Sanctuary / Stone

"But the L-RD of Hosts, Him you shall honor as holy. Let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread. And He will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Yerushalayim. And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken. Bind up the testimony; seal the teaching among my disciples. I will wait for the L-RD, Who is hiding His Face from the house of Yakov, and I will hope in Him." ~ Isaiah 8:13-17

Isaiah revealed that Adonai would become a sanctuary to some of Israel, and a stone of offense to others. Is that not perfectly clear - and clearly seen today? This is the plan of G-d. It is glorious, but sometimes difficult for us to understand. The struggle does not belong to us. It is His alone - and He alone will triumph. B"H!

No Evidence.

Renowned Talmudic scholar, Daniel Boyarin, in his latest book, The Jewish Gospels (speaking of Isaiah 53, on pg.152) states:

"I cannot overstate the extent to which the interpretation of this passage has anchored the conventional view of Judaism's relationship to Messianism. It has been generally assumed by modern folks that Jews have always given the passage a metaphorical reading, understanding the suffering servant to refer to the People of Israel, and that it was the Christians who changed and distorted its meaning to make it refer to Jesus. Quite to the contrary, we now know that many Jewish authorities, maybe even most, until nearly the modern period have read Isaiah 53 as being about the Messiah; until the last few centuries, the allegorical reading was a minority position." He continues, "Aside from one very important - but absolutely unique - notice in Origen's Contra Celsum, there is no evidence at all that any late ancient Jews read Isaiah 52-53 as referring to anyone but the Messiah."

Purchase Daniel Boyarin's The Jewish Gospels here.
Read the 53rd chapter of Isaiah here.
Watch The Mysterious Prophecy of Isaiah 53 video here.

Talk to the Hand

Listen to Me, O Ya'akov, Yisrael, whom I have called: I Am He; I AM the First and I AM the Last. My own Hand laid the foundations of the earth, and My Right Hand spread out the heavens; when I summon them, they all stand up together...Draw near to Me, hear this: from the beginning I have not spoken in secret, from the time it came to be I have been there." And now the L-rd G-D has sent me, and his Spirit. This says the L-RD, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Yisrael: "I AM the L-RD your G-D, who teaches you to profit, Who leads you in the way you should go." ~ Yeshayahu 48:12-13,16-17

Remain

“For I know their works and their thoughts, and the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they will come and shall see My glory, and I will set a sign among them. And from them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands far away, that have not heard My fame or seen My glory. And they shall declare My glory among the nations. And they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations as an offering to the L-RD, on horses and in chariots and in litters and on mules and on dromedaries, to My Holy Mountain, Yerushalayim, says the L-RD, just as Israel brings its grain offerings in clean vessels to the house of the L-RD. And some of them also I will take for priests and for Levites, says the L-RD."

“For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before Me, says the L-RD, so shall your offspring and your name remain. " 

~ Yeshayahu 66:18-22

On Evil

There is a truth evident in scripture that many are reluctant to accept - one that most believers would rather not even contemplate. It has the power to turn a friendly discussion into a fierce debate. Because of this, I warn you - if you would prefer to remain calm, if you would rather not read something absolutely infuriating, make haste and click your way right out of here. For those intrepid souls who remain, however, read on. Do remember, though - you've been warned.

“I form light and create darkness, I make well-being [good] and create calamity [evil], I Am the L-RD, who does all these things.” ~ Isaiah 45:7

Hold fast.

Thus says the L-RD: "Keep justice, and do righteousness, for soon My salvation will come, and My deliverance be revealed. Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil." Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the L-RD say, "The L-RD will surely separate me from His people"; and let not the eunuch say, "Behold, I am a dry tree." For thus says the L-RD: "To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, who choose the things that please Me and hold fast My covenant, I will give in My house and within My walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. "And the foreigners who join themselves to the L-RD, to minister to Him, to love the Name of the L-RD, and to be His servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast My covenant, these I will bring to My Holy Mountain, and make them joyful in My House of Prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house shall be called a House of Prayer for All Peoples." The L-rd G-D, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares, "I will gather yet others to him besides those already gathered." ~ Yeshayahu 56:1-8

His Face

"For just a moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In overflowing anger for a moment I hid My Face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you," says the L-RD, your Redeemer. "This is like the days of Noach to Me: as I swore that the waters of Noach should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, and will not rebuke you. For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but My steadfast love shall not depart from you, and My covenant of peace shall not be removed," says the L-RD, having compassion on you. ~ Yeshayahu 54:7-10

In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you. If anyone gathers against you, it is not from Me; whoever stirs up strife and attacks you shall fall because of you. ~ Yeshayahu 54:14,15

1 = 1,000

Gilad Shalit is finally free! 

Baruch HaShem!!!

"Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, 
I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life."  
Yeshayahu 43:4

The Sages on The Servant

Moses ben-Maimon, Maimonides (1135-1204) wrote to Rabbi Jacob Alfajumi: Likewise said Isaiah that He (Messiah) would appear without acknowledging a father or mother: “He grew up before Him as a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground” etc. (Isaiah 53:2).

Talmud, Sanhedrin 98b: Rav said: The world was created only on David’s account. Samuel said: On Moses account; R. Johanan said: For the sake of the Messiah. What is His [the Messiah’s] name? - The Rabbis said: His name is “the leper scholar,” as it is written, Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him a leper, smitten of G-d, and afflicted. 

Talmud, Sanhedrin 98b: Messiah... what is His name? The Rabbis say, “the leprous one”; those of the house of the Rabbi say: “Cholaja” (the sickly), for it says, “Surely He has borne our sicknesses” etc. (Isaiah 53:4).

Targum Jonathan (4th Century) gives the introduction on Isaiah 52:13: “Behold, My servant the Messiah...” 

Raise Your Hand.

This is what the L-RD G-D said, "Look, I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles and raise my sign to all the people. They will bring your sons, carrying them close and they will lift up your daughters upon their shoulders and carry them. Kings will be your caring fathers and queens your nursing mothers. They will bow down their faces at the sight of you and lick the dust from your feet. Then you will all know that I AM the L-RD. Those who wait for Me will not be ashamed." ~ Isaiah 49:22-23

Yeshayahu 49:22,23 graphically illustrates how the nations will, because of a miracle (nes) that is raised before them by the hand of G-d, carry Israel back to her land – and humbly nurture the People of G-d in that place. Then, and this is important, "you will all know that I Am the L-RD”. Who is “you”? “You” refers to Israel, of course. When will Israel know who the L-rd is? We can see from the sequence - only after this event takes place is His identity revealed. After G-d raises a miracle in the sight of the nations, they will be motivated to care for the Jewish People, carrying them back to their land. After which, they, Israel, will know who the L-rd truly is. Since the nations have, in effect, been carrying Israel back to her land for decades, are we to believe that the sign raised by the hand of G-d to the nations is Messiah Yeshua? I certainly believe so. But is there more to this prophecy? The humility described here on the part of the nations is rarely seen today. Is there yet another miracle G-d will work before gentile eyes? One that will humble them even more? One that will make the truth of G-d's plan for world redemption an inescapable reality for all? Or have the nations simply missed what was already shown to them? I believe that there may be more shown to the nations. With the current state of world markets and global turmoil, it would be absolutely nothing for G-d to raise His hand and unleash a series of eye-opening events. Perhaps this "hand raising" is a multi-faceted revelation spanning an unknown number of years. At any rate, there are already gentiles who would love nothing more than to humble themselves and assist Am Yisrael any way that they could. Many have been for decades.

One, Three, Five

When they encountered the textual oddity of the plural word Elohim, which is used thousands of times in Tanakh to refer to HaShem, the Sages seemed well aware of the divine revelation of the unified G-d. This mysterious moniker has long been understood by the Sages, as evidenced particularly in the Zohar, to express the various faces of G-d.

The Zohar utilizes five different expressions to refer to the principle of the Unified G-d, or Adonai Echad. They are the tlat rishin or three heads, the tlat ruhin or three spirits, the tlat havayot or three forms of revelation, the tlat shmehin or three names and the talta gvanin, or three shades of interpretation. These Aramaic terms are understood as G-d’s “being”, just as some might use the terms g-dhead, Unity or Trinity in English.

The Zohar (pt.II) asks: “How can these three be One? Are they One only because we call them One? How they are One we can know only by the urging of the Ruach Ha Kodesh and then even with closed eyes.”
The humility expressed here in approaching this mystery “with closed eyes”, or in humble faith, is beautiful, and something of which we would do well to take note.

No Secret

It's no secret that there are those who would prefer the pasukim that comprise Yeshayahu 53 to be solely concerning Yisrael. While this chapter does concern Israel, it's not in the manner that these folks are comfortable with. They would prefer Yeshayahu 53 to feature Yisrael as the subject, but it is clearly speaking prophetically of the suffering Servant, the Mashiach of Yisrael. Now, there are no shortage of arguments against this very plain interpretation of the text, but they can all be laid to rest in the face of some old fashioned common sense. Let's take a quick look. I promise not to keep you too long.

Wait

Zion says, "The L-RD has forsaken me. My L-RD has forgotten all about me. But G-d says, "Can a woman forget the child that she nursed, would she show no compassion to her own son? Even if she could forget, I could never and will never forget you. Look, I have carved you into the palms of my hands. The walls of your city are always in front of me." ~ Isaiah 49:15-16