THE FORBIDDEN CHAPTER: Message 8
By Solomon Ostrovsky
And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the Lord to bruise him; he has put him to grief; when he makes himself an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.From the point of view of human logic the judgment and the death of the anonymous Sufferer, as described in the preceding verses, should have been the end of the matter. But, if there was no Divine intervention on His behalf at the time He was bearing the sin of the world, since His substitutionary death was an absolute necessity, Almighty God intervened immediately AFTER His death, and first of all in that which concerned the Victim’s burial.- Isaiah 53:9-10
According to the custom of those days, “The one who blasphemes God is to be stoned to death, hanged on a tree for the length of the same day, and at the end of the day be handed over for a shameful burial.” Because the One spoken of here is considered by the people as “despised and rejected of men, smitten of God and afflicted,” as One who deserves to be condemned to death with sinners, they doubtless would have given HIM the same shameful burial as these sinners. But in this instance it is prophesied that they will behave very differently from the norm, and if up to the very gates of death He was indeed in the company of sinners, in His burial He was given the honour reserved for the rich – “and with the rich in his death.” Instead of falsifying the words of Scripture, as some commentators have tried to do by changing the word “rich” (ashir) to “wicked” (reshayim), let us examine the one case in history which agrees completely with these prophetic words: “When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus’ disciple. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body, and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock; and he rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb, and departed” (Matthew 27:57-60).
This is the account of Matthew the evangelist in the book which bears his name; and Professor Delitzsch remarks on this: “We see an agreement at once between the gospel history and the prophetic words, which could only be the work of the God of both the prophecy and its fulfilment, inasmuch as no suspicion could possibly arise of there having been any human design of bringing the former into conformity with the latter.” And all this was because “he did no sin, neither was guilt found in his mouth.” There was no personal guilt in this Sufferer. His was a death of atonement – the righteous for the unrighteous. And with His death came to a close also the time of His humiliation and shame.
The prophet, as it were, draws aside the veil and allows us a glimpse into the mystery which surrounds this great event. “It pleased THE LORD to bruise him.” It seems that the Lord not only agreed to all that was done to this anonymous Person, but He even derived satisfaction from it, for that is the meaning of the word CHAFETZ. It expresses not only the idea of willingness, but a willingness coming from delight, joy and love. “I delight (the same word) to do Thy will” – says the Psalmist, meaning “joyfully”, “enthusiastically.” But it is not from the sufferings and death of this Unique One that God derives satisfaction, but from the RESULTS of that death, from the PURPOSE which His Divine will achieved.
If the subject of this prophecy “was bruised for our iniquities,” it was a holy God that “delighted to bruise him.” If “he carried our sorrows,” it was a God of love that “put him to grief.” The word ‘HECHLI’ – according to many commentators – is the Hiphil of the word CHALAH in the Syriac form and literally means “made him sick.” This suggests that God Himself gave His hand, as it were, to the company of wicked men, who mocked and tortured Him and dragged Him out to death. Innocent, sinless, righteous and pure, He suffers at the hand of men. Sad and amazing though it is, such a thing has yet occurred in history more than once. But that a pure and righteous One should suffer at the hands of a righteous and holy God of love – this is beyond human comprehension and demands an explanation.
The prophet gives us this explanation in the second part of the verse quoted above.
“When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand” – that is to say, His death is an atoning death, one dying as a substitute for many. “When thou shalt make his soul” … could, according to Gordon, be read as “HE shall make His soul an offering.” Either way, the meaning is this: if He offers Himself as a sin-offering for the sin of many, He will see seed, i.e., His death will be a source of new life, of a spiritual seed, free from the impurity and the corruption that caused this death. And this death is not the end of life, but the gateway to immortality and endless life. By death He conquered death and broke its power. AFTER death, says the prophet, He will “prolong his days.” “Who has believed our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?”
Sholom Asch in his book “The Nazarene” presents the story of the ‘Nazarene’s’ death and its sequel in the following way. Pan Viadomsky turns to his interlocutor and asks, “Did you not hear what happened afterwards in Jerusalem to the One you call “The Rabbi of Nazareth” – I mean – after he died?” “What happened to the Rabbi of Nazareth is no concern of mine” – I retorted. “Don’t you want to tell me about the rumour that went around among your friends? But tell me the truth, don’t hide anything.” “I have nothing to hide. In certain circles in Jerusalem it was whispered that the Rabbi from Nazareth had disappeared from his grave and had appeared alive to his disciples and told them what they should do henceforth. At first these rumours grew, and those who had believed in their Rabbi when he was still alive began to meet together and then founded a society, loudly proclaiming this story further and further abroad. They said that the Rabbi of Nazareth was indeed the Messiah and that he was now with God in Heaven, but would soon come down to earth to judge the living and to open up the Kingdom of Heaven. Those who believe this are nicknamed ‘Christians’.”
The interpretation of Isaiah 53 is found in the New Testament, even if the vast majority of Israel rejects this interpretation. More than 2600 years have passed since Isaiah wrote this prophecy and up to now no other interpretation has been found, at least, not a well-founded, satisfying one. And meanwhile, throughout the generations, innumerable millions from among the nations and a considerable number of the nation of Israel have found salvation and renewal of spirit through Jesus the Messiah. These millions join their voices to those of the prophet and of the evangelists. This is their message to the nation of Israel, renewing its national life in the land of Israel, “Return to the point where your path separated from the path of the Lord. Your rejection of Jesus Messiah brought about the Diaspora. Your acceptance of Him will bring about your redemption.”
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