The Prophetic Implications of the Sixty Six Books of the Bible in Isaiah

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Isaiah 1–66

This article was inspired by the comments made on this blog a few months back by John from Tasmania. He got me thinking about it, and I researched it out, and this article is a result of that. Thank you John!

A case can be made that the first 39 chapters of the Isaiah are representative of the 39 books of the Old Testament or Tanakh, and that the last 27 chapters of Isaiah focus more on the coming Messiah, the preaching of the gospel as contained in the 27 books of the New Testament or Testimony of Yeshua. 

Isaiah Part One (chapters 1–39) focuses on calling national Israel to repentance for its spiritual apostasy and predicts judgment upon her if she fails to turn from her wicked way. YHVH’s judgment against Israel largely comes at the hands of those heathen nations surrounding Israel. Isaiah devotes a many chapters pronouncing divine judgment upon those nations, who touched YHVH’s anointed Israel.

Amidst the woeful message of Israel’s apostasy and impending judgment, the prophet also offers many glimmers of hope for backslid Israel including giving prophecies concerning the coming Messiah, the return of Israel’s captive exiles, the Messianic Age or Millennium that will come upon the earth at the end of days, as well the coming of what has become known as the New Testament or the Testimony of Yeshua.

In Part Two of Isaiah (chapters 40–66), the central theme is the Messiah, his coming kingdom—in short, the message of the gospel. In fact, the term gospel or good news originates from the book of Isaiah. Also included in this section of the book are numerous prophecies concerning the regathering of the Israelite exiles back to the land of Israel, divine judgment against heathen nations, the Millennium, the New or Everlasting Covenant, the rebuilding of the temple and the rebirth of the nation of Israel in the end times.

It is evident that there is thematic overlap and commonality between part one and two of the book of Isaiah. This is because the message of repentance from sin, divine judgment against sin, the mercy of YHVH and redemption of his people are relevant universally applicable down through ages because people don’t change and neither do YHVH’s standards or righteousness. However, in my opinion, Isaiah part two seems to place more emphasis what gospel themes, hence it’s prophetic allusions to the Testimony of Yeshua.

Now, let’s make an overview list of the main themes of each section of Isaiah and with their corresponding chapters, so that you can see what we’re talking about.

Isaiah Chapters 1–39

  • Holy or Set-Apart Spirit, The—Isa 27:13; 30:21; 32:15
  • Israel, Blessing Upon—Isa 32:15–20; 31:4–5
  • Judgment Upon Israel for Sin—1:7–9 , 15, 24–24; 2:10–21; 3:1–24; 4:4; 5:8–30; 6:11–13; 7:18–25; 8:5–10, 14–15, 22; 9:8–21; 10:10–14; 17:3–6; 22:1–25; 23:1–18; 24:1–23; 28:1–15; 28:1–15, 17–22; 29:1–8; 30:1–7; 31:1–3; 32:9–14; 33:1, 10–14; 
  • Judgment Upon Israel’s Enemies—Isa 10:5–19; 13, 14:3–32; 15:1–9; 16:1–14; 17:1–14; 18:1–7; 19:1–24; 20:1–5; 21:1–16; 23, 24; 25:10–12; 26:21; 30:27–33; 34:1–17
  • Messiah, The Coming—Isa 7:10–15; 8:13; 9:6–7; 11:1–5, 10; 12:1–3; 26:1, 18; 28:16–17; 29:16; 33:17–24; 35:1–10
  • Millennium or Messianic Age’s Coming Predicted, The—Isa 2:2–4; 4:3–6; 11:6–10; 33:17–24; 27:13; 35:6–8
  • Mercy Upon Israel, Divine—Isa 14:1–2
  • New Testament or Testimony of Yeshua Predicted—Isa 8:16–20 (v. 20 cp. Rev 1:2)
  • Prophetic Words or Instructions for People of That Day—Isa 7:1–9; 8:1–4; 36:1–22; 37:1–35; 38:1–20; 39:1–8
  • Remnant of Israelites to Return from Babylonian Exile—Isa 10:20–23
  • Redemption or Salvation—Isa 4:4; 25:9; 26:1, 10, 19; 29:17–24; 30:15–26; 31:4–5; 33:22–24
  • Repent, Call for Israel to—Isa 2:5–21; 12:1–3; 28:23–29; 30:6–17; 31:6; 32:9–15
  • Second Exodus, The—Isa 11:11–16; 27:13
  • Torah, Rebellion Against—Isa 30:9

Isaiah Chapters 40–66

  • Babylon Israel’s Enslavers, Judgment Upon—Isa 47:5–15; 48:14
  • Babylon, Come Out of—48:20; 52:11
  • Gentiles, Called to Salvation—Isa 60:1–16; 65:1; 66:18–21
  • Gospel Message Predicted, Preaching of—Isa 40:9; 41:27; 52:17; 60:1
  • Holy or Set-Apart Spirit Outpouring Promised—Isa 44:3–5; 59:21; 63:11, 14
  • Hope for and Blessings Upon Israel—Isa 41:15–20; 43:18–21; 44:1–5; 44:24–26; 49:14–26; 51:1–3; 52:1–13; 54:1–17; 55:1–13; 56:1; 57:1–2; 60:1–22; 61:4–11; 62:1–12; 63:7–14
  • Islam or Edom, Divine Judgment Against—Isa 63:1–6
  • Israel, End Times Restoration of the Nation of—Isa 48:1; 52:1–12
  • Lake of Fire, Last Days Judgment Against Unrepentant Sinner in the—Isa 66:14–17, 24
  • Messiah’s Coming Predicted—Isa 40:1–5; 41:4, 10; 42:1–7; 43:3; 44:6, 24–28; 45:15, 21; 47:4; 48:12; 49:1–13, 26; 50:4–9; 52:7, 13–15; 53:1–12; 56:1; 59:16–21; 60:16; 61:1–3 
  • Millennium or Messianic Age’s Coming Predicted, The—Isa 65:17–25; 66:10–13; 22–24
  • New or Everlasting Covenant Predicted—Isa 42:21; 55:3
  • New Heavens and New Earth Predicted—Isa 51:6; 65:17; 66:22
  • Redemption and Salvation Promised—Isa 43:25; 44:22–23; 45:8; 46:13; 49:24; 51:5–8; 52:3, 10; 53:1–12; 55:1–3; 61:10; 65:1
  • Repentance, A Call to—Isa 43:22–24; 48:1–22; 51:4–9; 55:6–7; 57:3–21; 58:1–14; 64:1–12; 65:2–7; 66:1–4
  • Righteousness, A Call to—Isa 56:1–8; 58:1–14
  • Second Exodus Predicted—Isa 43:1–7
  • Sin and Idolatry, Turn From—Isa 44:9–20; 46:1–12; 56:9–12
  • Temple Rebuilt for the Messiah to Come to Predicted, The—Isa 45:1
  • Torah, Return to—Isa 42:21–25
 

How the Church Divorced Itself From Its Book of Acts Roots

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From A.D. 70 to A.D. 135 — How the Church Became Divorced From Its Hebraic Roots

What is called Christianity today in many ways is very dissimilar, and in many respects, outright antagonistic to the religion of the first-century, book of Acts believers. How did this come to be?

Many modern Christian churches prides themselves on being “a New Testament church,” yet what they practice and believe is often very different from and even opposed to the teaching and practices of the apostles and primitive, first century church. For example, life for the apostolic believers in Jerusalem revolved around the temple (Acts 2:46; 3:1; 5:19-21; 5:42; Acts 21:26; 22:17; 24:18; 25:8; 26:21), and for those outside of the land of Israel, on most Sabbaths, they attended the local synagogue (Acts 13:14; 14:1; 17:1–2; 18:4, 7, 8, 19, 26; 19:8). Not only did the first apostles and early believers not celebrate any pagan influenced holidays such as Easter, Christmas, Halloween, Lent, and the rest, but they adhered to the Torah or law of Moses (see references below). The Book of Acts record is also clear that early believers kept the Bible festivals (as outlined in Lev 23; Acts 2:1; 18:21; Acts 27:9; 1 Cor 5:8; Jude 12) of Passover, Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Day of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles, and the Eighth Day.

What’s more, the book of Acts records that both Stephen and Paul were falsely accused of teaching that the laws and customs of Moses were nullified, and, as a result of this false accusation, both lost their lives defending Torah-obedience. 

A hundred other examples could easily be given showing how the Christian church has veered away from the Hebrew or Jewish roots of its faith, but hopefully, the reader gets the point.

So what happened to cause Christianity to veer so widely from the Hebrew or Jewish roots of its faith and to arrive at the place where it hardly resembles that religious faith from which it sprang? This is not an easy question to answer since one must look back nearly 2000 years and attempt to reconstruct the times in which our spiritual forefathers lived. Moreover, we must understand what was transpiring politically, religiously, and socially at the time to answer this question properly. It is also imperative that we understand the contextual social and linguistic fabric, the backdrop of history, and the parade of political and economic events which happened one after another between the years of A.D. 70 and A.D. 135. Then and only then can we understand how the church became divorced from its Hebraic roots and became Greco-Roman and Western in nature and combined itself with an admixture of with pagan and antibiblical doctrines along with pagan practices, traditions and beliefs.

Now, let us go back nearly 2000 years for a short lesson in history. The early church was Jewish and much of what they did centered around the synagogue and the temple. As already noted, references are made 25 times in the Book of Acts to the Jerusalem temple and 19 references to various local synagogues.

The Apostles Were Pro-Torah

Before commencing our trip back in his… (To continue reading this, go to https://www.hoshanarabbah.org/pdfs/ad70ad135.pdf)

 

What Is Holy and What Is Not…Who Determines It?

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Some things are holy and some things are not.

Leviticus 8:12, Anointing oil … consecrates [Heb. kadash]. 

The Hebrew word kadash signifies the state of something that belongs to the realm of the sacred, and which is set-apart for divine use and has been separated from the sphere of the secular, common or profane. The Bible often uses the term holy (meaning “set-apart”) to signify this state of being. The word of Elohim designate many things as set-apart:

  • The ground upon which YHVH is standing (Exod 3:5; Josh 5:15)
  • The people of Israel (Exod 19:6; Deut 14:21; 26:19)
  • The Sabbath (Exod 16:23; 20:8)
  • The Tabernacle of Moses (Exod 26:33)
  • The garments worn by the high priest (Exod 28:2)
  • The altar of sacrifice (Exod 40:10)
  • The offerings made on the altar (Lev 6:18)
  • YHVH’s feast days (Lev 23:2)
  • The camp of Israel (Deut 23:14)
  • Heaven as the abode of Elohim (Deut 26:15)
  • YHVH Elohim (Job 6:10; Pss 22:3; 78:4; 99:5)
  • Zion and Jerusalem (Ps 2:6; Matt 27:53; Rev 22:19)
  • The Spirit of Elohim (Matt 1:20)
  • The angels (Matt 25:31)
  • The servants of Elohim (Mark 6:20)
  • The name of YHVH (Luke 1:49)
  • Yeshua (Acts 2:27; 3:14)
  • YHVH’s prophets (Acts 3:21)
  • The saints (1 Pet 2:9; Rev 22:11)
  • The Torah (2 Pet 3:21) 

The people, times and items listed on this listed are holy because Elohim has designated them as such. Only Elohim has the power and authority to determine what is holy and what is not. Just because men and religious institutions designate or sanctify something as being holy or set apart to Elohim doesn’t mean that it is. The proclamations of men stating that something is holy may or may not agree with Elohim and his Word as to what is holy. If it doesn’t, then it is not holy regardless of the labels that men may put on it. Examples of this would be manmade holidays and times of worship, places and items. Men’s attempt to elevated something that is otherwise of the world, the flesh or the devil to a state of supposed holiness is nothing more than a ruse to fool people into thinking that something is what it is not. Usually behind these efforts on the part of men to attempt to delude the unwary and unsuspecting masses is the quest for money, power and fame. As Paul notes in 2 Corinthians 11:13–15, there are many religious deceivers who appropriate to themselves religious titles, but who, in reality, are tools of Satan, the arch-deceiver who transforms himself into an angel of light. The devil and his humans agents are masters at counterfeiting Elohim’s truth and taking that which is holy and profaning or polluting it, again usually for money, power and fame.

Here is a short list of things that the Bible doesn’t designate as holy, but some people do. 

  • The holy cross
  • Holy water
  • Mary, the holy mother of Yeshua
  • Sunday
  • Christian holidays 
  • The holy trinity
  • The holy sepulchre of Christ
  • Holy relics
  • The Vatican (i.e. the Holy See)
  • The Pope (i.e. the holy father)
  • Holy Week
  • Holy mass
  • Holy cities (e.g. Rome, Mecca, Medina)
  • The holy grail
  • Holy moly
  • Holy guacamole
  • Holy cow

And the list goes on of the things that humans have designated as holy but aren’t holy according to Elohim.

YHVH’s people must learn to make a difference between that which he designates as being kadash (holy) andthat which is profane (Lev 10:10; Ezek 44:23). In order to do this, one must know what YHVH defines as set-apart in his Written Word and then align their thinking and lifestyle with that. Again, what the Bible calls holy and what religious call holy may or may not be in agreement.

The act of consecrating someone (or something, e.g. Exod 30:26), as occurs in Leviticus 8:12, often involves the ritual of pouring olive oil on them to signify their being set-apart for a special work or service. This is called anointing (see Exod 28:41; 29:7; 1 Sam 16:12; 1 Kgs 1:34; Isa 61:1; 2 Cor 1:21). 

Yeshua’s title is Messiah (Heb. Mashiach) literally meaning, “one who is anointed, smeared or consecrated with (olive) oil.” The English word Christ derives from the Greek word Christos, which is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word mashhiach. In biblical thought, the Messiah would be One coming from heaven who would possess a super-anointing of the Spirit of Elohim (Isa 11:1–10; 42:1–21; 61:1–3; John 3:34) to accomplish the purposes of Elohim on earth.

Have you placed your trusting faith in Yeshua the Messiah, the Anointed One from heaven? He is the only one who can take away the shame, guilt and penalty of your sin, and the only one who defeated death and the grave and can lead you past the veil of death and into immortality.

 

Binding and Loosing Explained

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John 20:23, If you forgive the sins [NKJV] or Whose soever sins ye remit [KJV]. 

Forgive is the Greek word aphiemi, which has a wide range of meanings including “to send away, to permit, allow, not to hinder, to give up a thing to a person, to leave, go way from one, to let go, let alone, let be, to disregard, to leave, not to discuss now, to omit, neglect.” Of the 146 times this word occurs in the NT, in the KJV aphiemi is translated as “forgive” 47 times (as in forgiving sins; e.g. Matt 6:12, 14; 9:2, 5, 6; 12:31; 18:12; Rom 4:7; Jas 5:12; 1 John 1:9; 2:11, etc.). The KJV also translates this word as “leave” (52 times), “suffer” (meaning “allow, let or permit”, 14 times), “let” (8 times), “forsake” (6 times), “let alone” (6 times).

What would be the purpose of remitting someone’s past sins (assuming that one has the authority to do so)? By asking heaven’s court to forgive a person’s sins, this could possible open the doorway to salvation to them by lessoning the burden of sin and the guilt, shame, hopelessness, depression and fear that comes with sin. With these burdens removed by which the forces of darkness keep that person imprisoned to their sin, they might actually come to see the glorious light of Yeshua and be set free and come to salvation.

The Greek word for forgive (aphiemi ) in John 20:23is different than the Greek word translated as “to loose” (i.e. deo; e.g. Matt 16:19; 18:18) as in “binding and loosing,” or in Matt 12:29 as in “binding the strong man” when casting a demon out of someone.

Similar to the binding and loosing scriptures (Matt 16:19 and 18:18), in John 20:23, Yeshua is giving his disciples judicial authority to declare a person innocent or guilty (i.e. bound or loosed) of the charges made against him by someone else. This seems to go hand-in-hand with Yeshua giving his apostolic disciples the keys of the kingdom (Matt 16:19) as his spiritual authorities and representatives on earth to make decisions with regard to legal scriptural matters and to render legal decision in church matters. Moreover, Yeshua also gave his disciples authority and power over demonic forces and Elohim’s enemies (Luke 9:1; 10:19), including over sickness and disease (Mark 16:17–18). 

Loose as used in the Matt 16:19 and Matt 18:18 is the Greek word deo meaning “to bind tie, fasten, to bind, fasten with chains, to throw into chains, being bound by Satan or his demons, put under obligation of the law, to be bound to one, a wife, a husband, to forbid, prohibit, declare to be illicit.” The counterpart to binding is loosing is the Greek word luo meaning “to loose any person (or thing) tied or fastened, to loose one bound (i.e. to unbind, release from bonds, set free), to loosen, undo, dissolve, anything bound, tied, or compacted together.”

The concept of binding and loosing was also a first century Jewish colloquial expressions relating to correctly or incorrectly interpreting the Torah. If the Jewish legal scholars believed that a person was incorrectly interpreting the meaning of a Torah law or one of the traditions of the elders, they accused him of breaking or loosening (luo) the law or making it less binding or less strict (deo). This was the case when Yeshua picked some grain to eat on the Sabbath in John 5:18. The NKJV and most English translations of this verse incorrectly state that “he broke the Sabbath.” This is a misleading, faulty and unfortunate translation of the Greek word luo. It is unthinkable and unscriptural to think that the perfect and sinless Yeshua actually sinned by violating the fourth commandment. In reality, he loosened the Jewish extra-biblical legal restrictions that forbad anyone from picking a handful of grain to eat on the Sabbath—something that the Torah doesn’t consider to be work (as opposed to harvesting a whole field of grain), and thus doesn’t forbid. Luo in this sense may possibly be read into Matt 5:19, John 7:23, and 10:35 as well. 

 

The Supreme Importance and Significance of Blood

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Leviticus 7:26, Not eat any blood.YHVH revealed in the Torah that the life of flesh is in the blood (Lev 17:11). Therefore, the blood symbolizes the whole life of the living being. This is why the blood being poured upon the altar made atonement for the souls of men (Lev 17:11–12), since it represented and pointed to the shedding of Yeshua’s blood when he sacrificed his life on the cross in atoning for men’s sins. Respecting the blood is necessary not only because it symbolizes the sanctity of the life of man who was made in the Creator’s image (Gen 1:26 cp. 9:6), but more importantly, because of the blood of Elohim’s Son that was shed for man’s redemption (Lev 17:11). For one to eat the blood showed disdain for what the blood typifies. In times past, this was so important to YHVH that a violation of this prohibition resulted in banishment from the nation of Israel.

The blood was to be reserved for the sacrificial service, where it was used symbolically to represent Yeshua’s shedding his blood on the cross. The blood of a lamb was put on the door posts to protect men from YHVH’s judgment against sin (Exod 12:7, 13). Moses sprinkled the blood of oxen on the people symbolizing their coming into covenantal relationship with YHVH (Exod 24:5–8). Additionally, the blood of sacrificed animals was sprinkled throughout the tabernacle, on Aaron and his sons, and all around the altar to sanctify it. All these acts and uses of the blood were illustrative of the unrestricted cleansing power of the blood of Yeshua (Rev 1:5; 7:14; 12:11; 1 Pet 1:2, 19; Heb 9:12; 10:19–22; 12:24; 1 John 1:7; Matt 26:28), which is why YHVH expected his people to treat the blood with a reverence. Those who didn’t evidenced a heart of indifference for the set-apart or kadosh things of Elohim—an intolerable offence in the Creator’s eyes.

On the dark and satanic side, the blood of humans and animals is profaned through demonic rituals involving drinking it and even cannibalism. This is an abominable perversion of holy communion and was an aspect of ancient heathen religions (Ps 16:4; Ezek 39:17, 19 cp. Num 13:32), and is a practice in which the end time antichrist heathens of the Babylonian whore system will engage (Rev 17:6; 18:13, 24).

 

The Torah Origins of the Communion Ritual and the Priesthood of All Believers

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Leviticus 7:6, Every male…may eat it. 

Why were the priests allowed to eat some of the offerings? What’s this all about? Let’s answer this question with a question. Why do believers in Yeshua eat the communion elements, and what do they represent? Is there a connection between the Levitical priests eating of the sacrifice and the saints eating the communion elements? Now let’s explore this idea. 

In Leviticus 6:26 and 29, only the male priests were allowed to eat of the sin offering. Likewise, YHVH commanded the male priests to eat the baked unleavened bread of the minchah offering (Lev 6:16, 18). Yeshua himself not only continued this Levitical practice, but expanded and elevated it to a higher level at his last supper. 

When Yeshua initiated communion among his disciples, what in essence was he saying? Simply this. His disciples were all now his holy or set-apart priests. This is the origination of the concept of the priesthood of all believers, or the royal priesthood as Peter terms it (1 Pet 2:9), or a kingdom of priests John calls it who will rule with King Yeshua in his millennial kingdom (Rev 1:6; 5:10; 20:6). 

It was YHVH’s desire that the children of Israel would become such a priesthood even before he called the Levites to be his set-apart priests (Exod 19:6). However, they failed in this mission when they chose to worship the golden calf instead of YHVH (Exod 32). At that time, YHVH chose the faithful Levites to be his priests instead of the firstborn male leaders from all the tribes of Israel (Exod 32:26, 29; Num 3:11–13, 44). 

Moreover, Isaiah prophesied about the priesthood of all believers—a priesthood that would extend beyond the confines of the Aaronic priesthood (Isa 66:21 cp. Dan 7:18). This higher level priesthood would extend beyond the patriarchal male leaders, who were the original priests in Israel (Exod 19:22, 24), to include all the Israelites, both male and female (Exod 19:6), as well as Gentiles who have been grafted into Israel through Yeshua the Messiah (Gal 3:28–29; Eph 2:11–19; Rom 11:11–32), which Paul refers to as the Israel of Elohim (Gal 6:16).

Being a kingdom of priests who will teach the inhabitants of planet earth the ways of Elohim is the role and destiny of all the modern day saints of Elohim who have been washed of their sins (i.e. Torahlessness, 1 John 3:4) in the blood of Yeshua (Rev 1:6), for they will reign with Yeshua on this earth (Rev 5:10) for a thousand years as Elohim’s resurrected and glorified adopted sons and daughters (Rev 20:6; John 1:12 cp. Rom 8:14–15, 23; 9:4; 2 Cor 6:18; Gal 4:5–6; Eph 1:5; 1 Jhn 3:1–2; Rev 21:7). 

So saints of the YHVH Elohim, encourage yourself with these immutable promises from the Word of Elohim! Are you presently preparing yourselves now for auspicious and lofty role?