"Hearken, you islands, to me, and listen closely, you nations, from afar; the L-rd called me from the womb, from the innards of my mother He mentioned my name." Y'shayahu / Isaiah 49:1. Since this statement was made 700 years before Jesus was born just who do you think is speaking? Perhaps the author himself (Isaiah) since the passage says he was called from the womb ("me"). Again, the list maker takes a passage that has nothing to do with the messiah or Jesus and claims it is about Jesus. Why? One can only assume because Jesus, like every human other than Adam and Chava (Eve) came from a womb! G-d had marked Isaiah as His prophet (His spokesman) from before his birth. G-d gave Isaiah a mouth “like a sword,” with which to rebuke the wicked. "He made my mouth like a sharp sword, He concealed me in the shadow of His hand; and He made me into a polished arrow, He hid me in His quiver." Y'shayahu / Isaiah 49:2. Again "me." Isaiah. "My mouth." Isaiah. The very next line gives the death knell to the list maker's claim that this is a prophecy about Jesus. "And He said to me, "You are My servant, Israel, about whom I will boast."" Y'shayahu / Isaiah 49:3. 700 years before Jesus G-d made Isaiah His messenger. The message was to warn the Jewish people to return to G-d in repentance. Israel is G-d's servant, but the Jewish nation (as a whole, not all individual Jews) have often been blind and deaf to His message. The one called from the womb to be G-d's servant in Y'shayahu / Isaiah 49:1 is the prophet Isaiah. In the T'nach various individual people are identified as G-d's servant. The Jewish nation as a whole (singular) is also identified often as G-d's servant.
Time and again the prophet Y'shayahu / Isaiah declares that Israel (the Jewish people) are G-d's servant. Y'shayahu / Isaiah 41:8 - 9. "But you, Israel My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, who loved Me, Whom I grasped from the ends of the earth, and from its nobles I called you, and I said to you, "You are My servant"; I chose you and I did not despise you." and Y'shayahu / Isaiah 44:1. "And now, hearken, Jacob (Jacob's name was changed to Israel and Jews are often called "Jacob" and "Israel") My servant, and Israel whom I have chosen. 2. So said HaShem your Maker, and He Who formed you from the womb shall aid you. Fear not, My servant Jacob, and Jeshurun (the Jews) whom I have chosen." and Y'shayahu / Isaiah 44:21 "Remember these things, O Jacob, for you are my servant, O Israel. I have made you, you are my servant; O Israel, I will not forget you." and Y'shayahu / Isaiah 45:4. "For the sake of My servant Jacob, and Israel My chosen one, and I called to you by your name; I surnamed you, yet you have not known Me." and Y'shayahu / Isaiah 49:3 - 7. "And He said to me (Isaiah), "You are My servant, Israel, about whom I will boast. . . This is what HaShem says- the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel- to him who was despised and abhorred by the nations, to the servant of rulers: "Kings will see you and rise up, princes will see and bow down, because of HaShem , who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you." The topic of G-d's servant will become a much bigger theme as we approach that favorite missionary chapter Y'shayahu / Isaiah 53. Y'shayahu / Isaiah 49:1:6 is one of four "servant songs" in the book of Isaiah.
Although Isaiah is sometimes identified as the servant, as are others (as shown above) including the Jewish nation as a singular entity, the passage claimed in this supposed prophecy is not a prophecy at all. Isaiah is speaking of himself as having been tapped, even before his birth, as G-d's prophet. Matthew 1:18, the supposed "proof" that this is a prophecy in Isaiah, is nothing more than the statement about "This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about[d]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit." This very statement would disqualify Jesus from ever being a messiah. The Messiah (moshiach ben David -- the messiah son of David) must be descended on his father's side from King David (see B'reshit / Genesis 49:10, Y'shayahu / Isaiah 11:1, Y'rmiyahu / Jeremiah 23:5, 33:17; Yechezkel / Ezekiel 34:23-24). If the virgin birth story was true, and Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus then Jesus did not even have the most basic right to even try to be the messiah. The T'nach (Jewish bible) makes it clear that the messiah must be descended from King David and King David's son Solomon. Some missionaries will claim that the "promise" that the throne must pass through Solomon is conditional, but this is untrue. Shmuel Beit / 2 Samuel 7:12-16 – When your days (King David) will be completed and you will lie with your forefathers, then I shall raise up your seed after you, that which will issue from your loins, and I shall establish his kingdom. (13) He shall build a Temple for My sake, and I shall make firm the throne of his kingdom forever. And then read Divrei Hayamim Alef / 1 Chronicles 22:9-10 – Behold a son will be born to you; he will be a man of peace, and I shall give him peace from all his enemies around about, for Solomon will be his name, and I shall give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. (10) He shall build a House in My Name, and he shall be to Me as a son, and I to him as a Father, and I shall prepare the throne of his kingdom forever. And while you're at it read M'lachim Alef / 1 Kings 8:15-20; Divrei Hayamim Alef / 1 Chronicles 17:11-15, 22:9-10, and 28:3-7. Torah is clear that the messiah must be a physical offspring of both David and Solomon. The Torah specifies that blood rights, such as tribal lineage, are transmitted exclusively from a father to his biological sons. Whenever the Israelites were selected to serve in the army, it was done "according to the house of their father (Bamidbar / Numbers 1:17 - 18). "Who is a Jew" passes maternally (see D'varim / Deuteronomy 7:1–5, Vayikra / Leviticus 24:10, and Ezra 10:2–3) and lineage (tribal status) passes paternally (by the father -- assuming one first has a Jewish mother) -- and ALL of this is found in the written Torah. Sh'mot / Exodus 6:14, 6:25, B'midbar / Numbers 17:21, 34:14, 36:1, Y'hoshua / Joshua 14:1, 19:51, 21:1, 22:14, Ezra 1:5, 2:59, 2:68, 3:12, 4:2-3, 8:1, 10:16; N'ḥemyah / Nehemiah 7:61, 7:69-70, 8:13, 12:12, 12:22-23. According to the Torah, lineage/pedigree, a blood right, is passed exclusively by a biological father to his sons. Ergo the virgin birth totally disqualifies Jesus from being the messiah. Mary's womb was promised to her husband, Joseph and if she had a child from anyone but her husband (and he was her husband, not her fiancee) that child had no tribal status and most certainly was not in line to be a king (messiah) of the Jewish people. What of being called from the womb? The T'nach mentions the Jewish people (Israel) Y'shayahu / Isaiah 44:2 and 24, Samson (Shoftim / Judges 13:5), King David (T'hillim / Psalm 22:9-10), Isaiah (Y'shayahu / Isaiah 49:5) and also the prophet Jeremiah (Y'rmiyahu / Jeremiah 1:5) as having been called from the womb. The list maker yet again makes a claim that is not supported by the T'nach.
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