Atheists Challenge: The Prophecies Regarding Christ

In this article I wish to challenge atheists, agnostics and skeptics to refute or explain the prophecies which Christians claim foretell the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Some atheists like to throw around terms such as ‘self-fulfilling prophecies’, whilst others ignorantly claim that at least some of the prophecies were written after the fact.  

Therefore, to begin with, let’s dispel the latter or these claims. Firstly, the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which contained Hebrew versions of the Old Testament, proved through carbon dating that these were written long before the first century. More importantly, the New Testament writers quote exclusively from the Koine Greek Septuagint version (LXX) of the Old Testament which was translated from the Hebrew in the 2nd to 3rd centuries before Christ.

I will also point out that the prophecy in Isaiah 7:14 which states in the LXX that ‘The Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel’ is contested by Jewish scholars who claim the correct Hebrew word translated ‘virgin’ means simply ‘young woman’. Whether or not they are correct in this claim is quite irrelevant as it doesn’t change the fact that this was translated 2-300 years before the birth of Christ. To suggest that these translators were anticipating Christian theology is utterly ridiculous.

There are over 250 prophecies regarding Christ, so here I will present just a few for your consideration. I will offer questions after each prophecy and hope that some of you will offer your own explanation. If you decide to comment with a well-reasoned alternative explanation, I will endeavor to reply as time allows, however, if your comment is simply to brush this evidence aside with mockery and derogatory remarks, don’t expect a reply.

The first prophecy regarding Christ is found in the 3rd chapter of Genesis where God tells Satan,

‘I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and hers; he will crush your head and you will strike his heal’. (Genesis 3:15)

Two words are of central importance here, ‘seed’ and ‘head’. One may argue that Satan has no ‘offspring’, yet Scripture contradicts this argument claiming that the Nephilim, who ruled prior to the flood and afterward, especially in Canaan, were the offspring of fallen angels and women. But the claim of the woman’s seed is very challenging. Until the 19th century and the introduction of the study of genetics, women were considered to be the soil in which men planted their seed and the woman contributed nothing to the genealogy of the child. Yet the word ‘seed’ used in Genesis 3:15 is the same word used of seed (semen) of a man. The verse states categorically that the seed of a woman, not a man, would produce the one who destroyed Satan’s authority.

The word ‘head’ refers to authority and acknowledges that the seed of the woman would crush Satan’s authority over human mortality through His resurrection. My question for you is simply this: How did Moses, writing this around 1400 years before the birth of Christ, know that a woman’s seed, rather than a man’s, would produce this child who crush Satan’s authority?

Secondly there is the prophecy of where the Messiah would be born. Micah 5:2 reads:

And you, Bethlehem, house of Ephratha, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from eternity. (Micah 5:2)

This verse states the place where the Messiah would be born, and that His origins are eternal. According to Luke, Joseph travelled to Bethlehem in order to register for the census of Caesar Augustus and this was where Jesus was born. Scripture also records the human genealogy of Jesus as being from the tribe of Judah.

My question for you: How did the prophet Micah know where the eternal ruler of Israel would be born?

The third prophecy is long so I will divide it into three parts. This prophecy, delivered by Isaiah around 700BC is about one person whose body is beaten and tortured to the extent that he is beyond recognition and offered as a sacrifice for sin. He is killed and returns to life. I understand that some of you may have serious and even legitimate objections to the idea of offering an innocent man as a sacrifice for the guilty, and that is a topic I can address in the future. Here I simply wish for you to offer counter arguments as to who this prophecy refers to.

The first part of the prophecy is in a simple future tense.

13 See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. 14 Just as there were many who were appalled at him – his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form marred beyond human likeness – 15 so he will sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand. (Isaiah 52:13-15)

Please consider the following:

1. The tern to ‘act wisely’ means to act within the will of God and sets the stage for the rest of the prophecy.

2. ‘Raised, lifted up and highly exalted’ are connected and explained at the end of the prophecy. Christ warned His disciples that He would be raised and lifted up from the ground to die on a Roman cross, but because He lay down His life, He would be highly exalted, sitting down at the right hand of God.

3. People were appalled at the sight of him. It is believed that the Romans used the cat of nine tails when scourging Jesus, a whip which had nine lashes containing pottery and metal shards which dug into the skin, and when pulled back shredded the body, basically skinning the person alive. Pilate had hoped that this brutal punishment would satisfy the Jewish leaders, as he believed Christ was innocent, but the crowd called for Jesus to be crucified.

4. ‘Sprinkle many nations’. This term is about atonement and blood covenant. When the Jews were brought out of Egypt and made a covenant with God at Mount Sinai, Moses sprinkled the blood of a sacrifice over them. Christ’s blood was not just for the Jews, but for the whole world.

5. Future kings will one day understand who He was and is.

Isaiah continues. Please note there were no chapter or verse divisions in the original manuscript. Also, note the change in tense from ‘will’ (future) to ‘was’ (past). 

53:1 Who has believed our message and to whom has it been revealed? 2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. 4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We like sheep have gone stray, each of us have turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. (Isaiah 53:1-7)

Please note the following.

6. Verse 1 points to the unbelief of people and then seeks to explain their unbelief.

7. Verse 2 states that He grew up before God as a normal vulnerable human being and that there was nothing about His appearance that would make people believe He was special in any way.

8. Verse 3 begins with a general statement and introduces the suffering of Christ on the cross.

9. He was despised and held in low esteem as He was crucified as a common criminal.

10. He was ‘pierced’ for our transgressions. The word ‘pierced’ is also used in Psalm 22:16 regarding the crucifixion with more detail where it states ‘they have pierced my hands and my feet’. The rest of the verse speaks of the concept of atonement for sin, the purpose that Christ was crucified. By His wounds we can be made whole.

11. People have chosen to demand our independence and go our own way. God the Father has laid upon Christ our sin.

12. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. Every year the Jews had to bring a lamb without spot or blemish to be slaughtered on their behalf. The lamb took their sin and died in their place, but this was a temporary covenant which pointed to Christ. John the Baptist whose ministry was to prepare people for Christ, said of Jesus ‘behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world’. The rest of verse 7 is simply stating that Christ did not try to defend Himself.

13. The tense has changed from ‘he will’ to ‘he was’ and will change back to ‘he will’ yet it is obvious we are speaking of the same individual. There are two perspectives of time being expressed by God in these verses. Firstly, from His walking in time with us and pointing to a future event some 700 years from this prophecy. 

    Secondly, from God’s perspective outside of time where He can experience future events for us, as if they have already occurred. This is a deep and difficult topic to grasp and discussed in my video entitled ‘the foreknowledge of God’ regarding these prophecies.

Isaiah continues.

8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation considered? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. 9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet is was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. 11 After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils among the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered among the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:8-12) 

Consider the following.

14. Oppression and judgment. The fake trial of the Pharisees during the night of His arrest and judgment by Pilate the next day. Yet who of His own generation considered that He was killed as a punishment for the transgressions of God’s people.

15. Verse 9. The words grave and death are synonymous here. He was assigned a death with the wicked, being crucified between two common criminals, but a rich man, Joseph of Arimathea buried Him in his own tomb. The rest of the verse declares His innocence.

16. Verse 10 marks the change again in tenses. It was God’s plan for Him to die and suffer for the sin of the guilty as an offering for sin. As a result He will see His offspring, those who will become children of God by faith and take His place as Lord to carry out the will of God.

17. After He has suffered death he will ‘see the light of life’ and be satisfied. Literally, after he has died He will resurrected and know He has accomplished God’s will, as per His last words on the cross, ‘it is accomplished’. Because of His sacrifice many will be justified, (declared not guilty) by faith that He has taken their sins upon Himself.

18. Verse 12 in the original (LXX) states, ‘He will inherit many and divide the spoils among the mighty’. This is typical victory language. The last part of the verse again repeats that He ‘poured out His life unto death, was numbered as a sinner in order to bear the sins of many and make intercession for sinners. The word intercession means to stand between sinners and the holiness of God as a mediator or advocate. The thought here is that those who place their lives in His hands will be considered not guilty as He has paid the punishment for their sin.

My questions for you are as follows.

1. In a previous video regarding the resurrection I pointed out that the Jewish mindset could not conceive that their promised Messiah could be killed, let alone crucified as a common criminal. Some years ago my wife and I were waiting at the boarding gate in Tel Aviv for our flight back to Ukraine. I saw a Jewish rabbi dressed in his robes sitting alone and had always wanted to ask such a person how they interpret the verses I have just gone through. I feared he may be very defensive, but he was happy to speak with me. His reply was, ‘we do not accept that our Messiah could be killed and we are forbidden to teach on these verses’. I politely asked him if he considered the person called ‘the Anointed One’ in Daniel 9 to be the Messiah and he said yes. How then, I asked, do you explain that Daniel 9:26 states that this Anointed One will be put to death. He replied politely, ‘I cannot, but this is where we stand. We are still waiting for our Messiah’.

If these verses are not speaking about Jesus Christ, then who could they possibly refer to?  

I would like to have had time to go through Psalm 22 and many other passages as there are about 200 more prophecies we could discuss. And please remember. I am not asking you to agree with the message of atonement, sin, sacrifice and the death of the innocent these prophecies contain. 

God bless