ISAIAH 51

[Yeshayah 51 Orthodox Jewish Bible (OJB)]

1 Hearken [Pay heed] to Me, ye that follow after righteousness [pursue tzedek], ye that seek Yahweh: look unto the rock [Tzur] whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged [quarry from where ye were hewn].

Follow = earnest pursuit (Sept.) Hearken, follow, seek, look. The exhortation is clearly to the flagging energies of the faithful, to return to their foundations, and draw strength from the quarry from which they were sculpted as living stones (l Pet. 2. 5). Isaiah has Moses exhortation in mind (Deut. 32. 18,4). Yahweh is the Rock (Tsur) from which we have been cut out. Hearken unto ME - this me is both Isaiah, as opposed to the false prophets, but also as type of Yahweh' s Servant, the Christ (Pslm. 24. 6; Is. 45. 19, Is. 50. 10). *

2 Look unto Abraham your father [Avraham Avichem], and unto Sarah that bare [gave birth to] you: for I called him [as one] alone, and blessed [put a brocha on] him, and increased him [made him many].

The wonderful faith of Abraham and Sarah is recalled, in their faithful sojourning, trusting in God's promises, in a dry and thirsty land, and believing that God could raise up from them seed in their old against all natural odds (Rom 4. 17-25), having no continuing city but looking for one whose builder 'and maker is God (Hb, 11), that from Abraham would come the Promised Seed, and he would be a father of many nations (Gen. l7), or as Paul puts it "the father of the faithful," 430 years before the law (Rom. 4.11, Gal. 3. l7).

If our sojourn seems solitary and estranged, take comfort from Abraham, whom Yahweh blessed and will yet bless. *

***

Abraham was called from the darkness of Ur of the Chaldees, and separated from the worldly environment of his day. He was not associated with the madding crowds of his time; nor should those who uphold his name today. The darkness of Ur represents the darkness of the pre-Adamic earth; the darkness of Egypt (v. 10), and of antagonism to the Truth. As Sarah was given strength to conceive seed (v. 2), so those of the spiritual (Gal. 4:26), will respond to the call to faithfulness. GEM

logos.org.au

3 For Yahweh shall comfort [Tziyon]: He will comfort all her waste places [ruins]; and he will make her wilderness [midbar] like Eden, and her desert [ruins] like the garden [Gan] of Yahweh; joy and gladness [sasson and simchah] shall be found therein, thanksgiving [todah], and the voice of melody [kol zimrah].

No one who understands this testimony can be at a loss to answer the question, "What and where is Paradise?" It is the Land of Israel made like Eden and the garden of the Lord, when Jerusalem, the holy city, puts on her beautiful garments, being thenceforth "no more" the habitation of the uncircumcised and unclean.

This is Paradise—the Land of Israel with the kingdom of God established upon it in the Age to Come. Paradise is neither the grave, nor in Hades; but the Holy Land converted into the garden of the Lord. It is a word that signifies the same thing as the kingdom of God; and when the Lord Jesus sits upon the throne of his father David on Mount Zion, he will then and there be

"the Tree of Life in the midst of the Paradise of God."

We must eat of this tree if we would live for ever; for it is "our life." It is a Vine-Tree, with Twelve Branches, and "Twelve Fruits;" and the unwithering "leaves are for the healing of the nations."

In other words, the work of healing the nations of their spiritual and political maladies is assigned to Jesus on the throne of David; to the apostles on the twelve thrones of the house of David; and to the Saints associated with them in the kingdom. These things are the topics of the great salvation which began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto their contemporaries by the apostles that heard him, God also bearing them witness, &c.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, June 1851

Where there is no vision the people perish. This beautiful picture of Zion's glory, paradise restored and regained under Yahweh's faithful servant (the Christ), is what we should all have in mind to cheer us on the way, to animate us and inspire us to greater expressions of devotion and service to our God, and the glories of the Kingdom Age, a world transformed from all its ugliness and sinfulness, a cheering fruitful Holy land regenerated physically and spiritually, plenty of corn and wine, summerfruits, cedars and palms (Ezk.40-48, Is.35, Zech.14). 

That the Holy Land is to become the Paradise of the Deity is manifest from the following testimonies, which every one acquainted with the history of Eden, in whole, or in part, knows have never yet been accomplished. Thus the Spirit saith, "Thy land, O Zion, shall no more be termed 'Desolate;' but thou shalt be called Hephzibah (that is, My Beloved is in her), and thy land Beulah (that is, Married): for YAHWEH delighteth in thee, and thy Land shall be married. For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee; and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thine Elohim rejoice over thee" (Isai. 62:4,5).

Here Zion and the Holy Land are represented as a Virgin-Bride; and the Elohim, or Messiah and his brethren in their One Spirit-Body manifestation, as the Bridegroom. This Virgin-Bride and her Bridegroom are the loving couple, whose loves are celebrated by Solomon in his "Song of Songs." The land, in its paradisaic development, is typified in his "garden enclosed," and which, as king, he styles, "my sister spouse," ...

...When the marriage, or union, between the Sons of Zion and their King, as the Bridegroom, and the Holy Land as the virgin-bride, comes to pass, the country will become the Paradise of Yahweh, which his own right hand hath planted.

Eureka 2.1.7.

(see also Isa 55:13; 41:17-20; Eze 36:33; 47:1-5; Zech 14:4,8.)

4 Hearken [Pay heed] unto Me, My people; and give ear unto Me, O My nation: for a law [torah (42:4)] shall proceed from Me, and I will make My judgment [mishpat] to rest [set at rest [establish)] for a light of the people [Ohr Amim (Light for the Nations)].

5 My righteousness [tzedek] is near; My salvation is gone forth, and Mine arms [zero'a] shall judge the people [Ammim]; the isles [ iyim] shall wait upon Me, and on Mine arm [zero'a (Moshiach; See 53:1)] shall they trust.

Distant lands and every little island shall be purged of idolatry, corruption and oppression, and chastened and reformed to accord with the new Law of Zion. *

*The Apocalyptic Messenger

***

81. What will be the object of Christ's rule in Israel?

To bless them, I suppose, in everything: to give them good laws, to enlighten them, to teach them the truth, and bring them nearer to God, and make them fit for eternal life.

82. What will be the relation between the restored Kingdom of Israel and the other nations of the earth?

I don't think I quite comprehend your meaning. As I take it, there will be no other power in the earth.

83. That was the point I wished to bring out. Do you suppose the kingdoms of the Gentiles will continue to exist after the Kingdom of Israel is restored?

Oh no; I believe they will all be destroyed by Christ at his coming, and that the nations of the whole earth will be under the government of Christ.

84. Where will be the seat of this government?

I believe in jerusalem, from which we're told the law goes forth to all nations.

85. How will the world be governed bythe King of the Jews?

We are told that his people will reign with him. Therefore, I conclude, he will send out his people as governors in all the earth, to rule them, and judge among them, enlighten them as to his laws and the truth, and generally to bless them with the benefits of the Kingdom of God established in Palestine. In this sense I can see that the Kingdom of God will fill all the earth, while in one sense located in the Land of Promise.

The Good Confession

6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens [Shomayim], and look upon the earth [ha'aretz] beneath: for the heavens [Shomayim] shall vanish away like smoke [ashan], and the earth shall wax old like a garment [ha'aretz shall wear out like a beged], and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but My salvation [Yeshuah] shall be for ever [l'olam], and My righteousness [tzedakah] shall not be abolished [dismayed].

This speaks of a glorious revolution overturning the political heavens (Jewish and Gentile). They set their affections on a new heavens and earth wherein dwelleth righteousness (Is. 65.17, 66. 12). *

The Bethlehem-born Judge of Israel being duly installed upon the throne of his father David as king over the little mustard seed like kingdom of Judah (Matt. xiii. 31,32), invades the land of Assyria, and the land of Nimrod, and wastes them with the sword. Thus, he will not only deliver Judah from the Assyrian when he cometh into their land, and treadeth within her borders; but the Rainbowed Angel will also take away the dominion of the first three beasts of Daniel (vii. 12).

But, though deprived of dominion, they will still exist as national organizations; for "their lives shall be prolonged for a season and a time," or a thousand years. Their kingdoms will become the Rainbowed Angel's, and they will be blessed in the new administration of their affairs.

While Yahweh inherits Judah his portion in the Holy Land, and dwells in the midst of Zion, these nations are joined to him, and become his people (Zech. ii. 10,12). The regeneration of Egypt, Israel, and Assyria becomes complete. His right hand is established in the rivers, and his left in the sea; and he is already higher than the kings of the earth (Psa. lxxxix. 25-27): and by his prowess he has changed the face of the east, having wrested those fair and luxuriant countries from the destroyer; and made the land that was desolate, the enchanting Paradise of God (Ezek. xxxvi. 35; Isa. li. 3).

"In that day there shall be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the land, whom Yahweh T'zvaoth shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance" (Isa. xix. 23-25).

But the vindication, or avengement, of the Holy Land (Dan. viii. 14 -- we-nitzdaik kodesh) and the conquest and regeneration of Egypt and Assyria, do not consummate the work of the Rainbowed Angel; they only serve to "place his right foot upon the sea;" and to prepare him for setting "his left upon the earth." He has conquered the lion, the bear, and leopard: he has taken away their dominion, and placed them under his own: but there still remains that "dreadful, and terrible, and exceedingly strong fourth beast," which came up out of the same sea as the others.

This is not simply to lose his dominion, and yet continue as a body politic to exist like the others "for a season and a time." The contrary of this, would be the continuance of the European commonwealth as now constituted in church and state, but without human government, for a thousand years. This however, can never be. The decree of heaven has long been on record for its utter and total destruction. The decree is this: "Because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake; I beheld till the beast was slain and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame" (Dan. vii. 11).

This is the grand catastrophe of the apocalypse -- the slaying of the Latin Catholic Beast, and the destroying of its body politic by the Rainbowed Angel -- by the Spirit manifested in the saints. His "pillars of fire" march through the countries of Europe with the destruction of a "burning flame;" the result of which is "judging among the nations, filling their countries with dead bodies, and the bruising of the Head over an extensive region" (Psa. cx. 6).

Eureka 10.iii.6.

7 Hearken [Pay heed] unto me, ye that know righteousness [ tzedek], the people in whose heart is my law [Am torati velibam]; fear ye not the reproach of men [ cherpat enosh (the reproach, reviling of man)], neither be ye afraid of their revilings [their giddufot (insults, scorn)].

The truth held in its purity brings enmity and hate. If the law of God is truly in our hearts, we will endure and come forth stronger. *

9 Awake, awake, put on strength [clothe thyself with oz], O arm [zero'a] of Yahweh; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old [yemei kedem, in the dorot olamim]. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab [Rachav to pieces], and wounded the dragon [pierced Tannin (See 27:1)]?

The prophet cries for the intervention of Yahweh as when he delivered Israel from bondage in Egypt. This echoes Hezekiah's prayer for deliverance from the Assyrian (2 Kin 19: 15-19, Psalm 120;124) but against the background of the servant prophecies it could refer also to deliverance from Babylon (Pslm 79) and a greater deliverance (Ezk 20). Rahab and the dragon are symbols of Egypt.

This cry has been the cry of all the saints enduring persecutions (Mtt 5:10-12; Rev 11:2-3; Psa 34). *

***

Now there have been different dragon-manifestations of "the old serpent" in the long interval between the Mosaic salvation of Israel and the Messianic, which is at the door. That contemporary with Moses, and styled "Rahab" in Isa. 51:9, was developed into what Ezekiel describes in ch. 29:3.

Here the power of Egypt, called Pharaoh, is thus addressed by the Spirit,

"Behold I am against thee, Pharaoh, King of Egypt, THE GREAT DRAGON that lieth in the midst of his rivers" - the mouths of the Nile, representative of the subjects of the power: "which hath said, My river is my own, and I have made it for myself."

For this arrogance, and blasphemy against the source of all power, YAHWEH Elohim sentenced it to destruction, so that Egypt should no more exalt itself above the nations to rule over them; and, as Nebuchadnezzar had received no recompense for executing the sentence of Deity against Tyre, therefore YAHWEH Elohim gave the land of Egypt to him for his labour.

Eureka 12.14.

16 And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.

This is the Son of the Deity to whom the throne belongs, and termed "His servant," because of his manifestation to do service for Yahweh in planting the heavens, and laying the foundations of the earth, and saying unto Zion,

"Thou art my people" (Isa. li. 16);

or, as expressed in ch. xlix. 6,

"His servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the desolations of Israel; and also to be for a light to the nations, and for his salvation to the ends of the earth."

This is the "One sitting upon the throne" seen of Isaiah as well as by John. Isaiah saw him "in spirit" upwards of seven hundred years before he was "made of a woman under the law" (Gal. iv. 4); John beheld him in flesh, looked upon him with his eyes, and handled him with his hands, when he dwelt among the Jews; and seventy years afterwards while an exile in Patmos, saw a similitude representative of him sitting in Millennial glory upon the throne of David and of Deity...

Isaiah being "in spirit" saw him enthroned. "I saw," saith he,

"the ADONAI (plural) sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. -- I saw THE KING, Yahweh Tz'vaoth" (vi. 1,5).

He saw the king of whom the Spirit afterwards said,

"Take away the filthy garments from him" -- the filthy garments of flesh, styled his "iniquity; and let them set a fair mitre upon his head" (Zech. iii. 4,5).

This has been accomplished in the perfecting of Jesus by spirit...

He is now prepared to rule the Father's house, and to keep His courts. He is the man, the Second Adam, to be enthroned upon that eminence, high and lifted up above all other high places of the political aerial, covenanted by the Eternal Power to his father David. Ezekiel, when "in spirit," saw him enthroned, and calls him "a Man"; that is Adam, not ish; but adam, as indicative of his original identity with the nature of the first man.

John gives us to understand that he whom he saw sitting upon the throne was not only a man, ish, in the sense in which the three angel-Elohim who appeared to Abraham are so styled; but that he was adam, a mortal descended from him who came out of adama, the ground. This is indicated by what he says in Apoc. v. 6:

"I saw, and behold in the midst of the throne, and of the four living ones, and in the midst of the elders, A LAMB standing as if it had been slain, having seven Horns and seven Eyes, which are the Seven Spirits of the Deity sent forth into all the earth."

In these words he exhibits a combination of flesh and spirit "in the midst of the throne," and therefore sitting upon it. The flesh is represented by a living lamb that had been slain, but had recovered from the death-wound. It is well known to one intelligent in the word, that "lamb" is the metaphor, and in the Apocalypse, the symbol, of the sacrificial man, Jesus, who was delivered to death for his people's offences, and whose mission is to take away the sin of the world; in other words, to "destroy that having the power of death," and to destroy the works of sin -- the Diabolos and all that has originated from the flesh.

The sacrificial man, Jesus, then, is the apocalyptic lamb, one suspended upon a cross and forsaken of "the Seven Spirits of the Deity"; and consequently, not having at that time "seven Horns and seven Eyes"; but now, healed of the wound in his heel by resurrection and ascent to the Father, and by which he has become consubstantial spirit-flesh with Him, and therefore possessed of "the seven Spirits of the Deity," or holy spirit in perfection, by which he is omnipotent and omniscient, seeing and knowing all things; and therefore "a lamb with seven horns and seven eyes," and prepared to take up his position "in the midst of the throne," when a door shall be breached in the heaven, and the throne shall be established there.

The Lord Jesus Anointed, then, is the Adam hereafter to sit upon the throne. Installed in the heaven, the four living ones will give glory, and honour, and thanks to him; and the twenty and four elders will fall before him, and do homage, and cast their coronets before him, saying,

"Worthy art thou, O Lord, to receive the glory, and the honour, and the power; because thou createdst all things, and on account of thy will they exist, and were created" (iv. 9,11).

Eureka 4.1.5.