#1030 Isaiah 53 Part 14 Challah of Chalah

 

Who has believed our report?

And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,

And like a root out of dry ground;

He has no stately form or majesty

That we would look at Him,

Nor an appearance that we would take pleasure in Him.

3 He was despised and abandoned by men,

A man of great pain and familiar with sickness;

And like one from whom people hide their faces,

He was despised, and we had no regard for Him.

4 However, it was our sicknesses that He Himself bore,

And our pains that He carried;

Yet we ourselves assumed that He had been afflicted,

Struck down by God, and humiliated.

5 But He was pierced for our offenses,

He was crushed for our wrongdoings;

The punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him,

And by His wounds we are healed.

6 All of us, like sheep, have gone astray,

Each of us has turned to his own way;

But the Lord has caused the wrongdoing of us all

To fall on Him.

7 He was oppressed and afflicted,

Yet He did not open His mouth;

Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,

And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,

So He did not open His mouth.

8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away;

And as for His generation, who considered

That He was cut off from the land of the living

For the wrongdoing of my people, to whom the blow was due?

9 And His grave was assigned with wicked men,

Yet He was with a rich man in His death,

Because He had done no violence,

Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.

10 But the Lord desired

To crush Him, causing Him grief;

If He renders Himself as a guilt offering,

He will see His offspring,

He will prolong His days,

And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.

11 As a result of the anguish of His soul,

He will see it and be satisfied;

By His knowledge the Righteous One,

My Servant, will justify the many,

For He will bear their wrongdoings.

12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,

And He will divide the plunder with the strong,

Because He poured out His life unto death,

And was counted with wrongdoers;

Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,

And interceded for the wrongdoers. Isaiah 53 NASB

Isaiah 53:10 To Crush Him

1“Here is My Servant, whom I uphold, My Chosen One, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will bring justice to the nations. Isaiah 42:1

As David Baron says "Here is not only the mystery of suffering innocence"; but of innocence suffering at the hands of righteousness and perfect love." Yes, mystery of mysteries; and apart from the explanation He Himself gives of it, it is the most inexplicable thing in God's moral government." (Exposition) PA

But the Lord desired to crush Him - Some translations say, "it pleased the Lord", for this was His will. The Servant has come to do God's predetermined plan, to fulfill His decree. This is where both the justice of God and the love of God must meet for the grace of God to be bestowed. It wasn't that He disliked His Son, but rather chose to honor Him as the Redeemer, the holy and spotless lamb, the eternal Word, and rightful heir. He was the only pleasing substitute, worthy in every way, one with the Father and the Holy Spirit. 

…4Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If You wish, I will put up three shelters—one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 5While Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him! 6When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown in terror.… Matthew 17: 4-6

…26If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, My servant will be as well. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him. 27Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? No, it is for this purpose that I have come to this hour. 28Father, glorify Your name!” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”… John 12: 26-28

…22Men of Israel, listen to this message: Jesus of Nazareth was a man certified by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did among you through Him, as you yourselves know. 23He was delivered up by God’s set plan and foreknowledge, and you, by the hands of the lawless, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross. 24But God raised Him from the dead, releasing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for Him to be held in its clutches.… Acts 2: 22-24

Causing Him grief - Chalah is the word used for grief here; it is interesting that there is a type of bread also that is called challah in Hebrew. Chalah would represent intense grief here, to the point of sickness. 

…25May their place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in their tents. 26For they persecute the one You struck and recount the pain of those You wounded.27Add iniquity to their iniquity; let them not share in Your righteousness.… Psalm 69: 25-27

MacArthur explains it this way - In other words, the LORD is doing something to Him that is horrific. Men, of course, are unjustly crushing Him. Men are doing the worst that they can do with an unjust trial, brutality, abuse, harassment, punching, slapping, hitting with sticks, crowning with thorns and nailing and piercing. Men are doing the worst that they can do, the worst that sinners can do, and they are pleased to do that. But here, God is pleased and God is delighted to crush Him. While men are doing the worst that they can do, at the very same time God is doing the best that He can do. Men are doing the worst that they can do for the sinless One, and God is doing the best that He can do for sinners. His death is God’s work. He is God’s Lamb , chosen by God, chosen by the determinate counsel of God ; the purpose and counsel of God has determined that He will die (Acts 2:23, Acts 4:28). It is God who laid on Him the iniquity of us all. It is God who crushes Him. It is God who cuts Him off out of the land of the living. God, who finds no pleasure in the death of the wicked, as Ezekiel 18:32 says, finds full pleasure in the death of the Righteous One (Isa 53:11) God, Who finds no pleasure in the death of sinners, finds full pleasure in the death of the sinless One....God’s delight and God’s pleasure in crushing His Son in this way was not in His pain, but in His purpose. It was not in His agony; it was in His accomplishment. It was not in His suffering; it was in His salvation ...It was the outcome that pleased God, not the pain. But the pain and the agony was necessary." (The Sovereign Servant - Part 1) (Bolding Added) - J Mac

…41And He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, where He knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me. Yet not My will, but Yours be done. 43Then an angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him.…

…44And in His anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground. 45When Jesus rose from prayer and returned to the disciples, He found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. 46“Why are you sleeping?” He asked. “Get up and pray so that you will not enter into temptation.”… Luke 22: 41-46

If He renders Himself as a guilt offering - The innocent for the guilty. Why would He do this willingly? Love is an expensive gift, it is never a mere feeling or emotion, it is always steeped deep into reality and the required action. It is not a happy thought, no, it produces fruit. It ploughs, it plants, it waters, it cultivates. See Leviticus 6:1-7 Guilt offering

Guilt Offering (0817) (asam) is also called guilt, reparation, trespass or compensation offering, and emphasizes the fact that the rights of both God and man had been violated, and that both sacrifice (to God) and restitution (to fellowman) were necessary. The guilt offering was commanded in instances when another party had suffered some deprivation. PA

He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days - The result of His suffering, adding to His deity humanity, living a human life that none of us lived as acceptable and pleasing to God, dying for our sins on the cross, being humiliated, brought the glory of salvation to all who believe. 

He will see His offspring ("He will see descendants" = NET) - I am 71 yo and have grandchildren but the chances that I will see my great-grandchildren (my "offspring") are very low (all 8 grandchildren are less than 10 yo). Why? Because I will probably fall asleep in Jesus. This verse says Jesus will see His offspring, even though He died. How is that possible? What is the clear implication? PA

…6Abraham replied, “Make sure that you do not take my son back there. 7The LORD, the God of heaven, who brought me from my father’s house and my native land, who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’— He will send His angel before you so that you can take a wife for my son from there.8And if the woman is unwilling to follow you, then you are released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there.”… Genesis 24: 6-8

…9But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. 10 In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting for God, for whom and through whom all things exist, to make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11For both the One who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.… Hebrews 2: 9-11

Offspring is zera (Lxx = sperma) which is literally a seed. Zera is used in the protoevangelium in Genesis 3:15+ to describe the enmity between Satan's "seed" and the woman's "seed," the coming Messiah. Zera is also used in the Abrahamic Covenant, Paul explaining "Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed (sperma) (zera used in Ge 12:7; 13:15; 17:7; 24:7). He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed (sperma),” that is, Christ." (Gal 3:16+). PA

9And they sang a new song: “Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. 10You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign upon the earth.”… Revelation 5: 9-10

Will prolong is arak which means to be long and here is in the imperfect tense signifying that the Servant's days would continually be prolonged. Of course the only way to prolong a dead person's days is to resurrect them from the dead. Thompson notes that "in the case of the Lord Jesus Christ, He died and came back to life three days later. His days were prolonged after His death. One of the results of Christ paying the price for our sins is that God would not allow His body to be in that grave very long. He did prolong His days and Jesus came out alive." PA

…2By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,… 1 Corinthians 15: 2-4

…9Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will dwell securely. 10For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.11You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.… Psalm 16: 9-11

And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand - God makes a decree, the Son carries out the will, and the Spirit gives life. Everything that God has said is fulfilled in Christ. Isaiah didn't make this stuff up, and then later someone named Jesus read it and decided to live a holy life, learn how to walk on water, raise people from the dead, and be the greatest teacher and prophet of all time. Jesus was the Son of God perfectly executing the will of God. Remember, God's grace to me is unmerited favor, made possible only in Christ willingness to satisfy God's justice. 

 

…37Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never drive away. 38For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me. 39And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall lose none of those He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day.… John 6: 37-39

…8But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved.… Romans 10: 8-10