Isaiah 3:1–5, 12, YHVH…takes away…children…insolent…women rule over them. When YHVH’s judgment comes on a sinful nation, godly leadership and his protection is removed from that nation leaving a moral and spiritual vacuum. When the fear of Elohim is gone, so goes wisdom. With the absence of the wise, foolish people rise up and take over a nation.
Into this godless vacuum will move ungodly, silly and rebellious youth and feminized male leaders and masculinized female leaders—spiritual Ahabs and Jezebels! Children who are insolent against their parents and elders are proof of the spiritual declension of a nation and YHVH’s hand being taken off that nation and his resulting judgment against it are the result. Isaiah clearly lays out this process in this passage. The cause and effect results were as true then with ancient Judah as they are today with modern America.
Since my youth (growing up in the 1960s and 70s), I have seen children go from acting respectfully to their parents and adults in general (“Yes sir,” “No Sir,” “Mr.” and Mrs.”) to total foul-mouthed disrespect and mocking scorn for older people. Correction and discipline of these rebellious brats has gone out the window, been tossed in the trash can of political correctness. When was the last time you saw a paddle in the school principal’s office? It was the norm in my day. Now such a school leader would be fired and convicted of “child abuse.” Moreover, gender roles, in many cases, have been reversed. The term “house husband” now has common currency. Many women have become masculine and many men have become feminized. As an example of this, names that have been traditionally reserved for the male gender or now popular for girls along with woman smoking cigars, sporting tatoos, men wearing hair buns, earrings, painting their toenails, and the list goes on. Now there’s even gender identity confusion and “gender reassignment” operations. Is it any wonder?
This process has been horrendously sad and deeply painful for those of us in the older generation to watch, but it is merely symptomatic of a nation that has turned its back on Elohim. We know what things used to be like when families still went to church, there was prayer in schools, patriotism was taught in our institutions of education, mothers raised their children at home, divorce was rare, godly masculinity was a virtue and the fear of Elohim and adherence to biblical values still, to one degree or another, was the norm societally.
This is much more than looking back and waxing eloquent for the good old days. It’s about mourning for a nation that has lost its moral and spiritual compass and has gone from a God-fearing nation to one that loathes to keep Elohim in its collective, societal conscious, and is too blind by its own pride and self-absorption to recognize that two plus two still equals four.
May YHVH Elohim help us to be children of his light in these times of gross darkness. Do not become weary in well-doing!
Based on this passage in Isaiah, can we see any spiritual parallels between Judah and America (and most other nations, for that matter)? Some might ask what a prophecy given by a Hebrew prophet to the Jewish nation some 2600 years ago has to do with us today? To answer that question we would pose several questions: Have YHVH’s standards of righteousness and law and order ever changed? Is sin still sin today as it was then? Is there a day coming when YHVH will hold humans accountable for their sinful action? Is there a heavenly judgment seat before which all must eventually appear? Is there a day coming at the end of the age when Elohim will pour out his wrath and man will be punished for his sins against his Creator? With these things in mind, let’s see if the sinful activities of humans have changed much in 2600 years since Isaiah’s time.
Isaiah 1:2,They have rebelled against me.What is the scriptural definition of rebellion? Rebellion against what? For the concept of rebellion to be relevant and applicable there has to be a standard or rule of law the violation of which constitutes rebellion. What is YHVH’s standard of righteousness by which he will judge nations and individuals? Has that standard ever changed? Make no mistake, YHVH’s standard of righteousness is his immutable Word, and by it he will judge all humans. There is no escaping this fact. (Read John 12:48 and Deuteronomy 18:19.)
Isaiah 1:3,The ox knows its owner.The “Beasts of the Field Explained.” Apostasy and spiritual degradation leads to one place: a complete loss of one’s spiritual identity. When one forgets one’s spiritual heritage and relationship with their Creator, they becomes, in a sense, like an animal, maybe even worse. (See 2 Pet 2:12 and Jude 1:10.)
As an interesting side note, Scripture prophesied that Israel would become animalistic in its apostate condition as it sought to imitate the heathen nations around it. As a result and in judgment, YHVH would allow Israel to be taken over and swallowed up by the same nations, which Scripture refers to by the Hebraism or Hebrew poetic metaphor “the beasts of the field.” In Deuteronomy 7:22, we see that this same Hebraism represent the nations of the earth from which Israel was to stay separate. (See also Jer 12:9; 27:6; Dan 7:3.) The children of Israel were scattered or exiled and became “meat” or prey for all the beasts of the field (Isa 56:9; Ezek 34:5; Hos 2:12). Scripture likens exiled Ephraim (the Northern Kingdom), who fell into idolatry and mixed with the beast (Gentile) nations, to beasts of the field themselves (Hos 2:16–19 cp. Acts 10:12). In the future, YHVH will make a covenant (a marriage betrothal agreement or ketubah) with Israel who had themselves become “beasts of the field” (Hos 2:18; see also Jer 31:31–33 cp. Rom 1:23,18–25).
Can you see America and the formerly Christian West in this? These nations were once a predominately Christian, but now have rejected and scorn their spiritual heritage. What has been the result of this spiritual and moral declension? What is the current state of Christianity in these formerly Western Christian nations? Can we not see how YHVH has been lifting his hand of blessing off of them, and how with their spiritual and moral decline they have been declining economically, goepolitically and culturally?
Isaiah 1:4,A sinful nation.The Word Goy Explained. The word nation is the Hebrew word goy (Strong’s H1471) meaning “gentile”or, in a spiritual sense, “heathen”This is one of a number of passages in Scripture where Israel is referred to as a gentile nation.
In the KJV, Goy is translated in the Tanakh as nation 374 times, as heathen 143 times, as Gentiles 30 times, and people 11 times. Whenever the word gentile is used in the KJV it is the word goy. According to Strong’s Concordance, the meaning of goy is “a foreign nation; hence a Gentile; also (fig.) a troop of animals, or a flight of locusts.”According to GeseniusHebrew-Chaldee Lexicon,the word goy means “a people, a confluence of men,” and “contextually in holy Scripture it is used to refer to the other nations besides Israel, the foes of Israel, and strangers to the true religion of Israel.”
There are times when this word refers specifically to Israel:
The descendants of Joseph in general (Gen 48:19)
The Southern Kingdom of Judah when it forsook Elohim and its covenant with him and became like the surrounding heathen nations (Isa 1:4)
The Northern Kingdom of Israel or Ephraim or Samaria (Isa 9:1)
Israel in general (Isa 26:2; 49:7; Ps 33:12; Gen 12:2; 35:11).
There are numerous other instances in Scripture where the words goy or goyim (plural) are applied to the descendants of Abraham. Scripture’s use of the term is unbiased and lacks any of the pejorative implications that have been applied to the term subsequently (e.g. Gen 17:4, 5, 6, 16; 18:18; 25:23; 46:3; Exod 19:6; 33:13; Deut 4:6, 7, 8, 34; Ezek 37:22).
As already noted, goy simply means “people group.” The Greek word ethnos (Strong’s G1484) as found in the Testimony of Yeshua is equivalent in meaning to the Hebrew word goy.
Isaiah 1:4,They have forsaken YHVH.As a society, the West has forsaken its biblical heritage, and has turned its backs on YHVH. Not long ago, a popular bumper sticker read, “God Bless America.” Many want YHVH’s blessing, but how can he bless us when we have become an irreligious, amoral, irreverent, rebellious and hedonistic people? He will not bless wickedness! That bumper sticker instead should read, “Bless God America!” or perhaps even humbly beg, “Please God, bless America.” It is only when we begin blessing him through worshipping him and obeying him that he can then bless us. We will then show him by our righteous actions that we are not forsaking him. The Torah and the Prophets sections of Scripture all reveal that YHVH’s were conditional upon Israel’s obedience to Elohim. Curses were the result of disobedience. This is stated no more clearly than in Deuteronomy 28.
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
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 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.
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.
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).
