Isaiah, Prophet of Salvation: Part 5

ISAIAH, PROPHET OF SALVATION – PART 5

By Dr. Stephen Jones

Blog Post Date:  7-20-2020

In Colossians 2:16, 17, Paul made reference to God’s attitude in Isaiah toward the feast days, new moons, and sabbaths. Paul writes,

¹⁶ Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day— ¹⁷ things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.

Paul’s criticism of the festivals and Sabbaths is based on the fact that these “are a mere shadow of what is to come.” By contrast, we should focus upon “the substance,” rather than the shadow. It is the same argument used in the entire book of Hebrews in regard to the changes that took place through the New Covenant application of the law.

Shadow and Substance

The imperfect priesthood of Levi was just a shadow of something greater yet to come in the priesthood of Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:11, 12). The principle of priesthood continued but under different and better forms.

The entire manner of worship, then, is changed as well, moving from shadow to the substance that had cast the shadow from the beginning. The new Melchizedek priesthood no longer needs to offer animal sacrifices (Hebrews 7:27), though they were commanded in the law. It is not that the principle of sacrifice ceased, but that a greater sacrifice was made, one that did not need to be repeated daily. The blood of an animal was a mere “copy” of something greater (Hebrews 9:24).

The daily washings (cleansings) in the physical temple in Jerusalem have been replaced by better cleansing agents authorized by the New Covenant (Hebrews 9:10). There is still cleansing, but now no longer by weak agents that cleansed the body but fell short of cleansing the heart.

Sabbaths, too, are presented to believers in a new way that pertains to the heart, rather than to outward rituals or actions. Hebrews 4:4-9 says,

⁴ For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”’ ⁵ and again in this passage, “They shall not enter My rest.” ⁶ Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience, ⁷ He again fixes a certain day, “Today,” saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, “Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” ⁸ For if Joshua [Yeshua] had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. ⁹ So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.

The writer’s point is then given in the next verse, Hebrews 4:10,

¹⁰ For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.

Here the writer refers to Isaiah 58:13, 14, where the prophet describes God’s rest in terms of ceasing one’s own works and doing the works of God, from ceasing to speak one’s own words and speaking the words of God, from seeking one’s own pleasure (will) and seeking the pleasure (will) of God. This is how we are to keep God’s rest. It goes far beyond the usual dispute among men over which day to observe by resting or worshiping. In essence, to keep God’s Sabbath is to become an Amen of God, to do only what we see God do, to speak only what we hear God say, and to seek His will and not our own will.

Keeping the Feast Days

The manner of keeping the feast days has also changed. We no longer are required to kill lambs and put blood on our doorposts and lintels. Yet we are required to apply the blood of the true Lamb of God upon our spiritual ears and forehead, for we are the “house” that God is delivering.

We no longer need to offer to God two loaves of wheat bread baked with leaven at Pentecost. Yet we are required to offer our hearts to God as the true Pentecostal offering, which He then accepts by sending the fire of the Holy Spirit upon our altar to consume the leaven of sin, thereby sanctifying our hearts.

We are no longer required to leave our houses made of wood and stone and dwell in booths during the week of the feast of Tabernacles. Yet we are required to change our abiding place from the place of dead wood and stone to the abiding place of life with Christ, who said, “Abide in Me” (John 15:4) and “abide in My love” (John 15:10).

Old Covenant forms can never meet the requirements of God. It is only through the New Covenant that the proper changes were made that makes the feasts successful in their purpose. All of the main feasts are to be fulfilled today in our personal lives, but only the first two have been fulfilled historically. Jesus’ death on the cross fulfilled Passover; the coming of the Holy Spirit fulfilled Pentecost; but Tabernacles will be fulfilled historically when we leave our dead (mortal) bodies and dwell in the “house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1).

The New is Older than the Old

When Hebrews 9:23, 24 refers to the Old Covenant forms as “mere copies” of something that is real, it is evident that no “copy” can be made without a model to copy. Hence, the original, heavenly substance existed prior to the time of Moses when these were copied.

In fact, the New Covenant is also older than the Old Covenant, for the New Covenant was given to Noah (Genesis 9) as well as to Abraham (Genesis 12), long before the time of Moses. Paul affirms this in Galatians 3:17, telling us that the law covenant of Moses was established 430 years after the covenant with Abraham. For that reason alone, the New Covenant took precedence over the Old Covenant and retains jurisdictional authority.

The same is true with all of the forms set forth under the Old Covenant, which must always be subservient to the changes made by the New Covenant. It is only when men misunderstand this legal jurisdiction that they become enslaved to the outward forms and rituals under Moses and thereby unwittingly reject the New Covenant of Jesus Christ.

Paul’s Teaching

Paul mentioned these changes in Colossians 2:16, 17 (quoted earlier), but he did not take the time to explain what he meant. He had already taught the Colossians these things face to face, and hence, he saw fit only to remind them of this principle.

Apparently, some men (probably Jewish Christians) were judging the New Covenant believers for not “keeping” the feasts, new moon, and Sabbaths in the old manner.

Paul’s reference pointed out the conflicting viewpoint but he did not engage in that dispute except to add a few disputed issues a few verses later. Colossians 2:20-23 says,

²⁰ If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, ²¹ “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” ²² (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)—in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? ²³ These matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.

To “handle” or “touch” certain things rendered men unclean under Old Covenant rules, and those who continued to follow those rules were under “self-made religion,” giving “the appearance of wisdom” and the appearance of humility and self-sacrifice. However, Paul says, these “are of no value against fleshly indulgence.”

The Emphatic Diaglott renders this last phrase, “are only for a gratification of the flesh.” In other words, doing religious things only gratifies the flesh’s natural desire for Old Covenant ritual. Paul goes on to express confidence in the Colossian believers that they already know the answer to this problem. Colossians 3:1, 2 says,

¹ Therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.

If we too follow Paul’s admonition, we will not stray from New Covenant truth, nor will we fear to let go of earthly things that have been mere copies of true substance.

The Epistle of Barnabas and Others

The date of this Epistle is usually set at 115-140 A.D., although some believe it was actually written by Barnabas in the mid 60’s A.D. Regardless, it is a very early writing and its author was undoubtedly a Jewish Christian familiar with both the New Covenant and also gematria.

The author expounds on Isaiah 1:13, 14 saying in Barnabas 13:9, 10,

⁹ Lastly, he saith unto them, “Your new moons and your sabbaths I cannot bear them.” Consider what he means by it; the sabbaths, says he, which ye now keep are not acceptable unto me, but those which I have made; when resting from all things I shall begin the eighth day, that is, the beginning of the other world [age?]. ¹⁰ For which cause we observe the eighth day with gladness, in which Jesus rose from the dead; and having manifested himself to his disciples, ascended into heaven.

While this epistle is not part of Scripture itself, it certainly reflects the common practice in the church by the early second century. Barnabas does not seek to convince others of his position, showing clearly that he was not being innovative, nor was he departing from common church custom. It was mentioned also in the Didache, “Teaching,” in 65 A.D., “On the Lord’s Day come together and break bread.”

The church had been meeting on the “eighth day” for nearly a century already, ever since Jesus had met with His disciples on at least the first two Sundays from His resurrection.

Those who say, then, that the Emperor Constantine in 313 A.D. forced the church to quit meeting on Saturday and to begin meeting on Sunday are ignorant of plain history. Barnabas was written two centuries before the Edict of Constantine. The emperor only legalized the day on which the church had been meeting for nearly three centuries. He did not change church custom but accommodated them by turning their day of worship into a holiday.

Ignatius of Antioch, a disciple of John and a contemporary of Barnabas in the early second century, wrote in his Letter to the Magnesians, “no longer sabbatizing, but living according to the Lord’s Day,” by which he meant Sunday. He does not explain the difference, but there is obviously a difference between Jewish and Christian practice, and it is hardly possible that Ignatius would teach something different from his mentor, the Apostle John.

This practice is again mentioned by Justin Martyr (160 A.D.) in First Apology, chapter 47. The same was repeated often by Tertullian in 202 A.D. The Council of Elvira in 300 A.D. decided: “If anyone in the city neglects to come to church for three Sundays, let him be excommunicated for a short time so that he may be corrected.” At no time was there any hint that keeping Sunday was an anomaly or that men had to be forced to change their day of worship.

We must conclude, then, that Isaiah’s reference to the feast days and sabbaths indicated that a change needed to take place. That change was instituted by the New Covenant, which brought the original Sabbath principle back into prominence so that the people could observe God’s rest in a way that they had failed to do under the Old Covenant mandate.

Isaiah, Prophet of Salvation - Part 4

ISAIAH, PROPHET OF SALVATION – PART 4

By Dr. Stephen Jones

Blog Post Date:  6-19-2020

It appears that the first chapter of Isaiah was written as if the prophet and his family were living in Jerusalem. Whether or not they had lived previously in Israel is unclear, but from a prophetic standpoint, it appears that this was so. Isaiah and his son, She’ar-jashub, “the remnant will return,” strongly suggests that he/they represented the preserving remnant, much like Lot had preserved Sodom from destruction.

Only when Lot was removed could God destroy Sodom. So also with Israel. Once the remnant left Israel, it was doomed to destruction at the hand of the Assyrians.

At the same time, however, this “remnant” went to Jerusalem, which preserved that city during the next wave of attacks, when Assyria attempted to conquer Judah. After the Assyrians surrounded the city and threatened its destruction, King Hezekiah sent word to Isaiah, who was in the city, to appeal to God (Isaiah 37:5). Subsequently, God destroyed the Assyrian army, because He could not allow the city to be destroyed while the remnant remained in the city.

Modern Sodom

In today’s world, the principle remains the same. The overcoming remnant is a preserving agent in the midst of Sodom and Gomorrah. Many years ago I came to see that America and the Western nations as well would become Sodom and Gomorrah in order to fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy in the modern world.

In the 1960’s America began to erode the institution of marriage itself by allowing fornication and adultery with no penalty. If people can live together with no marriage commitment, then marriage becomes increasingly irrelevant. It was only a matter of time before homosexual marriages would also be approved. The underlying problem, which began more than a century earlier, was when government began to license marriages.

A license means that government allows that which is otherwise illegal. It also means that the government grants marriage licenses as a privilege, which removes it from God’s jurisdiction and exchanges a God-given right for a government-granted privilege. Once government usurped the right of God, the downward trend began which has now reached its culmination point.

Under the system of government privilege, marriage is now whatever each individual makes it. Now that homosexual marriages have been approved, the ungodly are now pushing to remove age limitations, so that pedophiles may practice their sin without fear of punishment. Others are pushing bestiality as a legal form of marriage, which is a violation of Leviticus 20:15.

The overcoming remnant, of course, does not appropriate government standards of morality but looks to the law of God as their authority. As society degenerates and as governments accommodate their degeneracy, it becomes increasingly important for the remnant to know who they are and which God they serve.

In the days of Sodom and Gomorrah, God removed Lot and destroyed those cities. In the days of Samaria and the House of Israel, it appears that God removed Isaiah and his son, She-ar-jashub, and then destroyed the nation and its capital, Samaria. But what about today’s remnant? Where can they go now to escape Sodom and Gomorrah?

Sodom is now a universal city. Its laws are now near universal, and if any small nation tries to disagree, they are whipped into submission by the mainstream press and blackmailed by the threat of withdrawing “foreign aid.”

Mystery Babylon has become a world-wide empire. To what part of this empire can the remnant go to escape? No, the remnant has no choice but to remain in Sodom. That means God cannot destroy the city by fire and brimstone. The “fire” that is coming is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. What was literal fire in Genesis is now a spiritual fire under the provisions and promises set forth in the New Covenant.

I believe this is how God will overthrow modern Sodom. Those who have this hope and who believe the promises of God, as Abraham did, have no reason to fear for the future, no matter how bleak it appears. But such faith is rare, because most do not know the promises of God in the New Covenant, nor do they think that God will win this battle. To many, the “solution” is for the Christians to evacuate the earth in a “rapture.” In effect, they believe that Christians will be evacuated even as Lot was evacuated from Sodom before divine judgment hits the earth.

Personally, I do not subscribe to that view of prophecy, as I have explained elsewhere. See…

The Laws of the Second Coming, chapter 13, “The Real Rapture.”

The rapture doctrine is escapism rooted in fear. Those who believe that the church will go through “the seven-year tribulation” (which they believe is yet to come) only set forth greater fear, for they give no hope of escaping the horrible conditions under the rule of “Antichrist.”

My view, of course, is that the “tribulation” is not seven years but 7 x 360 years, dating from the fall of Jerusalem and now coming to an end. We have already lived through this tribulation, and now we have hope of deliverance. Babylon is not rising; it is falling. Times are indeed turbulent, but not because we are losing, but because we are winning.

The key, however, is to have a proper understanding of Daniel and Revelation. We must view these books as prophecies of what was then the future course of world history. Daniel focused on the first half of the tribulation (1,260 years), while John’s book of Revelation focused on the last half of the tribulation (1,260 years).

Unfortunately, about 150 years ago men began to set forth the Futurist view of Revelation, wherein most of the events described in the book were said to take place within a mere seven-year period in the future. This view showed remarkable ignorance of history and has contributed greatly to the present condition of the blind church of Laodicea that dominates the scene today.

Appearing Before God’s Face

Isaiah 1:11, 12 says,

¹¹ What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?” says the Lord. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle; and I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats. ¹² When you come to appear before Me, who requires of you this trampling of My courts?

Isaiah’s view was a radical departure from the temple system in Jerusalem. No doubt the priests were very displeased with his assessment of their religious system. After all, had not God, through Moses, commanded them to offer “the blood of bulls, lambs, or goats”? See Leviticus 4:4, 23, 32. Had not God Himself commanded all the men of Israel to “appear before Me” three times in the year? Exodus 34:23, 24 says,

²³ Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. ²⁴ For I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your borders, and no man shall covet your land when you go up three times a year to appear before the Lord your God.

God said that if they appeared before Him three times a year that He promised to give them victory over their enemies, enlarge their borders, and that other nations would not even “covet your land.” In other words, they would not even have the desire to conquer Israel.

Hence, if any nation desired to conquer Israel, it was only because the people failed to appear before God three times in the year. When Isaiah wrote this, both Israel and Judah were being threatened by Assyria. Therefore, we may say confidently that this law was being violated.

In the case of the Israel, Jeroboam had set up the golden calves in Bethel and Dan specifically to prevent the people from appearing before God’s presence that dwelt in the temple of Jerusalem (1 Kings 12:28, 29). Hence, most of the Israelites were appearing before other gods in alternate locations in their worship of the golden calves.

This was the spiritual cause of Assyria’s coveting the land of Israel.

As for Judah, the priests and people went through the religious motions without really appearing before God in the way that God intended. This problem was more subtle, because it was a matter of the heart. Religion sets forth external rituals and practices, whereas God’s intent is to set up a family relationship and to bring forth sons of God.

The command to “appear before the Lord God” literally reads, “to appear before the face of the Lord God.” The Hebrew word paniym, “face,” seemed redundant to English translators who did not understand the doctrine of God’s face that Paul explained in 2 Corinthians 3:13-18; 4:6. God’s face is His presence. The Hebrew paniym is rendered in Greek as prosopon, which we must understand according to the definition of its Hebrew counterpart.

In other words, to appear before the face of God, Paul explains, is to be transfigured, even as Moses’ face was transfigured when He appeared before God in the Mount. The whole idea of appearing before God three times in a year was to establish the intent of God to bring His glory into earthly faces. This can occur only when we have a face-to-face encounter with God, whereby He transfers the glory of His face to our own face.

Hence, Paul says, we are changed by beholding Him (2 Corinthians 3:18), and Paul says this can only occur when the veil of the Old Covenant is removed from our face so that it is truly a face-to-face encounter.

These things Isaiah prophesied and Paul explained. There are three steps toward transfiguration because these are the steps toward becoming the fully-mature sons of God. The first step is the feast of Passover, where we are first to appear before His face. Passover gives us justification by faith in the blood of the Lamb. Then comes Pentecost, which gives us the infilling of the Holy Spirit, who begins to write the law in our hearts. The third and final step is Tabernacles, after the Holy Spirit has completed His work to bring us to spiritual maturity, where these sons of God are now ready to be “manifested” in the earth.

Isaiah saw the problem in the temple in Jerusalem. The people were coming to the feast in a physical manner but were not truly appearing before God’s face. The reason, Paul says, is because they were appearing before Him with face masks. They came with an Old Covenant veil over their faces, which prevented them from seeing God face to face.

For this reason, their rituals were inadequate. God did not really care if they made the trip to Jerusalem three times a year. He did not really care if they offered the blood of bulls, lambs, and goats. These things were just Old Covenant accommodations, types and shadows of a greater reality that God intended for them. These rituals had failed to teach the people the greater truths that God had in mind, so what was the point in going through the motions of religion?

So Isaiah 1:13, 14 continues,

¹³ Bring your worthless offerings no longer, incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assembly. ¹⁴ I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts; they have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them.

Isaiah had a remarkable understanding of the New Covenant. His perspective differed sharply from that of the priests in his day. He knew that keeping new moons, sabbaths, assemblies, and appointed feasts were all to be kept in a New Covenant manner—otherwise, they were “a burden” to God Himself. God was “weary of bearing them.” He was tired of such activity.

The purpose of the feasts were to teach men the path to sonship. If the feasts failed to accomplish that, then they were religious acts of futility giving men a false sense of religious satisfaction.