Born Of A Virgin

Why are prophetic fulfillments important?

 

Prophetic fufillments are important because they show the miraculous nature of the person of Jesus, they validate Jesus's authority and his messiaship, and show the authority of the old testament.

 

Prophecies show the miraculous nature of the person of Jesus because the probability that Jesus could have fulfilled even eight of these prophecies would be only 1 in 10^17. That's 1 in 100, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000 of a chance. The chances of that is too low to dismiss it as a coincidence, therefore we can conclude that the Jesus fulfilling the prophecies to be miraculous. They validate the authority of Jesus because the bible said he has to fulfill those prophecies in order for him to be who he says he was. Finally, they show the authority of the old testament because prophecies from hundreds of years prior, all being fulfilled during the alloted time period the old testament claimed it would be, and all in one person shows that the old testament did in fact have authority in its claims.

 

What was the prophecy?

 

 This prophecy concerning the Messiah is found in Isaiah 7:14. The prophecy states that in order for Jesus to be the Messiah; he must have been born from a virgin.

 

Old Testament scripture:

 

Isaiah 7:14: 14 Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: See, the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel. 

 

New Testament fulfillment:

 

Matthew 1:18-25 (CSB): 18 The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit. 19 So her husband, Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly. 20 But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel, which is translated “God is with us.” 24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her 25 but did not have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son. And he named him Jesus.

 

Virgin can be denoted in two words in Hebrew. It can be denoted as Bethulah or Almah. The word used in Isaiah 7:14 for virgin is Almah. The reason for this is while only Bethulah means a virgin maiden, Almah means both being of marriable age and being a virgin. This word choice applies to both the immediate historical context of the passage, and the future prophecy being fulfilled.

 

Virgin can be denoted in koine Greek by the word Parthenos (παρθενος), which means a virgin.

 

Clearly since both the original languages used in the manuscripts translate to virgin, there isn’t any tricky business going on. Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of being born of a virgin.

 

Source: Josh McDowell