"But He was for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5).
Everything about who Jesus is and what would happen while He was here on earth was written down by the prophets of the Old Testament. Everything regarding Israel is written and what would become of her is there as well.
Do you think any of these men understand those things of which they wrote? Did isaiah have any special revelation? After all, there is an awful in the book of Isaiah lot about Jesus.
No. None of them knew or had full understanding of their promised Messiah. Some parts of their prophecies paint a picture of a glorious, conquering King while others speak of a suffering Messiah. Well, what would He be? A conquering King or a suffering Messiah? They were all very confused about this. Nobody knew which was which. Why?
Isaiah penned the above passage but he was not the author. He was acting as one of God’s Jewish “secretaries," if you will. Like all the prophets of old, he simply wrote down what The Holy Spirit told him to; but none of them ever really had a full revelation of what they were writing.
You can see why they were confused. They didn't realize, first of all, that there would be a first and second coming. In His first coming Jesus would suffer and die for our sins. It was hidden from them because, among other things, God knew that Israel would reject Jesus. The Jewish people didn't understand that, If they had accepted Him, He's The One Who would have become their conquering Messiah!
At one point during His ministry on earth, Jesus went to visit in His hometown of Nazareth. On the Sabbath, He got up and read from the scroll of Isaiah. Let's follow the story:
At one point during His ministry on earth, Jesus went to visit in His hometown of Nazareth. On the Sabbath, He got up and read from the scroll of Isaiah. Let's follow the story:
“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.” Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant...."(Luke 4:18-20)
Jesus closed the scroll and handed it back to the attendant and sat down. But if you turn to this passage in Isaiah you'll notice He didn't read the rest of verse 2. Isaiah went on to write these words: "And the day of vengeance of our God..." Jesus left off that part and stopped at the comma. Why?
Jesus closed the scroll and handed it back to the attendant and sat down. But if you turn to this passage in Isaiah you'll notice He didn't read the rest of verse 2. Isaiah went on to write these words: "And the day of vengeance of our God..." Jesus left off that part and stopped at the comma. Why?
Isaiah, like the rest of the Jewish people, didn't know that between the "year of favor" and "the day of vengeance" would be a span of than 2,000 years.....and counting. Jesus closed the book on FAVOR because He came as the Lamb of God, as Savior in His first coming, not as the Lion/Judge. We are still in that age of grace!
THANK GOD HE CLOSED THE BOOK! This means that the day of vengeance is not here.....yet. So, when someone talks to you about judgment or sings about "the days of vengeance of our God" in song, that God is judging the nations, judging this person or those people, DON'T BELIEVE THEM! We are still in the dispensation of grace. Yes, there will come a day of vengeance, but it is not yet. Besides, Church, when it does come, you need I will not be here to see it. We will be sitting down with Jesus at the marriage feast of the Lamb!
THANK GOD HE CLOSED THE BOOK! This means that the day of vengeance is not here.....yet. So, when someone talks to you about judgment or sings about "the days of vengeance of our God" in song, that God is judging the nations, judging this person or those people, DON'T BELIEVE THEM! We are still in the dispensation of grace. Yes, there will come a day of vengeance, but it is not yet. Besides, Church, when it does come, you need I will not be here to see it. We will be sitting down with Jesus at the marriage feast of the Lamb!
The same confusion between the conquering King and the suffering Messiah is also evident here in Isaiah 9:6.
"For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
"For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
Between "the child born" and the "government upon His shoulder," Isaiah had no way of knowing that it would be than 2,000+ years between those two events. He simply wrote down what God told him to write.
Please join me for part 8 where we'll discover more about the Gospel of the Kingdom and how it is different from the gospel that we preach.
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