Some say that The Old Testament contains over 400 prophecies about the coming Messiah. Others place the number at around 300. This number may be correct but I will teach you about the most relevant ones on this series of my evening devotional.
Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled these prophetic writings and the odds of that happening are just incredible.
Mathematics & Astronomy Professor Peter W. Stoner chances of just 8 prophecies has made the statement that the (like these) coming true by sheer chance is 1 in 10 to 17 (100,000,000,000,000,000). That would be equivalent to covering the whole state of Texas with silver dollars two feet deep and then expecting a blindfolded man to walk across the state and on the very first try find the ONE coin you marked (roughly equivalent to the Province of Ontario being 1.5 feet deep and Quebec about 1 foot deep).
Today we see a very specific prophecy about the virgin birth of the Messiah.
The prophecy of Isaiah
Around 700 years before Jesus was born, a man named Isaiah told King Ahaz that a time was coming when a virgin would have a child named Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel
Isaiah promised that God would give a sign — the miraculous birth of the Messiah to a virgin. The Messiah is called here “Immanuel” which means “God with us.”
Some 7 centuries later, Joseph and Mary, who were from the city of Nazareth, were engaged to be married. Mary, still a virgin, was “found to be with child from the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:18). An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him that his wife-to-be would deliver the Christ child.
Jesus was born to a virgin
Matthew 1:22-23 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel”
The name of Jesus in Hebrew is Yeshua, which means “he will save us.” Jesus is Immanuel, God with us, the promised Messiah who has the authority and power to save us from our sins.
Nothing is impossible to God
First, for those who say a virgin birth is physically and scientifically impossible, Luke remarks that “nothing will be impossible with God.”
Luke 1:26-31 26 the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
The virgin birth of Jesus is an example of God’s gracious work on our behalf. God took the initiative—Mary was not looking to become pregnant—it was all God’s idea. Joseph had no role in the conception—his body was not involved—so the power had to come from God. In a similar way, our salvation is based solely on God’s initiative and God’s power—we did not seek God, but He sought us; and we did nothing to earn our salvation, but we rely on God’s power.
The Messiah - born of a virgin