1. Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2. For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground He has no form or comeliness, and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.
3. He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and we hid, as it were, our faces from Him: He was despised and we did not esteem Him.
4. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; He was led as a Lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.
8. He was taken from prison and from judgement, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people, He was stricken.
9. And they made His grave with the wicked – but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.
10. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him, He has put Him to grief. When you make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
11. He shall see the labour of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities.
12. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
In this present age when so many Jewish people are looking for their Messiah to come, so much comfort can be gained from knowing that He has already come and is coming again. There are 50 personal pronouns in this chapter showing a person, not a nation. This is the great truth of this chapter and we shall look at it in depth. Firstly, we shall see Yeshua/Jesus as a suffering Servant and then secondly when He returns, as a reigning Saviour and King over Israel and the Nations.
Let us now break down these twelve verses of Isaiah chapter 53 for the twelve tribes of Israel in order for us to fully understand what has been revealed: –
1. THE SCRIPTURES REJECTED – verse 1. ‘Who has believed our report?’
2. THE SAVIOUR REJECTED – verses 2 to 3.
Verse 2 shows us His Promised and then His Personal Appearing.
He is then the unknown child before becoming the unwanted Messiah or Moshiach.
His nature – ‘growing up as a tender plant’.
His nurture – ‘as a root out of dry ground’.
We can also note His personal appearance in that:
‘He has no form nor comeliness’. Verse 3 shows us that He is revealed and then repudiated, and finally rejected to suffer reproach from men.
a) Bearing the burden of our sins – ‘He bore our griefs, carried our sorrows’
b) Bearing the blame for our sins – ‘we esteemed Him stricken’.
a) Our sin brought about an indebtedness that had to be properly paid for under God’s Law through the shedding of blood (Leviticus 17:11). ‘He was wounded for our transgressions’.
b) Our iniquities must be properly punished. ‘He was bruised for our iniquities’.
c) Our sins covered as shown in the Law and in Gan Eden ‘by His stripes we are healed’.
NB. There are only 5 types of wounds the human body can be inflicted with. Any doctor can confirm this fact and so our Messiah took them all.
a) How God saw the problem – ‘all we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way’.
b) How God solved the problem – ‘the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all’.
a) Before the High Priest and King Herod. – ‘as a sheep before the shearer’.
b) Before Pontius Pilate and the roman soldiers – ‘led as a lamb to the slaughter’.
a) The invocation of the death sentence – ‘taken from prison and from judgement’.
b) The injustice of the death sentence – ‘who shall declare His generation’.
c) The infliction of the death sentence – ‘He was cut off from the land of the living’. Daniel 9:26 teaches the Messiah would be ‘cut off but not for Himself but for His people’.
‘They made His grave with the wicked’.
a) The Divine Provision – ‘but with the rich at His death’
b) The Divine Proclamation – ‘because He had done no violence nor was any deceit in His mouth’
Let us note that at His birth and at His death our Lord had a Joseph to tend Him.
(Matthew 2:13 Joseph of Nazareth and Matthew 27:57-60 Joseph of Arimathea).
Verse 10 shows us the Tragedy and the ultimate Triumph of the Cross. Let us review this: –
a) The Unfathomable Mystery verse 10a – ‘it pleased the Lord to bruise Him’.
b) The Unforgettable Ministry verse 10b – ‘His soul an offering for sin’.
Now The Triumph is revealed: –
a) His Power verse 10c – ‘He shall see His seed; He shall prolong His days’.
b) His Prosperity verse 10d – ‘the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand’.
a) A Saving Messiah – ‘He shall see the labour of His soul ‘
b) A Satisfied Messiah – ‘and be satisfied’
a) His Greatness – ‘By His knowledge’
b) His Grace – ‘My righteous Servant shall justify many’
c) His Goodness – ‘for He shall bear their iniquities.’
Verse 12 shows us His first and second comings. Even Isaiah the prophet and many readers and hearers of the Word of the Lord could not envisage this. Hindsight is a wonderful gift.
1st Coming – He is to be given a portion – ‘I will divide Him a portion with the great and He shall divide the spoil or plunder with the strong’ – verse 12.
The verse tells us this is to be because of what He did for the sins of many, ‘He poured out His soul unto death and was numbered with the transgressors.’ – verse 12.
The Holy One took our sin upon Himself as the Suffering Messiah.
This truth has to be spiritually discerned, hence verse 1: –
‘Who has believed our report?’
‘And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?’
These then are the two questions for us all (Jew and Gentile), with eternal consequences!
2nd Coming – verse 10 again shows us His Power and Prosperity through His days to come. We can see the prophetic promise within Psalm 22:23-31.
From the Cross our Saviour and Messiah cried out – “It is finished” – John 19:30.
a) Upon the donkey (Zechariah 9:9) and the Tree He was the Suffering Messiah.
b) Upon a white horse (Revelation 19:11) and then upon the Throne in Yerushalayim He will be the Sovereign Messiah for a 1,000 years – being His Millennial Reign and Rule.
But, on His return He will divide the spoil with the strong – those that have cried out to Him during Jacob’s Time of Trouble will see their Sovereign Messiah face to face. Israel will have to be strong at this time but the spoil or plunder from the coming One in His wrath against the nations will see Israel rightly in her place – as the Head and no longer the Tail of the nations.
‘So He shall sprinkle many nations, Kings shall shut their mouths at Him’ Isaiah 52:15.
Accept, believe and then confess Adonai Yeshua as the Lord of lords and King of kings.
The Scriptures tell us if we do this, we shall inherit eternal life in Him. (Read John 3:3 and John 3:16) The Scriptures also further record these things which He spoke and taught.
Shema Yisrael, hear o Israel, Adonainu Yeshua hoo Mosiach, Heed His words –
“Another will come in My Name; him you will accept.” John 5:43. (A false Messiah)
“If you do not believe I AM you will die in your sins.” John 8:24. (The only Saviour)
“Before Abraham was born, I AM!” John 8:58. (He is Immanuel – with us is God)
This leaflet let has been produced with loving care towards the House of Israel scattered spiritually and physically, but being drawn back to her Land and her Lord because of His unfailing love and covenant promises towards His covenant people. Amen.