 Many people misunderstand what Isaiah 53, this prophecy, what it really means. When you look at the prophecy, and yes, it is a prophecy about Jesus Christ, about his suffering, about his crucifixion. The interesting thing is this prophecy is not to Gentiles, but it's actually for Israel. And even more of note is when this prophecy is to be realized and understood. So for more to see what I'm talking about, let's go to Isaiah 53 and let's read it and we're going to discover something interesting and we've got to figure out why is it written this way. So in 53, you're going to see something interesting immediately. He says, who has believed our message? Well, hearing this, if this is about Jesus, what message? And then notice what you're going to start seeing is the past tense verb used in a lot of these verbs. So who has believed our message? Or some verbs might say who has believed a report. Before we go any further, you understand this passage is also brought up, quoted by Paul in Romans chapter 10. We'll get to that just a little bit, but back to it he says, who has believed our report or our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a tender shoot and like a root out of the parched ground. He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to him. And here we're going to see a lot of these verbs that are in the past tense. He was despised and forsaken, past tense form of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and like one from whom men hide their face. He was despised and we did not esteem. So again, there is this past tense to the verb. And so why would this prophecy about Jesus who has who has not yet been born, who has not been crucified, who has not died, who has not been resurrected? Why would this prophecy looking forward to the future use past tense? Continuing in verse 4, surely our griefs, he himself bore. Again, past tense. This is beginning, if you think about it, it can probably be a little bit confusing. Well, here's the reason why, because this particular passage is not written to Gentiles. Now Gentiles can glean from this, but this is written to Israel. Before we speak on that, I want to go ahead and put this chart of this graph of this picture up to show you really who is writing, obviously Isaiah, but when and why and where. Notice in the bottom right hand corner you see the prophets and you see when they were writing under what conditions. Isaiah is a prophet to the southern kingdom and really this applies to all of Israel, but his prophecy is to speak about what is going to come. They are getting ready to go into exile and you're going to see all these different prophecies that these prophets to the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom give pertaining to Israel being brought back in. Remember, Israel is a not only dysfunctional but a disobedient nation, but God still has a plan for Israel. God is not going to forget about Israel to understand what he is doing with Israel and why he's doing so. Remember, they made him jealous for going after other gods and so in Exodus 32 he says that I'm going to make you jealous and we know he's going to make him jealous with the people who are not a people. He's going to call people who are not as people, someone who was not loved by him and make them beloved to do what to make him jealous of them. That's going to be the Gentiles and then in Jeremiah 31 he speaks about this new covenant, this covenant that they broke, that Israel broke with him that he didn't break, but what is he going to do with them? He's going to make a new covenant with the Jews unlike the covenant that they made with their fathers. He says in 32 it won't be like the covenant which I made with their fathers in that day that I took them out by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them declares the Lord. Now it's important to know what he is going to do in this covenant that God is going to make in this covenant. This is not a conditional covenant, this is an unconditional covenant and God is thus saying what he is going to do unconditioned by the Jews is what God is going to do. He states inversely through in the middle he says I will put my law within them and on their heart I will write it and I will be their God and they shall be my people. They will not teach again each man his neighbor, each man his brother saying know the Lord for they will know me from the least of them to the greatest of them declares the Lord for I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will remember no more. This is about Israel and what he's going to do. If we think about it this has not happened yet at least not fully. There may have been there are some Jews who have come to know Jesus as their Messiah but by and large they have not particularly the nation of Israel. Now also pay attention to what he's saying about the nation in general as a whole that he is going to do with them. In verse 35 he says thus the Lord who gives light who gives sun for the light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar the Lord of hosts is his name. So he's speaking of these things that he's done and look what he how he compares look what he says he says if this fixed order departs from before me declares the Lord then the offspring of Israel will also cease from being a nation before me forever. In other words they're still there. His point is Israel will always be a nation before the Lord forever so his point is he is going to bring Israel back which is what he's always stated that Israel a disobedient nation he is going to bring them back. That takes us to Isaiah back to Isaiah 53 and so what's going to happen is after he has dealt with the Gentiles then he is going to turn his attention to Israel which is why we see this past since as a matter of fact before we go there let's go back let's go to Romans Romans 10 Paul 9 10 and 11 Paul was speaking about Israel how he could wish that he himself could be a curse for his countrymen from the Jews for Israel physical Jews not some sort of spiritual Israel which the Bible doesn't speak up but actual Jews because by and large they are not coming to Christ and Paul is bothered by that and then we get to chapter 10 verse 1 he says brethren my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation for Israel to return or to come to their Messiah for I testify about them that they have a zeal for God but not according to knowledge for not for knowing about God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes the problem is Israel is not believing and so what is he going to do for Israel well he's going to bring them back but when is he going to bring them back and this is going to bring us to an understanding of Isaiah 53 he will do so as he says let's go to chapter 11 and let's start in verse 25 he says I do not want you brethren to be uninformed of this mystery so that you will not be wise in your own estimation what's the mystery the mystery is kind of two fold the Gentiles are coming into Christ but now the Jews are not he says he says this he says that a partial hardening has happened to Israel how long until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in and so this partial hardening will last until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in so what is the fullness of the Gentiles in that is apparently some number allotted some some finality of the Gentiles God having his focus on them bringing them in what's the exact number don't know when will that be we do not know but when the fullness of the Gentiles has come then Paul tells us that he will turn his tension to Israel and look what he says he quotes uh let's go to verse 26 he says and and so all Israel will be saved just as it is written and so he's quoting who he's quoting Isaiah if you look throughout Romans Paul quotes Isaiah at awful lot he says the deliverable come from Zion he will remove ungodliness from Jacob that's going to happen that has not happened yet he is going to remove ungodliness from Israel this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins so he's going to do so it just hasn't happened yet this spirit of stupor that he stated that Paul states has happened to Israel why because he's dealing with the Gentiles now in Romans 10 we won't go over it but Paul is again he goes through actually quoting Isaiah 53 when speaking about salvation for these Jews but he says how shall they hear unless a preacher be sent how should they hear unless someone tells him well the interesting twist is that the Gentiles are now going to be the ones that are going to be taking the gospel to these Jews and then he quotes Isaiah 53 again where it says whose reports shall we believe so let's go back to Isaiah 53 and let's see what he says verse 4 again we're looking at it from the end why is that because when God actually works in Israel this is going to be part of without going too far into it this is going to be part of a fulfillment of the Daniel 9 prophecy these 70 weeks or these 77s that have been prophesied the last seven which has not happened yet he is going to deal with Israel midway through the intensity of this seven-year tribulation is going to be turned up and then Israel is going to be dealt with harshly and what will Israel say this is where this prophecy comes in this Isaiah 53 prophecy is going to come in that's why we use the past tense that's why the prophecy is in the past tense why because Israel will look back on what has happened and they will say oh he was despised he was bruised he verse 4 he he surely has surely our griefs he has bore past tense and our sorrows he carried past tense yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken in other words we crucified him smitten of God and afflicted past tense but he was pierced through for our transgression other verses might say but he was wounded past tense he was wounded or pierced through for our transgressions past tense he was crushed or bruised past tense for our iniquity this is what Israel is going to be saying in that day looking back to what happened in the cross they know the stories and God will touch their hearts much the same way actually the same way that he did with the Gentiles and he says the chastisement of for our well-being fail past tense upon him and by his scourging we are healed now some are going to say well what this is referring to is a physical healing it is not referring to a physical healing though physical healing did occur if we go to Matthew 8 what we're going to see is we're going to see people being healed and I understand from this people say well then this particular verse in Isaiah is speaking of people being physically healed that's not what's happening here he's going to reference them why because these Jews in the past are going to be able to look back and see this is what happened then so let's go to chapter 8 this is after Peter's mother-in-law who was sick Jesus heals and then in verse 17 I'm sorry let's go to verse 16 when even came chapter 8 verse 16 they brought to him many who were demon possessed and he cast out spirits with the word and healed those who were ill this was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet he himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases so again this is to be spoken of Isaiah and again the past tense are going to be used why because the Jews in that day when God afflicts them and then touches their heart they will look back and they'll say you know what he did heal people he did bear people's infirmities and he was bruised he was crushed for our and all these past tense verbs are going to make sense when they say so notice notice how Peter puts it in first Peter chapter 2 verse 24 he says and he that's Jesus obviously himself bore past tense our sins in his body on the cross he's referring he's he's partially quoting Isaiah 53 on the cross so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness we know he's speaking about Israel because it says for by his wounds we were healed for you were continually straying like sheep that's not the Gentiles that is the Jews that's Israel continually straying like sheep but now you have returned to the shepherd and guarding of your soul so he's speaking now in this case he's speaking to these Jews who have been scattered abroad but the point of Isaiah 53 is to convey this prophecy that they will look back at a certain time at a certain point we don't know when and repeat these words all of Israel at least those who God will save now all of Israel will be saved not every single person of the nation is going to be saved we find that out because Paul says so but he he is going to deal with that particular nation the focal point of the tribulation others also will also find salvation during the tribulation but the focal point will be Israel and they will look back and they will make this statement so I hope that this is help I hope this gives you a clear picture of what Isaiah 53 is for now does that mean that we can't glean as Gentiles anything from Isaiah 53 no we absolutely can because we already appreciate that or at least we should hopefully we appreciate what was done but he is still going to because he says Israel will always continue to be a nation before him and so he after he finishes showering love on us which is a wonderful thing he is then going to turn his attention back to Israel and then he'll take two and make it into one flock where he will be the shepherd forever amen