Archive for April, 2013

Isaiah 8:14-16 The Rock

Posted in Gospel, Isaiah with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 27, 2013 by paulthepoke

Isaiah 8:14 “Then He shall become a sanctuary; but to both the houses of Israel, a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over, and a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

In Romans 9, the Apostle Paul is quoting from Isaiah 8:14 in the initial half of the verse. Then Isaiah 28:16 is quoted in the back half of the verse. Romans 9 tells us who this “rock” or “stone” is. It is Jesus. Paul connects the dots of the two verses.

Romans 9:33 just as it is written, “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”

He is sacred and holy like a sanctuary. The phrase “a stone to strike” was prophetic when written by Isaiah. The grammar of the phrase in Hebrew refers to the stone being struck a fatal blow.  He is an obstacle to the Jewish people.  Jews by and large do not believe He is their Messiah. They remain hostile to His name.

The Hebrew word for “snare” is pach. According to Strong’s Concordance, it literally is a bird trap. Figuratively, it can mean an agent of calamity. He is the bait for the destructive trap to the people of Jerusalem.

Isaiah 8:15 Many will stumble over them, then they will fall and be broken; they will even be snared and caught.” 

Verse 15 restates the outcome of the Jewish people. Jesus will be an obstacle. Great numbers will trip over “the rock”. They will be crippled and crushed, shattered into pieces.

Isaiah 28:16 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed.

The “stone” is tested and tried. The cornerstone is described as yaqar in the Hebrew. Yaqar can mean: valuable, prized, weighty, precious, rare, splendid, costly, or glorious. The syntax in the original Hebrew language states the “rock” was firmly, intentionally, and intensively placed. We know today, He was sent and set by the Father. The condition is the same whether it is the New Testament or the Old Testament. Believe in “The Rock”. 

Isaiah 8:16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. 

This is an official, sealed, and legal document as far as God is concerned. It was completed once in the past and the results are binding today and forever more.

“It is finished,” Jesus (John 19:30).

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Isaiah 8:11-13 What is “The Fear of the Lord”

Posted in Isaiah with tags , , , on April 20, 2013 by paulthepoke

Isaiah 8:11-13 For thus the LORD spoke to me with mighty power and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying, “You are not to say, ‘ It is a conspiracy!’ In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy, and you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it. “It is the LORD of hosts whom you should regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, and He shall be your dread…”

God is speaking to Isaiah with strength and force, as if He was grabbing him by the hand and desperately seeking Isaiah’s attention. Pay attention! The message is simple. Do not act like your fellow countrymen. Avoid the herd mentality and do not buckle to peer pressure. You are personally responsible for your actions, thoughts, and comments.

There are two Hebrew words that are translated as “fear”. According to Strong’s
Concordance, one is yare’. It can be translated: to fear, be afraid, to stand in awe of, be awed, reverence, honor, respect.

The second word translated as “fear” is mowra’. It can be translated: reverence, terror, awe-inspiring spectacle or deed.

The Hebrew word for “dread” is ‘arats. It can be translated: to regard or treat with awe, regard or treat as awful, terrify.

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

In this verse, the Hebrew word for “fear” is yir’ah. It can be translated: fear, terror, fearing, awesome or terrifying thing (object causing fear), fear (of God), respect, reverence, piety, revered.

The term yara’ (noted in Proverbs 1:7 and Isaiah 8:12) is the common word for fear in the Old Testament and has a basic three-fold range of meanings: (1) “dread; terror” (Deuteronomy 1:29, Jonah 1:10), (2) “to stand in awe” (I kings 3:28), (3) “to revere; to respect” (Leviticus 19:3). With the Lord as the object, it captures the polar opposites of shrinking back in fear and drawing close in awe and adoration (NET Bible notes).

Jehovah is holy. His proper name is used in Isaiah passage. Jehovah means “the existing One”. The grammar of the verse indicates God is the cause and He is the One who makes things happen. He sets apart, devotes, and consecrates. He is the agent of cause. Jehovah’s ways are different than man’s way. Focus on God and not the herd mentality or wisdom of the world.

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Isaiah 8:5-10 Raging River Rapids

Posted in Isaiah with tags , , , , , , , , , on April 13, 2013 by paulthepoke

Isaiah 8:5-6 Again the LORD spoke to me further, saying, “Inasmuch as these people have rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoice in Rezin and the son of Remaliah”;

Shialoah is synonymous with the pool of Siloam as noted in the New Testament. In Isaiah’s day, Shialoah was known as a healing spring in Jerusalem (Ryrie Study notes). This is likely the same place where Jesus told the blind man to go wash his eyes. John 9:6-7 When He had said this, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to his eyes, and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went away and washed, and came back seeing.

Rezin is the king of Aram. The head of Aram is Damascus. The son of Remaliah is Pekah. He is the king of Israel or the northern kingdom (Isaiah 7:1, 8).

The people of Judah, the southern kingdom, rejected the healing waters of God and chose the turbulent, flooding waters of the Israel and its treaty with Assyria.

Isaiah 8:7-8 “Now therefore, behold, the Lord is about to bring on them the strong and abundant waters of the Euphrates, even the king of Assyria and all his glory; and it will rise up over all its channels and go over all its banks. Then it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass through, it will reach even to the neck; and the spread of its wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel”.

The raging waters of the Euphrates are used in idiomatic language. These verses were fulfilled historically in 732 BC when Tiglath-Pileser III tore through Damascus and Samaria. In 701 BC, Sennacherib invaded Judah.  Jerusalem escaped the 701 BC invasion. The area from north to south was pummeled in a 30-35 year period (Ryrie Study Notes).

Isaiah 8:9-10 “Be broken, O peoples, and be shattered; and give ear, all remote places of the earth. Gird yourselves, yet be shattered; gird yourselves, yet be shattered. Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted; state a proposal, but it will not stand, for God is with us.”

God gives a shout out to the nations of the world. Suck it up and bring it! Give me your best shot! It is not going to matter. Ultimately, Jesus is coming and He will be in charge.

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The Resurrection, An Enemy’s Perspective Part 2

Posted in Gospel with tags , , , , , , , , , , on April 6, 2013 by paulthepoke

Matthew 28:11-15 Now while they were on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, and said, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’ “And if this should come to the governor’s ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble.” And they took the money and did as they had been instructed; and this story was widely spread among the Jews, and is to this day.

Note the response of the priests and Pharisees. They did not try to deny or refute the claims of the soldiers. The Jews did not try to sway or change the story. The soldiers were believable. I think I would have some serious conviction if I had seen what the soldiers saw. The soldiers knew Christ’s body was missing. They had been literally shaken to their core by an earthquake. And they saw a bright, white being that was ridiculously strong. They knew better than to try and mess with it.

The Pharisee response, give the Roman guards lots of money. The soldiers are paid to lie. They could not have the truth out in the open.

Question, how many grave robbers would it have taken to pull off the job of stealing a body? There would need to be forces to take out the Roman guards. There would need to be several men to remove the sealed stone. Do you think all skilled Roman soldiers would have fallen asleep on the job knowing the consequences? Say they were asleep. Do you think the guard would have awakened with all the racket of somebody trying to steal a body?

The Jews said they would cover for the soldiers in regards to their superiors. The Jews knew the soldiers would pay a hefty price for failure when it came to their superiors, their lives. The Jewish leaders were willing to step in on behalf of the soldiers and deal with Roman leadership to quiet this talk of resurrection. Both parties just wanted “The Resurrection” to go away.

Here are some things the Jewish leaders did not do. One, they did not produce a body. Two, they did not form a search committee and go looking for Jesus. If His followers took the body, it should have been easy to find. Three, they fought the early church and the apostles at every opportunity.

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