Prophet Pearls #46 -Eikev-Isaiah 49:14-51:3

This week’s Prophet reading—traditionally called the Haftorah—is Isaiah 49:14–51:3. It accompanies the Torah portion Eikev (Deuteronomy 7:12–11:25).

In this passage the prophet Isaiah gives reassurance of God’s unfailing love. To a personified Jerusalem He says, “I never could forget you.” Those who pursue righteousness and seek God are admonished to consider God’s faithfulness to Abraham. Listen to Keith Johnson and Nehemia Gordon as they discover priceless gems in this installment of Prophet Pearls: Exploring Biblical Prophecy for Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.

If you would like to listen to Keith and Nehemia discuss the Torah portions that correlate to the Prophet portions here are the original Torah Pearls programs recorded in 2011-2012.

Transcript

Prophet Pearls #46 - Eikev (Isaiah 49:14-51:3)

You are listening to Prophet Pearls with Nehemia Gordon and Keith Johnson. Exploring biblical prophesy for yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Keith: You know what time it is? It’s Prophet Pearls, face-to-face, whatever it takes, in the Land of Israel, the city of Jerusalem. I’m here with Nehemia Gordon, we’re now in what I call the Isaiah Series. We have already done two sections of Isaiah, and we’re about to do a third section of Isaiah. We’re actually in Isaiah chapter 49:14. We still have the same Prophet Pearls partners - the Maccabees...

Nehemia: Thank you Maccabees!

Keith: …who have really stood with us on a number of occasions, and all those others - we really appreciate you. We’re going to be jumping into something where Zion’s going to speak.

Nehemia: Wow.

Keith: That’s right, folks, Zion is going to speak! Isaiah 49 verse 14. And I think this is really interesting, Nehemia, I’m going to start this out if it’s okay. So it actually says, “And Zion said.” Now, I want to ask a question before we get into this too far. So - Zion is a proper noun, correct?

Nehemia: Yes, meaning it’s a name.

Keith: It’s a name. But in the “said,” when it says, “But Zion said,” am I confused here? Is this not a third feminine singular “to say?”

Nehemia: Yes. In Hebrew you can’t say “somebody said” without saying, is it one or many? And whether it’s first, second or third person. Meaning, is it “I/we” second person is “you,” third person is “he/she/they.” So here it’s literally, “And Zion, she said, ‘Azavani Yehovah,’” Yehovah has abandoned me, has left me. So, “Zion, she said.” And why is that? Because in Hebrew cities are feminine.

Keith: That’s right. “The LORD has forsaken me,” and you know folks, the reason I ask him these questions is he says, “Oh, it’s obvious, that’s such and such and such.”

Nehemia: Of course, feminine - it’s like a boat in English.

Keith: You know, it’s funny. If you look at the word “city” you can’t tell from looking at it that it’s feminine. It’s an irregular.

Nehemia: Yeah.

Keith: Isn’t that interesting?

Nehemia: Poor you. For those who speak Hebrew, we know there are certain words… in other words, let’s back up for people. In Hebrew, every noun is either masculine or feminine. You don’t have that in English. In English, for example, boat is feminine, maybe a car is feminine, but I don’t know, a building isn’t masculine or feminine, it’s neuter, right? It’s what you call the grammar, the neuter. So you say about a building “it,” you don’t say “she”. But in Hebrew there is no such thing as neuter. Everything is either masculine or feminine, every noun. So table is either masculine or feminine, window is either masculine or feminine. And we know most words, whether they’re masculine or feminine, based on the ending. If it has the kamatz hei ending, for example the word Torah, it’s feminine. How do I know that? Because it ends with kamatz hei, with that “ah”.

But there are exceptions, like the word kherev - sword. The word ir - city. Even though they don’t have the kamatz heh ending, nevertheless they’re feminine. And so cities are feminine, even though there is no kamatz hei.

Keith: There it is, folks. And you know what, by now if you’re going through this course, you actually understand exactly what Nehemia is talking about. If not, you better learn.

Nehemia: What course? Oh, your BFA international course.

Keith: No, no, no, we’re going to talk about that later, hold on. Here we go.

Nehemia: Slipping into your Ministry Minute.

Keith: I jumped ahead here. “‘But Zion,’ she said, ‘Yehovah has forsaken me, and Yehovah has forgotten me. Can a woman forget her nursing child?’” Man, I love these questions. “And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget,” but here it comes friend, “but I will not forget you. So much so I’m going to inscribe you on the palms of my hands.” [laughing]

Nehemia: Can we go back to 15 before you…

Keith: Okay, go ahead.

Nehemia: No, you got your thing going on in 16, we’ll talk about that.

Keith: No, no, no, yeah.

Nehemia: Let’s talk about 15.

Keith: Yeah.

Nehemia: So 15 is really interesting, because God is likened to a mother. There’s a metaphor there, God is like a mother, and that’s interesting because we have this discussion about God as a “He”, that God is the father. And He is our father, but He in some passages, and it’s not many, but in some of them He is actually likened to a woman, metaphorically speaking. Your mouth has dropped…

Keith: No, no, no, I can’t believe this, Nehemia, you’re going to break from your chauvinistic approach.

Nehemia: Ma pit’om? I’ve got 4 sisters. I’m very…

Keith: [laughing] I’m with you, go ahead.

Nehemia: Look, I mean, my sister, Prof. Ariela Gordon-Shaag said it best. “Our parents taught us that men and women are equal.”

Keith: Amen.

Nehemia: And obviously they have different responsibilities in some senses, but before God… God’s not a man in the sense that… well it says that God is not a man that He shall lie, nor son of man… But He’s also not a man in the sense that He has the XY chromosome; that’s human beings. And we metaphorically refer to Him as a male because by default in Hebrew… you know, it’s interesting - if I’m speaking to a group of men, in Hebrew, I speak in one form of the verb. And then if I’m speaking to a group of women I speak differently, as the feminine. But if I’m speaking to a thousand women and only one man, it’s in the masculine, which is the default in Hebrew.

Keith: Isn’t that something?

Nehemia: So God is in the default, He is the masculine, but He is also metaphorically our father. But in this passage He’s metaphorically a woman, right? Am I wrong?

Keith: No, no question.

Nehemia: No, okay. Anyway, so there’s a really cool verse in Numbers chapter 11 verse 15, where Moses is speaking to God, and he refers to God as “You,” and Hebrew has four different ways of expressing “you” - ata for a man, one man, at for one woman, atem for multiple men, aten for multiple women. And remember, if you’re speaking to both men and women together, it’s atem, the masculine. And this must sound very difficult for English speakers, because we don’t distinguish between “you” singular and “you” plural, we certainly don’t distinguish between “you” masculine and “you” feminine. Hebrew has all those distinctions.

Now, I lived a little bit of time in Texas, and there they do have a distinction between “y’all” and “all y’all.” “All y’all” is the plural, and “y’all” is the singular, in certain parts of Texas, certain parts of the south. So Hebrew always has a distinction between “you,” “you,” “you” and “you.” Singular, plural, feminine, masculine. And here is the point - Numbers chapter 11 verse 15, Moses says to God, “Ve’eem kakha at,” “And if thus shall you do to me, kill me for…” et cetera, he goes on there. “Eem matzati khen be’eynekha,” “if I find favor in your eyes,” et cetera. So here he’s referring to God 1, 2, 3, 4 different times in the verse in a way that we can tell if it’s masculine and feminine. The first time it’s feminine. He says “at” - you, God as a feminine, and then the second, third and fourth time God is masculine, which is really, really interesting. I mean, we could have a whole discussion about Moses referring to God in the feminine. The point is, God doesn’t actually have a gender. And so Moses can actually switch back and forth between feminine and masculine. Pretty cool. Numbers 11:15.

Now can we talk about 16, your verse?

Keith: 16, “Behold…” You know what, I’ve got to go back to that. You know, it’s interesting. So there are people, we’ve been joking with each other about who’s got a feminist agenda and chauvinist agenda. But you know what really has been sad to me?

Nehemia: What’s that?

Keith: It’s when people actually approach the Scriptures with an agenda ahead of time and will change the grammar or will change what’s actually said.

Nehemia: Give me an example.

Keith: No, so for example, there are books, there are now bible translations that are called… I don’t even know the names of them, but where they said, “We’re going to remove all male reference to God, we’re going to remove all…”

Nehemia: Really?

Keith: No, and this happens… No, this was really a big deal. Not so much recently, but…

Nehemia: Well, I know there are some where they’ll talk about, you know, like in the New Testament translation it’ll say “brothers” and it’ll make it “brothers and sisters,” right?

Keith: Yeah, that happens, but there are other ones that are a little bit more aggressive with it. And I think that the key is, and what you just brought up is a great example, when the text does say what it says, you go ahead and say it. It’s what the text says…

Nehemia: Yeah.

Keith: And what the text doesn’t say, you don’t say it. And what I think bothers me about it is - do not add, do not subtract - they actually do add, and they actually do subtract. And so, anyway, that’s what I wanted to say about that.

Nehemia: Okay.

Keith: 49:16, “Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands,” and actually I don’t think it says… does it say that? Hold on. Yeah, “On the palms.”

Nehemia: “Hen al kapay khakotikh,” and there He’s speaking to Israel, or Zion, as feminine. It says: “Behold, I have inscribed you upon the palms.”

Keith: “On the palms,” yes.

Nehemia: “Your walls are against Me always.” Can I go off the reservation a little bit here?

Keith: Oh boy.

Nehemia: And I know this isn’t your interaction, this isn’t your experience, but my experience with Scripture… one of my experiences is, you know, I’ve had the experiences with the rabbis, but the other experience I had is encountering Christian missionaries. And they’ll bring me these verses and they’ll say, “How can you look at this verse and not see it?” And I read this verse…

Keith: Not see what?

Nehemia: That we’re right that this verse refers to Jesus, and that verse refers to Jesus. Not this verse, but many verses they’ll bring and say, “That verse refers to Jesus, and the other verse refers to Jesus.” You haven’t encountered this? I mean, you didn’t, because you came from that perspective, whatever.

But many Jews have had this experience. And I was really, genuinely surprised, when I was preparing for this passage, that Christian missionaries don’t use this verse. Because if I were a Christian missionary, this would be on the top of my list of verses to bring.

Keith: Bring it, preach to us.

Nehemia: God is saying, “I have inscribed you upon the palms…” and maybe it’s because I’m reading it in Hebrew and the word for “inscribe” doesn’t just mean “write,” it means “to etch.” And the image I have is, you take a chisel and you smash it with a hammer, and that’s how you etch something in stone. And here He’s saying, “I’ve etched you upon the palms.” How is this not brought by Christian missionaries? I mean, is it obvious how they could use this?

Keith: Help us.

Nehemia: Okay, if I were a Christian missionary, I would read it this way, “Behold, I etched you on my palms with the nails of the crucifixion, your walls of disbelief are against me always.” How is that they don’t bring this verse? It’s a threefer. Can I explain how it’s a threefer? For Christians. No, it’s a threefer. Number 1 - the wounds in Christ’s hands. Number 2 - God is speaking, so Christ is God, and God has wounds in his hands caused by the Jews. And Number 3 - the Jews have put up walls of disbelief that hurt God’s feelings. I’m shocked that Christians don’t bring this verse.

Keith: Well, I think part of the reason is the last part of what you said “against”, and in most translations it says “your walls are continually…”

Nehemia: But it’s “neged,” you see the word in Hebrew. It can mean “against me.” You set up these walls against Me to keep out your faith in Me… I’m not trying to be… I mean, I am partially trying to be facetious, but I’m genuinely surprised, when I was preparing this, I started looking at all these different Christian commentaries looking for, there’s gotta be somebody who brings this, right? Maybe it’s not mainstream, maybe it’s just some opinions, maybe some of the Messianics have figured this out, and they’ve got the spiritual explanations with the gematria… and nobody brings this!

And I really don’t know what the answer is. I’m really surprised that they don’t see this as some kind of Messianic prophetic prophecy. And on the other hand, I think most people hearing this say, “Come on, we don’t bring that because it sounds forced and farfetched. But honestly, a lot of the verses they bring sound much less forced and farfetched than this one. This is one I could see a Jew looking at and saying, “Huh, how do we explain that? Alright, well, there it means to write, but it does say ‘to etch.’” I don’t know, what do you have to say about this?

Keith: My tongue is tied.

Nehemia: Your tongue is tied. Oh! So I really did some deep research and I did find one Christian… I take back what I said before. Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible writes as follows, and I have this here in my notes, I missed it. He says, “Some think respect is had to the wounds in the hands of Christ, which being on their account are looked upon and remembered by him.” So there actually are Christians - I take it back - who bring this verse and say it refers to Jesus and the wounds in his hands. In the context, is that what God is talking about, in Isaiah? Imagine you’re in the public square and Isaiah preaches this. And somebody is saying, “Oh yeah, that’s going to refer to something that’s happening 700 years from now.” I mean, that makes no sense.

Keith: Okay.

Nehemia: You got nothing for me.

Keith: Nothing.

Nehemia: Okay.

Keith: “Your builders hurry, your destroyers and devastators will depart from you. Lift up your eyes, Nehemia, and look around!”

Nehemia: It says “Nehemia”?

Keith: Yeah, sure it does. “All of them gather together, they come to you as…”

Nehemia: There it is.

Keith: “As I live.” And we’ve talked about this, “chai.”

Nehemia: “Chai ani.”

Keith: This is “Chai ani” instead of “chai Yehovah.”

Nehemia: “As I live.”

Keith: “Ne’um Yehovah” - declares Yehovah. “You will surely put on all of them as jewels and bind them on as a bride.”

Nehemia: So this is a cool verse.

Keith: Yeah, it really is.

Nehemia: Because we’ve got the gentiles and the lost Israelites being kibbutz’ed. They’re being gathered, we had that verb that God kibbutz’es us, He gathers us in. And we’ve got... it’s like there are two groups here that are being gathered in. And why do I say that? Verse 17, “Your builders and your destroyers who have come out from you.” So we’ve kind of got these two groups that are, “Okay, now it’s time for… enough of the destruction, enough of the… come on, I’m going to gather both of you in.”

Keith: “For your waste and desolate places and your destroyed land. Surely now you will be too cramped for the…” was that what that says? Hold on. Okay, no. Where they’re sitting or where they’re living. “Surely now you will be too cramped, and those who swallowed you will be far away.”

Now, I’ve got to tell folks this. And this is what we said earlier about Isaiah. We’re in an Isaiah Series right now, in Prophet Pearls. And I’ve always found, Nehemia - I don’t know if it’s also been your experience - that whenever I’m studying Isaiah… Ezekiel is kind of like this for me, too. Well, a lot of the prophets are. But when you get into this sort of stuff and you just take one verse, it just seems like the levels of what’s being said can go deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper. And sometimes I have to kind of back away, and in this situation - I’m not saying that this is some unfathomable, we can’t understand what we’re reading - but just in terms of how far you can go when you’re studying it, you really can go quite a ways.

Nehemia: Yeah.

Keith: So he says here, “The children of whom you were bereaved will yet…” I’m in verse 20. “The children of whom you were bereaved will yet say in your ears, ‘The place is too cramped for me, make room for me that I may live,’” Not live here, “that I may live.”

Nehemia: Or “that I may dwell.”

Keith: “That I may dwell.”

Nehemia: And of course, in modern Israel there is a housing shortage. If you ask Israelis what’s your number one issue you’re concerned about, most Israelis won’t say terrorism or war, they won’t even say “being a freier” anymore, the biggest issue today is housing shortage.

Keith: And is this because of the cost, or because of availability?

Nehemia: There are too many people in a small land, and in addition, we have these foreigners who are squeezing us out. We have the Americans who are pressuring us, “Don’t build in your capital,” we have the Arabs who are pressuring us, “Don’t build too close to this and too close to that,” and we’ve got all these people who have come, and it’s exactly what it says. There’s too narrow a space.

Keith: So that’s happening now.

Nehemia: This is the reality today.

Keith: Now, I’m going to be going to 22. What do you want to do about 21? You’re supposed to want to do something with that.

Nehemia: Let’s talk about it.

Keith: Come on, you’ve been using this forever.

Nehemia: I have?

Keith: Are you not going to deal with the issue that you’ve been a wanderer?

Nehemia: Can you read the verse? 21.

Keith: “Then you will say in your heart who has begotten these for me? Since I have been bereaved of my children I’m barren and exiled and a wanderer.”

Nehemia: The reason I wouldn’t have brought this verse to apply it to me… finish the verse.

Keith: “And who has reared these? Behold, I was left alone; from where did these come?”

Nehemia: Yeah, so I wouldn’t have applied this to me because it’s in the feminine. [laughing] It’s speaking about Israel as… the Mother Israel, so to speak.

Keith: I was trying to see if you want to take on a little bit of, you know, open things up a little bit.

Nehemia: But here is where it is relevant, this verse, and where it’s a really powerful verse. So literally, I would translate this as, “Who begat me these?” In other words, the woman of Israel is saying, “Where did all these people come from? Where are all these people from?” And it’s pretty cool, it’s speaking about this ingathering of the nations together with Israel, these are all the nations from the nations who are gathered to Israel’s covenant. And Mother Israel is looking, “Wow, there are so many people here, where did they all come from?”

Keith: Exactly.

Nehemia: They came from Africa, they came from east Asia, they came from all over the world.

Keith: “Thus says Yehovah,” and here it says “Adonai Yehovah” so in English it says “Lord.” G-O-D is actually referring to Yud-Hei-Vav-Hei, for those who don’t know. “Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations and set up My standard,” oh, that brings me back to Moses. “And set up My standard to the peoples, and they will bring your sons into their bosom, and your daughters will be carried on their shoulders. Kings will be your guardians, and their princesses your nurses. They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth and lick the dust of your feet and you will know that I am Yehovah. Those who hopefully wait for Me will not be put to shame.”

And I want to say, when you read that ahead of time and it says, “And you will know.” So let’s just, from a practical standpoint… how will you know that I am Yehovah? By what’s going to happen before? I’m going to lift up my hand to the nations, this is what I’m going to do. Kings will be your guardians and their princesses your nurses? They’re going to bow down to you with their faces to the earth? Who’s going to do that? The kings and the princesses?

Nehemia: The foreign nations.

Keith: Wow. “And lick the dust of your feet?”

Nehemia: Yeah.

Keith: “They’re going to be in a place of humility, and then you’re going to know that I am Yehovah.”

Nehemia: Yeah. And this is a really interesting passage, because we’ve got two different kinds of models going on, and they’re both in this passage, it’s interesting. We’ve seen this in Isaiah, for example. I mean, in other passages, like Isaiah 56, the gentile who joins himself to Yehovah is part of Israel, no question about it. But then you look, for example, at other passages like, people read Isaiah 14, and there are really two models there. The gentiles who join themselves to Israel, and they’re part of Israel, and we have these other gentiles who, maybe they come too late. And so they’re part of Israel, but they’re kind of… the nations are bowing down to Israel, which is interesting. And by the way, it doesn’t say that they’re worshipping Israel.

Keith: Right.

Nehemia: They’re bowing down with their faces to the ground out of respect. That doesn’t necessarily mean… it obviously doesn’t mean worship, because no one says Israel is God.

Keith: Amen.

Nehemia: You know, Heaven forbid. It’s interesting, because Israel here is feminine and likened to a mother, and we have that image before that the mother Israel has rejected her children, even though Mother Yehovah hasn’t rejected them. Yehovah never rejects her children. And yeah, this is interesting.

Keith: Have you ever used the phrase before “Mother Yehovah”?

Nehemia: No.

Keith: You just used it.

Nehemia: I did, yeah.

Keith: This is the first time that I’ve ever heard…

Nehemia: But it’s here in the passage.

Keith: No, I’m just saying, it’s the first time I’ve ever heard you use that.

Nehemia: It’s the first time I’ve ever used it, yeah.

Keith: So this is not something you’ve ever said before?

Nehemia: No.

Keith: So my ears were tingling, like, “What did he just say?”

Nehemia: Right. But, of course, this is not literal, He’s not literally a mother, just like He’s not literally a father, it’s a metaphor. I mean, maybe you’d think it’s a literal metaphor, but I don’t know what that is, a literal metaphor. [laughing]

Keith: It’s a first.

Nehemia: Okay.

Keith: Okay.

Nehemia: Are you nervous?

Keith: I am nervous.

Nehemia: Why are you nervous?

Keith: No, I’m just saying.

Nehemia: Can we read the verse again?

Keith: Please, read it again.

Nehemia: No, let’s go back to the verse where we have this image of Yehovah as a woman, which is verse 15, read it again. “Hatishkakh isha ula, merakhem ben bitna? Gam eleh tishkakhna ve’anokhi lo eshkakhekh.” “Shall a woman forget her child, that which comes out from her womb? The son of her belly, even if these forget, I will not forget you.” So Yehovah is likening himself to a woman, saying, “I’m not going to forget you the way these women will forget their children.”

Keith: Okay.

Nehemia: Can you read just real quick verse 23?

Keith: “Kings will be your guardians and their princesses your nurses. They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth and lick the dust of your feet and you will know that I am Yehovah. Those who hopefully wait for Me will not be put to shame.”

Nehemia: Yeah, it’s interesting. This is a really interesting passage.

Keith: So I read it twice and that’s all you’re going to say?

Nehemia: Well, I don’t know, I struggle with this. Why are the gentiles bowing down to Israel? What have you got to say about that?

Keith: What does it say? They’ll know that it’s Yehovah, He flips the…

Nehemia: And maybe this is the image of the enemies of Israel who will be subjugated under the rule of the King Messiah. He’ll defeat them and they’ll come and say, “Wow, you’re the king.”

Keith: That doesn’t seem to be such a farfetched issue at all.

Nehemia: Yeah. Okay, beseder, let’s move on.

Keith: Alright. “Can the prey be taken from the mighty man or the captives of a tyrant be rescued? Surely, thus says Yehovah, ‘Even the captives of the mighty man will be taken away.’” I love the verse connected to the verse. “And the prey of the tyrant will be rescued for I will contend with the one who contends with you.” Now, we used this word before, this word, riv. And I think in that situation, we said it was different. We were talking about the…

Nehemia: To enter into a dispute, a legal dispute.

Keith: Yeah. And then it says, “And I will save your sons.”

Nehemia: Oshia. I will save your sons.

Keith: Oshia. I will save your sons. Can you read the next part?

Nehemia: Okay. “Veha’akhalti et mona’ikh et besaram ve’khe’asis damam yishkarun, veyadu khol basar ki ani Yehovah moshi’ekh vego’alekh avir Ya’akov.” Wow. Let me read that in the JPS, it’s a beautiful verse. I’ve got to open up my English here. “I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh, and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine, then all flesh shall know that I’m Yehovah your savior, and your redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob.” I love that, “all flesh,” which means this isn’t just for Jews, this isn’t for gentiles - this is for all human beings, and maybe beyond all human beings. Maybe it’s all living creatures, I don’t know. Then everyone will know that Yehovah is the moshia, the savior, and He’s the go’el, redeemer.

Keith: So I have a question. It says here in 50 verse 1.

Nehemia: Yes.

Keith: Where is the book of divorce? Does it not say that?

Nehemia: Yeah. “Eizeh sefer kritut?” Where is the book of divorce, or the certificate of separation…

Keith: “By which I have sent your mother away.”

Nehemia: Yeah.

Keith: “Or to whom of my creditors did I sell you? Behold, you were sold for your iniquities and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.” Now, as Isaiah is doing this, let’s just put it in context. So we have the one example where Isaiah is up standing and he’s preaching, you know, in the square.

Nehemia: Yeah.

Keith: And then in this situation, is Isaiah in his study? Is he writing, is he…?

Nehemia: No, he’s speaking. Isaiah is a speaking prophet, he doesn’t write. I mean, maybe he writes, but his main thing is speaking. And that’s one of the big differences between the prophets and Daniel. Daniel sat down and wrote a book. Jeremiah didn’t sit down and write a book, he prophesied. Later God said, “Have Baruch the scribe come and write down what you prophesied. Remember all your prophecies and we’ll write them down.” But originally he’s standing in the public square, he’s walking through the streets just like Jonah and saying, “40 days and Ninveh will be overthrown!” And you know, some of these prophecies are a little longer, but he’s preaching to the people, he’s preaching in the royal court. He’s preaching this, this is…

Keith: So you don’t think that there was a… Let me ask you this question. Do you think that Isaiah, then, after he was done preaching, said, “Boy, that was good stuff.”

Nehemia: I don’t even know…

Keith: That was good stuff… we’ve got to write this down.

Nehemia: These weren’t his words, these were Yehovah’s words. At some point he wrote it down or someone wrote it down.

Keith: You think it was Isaiah?

Nehemia: I have no idea.

Keith: Wow.

Nehemia: Meaning, it was under his direction, I’m sure. Whether it was him or not, I couldn’t tell you. Baruch wrote the Book of Jeremiah, we’re told that. And they ask Baruch, “How was this written?” He said, “Jeremiah would speak and I would write it.” [laughing] I love that. And then later they blame Baruch for the words; they said, “Baruch the son of Neriah is inciting him against us.” Wait a minute, he’s just a scribe!

Keith: [laughing] Look, I’m just the writer.

Nehemia: He’s just the pen.

Keith: Oh my goodness.

Nehemia: So this is interesting, because we’ve got two metaphors here. One of Israel as a divorced woman, and the other Israel being sold into slavery for a debt. Two different metaphors side by side.

Keith: Yeah. Now, I want to say this, Nehemia. Again, we talked about this last time and we’re going to have to talk about it again this time, and that’s pertaining to what we can have people do that would be… because like I say, we’re moving people along. They’ve been listening… What’s really good homework for them? What would be a good passage or section for them to really take a look at in depth and give us their opinions on? Is there a natural… like 50 verse 1 up until 51:3?

Nehemia: You mean for homework?

Keith: Yeah.

Nehemia: Yeah, let me just look here. So how far does this go? 51:3? No, I’m confused.

Keith: Yeah, that’s what I’m saying, we need...

Nehemia: Oh, 51:3, okay. Because I’ve got stuff here about 51:4. [laughing]

Keith: No, this is in the early parts of 50. Is there a section that we could give them to say, “Hey, listen, we want you to look at this.” In other words, here is what I want to do. Let me be honest. I want people to do Prophet Pearls for us and for others. I want them to sit down with the section that we haven’t addressed.

Nehemia: So here is the homework. 50:1 has the metaphor of Israel as a divorced woman.

Keith: There we go.

Nehemia: Go through and look, especially in Ezekiel, and find the other places where God speaks about this metaphor of Israel as a divorced woman. And also the covenant relationship between Israel and God as a man and a woman being married. And we talked about this, by the way, in Hosea where he says, “And I will betroth you to me forever.” But go and make a list and look at some of the differences and look at the similarities.

Keith: How long is the section? Could they do that for…

Nehemia: Well, for Isaiah 50 verse 1…

Keith: To 50 verse 1… it’s up to verse 3.

Nehemia: Yeah, sure. 50 verses 1 through 3. But mainly verse 1; go and find other places where we had this image of Israel as a divorced woman.

Keith: So he says… and you know, I’ve got to just tell you. It’s funny because you have this time where you use different words for different things. This happens to be one of them, I think. It says, “Yehovah, God, has given me the tongue of…” and I don’t know how many different translations would do it different. It says, “the tongue of disciples, that I may know how to sustain the weary...”

Nehemia: What verse are you in?

Keith: This is 50 verse 4.

Nehemia: Oh, 4. Okay.

Keith: “...has given me the tongue of disciples that I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word.” And I’m thinking, “Okay, so what is this ‘disciples’”? I don’t know.

Nehemia: I mean, limudim are students.

Keith: So these are students.

Nehemia: Yeah.

Keith: “That I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word.”

Nehemia: So here is where it gets a little complicated, because the Hebrew word la’ut, which you translated as “sustain”, is a hapax legomenon. It’s a unique word that only appears here in the entire history of the Hebrew language, and we have no clue what it really means. So you literally could make this “to know how to ‘blank’ ya’ef davar,” those who are tired of word, those who are tired of the matter. I’ve got no idea what this verse means.

Keith: That’s why I’m saying, “I’ve been given the tongue of a student, that I may know how to…” what?

Nehemia: Something. Here is the basic message of this… this is a separate prophecy beginning in verse 4, and the basic message is Isaiah is suffering at the hands of those who don’t want to hear the truth. The specifics of verse 4 I’m not really sure, but that’s the basic message. They’re beating him on the back, they’re whipping him, he’s suffering.

Keith: “He wakens me morning by morning. He awakens my ear to listen to as…” also again, “as a disciple.” That’s interesting.

Nehemia: Yeah.

Keith: “He, Yehovah God, has opened my ear and I was not disobedient, nor did I turn back.” Now, that’s exciting to me. “Because He is the one that opens the ear. He’s the one that gives the revelation, or He’s the one that gives the word. He’s the one that gives you the place that you can understand.” Then he says, “I was not disobedient. The word came, and I did what I was supposed to do. And I said to them, ‘Here is my back, strike me.’” Is this where you get to turn the other cheek? “And my cheeks to those who pluck out the beard. I did not cover my face from humiliation and spitting.” What’s going on here? So are the words causing that kind of a response…

Nehemia: Isaiah is unpopular. [laughing]

Keith: … him speaking these words…

Nehemia: “Repent, you’re sinners.” Whoa! People don’t want to hear that.

Keith: Well, he says, “Look, Yehovah helps me, I’m not disgraced. I’ve set my face like flint and I know that I will not be ashamed.” Boy, I wish there were more people like this. “And he who vindicates me is near…” and then again, “Who will contend with me? Let us stand up to each other. Who has a case against me?” Again, he’s bringing the language “let him draw near to me. Behold, Yehovah God helps me, who is he who condemns me? Behold, they will wear out like a garment, the moth will eat them.”

One more verse before we switch here. “Who is among you that fears Yehovah?” I am. “That obeys the voice of His servant? That walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of Yehovah and rely on his God.”

Nehemia: Wow.

Keith: Preach, brother!

Nehemia: “Let him trust the name of Yehovah,” “veyisha’en be’elohav,” “And let him lean on his God.” It’s like God is the walking stick, and you’re weary and you’re tired and it’s dark. And you can lean on Him.

Keith: “Behold all who kindle a fire, who encircle yourselves with fire brands. Walk in the light of your fire and among the brands you have set ablaze this you will have from my hand. You will lie down in torment.” And I think what’s hard about this, it’s like you’re going from Isaiah, you’re talking about Isaiah, and then you’re talking about the people and then it switches again, and you’ve got to be sure that as you’re driving through these verses, who are we talking about? What’s the context that we’re talking about?

We talked about it before, we switched in 40 verse 1 and now we’re up into 50, we’re really talking about… from 40 verse 1 till now we talked about these sections. So what section are we in? What would you say as far as the prophetic background? What would you call the context here, in terms of what he’s talking about? Is there a name for this section?

Nehemia: I don’t know if there’s a name for the section. I mean, there is, it’s part of the comfort… this isn’t a very comforting passage, though. [laughing]

Keith: I was going to say.

Nehemia: So not everything in there is…

Keith: I’m trying to get to this…

Nehemia: It’s not uniform, there is this suffering servant and it seems to me like Isaiah is the suffering servant, but as you say, maybe that suffering servant was also symbolically Israel, or refers to some other figure. But primarily, I think it’s Isaiah who’s talking about his own experience. Stuff is really bad, even though he’s got a message, a message of hope. And there is the message of hope for the comfort, those who are walking in the darkness and there is no light for them, they can trust in the name of Yehovah and lean on his God. So on the one hand there is this darkness, but also there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Keith: You know, I’m going to do something. Boy oh boy, folks, we’re getting down to the end, I’m going to do something kind of controversial. So you’ll say, “Keith, tell me what you think about this,” and you’ll tell me about these Messianics or different people that will come and speak to you. I want to ask you a hard question to handle.

Nehemia: Sure.

Keith: This is a hard question. So if you get that kind of stuff where people are coming to you, taking things out of context, asking you questions, asking you, “Don’t you see it? When are your eyes going to be open? Why don’t your ears open?” And you’re sitting there. So my question is this: why do you do this? Why do you put yourself as a target for people that are going to come to you…

Nehemia: Why do I show them my back and turn my cheek so they can pull out my beard?

Keith: I’m trying to help you. So why is this?

Nehemia: It’s why I have no hair.

Keith: I’ve been in situations with you. I was in a situation one time, I’ll never forget it. We were getting off a plane, we had traveled… this was some years ago, so you probably aren’t going to remember this. We were traveling from place to place, we got off a plane, we were picked up by a couple, and as we got picked up by this couple…

Nehemia: I remember this.

Keith: You do remember this. And we’re walking to the restaurant, they’re going to take us to lunch before we go speak. And the lady just asked you a question. I mean, she meets you for five minutes, and she says, “So, why don’t you believe in Yeshua?”

Nehemia: And I think it was put like, “Why don’t you believe in Yeshua yet, like, what’s wrong with you?”

Keith: Yeah. So you were asked this question, and then you said something like…

Nehemia: I said, “I guess that’s not the Father’s plan for me just yet.” Like, how else do I respond to that?

Keith: Yeah, you haven’t come to that. Let me confess. We’ve been going through this, and there’s this uncomfortable thing that happens, and I think it will be a blessing as we’re reading this, where you’re bringing your experience, and so you’ll say sometimes the Messianics or the Christians and whatever… And there are times where I’ll think, “Boy, why do people do that?” You know, your mom brought this example, Bubi Dina, if you’re listening. I told it before. She’s up in the Galilee, and a woman comes up to her and just asks her a question. Doesn’t know anything about her, no relationship with her, doesn’t know who she is, where she is, where she comes from.

Nehemia: Well, she knows she’s Jewish.

Keith: She looks like she’s Jewish, maybe she’s Orthodox. She’s got, what do you call that again?

Nehemia: The tichel, she’s wearing a head covering.

Keith: A little head covering, and she goes up and she hits her over the head with this whole thing. And I’ve got to be honest with you. And so I’m asking you this question. So why do you do it?

Nehemia: Why do I interact with the…

Keith: Why do you put yourself in a position…

Nehemia: Because I feel like I’ve been called to empower people with information. That’s what I’m about, that’s what my history is about. And there are people out there who want information, who want to understand things in their original history, language and context. And I feel like that’s what I’ve been called to do, and for those who think, “Oh, well why is he telling us that this isn’t the doctrine or that isn’t the doctrine?”

Keith: Right.

Nehemia: That’s not what I’m trying to do. What I’m saying is, “Let’s understand this in its original history, language and context.” If afterwards you want to say, “Okay, we’ve got to have this theology, we’ve got to have that doctrine,” go right ahead, that’s fine. But first understand it in its original history, language and context.

Keith: So you bring these examples, though, where people are taking it out of context, and your reason for that would be what?

Nehemia: That this is what we’re doing in Prophet Pearls. The pearl here is to understand the original history, language and context, and again, like I said, if you want to take this allegorically or symbolically that’s fine, you can do that. That’s something you need to work out for yourself in fear and trembling with prayer and study before the Creator of the universe, but first understand the literal meaning.

And look, there have been instances where I said, “Here is Nehemia’s homiletical interpretation, here is Nehemia’s explanation which is beyond what it says in the verses,” and first I’m understanding the literal contextual understanding, and then I’m saying, “Okay, maybe here is how I can apply it,” and maybe I’m wrong. That’s fine, that’s my right to do that, and it’s your right to do that. And I’ve got no problem with people who want to do that. What I say is, “If you believe in that, you need to be empowered with information. And I think you’ll have more faith in your faith if you understand the word of God in its original history, language and context.” Can I get an Amen?

Keith: Amen. I believe in that.

Nehemia: Okay, yeah.

Keith: People do need to understand it, so that when you do go… whatever text it is, that you understand what was meant. And we’re not talking about someone’s interpretation, we’re talking about what the actual meaning of the Scripture was. Like I said, language, history and context. And I guess the reason I asked it from an application standpoint is that you have a ministry that you do interact with people that don’t believe like you…

Nehemia: Oh yeah. Some do, some don’t. Jews, Christians, anybody who wants to understand the word of God based on the ancient Hebrew sources, I feel like I’ve been called to empower those people with information.

Keith: Okay.

Nehemia: In a way that doesn’t beat them over the head with, you know, “You must denounce this, or change that…” that’s not what I’m about. You know what? If you want to understand the word of God in the original language, history and context, to go back to the ancient Hebrew sources, that’s what Makor Hebrew Foundation, that’s what nehemiaswall.com is about.

Keith: Okay. And the reason I’m bringing that up, Nehemia, is I do think if someone doesn’t know you, they don’t have a background, they don’t get a chance to watch, as you say, your walk, your journey, they would hear that and say, “Why is he bringing up that example?” Well, you’re bringing up that example not to leave it there, but to say, “Look, here is an example where something is taken out of context, let’s find out what it really does say.”

Nehemia: And I think what the people are doing when they take it out of context is they’re setting up… You know, you’ll have these leaders who will do this, they’re setting up the people to fail, because then all it takes is a little Google search, or reading the word of God is all it takes for someone to come along the verse where they say, “Uh oh, my whole faith was built on this premise that I was taught by some rabbi or some pastor, and Isaiah says the opposite. How come I was never told this?”

Keith: And that’s the empowering.

Nehemia: And that’s the lack of empowerment, when they’re basing themselves on what people say, and it’s not based on Scripture. And one single verse. And it’s not a single verse, a lot of verses will be contrary to what they’re being taught. That’s the foundation of sand, you know. I know you have the BFA International, give your pitch. There are those giant foundation stones that held up the Temple. That’s the image in your ministry. And look, that’s true… Talk about that.

Keith: And I want to say this. So on the other hand, people would say, “Well, Keith, let’s make this an apologetics deal. Every time we hear something, let’s argue about what it isn’t, or something like that, or let’s have a debate.” And you know, Nehemia, from the very beginning you haven’t done so well in terms of wanting to have debates. In fact, we’ve gotten into situations where what I was doing was based on your willingness or unwillingness to have a debate, and I actually want to tell you I’m glad you didn’t enter into those types of things. Because I’m not sure what the end result is of those who say, “We want to spend our time debating.” If I’m coming to debate, I’m coming with what I already believe in. I’m not coming to try to hear you, I’m coming to fight you. [laughing] And if you’re coming to a debate you’re coming to do what you do, and so we don’t even get into debates. Isn’t it fair? I mean, we don’t get into those types of debates. What we do get into…

Nehemia: Well, I think what we’re doing is walking on the common ground, searching for the truth together. And there are things that we won’t agree on, and that’s fine.

Keith: And there are things we don’t agree on, and there are things that we talk about that aren’t public, and there are things that we talk about that aren’t radio…

Nehemia: And here’s the other thing...

Keith: I want to say something about it. What frustrates me, I have to just be honest. What frustrates me is I just feel like there’s so much - and we talked about this when we did the issue of positivity - there is so much negative out there, and there is so much confusion that’s out there. It’s so refreshing to me when we do open the Scripture and we get to the Scripture and we say, “Let’s look at this, what does it say? What did Isaiah mean? How can we apply it today?” And all that other stuff that these people do is just… I’ve got to be honest, it’s frustrating to me and sometimes it’s embarrassing. Can I say that? It’s embarrassing, the sorts of things that are being taught out there and the people are taking without checking it for themselves, and then they go and they bring it to someone. And I don’t know how many lunches and dinners I’ve been at with you where someone comes and says, “Can I give you my theory based on the Hebrew?” And they don’t know what they’re talking about! It’s frustrating to me. So that’s it.

Nehemia: I feel your frustration, Keith. Here’s my appeal to people, which is… what I’m asking people to do is, you know what? Don’t take everything I say, go check it for yourself and if you studied it for yourself and you’ve interacted with it yourself and you’ve worked it out for yourself in fear and trembling, with prayer and study, and you say, “You know what, Nehemia is wrong. He read that verse and he didn’t understand it.” That’s fine. I don’t have a problem with that. I want you to be able to interact with it yourself, and if that’s where God leads you, that’s where the Creator of the universe leads you, then that’s part of your walk and your experience with God, and that’s fine.

But I think it’s worthwhile to know what the other side has to say, and sometimes I’ll bring the Christian or the Messianic side, even though I disagree with it, so people know what that is. So my Jewish brothers and sisters will know what that is. I do think it’s important to know what both sides of the argument are.

Keith: Awesome.

Nehemia: And both perspectives, because I’ll talk to people and they’ll say, “How is it that you don’t see XYZ?” and I’ll say, “Okay, let’s just read the verse together,” and they are like, “Wow, how come it never even occurred to me, what you just said?” And I think it’s better to prepare people with that. Meaning, okay, you want to say that this refers to whatever, that’s fine, but first know what the other perspective is and then if you still want to say it, that’s fine. You know, that’s part of your walk with the Creator of the universe, work it out with prayer and study, fear and trembling. Can I get an Amen?

Keith: Amen. Well, I only have one thing else I want to say. “Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain. When he was but one, I called him. Then I blessed him and multiplied him.” As I’m sitting here today, and I’m looking in the land right now where there are a multitude of people who could look to Abraham and say, “Abraham is our father.” And did He not do this? Did He not bless him? Did He not multiply him? He says, “Look up to the stars, you can’t count how many people will come from you.” And I’m sitting here and I just have to say, “Wow. Isn’t that the truth?”

Nehemia: Yeah.

Keith: He called him and He multiplied him.

Nehemia: Amen.

Keith: And there’s one more verse, you could talk about it.

Nehemia: Go ahead. Read it.

Keith: “And indeed Yehovah will comfort Zion,” back to comfort, comfort, comfort, comfort.

Nehemia: Nikham, nikham.

Keith: Yes, “He will comfort all her waste places and her wilderness He will make like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Yehovah.” By the way, I’ve got to tell you folks, if you’ve never been to Israel, there are times where you’ll be out in the desert, it feels like it’s the desert and then you’ll look over and you’ll see palm trees. Or you’ll look over and see all these green things just shooting out of the ground in the middle of the desert. [laughing]

Nehemia: Or there is a spring of water, yeah.

Keith: “And her desert like the garden of Yehovah. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and sound of a melody.” In fact, that’s what I want to do right now, I want to go out and sing. I want to go out and thank Him. I want to go out and look around and say, “Boy, it’s amazing to be in the land, to look at it and to say, ‘You know what? This was prophetically spoken by Isaiah. How many things changed since Isaiah spoke? How many shifts, how many governments, how many groups, how many people? And now I can go out with joy and gladness today and be found in her joy and gladness today.’”

You know, folks, if you’re listening - you are listening - tomorrow morning we’re actually going to be going to the Temple Mount. And Nehemia did a really great thing. I want to talk about this more after we come back, but you did something. You called and checked, to say, “Okay, we’re coming on a Wednesday.” They said, “You might not want to come on a Thursday.” Why? Because there will be many Bar Mitzvahs and Bat Mitzvahs or whatever that are taking place.

And if you’ve ever been… you have, of course. Whether it’s weddings or something like that where you see the joy of the people singing and dancing, and you’ve talked about the Torah scroll being brought through the streets, and the police stopping the streets. This actually happens. “Joy and gladness found in her.” Yes, there are sirens. Yes, there are terrorists. Even this week, again, Nehemia, we’ve had two terrorist attacks. One in Tel Aviv that just took place on Monday, which would have been yesterday, and the one that took place last Friday. These things are happening. It’s reality here. But there’s also reality that we hear joy and gladness in the streets.

So with that, it’s your turn to… if you’d like to, maybe you have a song. Maybe you don’t, maybe you want to sing.

Nehemia: I don’t have a song. I do have a prayer. Yehovah, the comforter of Zion. Yehovah, I ask for You to comfort Your people, to comfort Your city Jerusalem and Your people Israel, and all those who call on Your name, Yehovah. Yehovah, I ask You to open up our eyes so that we may see the wonderful hidden things of Your Torah. Yehovah, I ask those who know that they have the truth to open up their eyes to the other perspective, and may that strengthen their knowledge of the truth, not to undermine their faith or to destroy their faith, Yehovah, I speak this before You and I say, open the eyes of those who are convinced they have the truth to understand the other perspective so that it strengthens them in their knowledge of You and their understanding of You.

And, Yehovah, I come before You in humility and say, “I do not have all the answers. I do not have everything. I don’t know everything. There are many things that are hidden to me and unknown to me.” And I ask You to uncover my eyes to know those things. And I’m so grateful that You let me hear all these different perspectives, and I know sometimes I’ll first hear that perspective, Yehovah, and I’ll think, “How ridiculous, how silly.” And as I pray and I study before You and come before You in humility, You open my eyes and I see, wow, what I didn’t think was true before, now I realize how deep and profound and beautiful that is. And I ask You to give me that beautiful knowledge, that beautiful, comforting knowledge of Your truth, because that’s all I’ve ever wanted, Yehovah, is Your truth. To know You and to understand Your word. Amen.

Keith: Amen.

Thank you for listening to Prophet Pearls with Nehemia Gordon and Keith Johnson. For more information, please visit BFAInternational .com.