Happy Sunday, friends!
What an incredible blessing to have renown Israel College of the Bible professors share devotions during our ONE FOR ISRAEL weekly staff meetings. Those guys dig so deep from a Hebrew perspective, then articulate truths in such deeply moving ways. I find myself astounded when they share.
I will make a feeble attempt to restate the devotional from Isaiah 53 shared with us by Dr Seth Postell last Monday. Keeping in mind that chapters and verses are not “inspired,” but were added centuries later for ease of navigating Scripture, Dr Postell took us first to Isaiah 52:12-15 and pointed to that as the more accurate beginning of the narrative.
Isaiah 52:12 references God going out to battle with the Israelites and being their rear guard. So He was in Exodus 14 when the Lord led Moses and the people safely through the Red Sea, causing it to close in behind them as a rear guard.
Follow carefully…the climax of Israel’s second exodus (salvation) is demonstrated in Israel’s first exodus from Egypt, crossing the Red Sea and ultimately entering the Promised Land. Their future Promised Land (salvation) is coming!
A servant will be sent to save Israel and Isaiah 53 identifies, in Hebrew Scripture, who that servant will be. Isaiah 53:3-5 speaks of the One who was despised, rejected, stricken, afflicted, bruised and beaten. We know that One to be Jesus, yet most Jewish rabbis (if they dare to speak of Isaiah 53), identify the servant in Isaiah 53 as Israel!
Verse 6 gives the Gospel message:
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.
- We are sinners.
- We attempt to “go our own way,” trying to make life work…yet it doesn’t.
- A sacrifice was made when the Lord took the iniquity of us all.
That couldn’t be Israel! They didn’t take the iniquity of us all! It has to be someone else!
Verse 11 goes on to reiterate that the righteous Servant will justify many, bear their iniquities, and satisfy the longing. Go back to verse 10 and you see that God is doing a work and will prolong the days in order to accomplish His mission! The Jews need time to see what is declared in verse 10. How patient He is with Israel…an obstinate people!
Now, go back up to verses 4-6, which Dr Postell calls “the sinners prayer.”
4 Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
6 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.
~Isaiah 53:4-6
He bore the grief we caused, He carried the sorrow we brought, we ignored Him and turned to our own ways, our wrongs brought wounds, bruising, chastisement and stripes upon Him. Yet, He took all our iniquities!
That is substitutionary atonement. That is confession, leading to salvation! Pray those words with a sincere heart and you’re saved! It is also deeply grieving, the sort referred to in Zechariah 12:10:
And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.
Redemption and national salvation are coming to Israel in the last days.
As if to drive the point totally home, the prophet Jeremiah quotes Isaiah 53:7-8 in Jeremiah 11:18-19. Prophets were preaching the Gospel long before Jesus came to fulfill their prophecies! Who says the Gospel is found only in the New Testament!
Today, will you spend a few minutes in prayer for our ONE FOR ISRAEL staff in Israel? Those are native-born Israelis sharing the Gospel of the Messiah through the Jewish Scriptures of Isaiah 53. Salvation is contained there and the Lord is opening unimaginable doors to share the Good News. This is it! Please join the effort!
Looking for the Blessed Hope 
Thank you for taking the time to share this so carefully and reverently. I really appreciate how Dr. Postell’s teaching honors the Hebrew context of Isaiah while allowing the text to speak plainly and powerfully on its own terms. Seeing Isaiah 52–53 framed as a unified narrative of redemption, rooted in the Exodus and pointing forward to God’s saving work, brings such clarity and weight to the passage. The patience and faithfulness of God toward Israel, even in the tension and mystery of unfolding revelation, is deeply moving. I’m grateful for the work ONE FOR ISRAEL is doing and will absolutely be joining in prayer—for wisdom, humility, and open hearts as the Gospel is shared through the Scriptures entrusted to Israel.
Mike, thanks for sharing your thoughts, and for your prayers. Blessings to you!