The Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 is a MAN

Yeshua is the Suffering Servant
by David Ben-Ariel

"The suffering servant of Isaiah 53 is the Jewish nation," according to traditional Jewish misunderstanding.

Some Jewish people are self-righteous enough to consider themselves worthy of atoning for mankind, but only One from the Jewish nation - Yeshua - qualifies, having died and been resurrected, atoning for many, seeing his spiritual descendants, since He is alive. How else could someone who died - as the The Suffering Servant did (Israel is still alive - remember Am Israel Chai? The Nation/People of Israel lives), see the travail of His soul was well worth the sacrifice?

Isaiah 53
1 "Who has believed our report? (most of Israel and Judah - professing Christianity - haven't believed the report and either reject Yeshua or accept a Gentilized version)
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 [not a nation, a man] of sorrows and acquainted with grief.And we [collective Israel, especially Judah] hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He [one man] was despised, and we [Israel/Judah] did not esteem Him.
4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we [collective Israel/Judah] esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted [and curse His holy Name].
5 But He was wounded for our [Israel/Judah] transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,And by His stripes we [Israel/Judah] are healed.
6 All we [Israel/Judah] 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 opened not 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 judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living [just as Daniel foresaw He went "missing"]; For the transgressions of My people (the sins of Israel and Judah - they can't be their own savior) He was stricken.
9 And they made His grave with the wicked [Am Yisrael Chai - Israel has never died or God's Word would have been broken to the Fathers]—
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 [something Judaism denies possible but God's Word and Yeshua prove true], He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days [having been resurrected to see and enjoy his spiritual seed], And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.
11 He shall see the labor of His soul,and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant [One Savior] shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities [which Judaism denies but the Bible teaches].
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 [Israel and Judah never died], And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many [which Judaism denies but the Bible teaches], And made intercession for the transgressors [as our resurrected High Priest in Heaven, at the right hand of the Ancient of Days]."

Remember Moses lifted up the snake on the pole in the wilderness and all who looked to it were saved? "...the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all...". Yeshua knew it foreshadowed His death.

John 3:14
"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up...".

Yeshua took all the sins of Israel and Judah and the world upon Himself on the stake as THE Suffering Servant, crucified for all mankind - ONE whose life meant more than all, died that the nation might live, as the High Priest prophesied in His day:

John 11:50
"... it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish."

The entire nation wasn't crucified, wasn't upon the pole, but Yeshua is the One who we're to look up to and perceive that He is the Pierced One who is our Lord and Savior, our Priest and King, the One who has died in our stead:

Genesis 22:13
"Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son."

Joseph's brethren were also blind to his identity his first appearance before them. The second time their eyes were opened to recognize His revealed identity.

Zechariah foresees Judah and Jerusalem will learn to look up and recognize the ram Yeshua as the Firstborn Son of God and Savior-King of Judah and mourn their former rejection of Him and prepare for His imminent arrival to liberate Jerusalem and save klal Yisrael, as encouraged by the Two Witnesses (in the spirit of Elijah) who announce the coming of our King (Zech. 12:8, Matt. 23:39).

Zechariah 12
10 "And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn."

Come Lord Yeshua! Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the LORD!

Yeshua is the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53

Yeshua is the Suffering Servant
by David Ben-Ariel

"The suffering servant of Isaiah 53 is the Jewish nation," according to traditional Jewish misunderstanding.

Some Jewish people are self-righteous enough to consider themselves worthy of atoning for mankind, but only One from the Jewish nation - Yeshua - qualifies, having died and been resurrected, atoning for many, seeing his spiritual descendants, since He is alive. How else could someone who died - as the The Suffering Servant did (Israel is still alive - remember Am Israel Chai? The Nation/People of Israel lives), see the travail of His soul was well worth the sacrifice?

Isaiah 53:
1 "Who has believed our report? (most of Israel and Judah - professing Christianity - haven't believed the report and either reject Yeshua or accept a Gentilized version)
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 (not a nation, a man) of sorrows and acquainted with grief.And we (collective Israel, especially Judah) hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He (one man) was despised, and we (Israel/Judah) did not esteem Him.
4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we (collective Israel/Judah) esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted (and curse His holy Name).
5 But He was wounded for our (Israel/Judah) transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,And by His stripes we (Israel/Judah) are healed.
6 All we (Israel/Judah) 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 opened not 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 judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living (just as Daniel foresaw He went "missing"); For the transgressions of My people (the sins of Israel and Judah - they can't be their own savior) He was stricken.
9 And they made His grave with the wicked (Am Yisrael Chai - Israel has never died or God's Word would have been broken to the Fathers)—
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 (something Judaism denies possible but God's Word and Yeshua prove true), He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days (having been resurrected to see and enjoy his spiritual seed), And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.
11 He shall see the labor of His soul,and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant (One Savior) shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities (which Judaism denies but the Bible teaches).
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 (Israel and Judah never died), And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many (which Judaism denies but the Bible teaches), And made intercession for the transgressors (as our resurrected High Priest in Heaven, at the right hand of the Ancient of Days)."

Remember Moses lifted up the snake on the pole in the wilderness and all who looked to it were saved? "...the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all...". Yeshua knew it foreshadowed His death.

John 3:14
"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up...".

Yeshua took all the sins of Israel and Judah and the world upon Himself on the stake as THE Suffering Servant, crucified for all mankind - ONE whose life meant more than all, died that the nation might live, as the High Priest prophesied in His day:

John 11:50
"... it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish."

The entire nation wasn't crucified, wasn't upon the pole, but Yeshua is the One who we're to look up to and perceive that He is the Pierced One who is our Lord and Savior, our Priest and King, the One who has died in our stead:

Genesis 22:13
"Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son."

Joseph's brethren were also blind to his identity his first appearance before them. The second time their eyes were opened to recognize His revealed identity.

Zechariah foresees Judah and Jerusalem will learn to look up and recognize the ram Yeshua as the Firstborn Son of God and Savior-King of Judah and mourn their former rejection of Him and prepare for His imminent arrival to liberate Jerusalem and save klal Yisrael, as encouraged by the Two Witnesses (in the spirit of Elijah) who announce the coming of our King (Zech. 12:8, Matt. 23:39).

Zechariah 12:10
10 "And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn."

Come Lord Yeshua! Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the LORD!

Brokeback Mountain Blues

Brokeback Mountain Blues

I wanted to see it, but I didn't want to see it. I'm talking about the "gay cowboy" movie called Brokeback Mountain (even though I read Jake Gyllenhaal, one of the two major actors - "Jack Twist," wants it to mean much more than that to its audience).

I didn't want to see Brokeback Mountain because I felt it could be considered some type of tacit approval of two men "falling in love," which goes against my Christian grain and biblical beliefs, but I wanted to see it because I am humanly "gay all the way." However, I am not a practicing homosexual (some would say I'm a professional one!), sober and celibate by choice, so help me God, because of deep spiritual convictions.

I went and ran errands with a gay friend (who knows my beliefs and knew me wild and now knows me tame), visiting his "lover" in the Bowling Green, Ohio jail where he's doing ten days for a drunk driving, donated an autographed copy of my book Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall to the main library in downtown Bowling Green (since I was born there 46 years ago, but never lived there), we picked up some fast food and visited my friend's mother where we ate and then he asked if I wanted to see Brokeback Mountain that would be showing at Franklin Park Mall (now called Southfield or something since the Brits took it over) in Toledo shortly, so I said yes and we rushed to get there and made it -- ten minutes late. He had seen it a week earlier up in Michigan with some gay and lesbian friends, thinking it wouldn't be shown around here -- wrong!

Immediately you have to stand in awe (or sit and watch) the scenery that is most spectacular and moving, especially as the sheep are being herded and moving on the big screen in front of you like you could reach out and pet one, and the mountains are majestic aspiring to reach Heaven with their snow-capped tops and trimmed with forests here and there, evergreens, and of course I couldn't help but think of the irony of nature playing such a prominent role in this film that the Apostle Paul would say is against nature....

I was surprised to see so many older folks in the audience. I thought they would all be set in their ways (I'm not saying that's wrong in some ways), traditional, opposed to such a real or imagined threat to "family values." Maybe they just wanted to watch a movie that looked interesting or they're also jaded, or desensitized to the seriousness of sin like too many, or recognized that it could provoke discussion or a greater understanding (without necessarily approving of it) of this whole issue of homosexuality.

I thought the first sex scene was rather abrupt, nothing really leading up to it, no mating game or cruising or furtive glances or hints of anything out of the ordinary. Must have all been buried underneath all that butch (masculine) appearance, simmering somewhere, and the fuel on the fire was a tad too much liquor, true to life. Alcohol can strip away any inhibitions some might have or offer an excuse later to help cover your butt (which is why I am sober and celibate by the grace of God). The movie does help blow the stereotype that all homosexuals are limp-wristed, sissy faggots - but didn't Rock Hudson already prove that? Among others.

The whole idea (or unwholesome idea) of two men on a mountain, far away from rules and regulations and norms, reminded me of a passage within a little booklet I wrote years ago (God and the Gays: What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality) to address many of the issues Brokeback Mountain broached: about how some men who are basically "straight" (heterosexual) will engage in homosexual acts while in prison or a monastery, but will quickly revert to their preferred heterosexual passion as soon as possible and pretend nothing ever happened.

In BM, which we called “Bareback Mountain” among ourselves (no “safe sex” practiced in it among the men or women involved since it was set in the sixties), the fellows went their separate ways initially and got married and thereby proved they were hybrids - bisexuals - since they could obviously get sexually stimulated by men and women. A curiosity to both heterosexuals and homosexuals. But the first chance they had to get back together, in every way, they jumped at it like a raging bull let out of his cage. "Free at last, free at last!"

I've watched Oprah have men on her program who have been married for years, with children, who have suddenly "discovered" they're gay, and in "finding" themselves - isn't that just interestin'? - lose their wife and children. What about the commitment they made before both God and man? I don't care if you're gay or straight, if you make a vow you should keep it! Why make victims of the truly innocent wife and children who didn't ask for it? Of course some will say they're all victims, and that's true to an extent, but even if someone has "feelings" they should control them or nip wrong thoughts in the bud -- not permit them to take root and grow.

Why do some find it fascinating for a man to cheat on his wife with another man, but would stone someone who was going through his "midlife crisis" sleeping around with younger women to prove some point to himself? It's not that the thoughts aren't there, it is possible to lust after your neighbor's wife or husband (or both), but you're supposed to rein in such maverick thoughts and not let them run roughshod over your life and marriage!

Of course two men can fall in love, or a married man and woman can fall in love with someone other than their spouse, but you're not supposed to set yourself up for a fall, you're not supposed to let yourself flirt with forbidden love, you're supposed to control the thoughts rather than let them control you (Genesis 4:7).

Brokeback Mountain forcibly brings all these tumultuous thoughts, tormenting conflicts of interest and personal struggles to the surface, surging like lava from a volcano, which I'm now wrestling with and pouring out for others to consider.

We can feel hopeless and all too human or we can transcend human relationships, overcoming sin rather than being overcome by it, by going up to the Mountain, following the path paved by the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53), who gave His back to be beaten for us to break the power of sin over us, by whose stripes you are healed, who bears our heartaches, sorrow and sin; by going up to Mount Zion and "to the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels..." (Hebrews 12:22).

Instead of wrong desires that only lead to self-destruction, please let us yearn to return to Zion, time and again.

David Ben-Ariel is a Christian-Zionist writer and author of Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall. With a focus on the Middle East and Jerusalem, his analytical articles help others improve their understanding of that troubled region. Check out the Beyond Babylon blog.

God and the Gays: To Be or Not to Be (Chapter 1)

God and the Gays: All that Glitters isn't Gold (Chapter 2)

God and the Gays: Once Gay, Always Gay? (Chapter 3)

God and the Gays: Of Vice and Men (Chapter 4)

God and the Gays: A Time to Heal (Chapter 5)

Related articles of interest:

Scarlet Letter: A Christian With AIDS

Does God Heal Today?

Straight Talk about David and Jonathan