Y'shayahu / Isaiah 25 has the prophet praising G-d -- and the chapter says not one word about resurrection, let alone predicting the resurrection of the messiah. There are no prophecies that the messiah will die and be resurrected. Not one. The messianic prophecies about resurrection are that the righteous dead will be brought back to life in the messianic era. In Y'shayahu / Isaiah 25 the prophet tells G-d that he will praise Him for "You have dealt wondrously; counsels from long ago in true faith." (verse 1). Indeed, this entire chapter speaks of G-d and the Jews. It tells how G-d defeated enemies of the Jews (Israel) so badly that their cities never to be rebuilt. The once defeated, and powerful again, nations will honor G-d, These nations helped care for the Jews in bad times and G-d will reward them. At the same time G-d will humble the large number of Israel’s enemies -- those who take up arms against Israel will be destroyed by G-d. What of verse 8, the claimed prophetic verse which fortells the resurrecction of Jesus? It says "He has concealed death forever, and the L-rd G-d shall wipe the tears off every face, and the shame of His people He shall remove from upon the entire earth, for the L-rd has spoken." Concealing death forever -- has death been hidden away? Nope. This has not happened yet. Concealing death forever -- does this speak of the messiah? Nope. It is speaking about death being gone for ALL people in the age of the true messiah. Resurrection is the idea that a person comes back to life after death. Not that death is concealed (never happens). Phrased another way concealing death forever means that death will stop. Has death stopped? Nope. This is indeed a messianic prophecy, and yet another one Jesus failed to fulfill proving that he was not the promised messiah. Death still exists, even after Jesus. How does a missionary take a verse which speaks of "people" (plural) and state that it is only about one person (Jesus)? The missionary must assume that his / her readers are never going to bother to read the verse for themselves. Can we blame this list maker? Probably not, because 1 Corinthians 15:54 does quote Y'shayahu / Isaiah 25:8. Yet, most Christian commentators state that the passage refers to the Jewish people and don't reference it as a prophecy about Jesus as the list maker claims. Y'shayahu / Isaiah 25:8 is stating that G-d will remove death from Israel (this may be why the missionary chose to say this predicts the resurrection of the messiah, but it does not). The Radak opined that this promise of removing death only pertained to death caused by the enemies, not that G-d will remove all death. Some Christian commentaries even remark that this passage "These words, originally referring to the Jewish people." (Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers). G-d will wipe away the tears and the shame caused by Israel’s oppressors. On that day, the Jews will say, “"Behold, this is our G-d: we hoped for Him that He would save us; this is the L-rd for Whom we hoped; let us rejoice and be happy with His salvation." Y'shayahu / Isaiah 25:9. Funny enough the claimed "fulfillment" passage isn't about Jesus' resurrection either. 1 Corinthians 15:54 says "When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” The quote in red is a translation of Y'shayahu / Isaiah 25:8. Interesting enough the NIV translation does refer the reader back to Y'shayahu / Isaiah 25:8 relating to 1 Corinthians 15:54. Matthew Poole's commentary (Christian) states "The quotation which the apostle (Paul) bringeth, is out of those two texts, Isaiah 25:8 Hosea 13:14." Yet even the Christian commentators recognize that Isaiah is speaking of the Jewish people, not about Jesus (or the messiah), so the missionary is misusing this passage presenting it as a prophecy about Jesus' resurrection. In preparing to write this blog post I noticed that the list maker has many, many claims tied to Jesus' resurrection. 58. Job 19:23-27...The Resurrection predicted...John 5:24-29 64. Psalms 2:7, 8...The Crucifixion and Resurrection intimated...Acts 13:29-33 70. Psalms 17;15...The resurrection predicted...Luke 24:6 85. Psalms 22:22.....His Resurrection declared.....John 20:17 91. Psalms 30:3......His resurrection predicted......Acts 2:32 100. Psalms 40:2-5...The joy of His resurrection predicted...John 20:20 109. Psalms 49-15…His Resurrection…Acts 2:27; 13:35, Mark 16:6 147. Psalms 118:17,18...Messiah's Resurrection assured...Luke 24:5-7;1 Corinthians 15:20 The very next on the list is yet another tied to Jesus' resurrection: 190. Isaiah 26:19...His power of Resurrection predicted...John 11:43,44. . . and there are even more on the list. Yet there are no prophecies about a dying and resurrecting messiah. Not one. The messiah must fulfill the messianic prophecies before his death or he is not the messiah. When the messiah comes the righteous will be resurrected and the soul reunited with body; this is why Jews do not believe in cremation or embalming (Isaiah 26). The T'nach seems to tell us that only the righteous will be resurrected (Daniel 12). Yet, there is a school of thought that every Jewish soul that ever lived will be resurrected. “Even the empty ones among you [Israel] are filled with mitzvot as a pomegranate [is filled with seeds]"--Talmud, Berachot 57a and The soul of every Jew is a "veritable portion of G‑d," and as such is eternal and indestructible. Ask yourself: if the T'nach tells us that one day ALL the righteous will be resurrected, how can one person dying and resurrecting be a prophecy about the messiah who is one person? If anything, since all the righteous will resurrect, Jesus' supposed resurrection is the OPPOSITE of a messianic prophecy.
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