Isaiah 53: Christ Our Passover Lamb

Continuing to look at Raine Millers statement that the Messiah only suffered a few hours and couldn't qualify as the person in Isaiah 53, I wanted to look at the whipping prior to crucifixion of Christ.

In his book 'Resurrection Factor' Josh McDowell says, "Death by crucifixion developed into one of the world's most disgraceful and cruel methods of torture. Cicero calls it 'the most cruel and hideous tortures.' Will Durant wrote that 'even the Romans...pitied the victims.' ...After the verdict of crucifixion had been pronounced by the court, it was customary to tie the accused to a post at the tribunal. The criminal was stripped of his clothes, then severely whipped by the lictors or scourgers. The whip known as the flagrum, had a sturdy handle to which were attached long leather thongs of varying lengths. Sharp jagged pieces of bone and lead were woven into them. The Jews were limited by their law to 40 lashes. the Pharisees with their emphasis on strict adherance to the law would limit their lashes to 39, so that if they miscounted they would not break their law. The Romans could totally ignore the Jewish limitation, and probably did so in the case of Jesus. Dr. C. Truman Davis, a medical doctor who has meticulously studied crucifixion from a medical perspective, describes the effects of the Roman flagrum used in whipping: 'The heavy whip is brought down with full force again and again across [a person's] shoulders, back and legs. At first the heavy thongs cut through the skin only. then as the blows continue, they cut deeper into the subcutaneous tissues, producing first an oozing of blood from the capillaries and veins of the skin, and finally spurting arterial bleeding from vessels in the underlying muscles. the small balls of lead first produce large, deep bruises which are broken open by subsequent blows. Finally the skin of the back is hanging in long ribbons and the entire area is an unrecognizable mass of torn, bleeding tissue. When it is determined by the centurion in charge that the prisoner is near death, the beating is finally stopped. " (The Resurrection Factor, McDowell, pg. 42,43)

More on this later...

Raine:

Also not one day of his life was he sick, even in his death. To be "acquainted with illness" doesn’t mean he’s like a doctor/healer who sees illnesses and heals them. The flow of the whole statement in 53:3 points to the idea that the servant himself should be experiencing the illness HIMSELF. The nation of Israel could be seen as being ill at times in a figurative sense (which is how this whole section should be seen), dealing with attacks of sin from within and persecution from without.

Article refuting Raine:

"Where did this "Leper Messiah" idea come from? This odd concept must have arisen from the rabbis as they struggled with Isaiah 53. They either saw the Messiah's sufferings as leprosy or split the Messiah in two, one a sufferer and one a conqueror. (See the section on the "Two-Messiahs" theory.) The Hebrew words in Isaiah 53:4, stricken (nagua) and smitten (mukkay) are interpreted as referring to a leprous condition. Either word can refer to being stricken with a disease, yet they need not be understood in that way, much like our English work "stricken" can refer to stricken with disease or just simply stricken, as with a fist. Either way, Jesus was stricken. He was certainly made sick by the Roman floggings and beatings and the tortuous ordeal of crucifixion. He was certainly stricken with the Roman lash. As a leper was despised and rejected of men, so also was the Messiah despised and rejected. And still today there are many who see Jesus as being as repugnant as leprosy and his followers as those who should be isolated and shunned.

To the followers of the Suffering One, his afflictions, described in Isaiah 53, are the agonies of one dying to provide atonement. The lamb being led to slaughter envisioned by Isaiah is described as one punished in the place of his people. Jesus, the true Messiah, came as the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." His crucifixion provided a substitutionary sacrifice adequate to fulfill the punishment we all deserve. Let us praise the God of Israel, our Redeemer, who has provided his Messiah to take the just punishment for his people so that we might be forgiven our sins!"

http://www.chaim.org/leper.htm

Notice what Raine does, she translates this verse a specific way and then says that Jesus never had a literal illness but then only figuratively applies it to Israel.

"The nation of Israel could be seen as being ill at times in a figurative sense." Raine

Sounds like a double standard to me.

â ðÄáÀæÆä åÇçÂãÇì àÄéùÑÄéí, àÄéùÑ îÇëÀàÉáåÉú åÄéãåÌòÇ çÉìÄé; åÌëÀîÇñÀúÌÅø ôÌÈðÄéí îÄîÌÆðÌåÌ, ðÄáÀæÆä åÀìÉà çÂùÑÇáÀðËäåÌ. 3 He was despised, and forsaken of men, a man of pains, and acquainted with disease, and as one from whom men hide their face: he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

(Hebrew Bible)

Messiah's familiarity with disease is taking on the sin of mankind and its results.

By His stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53; 1 Peter 3:18)

ã àÈëÅï çÃìÈéÅðåÌ äåÌà ðÈùÒÈà, åÌîÇëÀàÉáÅéðåÌ ñÀáÈìÈí; åÇàÂðÇçÀðåÌ çÂùÑÇáÀðËäåÌ, ðÈâåÌòÇ îËëÌÅä àÁìÉäÄéí åÌîÀòËðÌÆä. 4 Surely our diseases he did bear, and our pains he carried; whereas we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. (Hebrew Bible, Isaiah 53)

How has Israel's suffering produced healing for us?

It hasn't!!!

In fact Israel's suffering has been the result of its sin according to the Old Testament.

Michael Esses a former Rabbi says this of Jesus' sufferings: "If you check with a medical doctor, he will tell you there are thirty nine major illnesses that can kill mankind. And those stripes on the back of Jesus Christ healed every major illness of mankind. and I say, 'Praise God that He took those stripes upon himself, that I don't have to bear them, that He bore them for me." (Jesus in Genesis, pg. 51, Esses)

Now I'm not sure of the disease count but I know that the stripes Jesus bore were for me, and in my place, and surely my 'diseases he did bear' and only by accepting this sacrifice for me do I have hope of eternal life with Him.

BJ Maxwell 4/07/2006

Continuing my refutations of Raine Millers commentary on Isaiah 53:

Raine says:

"When Israel bore their sins that means that Israel bore their bad actions, the blunt of their sinful actions, the way their persecuted Israel when it was YHWH who had done this for Israel’s discipline, not for the nations to take it upon themselves to join in on the "whoop-ass", the beatings. Israel was stricken BECAUSE OF the sins, transgressions, and iniquities of the nations who had taken it captive. The servant of YHWH was not stricken FOR (as in, in the place of) the sins of the nations. The Hebrew says "BECAUSE OF" not "for" or "in the place of". But through the persecution, the nations would be healed by learning about the Deity of the Israelites, YHWH. It’s amazing that through the exile, the punishment of Israel, the knowledge of YHWH spread throughout the pagan world, and through the redemption of Israel, the nations would see who really is the Deity of the whole world.

BJ:

This doesn't work with the rest of this chapter. There are places in the OT where the sacrifice of the innocent lamb, servant is an atonement 'for sins' not just the result of.

When the Old Covenant speaks of a lamb offering it is:

1) Without blemish

`If his offering `is' a burnt-offering out of the herd -- a male, a perfect one, he doth bring near, unto the opening of the tent of meeting he doth bring it near, at his pleasure, before Jehovah; (Leviticus 1:3)

"Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: 'On the tenth day of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man's need you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorpost...So you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD'S Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt." (Exodus 12:1-14)

a) Notice who is killing the lamb without blemish

b) Notice how the blood is to be put on the doorposts

7 Get rid of the old hametz, so that you can be a new batch of dough, because in reality you are unleavened. For our Pesach lamb, the Messiah, has been sacrificed. 8 So let us celebrate the Seder not with leftover hametz, the hametz of wickedness and evil, but with the matzah of purity and truth. (1 Corinthians 5, The Complete Jewish Bible)

Can you see the cross in this picture?

c) The lamb is satisfying God so that the angel of death will 'Pass-over' their houses and spare them.

1) Here belief that this sacrifice is 'in place of' them, spares them.

2) Taking action, killing the lamb and putting its blood on the doorposts results in being spared.

This is why Isaiah refers to a innocent 'lamb', when speaking of Messiah.

2) The person spoken of here that bears the sins of many is 'in place of' just like a lamb sacrifice in scripture.

The verses are these:

Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep did go astray, we turned every one to his own way; and YHWH hath made to light on him the iniquity of us all.

Here we, are the sinful sheep and Isaiah includes himself. This is contrasted to 'made to light on him'

The iniquity of us is the iniquity of us all, specifically Israel.

Raine's bait and switch here of making it the kings and Gentiles speaking here is utterly ridiculous.

"In Isaiah 53:1-9, there is a clear distinction in pronouns. The speakers uniformly identify themselves in the first person plural (we, us and our), while the Servant is consistently described in the third person singular (he, him and his). Isaiah the prophet, a Jew, in speaking of himself and his own nation Israel, uses the pronouns we, us and our. He describes the Servant as someone other than himself and his people in using the pronouns he, him and his. Since the speakers are plainly Isaiah's people Israel (we), the Servant whom they describe (he) must be someone other than Israel. They both cannot be Israel."

http://www.messianicassociation.org/a-mr-isa53.htm

Israel has never borne the sins of the nations in a sacrificial kind of way.

It has suffered because of its own sins.

The lamb in Isaiah 53 is without blemish.

Israel wouldn't even qualify, because a lamb must be without blemish and they certainly are not: ד הוֹי גּוֹי חֹטֵא, עַם כֶּבֶד עָו‍ֹן--זֶרַע מְרֵעִים, בָּנִים מַשְׁחִיתִים; עָזְבוּ אֶת-יְהוָה, נִאֲצוּ אֶת-קְדוֹשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל--נָזֹרוּ אָחוֹר. 4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers, children that deal corruptly; they have forsaken the LORD, they have contemned the Holy One of Israel, they are turned away backward. (Hebrew Bible Isaiah 1)

Look at the following verses, all of which are in chapter 53 which describe an atonement...in place of....ד אָכֵן חֳלָיֵנוּ הוּא נָשָׂא, וּמַכְאֹבֵינוּ סְבָלָם; וַאֲנַחְנוּ חֲשַׁבְנֻהוּ, נָגוּעַ מֻכֵּה אֱלֹהִים וּמְעֻנֶּה. 4 Surely our diseases he did bear, and our pains he carried; whereas we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflictedה וְהוּא מְחֹלָל מִפְּשָׁעֵנוּ, מְדֻכָּא מֵעֲו‍ֹנֹתֵינוּ; מוּסַר שְׁלוֹמֵנוּ עָלָיו, וּבַחֲבֻרָתוֹ נִרְפָּא-לָנוּ. 5 But he was wounded because of our transgressions, he was crushed because of our iniquities: the chastisement of our welfare was upon him, and with his stripes we were healed. ו כֻּלָּנוּ כַּצֹּאן תָּעִינוּ, אִישׁ לְדַרְכּוֹ פָּנִינוּ; וַיהוָה הִפְגִּיעַ בּוֹ, אֵת עֲו‍ֹן כֻּלָּנוּ. 6 All we like sheep did go astray, we turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath made to light on him the iniquity of us all. ז נִגַּשׂ וְהוּא נַעֲנֶה, וְלֹא יִפְתַּח-פִּיו, כַּשֶּׂה לַטֶּבַח יוּבָל, וּכְרָחֵל לִפְנֵי גֹזְזֶיהָ נֶאֱלָמָה; וְלֹא יִפְתַּח, פִּיו. 7 He was oppressed, though he humbled himself and opened not his mouth; as a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before her shearers is dumb; yea, he opened not his mouth.

These verses repeat the substitutionary atonement of this innocent servant/lamb, which has already been shown not to be Israel.

Israel is represented by: 'our diseases'..., 'our pains'...'our transgressions', 'our iniquities'..., 'the iniquity of us all'.

Notice the pronouns used here.

And because of this he was 'wounded', 'crushed',

Notice the pronoun used here.

The Hebrew bible even goes on to say: ח מֵעֹצֶר וּמִמִּשְׁפָּט לֻקָּח, וְאֶת-דּוֹרוֹ מִי יְשׂוֹחֵחַ: כִּי נִגְזַר מֵאֶרֶץ חַיִּים, מִפֶּשַׁע עַמִּי נֶגַע לָמוֹ. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away, and with his generation who did reason? for he was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due.

'My people' is Israel.

Here it says that the stroke was due Israel, but this servant took it.

This chapter is filled with statement after statement of a sacrifice and vicarious atonement/In place of.

How anyone can overlook all these verses is beyond me.

Here is more: יא מֵעֲמַל נַפְשׁוֹ, יִרְאֶה יִשְׂבָּע--בְּדַעְתּוֹ יַצְדִּיק צַדִּיק עַבְדִּי, לָרַבִּים; וַעֲו‍ֹנֹתָם, הוּא יִסְבֹּל. 11 Of the travail of his soul he shall see to the full, even My servant, who by his knowledge did justify the Righteous One to the many, and their iniquities he did bear. יב לָכֵן אֲחַלֶּק-לוֹ בָרַבִּים, וְאֶת-עֲצוּמִים יְחַלֵּק שָׁלָל, תַּחַת אֲשֶׁר הֶעֱרָה לַמָּוֶת נַפְשׁוֹ, וְאֶת-פֹּשְׁעִים נִמְנָה; וְהוּא חֵטְא-רַבִּים נָשָׂא, וְלַפֹּשְׁעִים יַפְגִּיעַ. {פ} 12 Therefore will I divide him a portion among the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the mighty; because he bared his soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. {P}

Raine should look at all the words that define this sacrifice.

She should look at: 'For'; 'Because of', 'Bear', 'Bore',

AND with his stripes we are healed. Here the result of his stripes is healing for us, so no one can justifiably say that his wounds aren't vicarious and redemptive.

Keywords in this chapter are:

For

Because of

Because of doesn't cancel For.

In the Hebrew

Bear

Bore,

when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin (KJV vv 12)

to see if his soul would offer itself in restitution, (Hebrew Bible)

Raine:

All of the nations were doing their own thing, and in the exile, the Israelites would have to go through a lot of punishment, both from YHWH and from the iniquities of man.

Bj:

Israel was doing its own thing. ד הוֹי גּוֹי חֹטֵא, עַם כֶּבֶד עָו‍ֹן--זֶרַע מְרֵעִים, בָּנִים מַשְׁחִיתִים; עָזְבוּ אֶת-יְהוָה, נִאֲצוּ אֶת-קְדוֹשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל--נָזֹרוּ אָחוֹר. 4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers, children that deal corruptly; they have forsaken the LORD, they have contemned the Holy One of Israel, they are turned away backward. (Hebrew Bible Isaiah 1)

Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed, though he humbled himself and opened not his mouth; as a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before her shearers is dumb; yea, he opened not his mouth."

Raine:

"Understand that the Torah, the books of Moshe, NEVER prescribe human sacrifice. The idea of someone dying for (in the place of) the sins of another is foreign to the Torah concept of individual and collective responsibility for sin (Deut 24:16; Ezek 18:20). YHWH put his servant through all that stress so the servant would return to him in fullness. So Yeshua has nothing to do with this, even though some bibles mistranslate the verse to try to promote a vicarious sacrifice.

BJ:

:11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied:

travail – `amal – toil, trouble, labor, as a woman in labor.

soul – nephesh – soul, self, life

shall be satisfied – saba` – to be satisfied, be sated, be fulfilled

God would see the suffering of Jesus and be "satisfied" that the requirements that our sins be paid for would be "satisfied".

http://www3.calvarychapel.com/fullerton/bstudy/23isa/23isa53d.htm

For among the first things I passed on to you was what I also received, namely this: the Messiah died for our sins, in accordance with what the Tanakh says; 4 and he was buried; and he was raised on the third day, in accordance with what the Tanakh says; 5 and he was seen by Kefa, then by the Twelve; 6 and afterwards he was seen by more than five hundred brothers at one time, the majority of whom are still alive, though some have died. (1 Corinthians 15)

BJ Maxwell 4/10/2006