"Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?" - Isaiah 53:1The Church does not want the Gentiles saying, "who would have believed our report?". They want it to be the Jews saying it about the Christian doctrine. However, there are two ways to verify who is speaking in astonishment when asking that question. One, you can go back in chapter 52 where the stage is set leading up to this question of which I cover in part 1 of this blog, or two, go to the very next question it asks and answer it biblically. Just who is it that the "Arm of the Lord" is revealed?
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The Bible itself actually gives us the answer to this question starting with the Law of Moses, all way to the Prophet Isaiah in the 52nd. chapter where again, the stage is being set for Isaiah 53.
And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: - Deuteronomy 5:15 (also see Exodus 6:6, Deuteronomy 7:19, 11:2, 26:8, II Kings 17:36-37)
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"O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvelous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.The LORD hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen. He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God." - Psalms 98:1-3
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Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. - Isaiah 52:9-10
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Every time the Bible mentions bringing Israel out of Egypt which was the founding of Israel, the metaphor of God's arm is noted. Israel is literally founded on the "Arm of the Lord". This is something that comes to light in the eyes of the Gentile world at the end when they ask the question to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? Notice, that even the everlasting Torah and the keeping of it is placed together with this metaphor in II Kings 17:36-37.
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The book of Psalms as shown above displays the same picture. It declares the salvation of Israel by God's arm before the eyes of the heathen / Gentiles, then it repeats it by declaring God's mercy to be upon the House of Israel while the whole world will witness this salvation by God of Israel.
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In leading up to Isaiah 53:1, Isaiah emphasizes the redemption of God's people Israel and Jerusalem as he ties them in with the the Gentile nations seeing this salvation in the form of God's arm. As I pointed out in part 1, notice how Isaiah 52:9-10 totally, easily, and completely blends in with such prophesies as Zechariah 8:3 / 8:23.
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It also is noteworthy to know that unless the prophets and writers of holy script are telling what someone else is saying or will say as in Isaiah 53, they speak in the first person and not for mankind in general. It be said enough that the Hebrew Bible was written in Hebrew, by the Hebrew prophets, for the Hebrew people to receive a Hebrew related message unto their Hebrew selves so that they may have a relationship with their Hebrew people-choosing God! I say this because we find in both the prophesies of Psalms and in Isaiah the words "salvation of OUR God" when speaking of the Gentile recognition at the End of Days. The salvation of God will not be a Gentile concept of God that we find in Christianity's Trinity of three persons making up a Godhead-confederation (see the symbolic picture of this blog above) nor will the End of Days recognition be according to Islam's non-Jewish / non-seed of David messiahship of Muhammad.
Jeremiah 16:19 declares very explicitly what the Gentiles among these and other religious groups will be saying when there are no more questions to be asked at the End of Days! There will a recognition of the God of the Jews along with THEIR concept of God, not a Gentile one.
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The bottom line is that St. John 12:38 has been simply misapplied when compared to the context of Isaiah 53:1. In reality, Isaiah 53:1 was written due to the future event of the Gentiles recognizing Israel's glory that God shall bestow on him according to all of Isaiah's prophesies, and not because those bad O Christ-killing Jews refuse to believe in their messiah which would bring about an opposite effect of a destroyed - forever Israel that the Isaiah's prophesies never mention.
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"For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground... - Isaiah 53:2
Both the Messiah (of End of Days) and Israel are referred to as "a branch" or plant life throughout the Hebrew scriptures. That is a fact that Christian missionaries will fail to mention when quoting "branch quotes" from Jeremiah when evangelizing Jews. However, the Hebrew scriptures spend much more time on the messianic age itself and the glorious redemption of Israel than the messiah himself.1 The messiah figure that is to come at the End of Days is a key function and plays a very important role in the full restoration and redemption of Israel. Therefore, the messiah-branch (in type) is only part of the bigger picture Israel-branch (in type) that is to be fulfilled at the End of Days. The problem with the Christian view is that it attempts to apply references of the messiah as being fulfilled in the 1st. century in order to establish Christianity before the actually events of the End of Days occur.
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To "proof text" what I'm saying is correct concerning "the branch" and its timing in world events I'll use the prophecy of Ezekiel 37 (Ezekiel 36 is roughly the same) as a measuring stick to compare other messianic prophesies of "the branch" to determine its appearance.
"And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land... And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them." - Ezekiel 37:21, 24.
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And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds....Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord is OUR righteousness. - Jeremiah 23:3, 5-6
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Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The Lord OUR righteousness. For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel. Neither shall the priests the Levities want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually. - Jeremiah 33:14-18
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Did you notice that the prophesies together are in perfect sequence of events? First there is to be an in-gathering of Israel back to the land of their fathers, then David (a branch) rules the land in righteousness while Israel becomes holy before God. Did any of this happen in the 1st. century? From what I gather from the New Testament and its times, ninety-five percent of the Jewish nation lived outside of the land of Israel, all two-year olds and under toddlers were murdered, Rome subjugated all of Israel - even their religious practices, Jews were horribly crucified by the Romans in their own sovereign land, and an insane Gentile-murderer himself was set up as Israel's puppet-king. Does any of that that sound anything at all like the prophesies of exile-return and of Jerusalem and Israel dwelling in safely, not to mention the horrific events of the temple desecration soon after in 70 CE? Remember that the prophecy of Jeremiah states, "In his days (meaning in the days of David the messiah named in the same prophecy) Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely".
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Notice, Jeremiah 33 mentions that during the days of David the messiah there will be Levities offering meat and burnt offerings and sacrificing continually. Doesn't that sound more like the Ezekiel 37 prophecy where a temple is put in place after the exile return, the appearance of David the messiah, and the holiness and obedience of Israel to their God (Ezekiel 37:22-28) and of the third of final temple that Ezekiel goes into great detail on (Ezekiel chapters 40-48)?
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Isaiah 53:2 describes Israel as a "tender plant" in a dry ground. This description gives an impression of something that is on the brink of dying. This has been Israel's story from the beginning. From Pharaoh at the Red Sea, to Haman, to the Crusades, to the Inquisitions, to Hitler's Holocaust, to the Muslim Brotherhood that is spread throughout several Middle-Eastern countries Israel has been in the cross-heirs of annihilation time and time again.
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Psalms 83:3-5 shows that even in accent times how the Gentile nations will conspire together in seeking the destruction of the Jewish nation. Annihilation attempt after annihilation attempt, Israel has barely survived to world astonishment. Even though Israel was like an non-matured plant in a hostile ground awaiting death, he is promised to be glorified at the End of Days described in a plant-life type:
"I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon." - Hosea 14:5-7
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Isaiah 53:2-3
...he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 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.
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This portion of scripture gives a lot of descriptions on how the servant of God has been viewed by his oppressors. The descriptions of the servant is as follows:
- Being despised (twice stated).
- Rejected or isolated from man.
- Man of pains - The Hebrew root word is "ka-av" meaning, "to feel pain".
- Accustom to illness - The Hebrew word is "cho-lee" meaning illness, and not "grief".
- From whom faces were hid.
- Was not regarded or esteemed (not highly thought of).
Question: Could these negative descriptions of the servant be easily applied to the Jewish people in light of the Gentile historical treatment of the Jews?
For example, could the forced Jewish segregation in such places as the rione Sant'Angelo of the Catholic Papal States (now Italy) that lasted for over three hundred years fit Israel as the "rejected" or "isolated" servant?
It was there at rione Sant'Angelo that the Jews were forced to hear the Sunday Church services and had to swear loyalty to the Pope by the Arch of Titus which celebrates the sacking of Jerusalem http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Ghetto.
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Maybe such places as the Russian-created "Pale of Settlement" that was created to keep Jews restricted and that spawn the Russian riots (Pogroms) could cause them to be identified as "rejected or isolated" from Russian-Gentile society http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pale_of_Settlement? Maybe the Warsaw ghetto and the Nazi concentration camps that sprang up all over Gentile-Europe, where one-third of the Jewish population on earth was viciously murdered, might cause them to be identified as that "isolated" servant and "man of pains"?
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As for the Jewish people, another word for "despised" (twice mentioned in the text) is definitely modern "antisemitism". It is the antisemitism within the Gentile soul that causes them to "despise" the Jew. The Gentile world has certainly "not desired" the Jews nor found "beauty" in the Jews or their religion. A Gentile US staff member to the UN Secretariat named Pedro A. Sanjuan, said it best in his non-religious book "The UN Gang":
"Israel has been rejected by every regional grouping, including the European regional association of common interests, as if everyone in the world concurred that Israel was a diseased society that nobody should touch".2
It should be noted that the context in which Sanjuan wrote the above quote was addressing the modern UN-world politics against the State of Israel, while Isaiah 53 or any other type of religious thought was nowhere mentioned in his entire book, much less being alluded to in his context-quote above. Yet we see a striking similarity between the above Gentile description of a perceived "diseased" and "rejected" Jewish-Israel by the modern world Gentile powers and the Gentile confession found in Isaiah 53:2-3. Wow, isn't that something?
While writing this I can't help but think of the Isaiah 53 quoting lady with the big smile that I mentioned in part one of this blog when she said to me about my Judaism beliefs, "you believe in nothing". It makes me wonder what she would be willing to have done with the "nothing Jews" if she were living with the same mindset as she is now during the time of Nazi-Germany, or four hundred and fifty years earlier in Spain in 1492?
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Forced banishment, forced isolation, and government sponsored murder of Jews served the Gentiles in two ways. One, was to "reject" them as equal members of their society and two, the repulsive Jew would not have to be seen among the people. It is interesting that even during the so-called modern day of enlightenment that Jews still suffered just as much and in many cases even more so from Gentile rejection. It is through rejection that the Holocaust could even begin to occur where "Judenrien" meaning "Jew free" was the call. Europe's 2003 survey that placed Israel as "the most dangerous country on earth" from among Iran, North Korea, Syria, and others demonstrated the Jewish rejection as a people in the minds of the Europeans. As for the Quartet (US, EU, UN, and Russia) in trying to make way for a Palestinian state, the area of Gaza had to become Jew-free for the exact same principle Hitler wanted Germany Jew-free which was the rejection of the Jewish people as a people!
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It is evident what the Catholic Church was capable of by looking at its long history. It was their Crusade, Inquisition, and pogrom history that help make Israel "the servant" become one of "pains" not to mention the 1933 Vatican-Berlin Concordat where they vowed not to stand in the way of the Nazi government http://www.shoaheducation.com/1933concordat.html.
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As for the Jewish people, another word for "despised" (twice mentioned in the text) is definitely modern "antisemitism". It is the antisemitism within the Gentile soul that causes them to "despise" the Jew. The Gentile world has certainly "not desired" the Jews nor found "beauty" in the Jews or their religion. A Gentile US staff member to the UN Secretariat named Pedro A. Sanjuan, said it best in his non-religious book "The UN Gang":
"Israel has been rejected by every regional grouping, including the European regional association of common interests, as if everyone in the world concurred that Israel was a diseased society that nobody should touch".2
It should be noted that the context in which Sanjuan wrote the above quote was addressing the modern UN-world politics against the State of Israel, while Isaiah 53 or any other type of religious thought was nowhere mentioned in his entire book, much less being alluded to in his context-quote above. Yet we see a striking similarity between the above Gentile description of a perceived "diseased" and "rejected" Jewish-Israel by the modern world Gentile powers and the Gentile confession found in Isaiah 53:2-3. Wow, isn't that something?
While writing this I can't help but think of the Isaiah 53 quoting lady with the big smile that I mentioned in part one of this blog when she said to me about my Judaism beliefs, "you believe in nothing". It makes me wonder what she would be willing to have done with the "nothing Jews" if she were living with the same mindset as she is now during the time of Nazi-Germany, or four hundred and fifty years earlier in Spain in 1492?
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Forced banishment, forced isolation, and government sponsored murder of Jews served the Gentiles in two ways. One, was to "reject" them as equal members of their society and two, the repulsive Jew would not have to be seen among the people. It is interesting that even during the so-called modern day of enlightenment that Jews still suffered just as much and in many cases even more so from Gentile rejection. It is through rejection that the Holocaust could even begin to occur where "Judenrien" meaning "Jew free" was the call. Europe's 2003 survey that placed Israel as "the most dangerous country on earth" from among Iran, North Korea, Syria, and others demonstrated the Jewish rejection as a people in the minds of the Europeans. As for the Quartet (US, EU, UN, and Russia) in trying to make way for a Palestinian state, the area of Gaza had to become Jew-free for the exact same principle Hitler wanted Germany Jew-free which was the rejection of the Jewish people as a people!
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It is evident what the Catholic Church was capable of by looking at its long history. It was their Crusade, Inquisition, and pogrom history that help make Israel "the servant" become one of "pains" not to mention the 1933 Vatican-Berlin Concordat where they vowed not to stand in the way of the Nazi government http://www.shoaheducation.com/1933concordat.html.
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Now take a look at a quote from the founder and father of Protestantism - Martin Luther, and see if you can easily place Isaiah 53:2-3 descriptions concerning God's servant as the nation of Jews as being:"despised, rejected or isolated from man, being a man of pains, being accustom to illness, being of whom faces were hid, not highly regarded".
“First, their synagogues should be set on fire and whatever does not burn up should be covered or speared over with dirt so that no one may ever be able to see a cinder or a stone of it.” “Secondly, their homes should likewise be broken down and destroyed. For they perpetrate the same things there that they do in their synagogues. For this reason they ought to be put under one roof or in a stable, like Gypsies, in order that they may realize that they are not masters in our land, as they boast, but miserable captives.…”
“Thirdly, they should be deprived of their prayer-books and Talmuds...... ”
“Fourthly, their rabbis must be forbidden under threat of death to teach any more…”
“Fifthly, passport and traveling privileges should be absolutely forbidden to the Jews. For they have no business in the rural districts since they are not nobles, nor officials, nor
merchants, nor the like. Let them stay home.”
- Martin Luther, On the Jews and Their Lies - 1543
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Such statements coming from out of the Gentile world did not begin or end with Martin Luther. Countless Popes, bishops, kings, queens, monarchs, princes, generals, clergymen, and the everyday commoner down through the centuries have not only made such public statements, but have indeed acted upon them with religious motivation. One of many being Adolph Hitler who said, "I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord."3
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In modern times, the Jew is still painted and believed to be the "ills of mankind" among the European world, the liberal church denominations of the West, the David Dukes of the world, and the Islamic world, of whom all speak with one united voice against the Jew. Oh yes, the blood libels, the Protocols , the Koran and hadiths, and even Mein Kampf, 4 are still very popular today, all of which contribute to the currency of Isaiah 53:2-3.
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And what does the Bible say in similar fashion as to Isaiah 53:2-3? As Psalms 83:2-4 reveals the Gentile nations' intent on destroying "out of remembrance" (as to 'hide their faces' from) Jeremiah gives us a little more detail:
"Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, Consider thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them. Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them." - Jeremiah 33:23-26 (see also Jeremiah 31:35-36)
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Notice just how deep the Gentile nations' despise towards Israel is: "thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them." Notice likewise how deep God's commitment was in answering such despise for His people, "If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them." Notice that the statement, "for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them" is in direct correlation with Ezekiel 37:21-23 that is as I pointed out in part one of this blog, could not have been fulfilled at anytime in the past but only in the future.
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To hit closer to the reading of Isaiah 53 concerning the "despised" portion of the text, Isaiah records how the nations "despise" God who chooses Israel and his prophets, which is the core root behind all historical and future antisemitism!
"Thus says the LORD, The Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One, To Him whom man despises, To Him whom the nations abhors, To the Servant of rulers: "Kings shall see and arise, Princes also shall worship, Because of the LORD who is faithful, The Holy One of Israel; And He has chosen You." - Isaiah 49:7 (see Isaiah 44:1-2 in comparison)
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Isaiah 53:4-6
"Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."
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Many Christians will ask, "How can Israel bare the sins of the whole (Gentile) world?" The only reason a Christian will ask that in the first place is because he/she believes that the answer has to be in accordance with the Christian mindset where the Hebrew scriptures are first filtered through the New Testament mindset. While the Hebrew- scriptural answer is that no one can take unto themselves another ones sins (see Ezekiel 18:20 hint - hint) sin by its very nature, causes great burdens upon who it most effects. The one who suffers the most from an adulterous affair is not the one(s) who commits the sinful act, but the one who was cheated against - the innocent victim. So to answer that question with a question: "Who was it that was most "pained" over the Gentile-causing Inquisition sin, and the Gentile causing Holocaust sin?" Who was it that carried the burdensome weight of Crusader-sin and Pogrom-sin on their shoulders?" Who is today that suffers the most from the sin called terrorism? Now look down through the chronicles of history and ask yourself, "Who has been the most sin-bearing (persecuted) people?" Isn't it just biblically-amazing that when looking at things in this sin-bearing perspective it just so happens to be the Jews? When this reality hits home among all the Gentiles at the onset of the Messianic Age, the Gentiles will be saying exactly what the Hebrew scriptures foretells they will be saying in Isaiah 53:4-5, as well as in Jeremiah 16:19, Zechariah 8:23.
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I've had people tell me that the Christians have been received more persecutions in other countries such as China, Russia, and of course the Muslim countries. Perhaps this is true on a grand scale due to the fact Jews make up only 0.4 percent of the world's population. However, the persecution of ones faith is not the full issue! Christians as a whole are not a people that have a shared heritage based upon a land, language, and history while the Jews are. Their connection is Israel, Hebrew, and the Bible. Regardless of the continent, country, state, or city, Jews, whether they be Orthodox, Conservative, or Reform, all read from the same weekly text, praying in Hebrew, facing Jerusalem. When a Christian leaves his/her faith they are no longer considered Christian period. After reading this blog would you call me a Christian because that was how I was raised and how I believed? However, if a Jew leaves Judaism he is still a Jew, just apostate one. As far as "persecution of religion" goes, the Jews are the only people in the world who are defined by their religion! Modern Israel is the only, and can be the only, Judaism based state in all of the many nations of the world. They are the only people where millions who didn't practice their religion were still murdered because of it! So when it comes to the title of the "Most Persecuted People" the Jews have it hands-down, even if there had never been a Holocaust!
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What sets the Jews apart is their everlasting tribal-covenant that God has with them.
"O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen. He is the LORD our God: his judgments are in all the earth. He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant - Psalms 105:6-10
Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him. For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. - Isaiah 51:2-3
Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them - Jeremiah 33:25-26
“First, their synagogues should be set on fire and whatever does not burn up should be covered or speared over with dirt so that no one may ever be able to see a cinder or a stone of it.” “Secondly, their homes should likewise be broken down and destroyed. For they perpetrate the same things there that they do in their synagogues. For this reason they ought to be put under one roof or in a stable, like Gypsies, in order that they may realize that they are not masters in our land, as they boast, but miserable captives.…”
“Thirdly, they should be deprived of their prayer-books and Talmuds...... ”
“Fourthly, their rabbis must be forbidden under threat of death to teach any more…”
“Fifthly, passport and traveling privileges should be absolutely forbidden to the Jews. For they have no business in the rural districts since they are not nobles, nor officials, nor
merchants, nor the like. Let them stay home.”
- Martin Luther, On the Jews and Their Lies - 1543
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Such statements coming from out of the Gentile world did not begin or end with Martin Luther. Countless Popes, bishops, kings, queens, monarchs, princes, generals, clergymen, and the everyday commoner down through the centuries have not only made such public statements, but have indeed acted upon them with religious motivation. One of many being Adolph Hitler who said, "I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord."3
.
In modern times, the Jew is still painted and believed to be the "ills of mankind" among the European world, the liberal church denominations of the West, the David Dukes of the world, and the Islamic world, of whom all speak with one united voice against the Jew. Oh yes, the blood libels, the Protocols , the Koran and hadiths, and even Mein Kampf, 4 are still very popular today, all of which contribute to the currency of Isaiah 53:2-3.
.
And what does the Bible say in similar fashion as to Isaiah 53:2-3? As Psalms 83:2-4 reveals the Gentile nations' intent on destroying "out of remembrance" (as to 'hide their faces' from) Jeremiah gives us a little more detail:
"Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, Consider thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them. Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them." - Jeremiah 33:23-26 (see also Jeremiah 31:35-36)
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Notice just how deep the Gentile nations' despise towards Israel is: "thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them." Notice likewise how deep God's commitment was in answering such despise for His people, "If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them." Notice that the statement, "for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them" is in direct correlation with Ezekiel 37:21-23 that is as I pointed out in part one of this blog, could not have been fulfilled at anytime in the past but only in the future.
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To hit closer to the reading of Isaiah 53 concerning the "despised" portion of the text, Isaiah records how the nations "despise" God who chooses Israel and his prophets, which is the core root behind all historical and future antisemitism!
"Thus says the LORD, The Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One, To Him whom man despises, To Him whom the nations abhors, To the Servant of rulers: "Kings shall see and arise, Princes also shall worship, Because of the LORD who is faithful, The Holy One of Israel; And He has chosen You." - Isaiah 49:7 (see Isaiah 44:1-2 in comparison)
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Isaiah 53:4-6
"Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."
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Many Christians will ask, "How can Israel bare the sins of the whole (Gentile) world?" The only reason a Christian will ask that in the first place is because he/she believes that the answer has to be in accordance with the Christian mindset where the Hebrew scriptures are first filtered through the New Testament mindset. While the Hebrew- scriptural answer is that no one can take unto themselves another ones sins (see Ezekiel 18:20 hint - hint) sin by its very nature, causes great burdens upon who it most effects. The one who suffers the most from an adulterous affair is not the one(s) who commits the sinful act, but the one who was cheated against - the innocent victim. So to answer that question with a question: "Who was it that was most "pained" over the Gentile-causing Inquisition sin, and the Gentile causing Holocaust sin?" Who was it that carried the burdensome weight of Crusader-sin and Pogrom-sin on their shoulders?" Who is today that suffers the most from the sin called terrorism? Now look down through the chronicles of history and ask yourself, "Who has been the most sin-bearing (persecuted) people?" Isn't it just biblically-amazing that when looking at things in this sin-bearing perspective it just so happens to be the Jews? When this reality hits home among all the Gentiles at the onset of the Messianic Age, the Gentiles will be saying exactly what the Hebrew scriptures foretells they will be saying in Isaiah 53:4-5, as well as in Jeremiah 16:19, Zechariah 8:23.
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I've had people tell me that the Christians have been received more persecutions in other countries such as China, Russia, and of course the Muslim countries. Perhaps this is true on a grand scale due to the fact Jews make up only 0.4 percent of the world's population. However, the persecution of ones faith is not the full issue! Christians as a whole are not a people that have a shared heritage based upon a land, language, and history while the Jews are. Their connection is Israel, Hebrew, and the Bible. Regardless of the continent, country, state, or city, Jews, whether they be Orthodox, Conservative, or Reform, all read from the same weekly text, praying in Hebrew, facing Jerusalem. When a Christian leaves his/her faith they are no longer considered Christian period. After reading this blog would you call me a Christian because that was how I was raised and how I believed? However, if a Jew leaves Judaism he is still a Jew, just apostate one. As far as "persecution of religion" goes, the Jews are the only people in the world who are defined by their religion! Modern Israel is the only, and can be the only, Judaism based state in all of the many nations of the world. They are the only people where millions who didn't practice their religion were still murdered because of it! So when it comes to the title of the "Most Persecuted People" the Jews have it hands-down, even if there had never been a Holocaust!
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What sets the Jews apart is their everlasting tribal-covenant that God has with them.
"O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen. He is the LORD our God: his judgments are in all the earth. He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant - Psalms 105:6-10
Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him. For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. - Isaiah 51:2-3
Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them - Jeremiah 33:25-26
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This covenant that the scriptures above talk about is what the Gentiles have sought to destroy down through the ages and still seek today. Whether it be by persecution, conversion (away from the covenant) or assimilation (away from the covenant) the goal is still the same: "we must rid ourselves of the Jews". This is why Jewish persecution (as unique as it is) is not simply a mishap of humanity, but it's a spiritual matter based upon a biblical purpose. The God of Israel is to be glorified at the End of Days before all nations of the earth.
"Sing, O ye heavens; for the LORD hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel." - Isaiah 44:23 (see also Isaiah 49:3 in comparison)
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The God of Israel will be so glorified that the Gentile nations who before treated Israel like a drunken father treats his red-headed stepchild, will have to go to Jerusalem, not to pay homage to God during their Santa Clause - Christmas or Easter Bunny - Easter, but during the Jewish festival of Sukkot (see Zachariah 14:15-18). I can guarantee that the George W. Bushes and the Tony Blairs of the world will not be thinking about a Palestinian state and half of Jerusalem as its capital, on their way to Jerusalem (the glorified Jewish capital) to pay their homage to the God of creation of whom it will be made manifest to them, that He has chosen Jerusalem as His resting (habitation) place (see Zachariah 8:3).
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Question to Christians:
Why have the Jews suffered so much from the Roman conquest (a 1st. century Holocaust) the Crusades, the Inquisitions, the Pogroms, the Holocaust, Islamic terrorism, and all the slander, harassment, blood libels, mayhem, deportations, government forced isolation, forced conversion, and massive murder in between?
This covenant that the scriptures above talk about is what the Gentiles have sought to destroy down through the ages and still seek today. Whether it be by persecution, conversion (away from the covenant) or assimilation (away from the covenant) the goal is still the same: "we must rid ourselves of the Jews". This is why Jewish persecution (as unique as it is) is not simply a mishap of humanity, but it's a spiritual matter based upon a biblical purpose. The God of Israel is to be glorified at the End of Days before all nations of the earth.
"Sing, O ye heavens; for the LORD hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel." - Isaiah 44:23 (see also Isaiah 49:3 in comparison)
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The God of Israel will be so glorified that the Gentile nations who before treated Israel like a drunken father treats his red-headed stepchild, will have to go to Jerusalem, not to pay homage to God during their Santa Clause - Christmas or Easter Bunny - Easter, but during the Jewish festival of Sukkot (see Zachariah 14:15-18). I can guarantee that the George W. Bushes and the Tony Blairs of the world will not be thinking about a Palestinian state and half of Jerusalem as its capital, on their way to Jerusalem (the glorified Jewish capital) to pay their homage to the God of creation of whom it will be made manifest to them, that He has chosen Jerusalem as His resting (habitation) place (see Zachariah 8:3).
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Question to Christians:
Why have the Jews suffered so much from the Roman conquest (a 1st. century Holocaust) the Crusades, the Inquisitions, the Pogroms, the Holocaust, Islamic terrorism, and all the slander, harassment, blood libels, mayhem, deportations, government forced isolation, forced conversion, and massive murder in between?
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Do you have (the spiritual) answer to this question in your mind? Good. Now, with that spiritual answer in your mind let's read part of Isaiah 53:4. "yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted." Did you catch a revelation?
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Let's take another look at a quote from the father and founder of Protestantism -Martin Luther while remembering this was somewhat of a prophecy exactly 400 years before Hitler's Holocaust. Answer in your mind if Luther esteemed the Jews to be stricken and smitten of God:
Do you have (the spiritual) answer to this question in your mind? Good. Now, with that spiritual answer in your mind let's read part of Isaiah 53:4. "yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted." Did you catch a revelation?
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Let's take another look at a quote from the father and founder of Protestantism -Martin Luther while remembering this was somewhat of a prophecy exactly 400 years before Hitler's Holocaust. Answer in your mind if Luther esteemed the Jews to be stricken and smitten of God:
"Even if they were punished in the most gruesome manner that the streets ran with their blood, that their dead would be counted, not in the hundred thousands, but in the millions, as happened under Vespasian in Jerusalem and for evil under Hadrian, still they must insist on being right even if after these 1,500 years they were in misery another 1,500 years, still God must be a liar and they must be correct. In sum, they are the devil’s children, damned to Hell…..The Jews too got what they deserved.” - Martin Luther, Of the Unknowable Name and Generations of Christ - 1543
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It is ironic that the Jews never saw Jesus as someone who was "smitten of God" as in being plagued by God for sin. Yet, this is how the Christian Gentiles view the Jewish perception of Jesus. What is also ironic is the fact that first century Jews of Judea who actually heard of Jesus (about 2 percent of world Jewry at the time due to most Jews living outside of Israel) saw the one man Jesus as a law breaker subject to the Law of Moses, while Gentiles have slaughtered Jews throughout history and throughout all their world-wide lands just because they were Jews!
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Neither did the Jewish communities ever view the Christian people (Christ living within them according to Galatians 2:20) as smitten (plagued) by God for being Christians, even though the Gentiles were the ones acting like the sub-human animals while persecuting the Jews in the name of "Christ"!
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Fact:
It was the Gentiles who brought about a long history of Jew-murdering incidents. One of which was the Crusaders who in 1099 burned alive several hundred Jews in a synagogue in Jerusalem while quoting St. John 15:6 and sang hymns. The following day that partook in "holy communion" in essence communing with God over the murder of Jews. Their inspiration for such "religious acts" was based upon their belief that the Jews according to their beloved New Testament scriptures, was "smitten of God".
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Now I'm about to make a very profound statement of which no believing Christian has the right to be upset with, nor should they have the audacity to do so based upon the long held belief of the Church. Even today among all the political correctness, most Christians from all denominations both liberal and conservative, are willing to accept the fact that the Jewish people are responsible for Jesus' death based upon three things:
- The Gospels portrayed the Jews as calling for Jesus' blood to be upon them and their children of which there was no other reason for the Gospels to mention this to its readers except for to paint the Jews in such a bad light. (St. Matthew 27:25)
- The letters of Paul blasting the Jews as a people (and not as individuals) but never blasted the Gentile Romans from whom his name "Paul" originated, and from whom he benefited from (Acts 22:25-29) as we will see.
- The prophecy of Isaiah 53 where "the Jews" according to the Church's view, see their mistake for not recognizing Jesus as their messiah.
Christians have the audacity and the spiritual willingness to charge the entire Jewish nation (of whom 2% or less even knew about Jesus during his lifetime) for his murder but for sure will take an offense of my next statement: Christians as a whole (that means you if the are a Christian reading this) are guilty of the Crusades, the Inquisitions, the Pogroms, the Holocaust, and every act ever committed against the Jew in the name of Christianity or was carried out with the Church's support! That is right, Jewish blood is spiritually upon you and on your children! Ooh, now how does make you feel Gentile Gospel reader / believer? The same spiritual reasoning (and not one spiritual once less) that Christianity uses to condemn the entire Jewish nation fully comes back upon them, and I dare say, the "Hebrew scriptures" of Isaiah 53 proves this to be true! How about that for some in-your-face Judaism? Remember, I'm an enlightened Gentile. Most all lamb-like (hint- hint) Jews would be way too meek to be religiously brazen to say something as I just did in like manner.
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It should be obvious that since it was the Gentiles who started this people blame-game for religious purposes to begin with, it will be them who eats their own religious hat! It is when this realization of such evil acts as what occurred at Jerusalem in 1099 by so-called Christ-believers comes into view among the Gentiles themselves, then we will hear them confess as a whole what Isaiah 53:4-6 states that the Gentiles will indeed confess.
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I beg to differ with any Christian who denies that antisemitism is present in the New Testament. Countless of innocent Jews have been slaughtered throughout the Christian era based upon how the Jews are painted in the New Testament. Every time the book of St. John states "the Jews" (and believe me, there are several) nine times out of ten "the Jews" are painted in a inherently-evil portrait. It is never the nail-driving Romans with hammer in-hand who committed deocide (the killing of God) but "the Jews" - they are the guilty ones. It's not just any Jews who are guilty of deocide, but "the religious" Jews, who like Satan, deep down in their heart of hearts knew he was a demigod or greater and still killed him.
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Paul, who saw it kosher (pun intended) to go by a Gentile name in order to express his disassociation with the Jews, said it this way: "For ye, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judaea in Christ Jesus: for ye also suffered the same things of your own countrymen, even as they did of the Jews; who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove out us, and pleased not God, and are contrary to all men; forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved; to fill up their sins always: but the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost." - I Thessalonians 2:14-16
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What else could the New Testament-believing Europeans believe about those "contrary to all men" Jews concerning responsibility for the Black Plague, the poisoning of Christian water supply, the baking their Passover matzahs with Christian-youth blood, and "Host (literal body of Jesus in the form of a wafer) desecration"? And if you believe that the Europeans went too far in their religious passion based upon their Christian text, then just how much "too far" did they go? Just what are the Jews who "MURDERED GOD" and His prophets capable of in your non-antisemitic mind? Ah yes, it does change things when asked by a question that demands some thought, doesn't it? Are they capable national conspiracies against the Gentiles like the Protocols of the Elders of Zion suggests? Are they the ones who were really behind 9/11 perhaps? And just how much "contrary to all men" are they? How "afflicted" of God's wrath "to the uttermost" are they?5
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The Gentile holy book of the east (that is east of the promise land - Israel) also paints the Jews in an evil portrait. The Koran claims that the Jews were so evil Allah turned them into Apes and pigs, that they were most violent people towards Muslims, that they altered the Torah (something again only Satan could do) that they are NOT God's chosen anymore (similar to Romans 2), that they are the most mischief in going around starting wars that Allah has to put down, and that hell awaits them. And like the Europeans of Christianity, they are inspired to persecute the Jews from the reading of their holy books, the difference being that the New Testament doesn't actually advocate violence against the Jews, just spiritual damnation, whereas the Koran and its corresponding hadiths do advocate violence against the Jews along with the typical spiritual damnation.
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It should be obvious that since it was the Gentiles who started this people blame-game for religious purposes to begin with, it will be them who eats their own religious hat! It is when this realization of such evil acts as what occurred at Jerusalem in 1099 by so-called Christ-believers comes into view among the Gentiles themselves, then we will hear them confess as a whole what Isaiah 53:4-6 states that the Gentiles will indeed confess.
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I beg to differ with any Christian who denies that antisemitism is present in the New Testament. Countless of innocent Jews have been slaughtered throughout the Christian era based upon how the Jews are painted in the New Testament. Every time the book of St. John states "the Jews" (and believe me, there are several) nine times out of ten "the Jews" are painted in a inherently-evil portrait. It is never the nail-driving Romans with hammer in-hand who committed deocide (the killing of God) but "the Jews" - they are the guilty ones. It's not just any Jews who are guilty of deocide, but "the religious" Jews, who like Satan, deep down in their heart of hearts knew he was a demigod or greater and still killed him.
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Paul, who saw it kosher (pun intended) to go by a Gentile name in order to express his disassociation with the Jews, said it this way: "For ye, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judaea in Christ Jesus: for ye also suffered the same things of your own countrymen, even as they did of the Jews; who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove out us, and pleased not God, and are contrary to all men; forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved; to fill up their sins always: but the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost." - I Thessalonians 2:14-16
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What else could the New Testament-believing Europeans believe about those "contrary to all men" Jews concerning responsibility for the Black Plague, the poisoning of Christian water supply, the baking their Passover matzahs with Christian-youth blood, and "Host (literal body of Jesus in the form of a wafer) desecration"? And if you believe that the Europeans went too far in their religious passion based upon their Christian text, then just how much "too far" did they go? Just what are the Jews who "MURDERED GOD" and His prophets capable of in your non-antisemitic mind? Ah yes, it does change things when asked by a question that demands some thought, doesn't it? Are they capable national conspiracies against the Gentiles like the Protocols of the Elders of Zion suggests? Are they the ones who were really behind 9/11 perhaps? And just how much "contrary to all men" are they? How "afflicted" of God's wrath "to the uttermost" are they?5
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The Gentile holy book of the east (that is east of the promise land - Israel) also paints the Jews in an evil portrait. The Koran claims that the Jews were so evil Allah turned them into Apes and pigs, that they were most violent people towards Muslims, that they altered the Torah (something again only Satan could do) that they are NOT God's chosen anymore (similar to Romans 2), that they are the most mischief in going around starting wars that Allah has to put down, and that hell awaits them. And like the Europeans of Christianity, they are inspired to persecute the Jews from the reading of their holy books, the difference being that the New Testament doesn't actually advocate violence against the Jews, just spiritual damnation, whereas the Koran and its corresponding hadiths do advocate violence against the Jews along with the typical spiritual damnation.
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Isaiah 53:5-6
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. We were 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.
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Verses 5 and 6 reflect a deeper continuance of the Gentiles recognition of their sins upon the Jewish people. A Jewish version of the Christian "Living Bible" translation might go something like this:
Verses 5 and 6 reflect a deeper continuance of the Gentiles recognition of their sins upon the Jewish people. A Jewish version of the Christian "Living Bible" translation might go something like this:
"Our transgressions are what wounded him, and our iniquities are what bruised him. Now that we know it was our strips and not God's that was placed upon him, we can for once be healed of our long historical (Holocaust-causing) antisemitism. We all separated ourselves from the God of Israel by creating a thousand different church denominations world-wide all of which claim that our own iniquities that burdened him was God's doing."
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One thing that should be noted about the text in the original Hebrew, it reflects a one-time past-tense recognition, not a two-thousand year continuous atonement. The KJV translators wanted the text to represent something ongoing to better fit their ongoing Christianity instead of the one time fulfillment of prophecy concerning the Gentiles at the End of Days.
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It's amazing how the very scriptures in Isaiah 53 that speak of the Gentiles recognizing what they have done throughout the ages against the Jews, are the very scriptures that the Gentiles spiritually and physically use to do it!
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I will continue with the rest of the chapter (verses 7-9) in part 3 of this blog.
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Notes
1. The Messiah will be a product of the Messianic Age and not the other way around.
2. The UN Gang: A Memoir of Incompetence, Corruption, Espionage, Anti-Semitism, and Islamic Extremism at the UN Secretariat - by Perdro A. Sanjuan - page 89 - copyright 2005
3. Mein Kampf - page 65
4. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=44727 and
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Notes
1. The Messiah will be a product of the Messianic Age and not the other way around.
2. The UN Gang: A Memoir of Incompetence, Corruption, Espionage, Anti-Semitism, and Islamic Extremism at the UN Secretariat - by Perdro A. Sanjuan - page 89 - copyright 2005
3. Mein Kampf - page 65
4. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=44727 and
http://www.freeman.org/m_online/oct99/meinkampf.htm
5. Like the visiting "messianic" leader David Bricker stated on August 17, 2008 at Sarah Palin's Wasilla Bible Church in Wasilla, Alaska, that suggested Palestinian terrorism was God's judgment of Israel's refusal to adopt the Christian faith> http://blog.beliefnet.com/stevenwaldman/2008/09/palin-the-jewish-vote.html Of course as a punch back, I would like to suggest to Brickner (Yimach Sh'mo V'zichroa) that the terrorism and horrors of 9/11 and the Oklahoma City Federal Murrah Building was Elohim's judgment upon the leading Gentiles of the world (Americans) for their refusal to accept Judaism, and that Al-Queda is God's tool of punishing America for allowing "Jews for Jesus" to operate within her borders! I'm not trying to offend the Messianics, for my prayer is that all "Jews for Jesus" repeat of their polytheistic Trinity and come to the Light of Judaism (Isaiah 44:6,24 / Isaiah 60:1-3).
5. Like the visiting "messianic" leader David Bricker stated on August 17, 2008 at Sarah Palin's Wasilla Bible Church in Wasilla, Alaska, that suggested Palestinian terrorism was God's judgment of Israel's refusal to adopt the Christian faith> http://blog.beliefnet.com/stevenwaldman/2008/09/palin-the-jewish-vote.html Of course as a punch back, I would like to suggest to Brickner (Yimach Sh'mo V'zichroa) that the terrorism and horrors of 9/11 and the Oklahoma City Federal Murrah Building was Elohim's judgment upon the leading Gentiles of the world (Americans) for their refusal to accept Judaism, and that Al-Queda is God's tool of punishing America for allowing "Jews for Jesus" to operate within her borders! I'm not trying to offend the Messianics, for my prayer is that all "Jews for Jesus" repeat of their polytheistic Trinity and come to the Light of Judaism (Isaiah 44:6,24 / Isaiah 60:1-3).
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