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The" Word" became flesh
Read this page in
Filipino.
THE
SUFFERING SERVANT
Revealed on April 30, 2005
Who is the "Suffering Servant" described in Isaiah 53:1-12?
The religions say that it (the Suffering Servant) was a prophecy which was
fulfilled in Jesus, but to whom does the Holy Bible truly refers to as the
"Suffering Servant?" Maestro Evangelista says, let the Holy Bible reveal the
person being mentioned. Let us read:
Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
Isaiah 53:1 (NIV)
Let us use our understanding:
What was asked about is "Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of
the LORD been revealed?" It means that this event has happened before and it had
been reported to their people, it was never a prophecy. Let us read again in its
entirety:
Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
Isaiah 53:1 (NIV)
"Who has believed our message" - This has been reported to their people before,
it has happened before Isaiah's time.
"been revealed" - This is not a prophecy. It is only a recollection of a past
event in the history of the people of Israel. Jesus was not even born when this
was written.
The religions insist that this is a prophecy on Jesus.
Maestro Eraño M. Evangelista says that is their assumption. Who would you believe:
the religions or the Holy Bible, the Word of God?
He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Isaiah 53:2-3 (NIV)
The impatience and disbelief of his people during their journey in the
wilderness were directed toward Moses throughout.
Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
Isaiah 53:4 (NIV)
"yet we considered him stricken" - considered only, but not physically stricken.
With Jesus, he was really physically stricken, flogged, and crucified (killed).
The religions should have seen the difference from the very beginning.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
Isaiah 53:5-7 (NIV)
The religions used this passage to make the people of the world believe that
this was a prophecy which Jesus fulfilled as he suffered and supposedly died for
all men; not true says Maestro Evangelista.
"We all, like sheep, have gone astray" - the “all” that was mentioned here were
the people of Israel, not the Christians or the people of the world. So, the
religions cannot claim that this is Jesus.
The religions say that this was really Jesus, but we should remember that when
Jesus was nailed on the cross, he cried "My God, my God, why have you forsaken
me?" Jesus complained to God in his final moments.
Who is the real "Suffering Servant,” if it is not Jesus?
By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
And who can speak of his descendants?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
Isaiah 53:8-10 (NIV)
This "Suffering Servant" interceded for his people.
"prolong his days" - he will be remembered forever and honored - even if he had
been dead for a long time. Jesus did not live long; he died in his early 30s.
But Moses lived more than a hundred years!
After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied ;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
Isaiah 53:11-12 (NIV)
Now, Maestro Evangelista says, let us know who the "transgressors" were.
Maestro will show it to us, by reading the story of their transgression:
When I looked, I saw that you had sinned against the LORD your God;
you had made for yourselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf.
You had turned aside quickly from the way that the LORD had commanded you.
Deuteronomy 9:16 (NIV)
The "transgressors" were the people of Israel, the people whom he led out of
Egypt. They made and worshipped an idol without being instructed by God. What
did Moses do?
So I took the two tablets and threw them out of my hands, breaking them to
pieces before your eyes. Then once again I fell prostrate before the LORD for
forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water, because of all
the sin you had committed, doing what was evil in the LORD's sight and so
provoking him to anger. I feared the anger and wrath of the LORD, for he was
angry enough with you to destroy you. But again the LORD listened to me.
Deuteronomy 9:17-19 (NIV)
He atoned for the people's sins to God. He is the one who interceded for his
people to God.
For what sins did he atone to God?
And the LORD was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time
I prayed for Aaron too. Also I took that sinful thing of yours, the calf you had
made, and burned it in the fire. Then I crushed it and ground it to powder as
fine as dust and threw the dust into a stream that flowed down the mountain.
Deuteronomy 9:20-21 (NIV)
This is the message that was mentioned in
Isaiah 53:1-12, and Moses is the
"Suffering Servant."
You also made the LORD angry at Taberah, at Massah and at Kibroth Hattaavah.
And when the LORD sent you out from Kadesh Barnea, he said, "Go up and take
possession of the land I have given you." But you rebelled against the command
of the LORD your God. You did not trust him or obey him.
Deuteronomy 9:22-23 (NIV)
What happened?
You have been rebellious against the LORD ever since I have known you.
Deuteronomy 9:24 (NIV)
What did Moses do?
I lay prostrate before the LORD those forty days and
forty nights because the LORD had said he would destroy you.
Deuteronomy 9:25 (NIV)
He interceded for his people for the second time.
I prayed to the LORD and said, "O Sovereign LORD, do not destroy your people,
your own inheritance that you redeemed by your great power and brought out of
Egypt with a mighty hand. Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Overlook the stubbornness of this people, their wickedness and their sin.
Deuteronomy 9:26-27 (NIV)
For what reason did he ask for this?
Otherwise, the country from which you brought us will say, 'Because the LORD was
not able to take them into the land he had promised them, and because he hated
them, he brought them out to put them to death in the desert.'
Deuteronomy 9:28 (NIV)
Moses was the mediator for his people to God. And what happened also?
But they are your people, your inheritance that you brought out
by your great power and your outstretched arm."
Deuteronomy 9:29 (NIV)
The “outstretched arm” of God was revealed to Moses and to his people, not to
Jesus.
And what happened to Moses afterwards?
At that time the LORD said to me, "Chisel out two stone tablets like the first
ones and come up to me on the mountain. Also make a wooden chest. I will write
on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Then
you are to put them in the chest."
So I made the ark out of acacia wood and chiseled out two stone tablets like the
first ones, and I went up on the mountain with the two tablets in my hands. The
LORD wrote on these tablets what he had written before, the Ten Commandments he
had proclaimed to you on the mountain, out of the fire, on the day of the
assembly. And the LORD gave them to me. Then I came back down the mountain and
put the tablets in the ark I had made, as the LORD commanded me, and they are
there now.
(The Israelites traveled from the wells of the Jaakanites to Moserah.
There Aaron died and was buried, and Eleazar his son succeeded him as priest.
Deuteronomy 10:1-6 (NIV)
God commanded Moses to make another set of stone tablets, like the first ones,
on which God wrote the Ten Commandments.
From there they traveled to Gudgodah and on to Jotbathah, a land with streams of
water. At that time the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the
covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to minister and to pronounce
blessings in his name, as they still do today.
Deuteronomy 10:7-8 (NIV)
They are the ministers to God.
That is why the Levites have no share or inheritance among their brothers;
the LORD is their inheritance, (as the LORD your God told them.)
Now I had stayed on the mountain forty days and nights, as I did the first time,
and the LORD listened to me at this time also. It was not his will to destroy
you. "Go," the LORD said to me, "and lead the people on their way, so that they
may enter and possess the land that I swore to their fathers to give them."
Deuteronomy 10:9-11 (NIV)
Their inheritance is with God.
And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD
your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with
all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD's commands and
decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?
To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and
everything in it. Yet the LORD set his affection on your forefathers and loved
them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations, as it is
today.
Deuteronomy 10:12-15 (NIV)
This is what God asks of us... to follow and love Him. We can show that we love
Him by following His Commandments.
Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer.
Deuteronomy 10:16 (NIV)
"Circumcise your hearts" - make your heart pure, obey God. Who is God?
For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God,
mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.
Deuteronomy 10:17 (NIV)
He is truly our God.
That is why Maestro Evangelista in his work, does not ask for anything in
return. There is no donation and no giving of tithes. What does God want to
remind us of?
Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and
worship other gods and bow down to them.
Deuteronomy 11:16 (NIV)
This is God's admonition for us; obey His commandments, and do not go after
other gods. What will happen to us if we will turn to and follow other gods?
Then the LORD's anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens
so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon
perish from the good land the LORD is giving you.
Deuteronomy 11:17 (NIV)
We will be cursed by God! Let us return to:
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
Isaiah 53:12 (NIV)
How did Moses intercede for the sins of his people to God?
That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud.
All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said
to them,
"If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! Why is the LORD bringing us to
this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken
as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?" And they said to
each other, "We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt."
Numbers 14:1-4 (NIV)
Because their grumbling and rebellious nature, they complained hard during their
journey in the wilderness.
Then Moses and Aaron fell face down in front of the whole Israelite assembly
gathered there. Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among
those who had explored the land, tore their clothes and said to the entire
Israelite assembly, "The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly
good. If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land
flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against
the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will
swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us.
Do not be afraid of them."
Numbers 14:5-9 (NIV)
His people should not expect that the promise given to them will happen
instantly. They have to work hard for it and finish their journey to the
Promised Land.
What did the people do to Moses?
But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory
of the LORD appeared at the Tent of Meeting to all the Israelites.
Numbers 14:10 (NIV)
They were going to stone Moses!
The LORD said to Moses, "How long will these people treat me with contempt?
How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs
I
have performed among them? I will strike them down with a plague and destroy
them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they."
Numbers 14:11-12 (NIV)
This is the anger of God regarding their impatience and disbelief in His
Promise.
What did Moses do for his people?
Moses said to the LORD, "Then the Egyptians will hear about it! By your power
you brought these people up from among them. And they will tell the inhabitants
of this land about it. They have already heard that you, O LORD, are with these
people and that you, O LORD, have been seen face to face, that your cloud stays
over them, and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar
of fire by night. If you put these people to death all at one time, the nations
who have heard this report about you will say, 'The LORD was not able to bring
these people into the land he promised them on oath; so he slaughtered them in
the desert.'
Numbers 14:13-16 (NIV)
This was the supplication which Moses made to God. Even though his people wanted
to stone him, he still pleaded with God for their lives.
"If you put these people to death all at one time"
- Moses knew God will really
destroy them all.
"Now may the Lord's strength be displayed, just as you have declared:
Numbers 14:17 (NIV)
This is how the prophets interceded in behalf of their people with God.
'The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion.
Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the
sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.'
Numbers 14:18 (NIV)
This is how the anger of the God burns, up to the 4th generation.
What did Moses ask from God?
In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you
have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now."
Numbers 14:19 (NIV)
What did God say to Moses?
The LORD replied, "I have forgiven them, as you asked. Nevertheless,
as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the LORD fills the whole
earth,
Numbers 14:20-21 (NIV)
Though God forgave their sins…
not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in
Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times - not one
of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one
who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. But because my servant Caleb
has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the
land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. Since the Amalekites and
Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and set out toward the
desert along the route to the Red Sea."
The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: "How long will this wicked community grumble
against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites. So tell
them, 'As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very things
I heard you say: In this desert your bodies will fall - every one of you twenty
years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me.
Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home,
except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. As for your children that
you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you
have rejected. But you - your bodies will fall in this desert.
Numbers 14:22-32 (NIV)
God is still angry with the people...
Only “Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun”
were allowed to reach and
enter the Promised Land, because of their obedience to God.
To the rebellious generation that journeyed in the wilderness, they were not
allowed to see the Promise fulfilled.
Maestro Evangelista says: the religions claim that Jesus is the "Suffering
Servant" mentioned in Isaiah 53:1-12 is not true.
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