Isa 53:1-6 He Is Despised and Rejected of Men - Discussion

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Isa 53:1-6 He Is Despised and Rejected of Men

[Study Aired January 26, 2020]

Isa 53:1  Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? 
Isa 53:2  For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 
Isa 53:3  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. 
Isa 53:4  Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 
Isa 53:5  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. 
Isa 53:6  All we 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.

Our first verse is:

Isa 53:1  Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?

What is “our report” which no one can receive nor believe? The answer to that question is partially in the last verses of chapter 52:

Isa 52:13  Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. 
Isa 52:14  As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: 
Isa 52:15  So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.

“Our report [is] that which they had not been told… and that which they had not heard”, but at the appointed time they will “see… and… consider… our report”. 

We will begin the study of this pivotal chapter of scripture with an example of things the religions of this world have not heard nor considered. This is a truth the depths of which is simply not given to this world to believe. This revelation is plainly stated, and it comes to us directly from “the spirit of Christ… the holy spirit of God” (Eph 4:30):

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

What this verse means, in practical terms “in this world” is:

Joh 15:18  If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

It was Christ Himself who warned us that we, too, would be rejected of the established religious world with these very clear words:

Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Mat 10:24  The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord
Mat 10:25  It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they [the religious leaders] have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?

The hatred and the wrath of men will in the end work only to the Lord’s praise:

Psa 76:10  Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.

All the wrath of mankind is actually the Lord’s wrath through mankind:

Psa 17:13  Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:
Psa 17:14  From men which are thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.

This is exemplified by the story of how Joseph’s brothers hated him, leading only to the glory of God and to the salvation of even those who hated him (Gen 37 and 39-50).

It all typifies how the rebellion of mankind against Christ within each of us lead us to His fiery chastisements, which in turn bring us to our wits’ end and to repentance. 

Psa 107:25  For he [“the Lord, vs 24] commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. 
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. 
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end. 
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. 
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. 
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven. 
Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Outwardly and dispensationally ‘the wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God’ but it does work the will of God who is “working all things after the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:11) for [our] good (Rom 8:28).

Jas 1:20  For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

As we saw in our last study Christ wants us to know He has sent us “as [His] Father has sent [Him]… that the world through Him might be saved”. What that means is that we, too, must present our bodies as a living sacrifice “for His body’s sake, which is the church” (Col 1:24). 

The second question in verse one is… “to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?”

As always, the Lord is addressing those to whom He gives eyes that see and ears that hear. Those whom he calls ‘Zion… Jerusalem, watchmen, [and] His holy arm’:

Isa 52:7  How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! 
Isa 52:8  Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion. 
Isa 52:9  Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. 
Isa 52:10  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. 
Isa 52:11  Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD. 
Isa 52:12  For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward.

The reason we do not go out with haste is again found in the last verses of chapter 52:

Isa 52:13  Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. 
Isa 52:14  As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: 
Isa 52:15  So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.

As we saw in our last study, all prophecy applies primarily to Christ Himself, but because He has sent us as His Father has sent Him, these prophecies also apply to us as His body, and that is why we began this study with these very plain words concerning who we are and what Christ expects of us:

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

Christ was sacrificed for the sins of this world, and as we saw last week we, too, are the “scapegoat” part of that very same sacrifice. The two goats of Leviticus 16 are both sin offerings. “The live goat” sin offering is as much a part of the propitiation of the sins of the Lord’s Israel as is “the Lord’s goat”:

Lev 16:5  And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.

Lev 16:21  And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: 
Lev 16:22  And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.

That “fit man” is Christ who is working all things after the counsel of His own will, and that second goat, the scapegoat, is the “living sacrifice” which ‘fills up in its body that which is behind of the afflictions of the Christ’ while ‘dying daily, being crucified with Christ, and while yet living by the faith of the Son of God ‘:

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

1Co 15:31  I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

If Christ “gave Himself for me”, why then do I need to be “crucified with Christ? Here is why we die daily and are being “crucified with Christ”:

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church: 
Col 1:25  Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; 
Col 1:26  Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 
Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

What an incredible revelation! It is right there before our eyes, and yet I had an 80-year-old minister tell me, “If you can explain the meaning of Colossians 1:24 then you will be doing more than anyone in this room can do.” He said that to me with two other leading ministers of his church sitting there with him, and neither of them attempted to explain the meaning of Colossians 1:24:

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church: 

My answer to all three of those ministers was, “As long as you believe in the false, damnable doctrine of a substitutionary death of Christ, and as long as you believe that Christ did everything for us and as long as you believe there is nothing being done through us, then neither Christ Himself nor I could explain that verse to your satisfaction.” The false doctrine of Christ’s death being a “substitutionary atonement” precludes and excludes any need for anyone to offer their bodies as a living sacrifice. The doctrine of substitutionary atonement denies any need to die daily with Christ. That false doctrine has no need to consider oneself as being crucified with Christ. What do the scriptures declare when we accept the scriptural doctrine which declares “as He is so are we in this world” (1Jn 4:17)?

Did anyone believe Christ’s report? It was few indeed:

Mat 22:14  For many are called, but few are chosen.

In spite of all the good He did to all who asked for His help, in spite of being physically fed with loaves and fishes by the Lord, those very same multitudes wanted our Lord’s death when He refused to be made a king and told them there would be no more loaves and fishes. 

Christ had read this chapter of Isaiah, and He knew exactly what it meant:

Isa 53:1  Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? 
Isa 53:2  For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 
Isa 53:3  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. 

Verse 2 is a spiritual statement. There is no form or comeliness about the doctrine of Christ that has any appeal to our natural man. It was this prophesy, among others, to which Christ referred when, “[He] began to show… His disciples… that He must… suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day.” 

Mat 16:21  From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. 

Mar 8:31  And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 

 Luk 22:37  For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end. 

Luk 24:44  And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. 

Joh 20:9  For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.

Isa 53:4  Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 

Until this very day, the Jews refuse to acknowledge that this chapter, the preceding chapter and the next chapter have anything to do with Christ. This is how the Rabbis explain the prophecies of these three chapters:

“In Chapters 52-54, the prophet is referring to the gentile nations who have tormented and inflicted pain and suffering on the Jewish people. It is THESE nations who will be astounded and shocked to see that God has saved us from their persecution and returned us to our home, Israel: and, that ultimately, God will vindicate us for our suffering. The same promises appear in the Book of Ezekiel 36:6-9 & 15 and in Jeremiah 30:8-13.” (End Quote)

https://www.jewsforjudaism.org/knowledge/articles/isaiah-53-explained/

Just try to make that argument fit with these next two verses:

Isa 53:5  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. 
Isa 53:6  All we 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.

Did “the Gentile nations… [make us] go astray”? We are being asked to believe that those words are telling us that it is “the gentile nations who have tormented and inflicted pain and suffering on the Jewish people.” How then does this principle apply to these verses of scripture?

Zec 13:6  And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. 

Who was “wounded in the house of [His] friends”? What is “the house of my friends”, and who “smites the shepherd”? Are the scriptures calling “the Gentile nations” ‘the house of my friends’? I think not. Neither is Isaiah 52-54 referring to the Gentile nations. That is a major part of the lack of form or comeliness with which we are all just naturally afflicted. We all, by nature, do as the Jewish Rabbis do and place all the evil in this world ‘out there’ somewhere; anywhere but within ourselves.

Zec 13:7  Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.

The Jews are doing what all the thousands of Christian denominations do. They are looking outward at the world and not looking within at themselves as individuals. It is the innate “marred” inability to look within that keeps the ‘beast, the basest of men… the man of sin, the son of perdition’ firmly ensconced upon the throne of God within our hearts. While we wag our fingers and our heads at others, the beast within us confidently sits on the throne of God chuckling to himself knowing that it is not humanly possible for any of us to just naturally consider ourselves to be “chief of sinners”:

1Ti 1:15  This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. 
1Ti 1:16  Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.

Unlike any of the other apostles, Paul, while still known as ‘Saul of Tarsus’, had not only denied Christ, but had actively persecuted the church “breathing out threatenings and slaughter”:

Act 9:1  And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, 
Act 9:2  And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.

1Co 15:9  For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 

Gal 1:13  For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it:

Christ chose Paul “for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting”. It is therefore fitting that we also should see ourselves as “chief of sinners”, and not do as we all just naturally do, see anyone but ourselves as such.

Christ was our “sin offering” because He came to be just that in a body of what is by nature “sinful flesh”. Joseph was not Jesus’ Father, but Mary, a daughter of Adam and Abraham, was His mother, and through her Christ was “the son of man… in the likeness of sinful flesh”:

Rom 8:3  For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

That is the only reason Christ had to justify Himself telling us:

Mat 19:17  And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

Christ can say those words because they are true:

2Co 5:20  Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. 
2Co 5:21  For [His Father] hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Because His Father sent Christ to this earth in a body of sinful flesh, yet Christ “knew no sin” and could never claim, as the apostle Paul did, to be “chief of sinners”. That is why there had to be a “scapegoat… sin offering”.

Lev 16:5  And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.

“The Lord’s… goat” is offered first:

Lev 16:8  And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat. 
Lev 16:9  And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD'S lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. 
Lev 16:10  But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him [with the Lord’s goat], and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.

The scapegoat was a sin offering and a trespass offering because Christ, who was “made… to be sin”, was not given to commit a trespass, and therefore He “knew no sin”. “His body which is the church” (Col 1:24), on the other hand, can and indeed has, committed many trespasses, and yet it, the scapegoat, the “living sacrifice”, is as much a “sin offering… bearing upon him all [the] iniquities of the people” as is “the Lord’s goat”:

Lev 16:21  And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the [scape]goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: 
Lev 16:22  And the [scape]goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.

The Lord used the only prophet who was called into His service outside the land of Israel, “near Damascus”, to reveal to us that we are that “living sacrifice”. He used the only apostle who had ever “breathed out threatenings, and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord”, and the only apostle who had actually “persecuted the church”, to reveal to us that as “His body, which is the church [we are to] fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of the Christ for His body’s sake which is the church”:

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

The Lord’s goat was first offered, “to make an end of reconciling the holy place”, and afterward Aaron laid his hands upon the head of the scapegoat and confessed over Him.

Lev 16:18  And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the LORD, and make an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the [Lord’s] goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about. 
Lev 16:19  And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel. 
Lev 16:20  And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat:
Lev 16:21  And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions [H6588: pesha, transgression, trespass, sin] in all their sins [H2403: chattaah, sin, sin offering], putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: 
Lev 16:22  And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.

“[We] are the temple of God” (1Co 3:15-16). As such “the holy place”, which is within us, is the first to be reconciled by the blood of the Lord’s goat. The shed blood of Christ, the Lord’s goat, covers the sins and the trespasses of the temple, because sin and trespasses are both sin.

All sin is not necessarily a trespass, and for that reason the Lord has seen fit to give Israel a separate offering for what we do as sinful vessels of clay and for the trespasses and transgressions which are the natural fruit of being “conceived in sin and shapen in iniquity”:

Psa 51:5  Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Afterward Aaron confessed over the scapegoat “all their transgression, in all their sins”.  

2Co 5:21  For he hath made him to be sin [G266: hamartia, sin] for us, who knew no sin [G266: hamartia, sin]; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

All ‘transgressions’ are sin, but not all ‘sin’ is a transgression. Flesh has no good in it, and is therefore innately ‘sin’, which is the very meaning of these verses of scripture:

Psa 51:5  Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Thus, without committing a single trespass or transgression, Christ could still honestly say:

Mat 19:17  And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

For years I wondered why Israel was given both a sin and a trespass offering. I had no idea what the difference was. In time the Lord gave me to see that the sin offering is for the “vessel of clay [which] was marred in the Potter’s hand” while in its mother’s womb, had not committed any trespasses or any  transgressions, while the trespass offering is for what we do, as His body, in these marred clay vessels.

Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

In other words, the sin offering is for what we are while the trespass offering is for what we do. Only through us as the scapegoat can Christ in us become the living sacrifice, which is the trespass offering. Only the scapegoat is said to be alive and at the same time dying daily and being crucified while bearing the sins and iniquities of the Lord’s people. 

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 
Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

1Co 15:31  I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

All those verses are symbolized by the scapegoat, which in turn symbolizes Christ in us “filling up what is behind of His afflictions for His body’s sake which is the church”:

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church:

Yes, indeed, “Who has believed our report” that we are His scapegoat, and that as such we, too, are bearing the sins of “his body which is the church”.

That is our study for today, and these are our verses for our next study:

Isa 53:7  He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. 
Isa 53:8  He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. 
Isa 53:9  And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. 
Isa 53:10  Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt 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. 
Isa 53:11  He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. 
Isa 53:12  Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.