Challenging Isaiah 53

Isaiah 53 has been a much misunderstood chapter in the Bible. Jews are accused of forbidding the study of it. Christians, for the most part, apply it to Jesus, who by the way does not fit Isaiah’s previous context nor the actual context of chapter 53. Instead of assuming things fit we need to delve deeper. As we dig into this study. I will state up front that my personal belief is that the personage or group represented by Isaiah’s Suffering Servant has not yet been fully revealed.

Arm of YHVH:

The first phrase we come upon in Isaiah 53:1 includes the words “Arm of YHVH”. What is the context of “arm of YHVH (YHVH)” and whom does it protect or do battle?

Let’s have a closer look:

Isa 53:1: To whom has the arm of YHVH been revealed…”

For whom has it been revealed? For Israel, but also this fact is revealed to the nations. (Why else are the kings of the earth shocked in Isaiah 52:13 which begins this prophecy?) And later we must ask, Who is the “servant” in the book of Isaiah? Is it consistently the same figure?

Is 52:9-10: Break forth in joy, sing together, O ruins of Jerusalem, for YHVH has comforted His people; He has redeemed Jerusalem. YHVH has bared His holy arm in the sight of all the nations; all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.

Notice: “all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.” (Salvation of the Jewish people, of the restoration of Jerusalem to the seed of Abraham.)

Isa 51:9-11: “Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of YHVH; Awake, as in the days of old, The generations of ancient times. Art thou not it that hewed Rahab in pieces, That pierced the dragon? Art thou not it that dried up the sea, The waters of the great deep; That made the depths of the sea a way

For the redeemed to pass over? And the ransomed of YHVH shall return, And come with singing unto Zion…” (Here again, mention is made of the arm of YHVH working to rescue Israel and to bring them to Zion.)

Isaiah 30: 26-33:

Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven-fold, as the light of seven days, in the day when YHVH binds up the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow. Behold, the name of YHVH comes from afar,
burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke; his lips are full of fury, and his tongue is like a devouring fire; his breath is like an overflowing stream that reaches up to the neck; to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction, and to place on the jaws of the peoples a bridle that leads astray. You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart, as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to the mountain of YHVH, to the Rock of Israel. And YHVH will cause his majestic voice to be heard and the descending blow of his arm to be seen, in furious anger and a flame of devouring fire, with a cloudburst and storm and hailstones. The Assyrians will be terror-stricken at the voice of YHVH, when he strikes with his rod. And every stroke of the appointed staff that YHVH lays on them will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres. Battling with brandished arm, he will fight with them. For a burning place has long been prepared; indeed, for the king it is made ready, its pyre made deep and wide, with fire and wood in abundance; the breath of YHVH, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it.”

We have seen several passages that show the Arm of YHVH as working in defense of His people Israel. In the light of these passages, which most of them are end times prophecies in the book of Isaiah, we see that Israel is redeemed, defended, returned to Zion after being separated from the nations. We see the nations being punished and those who are repentant going up to seek the favor of YHVH in Jerusalem. The Arm of YHVH is clearly not defending the nations, rather in defense of Israel, His People.

With that for a foundation, let’s continue our study focusing on the very misunderstood chapter 53 of Isaiah: Notice that Isaiah 52, last part is the foreground for Isaiah 53:1

Isa 52:13 “See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. Just as there were many who were appalled at him, his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form marred beyond human likeness, so he will sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand.

From a casual reading the above verses appear to speak of one person disfigured and giving his blood for many nations, but let’s read it again; start with verse 9: YHVH has comforted his people, redeemed Jerusalem…And notice this as well: “and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand.”

Kings of the Earth

THIS IS CLEARLY NOT SPEAKING OF JESUS because most of the “kings of the earth” are from Christian nations and already know the stories about him. Who then is it that surprises them? The majority of the nations have at least known of Jesus through the mass efforts of evangelization and the work of the Inquisition which uprooted and persecuted those who would not acknowledge him. How is it then that they will understand something new about him for which they will have to shut their mouths? Is it possible that the kings and nations will see someone, some people they have persecuted—the very ones to whom the Arm of Yehovah is now being revealed as their protector?

Sprinkle:

What can it mean that the servant “sprinkles” many nations? The word sprinkle, Hebrew: נָזָה is used in many places in the Torah concerning the sacrificial offerings when blood was sprinkled on the altar or where the priests themselves were sprinkled. Can it mean that the nations will be cleansed of their idolatry and sin by something that the servant does? Or does it mean something else such as where it is used in Isaiah 63?

Isaiah 63:3-4 speaks of YHVH trampling Edom (the nations) because of their hatred of God’s people and their blood being sprinkled upon his garments.

“I have trodden the wine-press alone, and no man from the nations was with Me. I trampled them in My anger and trod them down in My fury; their blood was sprinkled upon My garments, and all My clothes were stained. For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.”

An excellent commentary on the usage of the word Sprinkle נָזָה as used here, is shown by Gerald Sigal in his excellent commentary on Isaiah 53:

“52:15: ‘So shall he startle many nations’ … What is the meaning of the word “nazah”? (Hebrew: נָזָה)

Some Christians maintain that nazah which has the meaning of “sprinkle” carries with it the thought of expiation in verse 15.

• It is thought the verse portrays the servant as a priest who “sprinkles” (that is, spiritually cleanses) the nations. They then claim that this verse refers to the supposed power of Jesus to make “many nations” the beneficiaries of his blood. That is, Jesus was expected “to make propitiation for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:17) and have their “hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience” (Hebrew 10:22). However, this interpretation is problematic.
• Both grammatically and in terms of the sacrificial system the correct meaning of verse 15 has no relationship to the priestly sprinkling of atonement blood at all.
• In every other instance where the object or person sprinkled is indicated, the verb is used in conjunction with a preposition (such as “onto,” “upon,” or “before”). This combination does not occur in verse 15.
• The proper rendering of the verb, nazah, in this verse is not “sprinkle,” but “scatter” in the sense of being startled and confused.
• It indicates the astonishment of the nations as they scurry about in shock over the turn of events.
• In sprinkling, one scatters a liquid into innumerable droplets. Similarly, the inhabitants of the nations will be scattered as well.
• There is no reference here to Jesus spiritually cleansing the nations.”ⁱ

We find another passage about Israel’s redemption at the time of the coming messiah in Zechariah:

Zech 8:22-24:“Yea, many peoples and mighty nations shall come to seek YHVH of hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat the favour of YHVH. Thus saith YHVH of hosts: In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, shall even take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying: We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.” (Is there something here also that shows the favor of YHVH returning to Jerusalem and the nations seeking this favor?)

Is the servant the faithful remnant of Israel?

Then…When the nation of Israel is restored to the rightful descendants of Abraham, will it then intercede for the nations? Is this what is meant by the following verses? Isa 66: 15-24 “See, YHVH is coming with fire, and his chariots are like a whirlwind; he will bring down his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For with fire and with his sword YHVH will execute judgment upon all men, and many will be those slain by YHVH… And I, because of their actions and their imaginations, am about to come and gather all nations and tongues, and they will come and see my glory. I will set a sign among them, and I will send some of those who survive to the nations…They will proclaim my glory among the nations. And they will bring all your brothers, from all the nations, to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to YHVH–on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels, says YHVH. They will bring them, as the Israelites bring their grain offerings, to the temple of YHVH in ceremonially clean vessels. And I will select some of them also to be priests and Levites, says YHVH. As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me, declares YHVH, so will your name and descendants endure. From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me, says YHVH. And they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.”

“Like a root out of dry ground”? Who? What?

Psalms 80:8-10: “O God of hosts, restore us; show Your favor that we may be delivered. You plucked up a vine from Egypt; You expelled nations and planted it. You cleared a place for it; it took deep root and filled the land.”

As we know the land of Israel has become pretty much a dry desert despite the efforts to return it to a productive land and the resulting success. However it currently is not a place to find the abundance of a fully satiated land nor satisfy those who represent “the planting of Yehovah.”

Isa 35: “The arid desert shall be glad, The wilderness shall rejoice. And shall blossom like a rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of the Levanon shall be given to it, the excellency of the Karmel and the Sharon, they shall see the glory of YHVH, and the excellency of our God. Strengthen the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even with a divine recompense; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: the habitation of jackals shall become a pasture for cattle, an enclosure of reeds and rushes. And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness: the unclean shall not pass over it; and he shall be to them a guide, and fools shall not err in it. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up on it, they shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there: and the ransomed of YHVH shall return, and come to Żion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”ⁱⁱ (We don’t see this yet).

The “root out of dry ground refers to those plucked up from exile, lost in Egypt and other lands, and replanted in Zion. Zion at the moment is dry and infertile spiritually and politically. The land itself is dry and cracked. It is not cultivated to the extent that it will be in the times shown by Isaiah 35, rather the inhabitants do not respect it. They throw their trash everywhere. There is no respect for the holiness of the Land of Promise.

So if the root out of dry ground are the ones taken out of exile, then they are in Yehovah’s hands until the moment when He cleans up the land to receive them. They are protected in the safe-keeping of the Arm of Yehovah.

An Individual?

Now the rest of Isaiah 53 seems to be portrayed as written about an individual and from the majority of commentaries, mostly Chrisitan, the application is portrayed as befitting the suffering of Jesus, yet the question above seems to stand out as lacking a good fit for him. Who is speaking and who are they speaking to? If all the speech given there is done by the kings of the earth and the nations, then the picture cannot be about Jesus. It must be about someone else.

Another thing we must think about…Is Israel as a people ever represented as an individual?

Let’s see some verses.

Exodus 4:22: “And thou shalt say to Pharoah, Thus says YHVH, Yisrael is my son, my firstborn.”

Jer. 31:11: “For YHVH has redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.”

Isaiah 52 and 54: In these two chapters just before and just after Isaiah 53, we see Zion, Israel represented as a woman, a wife estranged, or barren without children. This leads us to ask, who is the lone figure of Isaiah 53 that is the Redeemer? Still I maintain it is not Jesus as we will see.

Disfigured?

Isaiah 52-53 says that this figure was disfigured beyond recognition (Jesus was apparently mangled in his death, not a permanent condition, according to the Christian story where he is seen coming to save all the Christians (not Israel), in the glory of his kingdom, not in a deformed, unrecognized state). Isaiah says he was afflicted with disease (Isa 53:3) and many commentaries say that the word actually applies to leprosy…But Christians claim that as the spotless lamb, he was not ever touched by illness. A thorough reading referencing to the Hebrew in Isaiah 53: shows that he had to confess his own guilt אָשָׁם to be able to save Israel, but Christianity makes him spotless, without sin.

Also, what do we do with the idea of the barren woman in Isaiah 54 which also is parallel to the barren state of the one who suffers in Isaiah 53:10:

“But YHVH chose to crush him by disease, That, if he made himself an offering for guilt,
He might see offspring and have long life, And that through him YHVH’s purpose might prosper.” 53:10.

So, clearly the promise to him (whoever this is) is that if he does this work, he will see offspring and have long life. Jesus did not live that long and he never saw offspring. (Christians argue that he is coming back to show his long life and that the descendants are those who are baptized and accept him as their king.)

However, this does not jive with the simple reading of the text. We continue with the parallel of the barren and rejected wife in Isaiah 54:1-3:

The barren woman of Isaiah 54:

“Sing, O barren one, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, says YHVH. Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations: spare not: lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall possess nations, and make desolate cities to be inhabited.”

Can this be the same individual as in Isaiah 53? I believe the person of Isaiah 53 is a messiah figure or the remnant who suffer as the result of Israel’s sins (not as a sacrificial offering). This is a Torah principle, that no one suffers to expiate the sins of anyone else, rather suffers as a result of the sins of the nation. Jesus could not offer his blood to pay for mankind or even the nation of Israel. If this were true then Torah is invalid.

No man can die to pay for the sins of anyone else.

Deut. 24:16: “The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers; every man shall be put to death for his own sin.”ⁱⁱⁱ

Ezek 18:20: “The person who sins, he alone shall die. A child shall not share the burden of a parent’s guilt, nor shall a parent share the burden of a child’s guilt; the righteousness of the righteous shall be accounted to him alone, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be accounted to him alone.”^iv

I believe that the person or group of Isaiah 53 is yet to be revealed. It is a mystery having to do with the final redemption of Israel and restoration to Torah and it’s rightful place as a Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation.

In Christianity, Jesus is not portrayed as a savior of the Jews nor a restorer of the nation of the descendants of Abraham, rather, please note that the history of Jesus shows that he actually is thought of as a savior of the nations and in fact, these nations became persecutors of the Jews—people he claimed were his object of salvation, not the other way around. No wonder the Kings of the earth and the Christianized nations will be aghast and unable to speak when they see the Servant of Isaiah 53—that it is not Jesus!

There are several very big problems with the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and trying to fit Jesus into the suffering servant picture. Gerald Sigal, in his article published by Jews for Judaism, addresses this problem at length:

“Jesus is the god that never was. Many Christians differentiate between what is called “the two natures of Christ.” It is claimed that Jesus was fully God and fully man at the same time, mysteriously interwoven yet separate. Thus, it is said, Jesus could be knowledgeable about some things and ignorant about others. Jesus’ statement that “A slave is not greater than his master, neither one who is sent greater than the one who sent him” refutes consideration of this two nature doctrine. This statement says that a slave is of lower status than his master. Anyone sent on a mission by another person is of inferior status. In the case of Jesus, this would make his supposed supernatural nature inferior to that of God the Father even before becoming incarnate and even if done voluntarily. It would mean that there was a period of time when the co-equality of the triune deity was reduced to a dyad. This state of inequality continues presently in that Jesus supposedly mediates between God the Father and mankind (1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrew 9:24), but it is God the Father who makes the final judgment not the “mediator.” ^v

So, with all the twisting of doctrine to make the picture fit, we see even bigger problems: Again from Gerald Sigal:

“Did the author of Hebrews have Isaiah 53 in mind when he said Jesus “learned obedience from the things which he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8)? Why did Jesus have to learn to be obedient if he is God? Whom did he have to obey? Can equals in any triune deity exercise dominance, one over the other? How can God’s servant be none other than one-third of Himself. Those who claim a pre-existent supernatural being was incarnate in the form of Jesus cannot escape the question: Why did this incarnate being have to learn to be obedient through suffering if in both his humanity and divinity he was sinless to begin with and therefore was already obedient to God?” ^vi

If Jesus was pre-programmed to come and do what he did and to become a sacrifice for sin, then it was no sacrifice because it was not voluntary. God does not demand sacrifice: it must be voluntary on our part:

“Sacrifice and meal-offering Thou hast no delight in; mine ears hast Thou opened; burnt-offering and sin-offering hast Thou not required. Psa 40:7 ^vii

It is pretty clear from many texts in the New Testament that the prophecies of the Tanakh were inserted to make the picture work for Jesus. However the very idea that in Christianity, Jesus is described as the second person of the Trinity, mocks every attempt to make him into a suffering servant.

Has anyone ever thought about the fact that God cannot die, and yet Jesus being “fully God”, died? Someone once asked in a sermon, “If Jesus was God then who was it that died on the cross?” How was this possible? Did the god part of him, somehow step aside to let the human part die? Now we are getting pretty slippery! So if the god part insisted that the human part die, then we have a human sacrifice! And how is that different than all the pagan human sacrifices that took place through the ages?

Either Jesus wasn’t God or any part of God or he was a human being, no more. So in order to make Jesus into a suffering servant the Trinity doctrine would have to be scrapped as well it should be for the Bible says…

“God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Num 23:19 ^viii

“HEAR, O ISRAEL: YEHOVAH OUR GOD, YEHOVAH IS ONE.” Keynote of the Jewish Faith, Deut. 6:4 ^ix

We visited an ancient village in Colombia with the clear view of a mountain where it is told that human sacrifices were done to please the gods of the time. There is a mural in the town of Venicia of a warrior standing and offering his beating heart to the gods. This made me shudder to think of the practice. I know that the same practices were done in Mexico by the Aztecs. The blood of this warrior was then drunk by the priests as an atonement. So Christians use wine at their Eucharist and claim to be drinking the blood of Christ! What is the difference here? In the Aztec and Inca peoples, this sacrifice was demanded in order to have crops and rain, etc. How close do we have to come to pagan human sacrifice in the story of Jesus and the worship of a god/man who dies? Isn’t it one and the same thing?

We obviously need to look somewhere else for the person or group represented by the mysterious “servant” of Isaiah 53. Perhaps nobody really knows who it is until the coming messiah appears? Or could it be, as I have suggested before, the righteous remnant of Israel? At any rate, Jesus does not fit the picture, even with the supposed suffering of a crucifixion. (After all he isn’t the only one who was martyred unjustly! Read Foxes Book of Martyrs.)

There are clues to the personage of the servant illustrated in chapter 53 of Isaiah. If we realize that an author gives clues to his own writings then we must go to the book of Isaiah and examine all the passages that speak of “My servant”. There are 4 Servant Songs written in Isaiah. Notice that the last one starts in chapter 52 and is continued in 53. To find out about the Servant of YHVH and what Isaiah the prophet is saying, study all four songs. (Isaiah 42:1–4; Isaiah 49:1–6; Isaiah 50:4–7; Isaiah 52:13–53:12).

The surface of biblical prophecy has barely been scratched. Once Jesus is laid aside as the conglomeration of paganism that he has come to be, we will be able to look beyond to the real meaning of the prophecies for our time.

ihttps://jewsforjudaism.ca/isaiah-53-who-is-the-servant-by-gerald-sigal/

iihttps://www.sefaria.org/Isaiah.35.1-10?ven=The_Koren_Jerusalem_Bible&lang=en&with=Translations&lang2=en

iiihttps://www.sefaria.org/Deuteronomy.24.16?ven=The_Holy_Scriptures:_A_New_Translation_(JPS_1917)&lang=en&vside=The_Koren_Jerusalem_Bible|en&with=Translation%20Open&lang2=en

ivhttps://www.sefaria.org/Ezekiel.18.20?lang=en

vGerald Sigal, https://jewsforjudaism.org/knowledge/articles/isaiah-53-jesus-not-suffering-servant-part-2/

viGerald Sigal, ibid

viihttps://www.sefaria.org/Psalms.40.7
ven=The_Holy_Scriptures:_A_New_Translation_(JPS_1917)&lang=en&with=Translations&lang2=en

viiihttps://biblehub.com/numbers/23-19.htm

ixhttps://www.sefaria.org/Deuteronomy.6.4?ven=The_Holy_Scriptures:_A_New_Translation_(JPS_1917)&lang=en&with=Translations&lang2=en