The Isaiah 53 Controversy

I tend to avoid Biblical arguments when I present a positive case for my position, because I believe that arguments from Biblical interpretation have this nasty tendency toward anachronism. It is too easy to inject our understanding of history into our interpretation of prophecy, while the original audience did not possess the historical hindsight that we possess today.

However, I have been watching anti-missionary videos on YouTube. Isaiah 53 is the most common subject that they discuss. I have noticed two trends among them:

1. They almost always attribute the role of the suffering servant to national Israel.
2. They all seem to use the same arguments.

This makes me wonder how well they know Isaiah. Have they done any actual research into the subject, or are they just repeating the same arguments from the anti-missionary playbook? I fear it is the latter.

Of all the books in the Tanakh, I think Isaiah deserves the award for "most negative portrayal of national Israel." More about this when I start reading passages from the relevant sections. The section of Isaiah that supplies the context to Isaiah 53 is what scholars call "Deutero-Isaiah" which comprises Isaiah 40-55. The style and topics change so dramatically when we hit Isaiah 40, that skeptical scholars believe (wrongly) that this section was written by a different author.

Isaiah 40-55 deals with God's relationship to Israel. Themes include:

1. There is no God but Yahweh
2. God is sovereign over all creation
3. [Ancient] Israel was chosen as God's servant, but has become evil
4. God will chastise [Ancient] Israel, but then restore the nation
5. The righteous remnant should not lose hope
6. God's righteous servant will restore Israel

And it's this last point that the anti-missionaries cannot get right. National Israel, as portrayed in the book of Isaiah, is in no position to suffer innocently for the sins of anyone else.

Ancient Israel had a difficult history. The book of Judges portrays Israel as a nation in a downward spiral where Israel falls into idolatry and apostasy. A judge comes and restores Israel, which is restored somewhat, and the cycle begins anew. Another apostasy, another judge. Eventually, the people of Israel anoint Saul as king. He does fine for a while, then turns evil. David then becomes king, but still arranges for the murder of Uriah the Hittite. Solomon starts out well, but later also falls into apostasy and idolatry.

The kingdom is then divided into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. Northern Israel falls into immediate apostasy with Jeroboam and never recovers. All of Israel's kings are apostate, and Israel is wiped out by Assyria in 722 BCE. The Southern kingdom of Judah has 20 kings: 8 are righteous and 12 are apostate. Judah's widespread idolatry was catching up with Judah, and this is where Isaiah comes in. Northern Israel is already dead. Judah faces the very real possibility of exile. Isaiah's job is to warn the people of Judah to return to God and to abandon idolatry. God loves his people and has great plans for them, even though they are a wicked bunch.

Here are some highlights from Deutero-Isaiah. I do recommend reading the whole section in its entirety, though.

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the LORD's hand
double for all her sins.
(Isaiah 40:1-2)

This is an important theme throughout this section. Israel has sinned severely, and needs to be reminded that even though that God loves Israel, even though he punishes the nation.

But you, Israel, my servant,
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
the offspring of Abraham, my friend;
you whom I took from the ends of the earth,
and called from its farthest corners,
saying to you, “You are my servant,
I have chosen you and not cast you off”;
(Isaiah 41:8-9 ESV)

This is the first mention of national Israel as God's servant. Notice that Jacob, Israel, and the offspring of Abraham are three ways of describing national Israel. The "you" here in Hebrew is singular in both verses.

Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my Spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
a bruised reed he will not break,
and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
He will not grow faint or be discouraged
until he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his law.
Thus says God, the LORD,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people on it
and spirit to those who walk in it:
“I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness;
I will take you by the hand and keep you;
I will give you as a covenant for the people,
a light for the nations,
to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.
(Isaiah 42:1-7 ESV)

The servant here is not described as Israel. Instead, the servant is called righteous, as one who will bring justice to all the nations. This servant will also bring sight to the blind. This is important because God then describes Israel as blind and deaf.

Hear, you deaf,
and look, you blind, that you may see!
Who is blind but my servant,
or deaf as my messenger whom I send?
Who is blind as my dedicated one,
or blind as the servant of the LORD?
He sees many things, but does not observe them;
his ears are open, but he does not hear.
The LORD was pleased, for his righteousness' sake,
to magnify his law and make it glorious.
But this is a people plundered and looted;
they are all of them trapped in holes
and hidden in prisons;
they have become plunder with none to rescue,
spoil with none to say, “Restore!”
Who among you will give ear to this,
will attend and listen for the time to come?
Who gave up Jacob to the looter,
and Israel to the plunderers?
Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned,
in whose ways they would not walk,
and whose law they would not obey?
(Isaiah 42:18-24 ESV)

Here, Israel is portrayed as both God's servant and as blind and deaf. Israel is plundered and looted because Israel had sinned against God. Israel would not walk in God's ways and would not obey God's law. This continues one of the main themes of this section of Isaiah. God is good. Ancient Israel is evil.

“Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob;
but you have been weary of me, O Israel!
You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings,
or honored me with your sacrifices.
I have not burdened you with offerings,
or wearied you with frankincense.
You have not bought me sweet cane with money,
or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.
But you have burdened me with your sins;
you have wearied me with your iniquities.
“I, I am he
who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,
and I will not remember your sins.
Put me in remembrance; let us argue together;
set forth your case, that you may be proved right.
Your first father sinned,
and your mediators transgressed against me.
Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary,
and deliver Jacob to utter destruction
and Israel to reviling.
(Isaiah 43:22-28 ESV)

Here, God chastises Israel again for disobedience and sins. Does it look like Israel is suffering innocently for the sins of anyone else?

Remember these things, O Jacob,
and Israel, for you are my servant;
I formed you; you are my servant;
O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.
I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud
and your sins like mist;
return to me, for I have redeemed you.
(Isaiah 44:21-22 ESV)

God is calling sinful Israel to return to him. God will be glorified in Israel, and Israel is still God's glory, but not because of any righteousness or merit on Israel's part. This also may have an application to modern Zionism. If Israel today is the same nation as ancient Israel, then God has given the nation the right to the land, independently of what Israel does with it. Isaiah chastises Israel as an evil nation, but still says that Israel is the apple of God's eye and the nation in which God is glorified. Nothing that Israel can do will ever cause God to abandon Israel. Even if Israel were to become the most evil nation in the history of the world, God will still bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel.

Hear this, O house of Jacob,
who are called by the name of Israel,
and who came from the waters of Judah,
who swear by the name of the LORD
and confess the God of Israel,
but not in truth or right.
(Isaiah 48:1 ESV)

Israel confesses to know God, even though the nation is unrighteous.

Because I know that you are obstinate,
and your neck is an iron sinew
and your forehead brass,
I declared them to you from of old,
before they came to pass I announced them to you,
lest you should say, ‘My idol did them,
my carved image and my metal image commanded them.’
“You have heard; now see all this;
and will you not declare it?
From this time forth I announce to you new things,
hidden things that you have not known.
They are created now, not long ago;
before today you have never heard of them,
lest you should say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’
You have never heard, you have never known,
from of old your ear has not been opened.
For I knew that you would surely deal treacherously,
and that from before birth you were called a rebel.
(Isaiah 48:4-8 ESV)

God, still speaking to Israel, calls the nation obstinate and stubborn, as well as idolatrous. More importantly, God says that he does declare new things that the people have not heard. Therefore, let this put to rest any idea that God stopped delivering new revelation at Sinai. And no, Deuteronomy 12:32 is not a counter-example. In Deuteronomy, Moses is only claiming that the Pentateuch, the constitution of Israel, cannot be altered. Nor is Deuteronomy 29:29 a counterexample. Here, Moses is warning against the pagan mysticism that flourished in the ancient world. However, since the secret things belong to God, he still has the prerogative if he wanted to reveal additional information at a future date.

There is no indication that God will stop revealing new information, such as theological information, to Israel. Indeed, Isaiah shows that God does continue to reveal new information even after the death of Moses.

And he said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”
But I said, “I have labored in vain;
I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my right is with the LORD,
and my recompense with my God.”
And now the LORD says,
he who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him;
and that Israel might be gathered to him—
for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD,
and my God has become my strength—
he says:
“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to bring back the preserved of Israel;
I will make you as a light for the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
(Isaiah 49:3-6 ESV)

The role of this servant is to bring back Jacob and Israel. The servant is called Israel yet is distinct from national Israel. In fact, even the Rabbinic commentaries such as that of Rav Schwab, recognize that the servant in this section is not national Israel. Even the Rabbis agree that there is more than one servant in Deutero-Isaiah. Schwab himself believes that the servant of this section is Isaiah. Question is: did Isaiah bring knowledge of Yahweh to all the nations? Did Isaiah bring salvation to the ends of the earth? Not a chance. It was the followers of Jesus who were commanded to go to the ends of the earth and make disciples of every nation. This is why an era is fast approaching where people will not need to tell their neighbors about Yahweh, the God of Israel. Everyone will know him, and have the law of Yahweh written on their hearts.

Thus says the LORD:
“Where is your mother's certificate of divorce,
with which I sent her away?
Or which of my creditors is it
to whom I have sold you?
Behold, for your iniquities you were sold,
and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.
(Isaiah 50:1 ESV)

And again, Israel suffers not for the sins of the gentile nations, but for Israel's own sins, just as God had promised in Deuteronomy.

Behold, my servant shall act wisely;
he shall be high and lifted up,
and shall be exalted.
As many were astonished at you—
his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
so shall he sprinkle many nations;
kings shall shut their mouths because of him;
for that which has not been told them they see,
and that which they have not heard they understand.
Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by 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.
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
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 crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see 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 many,
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 makes intercession for the transgressors.
(Isaiah 52:13-53:12 ESV)

As an aside, Tovia Singer claims in his lecture Sin and Atonement that Judaism has no concept of substitutionary atonement i.e. for one person's suffering to pay for someone else's sins. This passage definitively refutes that notion Even the rabbis admit that in Isaiah 53, someone is suffering to pay for the sins of someone else. The question is: who is paying for whose sins? Who is the "we" in this passage, and who is the servant?

The first thing to notice in this passage is that the gentile kings shut their mouths because of the servant. They are not the ones speaking in this passage. Also remember Isaiah's description of Israel. The nation repeatedly receives punishment for its own sins. They did not walk in God's ways. They did not obey God's commands. Israel had been disobedient, failing to offer sacrifices at the proper time, and failing to obey God. It is because of Israel's sins that God will deliver Israel to utter destruction. The nation does not confess God in truth. Indeed, Israel is described as treacherous and deceitful. Israel is stubborn and idolatrous.

Isaiah also speaks of this other servant who will restore Jacob, bring Israel back into God's favor. This servant will restore sight to the blind nation of Israel. He will suffer repeatedly, but not for his own sins. He will be innocent, but suffer to make atonement for the sins of Israel.

Of all the possible candidates, Isaiah 53 better fits the life of Jesus than that of anyone (or anything) else. And attempts to disqualify Jesus for acts such as his clearing of the temple are nothing more than exercises in nit-picking. They give prophecy such artificially strict and narrow criteria for fulfillment, that they presume to dictate to God how he must fulfill his prophecies.

Jesus fulfilled the criteria for the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 better than any of his rivals. He was born into a lower-class family, and not initially seen as important. He acted as a prophet, calling the people of Israel to abandon their factionalism, self-righteousness, and man-centered civil religion, and instead to set their hearts on the God of Israel. He opened the eyes of the blind and healed many ailments, performing a ministry of miracles. Yet he was despised and rejected by the authorities of Israel, who became jealous of his radical views and rising popularity.

When the authorities caught him, they led him like a lamb to the slaughter. If Jesus had defended himself at the trial, he likely would have been acquitted. Yet he kept his dialogue to a minimum, and was sent to die because he refused to speak up for himself. Jesus was crushed and beaten so badly that he barely resembled the semblance of a man. He poured himself out unto death alongside other criminals in order to make atonement for the sins of humanity. He died with the wicked, but was buried by Joseph of Arimathea in an unused and extremely expensive bench tomb. Only the very rich could afford to use such tombs.

He did not stay dead, though. Jesus rose and appeared over a period of forty days to many people, including his followers, friends, and groups. He even appeared to his brother James, who was not a believer in Jesus before this point. He also appeared to Paul of Tarsus, who was sort of the first century director of Yad L'Achim, or perhaps the Tovia Singer of his era. What kind of evidence would it take to convince someone like Singer to believe that Jesus is the risen Messiah and God incarnate? That is the kind of evidence Paul had.

Thanks to the work of Jesus, the word of the God of Israel is spreading rapidly to people of every tribe and every tongue. The Bible has been translated into over 2,000 different languages. We are fast approaching a unique time in history, when you will no longer have to tell people about the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, for they will already know who this God is.