In part 1 I went over the significance of Bethlehem, Psalm 2 (A Son to Please and Rule), Psalm 22 (The Forsaken Servant) and Jeremiah 31 (The New Covenant). This week I want to continue talking about Yeshua from the old testament (aka Tenakh) covering the words of Prophet Isaiah and what he said in several chapters. My hope is this video gets seen by many Jewish friends.
Note: sorry for poor audio. I will re-record at some point in time.
— A Child is Born to Rule and Rein (Is. 9 & 11)
This is part 2 to Christ, Messiah of the Jews. Here we look at the words of Prophet Isaiah and contrast that to the new covenant.
Isaiah 9 starts out talking about Galilee of the Nations. Matthew even quotes from Isaiah:
Matt. 4:15-16: The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.
This includes spiritual darkness, cut off from the promises given to Moses and the Children of Abraham. The land beyond the Jordan really means beyond or on the other side of the Jordan. It does not specify east or north or west but beyond. Geographically Galilee is west and north of the Jordan but represents one stuck in darkness because the Gentiles were without a hope and a future. A note on Stack Exchange says the land was the decapolis, the 10 cities where Yeshua preached. At the time of Isaiah this area was controlled by Syria and at the time of Yeshua by the Romans.
Remember that the Assyrian king brought foreign populations into Samaria, replacing the northern tribes of Israel who had been exiled, leading to the origin of the Samaritans and other groups (2 Ki. 17:24). It is to this gentile region the announcement is made for people residing in spiritual darkness. So while Yeshua is known as the King of the Jews his humble beginnings pointed to something even greater.
Is. 9:6:: For to us a child is born,to us a son (ben) is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder…
Again we are speaking of a son being born. This is not an ordinary son, it is one who shall rule on the throne of King David:
Of the increase of his government and of 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 with righteousness
But this word is not isolated and gives us a subtle warning:
Is. 9:8:: The Lord has sent a word against Jacob, and it will fall on Israel;
The Lord sent death upon Jacob, and it came upon Israel (LXX).
dabar is heabrew and is a word but thánaton is in the greek Septuigint and means death. So it is a word against Jacob of judgement. It is against Jacob but falls against all of Israel, including Ephraim and Samaria.
If I am correct on my eschatalogical views this means both Jew and Christian:
Is. 9:9-10:: all the people will know, Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,
who say in pride and in arrogance of heart ‘The bricks have fallen,but we will build with dressed stones; the sycamores have been cut down, but we will put cedars in their place’.
Verse 10 has been quoted by leaders after the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center
Even today we often hear President Trump speaking in an arrogant tone so these words of Isaiah are still fully in play. Do you not know that the current situation with Iran is all about the end of the age? I guess I am prophesying now…
we read about the enemies of Rezin in verse 9/11. This was Tiglath-Pileser III who annexed Syria and eventually set up his capitals in Asshur and Ninevah (Iraq). Eventually the Babylonians overthrew the Assyrians.
Is. 11:1-2:: There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
The stump of Jesse and a branch from his roots spells out in the lineage of King David.
Is. 11:10:: In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.
The signal represents something lifted up and can represent a banner. Yeshua was lifted up upon the cross to represent to us completion of the Law and forgiveness of sins. When Joshua defeated Amalak then Moses built an altar and called it ‘Jehovah Nissi’ meaning the Lord is My Banner (Ex. 17:15). The defeat of Amalek represents the people of God overcoming sinful nations and is a bit more of prophesying.
— A Man of Sorrows and Afflictions (Is. 51)
Listen to these passages in Isaiah:
Is. 53:3-5:: He was despised and rejected[forsaken] by men,
a man of sorrows[pains] and acquainted with[fn] grief [or sickness]
and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
Who was despised and rejected? The verb (bāzâ) is in the masculine singular. It is not about a group of people it is about one person. When it says we did not esteem him it points to a person rejected in the hebrew. When it says he has borne our griefs it really says ‘he’ and ‘himself’ meaning ONE bore our griefs. It is not a group of people, only one.
It is for our iniquities he was pierced upon the cross.
ḥālal (kwaw-lal) actually has two meanings: 1) to profane (pual) or 2) to be slain (pual)
This verb stem translated pierced means to both to profane and be slain. So neither pierced nor wounded express the exact meaning of this phrase. Other verb stems speak of pollution or defilement or desecration. Yeshua was made for us sin upon the cross (2 Cor. 5:21). He was slain. This was a sacrifice for us. God even turned his face away from Yeshua on the cross because he was the epitomy of disguist and rejection unto the Father. Incidently, this verb sounds an awful lot like the Arabic term halal which is foods permissable in Islam.
So how was he crushed for our iniquities?
dāḵā’ (daw-kaw’) means to be crushed, be shattered or to be made contrite
It is for our iniquities he was crushed by the weight of his own body.
Philippians 2:8 states ‘being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!’. It was a common practice to crucify people with no clothes on. Yeshua had no plant or animal skins to cover himself.
Additionally,
Is. 53:10:: Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush (dāḵā’) him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt (asam)
Yeshua in essence became our guilt or trespass offering. When Yeshua prayed in the Garden of Gathsemene his first prayer being ‘if it be possible, take this cup (of suffering) from me, nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will’. His second and third prayers said ‘my Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done’. Can you image Yeshua asking the father to crush him and humble him in such as shameful manner?