Prophecies about the Messiah’s Lineage and Birth

Messianic Prophecies Series, Part 1

There are hundreds of Messianic prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures that foretell specific information about God’s promised Messiah. Mathematician Peter Stoner looked at the statistical probability of one man fulfilling even a handful of them.

In his book, Science Speaks, Stoner revealed that the chance any one man might fulfill just eight of those Messianic prophecies in the Old Covenant is one in one hundred quadrillion – one in 10 to the 17th power, or one in 100,000,000,000,000,000.

Stoner did the same calculations for the fulfillment of 48 prophetic passages about the Messiah. The odds of one man fulfilling all 48 are 1 in 10 to the157th power. That’s the numeral one followed by 157 zeroes!

The Scriptures speak of two distinct appearances of the Messiah: One in which He comes as a humble servant destined to suffer and die for His people, and one in which He returns as the conquering king and judge. What are the chances that one man has fulfilled the hundreds of prophecies about the Messiah’s first appearing as a suffering servant? It’s beyond comprehension how narrow they are.

Yet one man has. His name is Yeshua (Jesus).

Perhaps a better question is: What is the probability that Yeshua of Nazareth is not the Messiah?

Below is a sampling of Messianic prophecies pertaining to the Messiah’s lineage and birth. They include New Covenant Scripture references showing how Yeshua fulfilled them. We’ll examine additional Messianic prophecies in future blog posts, including evidence from Messiah’s life, the rejection He was foretold to experience, His suffering, and death.

Take a look, and consider the odds.

Messiah’s Lineage

Seed of Isaac

Prophecy: Genesis 17:19, Genesis 21:12

Fulfillment: Matthew 1:2–16, Luke 3:23–38

Seed of Judah

Prophecy: Genesis 49:10

Fulfillment: Luke 3:33

A rod/son out of Jesse

Prophecy: Isaiah 11:1

Fulfillment: Luke 3:23–32

Descendant of David

Prophecy: Ezekiel 34:23–24

Fulfillment: Matthew 1:1

The Messiah’s Birth

Messiah would be preceded by a forerunner who would turn many to righteousness

Prophecy: Malachi 4:5-6, Isaiah 40:3–4, Malachi 4:6

Fulfillment: Matthew 3:1–2, John 1:19–23, Luke 3:7-22

Messiah would be born of a young maiden who is a virgin

Prophecy: Isaiah 7:14, Genesis 3:15

Fulfillment: Luke 1:35, Matthew 1:18–20

Messiah would be known as “God with us”

Prophecy: Isaiah 7:14

Fulfillment: John 1:1–4, 14

Messiah would be born in Bethlehem

Prophecy: Micah 5:2

Fulfillment: Luke 2:1–7