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Agape Bible Study
Isaiah 53-54
Isaiah 53:1-3 ~ The Servant's Rejection
Isaiah then asks two rhetorical questions in 53:1. The first is essentially "Who has believed the Servant's message?" and the second is "Who has recognized the Servant's message as a revelation from God?"
Question: What can be said about those who believe the Servant's message and recognize it as a work of God?
Answer: Those who "believe" and "recognize" are the ones who will come to salvation.
The Israelites were expecting the coming of the Davidic Messiah, but they didn't expect him to grow up within the community like everyone else. The imagery Isaiah uses is that of a plant growing from the ground. A shoot of a plant doesn't suddenly burst up fully grown. It pushes itself gently through the dirt into the light and takes time to grow to maturity. Likewise the Servant's arrival was unassuming within the "arid ground" that was Israel.
Question: Why didn't the people realize the importance of God's Servant?
Answer: The Servant's humble beginning and unimposing appearance did not attract attention and did not cause people to notice anything special about him. They were, therefore, not prepared for his accomplishments.
Question: How is the description of God's anointed Servant in verses 1-3 fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth?
Answer: Jesus came from a small village in the Galilee. There was nothing about Him that seemed remarkable "His foster father Joseph was a poor carpenter, He did not have an impressive education, nor did He have important family connections. He was sent to gather in the "lost sheep" of the House of Israel, and His rejection by His own people must have caused emotional pain.
Ecce Homo (Caravaggio)
Isaiah 53:4-6 ~ The Servant's Suffering
In the previous verses Isaiah described the Servant's rejection by his countrymen and the emotional pain and sorrow of that rejection. Now he addresses the Servant's physical sufferings.
Question: According to these verses, what is unique about the Servant's physical sufferings?
Answer:
- The Servant's suffering is substitutionary "suffering for others and not because of any wrongdoing he has done.
- The Servant's vicarious suffering is ordained by God.
- His suffering will bring peace and well-being.
Notice in this passage that Isaiah shifts back and forth between the work of the Servant's mission and the blessings his work brings to God's people.
| Verses | The People | The Servant |
| 53:4 | our sufferings our sorrows | he was bearing he was carrying |
| 53:5 | for our rebellions because of our guilt reconciling us we have been healed | he was wounded [pierced] [he was] crushed [he was] punishment by his bruises |
| 53:6 | the acts of rebellion of us all | to bear on him |
God's unnamed Servant is called to bear sufferings that are not due to his own personal sins but are taken up in atonement for the sins of others. St. Matthew will quote Isaiah 53:4 as a fulfillment statement applied to Jesus and His mission in Matthew 8:17: He drove out the spirits with a command and cured all who were sick. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: "He himself bore our sicknesses away and carried our diseases" (Mt 8:16-17).
Matthew interprets Jesus as being the servant foretold by Isaiah and Jesus' healing miracles as a sign of redemption. Jesus suffered for the sins of the entire people even thought He was not guilty of any sins.
Referring to Isaiah 53:4-6 Catechism teaches: "... On the cross Christ took upon himself the whole weight of evil and took away the sin of the world,' of which illness is only a consequence. By his passion and death on the cross Christ has given a new meaning to suffering: it can henceforth configure us to him and unite us with his redemptive Passion" (CCC 1505).
Isaiah 53:7-9 ~ The Servant's Death
It is the Servant's destiny, according to God's will, to suffer and die for the salvation of the people. In Jesus' Passion He suffered, becoming "a man of sorrows" (53:3). His scourging by the Roman soldiers disfigured His face and body, and His crucifixion as a common criminal would also have caused people to avert their gaze from Him. Those who rejected His claim to messiahship and His claim of being God's Son despised Him, including the Pharisees, scribes, Sadducees, and the chief priests.
Isaiah 53:10-12 ~ The Servant's Triumph
Jesus was "counted as one of the rebellious" in being condemned to death by the Romans for treason against Caesar on the charge that He claimed to be the "king of the Jews."
Because the Servant was obedient to the divine will of God by suffering for the sins of others, he will be rewarded by the Lord. He will know those who belong to his family (his "offspring") and he, though he died, will be blessed with a "long life."
Question: Who are Jesus' "descendants" what is the possible symbolic meaning of the reference to being blessed with a "long life"?
Answer: Jesus' "descendants" are the children born to the universal Church through the Sacrament of Christian baptism. The "long life" Jesus enjoys is the triumph of the resurrection through which God's "good pleasure will be done."
| Isaiah 52:13-53:12 | Description of the Servant | Fulfillment in Jesus Christ |
| 52:13 | He is raised, lifted up, exalted | God exalted Jesus in His Resurrection and Ascension and will exalt Him fully at the Second Coming (Phil 2:9-11) |
| 52:14 | His appearance is disfigured | Jesus was scourged and beaten at His trials before the Sanhedrin and Pilate (Mt 26:67) |
| 52:15 | He will sprinkle many nations | Sprinkling of His blood brings forgiveness (1 Pt 1:2); nations will come into His kingdom in the Sacrament of Baptism (Mt 28:19) |
| 53:4-6 | He suffered for our sins by God's command | Jesus died for our sins according to God's plan (1 Cor 15:3) |
| 53:7 | Silent before his oppressors | Jesus was silent before His accusers at His trial (Mk 14:60-61) |
| 53:8 | He is killed for the sins of his people | Jesus died for the sins of Israel and all mankind (2 Cor 5:14-15) |
| 53:9 | He is assigned a grave with the wicked and a tomb with the rich but he did no wrong | Jesus was crucified between 2 criminals, and He was buried in a rich man's tomb (Mk 15:27-28, 43-46) |
| 53:10 | It was God's will to crush him; he will see his offspring | It was God's plan that Jesus should be an offering for sin (Rom 5:9; 2 Cor 5:21) |
| 53:12 | He will receive a great reward because he gave up his life according to God's plan | Jesus received a great reward because He poured out His life on the altar of the cross (Phil 2:9-11; Heb 1:3-4) |
Chapter 54: Yahweh Forgives His People and Takes Them Back
Isaiah 54:1-10 ~ Yahweh Takes Back His Wife
The covenant people, in separating themselves from Yahweh through their sins, have become spiritually barren. God punished His wayward Bride by forsaking their covenant relationship and sending Israel into exile. But Israel's barren condition is going to change when God, the divine spouse, redeems Israel as His Bride and He will bless, as a sign of her redemption, with many children "more than they had when Israel was wedded to Yahweh (verse 1).
Isaiah 54:11-17 ~ Rebuilding the New Jerusalem
Finally Isaiah speaks of the rebirth of the city of Jerusalem. He focuses on two aspects of the rebuilding:
- The desolate city that has been like a storm-tossed ship will be rebuilt in splendor (verses 11-12).
- Those who will inhabit the city will be disciples taught by the Lord (verses 13-17).
In verses 13-17 Isaiah describes the people who will inhabit the New Jerusalem "their children will be disciples of the Lord God (Is 54:13). In verse 17 he promises that the inhabitants of the New Jerusalem will never again be challenged by enemies either on the battle field or "in court," and he ends this passage with the promise that this is the heritage of the servants of Yahweh who will live in the grace of His "saving justice."
The description of the rebuilt city of Jerusalem is not the city rebuilt after the return from exile. Rather it is like the city St. John saw in the Book of Revelation 21:18-21 whose foundations and walls are built with precious stones and those who inhabit the city are the righteous who have been redeemed by the blood of the Christ. Isaiah has probably been given a vision of the new Jerusalem at the end of the age that St. John also saw, and the Jerusalem Isaiah has described is our promised inheritance at the end of time: The wall was built of diamond, and the city of pure gold, like clear glass. The foundations of the city wall were faced with all kinds of precious stone: the first with diamond, the second lapis lazuli, the third turquoise, the fourth crystal, the fifth agate, the sixth ruby, the seventh gold quartz, the eighth malachite, the ninth topaz, the tenth emerald, the eleventh sapphire, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate being made of a single pearl, and the main street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass ... and the city did not need the sun or the moon for light, since it was lit by the radiant glory of God, and the Lamb was a lighted torch for it (Rev 21:18-23).
Agape Bible Study
Ezekiel 14 -15
Ezekiel 14:1-11 ~ Yahweh’s Refusal to Answer the Elders Practicing Idolatry
Yahweh gives two announcements of judgment against the idol loving elders in this passage. In verse 3, God reveals the true nature of the elders who have come to make an inquiry of the Lord through His prophet. They may present an image of integrity on the outside, but internally they have enshrined “foul idols in their hearts.” In verse 4, God states the case against the idol-minded elders who came to make inquiries of Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 14:12-23 ~ Individual Responsibility
The curse-judgment in verse 13 repeats the warnings of the curse-judgments for apostasy in Leviticus 26:15-20 and Deuteronomy 28:15-19. In Ezekiel 14:14, 20, God mentions three righteous men: Noah, Danel, and Job. The name Noah only appears in Genesis Chapters 5-10, Isaiah 54:9; and 1 Chronicles 1:4. Noah was a righteous person, according to Genesis 6:9-12. He lived a blameless life and “walked with God” in contrast to the corrupt and violent society in which he lived. Job was a paragon of virtue with a book dedicated to his story. Sandwiched between these two examples of righteousness is a man named Danel.
Some Bible scholars assume the “Danel” [in Hebrew Dan’el], in Ezekiel 14:14 and 20, refers to the prophet Daniel [in Hebrew Dani’el]. Chapters 1-2 of the Book of Daniel portray Daniel as a Jewish youth related to the royal family and deported into exile Babylonian in c 605 BC. Through God’s intervention, he transitioned into the role of chief advisor to the Babylonian king. He is acknowledged as the wisest man in Babylon and receives authority over the Babylonian empire’s capital province by the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign (c. 603 BC). At the time of Daniel’s capture, he must have been not younger than his late teens to have achieved such an important office by 603 BC. By the time Ezekiel began prophesizing along the Chebar River, Daniel would have probably been in his late twenties or early thirties. By this time his reputation for wisdom and righteousness as one of Nebuchadnezzar’s leading officials would have had about ten years to travel from the capital city to the settlements of his fellow Jews some 100-200 miles away along the Chebar River. The question is how could a young contemporary of Ezekiel, who at this time was just beginning his service to the King of Babylon, be held up as an example alongside two non-Israelite heroes of ages past?
Since the name Dan’el is between two righteous Old Testament men who predated Abraham, it is more likely that this individual is also a righteous Gentile like Noah and Job. A likely candidate is some renowned figure known in the ancient Levant, like the legendary Gentile King Dan’el of Ugarit. Named in twelfth-century BC Ugarit text, he was hailed as “upright, sitting before the gate, beneath a mighty tree on the threshing floor, judging the case of the widow, adjudicating the case of the fatherless” (Ancient Near-Eastern Texts, page 151). Another possibility fitting the chronological frame of the other two men is the Dan’el of Jewish tradition who was the grandfather of Methuselah (Book of Jubilees, 4:20).
Ezekiel 15:1-8 ~ The Parable of the Vine
Yahweh tells Ezekiel a parable to share as a lesson and judgment warning. The parable begins with the nation of Israel symbolized as God’s cherished vine chosen over all other vines (other nations). It ends with the image of Israel the unfaithful wife of her Divine spouse.
In the symbolic imagery of Israel as God’s vineyard or vine, the prophets presented four different stages of Israel’s relationship or lack of a relationship with God:
| Image Group | Part I Covenant relationship | Part II Rebellion | Part III Redemptive Judgment | Part IV Restoration Fulfilled |
| Vineyard or Fig tree | Well-tended vineyard/fruitful fig tree | Vines grow wild/failure to produce fruit | Weeds overgrow vineyard/ ruin and destruction | Vines are replanted/ fruitfulness restored |
| [examples in Scripture] | Isaiah 5:1-4a; Ezekiel 19:10-11; Jeremiah 24:4-7 | Isaiah 5:4b; Jeremiah 2:21; Hosea 2:14; Micah 7:1-4; Joel 1:7, 11-12 | Isaiah 5:3-6; Ezekiel 15:6-8; 19:12-14; Jeremiah 8:13; 24:1-10; Nahum 3:12-15 | John 15:1-2, 4-64 |
According to the parable, producing fruit is the only useful function of a vine. It was Israel’s destiny to produce the good and useful fruit of righteousness as a witness of God to the other nations of the earth.
Question: How did Yahweh’s “choice vine” fail Him?
Answer: Israel failed to produce the “fruit” of righteousness/good deeds, and therefore, Israel as Yahweh’s vine became good for nothing but fuel for the fire of God’s divine wrath.
DAY 216 Religion and War
CHALLENGE: “Religion is inherently violent, producing countless wars.”
DEFENSE:This claim does not withstand scrutiny.
War is not unique to humanity. Other species—including ants, bees, and chimpanzees—wage war, understood as the organized, collective use of lethal violence against external enemies (such as for control of territory). Yet these species do not have religion. War’s roots are thus non-religious.
Religion is a human universal, and historically there have been no atheist societies. It is thus impossible to argue that non-religious societies were less violent than religious ones. The officially atheist societies that arose in the Communist world in the twentieth century were not more peaceful than others. They warred, exported revolution, and killed tens of millions of people, including their own citizens.
If religion predisposed people to violence, we should see this on the small scale, yet violent criminals don’t usually seem to be devout churchgoers.
Like non-religious viewpoints, religions have differing attitudes toward violence, ranging from advocating violence for a variety of causes to advocating it only in self-defense to thoroughgoing pacifism. One cannot tar all religious viewpoints with the same brush. If religion can inspire people to kill, it can also inspire them to refrain from killing (“You shall not kill,” Exod. 20:13; “Love your enemies,” Matt. 5:44).
Similarly, if lack of religious zealotry deprives one non-religious person of a motive to kill, another non-religious person may go on to slay because he is not constrained by religious values against killing.
Ultimately, religions don’t go to war. Governments do, and they usually must convince an ambivalent populace of their decision to do so. In this, they may use religion as a motivating factor (whether or not the religion of the enemies is different), but that doesn’t make religion the cause of war.
Often wars are fought when there is no difference in religion. In the bloodiest war in U.S. history—the Civil War—the North and the South had the same religion.
Most wars are not fought over religious goals such as converting, subjugating, or killing people because they have a different religion. Instead, they are fought over secular goals such as control of territory and resources, self-determination, defending national prestige, or seeking revenge for perceived wrongs.
Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist
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