THE FORBIDDEN CHAPTER: Message 9
By Solomon Ostrovsky
He shall see the fruit of the travail of his soul and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous; and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great, 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.At the beginning of this chapter the prophet speaks in the first person plural, as though he were speaking for ALL Israel, who have at last come to see their great mistake and confess their sin to God. “And when WE shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him… all we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way.” “WE, ALL OF US.” From verse 8 to verse 11 the prophet speaks in the third person singular, “and he made his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.” But the closing words of the passage above are the words of God Himself in the mouth of the prophet. The Holy One – blessed be His Name – speaking now in the first person singular, sets His seal on this vital chapter with His approbation of His servant, expressing His full satisfaction with His completed life-work and promising Him great authority, universal and endless power.- Isaiah 53:11-12
This hidden One, unmentioned by name in the whole of the first ten verses, receives His title from the Holy One, blessed be He; and that title is “the righteous one, My servant.” It is very important to emphasize that Scripture does not say, “My righteous servant,” but “the righteous one, my servant.” There have always been relatively righteous men in the world, though their number has never been very great, but here is the righteous One – unique and special One, and no other. The Hebrew word here TZADIK is used substantively – a noun, not an adjective – the tzadik (the only righteous One), who is My Servant. By His knowledge, i.e. the knowledge of God, which He – the Servant – imparts, and the knowledge of God, of which He – the Servant – is the object, He will justify the many.
And this He does in a radical and revolutionary way. He goes to the root of the problem. There is no human remedy for sin. Separation from God and death are the unavoidable consequences of sin. The Old Testament sacrifices were only a temporary and partial solution of this problem. Something more was necessary. The sacrifices were only a symbol of and a pointer to this “something more.” And now God declares that the true solution has indeed been found, that “the pleasure of the Lord will prosper” in the hand of this Servant, for He will take their iniquities and exchange them for His own righteousness.
In this chapter, which contains only twelve verses, the prophet refers again and again to “sin.” The concept “sin” is referred to in various terms and expressions – ‘sins’, ‘transgressions’, ‘iniquities’, at least, eight times. This is the great universal problem – SIN.
Also this chapter describes an anonymous and exceptional Person, whom sin never touched – “he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.” One Person, unique, righteous and pure, stands alone in this world full of sin and sickness. And He, the righteous One, bears the sins of many. The prophet goes on to say that God Himself finds full satisfaction in the sufferings of the Substitute and in the atoning death of this hidden One. God crowns Him with a diadem of greatness, with a crown of authority – and authority which spreads beyond the boundaries of Israel. “So shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths at him, for that, which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider…”
Thus we find in this chapter the solution to the sin problem. In the Biblical account of the creation of the world we read after each act of creation: “And God saw that it was good.” But sin sabotaged all creation and principally – man, the summit of creation. Since then the term “good” has become a relative term. But now in this central chapter of Divine revelation the TRULY GOOD appears. He is holy and righteous – not relatively, but absolutely, and He lays the foundation of a new creation. God promises to “divide him a portion with the great.” Who are these great ones, if the whole world has been affected by the sickness of sin, and all humanity “has come short of the glory of God”? These are the ones whom the Righteous One will justify. “And he shall divide the spoil with the strong.” These are they who in the course of the centuries have been courageous enough to identify themselves with this Righteous One, have gone against the general current of opinion – to the extent of going with Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.
And the reason for all this? The prophet gives a four-fold reason and in so doing sums up the whole chapter:
a. “He poured out his soul unto death.” The death sentence was indeed carried out by wicked hands, but He was well able to deliver Himself from those hands, if that had been in agreement with God’s purpose. But because of the Divine purpose, which His death was to achieve, the purpose to which He had dedicated Himself, He went to that death not out of obligation, but of His own free will. “HE POURED OUT his soul unto death.”
b. “He was numbered with the transgressors” – not just sinners, but “transgressors,” criminals. In the accomplishment of the great work of redemption He humbled Himself and voluntarily came down to a place which in the eyes of men was associated with transgressors.
c. “He bore the sin of many.” Who can bear even one sin of another person, not to speak of the sin of many? Only someone who is sinless. And the prophet underlines this by presenting this One – “HE” – as contrasted with the many. He, in whom there was no sin, bore the sin of many.
d. “And he made intercession for the transgressors.” He humbled Himself to the extent of being numbered in His death with the transgressors, but we are told that not only was He bruised on account of the sins of the transgressors, but that He acts before God as their Intercessor. He hates sin, but loves the sinner.
Of whom is the prophet speaking? Confronted by this question for 2600 years, Israel has found no answer.
Israel has vainly tried to avoid this question, to avert her eyes from the subject of this prophecy, passing by, as it were, on the other side. She has tried to get rid of the subject, but has not succeeded. And so she tried to dress herself in the garment of the suffering, Righteous One and to appropriate His sufferings to herself. But the garment does not fit, and the world sees the falsification of this and refuses such a solution, for although Israel has suffered through the centuries, she has not borne “the sin of many” and by her stripes no one HAS BEEN HEALED.
This is a mystery, which God reveals to those, who fear Him, to those who are of a humble heart. To many of the nation of Israel and to many more from among the nations of the world God has revealed this secret, and they found forgiveness of sins, true peace and a living contact with Him through the suffering of the Righteous One of this chapter. And we believe that after centuries of misinterpretation and of evasion as regards this central chapter of God’s revelation, the nation of Israel will also come to the point when they will lift their eyes to this Righteous One and will say, “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are HEALED.”
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