah, Adonai, etc.), rather this one man simply compiled these books from various authors. But this theory falls apart when you consider the history of the Jewish people. Jewish people are well known for their intelligence and willingness to debate religion at length. Do you really believe this type of personality would have practiced generation after generation the detailed festivals such as the Passover, Pentecost and the Feast of the Tabernacles if the facts of these events had not been passed down to them by eye-witnesses, in detail: “Know today that I do not speak with your children…but your eyes have seen every great act of the Lord which He did.” (Deut. 11:2-7). Does it really make sense that a thousand years after the events occurred, someone connived these stories and manipulated the Jewish people, who were scattered throughout Iran and Spain, to universally adapt these religious festivals and feasts? Another criticism claimed it was impossible for Moses to write these books because writing was not invented when he lived. However, archeological findings recently confirm written inscriptions of the secular Law of Hammurabi which existed many centuries before Moses.

Critics claim the dry desert of the Sinai could never have supported the huge flocks of sheep during the Exodus. However, it’s now proven that some parts of that area would support such flocks even today. The Gulf of Suez once extended fifty miles north into the Sinai. This would have had a domino effect creating dew and rains, causing vegetation growth resulting in enormous pasturage.

Suffice-it-to-say, current archeological findings confirm with clarity the details described in the Bible, Old and New Testaments.

Obviously, the early believers, Old Testament and New Testament, knew what they believed and stood firm in it: are you as clear in what you believe? Do you take as firm a stance amidst challenge?

Tomorrow we’ll see how astronomy confirms God and His Book….

Blessings Always in All Ways,

Steve
<><

_____________________________________________________________
The Signature of God, by Grant R. Jeffrey
Yeshua, Yacov Rambsel
Yeshua---The Name of Jesus Revealed in the Old Testament, Yacov Rambsel
The Genesis Factor, Yacov Rambsel

God Exists & the Bible is His Book—Part I: Commitment

“The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the Word of God shall stand forever.” Isaiah 40:8

“For verily I say unto you, ‘Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, ‘til all be fulfilled.’ ” Matthew 5:18

The Bible has been banned, scoffed, ridiculed. It’s been made illegal. It was outlawed by kings. Scholars have mocked it. But it has survived. It not only survives…it thrives! The Bible is the #1 best seller of all time. There is no way on earth to explain it. Which is exactly the explanation: it isn’t from earth. It’s God’s. It’s the treasure map that leads us to the Eternal Treasure. How often do you read it? Do you really think as you read it or just skim over a few sentences? Don’t miss the treasure awaiting you.

How would God confirm His existence? How would He prove the Bible is His personal book to you? He would give us facts that couldn’t otherwise exist and He would personally sign His Book. He has. His facts, and signature, consist of irrefutable proof beyond man’s capability to forge, even with the most modern mega computer systems.

I’ve long felt intensely led by the Holy Spirit to address the sacredness of the Holy Scriptures, The Bible, and how it gives us evidence of both God’s existence and the unique validity of the Bible as His personal Word to you and me. Conscious of the fact that our Bread program is intended to be a devotional and not a study, I’ve shied from addressing these matters. But the compulsion won’t leave me, so this must be what I need to do. Therefore, this week’s Breads will be a modest series providing facts (only scratching the surface) to help us in our witness to the existence of God. I’ll make every effort to do this in an inspirational mode. My resources are four supreme books which I’ll note at the bottom of each Bread, in order reflecting my degree of use.

I’ll identify how these facts are confirmed through astronomy, medical science, biology, and, mathematics. Hopefully, by the end of the week each of us will not only have our own faith deepened, but will have some meaningful witness tools.

Crucial facts a non-believer has to disprove regarding the Bible: (1)it is a progressive revelation over 16 centuries which man could not coordinate, (2)this revelation contains amazing internal evidence, (3)the Bible contains thousands of detailed predictions no human could have known of, (4)the Bible’s primary purpose is to reveal God’s Plan of Salvation through Jesus Christ, (5)the Bible contains advanced medical knowledge far beyond its historical point-in-time.

Another fascinating fact is “ELS” (Equidistant Letter Sequences) which reveal hundreds of codes from God buried within the Old and New Testament texts, but that’s definitely a series in itself. Yacov Rambsel does a tremendous job with this if you’re interested (see my footnotes below).

Tomorrow: was the Bible was altered and details manipulated….

Blessings Always in All Ways,
Steve
<><
_____________________________________________________________
The Signature of God, by Grant R. Jeffrey
Yeshua, Yacov Rambsel
Yeshua---The Name of Jesus Revealed in the Old Testament, Yacov Rambsel
The Genesis Factor, Yacov Rambsel