Now let’s summarise what we have calculated in our estimates. We have gone through and assigned a probability factor to each of these eight distinct prophecies. The probabilities listed are based on one person fulfilling each of these events individually from a new population sample each time. What happens if one person fulfilled all eight prophecies? It is clear from the readings from Psalm 22 that these three prophecies were fulfilled by one and the same person.
My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs; an evil gang closes in on me.
They have pierced my hands and feet. I can count all my bones. My enemies stare at me and gloat.
They divide my garments among themselves and throw dice for my clothing.
Psalm 22:16-18
If we were to consider the three prophecies from Psalm 22 above to be fulfilled by the same person then we have to take the probability factors we have calculated for the Psalm 22 prophecies and combine them. To do that we have to take each one of those probabilities for the last three prophecies and work them out to the power of 10. So Prophecy Six 100,000 becomes 105, for Prophecy Seven 10,000 becomes 104 and for Prophecy Eight 1,000 becomes 103. To calculate the chance of all three prophecies being fulfilled by the same person we must add the integers of the powers of ten. In the case of the three prophecies from Psalm 22 it would be 105+4+3 = 1012. I am sure you get the idea.
Well, let’s apply the same principle to all eight prophecies we have covered thus far. Afterall, that is not a strange thing to do because all eight prophecies were fulfilled by Jesus Christ.
The Probabilities for Eight Prophecies Converted to a Power of Ten
The Eight Prophecies | Probability | Converted to a Power of 10 |
Prophecy One | 1:1000 | 103 |
Prophecy Two | 1:100 | 102 |
Prophecy Three | 1:10000 | 104 |
Prophecy Four | 1:100000 | 105 |
Prophecy Five | 1:10 | 101 |
Prophecy Six | 1:100000 | 105 |
Prophecy Seven | 1:10000 | 104 |
Prophecy Eight | 1:1000 | 103 |
All Eight Prophecies | 103+2+4+5+1+5+4+3 | 1027 |
One chance in 10 multiplied by itself 27 times. In other words 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000!
Count the zeroes, there are 27 zeroes in that number; nine sets of three digits. I can’t even say the number. During my time presenting the God’s Awesome Book seminar, I would ask mathematicians in the audience, “Please tell me how to say the number. I would love to be able to tell audiences how to say that number.” They said, “We don’t say the number as a number. It is too big. We just say ‘ten to the 27th power’ or ‘ten to the 27th’.
For the next step in this series I then took the calculations of the first set of eight prophecies and doubled them, resulting in a total probability factor of 1054. Some mathematicians criticised me for the concept of repeating the first set of eight and doubling it. They say you can’t do that; you have to work out the probabilities for each distinct prophecy. I knew that from my statistics course at university but thought I could get away with it in the interests of keeping it simple. But to satisfy the mathematical purists, they all had to be discrete events requiring the sample to be taken from an open ended population sample. That requires me to apply the principles I have used in coming up with the first set of eight to a second set of eight. That is what I will begin to do with the prophecy chosen for the next Nugget.
There is a very significant point to be made at the end of us working our way through the second set of prophecies.
Watch this space!