This is a long post, so to eliminate any confusion from the start: the judge is G-d, not Jesus. G-d alone. Y'shayahu / Isaiah chapters 40 - 66 speak to the Jewish nation who G-d exiles as a punishment for the nation's lack of observance. The Jewish nation is judged both as a whole and each individual Jew is also judged. Missionaries often miss the distinction that while individual Jews may be righteous, the entire Jewish people are judged both individually and as a nation. This national judgment is because Jews committed to a covenant (contract) with G-d at Mount Sinai and thus we are, as a whole, one people. This concept is called "עַרְבוּת / arvut / guarantee." Each Jew has a responsibility to ensure that his fellow Jew is Torah observant. If individuals sin because we, as a community, failed them -- each Jew bears a burden of responsibility for his brothers and sisters. Thus the nation was exiled not for the sins of all Jews-- but for the sins of some. Not all Jews were evil, but it is incumbent upon the good and righteous to help lead the others to observance. In chapters 40 - 66 of Isaiah G-d consoles the Jews-- even as we head into exile. G-d tells us that our exile will not last forever. One day we will be redeemed and returned to the land of Israel. None of this happened in the time of Jesus. The Jews were not in exile (a majority of Jews lived outside of Judah, aka "Israel", but the Jews in the land were not exiled during Jesus' lifetime). Also all Jews were not returned to the land in Jesus' lifetime -- this is an actual messianic prophecy, and Jesus failed to fulfill it. Y'shayahu / Isaiah 45 begins with G-d calling Cyrus G-d's messiah (anointed one). Begin with the last line of chapter 44: "Who says of Cyrus, "He is My shepherd, and all My desire he shall fulfill," and to say of Jerusalem, "It shall be built, and the Temple shall be founded." So said the L-rd לִמְשִׁיחוֹ֘ / to His messiah / his anointed one, to Cyrus, whose right hand I held, to flatten nations before him, and the loins of kings I will loosen, to open portals before him, and gates shall not be closed." Y'shayahu / Isaiah 44:28 - 45:1. Cyrus was the Persian King Kūrush (or " Cyrus the Great"). Cyrus (Koresh) gained control of the Babylonian Empire in 539 BCE, and that was 47 years after the First Temple was destroyed. G-d (through Isaiah) is saying that He will strengthen Cyrus ("I (G-d) will go before you, and I will straighten out crooked paths" -- Y'shayahu / Isaiah 45:2). G-d would allow Cyrus to overcome other nations. It is Cyrus who will give the edict (spoken about in Daniel 9, too) that the Jews may return to the land of Israel from their exile in Babylon. And G-d calls Cyrus His messiah. Cyrus was not Jewish, and he was not a Jewish messiah. He was the leader of Babylon so his anointing (we can only guess) was according to the standards of his own country. In modern times Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom was anointed in her coronation -- making her a messiah by the larger definition of the word. The word מָשִׁיחַ / moshiach / messiah appears 39 times in the T'nach. Many missionaries think there is only one messiah -- and that the word refers to a non-human god-like entity (Jesus). In reality the word מָשִׁיחַ / moshiach / messiah translates to "anointed one" and there are many "messiahs" in the bible. The image is a coin from around 135 BCE. The inscription reads "Y'hochanan Kohen Gadol / high priest Chever HaY'hudim / Y'hochanan the High Priest, Council of the Jews." All of the high priests are considered messiahs. The first messiah mentioned in the T'nach (bible) is Aaron, Moses' brother. Aaron is anointed as the high priest (כהן גדול / kohen gadol) to the Jewish nation and his male descendants inherit that anointing in an unbroken chain which exists even today. Here is an instance of Aaron being called a messiah: "If הַכֹּהֵן הַמָּשִׁיחַ / HaKohen HaMoshiach / the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt to the people, then he shall bring for his sin which he has committed, an unblemished young bull as a sin offering to the L-rd." Vayikra / Leviticus 4:3. A Jewish king or priest need not be personally anointed to be a messiah if the line is an unbroken chain (as is Aaron's). The Davidic line was broken and thus the messiah must be properly anointed to be a messiah (and this did not happen with Jesus who was not eligible to be a messiah and was never so anointed). King Saul is called a messiah by David. "Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the L-rd delivered you (Saul) today into my hand in the cave, and (one) said to kill you, but (my soul) had pity on you, and I said, 'I shall not stretch forth my hand against my lord, for he is מְשִׁ֥יחַ יְיָ֖ / moshiach HaShem / the L-rd's anointed.'" Shmuel Alef / 1 Samuel 24:11. King David is also called a messiah in the bible many times including Chavakuk / Habakkuk 3:13 which is about both Saul and David and T'hillim / Psalm 132:17 to name just two. . . The point being that the term translated as "messiah" means anointed one -- and Jesus was never anointed as a king or priest of the Jewish people. Quite literally he was never "a" messiah. When we speak of "the" messiah the term relates to a descendant of Kings David and Solomon who will fulfill the messianic prophecies. . . that person has not yet arrived. . . This chapter also mentions that G-d alone creates good and evil. There is no devil -- there is only one G-d. " "In order that they know from the shining of the sun and from the west that there is no one besides Me; I am the L-rd and there is no other. Who forms light and creates darkness, Who makes peace and creates evil; I am the L-rd, Who makes all these." Y'shayahu / Isaiah 45:6 - 7. Jesus is not G-d. Only G-d is G-d, and G-d is one. I am the L-rd and there is no other. G-d is the only savior. Not Jesus. "You are a G-d Who conceals Himself, the G-d of Israel, the Savior." Isaiah 45:15. G-d concealed Himself "Israel shall be saved by the L-rd [with] an everlasting salvation; you shall neither be ashamed nor disgraced to all eternity." Isaiah 45:17. D'varim / Deuteronomy 33:29 also says that the Jewish people are “a nation that has been saved by HaShem” Note that, in both verses, the words used were “has been saved” or "continually being saved" -- but again this is speaking of our physical existence -- not our immortal souls which are perfect and do not need to be saved. Why bother explaining the meaning of "messiah" as well as the various verses in this chapter the lit maker ignores? Because one can only make sense of the passages in the bible by reading them in context. The judge in Y'shayahu / Isaiah 45:23 is not Jesus. It is G-d. The one G-d who creates good and evil and who saves the Jewish people. "For so said the L-rd, the Creator of heaven, Who is G-d, Who formed the earth and made it, He established it; He did not create it for a waste, He formed it to be inhabited, "I am the L-rd and there is no other." Y'shayahu / Isaiah 45:18. "Declare and present, let them even take counsel together; who announced this from before, [who] declared it from then? Is it not I, the L-rd, and there are no other gods besides Me, a just and saving G-d there is not besides Me." Y'shayahu / Isaiah 45:21. No Jesus. No trinity. One G-d. G-d who does not change. "I HaShem do not change ." Malachi 3:6. Any "god" we did not know at Sinai is a false god -- and no Jew at Sinai ever heard of Jesus. D'varim / Deuteronomy 11:28 and D'varim / Deuteronomy 13:3. "Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am G-d, and there is no other." Y'shayahu / Isaiah 45:22. Turn to G-d. Not Jesus. G-d will save you. There is no other. So, now -- read the line the list maker claims is about Jesus: "By Myself I swore, righteousness emanated from My mouth, a word, and it shall not be retracted, that to Me shall every knee kneel, every tongue shall swear.""Y'shayahu / Isaiah 45:23. G-d. Not Jesus. "By Myself" Alone. So John 5:22 may claim Jesus is the judge -- but the very verse the list maker claimed "proved" John 5:22 to be true actually proves the opposite. The author of John 5:22 lied. G-d is the judge, not Jesus. John 5:22 says "For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment [that is, the prerogative of judging] to the Son [placing it entirely into His hands]." But G-d, through His prophet Isaiah, says "By Myself I swore, righteousness emanated from My mouth, a word, and it shall not be retracted, that to Me shall every knee kneel, every tongue shall swear."" Y'shayahu / Isaiah 45:23. Romans 14:11 does not speak of Jesus at all -- so it in no way "proves" the list maker's claim. "It is written: "'As surely as I live,' says the L-rd, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge G-d.'" In fact line 10 of Romans 14 says "For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God [who alone is judge]." G-d, not Jesus. In Y'shayahu / Isaiah 45 G-d claims that righteousness comes from Him, and no other. Every person in the world will ultimately recognize only G-d. Even so, Israel will maintain their unique relationship with G-d. Those who were G-d’s “opponents” will be ashamed of it, while Israel will take pride for knowing the one true G-d before it was universal among the nations. It is therefore amazingly ironic that the list maker chose any line in this chapter as a "proof" for Jesus claim as either a messiah let alone as part of a triune god. If there is one "take away" from the blog posts exploring the list of 365 prophecies claimed to be about Jesus it is this: read the passages IN CONTEXT for yourself. You do not need to take my word for anything. Read the passages for yourself -- and quickly enough the missionary claims dissipate and dissolve.
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