Messianic Prophecy CA314 LESSON 17 of 24 Louis Goldberg, ThD Experience: Professor of Theology and Jewish Studies, Moody Bible Institute In our last lesson we suggested a third possibility of how to handle an exegesis of Isaiah 7:14. May I suggest that we have two virgins in mind? There was some sort of a fulfillment in Isaiah s day and then an application to the first-century experience with the birth of Jesus to His mother, Mary. I might refer the student to Herbert Wolf s article in the Journal of the Society of Biblical Literature (Fall 1972) where he develops this view quite thoroughly. Gleason Archer, also, in his Survey of Old Testament Introduction [Chicago: Moody Press, 1964] has mentioned it, and I do think that he holds to this view as well. But let s briefly indicate some aspects of this. Let s note, first of all, that in Isaiah 8:1 4 there is the actual background and setting of a marriage ceremony, the calling in of witnesses, and the inscribing of a testimony; we have here the marriage ceremony and the witnesses to it and the signing of a contract. You also have in this passage the consummation of the marriage and a reference to the son of whom it says that before the boy knows how to cry out My father or My mother, the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria. So this is one aspect of this view. The second item we should note is the almah word in chapter 7, verse 14. It has a definite article in front of it, which makes it ha almah, or the virgin, as if singling out some specific young lady of marriageable age. And that it is of this young lady that the child was to be born and who would become a sign that God was with the people. A third item we must also take into consideration is that Isaiah already had one child, Shear-jashub, and it might seem reasonable to conclude then that Isaiah at this point was a widower. In other words, his first wife had died. This seems then to fit all of the requirements of the passage. The term almah can be then handled as virgin attested to by the Septuagint translation with the word parthenos. We can also take into account the immediate context: that verses 14, 15, and 16 are a unit and that the child before he 1 of 6
knows how to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread, that is, which Isaiah dreaded, that these lands will be forsaken. Furthermore, as we apply this passage to a first-century situation, it could very beautifully then refer to the birth of Jesus who is also Immanuel in the sense that God was with Israel in the first-century appearance of the Messiah who would then become a sign of deliverance for the people. It seems then that this third view perhaps satisfies all of the requirements necessary. This happens to be the professor s point of view, and if you want to study this further, I would suggest that you try and get a hold of this article in the Society of Biblical Literature [Wolf s article, referenced earlier]. Let s go on then to further conditions as to the Messiah. Let s note also something concerning His acceptance and rejection, and the passage of Scripture is in Isaiah 53:3 and 5. It is my position to hold onto a unity of Isaiah, and if you want to follow the arguments with regard to this, I can refer you to Hobart Freeman s An Introduction to the Old Testament Prophets [Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1981], as well as to Gleason Archer in his Survey of Old Testament Introduction. We would suggest then, as you lay the prophecies out on the page, that you type out Isaiah 53:3 and 5 on the left side and then the corresponding fulfillment in Luke 18:30 31, primarily, however, 1 Peter 2:24 25, and we see then a messianic fulfillment. It is a reference as to how some of the main leadership regarded Jesus the Messiah and how some of the people treated Jesus the Messiah. True, from today s point of view there are many Jewish scholars and many theological liberals who would identify Isaiah 53 with the nation of Israel in all that they have experienced. However, in Isaiah 53:10 it says when you shall make his soul an offering for sin, or we might suggest when he shall make of himself an offering for sin. But regardless, the emphasis is on this matter of offering for sin. The word used here for offering is asham, guilt offering, that is discussed in Leviticus 5. But I must hasten to add, however, that any offering ever to be offered on any prescribed altar before the Lord under the Old Testament system, any offering had to be perfect, without spot and blemish. The question can be raised here judging from what Isaiah has said of his people in other passages, can this passage be referred to as the nation? In other words, can Israel be the subject of Isaiah 53? It s a question as to whether Israel can be this perfect offering. This can leave us then with no other possible conclusion but to say that Isaiah 53 must be applied to an individual Messiah. We are going to come back to this passage because this is a very key 2 of 6
passage in messianic prophecy, and we ll reserve further comment when we deal with it. Another condition for the Messiah is his death. This is given to us in Psalm 22:16, a psalm which has always been regarded as a messianic psalm. The dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet [King James Version]. It s an amazing accuracy as to the assertion that is made. David wrote this prophetically at about 1000 BC. Perhaps some passages might have personal experience, but certainly the whole thrust of the psalm is not a part of David s experience at all. He is referring to the Messiah who is yet to come, and from this passage under consideration he is referring to the death of the Messiah. It is true that there is a problem in exegesis. Masoretic Text translates for they pierced my hands and feet, like a lion my hands and feet. It s a sore problem because the point of the disagreement is that which is in the ending of the word, the very last consonant. To say they have pierced, we would say in Hebrew ka aru; to say like a lion, ka arie, and the difference between the two is the length of the consonant as to whether we have a yod or whether we have a vav, and the difference is very, very minute indeed but yet enough to cause some real problems in exegesis. However, I don t make a big problem of this. Regardless, the hands and the feet become mangled, and this is the emphasis here. The mangling of the hands and the feet in a very particular, peculiar way, and it is my assertion that we are referring to a method of execution that was true in the day of the Romans in the first century. In David s day the method of execution was by stoning, stoning to death. But here David, under the influence of the Spirit of God, describes a method of execution far removed from the culture of his day. The method of execution indicated is that of the later crucifixion, which in a sense does mangle the hands and the feet. My own position is that the word is they pierced, but I wouldn t make a big argument. The point is that, as I have said, something happens to the hands and to the feet. Still another condition for the Messiah is His coming again. We see this in Zechariah 12:10. Let me read it. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced. There s no question about this word. This word can mean none other but they have pierced. And they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. The traditional among Jewry today are looking for the coming of the Messiah. Yet the prophet tells us that as God pours out His spirit upon Israel when the Messiah comes, how does Israel see 3 of 6
Him? They see Him as the pierced one. Later Jewish thought, that is, postbiblical, second, third, fourth century AD, came up with the idea of two Messiahs the Messiah, son of David who is to be the Messiah, ruler in the messianic kingdom. The later Jewish thought describes Zechariah 12 as a Messiah son of Joseph who is wounded in some great battle. However, earlier Jewish exegesis doesn t support this, and furthermore, it would seem from the context of chapters 12, 13, and 14 that we can interpret chapter12 only in terms of the Messiah and not talk of two Messiahs. The point here is that as the Spirit of God is poured out upon the nation and when He comes, Israel sees Him as the pierced one. In other words, they see in His body wounds which had previously sustained. In recognizing this the whole generation of Israelites living at His coming begin to be horrorstruck and begin to be mourn as they understand and comprehend fully the identity of their Messiah. We might sort of wrap this up in a sense as we have noted these conditions from the Old Testament, we have noted the fulfillment, the messianic fulfillment in the New Testament. And insofar as the passage in Zechariah 12 is concerned, the unfulfilled messianic aspect, we can very well ask the very pertinent question: If Jesus is not the Messiah, then what kind of a Messiah are we looking for? The Messiah, if we are looking for Him yet to come, would have to be born in Bethlehem, He would have to be born of a virgin, He would have to be rejected by His people, He would have to be crucified. And the question can be raised then as one considers the full impact is, Can we have really a rerun in history of this whole affair again? It seems to me that if we reflect upon it in this light, there we are driven to the conclusion that Jesus Himself is this Messiah. Now let s go on to this matter of the servant of the Lord passages in Isaiah. This I think should follow through the conditions of the Messiah. There are four servant of the Lord passages: chapter 42, verses 1 9; chapter 49, verses 1 9; chapter 50, verses 4 9; and then chapter 52, verse 13 through chapter 53, verse 12. How does one handle these passages? There seem to be three ways in which these passages are handled today by modern scholars. The first is to consider that the servant is Israel. The most prevalent opinion among Jewish writers is that the servant of the Lord whose suffering is described in these passages which I have indicated refers to the nation of Israel. So, for example, Isaiah 53 describes the misery to which Israel has been subjected: its steadfast adherence to the worship of the one living and true God, the idolatry of the nations, and the final deliverance 4 of 6
and glory. This opinion was adopted in the Middle Ages by such men as Ibn Ezra, Rashi, David Kimchi, then by the more modern writers. There were some among them, however, who restrict this prophecy to the pious portion of Israel. So Rashi, in commenting on Isaiah 52:13, says, Behold in the latter days my servant Jacob shall prosper ; that is, the righteous who are in his midst. Many theological liberals will also adopt this position except with different kinds of ramifications. Still another way to handle these passages is to say that the servant is an individual, an individual is in mind. The personal traits in the prophecies have led some to adopt this view, so some have identified the servant as Hezekiah or Uziah or the rabbinical tradition that Isaiah was of royal birth, that he was martyred under Manasseh and buried close by the kings, and this is applicable then to the description of Isaiah 53. Abravanel first supposed that the nation of Israel was meant but then changed his mind and made Josiah the subject of the prophecy. Some have said it is Jeremiah. So there are a number of people who say that the servant is an individual. There are some who say that the servant is the Messiah, and this is true in many passages, especially when we look at Isaiah 53 in many aspects that it can only refer to the Messiah in His life and in His ministry as applied to Jesus. Yet there are many passages with an individualistic interpretation, and there are also many passages where the servant is called Israel, the latter, for example, in verses like Isaiah 41:8 or 43:8 13 or 49:3. I think we can see perhaps the servant figure as both nation and its head or representative, the Messiah. The servant in many cases is Israel. But the term, may I suggest, is elastic so that it can be stretched to mean the nation, chapter 42:19 and following, the righteous remnant in Israel, chapter 49:3, and then also the nation s representative; that is, the Messiah, 49:5; and also take a look at Isaiah 53:11. Now we want to note the best known of the servant of the Lord passages. Because it is the very heart of messianic prophecy in a sense, I felt that we should look at this verse by verse and try and get a better understanding, and I ll leave it to the student to find corresponding fulfillments. In the first phase of the messianic kingdom there are also a few of the passages where we are referring to the second phase of the messianic kingdom as well. So important is this passage that Martin Luther called it the fifth gospel. 5 of 6
In its ancient setting it was considered as applied to an individual. In a very peculiar way the Talmud describes Isaiah 53 as two representatives. The suffering is applied to the nation while the glory aspect is applied to an individual. Not too much is given here as to why it is explained in this way except that there seems to be an abhorrence here that the Messiah, son of David, should suffer. Yet there are rabbis who have always thought otherwise. Rashi has been challenged by many a rabbi for his stand. It is interesting to note that Ibn Crispin said to Rashi on one occasion he, Crispin, rightly says of those who for controversial reasons apply the prophecy to Israel. That by so doing, and this is what he s saying now, the doors of the literal interpretation of this passage were shut in people s faces and that they weary themselves to find the entrance having forsaken the knowledge of the ancient teachers and inclined after the stubbornness of their hearts and of their own opinions. So here you have one who insisted that the passage must be handled as applied to an individual and not to the nation. But voices such as these since Rashi have been very few among Judaism. But prior to Rashi and in the ancient setting we see teachers of authority holding to the idea of a servant as an individual in the person of the Messiah. Let s look then at chapter 52, verse 13 to chapter 53, verse 12. The passage is divided into five parts of three verses each. The prophecy begins with Behold. It is Isaiah s way of calling attention to that which is of the utmost importance. Isaiah would have us fix our eyes on the servant. The servant is described as the one who acts wisely. The wise action is effective and leads to prosperous conditions so that verb can also be used as a synonym for prosperously, to deal prosperously. Referring to Jeremiah 23:5 there is a reference to the Messiah and to His rule: Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely [or deal prosperously] and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. We trust that the student will take the time to read through Isaiah 53 very closely and see how it is fulfilled in a number of passages. Christ-Centered Learning Anytime, Anywhere 6 of 6