The next 100+ claims of "prophecies" Jesus fulfilled are tied to Sefer Y'shayahu / the Book of Isaiah, thirty-seven alone are tied to chapter 53! So let's get comfortable! The irony of so many claims being tied to the book of Isaiah is that the prophet destroys Christianity with one sentence found in the very first chapter: "Of what use are your many sacrifices to Me? says the L-rd. I am sated with the burnt-offerings of rams and the fat of fattened cattle; and the blood of bulls and sheep and hegoats I do not want." Y'shayahu / Isaiah 1:11! G-d does not want or need sacrifices. So then what purpose does the murder of Jesus serve? How could his "sacrificial death" be a requirement for the salvation of man when G-d does not even want sacrifices? Not surprisingly the missionary list maker does NOT reference Y'shayahu / Isaiah 1:11! Missionaries seem think there was some "magic" in blood sacrifices and this is not supported by the Jewish bible. Indeed sacrifices were not so much for G-d as they were a gift from G-d. The Rambam explained this when he told us that G-d doesn't need sacrifices. Man does. In other words, the Jews were used to bringing sacrifices and this is why G-d permitted them. Qorban gave man a way to feel closer to G-d by giving Him something of value (be it money, flour, an animal, etc.). In pagan religions the gods were bloodthirsty and needed blood to be satisfied. In Judaism G-d permitted man to bring sacrifices because man needed them -- He needs nothing. Maimonides, aka the Rambam, suggested that qorban (sacrifice) was ordained as an accommodation of man's primitive desires. In his Guide to the Perplexed (3:46), the Rambam explains that the nations of the world that worshiped animals generally worshipped one of three domestic animals: either sheep (as did the Egyptians, Targum Onkeles Sh'mot / Exodus 8:22), goats (as in Vayikra / Leviticus 17:7) or cows (as in India, until today). Now reconsider Isaiah's first chapter: "Of what use are your many sacrifices to Me? says the L-rd. I am sated with the burnt-offerings of rams and the fat of fattened cattle; and the blood of bulls and sheep and hegoats I do not want." Y'shayahu / Isaiah 1:11. Note too, the Rambam's comment that all sacrifices which were allowed were not only kosher domestic animals, but they were also animals worshiped by pagans -- so killing them showed the power of G-d over false gods who could not stop their earthly representatives from being slaughtered in His name. But humans were NEVER sacrificed -- yet again destroying the concept of Jesus as a sacrificial offering. G-d forbids and abhors human sacrifice. The death of Jesus (if he ever even lived) couldn't have atoned for the sins of anyone -- he was simply murdered by the Romans as were tens of thousands of Jews. The Torah vehemently FORBIDS human sacrifices. Vayikra / Leviticus 18:21; "you shall not give any of your offspring to pass through for Molech. And you shall not profane the Name of your G-d. I am the L-rd." (Molech was a false god, but the point is that human sacrifices profane the name of G-d and are forbidden). Vayikra / Leviticus 24; "if a man strikes down any human being he shall be put to death.. . . one who strikes a person shall be put to death. . . One law shall be exacted for you, convert and resident alike, for I am the L-rd, your G-d. Got that? Jesus' murder by the Romans was not legal per Jewish law. The Jews had lost the right to pass the death penalty and Jesus (per the Christian bible) had not committed a crime warranting the death penalty. The trial of Jesus as described in the Christian bible could never have happened -- it went against Jewish law (we can discuss the trial at another time). The point being that a human death is NOT a sacrifice, it is an abomination to G-d. This first claim is yet again another misuse of a biblical quote. In Y'shayahu / Isaiah 2:1-4 we are told that in the messianic age the entire world will turn to the one true G-d and G-d will teach the world to know Him and His Torah "out of Zion shall the Torah come forth, and the word of the L-rd from Jerusalem." Y'shayahu / Isaiah 2:1-4 It has nothing to do with Jesus. It has nothing to do with the messiah. Jesus did not fulfill anything in this passage. Read line 4: "And he shall judge between the nations and reprove many peoples, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift the sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore."
Now, many missionaries will say that Jesus will do all of this in his "second coming" which is not biblical either (no second coming), but then it cannot be claimed by the list maker as "fulfilled" by Jesus for the purposes of the prophecies Jesus has already fulfilled. Out of context. Not applicable. Jesus did not "do it." The promises of Y'shayahu / Isaiah 2:1-5 are not in any way tied to Luke 24:27 which reads "And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself." How does that fulfill the promises of G-d teaching the world, the end of weapons and the end of war as prophesied in Y'shayahu / Isaiah 2:1-5? It does not. The book of Isaiah is the first book of נביאים אחרונים / Nevi'im Aharonim -- the later prophets. This section includes the books of Y'shayahu / Isaiah, Y'rmiyahu /Jeremiah and Y'chezkel / Ezekiel and Trei Asar /The Twelve minor prophets. This section follows נביאים ראשונים / Nevi'im Rishonim -- the early prophets consist of histories of the Jewish people with the messages they (the prophets) communicated to the people from G-d. It consists of the books of Y'hoshua / Joshua, Shoftim / Judges, Shmuel / Samuel and M'lachim / Kings). Whereas the early prophets focus on recording our history, נביאים אחרונים / Nevi'im Aharonim -- the later prophets focuses on messages from G-d which had great importance not just to the people of their time, but the people of future generations including us. Prophecy is always based on p'shat (plain meaning), but these books are also replete with metaphors, symbolism and allegory as well as also recording our history as a people. There is historical overlap between many of the books in the later prophets and the earlier prophets as well. Isaiah was related to the royal family. His father was Amotz, the brother to Amatziah, King of Judah. In the first chapter Isaiah castigates the Jewish people for having rebelled against G-d. The people continue to bring sacrifices and "go through the motions" but they are insincere. G-d (through Isaiah) pleads with them to "Wash, cleanse yourselves, remove the evil of your deeds from before My eyes, cease to do evil. Learn to do good, seek justice, strengthen the robbed, perform justice for the orphan, plead the case of the widow." Y'shayahu / Isaiah 1:16 - 17 In other words: repent of your sins and try to be good people. THIS is what G-d wants, not sacrifices or "belief" in a false god such as Jesus. Yet again chapter 1 proves the idea of Jesus dying as a way to atone for the sins of people is unbiblical. Chapter 1 tells us: "Come now, let us debate, says the L-rd. If your sins prove to be like crimson, they will become white as snow; if they prove to be as red as crimson dye, they shall become as wool." Y'shayahu / Isaiah 1:18 If we repent and turn to G-d, He forgives our sins and does not need or even want sacrifices. So the 100+ claims of the list maker, including the thirty-seven tied to chapter 53, are destroyed in the very first words of the book. Total nonsense.
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