Dear friends,
As announced, this Sunday we will have the Korean-English Joint Communion Service at 11 AM, and the Bible text is Isaiah 53. First, I will talk about the archaeological discovery related to the Book of Isaiah. This is incredibly important.
In fact, until 1946, when Bedouin shepherds discovered in the Dead Sea Caves in Israel jars containing the entire book of Isaiah, causing a huge shock in the academic world, many liberal scholars questioned the authenticity of the prophecies in the Book of Isaiah. Before this discovery, the oldest manuscript of the Old Testament was the Masoretic Text, compiled in the 7th century AD. When the dating of these scrolls was determined by carbon dating, some of them were found to have been written in 356 BC, making them over 1,000 years older than the oldest existing manuscripts. Yes, they have shut the mouths of liberal scholars who have insisted that the Old Testament records, especially the prophecies of Isaiah, were written later by someone other than the prophet himself. One of the places you must visit when you go to Jerusalem is the Israel Museum, and the centerpiece of that museum is the Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah. It is displayed in the Shrine of the Book.
Isaiah 53 troubled Jews because of its prophecy about the suffering servant of YHWH. So, Jews insist that the servant of YHWH mentioned here refers not to an individual but to the Jewish people. However, in their hearts, they have a deep sense of guilt that says, “You, liar!.”
This morning, I would like to meditate on the words of Isaiah 53 together. I quote from the Revised Standard Version.
53:1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
53:2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
53:3 He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He laid him in charge.
53:7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is dumb, so he did not open his mouth.53:8 From oppression and judgment he was taken away; and who among his generation will say, “He was cut off from the land of the living, for the transgression of my people, who was stricken?”
53:9 His grave was with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
53:10 But it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when you make his soul an offering for sin, he will see his offspring, he will prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
53:11 He will see the travail of his soul and be satisfied. By his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and will forgive their iniquity. He will bear the burden
53:12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the nobles, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.