Pastor Rich Lammay
The Bible is not only the best-selling book of all time, it is also the most scrutinized work the world has ever seen. In spite of that, the validity of the Bible has passed the test of time and analysis.
One of the many ways that the Bible proves itself trustworthy is, fulfilled prophecy. Remembering the Bible is not one book but a collection of 66 different books written over 1,500 years by more than 40 different authors, yet its message is concise, speaking of God’s love and how he sent Jesus to atone for the sin that separates humanity from Himself.
In prophecy a prophet would hear from God and write down things that would be fulfilled years, even centuries later. The Apostle Peter wrote how the prophets were able to predict the future.
2 Peter 1:21 says; “…No prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
The prophet would hear from the Spirit of God and write it down. One of those prophets was Isaiah who lived about 700 years before Jesus was born. Isaiah wrote many things about Christ, from His virgin birth to his atoning sacrifice. The later is what I would like to focus on.
Isaiah chapter 53 contains familiar words about the coming Messiah: Verses 4-6 say; “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every-one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
While the entire chapter is amazing and points to Jesus being the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, two things stand out in those verses. Frist, when it was written. Remember it was hundreds of years before the angel appeared to Mary, and Christ was born in Bethlehem. That fact alone reminds us that God is omniscient, he knows the future and is in charge of history. What comfort that should bring the Christian, knowing God has his ways and timing for everything. When the world seems to be going crazy, we can trust “God’s got it!”
Secondly, the context of what Isaiah wrote. Isaiah saw Jesus as already having atoned for our sin, and he saw what happened as a result of Jesus going to the cross. He bore our grief, he carried our sorrows, the beating he took and the nails that held him on the cross were for our transgressions and iniquities. We have peace with God even when we were like wandering sheep. Our relationship with God is healed by the whipping Christ endured, as all our iniquities were laid on Jesus.
While we live in a time when people question if God exists, Isaiah’s prophecy shows us not just the validity of scripture, but how much God loves us and how he accepts all who come to him because of what Jesus has done.
Pastor Rich Lammay of High Sierra Fellowship is a member of the Carson Valley Ministers’ Association.
