Prophecies That Came True
Month 1: Why We Trust the Bible · Why We Believe
Today's Scripture
Read together: Isaiah 53:4-6
4 Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. 6 We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.
Memory Verse
“This Book of the Law must not depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in all you do.”— Joshua 1:8 (BSB)
📖 Bible-in-a-Year (optional)
Today's reading: John 9-12
Reading the whole Bible in a year — do this when you have extra time. (Jesus heals a blind man and raises Lazarus from the dead.)The Heart of It
Imagine someone wrote a detailed story about you. They wrote what you'd do, how you'd suffer, and how people would treat you. And they wrote it seven hundred years before you were born. That's what is. The prophet Isaiah described someone "pierced for our transgressions" and "crushed for our iniquities." This person carried our sorrows and was treated like a criminal, even though He did nothing wrong. Isaiah wrote it centuries before Jesus walked the earth. Yet it reads like an eyewitness report of the cross. Pierced, silent before His accusers, dying among sinners, buried in a rich man's tomb (). Every line came true in Jesus.
This is one of the strongest reasons we trust the Bible. The Old Testament holds dozens of specific predictions about the Messiah. It tells where He'd be born (), how He'd die, and even that He'd rise again. And Jesus fulfilled them all. No human can reliably predict the future in such detail. Only God can say "the end from the beginning" (). Fulfilled prophecy is like God signing His name on the Bible, showing it really came from Him. So when we say Scripture is God-breathed, we're not just hoping. God left evidence we can actually check.
Around the Table
A long, long time before Jesus was born, God told Isaiah what Jesus would do. And it all came true! God always keeps His promises.
Let's do it: Hold up all ten fingers. That's how many hundreds of years early Isaiah wrote about Jesus! Now give God a clap for keeping His word.
Isaiah described Jesus' suffering centuries before it happened. People can't predict the future like that. But God can, because He sees everything.
Let's talk: If a book predicted exactly what would happen hundreds of years later, what would that tell you about where the book came from?
was written roughly 700 years before Jesus. We even have copies older than Jesus, so no one could have snuck the details in afterward. The exact details are the point. God shows His Word is true through prophecy that comes true.
Let's go deeper: Skeptics sometimes say the predictions were written after the fact. How does the age of the manuscripts answer that?
💬 Conversation Starter
If you could know one true thing about tomorrow, what would you want to know? Only God knows the future for sure. And He wrote some of it down ahead of time!
🛡️ Defending the Faith
When someone says, "Anyone could have just made those prophecies fit Jesus later," you can kindly answer that we have copies of Isaiah from before Jesus was born. They are the Dead Sea Scrolls. So the predictions were locked in centuries early, with no editing allowed. And many details were completely out of Jesus' control, like where He'd be born or how He'd die. Detailed predictions that come true point to a God who knows the future. Share it with a smile and respect. Never do it to win an argument, but to point a friend to Jesus ().
For Dad · Go Deeper
Fulfilled prophecy is one of the most underused gifts apologetics gives a family, because it's concrete. You can lay an Old Testament prediction beside a New Testament fulfillment and let your kids see the match for themselves. But guard the heart behind it. isn't merely a debate-winning proof. It's the gospel. "The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (v. 6). Aim past intellectual conviction to worship. A child who is only impressed that the Bible is accurate has missed the point. We want them undone that the suffering Servant bore their sin. Let evidence open the door, but lead them through it to the cross.
Draws on: Sean McDowell & Josh McDowell, Evidence That Demands a Verdict.
Let's Pray Together
"Father, thank You that Your Word is true and that You keep every promise. Thank You that Jesus was pierced for us. Help us trust Your Word. And help us love the Savior it points to. In Jesus' name, amen."
God wrote about Jesus centuries early, and it all came true. His Word can be trusted.