Bethlehem, yet that had been written centuries before by one of the minor prophets,

Micah, and Bethlehem, he tells us, was so small it was least of the thousands of Judah; in

its district it was smallest, the least-known. When Joshua made a survey of the land

centuries before, it was not even mentioned. And yet out of that obscure place, that tiny

village, came the Lord Jesus Christ, the One who would be "the Governor of My people

Israel", whose goings forth have been from everlasting". How did Micah know this,

centuries before, infallibly pin-pointing the place? When you read Psa. 22: you have

there a graphic description of death by crucifixion, but death by crucifixion was not

practiced by the Jews in David's day.

Not only that, but do you realize that in the twenty-four hours leading up to the

crucifixion, there were at least thirteen prophecies, written in the O.T. centuries before,

and fulfill to the last letter on that day? The O.T. definitely stated that His disciples were

to forsake Him, and the N.T. tells us that this was a fact "His disciples forsook Him and

fled". Then the O.T. had foretold us that He was to be dumb before His accusers--so He

was! It was stated there that He was to be wounded and bruised--and this was so from

the terrible lashings and scourgings that He underwent. The O.T. foretold that His hands

and His feet were to be pierced (Psa. 22:), and they were so literally, and yet no bone of

Him was to be broken. When the soldiers came to break the legs of the thieves crucified

with the Lord, you may remember how they hesitated and stopped when they came to the

Lord Jesus Christ. What made them stop do you think? Did these Roman soldiers know

anything about what had been written in the O.T. centuries before? Certainly not! but

God had written it and God saw to it that His Word was fulfilled to the letter "not a bone

of Him shall be broken".

Then it was stated that He was to be crucified with thieves; so He was, one on either

side of Him. He was to pray for His persecutors, and so He did: "Father, forgive them

for they know not what they do." The people were to come to mock and ridicule Him, so

they did, the leaders especially! "Let Him now come down from the cross, He can save

others let Him save Himself", that is what He had thrown in His teeth by them. And then

the O.T. foretold that they were to cast lots for His coat. It was evidently a coat of great

value; all in one piece, we are told. The soldiers said, "Don't let us tear it; let us cast

lots so that one has it in one whole piece". Did they realize that they were fulfilling

Scripture that had been written centuries before? No, but they were! "They cast lots for

my vesture", the O.T. had predicted. The very words which He cried on the cross had

been written in Psa. 22:, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me". He was to

have gall and vinegar offered Him to drink and they did offer it to Him, literally. His side

was to be pierced: instead of breaking His legs the soldiers pierced His side. And the

O.T. had stated that He was to be buried in a rich man's tomb. Now we want to remind

the reader that all these things were fulfilled literally in twenty-four hours, and they were

all written hundreds of years before the event! One of those predictions thus fulfilled,

would have been remarkable, but when one realizes that there were at least thirteen of

them fulfilled to the letter it surely becomes overwhelming to any reasonable mind that

here we have not just clever human guesswork, but the sure Word of God. Only God

knows the future infallibly and only He could communicate these things to the O.T.

writers, and that is exactly what we find happened.