"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all."
Each one of us has, rather than choosing the yoke of Grace and the burden of light, chosen to indulge in darkness. We have turned, each one of us, to our own way of doing things. We have each maintained our agency and the Lord has taken upon Himself each choice and each moment of living. This verse again speaks to me, deeply, of the eternal import the role of agency plays.
Now Isaiah is getting into the actual moments of the Savior's life which encompass the Atonement. These verses were easier for me to understand because they are talked about much more.
"He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb before the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. 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."
The only part of these verses that seem to need explanation is a short line in verse 8 Isaiah "...he was cut off out of the land of the living..."
This is not only in reference to His mortal life being shortened, but I believe it is in reference to Gethsemane being a separate place...that is where Isaiah is heading in this chapter which is really the central point of the chiasmus that comprises chapters 51-55.
I believe that my experience looking at the fireflies floating among the soybean fields showed me that same thing which Isaiah saw that caused him to write these words. That is what I had asked the Lord to let me see - I wanted to see what it was He had shown Isaiah so that I could understand the words Isaiah had written. This line - about the Lord being cut off from the land of the living was one that confused me when I connected it with a line that is coming up in verse 10 that says "he shall prolong his days"...they didn't equate to me. They seemed to cancel each other out. Until I saw what I saw. And suddenly those words made complete and perfect sense.
So let's keep going on to verse 10.
"Yet it pleased the LORD (Jehovah*) to bruise him (Jesus Christ); he (Jehovah) hath put him (Jesus Christ) to grief: when thou (Jehovah) shalt make his (Jesus Christ) soul an offering for sin, he (Jesus Christ) shall see his (Jehovah) seed, he (Jehovah) shall prolong his (Jesus Christ) days, and the pleasure of the LORD (Jehovah) shall prosper in his (Jesus Christ) hand.
Let's just take this in a little bit at a time. Also, please note that I am not using the names of the Lord lightly, but using them for sake of clarity with the deepest reverence and respect afforded to these sacred names.
It pleased Jehovah to bruise Jesus Christ. Jehovah hath put Jesus Christ to grief.
Here is where my initial confusion started. As I understood it, pre-mortal, Old Testament Jehovah is Jesus Christ in mortal ministry. So how exactly does this work?
We know that Jehovah, under the direction of the Father, is the creator and designer of this earthly existence. If I could show you the experience I had, all of this would make so much sense. But let us imagine the entire existence of this earth from it's beginning formation until the end of the final judgement as a linear timeline. Now overlay on top of that line another line that stretches the full length of it as Gethsemane. We see in Gethsemane the mortal body of Jesus Christ experiencing all of this. And now overlay on all of that the God, Jehovah, orchestrating and commanding and controlling all things that must happen in order to allow those two things to exist simultaneously.
This visual does not really explain it at all or give comprehension as to how His spirit can be outside of His body if His body is still alive...and I don't know how to give understanding to it all. But this visual is the best I can come up with to try to explain these words. Set aside the mortal limits of time and ignore the question that comes up with my very mortal explanation. Then it begins to give you an idea of what Isaiah meant in saying that it pleased Jehovah to bruise Jesus Christ. The eternal Being who is God and Creator of all was pleased with the mortal Christ who still had a veil and yet moved forward with faith and gaining knowledge as a child until He was able to live beyond the veil as a mortal. I know this doesn't quite make sense and I wish deeply I could explain it better - trying to explain it this way cheapens the experience and the only reason I am trying to put it into words is because I have been prompted to do so. But I hope you are following me somewhat and that you are letting the Spirit give your heart and mind understanding where mortal words fail. Moving on.
When Jehovah shall make Jesus Christ's soul an offering for sin, Jesus Christ shall see Jehovah's seed, Jehovah shall prolong Jesus Christ's days.
Again, the previous visual kind of helps to start to understand these words. We see that Isaiah is speaking of Gethsemane at this point, where the offering was made.
The idea that Jesus Christ would see the seed or children of Jehovah was given clarity by the second part that says the days of the Savior will be prolonged. These words had me confused for such a long time. It wasn't until I saw what I saw that made me understand how that was possible when the mortal body of Christ was not prolonged but He gave up His life at the mortal age of 33.
Through His eternal power as Jehovah, Christ is able to extend Gethsemane through all time and able to see every person who has lived, is living, or will ever live within this mortal experience. He is experiencing each moment with each one of us. Thus, by the authority given Him by virtue of His eternal nature as Jehovah, Christ is able to be in this bubble in Gethsemane even now - at this very moment - and prolong His own days until the work of this earth is completed. And He has seen and does see and will see the children of God in all of creation.
And the pleasure of Jehovah shall prosper in Jesus Christ's hand.
This again makes much more sense when we consider all that we know so far. What is the pleasure of the Lord? If we were to put it into other words, what is it that pleases the Lord more than any other thing? What brings Him more joy than anything else? Is it not the eternal life of man? Are we not told that this is His work and His glory? It was in the hand of Jesus Christ, alone, which would allow us to receive eternal life. Thus, the pleasure of Jehovah - which is our eternal salvation - was in the hand of the mortal Christ to fulfill.
"He (Elohim) shall see the travail of his (Jesus Christ) soul, and shall be satisfied: by his (Jesus Christ) knowledge shall my righteous servant (Jehovah) justify many; for he (Jesus Christ) shall bear their iniquities."
Even just putting in the names of who each "he" or "his" is referring to helps give clarity to this verse. This clarifies for us the doctrine that at the judgement bar of God (Elohim), the Savior (in both of His roles as Jehovah and as the Christ) will plead our case if we have taken upon ourselves His name and sought to follow Him.
By Jesus Christ's knowledge shall Jehovah justify many. Because the Savior is, in Gethsemane, gaining intimate knowledge of each one of us, because He bears our griefs and carries our sorrows, because the chastisement of our peace is upon Him, because we are healed with His stripes - because of all of this, He justifies us. Not because we can be justified but because He sees and knows and understands and He makes up the difference. He saves us, which He is wont to do. He steps in where we have made a mess of things and fills His role most perfectly, thus justifying us when we allow His Grace to descend upon us and we take up the burden of light.
Do you see the rejoicing that is ours in this, the Great Plan of Redemption which our Father has laid out and is fulfilled by our Savior? Isn't is glorious?! My heart burns and my spirit feels as though I may explode when I think on these things. It truly is a gift beyond any. It truly is cause for rejoicing and praising with the deepest gratitude.
I hope you will let these four posts sink into your hearts. I hope you will begin to feel the miraculous, joyful, extraordinary gift we all have offered to us. I hope you will use it with the roughest courage. I hope you will let Him save you, rejoicing in His gift and openly walking with Him each day. I hope you will not choose to hide because you know that He sees you completely and knows all without excuse or explanation. He sees you. All of you. Your weakness. Your infirmities. Those parts of you which you want to hide because you do not like them...He sees and knows intimately each part of you. Rejoice in that knowledge. In knowing all of those things about you, He still loves you. He still offers all He is to give you the opportunity to heal and grow and progress.
Use it up. With roughest courage. Wear out that Atonement each day by letting yourself be open and desiring to receive His Grace and taking on that burden of light. Be fearless with Him. Not with pride or ego, but in the deepest humble gratitude that you are able to make choices each day without fear and without regret because He is always there to make it right the moment we choose Grace. He can make it right when others have wronged me - intentionally or not. He can make it right when I have wronged others - intentionally or not. He can make it right when I wrong myself - intentionally or not. He can make it right when you wrong yourself - intentionally or not.
It is all Him. Everyone is overlayed with Him. Everyone is filtered through Him. And if we allow Grace, then ALL things work together for our good. Always.
* In Hebrew this word is יְהֹוָה - which is the name "Jehovah" in English...the reason it is written in the Old Testament as "Lord" is because we do not use His name lightly. In Hebrew they use the word "Hashem" whenever the name of the Lord is written. Hashem means "the name". This is all in reference to the commandment to not use the name of the Lord in vain. So you will see the word Lord written out with all capitol letters (LORD) in the Old Testament in English. Wherever you see that, if you had been reading it in Hebrew you would see the letters יְהֹוָה - which is how you spell Jehovah in Hebrew.
** In Hebrew the word אֱלֹהִים is literally "Elohim." Reading the Old Testament in English, every time you see the word "God" you would see the word "Elohim" if you were reading in Hebrew.
Each one of us has, rather than choosing the yoke of Grace and the burden of light, chosen to indulge in darkness. We have turned, each one of us, to our own way of doing things. We have each maintained our agency and the Lord has taken upon Himself each choice and each moment of living. This verse again speaks to me, deeply, of the eternal import the role of agency plays.
Now Isaiah is getting into the actual moments of the Savior's life which encompass the Atonement. These verses were easier for me to understand because they are talked about much more.
"He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb before the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. 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."
The only part of these verses that seem to need explanation is a short line in verse 8 Isaiah "...he was cut off out of the land of the living..."
This is not only in reference to His mortal life being shortened, but I believe it is in reference to Gethsemane being a separate place...that is where Isaiah is heading in this chapter which is really the central point of the chiasmus that comprises chapters 51-55.
I believe that my experience looking at the fireflies floating among the soybean fields showed me that same thing which Isaiah saw that caused him to write these words. That is what I had asked the Lord to let me see - I wanted to see what it was He had shown Isaiah so that I could understand the words Isaiah had written. This line - about the Lord being cut off from the land of the living was one that confused me when I connected it with a line that is coming up in verse 10 that says "he shall prolong his days"...they didn't equate to me. They seemed to cancel each other out. Until I saw what I saw. And suddenly those words made complete and perfect sense.
So let's keep going on to verse 10.
"Yet it pleased the LORD (Jehovah*) to bruise him (Jesus Christ); he (Jehovah) hath put him (Jesus Christ) to grief: when thou (Jehovah) shalt make his (Jesus Christ) soul an offering for sin, he (Jesus Christ) shall see his (Jehovah) seed, he (Jehovah) shall prolong his (Jesus Christ) days, and the pleasure of the LORD (Jehovah) shall prosper in his (Jesus Christ) hand.
Let's just take this in a little bit at a time. Also, please note that I am not using the names of the Lord lightly, but using them for sake of clarity with the deepest reverence and respect afforded to these sacred names.
It pleased Jehovah to bruise Jesus Christ. Jehovah hath put Jesus Christ to grief.
Here is where my initial confusion started. As I understood it, pre-mortal, Old Testament Jehovah is Jesus Christ in mortal ministry. So how exactly does this work?
We know that Jehovah, under the direction of the Father, is the creator and designer of this earthly existence. If I could show you the experience I had, all of this would make so much sense. But let us imagine the entire existence of this earth from it's beginning formation until the end of the final judgement as a linear timeline. Now overlay on top of that line another line that stretches the full length of it as Gethsemane. We see in Gethsemane the mortal body of Jesus Christ experiencing all of this. And now overlay on all of that the God, Jehovah, orchestrating and commanding and controlling all things that must happen in order to allow those two things to exist simultaneously.
This visual does not really explain it at all or give comprehension as to how His spirit can be outside of His body if His body is still alive...and I don't know how to give understanding to it all. But this visual is the best I can come up with to try to explain these words. Set aside the mortal limits of time and ignore the question that comes up with my very mortal explanation. Then it begins to give you an idea of what Isaiah meant in saying that it pleased Jehovah to bruise Jesus Christ. The eternal Being who is God and Creator of all was pleased with the mortal Christ who still had a veil and yet moved forward with faith and gaining knowledge as a child until He was able to live beyond the veil as a mortal. I know this doesn't quite make sense and I wish deeply I could explain it better - trying to explain it this way cheapens the experience and the only reason I am trying to put it into words is because I have been prompted to do so. But I hope you are following me somewhat and that you are letting the Spirit give your heart and mind understanding where mortal words fail. Moving on.
When Jehovah shall make Jesus Christ's soul an offering for sin, Jesus Christ shall see Jehovah's seed, Jehovah shall prolong Jesus Christ's days.
Again, the previous visual kind of helps to start to understand these words. We see that Isaiah is speaking of Gethsemane at this point, where the offering was made.
The idea that Jesus Christ would see the seed or children of Jehovah was given clarity by the second part that says the days of the Savior will be prolonged. These words had me confused for such a long time. It wasn't until I saw what I saw that made me understand how that was possible when the mortal body of Christ was not prolonged but He gave up His life at the mortal age of 33.
Through His eternal power as Jehovah, Christ is able to extend Gethsemane through all time and able to see every person who has lived, is living, or will ever live within this mortal experience. He is experiencing each moment with each one of us. Thus, by the authority given Him by virtue of His eternal nature as Jehovah, Christ is able to be in this bubble in Gethsemane even now - at this very moment - and prolong His own days until the work of this earth is completed. And He has seen and does see and will see the children of God in all of creation.
And the pleasure of Jehovah shall prosper in Jesus Christ's hand.
This again makes much more sense when we consider all that we know so far. What is the pleasure of the Lord? If we were to put it into other words, what is it that pleases the Lord more than any other thing? What brings Him more joy than anything else? Is it not the eternal life of man? Are we not told that this is His work and His glory? It was in the hand of Jesus Christ, alone, which would allow us to receive eternal life. Thus, the pleasure of Jehovah - which is our eternal salvation - was in the hand of the mortal Christ to fulfill.
"He (Elohim) shall see the travail of his (Jesus Christ) soul, and shall be satisfied: by his (Jesus Christ) knowledge shall my righteous servant (Jehovah) justify many; for he (Jesus Christ) shall bear their iniquities."
Even just putting in the names of who each "he" or "his" is referring to helps give clarity to this verse. This clarifies for us the doctrine that at the judgement bar of God (Elohim), the Savior (in both of His roles as Jehovah and as the Christ) will plead our case if we have taken upon ourselves His name and sought to follow Him.
By Jesus Christ's knowledge shall Jehovah justify many. Because the Savior is, in Gethsemane, gaining intimate knowledge of each one of us, because He bears our griefs and carries our sorrows, because the chastisement of our peace is upon Him, because we are healed with His stripes - because of all of this, He justifies us. Not because we can be justified but because He sees and knows and understands and He makes up the difference. He saves us, which He is wont to do. He steps in where we have made a mess of things and fills His role most perfectly, thus justifying us when we allow His Grace to descend upon us and we take up the burden of light.
Do you see the rejoicing that is ours in this, the Great Plan of Redemption which our Father has laid out and is fulfilled by our Savior? Isn't is glorious?! My heart burns and my spirit feels as though I may explode when I think on these things. It truly is a gift beyond any. It truly is cause for rejoicing and praising with the deepest gratitude.
I hope you will let these four posts sink into your hearts. I hope you will begin to feel the miraculous, joyful, extraordinary gift we all have offered to us. I hope you will use it with the roughest courage. I hope you will let Him save you, rejoicing in His gift and openly walking with Him each day. I hope you will not choose to hide because you know that He sees you completely and knows all without excuse or explanation. He sees you. All of you. Your weakness. Your infirmities. Those parts of you which you want to hide because you do not like them...He sees and knows intimately each part of you. Rejoice in that knowledge. In knowing all of those things about you, He still loves you. He still offers all He is to give you the opportunity to heal and grow and progress.
Use it up. With roughest courage. Wear out that Atonement each day by letting yourself be open and desiring to receive His Grace and taking on that burden of light. Be fearless with Him. Not with pride or ego, but in the deepest humble gratitude that you are able to make choices each day without fear and without regret because He is always there to make it right the moment we choose Grace. He can make it right when others have wronged me - intentionally or not. He can make it right when I have wronged others - intentionally or not. He can make it right when I wrong myself - intentionally or not. He can make it right when you wrong yourself - intentionally or not.
It is all Him. Everyone is overlayed with Him. Everyone is filtered through Him. And if we allow Grace, then ALL things work together for our good. Always.
* In Hebrew this word is יְהֹוָה - which is the name "Jehovah" in English...the reason it is written in the Old Testament as "Lord" is because we do not use His name lightly. In Hebrew they use the word "Hashem" whenever the name of the Lord is written. Hashem means "the name". This is all in reference to the commandment to not use the name of the Lord in vain. So you will see the word Lord written out with all capitol letters (LORD) in the Old Testament in English. Wherever you see that, if you had been reading it in Hebrew you would see the letters יְהֹוָה - which is how you spell Jehovah in Hebrew.
** In Hebrew the word אֱלֹהִים is literally "Elohim." Reading the Old Testament in English, every time you see the word "God" you would see the word "Elohim" if you were reading in Hebrew.
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