Rabbi Schneider - Isaiah Reveals the Messiah's Identity

TOPICS: Isaiah and Messianic Prophecy Season 1, Messianic Prophecy

As scholars began to study the book of Isaiah looking for the messianic prophecies, what they found were four very specific what we're calling songs from Isaiah's book that talk about the ministry of the Messiah. Now, in order to be able to see that it's Jesus that Isaiah is talking about, we need divine revelation. This is why Jesus, as I've been explaining, in Luke 24 had to open their minds of the apostles so that they could understand how the prophets wrote about Him. Until Jesus opened their minds to understand that the Scriptures were all about Him, until they had revelation of the fact that all the Scriptures pointed to Him, they didn't see the messianic prophecy. But once Jesus opened their minds, everything dawned on them. They saw how the prophets prophesied beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, the birth, death, resurrection of King Jesus Himself.

With that being said, I want to just read once again for you from the book of Luke 24:25-27, and then the 45th and the 46 verse to set the stage for these four servant songs in the book of Isaiah. "Jesus said to them", speaking to His disciples, the apostles, "'O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to then enter into His glory?' Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures. Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures and He said to them, 'Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day.'"

These four servant songs that I'm going to show you reveal to us the ministry, death, suffering, and then resurrection and glorification of King Jesus Himself. We're going to go, firstly, today to servant song number one, Isaiah 42:1-9. And by the way, if you google "Isaiah servant song", you'll be able to see all this online. This is not a term that I invented, this has been around for hundreds of years. Clear messianic portions in the written Word of God from the book of Isaiah. Servant song one, here we go. Isaiah says, "Behold", he's giving forth the Word. The Lord is speaking through him, "Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold". Remember these are called the servant songs because Jesus is the servant of the Lord. Remember Jesus said, "I have not come to do My own will, but I've come to do the will," Yeshua said, "of Him who sent Me". He said, "The Son of Man has not come to be served, but to serve". Jesus said, "He that is greatest among you, let him be the servant of all".

So once again, the Lord speaking through Isaiah, He says this. "Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold. My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him. He will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry out or raise His voice, nor make His voice heard in the street. A bruised reed, He will not break. And a dimly burning wick, He will not extinguish". Let's just focus on one verse at a time because I think if I just read straight through it, we'll miss some of it. Let's go from the beginning. The Lord is saying here that He has put His Spirit. "I have put My Spirit upon Him". Remember Jesus went into the synagogue and He said, "The Lord has put His Spirit upon Me. The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me". Jesus said, and He began to talk about His ministry to bring healing, to bring restoration, to set the captives free, to bring deliverance to the captives.

So Jesus Himself declares from the book of Isaiah that He was the one that Isaiah was prophesying about. We see that same thing here, "His servant has the Spirit of the Father on Him". The Lord says here, "I will put My Spirit upon Him. He will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry out or raise His voice, or make His voice heard in the street. A bruised reed, He will not break. And a dimly burning wick, He will not extinguish". This speaks of the gentle nature of Jesus. That Yeshua is so sensitive to people, He's not overbearing. He's not a person that just rashly just plows over everybody. He's so sensitive, He doesn't damage the vulnerable ones. He didn't come to exert Himself that way. He continues on, "He will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not be disheartened or crushed until He has established justice in the earth". Jesus will succeed. He ends the gospel, He said, "All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Me". And He said, "I will build My church and the gates of hell will not prevail against Him".

So Isaiah says this servant, this Messiah, this one whom the Lord has put His Spirit upon, He will succeed. He will not stop until He has established justice in the earth. Sometimes we look around and we ask ourselves, "Will there ever be justice in the earth"? There will be justice on the earth because God who is just is alive and He's not going to tolerate wickedness forever. The day's going to come when He's going to put His foot down, He's going to exert His authority. King Jesus, Messiah Himself is going to return from heaven with the armies of heaven behind Him, and He's going to break up the powers of darkness and exert His reign upon the world. This is called the messianic age. And He says, "'And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.' Thus says the God, the Lord. Who created the heavens and stretched them out. Who spread out the earth and the offspring. Who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it. 'I Am Yahweh, I Am the Lord. I have called You in righteousness. I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You, and I will appoint You as a covenant to the people'", get this now, "'as a light to the nations'".

This is really important here because Messiah has not just come for the Jewish people alone, but the Messiah is to be God's channel of blessing, to be God's light to all the world. Paul raises the question, "Is God the God of the Jews only"? No, God's the God of the whole world. God is the God of Gentiles and Jews. But it's for the Jewish people, and specifically through the Messiah, that the grace of God has come to the world. So in this prophetic song, in this servant song that we're looking at, the Lord is speaking through Isaiah and He says that the Messiah will be ... Listen now, a light, not just to Israel... But listen, a light to the nations, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon.

And by the way, I literally saw in Uganda, God opened the eyes of a woman that had been totally blind for 15 years. She couldn't see me, she couldn't see the crowd. She couldn't see anything. And I stunningly saw God open this blind woman's eyes, so that now she perfectly sees and is a happy healthy woman. No longer people taking her to sit in front of a building to beg, now she's walking around and can take care of herself. Isn't that awesome? This is what the God of creation does for those of us that come to Him in Messiah Jesus. But it's not just obviously the physical opening the eyes that the Lord is talking about here. He's talking, first of all, about giving us spiritual eyes to be able to see.

The text continues here in servant song number one of the book of Isaiah. "To open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon, and those who dwell in darkness from the prison". Let me ask some of you, can some of you testify that when Jesus came to you, you were in a dungeon? You were in a dark place? I know I was. I was trapped in fear, in insecurity, in deception. I mean, I was trapped in the bondage of the enemy 40 years ago in 1978 when Jesus came to me and He set me free. I have a long way to go like many of you to enter into perfect wholeness and perfect freedom, but I am so much farther into the light than I ever was before I knew Jesus. This is what He does. He really does. And faith in Jesus, beloved, really works.

Let's continue on here. "To bring out prisoners from the dungeon, and those who dwell in darkness from the prison. I Am Yahweh, that is My name. I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to graven images. Behold, the former things have come to pass, now I declare new things". Remember Jesus when He instituted the Lord's supper, communion at the Passover meal, He lifted up the juice or the wine and He said, "This is the blood of the covenant". What covenant was He talking about? He was talking about listen, the new covenant. This is the new covenant, "In My blood", Jesus said. God has brought forth a new thing through Messiah Jesus. So this servant song that we're in talks about the Messiah's coming, and that when Messiah comes, He's going to do, Church, listen now, a brand new thing. In fact, every day is new in Messiah, because every day He's doing something new in our lives. It's continual newness of life.

This is what abundant life is. It's that we have received God's Spirit, and His Spirit that's within us is continually, beloved ones, emanating up into us and from us, listen now, newness of life. God is always new. When you and I were young, everything was so fascinating. Remember when we began to experience nature for the first time and when we became adolescents, everything was so new. The world was so fascinating. When we were 12 and 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 years old, every summer was like an endless summer because we were maturing so quickly and every experience was a new phenomenon to us. Everything was so alive. But when people start to get older, they begin to develop an attitude like, "Been there, done that". And everything gets old. But life in Messiah Jesus, there's always something new. God is always doing more.

I know that life is a journey and that we're in a battlefield. I mean, I don't know about you, but for me, my life is a battle every single day. Because you know what? I live in a battle zone. In fact, all of us live in a battle zone. Paul said we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and forces of spiritual darkness. I don't understand these people that seem like they're happy all the time, bubbly happy, smiley all the time. For me, I'm in the middle of a war and I've got to keep on pressing in and pressing on, oftentimes just putting one foot in front of the other forging ahead in faithfulness. But you know what? Patiently God is always working in me and through me, something new, something more. He's doing that for all of His kids that are faithful to Him to just keep on going. So God has done a new thing in Messiah Jesus. And those of us that have received Messiah Jesus, God is always doing a new thing in our life. Then the Lord concludes here.

He says once again, "Now I declare a new thing. Before they spring forth," The Lord says, "I will proclaim them to you". And He's just speaking once here, again about the ministry of Messiah, of Messiah's prophetic ministry. Jesus prophesied many things. He spoke to the Jewish people and He said to them, "You see the temple". He said, "I tell you not one stone is going to be left standing upon another because you did not recognize the time of your visitation". So Messiah Himself declares what's going to happen before it happens. We just looked at servant song number one in the book of Isaiah 42:1-9. Let's move ahead now to servant song number two in Isaiah. We're going to Isaiah chapter 49:1-13, hear the Word of God. "Listen to Me, O islands, and pay attention, you peoples from afar".

Now, it's interesting once again, God is calling not just to the Jewish people here, but He's calling to people that live far away. He's calling to the Gentiles, because Messiah is the Messiah of all peoples. "Listen to Me, O islands. And pay attention, you peoples from afar. The Lord called Me from the womb. From the body of My mother, He named Me. He has made My mouth like a sharp sword. In the shadow of His hand, He has concealed Me. And He has also made Me a select arrow, He has hidden Me in His quiver. He said to Me, 'You are My Servant, Israel.'" And remember, Jesus is Israel's divine head. Jesus is the seed of Israel through which God's blessing comes to the entire world. I talk about that in some of the previous broadcast in this series. "He said to Me, 'You are My Servant, Israel, in whom I will show My glory.' But I said, 'I have toiled in vain, I have spent My strength for nothing in vanity. Yet surely, the justice due to Me is with the Lord, and My reward is with My God.'"

Now, this speaks of when Yeshua was on the cross and He lost all His consciousness of the Father. He said, "Father, why have You forsaken Me"? Just for a second, He felt separated from God. But Yeshua affirmed, "But I know You are My God, and that You will reward Me". Verse 5. "And now says the Lord who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel might be gathered to Him. For I Am honored in the sight of the Lord, and My God is My strength. He says, 'It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel? I will also make You'" Listen once again, "'a light of the nations, so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.'"

Here's the ministry of the Messiah, salvation for the whole world. "Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One, to the despised One, to the One abhorred by the nation, to the Servant of rulers, 'Kings will see and arise.'" He's speaking of Jesus. Jesus was the rejected one, He was the despised one. But God is speaking over His servant, Jesus, now that was abhorred by the nation of Israel. God is saying to Him, "'Kings will see and arise, Princes will also bow down, because of the Lord who is faithful. The Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.' Thus says the Lord, 'In a favorable time, I answered You. And on a day of salvation, I have helped You. And I will keep You and give You for a covenant of the people, to restore the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritages.'" All the promises of God are yes and amen in Jesus.

"Saying to those who are bound, 'Go forth.' To those who are in darkness, 'Show yourselves.' Along the roads, they will feed. And their pasture will be on bare heights. They will not hunger or thirst, nor will the scorching heat or sun strike them down. For He who has compassion on them will lead them, and will guide them to springs of water. 'And make all My mountains a road, and My highways will be raised up.' Behold, these will come from afar. And lo, these will come from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Sinim. Shout for joy, O heavens. And rejoice, O earth. Break forth into joyful shouting, O mountains, for the Lord has comforted His people and will have compassion on His afflicted ones".

These are all, Church, messianic prophecies that have been fulfilled in Messiah Jesus. I want you to know the Word of God is deeply rooted all the way back to its very beginning. In fact, the first chapter in the New Testament, Matthew chapter 1 begins by tracing Jesus's genealogy all the way back to Abraham from the book of Genesis. As you begin to understand more and more how the Old and New testaments connect like a hand in a glove, your faith is going to be strengthened and you're going to be very, very blessed. This is Rabbi Schneider saying to you today, Shalom.