For a long time the oldest manuscripts of the Old Testament was the Masoretic text from the 7th to the 10th century AD.Then in 1947 and 1948 a an Arab bedo:uin discovered the Qumran caves that were full of old scrolls. The most famous was a near complete scroll if the Prophet Isaiah, dated to about 150 before Christ. While there were numerous minor textual differences between the copies, none of them mattered much. Or so I was told. The Tübingen School (Tübinger Schule) was a highly influential 19th-century German theological movement at the University of Tübingen that pioneered the historical-critical method of biblical research. They proved that Isaiah 53 was a later addition to the book of Isiah. one of their argument came from the 17th-century Jewish historian, Raphael Levi. He admitted that long ago the rabbis used to read Isaiah 53 in synagogues, but after the chapter caused “arguments and great confusion” the rabbis decided that the simplest thing would be to just take that prophecy out of the Haftarah readings in synagogues. That’s why today when they read Isaiah 52, they stop in the middle of the chapter, and the week after, they jump straight to Isaiah 54.
But it is even more remarkable than that. There is one word missing from the Masoretic text that is found both is the Dead Sea scroll and the Greek Septuagint translation. Here is the difference in Isaiah 53:11
The first translation is the King James translation. It follows the Masoretic text and says see and be satisfied.
The second translation incorporates the Dead Sea scroll (also in the Septuagint) missing word: see the light of life and be satisfied. The light of life is one word in Hebrew and means come to life or resurrection.
When the early Christians had an opportunity to read the Bible, most of them could not read Hebrew at all, but some could read Greek and read the Septuagint Isaiah 53 with light of life included. Could it be that the light of life was taken out of the Masoretic text because the Jews wanted badly to have Isaiah 53 refer to the rebirth of the state of Israel after many years of suffering?
The second question is: When did it or will this happen? The answer is found in Daniel 9:26
The answer is: Before the destruction of both Jerusalem and the Temple in AD 70. This means the Messiah was resurrected somewhere before AD 70.
The third question is: To whom did the Messiah give His message? As is shown here in Jeremiah 31:31-34 it was initially given to the people of Israel
The Israel people lived under the Mosaic and Davidic covenants, which involved animal and other sacrifices to obtain forgiveness for a time. Once a year during the day of Atonement the High Priest the High Priest went in to the Holy of Holiest to clear the people from their unwittingly committed sins during the previous year. The next year it had to be performed again. The wilful sins had to be atoned for separately. To be a good Jew you must not only eat kosher food, but prepare it ahead before sabbath. A different process was to be followed if there was a double sabbath, the maximum length of a sabbath day’s journey, how to give tithing of cumin and other small spices so as not to give too much or too little, the proper way to fast and so on. This was later documented in the Talmud.
The prophet Jeremiah lived just before the people of Judah was taken into 70 years of captivity in Babylon, so when this prophesy was given it was taken to mean that the Messiah would come and restore the grandeur of Israel and save it from all oppressors. So at the time of Jesus the 69 “weeks” given in Daniel 9 had passed, so people were looking for the Messiah. At precisely the 10th day of Nisan Jesus rode in to Jerusalem on an unbroken colt of a donkey. This was the sign given in Zechariah 9:9 so the people gathered and shouted “Hosanna” which means “save us, we pray”. They meant “save us from the evil Roman rule.” But instead Jesus went into the temple and overturned the merchants tables and caused a commotion. This was the final straw for the Jews. Not only did he claim he was God, he forgave sins, he was doing miracles on sabbath, he also rejected the Talmud as being only the traditions of men. Through a sham trial he was tortured, flogged, crucified, killed and buried. That should have been the end of the story, but to be sure the disciples would not come and steal the body and say he was resurrected the Jews put up a guard to protect the tomb with their lives.
The end of the story is that Jesus did resurrect, proving the resurrection prophecy true, and that changed the world. Under the old covenant the holy spirit came upon the prophet as God spoke through him. Under the new covenant the Holy Spirit takes residence as they repent and believe. Initially it is only the new covenant with Israel.
But then it will speak about “his neighbor.” This is all mankind. The new covenant is for Jews, Christians, Muslims and even Hindus, Buddhists, Chinese and all people. There is now a great revival and awakening occurring i the world. Young people are coming to Christ in ever increasing numbers. In Iran there were maybe a handful domestic believers 60 years ago. Now there are over a million. Muslims all over the world have dreams about Jesus and have come to believe. In China there are probably more than 70 million believers. It is a worldwide awakening.
Len Bilén's blog, a blog about faith, politics and the environment. 