Miracle that Proves Scriptures True!

Advent 2024!  Prepare your hearts for Jesus! #miracles #christmasblog

Did you know that God used a Muslim shepherd teenage boy to discover one of the greatest scripture treasures of all time? 

Did you know that discovery happened in our lifetime, in the winter of 1946/7!? 

The ancient scriptures the Muslim shepherd teenager found are THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS.  Did you know that Gentile shepherd boy was from a Bedouin tribe that resided in Bethlehem?  Helloooo, that’s the birthplace of Jesus!!!?
 
Romans 3:29- Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,
 
Muhammed edh-Dhib was his name, and he noticed some caves while looking for one of his flock that had wandered away!  Hello…….. a shepherd looking for a wandering sheep…
 
In the search, he threw a rock into a cave to see if the lost one was hiding in it.  Instead, he heard shattering of pottery, and left to get his cousin to explore further together.  “Upon return Dhib retrieved broken and whole jars and fragments of scrolls. Of the intact jars, edh-Dhib found all but two empty; one was filled with reddish earth, and the other with a parchment scroll (later found to be the Great Isaiah Scroll)… (others found but you didn’t grab that quote)” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaiah_Scroll
 
Think about that… God used a 16-year-old Muslim shepherd boy from Bethlehem to uncover ancient Jewish scrolls, 2k years after he died and rose, that pre-date the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem! Through the eyes of many experts, those scrolls have been verified.  The scriptures match our current Old Testament scriptures in modern day bibles! 
 
God is still proving His Word true and still choosing the humble to find the hidden treasure!
 
There are over 300 prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament, which is made up of 39 books.  Some of the best-known prophecies are within the book of Isaiah.  Isaiah received 20 something major prophecies about the coming Jewish Messiah, which includes God sending a sign…
 
Isaiah 7:14-  Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and[c] will call him Immanuel.
 
Prior to their discovery, the earliest surviving copies of the Hebrew Bible dated to around 1000 C.E. Compare that to NT manuscripts which number over 5K and date as far back as a fragment from 125AD.  The Old Testament needed some verification!
 
So in 1947, it is significant that the first 7 Dead Sea scrolls were found by the teen Bedouin shepherd, one year by the way before Israel was recognized as a nation once again. And, it just so happens that one of those 7 was the complete Book of Isaiah!  Through carbon dating of the animal skin parchment and paleographic scribal dating (handwriting analysis), experts agree… let me repeat… experts agree that the date of the Isaiah scroll ranged between 356 and 103 BCE and 150–100 BCE respectively.  This would be up to almost 350 years before Jesus was born!
 
Why am I emphasizing that?  Because it verifies our current Bible.  Dr. Norman Geisler, a renowned philosopher, theologian, apologist, in his book “When Skeptics Ask”, he addresses the significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls.  He writes, “One scholar observed that the two copies of Isaiah found in the Qumran caves, ‘proved to be word-for-word identical with our standard Hebrew bible in more than 95% of the text.  The 5 percent variation consisted chiefly of obvious slips of the pen and variations in spelling.’”
 
God cannot lie. God preserved His Word! 
 
Hebrews 6:18- so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.
 
As mentioned, in Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah foretells that God would send a miraculous sign… the promised Son would be born of a virgin and he would be named Emmanuel. 
 
Matthew and Luke record the prophecy coming true.  They tell the account of Mary as a virgin impregnated by the Holy Spirit.  See Matthew 1:18...-
 
This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.
 
You can also read a longer account by Luke who represents Mary’s lineage and her account.  See 1:26-38.
 
People argue against the virgin birth, saying it’s impossible to prove.  It's not a strong argument since Isaiah has amazing prophecies beyond the virgin birth!  You have to look at the whole picture.  Here are just a few more prophecies…
 
Isaiah 40, God himself is speaking.  He declares that He’s coming.  He reveals there would be a prophetic forerunner,
 
A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
    the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert
    a highway for our God
 
Who’s the forerunner? John the Baptist.  He is the other miracle baby born through the old, barren couple Zechariah and Elizabeth, relatives of Mary, not Joseph.  See Luke 1:5-25, 57-80. 
 
In Isaiah 40:6- Isaiah captures the beginning conversation of God and John the Baptist…
 
A voice says, “Cry out.”
    And I said, “What shall I cry?”
 
Luke 1:80- And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.
 
Luke, Matthew and Mark reference Isaiah’s forerunner prophecy of John the Baptist.  God speaking in Isaiah 40… John the Baptist is to declare that God was coming, Isaiah 40:3! 
 
 Isaiah 40:9 “Here is your God!”
 
And what is the famous line of John the Baptist?  "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"
 
John 1:29- The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
 
He was told to say that in Isaiah chapter 40.
 
You also hear the voice of Jesus in Isaiah 40.  He says there is no other god to whom you can compare me, Isaiah 40:25-26.
 
 25“To whom will you compare me?
    Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
    Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
    and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
    not one of them is missing.
 
Colossians 1:15-16- The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 
 
John 1:1-3- In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
 
The One who spoke all things into being by His powerful breath, Isaiah chapter 40, God says “I’m coming”!
 
Here are more descriptions in Isaiah chapter 40 of the God who was coming- Your God (v1), The LORD (v3), our God (v3), glory of the Lord will be revealed (v5), breath of the Lord (v7), your God (v9), Sovereign LORD coming in power (v10), Good Shepherd (v11), Creator (v12), Spirit of the Lord (v13), All Knowing One (v15), Creator & Ruler of all (v15), Everything (v17), The Enthroned One who is the Creator (v22), King of All (v23), the Holy One (v25), Creator of the starry host and heavens (v26), the Lord, the Everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth (v28), the Helper of the weak (v29-30).
 
Isaiah also prophecies the exact geographic location of the Messiah’s home which would be in Galilee, Isaiah 9:1-2. 
 
1 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan--
2 The people walking in darkness
    have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
    a light has dawned.
 
Isaiah prophecies that the Messiah would perform miracles.  Isaiah 35:4-6.
 
4 say to those with fearful hearts,
    “Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
    he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
    he will come to save you.”                 (NT fulfillment- Matthew 1:21)
5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened.   (See John 9:1-41, Mark 8:22-26)
    and the ears of the deaf unstopped.            (See Mark 7:31-37)
6 Then will the lame leap like a deer,                (See Luke 5:17-26)
    and the mute tongue shout for joy.             (See Mark 9:25)
 
Matthew 15:29-31 Jesus went on from there and walked beside the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain and sat down there. And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them, so that the crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.

And the last part of Isaiah 35:6… Water will gush forth in the wilderness
    and streams in the desert.
 
Fulfillment- John 7:38- Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.
 
Let’s keep going!  Here is another famous, mind blowing prophecy by Isaiah- Isaiah 9:6-7.
 
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.
 
Isaiah tells us in chapter 52 that The Servant sent is “marred, beyond human semblance” (Is. 52:14). 
 
Isaiah chapter 53, Isaiah receives revelation that the Messiah would be despised, rejected, persecuted, silent before his accusers, spit upon, beaten, hated without reason, numbered as a transgressor, but without sin, taking upon himself your sins, my sins, the sins of all people.  Isaiah prophesied that this was the will of God for His Son to bear the sins of all people.  He prophesied Jesus being raised from the dead, that he would see the labour of His soul and be satisfied. 
 
How anointed was Isaiah?  And how amazing is it that in our lifetime God sends a teenage, Gentile, Bedouin Muslim shepherd from Bethlehem to discover the Great Isaiah scroll, as he is looking for one of his lost goats? 
 
Pay attention to that last detail.  He wasn’t seeking a lost sheep, but a lost goat.  Goats in scripture represent Gentiles!
 
Isaiah 56:6-7 “Also the sons of the foreigner
Who join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him,
And to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants--
Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath,
And holds fast My covenant--
7 Even them I will bring to My holy mountain,
And make them joyful in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
Will be accepted on My altar;
For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.” (did you know that 50K of 75K mosques have closed in Iran because of the explosion of Christianity?). https://www.crosswalk.com/headlines/contributors/michael-foust/1-million-muslims-in-iran-have-turned-to-christ-as-50000-mosques-closed.html
 
Unbelievers like to boldly say things like “Jesus was a myth.”  “You can’t prove Jesus lived.”  “The bible is made-up.”  “The bible is full of errors.”  “Jesus was a cult leader.”  “Christians are blind fools believing in a fairy-tale.” 
 
Foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish.
 
Psalm 14:1- Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good!
 
The truth is, the Bible can be scrutinized.  Don’t listen to corrupt, heretical teachers like Bart Ehrman.  His ridiculous arguments can be overcome pretty easily.
 
It just takes concentrated intellectual rigour over the scriptures like I’m doing with you right now.  But I didn’t start here.  I started with a childlike approach.  I humbled myself and prayed, “Jesus show me who you are.”  It’s the simple ones with childlike questions, those with a desire to know God’s will that the LORD will answer, and reveal deep mysteries.
 
John 7:17- Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.  – JESUS
 
The false… argue and deny.  The true… seek and find Him.
 
This is Day 1 of 7 days of preparing your hearts for Jesus.  I hope helps you approach the biblical account of Jesus’ birth with great awe and reverence for our Everlasting Father who watches over His word to perform it, through all ages! 
 
Maranatha!  Come Lord Jesus!!!