The coming of the Messiah was also prophesied in a time sensitive manner. Daniel 9 alone--which coincides with the coming of Yeshua ha Notzri is hard to explain away. If the Messiah has not come, according to the timing of the prophets, then the scriptures are broken and vain. We know this is not the case. Here are some examples: (Thanks to evidence that demands a verdict)
Chapter 9 p. 5: The Messianic Prophecies of the Old Testament Fulfilled in Jesus Christ
PROPHECIES FULFILLED CONFIRM JESUS AS THE MESSIAH, THE CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD
Objection: Fulfilled Prophecy in Jesus Was Deliberate
Answer: The above objection might seem plausible until we realize that many of the prophecies concerning the Messiah were totally beyond the human control of Jesus, such as -
1. Place of birth (Micah 5:2).
2. Time of birth (Daniel 9:25; Genesis 49:10).
3. Manner of birth (Isaiah 7:14).
4. Betrayal.
5. Manner of death (Psalms 22:16).
6. People's reactions (mocking, spitting, staring, etc.).
7. Piercing.
8. Burial.
Objection: Fulfilled Prophecy in Jesus Was Coincidental, an Accident
"Why, you could find some of these prophecies fulfilled in Kennedy, King, Nasser, etc.," replies the critic.
Answer: Yes, one could possible find one or two prophecies fulfilled in other men, but not all 61 major prophecies! In face, if you can find someone, other than Jesus, either living or dead, who can fulfill only half of the predictions concerning Messiah which are given in Messiah in Both Testaments by Fred John Meldau, the Christian Victory Publishing Company of Denver is ready to give you a $1,000 reward. There are a lot of men in the universities who could use some extra cash!
H. Harold Hartzler, of the American Scientific Affiliation, Goshen College, in the foreword of Stoner's book writes: "The manuscript for Science Speaks has been carefully reviewed by a committee of the American Scientific Affiliation members and by the Executive Council of the same group and has been found, in general, to be dependable and accurate in regard to the scientific material presented. The mathematical analysis included is based upon principles of probability which are thoroughly sound and Professor Stoner has applied these principles in a proper and convincing way."
The following probabilities are taken from Peter Stoner in Science Speaks to show that coincidence is ruled out by the science of probability. Stoner ways that by using the modern science of probability in reference to eight prophecies (1 - No. 10; 2 - No. 22; 3 - No. 27; 4 - No. 33 and 44; 5 - No. 34; 6 - No. 35 and 36; 7 - No. 39; 8 - No. 44 and 45 [crucified], "...We find that the chance that any man might have lived down to the present time and fulfilled all eight prophecies is 1 in 1017." That would be 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000. In order to help us comprehend this staggering probability, Stoner illustrates it by supposing that "we take 1017 silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all the state 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 them in their own wisdom.
"Now these prophecies were either given by inspiration of GOD or the prophets just wrote them as they thought they should be. In such a case the prophets had just one chance in 1017 of having them come true in any man, but they all came true in Christ.
"This means that the fulfillment of these eight prophecies alone prove that GOD inspired the writing of those prophecies to a definiteness which lacks only one chance in 1017 of being absolute."
Stoner considers 48 prophecies and says, "...We find the chance that any one man fulfilled all 48 prophecies to be 1 in 10157.
"This is really a large number and it represents an extremely small chance. Let us try to visualize it. The silver dollar, which we have been using, is entirely too large. We must select a smaller object. The electron is about as small an object as we know of. It is so small that it will take 2.5 times 1015 of them laid side by side to make a line, single file, one inch long. If we were going to count the electrons in this line one inch long, and counted 250 each minute, and if we counted day and night, it would take us 19,000,000 years to count just the one-inch line of electrons. If we had a cubic inch of these electrons and we tried to count them it would take us, counting steadily 250 each minute, 19,000,000 times 19,000,000 times 19,000,000 years or 6.9 times 1021 years.
"With this introduction, let us go back to our chance of 1 in 10157. Let us suppose that we are taking this number of electrons, marking one, and thoroughly stirring it into the whole mass, then blindfolding a man and letting him try to find the right one. What chance has he of finding the right one? What kind of a pile will this number of electrons make? They make an inconceivably large volume."
Such is the chance of any one man fulfilling 48 prophecies.
The Time of Messiah's Coming
THE REMOVAL OF THE SCEPTER
"The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples."
Genesis 49:10
The word which is best translated "scepter" in this passage means a "tribal staff." Each of the 12 tribes of Israel had its own particular "staff" with its name inscribed on it. Therefore, the "tribal staff" or "tribal identity" of Judah was not to pass away before Shiloh came. For centuries Jewish and Christian commentators alike have taken the word "Shiloh" to be a name of the MEssiah.
We remember that Judah had been deprived of its national sovereignty during the 70-year period of the Babylonian captivity; however, it never lost its "tribal staff" or "national identity" during this time. They still possessed their own lawgivers or judges even while in captivity (see Ezra 1:5,8).
Thus, according to this Scripture and the Jews of their time, two signs were to take place soon after the advent of the Messiah:
1. Removal of the scepter or identity of Judah.
2. Suppression of the judicial power.
The first visible sign of the beginning of the removal of the scepter from Judah came about when Herod the Great, who had no Jewish blood, succeeded the Maccabean princes, who belonged to the tribe of Levi and who were the last Jewish kings to have their reign in Jerusalem (Sanhedrin, folio 97, verso.) (Maccabees, Book 2).
Magath, in his book Jesus Before the Sanhedrin, titles his second chapter: "The legal power of the Sanhedrin is restricted twenty-three years before the trial of Christ." This restriction was the loss of the power to pass the death sentence.
This occurred after the deposition of Archelaus, who was the son and successor of Herod, 11 AD, or 7 VE (Josephus, Ant., Book 17, Chap. 13, 1-5). The procurators, who administered in the Augustus name, took the supreme power of the Sanhedrin away so they could exercise the jus gladii themselves; that is, the sovereign right over life and death sentences. All the nations which were subdued by the Roman Empire were deprived of their ability to pronounce capital sentences. Tacitus says, "...The Romans reserved to themselves the right of the sword, and neglected all else."
The Sanhedrin, however, retained certain rights:
1. Excommunication (John 9:22).
2. Imprisonment (Acts 5:17,18).
3. Corporeal punishment (Acts 16:22).
The Talmud itself admits that "a little more than forty years before the destruction f the Temple, the power of pronouncing capital sentences was taken away from the Jews." (Talmud, Jerusalem, Sanhedrin, fol. 24, recto.) However, it hardly seems possible that the jus gladii remained in the Jewish hands until that time. It probably had ceased at the time of Coponius, 7 AD. (Essai sur l'histoire et la geographie de la Palestine, d'apres les Talmuds et la geographie de la Palestine, d'apres les Talmuds et les autres sources Rabbinique, p. 90: Paris, 1867.) Rabbi Rachmon says, "When the members of the Sanhedrin found themselves deprived of their right over life and death, a general consternation took possession of them; they covered their heads with ashes, and their bodies with sackcloth, exclaiming: 'Woe unto us, for the scepter has departed from Judah, and the Messiah has not come!' " Josephus, who was an eye-witness of this decadent process, says, "After the death of the procurator Festus, when Albinus was about to succeed him, the high-priest Ananus considered it a favorable opportunity to assemble the Sanhedrin. He therefore caused James the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, and several others, to appear before this hastily assembled council, and pronounced upon them the sentence of death by stoning. All the wise men and strict observers of the law who were at Jerusalem expressed their disapprobation of this act...Some even went to Albinus himself, who had departed to Alexandria, to bring this breach of the law under his observation, and to inform him that Ananus had acted illegally in assembling the Sanhedrin without the Roman authority" (Josephus, Ant., 20, Chap. 9, 1).
If He is real , He will answer you. Ask and wait.......
