Welcome back to part two of Science Speaks. This week we will investigate the next remarkable section of Mr. Stoner's book in which he compares the Scriptures to actual history to prove Jesus Christ is indeed the Messiah - The Son of God...
Science Speaks – Part Two: The Accuracy of Prophecy
The second section of Stoner's book is entitled "Prophetic
Accuracy." This is where the book becomes absolutely fascinating. One by
one, he takes major Bible prophecies concerning cities and nations and
calculates the odds of their being fulfilled. The first is a prophecy in
Ezekiel 26 concerning the city of Tyre.
Seven prophecies are contained in this chapter which was written in 590 BC:
1.
Nebuchadnezzar shall conquer the city (vs. 7-11).
2.
Other nations will assist Nebuchadnezzar (v. 3).
3.
The city will be made like a bare rock (vs. 4 & 14).
4.
It will become a place for the spreading of fishing nets (vs. 5
& 14).
5.
Its stones and timbers will be thrown into the sea (v. 12).
6.
Other cities will fear greatly at the fall of Tyre (v. 16).
7.
The old city of Tyre
will never be rebuilt (v. 14).
Four years after this prophecy was given, Nebuchadnezzar laid
siege to Tyre.
The siege lasted 13 years. When the city finally fell in 573 BC, it was
discovered that everything of value had been moved to a nearby island.
Two hundred and forty-one years later Alexander the Great arrived on the scene. Fearing that the fleet of Tyre might be used against his homeland, he decided to take the island where the city had been moved to. He accomplished this goal by building a causeway from the mainland to the island, and he did that by using all the building materials from the ruins of the old city. Neighboring cities were so frightened by Alexander's conquest that they immediately opened their gates to him. Since that time, the city of Tyre has remained in ruins and is a place where fishermen spread their nets.
Thus, every detail of the prophecy was fulfilled exactly as predicted. Stoner calculated the odds of such a prophecy being fulfilled by chance as being 1 in 75,000,000, or 1 in 7.5x107. (The exponent 7 indicates that the decimal is to be moved to the right seven places).
Stoner proceeds to calculate the probabilities of the prophecies concerning Samaria, Gaza and Ashkelon, Jericho, Palestine, Moab and Ammon, Edom, and Babylon. He also calculates the odds of prophecies being fulfilled that predicted the closing of the Eastern Gate (Ezekiel 44:1-3), the plowing of Mount Zion (Micah 3:12), and the enlargement of Jerusalem according to a prescribed pattern (Jeremiah 31:38-40).
Combining all these prophecies, he concludes that "the probability of these 11 prophecies coming true, if written in human wisdom, is... 1 in 5.76x1059. Needless to say, this is a number beyond the realm of possibility...
Two hundred and forty-one years later Alexander the Great arrived on the scene. Fearing that the fleet of Tyre might be used against his homeland, he decided to take the island where the city had been moved to. He accomplished this goal by building a causeway from the mainland to the island, and he did that by using all the building materials from the ruins of the old city. Neighboring cities were so frightened by Alexander's conquest that they immediately opened their gates to him. Since that time, the city of Tyre has remained in ruins and is a place where fishermen spread their nets.
Thus, every detail of the prophecy was fulfilled exactly as predicted. Stoner calculated the odds of such a prophecy being fulfilled by chance as being 1 in 75,000,000, or 1 in 7.5x107. (The exponent 7 indicates that the decimal is to be moved to the right seven places).
Stoner proceeds to calculate the probabilities of the prophecies concerning Samaria, Gaza and Ashkelon, Jericho, Palestine, Moab and Ammon, Edom, and Babylon. He also calculates the odds of prophecies being fulfilled that predicted the closing of the Eastern Gate (Ezekiel 44:1-3), the plowing of Mount Zion (Micah 3:12), and the enlargement of Jerusalem according to a prescribed pattern (Jeremiah 31:38-40).
Combining all these prophecies, he concludes that "the probability of these 11 prophecies coming true, if written in human wisdom, is... 1 in 5.76x1059. Needless to say, this is a number beyond the realm of possibility...
Don’t miss next week’s final edition to this series as we investigate part 3 - of Science Speaks by Peter Stoner!
Keep looking up and sharing the Gospel while there is still time… Hallelujah and Maranatha – come quickly Lord Jesus!
We are not guaranteed tomorrow – tomorrow may be too late! If you haven't yet made that most important decision of your life, won't you make Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior today - before it's too late? Today is the day of Salvation!
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Shane K. Morin <><
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