Biblical prophecies are often taken as evidence of the inspired nature of the Bible. But in religious circles, they are interpreted uncritically. If you do a Google search using the term "Biblical prophecies" you will find millions of pages, sometimes listing hundreds of fulfilled prophecies that supposedly prove the existence of the Christian God. What is completely missing from these pages, is the word "criterion" or the plural "criteria". How does one determine which verses should be understood as prophecies? These pages are not based on a critical analysis of the biblical material but on religious assumptions about the Bible's infallibility and accuracy. The only criterion is free association, accompanied by the assumption that everything the Bible says happened as described. Nothing in the Bible is ever just made to seem. If a prophecy is mentioned on page 1, its fulfillment on page 2, that in itself proves prophetic accuracy.

This uncritical approach presupposes what it seeks to prove - biblical inerrancy. It is very easy to prove prophetic fulfillments in this way. It is like reading horoscopes. You use the vague descriptions of upcoming events as a template for your own experience. If you wait long enough, something will occur that fits those descriptions. When something from the horoscope comes to pass, you take note of it. If something happens that does not fit, ignore it. After all, it does not have to be a perfect fit. Hits, you take note of. Misses, you ignore. One way to describe this concept is that if we expect something to happen a certain way, our expectations will tend to cause it to be so. But what if you had to prove the idea that the positions of stellar objects affect human personality to someone who is critical of it?

One cannot prove the phenomenon of prophecy simply by reading the Bible, just as one cannot prove the reality of astrology by reading  horoscopes. One must look at the evidence based on well-defined criteria. The prophecy must have been written down before the event it describes. It must also be unambiguous, recognizable from the context as a prophecy, and improbable. A prophetic fulfillment cannot be derived from conjecture. The prophecy must not be self-fulfilling: It must not lead its proponents to seek the prophesied outcome. To convince someone who is not already convinced, prophecies must be analyzed and scrutinized in detail.

Prophecies cannot simply draw logical conclusions from the available information. The conclusion "It will to rain" from a darkened sky does not qualify as a prophecy. It lacks surprise. Surprise is why prophecies are considered evidence of God in the first place - man could not have known something if he had only used reason. Jesus' prediction of the destruction of the Jewish temple in 70 (Mark 13:2) is only made to seem like a prophecy - the words were put into his mouth after the destruction of the temple. The Christian apologist C.S. Lewis complained about this "assumption of modernism":

"Any statement put into Our Lord’s mouth by the old texts, which, if He had really made it, would constitute a prediction of the future, is taken to have been put in after the occurrence which it seemed to predict.”

Is it likely that he would have taken this attitude if he had been shown Muslim prophecies written down long after the events to which the prophecy refers? Similarly, there are Muslim prophecies about their conquests against their enemies, such as Byzantium and Persia, and about  later Muslim rule. These are all written down long after the events they supposedly prophecy. If C.S. were here, he would probably interpret this as "retrophecy".

Jesus’ alleged prophecy about the destruction of the Jewish temple could be classified as a logical conclusion. Jesus knew how the Jews felt about the Roman rule in Palestine. He knew about other Messiah figures before him. He knew the ruthlessness of the Romans. He could have inferred or warned about the destruction of the temple if the Jews rebelled. The Romans, of course, would hit the Jews where it hurt the most.

The fulfillment of a prophecy cannot be something that is in one's own hands. According to the Gospels, Jesus predicted his own death and spoke of it in advance (Mark.8:31–33, Mark.14:27-28, Matt.16:21–28, Luke.9:22–27, Mark.9:30–32, Matt.17:22–23, Matt. 20:17–19). We don't know with absolute certainty if these are his own words. But this is something that was under Jesus' control. He probably had some idea of what was happening to Messianic candidates in his day. Yet, he preached the kingdom of God in occupied Roman territory and brought crucifixion on himself. He could have just fled the scene and avoided it.

The birth of Israel is often portrayed as the fulfillment of the prophecy of the birth of Israel in 1948. In the prophetic books of Isaiah and Ezekiel  Israel is prophesied to become a nation again (Ezekiel 37:10-14; Isaiah 66:7-8.) Many Old Testament prophets have promised the return of Israel, which was announced several decades ago after World War II. However, it is clear to biblical scholars that the Old Testament prophecies were not intended to make predictions far into the future. The prophets dealt with specific, social, political, and religious situations in ancient Judah and Israel. They dealt with the immediate, not distant, future.

There is no reason to believe that any of the biblical prophets knew that Israel would be reborn in 1948. Let us imagine that there is someone who prophesies about a war between Russia and Europe in our time. This person makes all kinds of prophecies about how Russia will conquer the whole of Europe. But the war in Ukraine dies out, and eventually, the situation fizzles out. Now, let us fast-forward 25 centuries in time to the year 4500: coincidentally, Russia conquers Europe. Looking back, would people in the year 4500 say that this person foresaw events thousands of years in the future?

The Suffering Servant

The book of Isaiah is believed to have been written in three redactions. Second Isaiah consists of chapters 40–55 and contains the closest parallels to the Christian story of Jesus. Second Isaiah represents the work of a school of Israelite priests or scholars who subscribed to the ideas espoused by Isaiah of Jerusalem. The Second Isaiah contains the "Servant songs" which are thought to be a prophecy about Jesus (42:1–4; 49:1–6; 50:4–9; 52:13–53:12).

Scholars agree that the "Suffering Servant" is the author's own group and audience, namely the Judeans in Babylonian captivity. The theme of suffering arises from the prophet's own understanding of the significance of the recent tragic history of his people. The “Servant songs” develop an extended theodicy of exile. The social and historical context of Second Isaiah is set in a later period (ca. 539), probably shortly after Babylon is captured by King Cyrus of Persia. It prepares the Jewish exiles in Babylon for their return to their land (ca.539–535).¹

In some passages, such as 49:3, Israel is clearly identified as the servant. “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.”" Isaiah 49:3.

In others, such as 53:2–5, the suffering servant appears to be an individual. This individual is not Jesus, but Israel, and in particular the exilic community. In many verses, Israel is mentioned in the singular; Exodus 4:22, Hosea 8:3, Hosea 11:1, Hosea 14:5-6, Psalm 130:8, Jeremiah 48:27, Jeremiah 50:19, Exodus 19:2.

There are also many verses that refer to Israel's enemies, (41:8-9, 44:1-2, 44:21, 45:4, 48:20). There are dozens of references to Assyria.

"Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger,."Isaiah.10:5. It is clear that Isaiah assumes that the reader understands the context. Several dozen chapters assume that the Suffering Servant is Israel. Isaiah defines Israel as the Servant a dozen times in the book and never gives a different definition. Jesus certainly wasn't deaf and blind as depicted in verse 42:19. These verses correspond very well with the nation of Israel that was overrun by its more powerful enemies during the few centuries before Jesus. There is no reason to think that these few chapters of Isaiah talk about the future Messiah.