Rabbi’s Reflections – Sunday, December 27, 2020
Shavuah Tov,
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Sun 27-Dec-2020 12th of Tevet, 5781
Ge 47:28- 48:9 2 Sa 16 Ps 88 Lk 10 (2 Co 11)
Fulfilled Messianic Prophecies
By Dr. Raymond Finney
INTRODUCTION: In the last three Sunday RRs, I wrote of truths and myths of Yeshua’s birth. Birth of the Messiah was long prophesied before the birth of a Baby to Mary in Bethlehem. In this RR, I will present some of these Messianic prophecies, written centuries before Yeshua’s birth, and how He fulfilled these prophecies.
Rabbi’s note: It is widely believed in the greater Jewish community that Yeshua fulfills the Messianic prophesies in the way you can hit a bullseye with by shooting an arrow and then drawing the target around the already shot arrow. In other words, many Jewish people believe that Yeshua is a huge conspiracy theory in which the Apostles planned each event of His life to make Yeshua appear to be the fulfillment of prophesy. I refuse to believe that events that took place over many years in many places were orchestrated by some “masterminds” who made Yeshua appear to be the promised Messiah. And anyone who believes that has more faith than I do. It’s easier to believe the truth than it is to believe a conspiracy theory. End RT.
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● PROPHECY (Deuteronomy 21:22:23a): [Moses said] “Suppose a man is guilty of a sin with a death sentence and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree. His body is not to remain all night on the tree– instead you must certainly bury him the same day, for anyone hanged is a curse of God….”
● FULFILLMENT (John 19:31): It was the Day of Preparation for Passover, and the next day was a Shabbat day of rest for Passover. So that the bodies should not remain on the execution stake during Shabbat, the Judean leaders asked Pilate to have the legs broken and to have the bodies taken away.
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● PROPHECY (Jonah 2:1): Now Adonai prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
- FULFILLMENT (Matthew 12:38, 40-41): Then some of the Torah scholars and Pharisees answered Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You…. (Yeshua answered) For just as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. And behold, something greater than Jonah is here.”
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● PROPHECY (Isaiah 50:6): [Adonai said] “I [the Messiah] gave My back to those who strike, and My cheeks to those pulling out My beard; I did not hide My face from humiliation and spitting.”
● FULFILLMENT (Matthew 26:67): Then they spat in [Yeshua’s] face and pounded Him with their fists. Others slapped Him…. -AND- (Mark 14:65): Some began to spit on Him, to blindfold Him, and to beat Him with their fists, saying, “Prophesy!” Also the guards slapped Him around. -AND- (John 19:1): Then Pilate took Yeshua and had Him scourged.
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● PROPHECY (Isaiah 53:3): [The Suffering Servant– The Messiah] was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, One from whom people hide their faces. He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
● FULFILLMENT (John 1:10-11): [Yeshua] was in the world,…; but the world did not know Him. He came to His own, but His own did not receive Him.
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● PROPHECY (Isaiah 53:5): But [the Messiah] was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities. The chastisement for our shalom was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
● FULFILLMENT (1 Peter 2:24): [Yeshua] Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we, removed from sins, might live for righteousness. “By His wounds you were healed.”
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● PROPHECY (Isaiah 53:7): [The Messiah] was oppressed and He was afflicted yet He did not open His mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter, like a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth.
● FULFILLMENT (Mark 15:4-5): Again, Pilate asked [Yeshua], “Aren’t you going to answer? Look how many charges they’re bringing against You!” But Yeshua did not answer, so Pilate was amazed.
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● PROPHECY (Isaiah 53:9a): [The Messiah’s] grave was given with the wicked, and by a rich man in His death,….
● FULFILLMENT (Matthew 27:57-60a): Now when it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had also become a disciple of Yeshua. This man went to Pilate and asked for Yeshua’s body. Then Pilate ordered it to be given up. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth. And he laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock….
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● PROPHECY (Isaiah 53:12d): … [the Messiah] was counted with transgressors.
● FULFILLMENT (Mark 15:27): And with [Yeshua] they execute two outlaws, one on His right and one on His left. –AND– (Luke 23:33b)… [at the place called the Skull],… they crucified [Yeshua] and the evildoers, one on His right and the other on His left.
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● PROPHECY (Psalm 16:10): For You [Adonai] will not abandon my soul to Sheol nor let Your faithful one [the Son] see the Pit.
● FULFILLMENT (Acts 2:30-31): [Peter said] “So because [David] was a prophet and knew God had sworn with an oath to him to seat one of his descendants on his throne, David saw beforehand and spoke of Messiah’s resurrection– that He was not abandoned to Sheol, and His body did not see decay.”
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● PROPHECY (Psalm 22:2-3): My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Distant from my salvation are the words of my groaning. O my God, I cried out by day, but You did not answer, by night, but there was no rest for me.
● FULFILLMENT (Matthew 27:46): About the ninth hour Yeshua cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You abandoned Me?”
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● PROPHECY (Psalm 34:21): He keeps all his bones– not one of them is broken.
● FULFILLMENT (John 19:31, 33): It was the Day of Preparation, and the next day was a festival Shabbat. So that the bodies should not remain on the [cross] during Shabbat, the Judean leaders asked Pilate to have the legs broken and to have the bodies taken away. |…| Now when they came to Yeshua [after breaking the legs of the two lawbreakers crucified with Yeshua] and saw that [Yeshua] was already dead, they did not break His legs.
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● PROPHECY (Psalm 41:10): Even my own close friend, whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.
● FULFILLMENT (Mark 14:10): Then Judah from Kriot [Judas Iscariot], one of the Twelve, went out to the ruling kohanim to betray Yeshua to them.
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● PROPHECY (Zechariah 9:9): [Adonai said] “Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion. Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you, a righteous one bringing salvation. He is lowly, riding on a donkey– on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
● FULFILLMENT (Mark 11:7, 11a): And they brought the colt to Yeshua and laid their cloaks on it, and He sat on it. |…| And He entered Jerusalem and went into the Temple…. (See also Matthew, chapter 21 and John, chapter 12.)
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● PROPHECY (Zechariah 11:12): Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, pay me my wages, but if not, don’t bother!” So they weighed out my wages– 30 pieces of silver.
● FULFILLMENT (Matthew 26:14-16): Then one of the Twelve, the one called Judah of Kriot [Judas Iscariot], went to the ruling kohanim [kohanim = Jewish priests] and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand Him [Yeshua] over to you?” And they weighed out thirty shekels of silver for him. From then on, Judah began looking for a chance to hand Him over.
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● PROPHECY (Zechariah 11:13): Then Adonai said to me, “Throw it to the potter– that exorbitant price at which they valued Me!” So I took the 30 pieces of silver and threw them into the House of Adonai, to the potter.
● FULFILLMENT (Matthew 27:3-7): Then Judah [Judas Iscariot], His betrayer, saw that Yeshua had been condemned. Feeling remorse, he brought the thirty silver pieces back to the ruling kohanim [priests] and elders, saying, “I’ve sinned, betraying innocent blood!” But they said, “What’s that to us? You see to it yourself!” After tossing the silver into the Temple sanctuary, [Judah] left. Then he went off and hanged himself. But the ruling kohanim took the silver pieces and said, “It is not permitted to put these in the treasury, since it is blood money.” So after they conferred, they bought with them the potter’s field, as a cemetery for strangers.
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● PROPHECY (Zechariah 12:10b): [Adonai said] “… they will look toward Me whom they pierced….” (Zechariah 12:10b)
● FULFILLMENT (John 19:34a): But one of the soldiers pierced [Yeshua’s] side with a spear,….
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● PROPHECY (Zechariah 13:7): [Adonai-Tzva’ot, The Lord of Hosts, declared] “Awake, O sword, against My shepherd, against the Man who is My Companion,” says the LORD of hosts. “Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered!….”
● FULFILLMENT (Mark 14:27): And Yeshua said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’” -AND- (Matthew 26:56b) – But all this [Yeshua’s secret arrest at night] has happened so that the writings of the prophets [Zechariah, above] would be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples fled, abandoning Him.
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● PROPHECY (Psalm 22:8-9): All who see me mock me. They curl their lips, shaking their heads: “Rely on Adonai! Let Him deliver him! Let Him rescue him– since he delights in Him!”
● FULFILLMENT (Matthew 27:41-44): Likewise the ruling kohanim [priests], along with the Torah scholars and elders, were also mocking Him. “He saved others,” they were saying, “but He can’t save Himself? He’s the King of Israel! Let Him come down now from the stake, and we’ll believe in Him! He trusts in God; let God rescue Him now, if He wants Him. For He said, ‘I am Ben-Elohim [Son of God].’” Even the outlaws who were executed with Him were ridiculing Him in the same way.
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● PROPHECY (Psalm 69:21): They put gall in my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. -AND- (Psalm 22:16a): My strength is dried up like a clay pot, my tongue clings to my jaws….
● FULFILLMENT (Matthew 27:34, 48): …they offered [Yeshua] wine mixed with gall to drink; but after tasting, He was unwilling to drink it. |…| Right away one of them ran and took a sponge. He filled it with sour wine and put it on a stick, and was offering it to Yeshua to drink. -AND- (John 19:28-29): After this, when Yeshua knew that all things were now completed, to fulfill the Scripture He said, “I am thirsty.” A jar full of sour wine was sitting there, so they put a sponge soaked with the sour wine on a hyssop branch and brought it to His mouth.
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● PROPHECY (Psalm 22:17): For dogs have surrounded me. A band of evildoers has closed in on me. They pierced my hands and my feet. -AND- (Zechariah 12:10b): … when they will look toward Me whom they pierced. They will mourn for him as one mourns for an only son and grieve bitterly for him, as one grieves for a firstborn.
● FULFILLMENT (John 19:14b-16a): And Pilate said to the Judean leaders, “Behold, your king!” They shouted back, “Take Him [Yeshua] away! Take Him away! Execute Him! ”Pilate said to them, “Should I execute your king?” The ruling kohanim answered, “We have no king but Caesar!” Finally, Pilate handed Yeshua over to be crucified. -AND- (John 20:25b):
… But [Thomas] replied to [the other disciples], “Unless I see the nail prints in [Yeshua’s] hands, and put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand in His side, I will never believe!”
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● PROPHECY (Psalm 22:19): They divide my clothes among them, and cast lots for my garment.
● FULFILLMENT (John 19:23-24a): So the soldiers, when they executed Yeshua, took His outer garments and made four parts, a part for each soldier. They took His tunic also, but it was seamless, woven top to bottom in one piece. So they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it will be.” ….
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● PROPHECY (Psalm 41:10): Even my own close friend, whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.
● FULFILLMENT (Matthew 26:23): And [Yeshua] replied, “The one who dipped his hand in the bowl with Me, he’s the one who will betray Me.” -AND- (Luke 22:21-22): [Yeshua said] “But look, the hand of the one betraying Me is with Mine on the table. For indeed, the Son of Man is going as has been predetermined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!”
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● PROPHECY (Psalm 68:19a): You went up on high. You led captivity captive….
● FULFILLMENT (Luke 24:51): And while blessing them, [Yeshua] departed from them and was taken up into heaven. -AND- (Acts 1:11) [Two men in white clothing– angels, surely] said, “Men of Galilee, why do you keep standing here staring into heaven? This Yeshua, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven.” -AND- (Ephesians 4:8-10) Therefore it [the quoted Psalm] says, “When He [Yeshua] went up on high, He led captive a troop of captives and gave gifts to his people.” Now what does “He went up” mean, except that He first went down to the lower regions of the earth? [See Isaiah 44:23.] The One who came down is the same One who went up far above all the heavens, in order to fill all things.”
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● PROPHECY (Psalm 109:2-8): For the wicked and the deceitful have opened their mouth against me. They spoke to me with a lying tongue, with hateful words surrounded and fought against me without cause. In return for my love they are my accusers, but I am in prayer. They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my love. Set a wicked man over him, let an accuser stand at his right hand. When he is judged, let him be found guilty, and may his prayer be as sin. Let his days be few, let another take his position.
● FULFILLMENT: Read Acts 1:16-26 (too lengthy to reproduce in this RR). Eleven apostles cast lots and replaced Judah (Judas) with Matthias.
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● PROPHECY (Psalm 110:1): Adonai declares to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
● FULFILLMENT (Mark 16:19): Then the Lord Yeshua, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. -AND- (Hebrews 1:2-3): In these last days [God] has spoken to us through a Son, whom He appointed heir of all things and through whom He created the universe. This Son is the radiance of His glory and the imprint of His being, upholding all things by His powerful word. When He had made purification for our sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
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AND: I only cite some prophecy-fulfillment associations due to space limitations.
CONCLUSION– OVERWHELMING STATISTICAL PROOF: This sample list of Scriptures is divided into two parts:
● Prophecy– Tanakh Scriptures which prophesied a Messiah who would come;
● Fulfillment– B’rit Chadashah Scriptures in which these Tanakh prophecies revealed to the world who was and is this Messiah. Only one Man in history– Yeshua HaMashiach (Yeshua the Messiah) – has fulfilled all Scriptures which prophesied His coming centuries before His birth in Bethlehem.
Modern humans respect scientific achievements and proofs. We worship at the altar of Science. Even politicians who prove daily they are really dull people boast, “I accept science.” Science is not a discrete subject. It is knowledge about various topics– really, momentary snapshots of knowledge about these topics. Science is always subject to change, if new and better information becomes available.
Many persons foolishly reject the Bible because it is “not scientific.” There is a common language for the sciences (these bodies of information). This language is statistics. Scientists employ statistics to examine available data (observations) and calculate the probability of whether an observation of interest is valid or not valid (could have been found by chance occurrence alone). For many evaluations, a probability value (p-value) of 0.01 or lower is sufficient statistical proof that an observation is likely valid. The lower the p-value (0.001, 0.0001, 0.00001, etc. – that is, the more zeroes to the right of the decimal point), the more solid is the statistical proof of an observation’s validity.
When all prophecies about the Messiah are evaluated as to whether they were fulfilled by Yeshua, the p-value is so astronomically small (many, many zeroes to the right of the decimal point) – smaller than most other accepted observations– it boggles the imagination. No scientist or statistician would reject any observation having such a small p-value! The writings about Yeshua’s life in the B’rit Chadashah confirm with statistical certainty the Tanakh’s prophecies of a Messiah, a Messiah whom we believe to be Yeshua HaMashiach.
Yeshua lives by faith in our hearts. Yeshua should also live by statistical proof in our minds. To a Believer, statistical proof is unnecessary because he or she accepts Yeshua on faith alone. But, it is reassuring to know that the language of science– statistics– provides iron-clad proof of Yeshua’s birth, death, burial, and resurrection. Our Savior has come and has promised to come again for us! The prophet Jeremiah addressed the blindness of people, such as Bible-deniers, who refuse to see God or the deafness of such people who refuse to hear God’s truth (Jeremiah 5:21): [Adonai said] “’Hear this you foolish people who have no understanding, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear.’” If you have eyes and ears, you should see and hear the truth of the ages: THE MESSIAH HAS COME AND WILL RETURN! Until next Sunday, Shalom and Maranatha.