700 Years Before Christ’s Birth
Isaiah 52:13 Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he
shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.
In Genesis 15:18 and Joshua 1:4-7, God told Israel (through
Abram) that all the land from the Mediterranean Sea to the Euphrates River, and
from Egypt to Lebanon belonged to Him and through Him, to Israel. We, the semi-united nations on Earth have
tried for years to carve this already all too small country into two smaller
nations so we can offer land to a made up Palestinian people. The true borders of God’s promise cannot be
disputed; God was quite clear and will have His complete inheritance.
This week the Prime Minister of Israel, Shimon Peres visited
Norway and was shouted down because they believe Israel is the aggressor
between the nation God has adopted and a people who were NEVER a people.
My reason for saying this is not because I have an issue
with Norway. I am half Norwegian. It’s not because I think these people are
less intelligent or a worse group of people than any other nation. My reason for bringing this up is that there
is a war going on right now on Earth and there are only two sides; the side
that believes in God and His Holy Word and the side that does not. Our God is not a halfway God. Psalm 69:9 and John 2:17 say that the zeal of
God’s house has eaten up the heart of Jesus.
Isaiah 52:13 says, “Behold, my servant (Jesus) shall deal
prudently.” The amplified says He shall
prosper but the actual word means he will behave wisely, intelligently, with
understanding. If Jesus took pains to
drive the money changers out of the temple with a whip then it is safe to
assume that his burden for the word and work of God was not an intellectual or
social opinion. Scripture, the Word of
God became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). He didn’t simply choose to obey God; He was
all on Earth that God is and walked in all of God’s wisdom.
That verse goes on to say that because of His obedience He
went on to be exalted (lifted higher and placed on a pedestal) and extoled (praised
and honored). Finally it says that He
will be very high which means that He will be exceedingly exalted higher than
any other. Jesus was not merely a
teacher, prophet or leader of God’s kingdom: Jesus was God’s Word wrapped in flesh and
honored as the only begotten son of God.
The following verse explains what we did to this mighty man of God.
Isaiah 52:14 As many were astonished at thee; his visage
was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:
We know Jesus paid a terrible price for our sin; but He paid
a terrible price for our griefs, sorrows, peace and illness as well. It wasn’t enough that He lost His life for
us. The word astonished in the verse
above means to be stupefied, shocked and stunned at the state of his face and
body. He had a crown of thorns jammed
upon his head until His scalp bled profusely (Matthew 27:29, Mark 15:17, John
19:2, 5). They ripped his beard off of
His face tearing the flesh and causing even more blood loss (Isaiah 50:6). His back was rent with a whip (John 19:1)
even before he was sent to be crucified.
No living man had ever been tortured so badly in all history.
Isaiah 52:15 So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings
shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall
they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.
There was a reason for Jesus’ great pain and torture. His blood literally sprayed with every stroke
of the whip or prick of the crown of thorns.
As the great muscular arms of the Roman soldier swung back for another
blow the whip would have sprayed on all those citizens who came to watch this
travesty of justice. You have to wonder
if they could feel the cleansing blood upon their faces or did they merely
recognize their own sin and guilt.
Because of who He was the blood did not merely stain the
ground and cry out for God’s justice like the blood of Abel whom Cain
slew. The blood of Jesus was a triumph
of grace and life for all mankind. Kings
and great rulers of the Earth can obtain sudden miraculous revelation of His
purpose (Proverbs 25:2). They have great
responsibility for the course of their earthly rule. Because God will willingly grant them the
understanding and revelation of His purpose on the earth, they are equally
responsible for any failure on their part to acknowledge Him or harm His
people.
Whether a President or Prime Minister, Dictator or King,
God’s promises are sure. They are freely
offered great understanding and vision to know and see the work of God upon the
earth. Because of this great honor, the
curse for ignoring God and abusing His people will be equally troublesome. Whether the President of the United States or
of North Korea, God’s GIFT and HONOR or His WARNING of DESTRUCTION for a
failure to obey will be given out with equal passion. The battle of Armageddon will settle this
final accounting. It often seems that
our own congress and State rulers have forgotten the responsibility they bear. The Supreme Court of this nation has declared
we are no longer a Christian nation. The
Bible often speaks of unjust judges. Be
not deceived, God is NEVER mocked. Every
one who fails Him will be judged and those who fail Him on purpose will be
judged most harshly.
Isaiah 53:1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is
the arm of the Lord revealed?
Can you imagine Isaiah’s thoughts as he prayed when God’s
revelation and wisdom began to flood his soul?
He clearly understood our Lord’s coming visit to the earth. Whenever scripture speaks of an arm, it is
speaking of someone’s strength. Who is
the strength of Yahweh revealed to? This
explores both the great power and subtlety of God. His power is all around us and is a part of
who and what we are. We are a part of
His great creation.
God has made every opportunity for humanity to come to
Him. He has also allowed us to have free
will. Psalm 19:1-2 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and
the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day
unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.” Unfortunately the majority of mankind has
chosen to believe a lie rather than the truth.
God considers truth to be something we should LOVE.
Most people have chosen to believe their theories and mental
calculations and have further chosen to exclude any evidence that Biblical scripture
may be correct, even when scriptural answers are the more sensible ones. Satan’s original name is Lucifer the angel of
light. He may have become the father of
lies but he has always known how to package those lies in a shiny palatable
package that makes the natural man rush to it.
God says that these deceived people, believing themselves to
be wise, have become fools (Romans 1:22), and measuring their beliefs by their
beliefs (2 Corinthians 10:12) they lack wisdom.
Christians are not people who believe a fantasy tale and a lie; we are
those who believe the truth no matter how hard the world tries to invent a
plausible explanation of what they see.
To deliberately denounce scripture because ‘religion’ must be false is
as foolish as believing a religion because its adherents choose violence to
propagate a lie. One denies the truth
because truth demands a small amount of faith; and the other demands a lie upon
threat of violence. I suppose misery
loves company.
Isaiah 53:2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender
plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and
when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
This verse is extremely important for Christians to
understand. How many hard hearted and abrasive
saints have you known in the church and how many truly tender and gracious
saints? Jesus had to rise through the
dry lifeless ground of hatred and intolerance while still maintaining his
tender heart. He wasn’t clothed or
raised with wealth and riches. Of His
hometown it was said, “can any good thing come out of this poor dusty town of Nazareth?
(John 1:45)” The answer to this mocking
statement was, “Come and see.”
When Nathaniel arrived in Nazareth, what did he see? He wasn’t a powerful body builder or good
looking model. There was nothing special
about the outward physical appearance of Jesus.
To find the tenderness you had to look at His heart. Jesus was an ordinary looking man with an
extraordinary heart. His Spirit could
create worlds and His heart would give all for lost souls. It takes a discerning heart to fully know what
is inside of another’s.
Jesus was a man who could disappear into the crowd. He was the one who could be ignored until He
opened His heart and drew you in. It
wasn’t His looks or height or weight or manner that caught you and took hold. It was His words and the grace of them. Many have claimed the Lord for their own, but
only a true follower can summon forth His grace and humility.
Isaiah 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of
sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him;
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
We will be despised and rejected by men; we will also have
many sorrows and be well acquainted with grief.
Many who know us will hide their faces from us and despise us for our
cheerful spirit and heartfelt desire to be supportive and loving. Because we have what they lack, because we do
not grumble and rail on others as they do we will be despised and ejected from
their counsels. Many men and women will
not value our input or counsel because our position of grace and love in the
midst of sorrow and woe marks us as outsiders (2 Timothy 2:11-12, 1 Peter 4:13),
but a few will.
One day we will ALL be gone, in a moment, in a twinkling of
an eye, at the last trump (1 Corinthians 15:52). On that day we and those who passed before us
will rise up to meet Him in incorruptible bodies. We will be with Him forever. On that day the world will descend into chaos
and great turmoil for we will be taken out.
Our calming influence, especially that of the Holy Spirit, will be taken
away and the madness barely held in check by God’s grace will embrace the whole
earth. Wars will rage and many will die
in their sins. The kings of the Earth
will rise up and if possible, take the battle to God Himself.
They will fail (2 Thessalonians 2, Revelation 19:19 and Psalm
2:2 below).
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 “Let no one deceive or beguile you in any way,
for that day will not come except the apostasy comes first, unless the
predicted great falling away of those who have professed to be Christians has
come, and the man of lawlessness and sin is revealed, who is the son of doom,
of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself so proudly and insolently against
and over all that is called God or that is worshiped, even to his actually
taking his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming that he himself is God.”
Revelation 19:19-21 “Then
I saw the beast and the rulers and leaders of the earth with their troops
mustered to go into battle and make war against Him Who is mounted on the horse
and against His troops. And the beast
was seized and overpowered, and with him the false prophet who in his presence
had worked wonders and performed miracles by which he led astray those who had
accepted or permitted to be placed upon them the stamp (mark) of the beast and
those who paid homage and gave divine honors to his statue. Both of them were
hurled alive into the fiery lake that burns and blazes with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword that
issues from the mouth of Him Who is mounted on the horse, and all the birds fed
ravenously and glutted themselves with their flesh.”
Psalm 2:1-12 “WHY DO the nations assemble with commotion
uproar and confusion of voices, and why do the people imagine meditate upon and
devise an empty scheme?
The kings of the earth take their places; the
rulers take counsel together against the Lord and His Anointed One the Messiah,
the Christ. They say,
Let us break Their bands of GODLY restraint
asunder and cast Their cords of LOVING control from us.
He Who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord
has them in derision and in supreme contempt He mocks them.
He speaks to them in His deep anger and
troubles, terrifies and confounds them in His displeasure and fury, saying,
Yet have I anointed, installed and placed My
King firmly on MY holy hill of Zion.
I will declare the decree of the Lord Jesus:
He said to Me, You are My Son; this day I declare I have begotten You.
Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations as
Your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth as Your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall
dash them in pieces like potters’ ware.
Now therefore, O you kings, act wisely; be
instructed and warned, O you rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with reverent awe and
worshipful fear; rejoice and be in high spirits with trembling lest you displease
Him.
Kiss the Son, pay homage to Him in purity,
lest He be angry and you perish in the way, for soon shall His wrath be
kindled. Blessed, happy, fortunate, and to be envied are all those who seek
refuge and put their trust in Him.”
Isaiah 53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried
our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and
afflicted.
This same Son who will one day come in anger and violence to
establish His Supreme rule has already come in humility, grace and mercy. He has borne our griefs and sorrows upon His
own body and in like manner we are to help carry the griefs and sorrows of
others in ours. As He appeared to be
cursed, abused and struck down by God, many will believe the very same of
us. We will experience His
afflictions. We will know of His pain
and sorrow. Our lot in life is to help
the lost and less fortunate, to support widows and orphans and to obey the Word
of the Lord. We must never forget the
gift of His suffering. We must honor Him
fully for His sacrifice.
Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he
was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and
with his stripes we are healed.
It wasn’t enough that Christ died for our sins. He was beaten and bruised, whipped until the
skin could no longer cover his bones.
Every lash, every cut and bruise, removed a portion of your grief and
your pain. Christians who lash out and
attack their detractors and the sinners among them do not emulate this gracious
and giving Lord. The only time Jesus
displayed any righteous indignation was when He judged the priests in the
Temple as was His right as the living Word of God.
All who came to Him humbly, seeking God’s favor were
received with grace and Love. Those who came
arrogantly (most of the priesthood), were chastened and warned. Rather than acknowledge His chastening was
deserved, they sought a way to kill Him.
In this same manner, we will be hated and despised of all men. Don’t allow it to make you angry. Pray for the lost rather than mocking them.
Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have
turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of
us all.
Don’t forget this was written 700 years prior to Christ’s
coming. It has been almost two thousand
years since He walked on Earth and the cycle of God’s promises and man’s
transgressions has continued all this time.
We still do it our way, even when we have significant knowledge of His
way. When saints fail, our iniquity is
laid on Him. When sinners do what is
natural for them, their iniquity rests upon their own heads but may be removed
by a prayer of faith that touches their hearts.
If we are His flock and the sheep of His pasture, shouldn’t
we do it His way? God is able to strengthen
and raise your life circumstances but only if we choose to do it His way. No matter what some religions say, you can’t
buy yourself into heaven. You can’t live
holy enough to make it in. You certainly
can’t kill enough people to give artificial strength to your god. The only key to salvation is the blood of
Christ obtained by faith in His saving work and that faith made apparent by
your obedience to His commands.
I met someone the other day who complained that he had been
laid off from his job several times and needed help to make it to the next
reinstatement. When I discovered he was
a Christian I asked if he is where God wants him to be. His response was that
God had called him to ministry but he chose to remain in the back running the
sound equipment. He had been running
from obedience for ten years. And he
wonders why he keeps getting laid off from a job that he shouldn’t even be in.
Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet
he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a
sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
Verse seven is especially alien to Americans. We believe in our right to free speech. We believe we have the right to say what we
want whether someone agrees with us or not.
Jesus had all rights. He didn’t
have a few of them or even most of them; He had ALL of them. He is the son of God. In spite of His lofty position our Lord chose
to allow us weak humans to oppress Him, take away His rights and DISOBEYING OUR
OWN LAWS, kill Him. In spite of that he
did not speak a single word in His defense.
Jesus would not break the example He had to be for us. He never defended Himself no matter how
innocent. He didn’t remind the priests
that they were breaking every Jewish law of court to convict Him. Jesus allowed every indignity to continue
until all OUR transgressions and well deserved punishments had been heaped upon
Himself. How much more should we be
willing to put up with some rudeness or disrespect for the sake of the gospel?
Isaiah 53:8 AMP By oppression and judgment He was taken
away; and as for His generation, who among them considered that He was cut off
out of the land of the living and stricken to His death for the transgression
of this tribe and people, to whom the stroke was due.
Jesus never broke the law of God. He was put to death for claiming to be the
son of God and equal with God (a death penalty offense if He had lied), but the
Chief Priests had decided much earlier that He ought to die for the people
(John 11:40-50) immediately after he had raised Lazarus from the dead. They condemned Him out of pride and a wounded
spirit. Having committed no crime worthy
of death (even Pilot said so in John 18:38, 19:4, 19:6). Had Jesus claimed to be an earthly king
Pilate would have condemned Him in the name of Rome.
The truth of it all was that Israel had earned herself a
death stroke from God and God heaped that judgment upon His Son Jesus. His death and His alone would pay the penalty
for Israel’s transgressions. Some have
said that Jesus is not the Messiah and King of Israel and yet every one of
these scriptures came true and when Jerusalem was destroyed forty years later,
not one Christian living in Jerusalem died.
They fled at the prophetic warning of Jesus yet more than a million Jews
were killed because they did not believe the Word of the Lord. They were His tribe and they chose to strike
Him down and ignore His admonitions.
Isaiah 53:9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with
the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit
in his mouth.
This ought to say, “He went to His grave with the wicked but
was buried with the rich after His death.”
Jesus was crucified between two criminals. Both mocked Him (Matthew 27:44) but one
repented and asked for His mercy (Luke 23:39-43). Following his death, Joseph of Arimathaea, a
wealthy disciple, asked Pilate for the body of Jesus and buried Him in His own unused
tomb (Matthew 27:57-60).
Remember, this was prophesied 700 years earlier. What does it say of Jesus? That He had done no violence and had never
lied. When He turned over the tables of
the money changers, it did not constitute violence but honor to God (Matthew
21:12-13, Mark 11:15-18). He corrected a
disrespectful activity inside the sanctuary.
I have always been taught that you do not buy and sell inside the
sanctuary, or even in the entry way.
Nehemiah had the same problem on the Sabbath day outside the gate in
Jerusalem (Nehemiah 13:20-22). His
complaint was that they tried to buy and sell on the Sabbath day and break the
law of God. The Chief Priests received a cut of the commerce in the sanctuary
and were lining their pockets by refusing any sacrifice brought by a
pilgrim. People were forced to buy
animals from the priests and change Roman coins for Jewish Shekels… at a profit
for the priests of course.
There is a proper time and place for commerce, but not in
God’s place of worship and preferably not on a day of worship. If it must be carried out it is better
relegated out in the courtyard away from the sanctuary. Not everyone will agree with me, but it is
always better to honor God more than less.
I didn’t agree with everything my apostle did and I’m sure he didn’t
agree with all my decisions, but one thing is certain; he always believed in
honoring and respecting God whenever possible.
These days people steal toilet paper and other supplies from the church
and feed their children beside them in the pews. You need to ask yourself exactly how much
reverence YOU have for Gods house (both you and the building you worship in.)
Scripture says that to obey is better than sacrifice. Telling the truth is not a sacrifice, it’s
obedience. Reverencing God’s houses,
spiritual and temporal is not a sacrifice, it’s love. When God sees that love he moves you up to
verse ten. It might seem to be all fun
and reward unless your mindset is like Christ’s.
Isaiah 53:10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he
hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he
shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord
shall prosper in his hand.
For you. That is why
we make every effort to honor and respect the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. The Holy Spirit does not advertise
Himself. Jesus endured this bruising for
us so HIS soul might be an offering for our sin. As long as we properly honor and reverence
Jesus, it pleases God to have offered Him for our sin. If we fail to reverence and honor Christ’s
sacrifice, God’s wrath abides upon us. If
others fail to love and honor us for our sacrifice in His name, God’s wrath may
abide in them. If our actions cause them
to hate us then their blood is on our hands (1 Corinthians 6:19, Jude 21:24).
Because of His Holy sacrifice our Father in Heaven will see
His children, the offspring of His Son’s sacrifice. Our days will be prolonged for ever and the
pleasure of God’s purpose for our lives will prosper in HIS hands. We are more than conquerors. We cannot fail. We abide in Him, rule in Him and have great
honor in Him and He in us.
Isaiah 53:11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and
shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many;
for he shall bear their iniquities.
God stood in heaven surrounded by raised swords held by
angels of great power. His anger and
rage over mankind’s great sin smoldered within Him as a living thing and warred
with His equally powerful love for our sorry state. A whisper was heard and echoed within His
heart. It simply said, “I’ll go.” The eternal God paused, sighed and
nodded. “Yes my Son…you will go. They will lie about you, wound you, vex you,
curse you and ultimately kill you. You
will die as a man, alone and in pain, and the three days of my wrath will seem
three millennia to you (2 Peter 3:8).”
Jesus said, “I accept.”
The Father said, “I am satisfied.”
Tireless angels sheathed their flaming swords in wonder and
awe.
God knows what is in a man and so Jesus knows for He is the
living embodiment of God’s Word (John 1:1-14).
Our iniquities were nailed to that cross in Jerusalem. He has borne the grief of our judgment and
carried the sorrows of our fallen nature.
He was stricken and destroyed by His Father to satisfy God’s Holy
insistence for perfection. His sacrifice
will not justify all because all will not come.
The doorway to God’s great gift is narrow and few will find it (Matthew
7:14, Luke 13:23) but those who do enter in will find great peace and complete
justification in Christ Jesus. There is
NO OTHER WAY to God’s grace but Christ.
Isaiah 53:12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with
the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath
poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and
he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
When the price was paid God wrote, “tetelestai,” which
means, “It is finished. Paid in
FULL!” (John 19:28, 30). The debt incurred by Adam and Eve is wiped
from the books of all who receive the free gift of Christ for their lives. Notice it says that God will divide him a
portion with the great and spoil with the strong. God has opened the books of the wealth and
riches of Heaven itself and poured out a blessing to Jesus and all His
disciples who having done all to stand, stand therefore (Ephesians
6:13-17). We are heirs and joint heirs
with Christ. He has borne our sins and
interceded on our behalf for our transgressions.
Because of His gift we are able to cry out, “Abba (daddy),
father,” to God (Romans 8:15-17), and are counted to be joint heirs with Christ
Jesus.
The ending of this eighth chapter of Romans declares, “Who shall ever separate us from Christ’s
love? Shall suffering and affliction and tribulation? Or calamity and distress?
Or persecution or hunger or destitution or peril or sword? Even as it is written, For Thy sake we are
put to death all the day long; we are regarded and counted as sheep for the
slaughter. Yet amid all these things we
are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved
us. For I am persuaded beyond doubt (am
sure) that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things
impending and threatening nor things to come, nor powers, Nor height nor depth, nor anything else in
all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord.”
We might be killed or endure great afflictions, but we have
already WON! Our future is secure
against anything that the enemy might bring against us. We are more than conquerors because we have
crossed the finish line into victory even while we are currently running
it. The purpose of continuing in this
race is to amass treasures in heaven to await our transformation after
death.
Are you amassing your heavenly wealth and placing its
importance above your natural worldly wealth?
This earthly life is short. The
grief endured by our savior was brutal, violent and deeply offensive…but it was
brief for His human side though much longer for His eternal side. For all our hurts and wounds and sorrows in
this life, it is very short in the eternal scale of our Lord. Do not let these petty sorrows and trials
draw your attention away from the greater truth of eternal life in peace and
joy. Press toward the mark of heavenly
wealth and lead others down the same path as God gives you opportunities.
Every one of these promises for the Savior have come to
pass. They were written 700 years before
they came to pass. God’s Word is always
sure and true and accurate. There is no
need to lie or wink at God’s Word to make it palatable. It is perfect. These few promises listed here are but a
small portion of the whole.
Press ahead beloved.
REST ASSURED.
Bishop J
