Was Jesus Predicted in the Dead Sea Scrolls?
Was Jesus Christ being born in Bethlehem, foretold, or predicted, in advance? Many of the Dead Sea Scrolls have been accurately dated to before Jesus was born.
“Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms”—Luke 24:44 NIV
Critics claim that Jesus was just an ordinary man, and that predictive prophecy is impossible, and therefore deny that Jesus fulfilled any Old Testament prophecies. Since there are so many prophecies that Jesus actually fulfilled, critics resort to claiming that the prophecies in the Old Testament were written after the fact, so as to conform to what happened to Jesus, and also that the New Testament recordings of these fulfillments are frauds, that is, written to conform to Old Testament predictions.
However, these assertions by skeptics and critics are proven false by the facts. Some manuscripts found among the Dead Sea Scrolls are independently dated to before Jesus was even born. What happened to Jesus’ regarding his birth, mistreatment, execution, and death was beyond his control. If there were only one or two such fulfillments, the case for these prophecies may not be as strong, but with the huge number of fulfilled prophecies in the one man Jesus, and they being beyond his control, and with extant manuscript copies dated prior to his birth, the critics claims are vanquished!
Let’s look at some quotes of these Biblical prophecies about Jesus that are found in the Biblical Dead Sea Scrolls, with their scroll designations, their dates of composition, and their New Testament fulfillments, shown:
Born in Bethlehem:
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, being small among the thousands of Judah, will not come out of you to me that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings out are from old, from ancient times”—Micah 5:2 (4Q81, 200-100 BCE)—[Matthew 2:1; Luke 2:4,10,11]
Born of a virgin:
“Therefore Yahweh himself will give you a sign, Behold, the virgin will conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Jesus”—Isaiah 7:14 (1QISa, about 125 BCE)—[Matthew 1:18-23; Luke 1:30-35]
Descended from the family of David, the son of Jesse, who will give eternal life to Jesse:
“His government will expand, and peace will be endless for the throne of David and his kingdom, to establish it and to sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will do this”—Isaiah 9:7
“A shoot will come forth from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will be fruit”—Isaiah 11:1
“On that day, the root of Jesse, which stands as signal for the peoples–the nations will seek him, and his dwelling will be honored”—Isaiah 11:10
These three scriptures above are from 1QISa, about 125 BCE. The fulfillments are noted in: Matthew 1:1,6-16; 9:27; 15:22; 20:30,31; 21:9,15; 22:42; Mark 10:47,48; Luke 1:32; 2:4; 3:23-32; 18:38,39; Acts 2:29-31; 13:22,23; Romans 1:3; 15:8,12
Children and infants killed:
“Thus says Yahweh: A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and bitter weeping: Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children–because they are no more”—Jeremiah 31:15 (4QJer, about 200 BCE)—[Matthew 2:16-18]
The exact year of Jesus’ anointing with the holy Spirit as Messiah:
“Until an anointed one, a Messiah”—Daniel 9:25 (11Q13, circa 100 BCE)—[Luke 3:1,2, 21-23]
Hearts hardened:
“So he said, ‘Go and say to this people: Hear indeed, but do not understand; see indeed, but do not comprehend. Make the heart of this people fat, dull their ears, and blind their eyes; so they do not see with their eyes, or hear with their ears, with their heart understand, or turn back and be healed”—Isaiah 6:9,10 (1QISa, about 125 BCE)—[Matthew 13:14,15; Mark 4:11,12; Luke 8:10; John 12:39,40; Acts 28:25-27]
Insulted and spit on:
“My face I did not turn aside from insults and spitting”—Isaiah 50:6 (1QISa, about 125 BCE)—[Matthew 26:68; 27:26-30,39-44; Mark 14:65; 15:17,18,29-32; Luke 22:63-65; 23:11,39; John 19:2,3]
Rejected by his people:
“Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed? For he grew up before him like a tender plant, like a root out of a dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and had no attractiveness that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by others, and a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering; and like one from whom people hide their faces and we despised him, and we did not value him”—Isaiah 53:1-3 (1QISa, about 125 BCE)—[Matthew 27:1,2; John 1:10,11; 12:37,38]
Hailed as king and the one coming in the Lord Yahweh’s name:
“Therefore Yahweh himself will give you a sign, Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel”—Isaiah 7:14 (1QISa, about 125 CE)—[Matthew 21:1-9; Mark 11:7-11; Luke 19:28-38; John 12:12-15]
Disfigured by cruelty:
“Just as many were astonished at you–so he was marred ins appearance, more than any human, and his form beyond that of the sons of humans”—Isaiah 52:14 (1QISa, about 125 BCE)—[Matthew 27:27-30]
Executed as a criminal:
“I will allot him a portion with the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong; because he poured out his life to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sins of many; and made intercession for their transgressions”—Isaiah 53:12 (1QISa, about 125 BCE)—[Matthew 27:38; Mark 15:27, 28; Luke 22:17; 23:32,33]
Buried with the rich:
“Then they made his grave with the wicked, and with rich people his tomb–although he had done no violence, nor was any deceit found in his mouth”—Isaiah 53:9 (1QISa, about 125 BCE)—[Matthew 27:57-60]
None of his bones were broken:
“He protects all his bones; not one of them is broken”—Psalm 34:20 (4Q83, about 200-100 BCE)—[John 19:32-36]
Hands and feet pierced:
“For dogs are all around me; a gang of evildoers encircles me. They have pierced my hands and my feet”—Psalm 22:16 (4Q88, about 100-25 BCE)—[Matthew 27:35; John 19:25]
Piercing of his body:
“I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitant of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they shall look to me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn”—Zechariah 12:10 (4Q80, 75-25 BCE)—[John 19:34,37; Revelation 1:7]
Hated without cause:
“Many more than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause; many are those who would annihilate me, who are wrongfully my enemies. That which I did not steal, shall I now restore?”—Psalm 69:4 (4Q83, about 200-100 BCE)— [John 15:24,25]
Cursed on the tree:
“His body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall indeed bury him that same day. For anyone who is hanged is under God’s curse, you must not defile your land which Yahweh your God is giving you as an inheritance”—Deuteronomy 21:23 (4Q36, 100-50 BCE)—[Galatians 3:13]
Friends stand at a distance:
“I have become a plague before my friends and companions, and my neighbors stay far away”—Psalm 38:11 (4Q83, about 200-100 BCE)—[Matthew 27:55; Mark 15:40; Luke 23:49]
In the tomb for parts of three days, and resurrected on the third day:
“So they picked up Jonah, and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. And Yahweh prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and he was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights”—Jonah 1:15,17 (4Q76, 150-125 BCE)
“And Yahweh spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land”—Jonah 2:10 (4Q82, 30-1 BCE)
Jesus’ similar predictions and the fulfillments of both are noted in Matthew 12:39,40; 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; 27:64; 28:1-7; Acts 10:40; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8
Reasonable people agree that Jesus’ birth, rejection, mistreatment, execution, and death were all beyond his control. Objective evidence of Jesus in the Dead Sea Scrolls proves that prophecies of such were written prior to Jesus even being born on earth. These facts are just more of the mountainous evidence that the Bible is the authentic “word of God” (1 Thessalonians 2:13)!
7 thoughts on “Was Jesus Predicted in the Dead Sea Scrolls?”
BA: Critics claim that predictive prophecy is impossible.
GW: Some do, but I am not one of them. It is possible, but improbable. Keep in mind: Naturalistic Explanations of Supposedly Accurate Prophesies:
1. Later authors knew earlier prophesies and fabricated stories to match those prophesies.
2. Some persons knew earlier prophesies and acted in such a way to match them. (Self-fulfilling prophesy)
3. Most prophesies are vague, ambiguous, or imprecise. Rarely do they predict who, what, when, where, why, and how.
4. Some prophets may have just been good historians or sociologists who are correct in their predictions at a higher rate than lay persons.
5. Lucky guesses.
6. True positives are cherry-picked and false positives are ignored.
7. Metaphorical, figurative, or other non-literal writing is mistakenly interpreted as a prediction of the future.
GW: When it comes to the claim that OT verses correctly foretell the coming of Jesus, most of the world disagrees. This includes the Jews, the Muslims, the Hindus, the Buddhists, and the secular humanists.
BA: When presented with Bible prophecies in the Old Testament, and their fulfillments in the New Testament, they claim that either the prophecies were written after the fact, or that Jesus, conformed his actions to look like the prophecies were being fulfilled.
GW: Those are two very good naturalistic explanations and are on the list I presented above.
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BA: Critics claim that Jesus was just an ordinary man,…
GW: Some do, but I am not one of them. Jesus was far above ordinary in his speaking, leadership, giving hope, and helping the poor, sick, and needy. However, there is no good evidence that he was divine or had any supernatural powers.
BA: and that predictive prophecy is impossible, and therefore deny that Jesus fulfilled any Old Testament prophecies.
GW: I’ve already covered this. There are very good naturalistic explanations for alleged fulfillment of those prophesies.
BA: Since there are so many prophecies that Jesus fulfilled,…
GW: Yes, there are some which appear to be self-fulfilling prophesies. Jesus knew the OT and acted in a way to fulfill some of those prophesies. Riding on a donkey into Jerusalem might be one example.
BA: critics resort to claiming that the prophecies in the Old Testament were written after the fact, so as to conform to what happened to Jesus, and the New Testament recordings of these fulfillments are frauds.
GW: Yes, that appears to be the case with some of the prophesies.
BA: However, these assertions by skeptics and critics are proven false by the facts.
GW: Not at all. The skeptics, like me, have perfectly plausible explanations of the stories claiming the fulfillment of prophesies. See my list.
BA: Some manuscripts found among the Dead Sea Scrolls are independently dated to before Jesus was even born.
GW: So what? All the prophesies were written before Jesus was born. Any apparent confirmations are easily explained by natural and social processes.
BA: What happened to Jesus’ regarding his birth, mistreatment, execution, and death was beyond his control.
GW: That’s true about his birth. However, I think it is likely that Jesus knew or believed that if he entered Jerusalem during the Passover events and he preached blasphemy and caused a disturbance in the temple, then he would be arrested, mistreated, crucified, and killed. I think this is a case of “suicide by cop.” If your religious hypothesis is correct, then God arranged for all of this to happen. I believe before the crucifixion, the story says that Jesus said something like this: “I don’t want to do this, but if you want me to do this, then thy will be done.” That’s just a paraphrase. So, it is likely that even the murder of Jesus was a self-fulfilling prophesy. Jesus did exactly what he thought God required of him.
This article has been updated and documented with a number of scriptural proofs.
BA: Critics claim that Jesus was just an ordinary man, and that predictive prophecy is impossible, and therefore deny that Jesus fulfilled any Old Testament prophecies.
GW: We’ve already discussed this somewhat. Jesus was not just an ordinary man, but there is insufficient good evidence to conclude he was divine or had any supernatural powers. Predictive prophesy may not be impossible, but it is just very improbable. There are good naturalistic explanations of all apparent “hits”.
BA: Since there are so many prophecies that Jesus fulfilled, critics resort to claiming that the prophecies in the Old Testament were written after the fact, so as to conform to what happened to Jesus, and also that the New Testament recordings of these fulfillments are frauds.
GW: No, here you misstated your own position. Some apparent confirmations in the NT were probably fabricated post hoc to match OT prophesies.
BA: However, these assertions by skeptics and critics are proven false by the facts.
GW: No, they aren’t. They are just different interpretations of the verses from the OT and NT.
BA: Some manuscripts found among the Dead Sea Scrolls are independently dated to before Jesus was even born.
GW: Well of course! That doesn’t mean any prophesy was fulfilled.
BA: What happened to Jesus’ regarding his birth, mistreatment, execution, and death was beyond his control.
GW: That is true regarding his birth, but not true of his mistreatment, execution, and death. My interpretation is that he died by “suicide by cop”. I already explained this to you.
BA: If there were only one or two such fulfillments, the case for these prophecies may not have been as strong, but with the huge number of fulfilled prophecies in the one man Jesus, beyond his control, and with extant copies dated prior to his birth, the critics claims are vanquished!
GW: No, they aren’t. You just have different interpretations. People who think carefully, critically, and rationally have different interpretations from you regarding the alleged prophesies.
BA: Let’s look at some quotes of these Biblical prophecies that are found in the Biblical Dead Sea Scrolls, with the scroll designations, dates and New Testament fulfillments, shown:
GW: Ok, I’m ready.
BA: Born in Bethlehem: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, being small among the thousands of Judah, will not come out of you to me that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings out are from old, from ancient times”—Micah 5:2 (4Q81, 200-100 BCE)—[Matthew 2:1; Luke 2:4,10,11]
GW: The old text here is vague and ambiguous. This is the case with many alleged prophesies. It doesn’t say “Jesus of Nazareth, who will be the Messiah, will actually be born in Bethlehem.”
BA: Born of a virgin: “Therefore Yahweh himself will give you a sign, Behold, the virgin will conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Jesus”—Isaiah 7:14 (1QISa, about 125 BCE)—[Matthew 1:18-23; Luke 1:30-35]
GW: There has been much dispute about the old text word which has been interpreted as “virgin.” Some scholars say the word just meant “a young woman who had never yet bore a child.” That wouldn’t be very surprising or unusual.
BA: From the family of David the son of Jesse: “His government will expand, and peace will be endless for the throne of David and his kingdom, to establish it and to sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will do this”—Isaiah 9:7 “A shoot will come forth from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will be fruit”—Isaiah 11:1 “On that day, the root of Jesse, which stands as signal for the peoples–the nations will seek him, and his dwelling will be honored”—Isaiah 11:10 These three scriptures above are from 1QISa, about 125 BCE; the fulfillments are noted in Matthew 1:1,6-16; 9:27; 15:22; 20:30,31; 21:9,15; 22:42; Mark 10:47,48; Luke 1:32; 2:4; 3:23-32; 18:38,39; Acts 2:29-31; 13:22,23; Romans 1:3; 15:8,12
GW: Predicting that a future king would come from the family of David is a rather mundane prediction. Not a big deal. Also, Jesus never became a king, so the prophesy was disconfirmed. Possibly Jesus did not descend from the family of David.
BA: Children and infants killed: “Thus says Yahweh: A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and bitter weeping: Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children–because they are no more”—Jeremiah 31:15 (4 QJer, about 200 BCE)—[Matthew 2:16-18]
GW: Mothers always weep for their children who suffer or die. Nothing unusual there.
BA: Hearts hardened: “So he said, ‘Go and say to this people: Hear indeed, but do not understand; see indeed, but do not comprehend. Make the heart of this people fat, dull their ears, and blind their eyes; so they do not see with their eyes, or hear with their ears, with their heart understand, or turn back and be healed”—Isaiah 6:9,10 (1QISa, about 125 BCE)—[Matthew 13:14,15; Mark 4:11,12; Luke 8:10; John 12:39,40; Acts 28:25-27]
GW: Nonsense. If God did exist, he would not harden anybody’s heart. The Christian theology is that God gave free will to humans. That alone is enough rope to hang themselves. If God hardened anybody’s heart (like he is alleged to have hardened Pharoarh’s heart), that would be a violation of God’s own plan and an unethical act by him. No way.
BA: Insulted and spit on: “My face I did not turn aside from insults and spitting”—Isaiah 50:6 (1QISa, about 125 BCE)—[Matthew 26:68; 27:26-30,39-44; Mark 14:65; 15:17,18,29-32; Luke 22:63-65; 23:11,39; John 19:2,3]
GW: This could very well be a self-fulfilling prophesy. Jesus probably read the prophesy and deliberately enacted it. This was all part of his “turn the other cheek” philosophy, which is rather irrational anyway.
BA: Rejected by his people: “Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed? For he grew up before him like a tender plant, like a root out of a dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and had no attractiveness that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by others, and a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering; and like one from whom people hide their faces and we despised him, and we did not value him”—Isaiah 53:1-3 (1QISa, about 125 BCE)—[Matthew 27:1,2; John 1:10,11; 12:37,38]
GW: Any leader who preaches a new and radical philosophy will be despised. Nothing unusual about that. This one could also be a self-fulfilling prophesy.
BA: Hailed as king and the one coming in the Lord Yahweh’s name: “Therefore Yahweh himself will give you a sign, Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel”—Isaiah 7:14 (1QISa, about 125 CE)—[Matthew 21:1-9; Mark 11:7-11; Luke 19:28-38; John 12:12-15]
GW: This prophesy was actually disconfirmed. Jesus was named “Jesus” not “Immanuel.”
BA: Executed as a criminal: “I will allot him a portion with the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong; because he poured out his life to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sins of many; and made intercession for their transgressions”—Isaiah 53:12 (1QISa, about 125 BCE)—[Matthew 27:38; Mark 15:27, 28; Luke 22:17; 23:32,33]
GW: “Suicide by cop” by Jesus. Atonement theory promoted by Paul. Nothing supernatural about this.
BA: Buried with the rich: “Then they made his grave with the wicked, and with rich people his tomb–although he had done no violence, nor was any deceit found in his mouth”—Isaiah 53:9 (1QISa, about 125 BCE)—[Matthew 27:57-60]
GW: The wicked were buried in a common pit after crucifixion, and Ehrman thinks this happened to Jesus. Josephus wasn’t wicked, so his tomb would not be of a wicked man. Jesus did do violence – in the temple. So, this prophesy is all messed up.
BA: None of his bones were broken: “He protects all his bones; not one of them is broken”—Psalm 34:20 (4Q83, about 200-100 BCE)—[John 19:32-36]
GW: Jesus’ wrist bones were broken by the nails. So this prophesy is disconfirmed.
BA: Hands and feet pierced: “For dogs are all around me; a gang of evildoers encircles me. They have pierced my hands and my feet”—Psalm 22:16 (4Q88, about 100-25 BCE)—[Matthew 27:35; John 19:25]
GW: It was common to crucify many criminals at once, so they would be evildoers. And Roman soldiers would be viewed as evildoers. Piercing hands and feet was a common punishment in ancient times.
BA: Piercing of his body: “I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitant of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they shall look to me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn”—Zechariah 12:10 (4Q80, 75-25 BCE)—[John 19:34,37; Revelation 1:7]
GW: Of course, Jesus’ hands and feet were pierced by the nails, and this was typical for harsh punishments. The prophesy does not say that the Jesus’ abdomen would be pierced by a spear from a Roman soldier. What is ironic is that the author of the Gospel of John “over-interpreted” the prophesy and fabricated the story of the piercing to the abdomen. John made up two stories at the same time – the piercing and then later Jesus showing his abdomen wound to disciples. Ha, what a joke! If God did exist and he caused Jesus to come back to life, then he would have also healed all of Jesus’ wounds before he met people after the crucifixion. Christians typically underestimate their own god. And you do it frequently.
BA: Hated without cause: “Many more than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause; many are those who would annihilate me, who are wrongfully my enemies. That which I did not steal, shall I now restore?”—Psalm 69:4 (4Q83, about 200-100 BCE)— [John 15:24,25]
GW: Jesus was hated for cause. He preached blasphemy, was violent in the temple, and caused a disturbance during the holy week in Jerusalem. The Jews and the Romans had cause to hate Jesus. So, this prophesy is disconfirmed.
BA: Cursed on the tree: “His body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall indeed bury him that same day. For anyone who is hanged is under God’s curse, you must not defile your land which Yahweh your God is giving you as an inheritance”—Deuteronomy 21:23 (4Q36, 100-50 BCE)—[Galatians 3:13]
GW: This one has many problems. Jesus was hung on a cross made of wood, not on a tree, so technically this prophesy is disconfirmed. On the other hand, it was Jewish custom all along to bury victims before dusk on the day they died. Apparently Ehrman believes that the story of removal of Jesus from the cross on the day of his execution was fabricated, probably to conform with Jewish custom. It wouldn’t be good for Jesus’ reputation is he was thrown in the common pit a day or two later. There is at least 50-50 chance that this is exactly what happened.
BA: Friends stand at a distance: “I have become a plague before my friends and companions, and my neighbors stay far away”—Psalm 38:11 (4Q83, about 200-100 BCE)—[Matthew 27:55; Mark 15:40; Luke 23:49]
GW: The Gospel stories imply that Jesus’ disciples fled because they were afraid of being persecuted as Jesus’ co-conspirators, trouble makers. But this could also be a self-fulfilling prophesy.
BA: “So they picked up Jonah, and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. And Yahweh prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and he was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights”—Jonah 1:15,17 (4Q76, 150-125 BCE) “And Yahweh spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land”—Jonah 2:10 (4Q82, 30-1 BCE) Fulfillment of both noted in Matthew 12:39,40; 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; 27:64; 28:1-7; Acts 10:40; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8
GW: This has nothing to do with Jesus. Jesus was not Jonah. The NT authors just read the OT prophesies and sometimes just reiterated them. No supernaturalism here.
GW: So, some of the prophesies were disconfirmed. Some were too vague or ambiguous to be useful. Some turned out to be self-fulfilling prophesies. And in some cases, the Gospel writers just fabricated stories to match the OT prophesies. There is no good evidence of any supernatural intervention here.
Jesus did become a king:
“Jesus said, ‘My kingdom is not part of this world . . . my kingdom is from another place'” (John 18:36 NIV).
“These men . . . are . . . saying that there is another king, one called Jesus”—Acts 17:7 NIV
BA: Jesus did become a king:
GW: No, he did not become a king, as defined by the prophets. This would be a king of a nation of the Earth, like King David, King Solomon, King Caesar, or King Tut. So the prophesy is falsified. You are making the error of equivocation with respect to the word “king.” You can’t change the meaning of the word and claim success. That is cheating.
BA: “Jesus said, ‘My kingdom is not part of this world . . . my kingdom is from another place’” (John 18:36 NIV).
GW: There is no good evidence for another world. So, Jesus was delusional about that.
BA: “These men . . . are . . . saying that there is another king, one called Jesus”—Acts 17:7 NIV
GW: So even Jesus’ contemporaries did not agree that he was a king.
You stumble over the prophecies. In his first coming, he was to be the suffering servant (Isaiah 52:13-15), who “poured out his life unto death” (Isaiah 53:12 NIV).
In his second coming, so certain, the prophecy is in past tense, “On him was conferred rule, honour and kingship, and all peoples, nations and languages became his servants. His rule is an everlasting rule” (Daniel 7:13,14 NJB). This is when his kingdom becomes fully operative.
BA: You stumble over the prophecies.
GW: False. You present the alleged prophesies. I analyze and explain them. You just disagree with my rational interpretations.
BA: In his first coming, he was to be the suffering servant (Isaiah 52:13-15), who “poured out his life unto death” (Isaiah 53:12 NIV).
GW: So, when I falsify one prophesy, i.e. the one about becoming a king, you just pull out another one, i.e. the one about becoming a suffering servant. It is common for men who protest against the existing power structure to be persecuted. Just look at Martin Luther King Jr. Nothing supernatural here.
BA: In his second coming, so certain, the prophecy is in past tense,…
GW: There has been no second coming of Jesus. According to the stories Jesus predicted his own second coming to occur during the lifetimes of people in his audience, but this never happened. So, even Jesus’ own prophesy was falsified.
GW: You believe Jesus came back to life and is alive right now. Prove it. You can’t. You won’t. If Jesus were alive, he would have revealed himself to all humans once every generation. This has not happened. Therefore, Jesus is dead and never came back to life.
BA: “On him was conferred rule, honour and kingship, and all peoples, nations and languages became his servants. His rule is an everlasting rule” (Daniel 7:13,14 NJB). This is when his kingdom becomes fully operative.
GW: This hasn’t happened. Sorry.