76 Sermons on the Old Testament

68 Second Isaiah Preached Vindication of His People.

 

Deutero-Isaiah Preached Vindication of His People

I am here, Jesus:

According to the King James version, Deutero-lsaiah then goes on to say in Chapter 53, verse 8:

He was taken from prison and from judgment,
And who shall declare his generation?
For he was cut off from the land of the living,
For the transgressions of my people was he stricken.

However, this version is not very accurate, and the meaning should be as follows:

By an oppressive judgment he was taken away;
And who took notice of his fate,
That he was cut off from the land of the living,
And for our transgressions smitten unto death?

Here Deutero-lsaiah had in mind one prophet, Jeremiah, and the sufferings, in spite of his innocence, which he went through before death; he also combined this with Israel the nation, whose destruction by Babylonia meant nothing in the eyes of a pagan world, and which died as a nation, although its moral standards, at least among many or most of the people, were far superior to those of the pagans who had been permitted to survive and wreck judgment upon Israel.

But this, affirms Deutero-lsaiah, was done with divine planning. Who but a more moral and ethical Israel could bring a higher standard for the pagans, show them the way to God and His statutes of morality, of justice and Mercy? For that reason Israel had made his grace with the wicked, and with evil-doers his mound, although he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. (verse 9). The prophet continues with Chapter 53, verse 10:

"But it pleased the Lord to crush him; for, if he had made his soul an offering for sin, he would suffer for a long time, but the purpose of God would succeed through him. As a result of the sufferings which his soul goes through in his material afflictions (Jeremiah's sufferings for standing for love of God and right living - - Israel's sufferings in exile among the Babylonian evil-doers in their conduct) he will see light and be gratified by the knowledge that he is pleased unto the Lord, who in this way will be able to reveal Himself to the gentiles by having Israel in their midst, and lead them to a higher moral life and knowledge of God". This is the real meaning of verses 10 and 11, as these are very confused in the King James version, which I quote to you in a note at the bottom of the page for comparison.

I will continue with Chapter 53, verse 12:

"The vindication of My Servant is for many peoples, and it is their punishment that he has been bearing; their evils and aggressions, instead of being punished by God as deserved, was deferred, and Israel alone was lead to suffering and disaster, to live amongst them and by his example instruct them in righteous living through adherence to God's statutes. Therefore, says God, I shall divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; in short Israel shall live again as a nation, intellectually virile and materially properous. I say that, unfortunately, here the words and construction in the original Hebrew, up to the concluding lines, are in a poor state of preservation, even in the Spirit World, and the Second Isaiah has told me that he was writing poetry, and not prose, and that the meaning had to be fitted into a poetic pattern, but that the translations that have been rendered for the poorly reconstructed texts do not give the meaning he meant to convey. When the translation reads: "he was numbered with the transgressors," it meant that Israel was considered by Nebuchadrezzar, and that Jeremiah was considered a transgressor by the royal circle, and also by the Egyptians; and that the words, "and that he has been making intercession for the transgressors" does not mean that Israel is praying to God that the sins of evil-doing nations be pardoned, as this, as you know, is an impossibility in the Spirit World, but meant, "That Israel will show other nations the way to right living before God, that nations can live in peace and happiness amongst themselves on earth with God, the God of all nations, bringing confraternity, brotherhood and love to His creatures. Deutro-Isaiah tells me that the words quoted above should read: "he has been making religious enlightenment for the transgressors, showing them the Way to him".

That this is the true meaning of the prophet's poetry, as he tells me, is shown by the following passage written by him in Chapter 49, verses 5 and 6 wherein he wrote:

"And now the Lord did say; He that formed me from the womb to be His Servant: That He would bring Jacob again to him, and Israel should be gathered unto Him, and I (Israel) should be honored in the eyes of the Lord, and my God, has become my strength; And He said, The raising up of the tribes of Jacob and the restoration of the preserved of Israel are less significant than that thou shouldst be My Servant; so I will give thee as a light to the gentiles, that My salvation may be to the ends of the earth."

And as I realized, before I began my mission, that God's Love was prophecied to be for all people who seek His salvation, for God, through the Servant Israel, was to be made known to all people, first in righteousness and moral living and, through me, His Messiah, His Divine Love and Mercy.

Jesus of the Bible
and
Master of the Celestial Heavens

 

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