Do the math when searching for God
Imagine waking up one day to suddenly find yourself wanting to know the truth about God and religion. You have become surprisingly eager to search for any clues God may have provided that can help point you in the right direction.
For starters, you already believe that God exists because of the estimated two trillion galaxies in the observable universe. “Since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities — His eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made” (Romans 1:20).
But who is God? Does He have a name? What is God’s purpose for my life? And has He communicated with us so that we can know Him and understand His ultimate plan?
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As you ponder the meaning of it all, you reflect upon the fact that most religions claim to have been derived from divine revelation. In addition, religious people across the board assert that their particular religion improves their life.
You are also aware that religions contradict each other in their respective doctrines. Therefore, they cannot all be true. You wonder what differentiates true religion from false religion. And you are curious to find out if there is at least one religion that contains verifiable evidence confirming divine revelation.
You wonder if perhaps the Creator may have revealed Himself through prophecy. After all, God could have inspired messengers to write down specific details about future events, right? And if secular and religious historians agree on the historicity of the people, places and events in the fulfilled prophecies, then such historical evidence would provide a factual foundation in your search for God.
After all, only the Creator can correctly tell us what is going to happen hundreds of years in advance.
And so, you begin to search for one or more religions that are supported by prophetic accuracy. After much research, you struggle to come up with even one specific prophecy that has been fulfilled in most of the world’s religions. However, you discover that Judaism presents a plethora of prophecies in the Hebrew Bible (The Old Testament) with specific details. And many of these prophecies were fulfilled 2000 years ago by Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth.
What are the odds of this happening? I am glad you asked.
Professor Peter Stoner was chairman of the mathematics and astronomy departments at Pasadena City College until 1953. He then went to Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California, where he served as chairman of the science division. Professor Stoner calculated the odds of getting eight prophecies fulfilled in one person.
To illustrate those odds, imagine covering the entire state of Texas in silver dollars two feet deep. Then mark one coin and bury it anywhere amidst the trillions of coins. Next, blindfold a man and have him choose one coin. The odds that he would choose the marked coin are the same as the odds of getting eight prophecies fulfilled in one person. Those odds are one in one hundred quadrillion, or 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000.
God’s prophets recorded roughly 300 prophecies concerning the coming Messiah that were all fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Here are eight of those fulfilled prophecies:
1. The Messiah will be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:1; Luke 2:4-6).
2. The Messiah will be a descendant of Jacob (Numbers 24:17; Matthew 1:2).
3. The Messiah will enter Jerusalem as a king riding on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9; Mark 11:4-11).
4. The Messiah will be betrayed by a friend. (Psalm 41:9; Luke 22:47,48)
5. The Messiah's betrayal money will be used to purchase a potter's field (Zechariah 11:13;Matthew 27:9,10).
6. The Messiah will be spat upon and struck (Isaiah 50:6; Matthew 26:67).
7. The Messiah's hands and feet will be pierced (Psalm 22:16; John 20:25-27).
8. Soldiers will gamble for the Messiah's garments (Psalm 22:18; Luke 23:34).
One religion (Judaism) provides specific prophecies which were fulfilled in the life, death and resurrection of Yeshua. When you combine the Old Testament prophecies with their New Testament fulfillment, you have overwhelming evidence that points directly to God. If you doubt the veracity of this claim, then do the math.
The mathematical precision points to a specific Person. Micah prophesied about the Jewish Messiah’s birthplace 700 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2).
God chose to authenticate His Word through these historically verifiable prophecies and events. He linked the two testaments together by having His only Son, Yeshua, fulfill the Messianic prophecies.
And don’t forget to factor the resurrection of Christ into the equation. Fulfilled prophecies provide mathematical confirmation of divine revelation, and the resurrection of Jesus seals the deal for anyone who chooses to base their faith on empirical evidence. Blind faith, on the other hand, is what every other religion requires of you. Do you really want to stake your immortal soul on blind faith in a self-appointed prophet’s proclamations and religious theories?
Meanwhile, Jesus brings all who receive Him as Savior (John 1:12) to an everlasting kingdom in Heaven, far above the estimated two trillion observable galaxies God created.
You see, the stars tells us there is a God, and the math confirms God’s name and Yeshua’s “eternal Gospel” (Revelation 14:6; John 3:16; John 14:6; Romans 1:16-17).
Dan Delzell is the pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Papillion, Nebraska.
