The Messiah should be born in Bethlehem.
Micah 5:2 "But thou, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."
That this is not just any ruler or leader is spoken of as seen in the statement "whose goings forth have been spoken from of old, from everlasting." King David’s coming was not spoken of beforehand, and he was the arguably the greatest king in the history of Israel. The probability of Jesus being born in Bethlehem, a city of less than 20,000 in a nation of millions at the time is estimated as 20,000/2,000,000 or 1 in 100.
The Jewish leaders thought Jesus was from Nazareth, so could not be the messiah. However, Jesus was born In Jerusalem (Matthew 2:1)., and lived there until he was two years old (Mattew 2:16).
Micah 5:2 "But thou, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."
That this is not just any ruler or leader is spoken of as seen in the statement "whose goings forth have been spoken from of old, from everlasting." King David’s coming was not spoken of beforehand, and he was the arguably the greatest king in the history of Israel. The probability of Jesus being born in Bethlehem, a city of less than 20,000 in a nation of millions at the time is estimated as 20,000/2,000,000 or 1 in 100.
The Jewish leaders thought Jesus was from Nazareth, so could not be the messiah. However, Jesus was born In Jerusalem (Matthew 2:1)., and lived there until he was two years old (Mattew 2:16).
The Messiah will come when the Jewish temple is intact as noted in Malachi 3 and Daniel 9 (below) 37 years after Jesus was crucified, the Jewish temple was utterly destroyed by Rome.
Malachi 3:1 "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in."
Daniel 9:26 "And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary."
Given that Daniel prophesied this in about 580 BC, and noting the temple was intact only from 540 BC through 70 AD, (610 years out of 2578 years since the prophecy by Malachi), the chance that Jesus could fulfill this criterion given approximately an even Jewish birth rate over the years would be 610/2578 or 1 in 4.
Malachi 3:1 "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in."
Daniel 9:26 "And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary."
Given that Daniel prophesied this in about 580 BC, and noting the temple was intact only from 540 BC through 70 AD, (610 years out of 2578 years since the prophecy by Malachi), the chance that Jesus could fulfill this criterion given approximately an even Jewish birth rate over the years would be 610/2578 or 1 in 4.
The messiah will be from the tribe of Judah and line of David.
Many references. One example is in Jeremiah 23:5 "Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment on the earth".
The probability of any Jewish child being from the line of David, 11 generations removed from Judah will likely be less than 1 in 100. The reason Jesus was born in Bethlehem is that his adopted and thus legal father Joseph traveled due to a census taking. (Luke 2:4) And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) The adopted father was considered legal descent. Mary, who because pregnant by the Holy Spirit (egg implantation from God, a bit more reliable than current methods of egg implantation) was from the lineage of Levi, but the lineage was considered patriarchal at that time. With intermarriage, Mary may have also been from the lineage of David but that is unknown.
Many references. One example is in Jeremiah 23:5 "Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment on the earth".
The probability of any Jewish child being from the line of David, 11 generations removed from Judah will likely be less than 1 in 100. The reason Jesus was born in Bethlehem is that his adopted and thus legal father Joseph traveled due to a census taking. (Luke 2:4) And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) The adopted father was considered legal descent. Mary, who because pregnant by the Holy Spirit (egg implantation from God, a bit more reliable than current methods of egg implantation) was from the lineage of Levi, but the lineage was considered patriarchal at that time. With intermarriage, Mary may have also been from the lineage of David but that is unknown.
The messiah will be called wonderful, counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father and Prince of Peace.
"A child will be born that will be called Wonderful, counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. He will be ruler forever." Isaiah 9:7 This verse clearly speaks of a child that eventually will be called mighty God and Prince of Peace. To understand this is to understand the virgin birth of Jesus that God came in the form of Jesus born of a woman. It also speaks of him being ruler forever, so it must be speaking of a spiritual kingdom, as no king or family line of kings can rule forever. We'll ignore the striking comment about Messiah being called mighty God and everlasting Father which would be compatible with Jesus as God in human form as "son of Man" but with the power of God, rather than the Jewish understanding of The Messiah. If we consider the probability only that Jesus, a carpenter, from an obscure village in the outcast portion of Israel (Nazareth) would eventually be called the Prince of Peace and not forgotten after so many years, we can generously say the probability would be 1 in 1,000,000.
"A child will be born that will be called Wonderful, counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. He will be ruler forever." Isaiah 9:7 This verse clearly speaks of a child that eventually will be called mighty God and Prince of Peace. To understand this is to understand the virgin birth of Jesus that God came in the form of Jesus born of a woman. It also speaks of him being ruler forever, so it must be speaking of a spiritual kingdom, as no king or family line of kings can rule forever. We'll ignore the striking comment about Messiah being called mighty God and everlasting Father which would be compatible with Jesus as God in human form as "son of Man" but with the power of God, rather than the Jewish understanding of The Messiah. If we consider the probability only that Jesus, a carpenter, from an obscure village in the outcast portion of Israel (Nazareth) would eventually be called the Prince of Peace and not forgotten after so many years, we can generously say the probability would be 1 in 1,000,000.
The Messiah will not necessarily be a Zealot in the sense of advocating overthrow of Rome, Isaiah 11:4-5. "He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked"
nor was it clear that he would militarily overcome. Isaiah 42: “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth.”
Jesus clearly avoided any connection or identification with the Zealots. He told his followers to put away their swords when he was captured before crucifixion. At this point in the history of Israel to have a leader arouse the people and not be a zealot is inconceivable with the harshness of Roman rule, but let’s generously estimate that the probability of Jesus being a non-zealot leader is 1/100. This would have been confusing for those expecting a military leader, but Jesus described his Kingdom and the freedom it brought as spiritual, not earthly. Note he very clearly said to PIlate before his crucifixion that "My Kingdom is not of this world" John 18:36
nor was it clear that he would militarily overcome. Isaiah 42: “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth.”
Jesus clearly avoided any connection or identification with the Zealots. He told his followers to put away their swords when he was captured before crucifixion. At this point in the history of Israel to have a leader arouse the people and not be a zealot is inconceivable with the harshness of Roman rule, but let’s generously estimate that the probability of Jesus being a non-zealot leader is 1/100. This would have been confusing for those expecting a military leader, but Jesus described his Kingdom and the freedom it brought as spiritual, not earthly. Note he very clearly said to PIlate before his crucifixion that "My Kingdom is not of this world" John 18:36
The Messiah will not be from the usual priestly tribe of Israel, but will be considered a priest. Note in Psalm 110: 1-7, which is considered a Messianic prophecy, David refers to the Messiah as "Lord", sitting at "God's right hand," and a "priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." Melchizedek was a great priest in the past for Israel but not of the usual priestly line. Although Mary was from the lineage of Aaron, lineage is typically traced through the father. To be considered a priest and not be from the priestly tribe has otherwise never been recorded in the history of Israel. Estimated probability = 1/1,000
SUMMARY: The liklihood of one Jewish child fulfilling the above prophecies would be estimated as
1/100 (born in Jerusalem),
X 1/4 (temple intact when born),
X 1/100 (David's lineage),
X 1/1,000,000 ( a carpenter from a despised city called Nazareth to be called Prince of Peace and not forgotten),
X 1/100 (non-zealot leader),
X 1,000 (considered a priest but not from a priestly tribe).
= 1/4 times 10 to the 15th power. Recall earlier that we stated that picking one specific grain of sand out of the sea, assuming 100 quadrillion grains of sand, would be 1/ 10 to the 15th power.
1/100 (born in Jerusalem),
X 1/4 (temple intact when born),
X 1/100 (David's lineage),
X 1/1,000,000 ( a carpenter from a despised city called Nazareth to be called Prince of Peace and not forgotten),
X 1/100 (non-zealot leader),
X 1,000 (considered a priest but not from a priestly tribe).
= 1/4 times 10 to the 15th power. Recall earlier that we stated that picking one specific grain of sand out of the sea, assuming 100 quadrillion grains of sand, would be 1/ 10 to the 15th power.