Let's Reason Together
Introduction
This section of Scripture is important in your consideration of the value of prophecy in your decision of God’s existence.
It presents a clear basis for its value. Do you agree with it, see it as partially true, or reject it? Email me and let me know. Let’s discuss it together. Let’s reason together. You can contact me thru brettact2@gmail.com
This section starts off by presenting the reason for prophecy's value: the inconceivable revealed. Then it gives the nation of Israel a clear prophecy: a king will arise in a foreign land that will tell them to rebuild their nation, king Cyrus (The three sections his name appears in are in bold, for easy location). This occurred when Israel ignored God and became a sin-drenched culture. Then the prophecy theme shifts to the world, explaining how the Messiah will take this approach to the world as it relives what Israel lived through, it's exile and restoration.
Cyrus lived from 590 BC to 530 BC. He was king of Persia. His kingship and fulfillment of God’s prophecy was prophesied by Isaiah, who lived from 800 BC to 701 BC. (These years look backwards since time before Christ counts down towards year zero, once thought His birth year.)
There was over a 100-year difference between Isaiah’s death and Cyrus’ birth. Persia was still a dwarf nation compared to Babylon during Isaiah’s prophecy, the kingdom which it had to overthrow to oversee the land of Israel and make this prophesy true.
To clarify: Isaiah was the first in a series of prophets that warned Israel judgement was coming, which Babylon fulfilled by conquering the nation.
A copy of the full book of Isaiah was found in the Dead Sea scrolls. Scientist have concluded this copy was written over 100 years before the birth of Jesus. The prophetic portions on this page are all from the book of Isaiah.
The Jewish tradition is that when Cyrus toured his conquered lands he stopped at the broken-down city of Jerusalem. The religious leaders showed him the scroll of Isaiah and read this prophecy section to him, to show him God’s declaration of his victory and restoration of the nation. The rest is history. ‘Tradition’ used to be equal to the concept of ‘history’ before the Renaissance.
This section of Scripture moves on to a greater prophecy, launching from Israel's issues to deal with the deeper problem of humanity’s sins and consequences. God would send a national restorer who will heal the nations of non-Jews, the Gentiles. This was what the prophets addressed in Israel and used it as a platform to say all the world will also go through this someday. “I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” Isaiah 49.
God’s heart desire is the restoration of all nations, not just Israel. The prophecy of the restoration of Israel became an example of what God will do to the world, which He’s already begun in Jesus’ first coming. It will take its next quantum leap with Jesus’ second coming.
I stopped at this section because it’s an obvious reference to Jesus Christ. The prophecy continues in a few different aspects, but it is crowned with clarity in Isaiah 53 with the clear picture of Jesus’ purpose.
I skipped Scripture sections that tend to be redundant and not progressing the thought flow.
Something you might not be aware of but can confirm on testimony videos produced by ‘One for Israel’, a Jewish Christian ministry. It is available on Facebook, in the Watch section. It also has its own YouTube page.
Christian Jews often explain their conversion to their non-believing family members. The believer will sometimes read them a Scripture passage from the Hebrew Bible to show them why they now believe. They often read Isaiah 53 and the family protests – ‘I told you I don’t want to hear the Christian Bible, just the Jewish Bible. This is clearly about Jesus!’
The believer shows the non-believer he or she read from the Hebrew Bible. The shocked family member gets confused, has much to sort out and come to terms with, and often becomes a believer. The value of prophecy about God’s existence is clearly tangible.
Hopefully this clarifies the background of prophecy. On this site you have just 4 prophecies to evaluate: the 3 Passovers, king Cyrus, Jesus' crucifixion, and Jesus' current ministry of taking salvation to the nations.
Isaiah 1
1 The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
A Rebellious Nation
2 Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth! For the LORD has spoken: “I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.3 The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.”4 Woe to the sinful nation, a people whose guilt is great, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.5 Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted.6 From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness— only wounds and welts and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with olive oil.7 Your country is desolate, your cities burned with fire; your fields are being stripped by foreigners right before you, laid waste as when overthrown by strangers.
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood!16 Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong.17 Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. 19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land; 20 but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
Isaiah 40
1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.3 A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.4 Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
10 See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.11 He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?13 Who can fathom the Spirit of the LORD, or instruct the LORD as his counselor? 14 Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge, or showed him the path of understanding?
22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.23 He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.24 No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.25 “To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.27 Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God”?28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. 29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 41
1 “Be silent before me, you islands! Let the nations renew their strength! Let them come forward and speak; let us meet at the place of judgment.2 “Who has stirred up one from the east, calling him in righteousness to his service? He hands nations over to him and subdues kings before him. He turns them to dust with his sword, to windblown chaff with his bow.3 He pursues them and moves on unscathed, by a path his feet have not traveled before.4 Who has done this and carried it through, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD—with the first of them and with the last—I am he.”
21 “Present your case,” says the LORD. “Set forth your arguments,” says Jacob’s King.22 “Tell us, you idols, what is going to happen. Tell us what the former things were, so that we may consider them and know their final outcome. Or declare to us the things to come,23 tell us what the future holds, so we may know that you are gods. Do something, whether good or bad, so that we will be dismayed and filled with fear.24 But you are less than nothing and your works are utterly worthless; whoever chooses you is detestable.25 “I have stirred up one from the north, and he comes— one from the rising sun who calls on my name. He treads on rulers as if they were mortar, as if he were a potter treading the clay.26 Who told of this from the beginning, so we could know, or beforehand, so we could say, ‘He was right’? No one told of this, no one foretold it, no one heard any words from you.27 I was the first to tell Zion, ‘Look, here they are!’ I gave Jerusalem a messenger of good news.28 I look but there is no one— no one among the gods to give counsel, no one to give answer when I ask them.29 See, they are all false! Their deeds amount to nothing; their images are but wind and confusion.
Isaiah 43
1 But now, this is what the LORD says— he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.3 For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead.4 Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life.5 Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. 6 I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth— 7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”8 Lead out those who have eyes but are blind, who have ears but are deaf.9 All the nations gather together, and the peoples assemble. Which of their gods foretold this and proclaimed to us the former things? Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right, so that others may hear and say, “It is true.”10 “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me.11 I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior. 12 I have revealed and saved and proclaimed— I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “that I am God. 13 Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?”14 This is what the LORD says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I will send to Babylon and bring down as fugitives all the Babylonians, in the ships in which they took pride.15 I am the LORD, your Holy One, Israel’s Creator, your King.” 16 This is what the LORD says— he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters,17 who drew out the chariots and horses, the army, and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
Isaiah 44
6 “This is what the LORD says— Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. 7 Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people, and what is yet to come— yes, let them foretell what will come.8 Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.”
21 “Remember these things, Jacob, for you, Israel, are my servant. I have made you, you are my servant; Israel, I will not forget you.22 I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.”23 Sing for joy, you heavens, for the LORD has done this; shout aloud, you earth beneath. Burst into song, you mountains, you forests and all your trees, for the LORD has redeemed Jacob, he displays his glory in Israel.24 “This is what the LORD says— your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the LORD, the Maker of all things, who stretches out the heavens, who spreads out the earth by myself,25 who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense,26 who carries out the words of his servants and fulfills the predictions of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be inhabited,’ of the towns of Judah, ‘They shall be rebuilt,’ and of their ruins, ‘I will restore them,’27 who says to the watery deep, ‘Be dry, and I will dry up your streams,’28 who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, “Let it be rebuilt,” and of the temple, “Let its foundations be laid.”’
Isaiah 45
1 “This is what the LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:2 I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron.3 I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.4 For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me.5 I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me,6 so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting people may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other.7 I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.8 “You heavens above, rain down my righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness flourish with it; I, the LORD, have created it.9 “Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker, those who are nothing but potsherds among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘The potter has no hands’? 10 Woe to the one who says to a father, ‘What have you begotten?’ or to a mother, ‘What have you brought to birth?’11 “This is what the LORD says— the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: Concerning things to come, do you question me about my children, or give me orders about the work of my hands?12 It is I who made the earth and created mankind on it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshaled their starry hosts.13 I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness: I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward, says the LORD Almighty.”
14 This is what the LORD says: “The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, and those tall Sabeans— they will come over to you and will be yours; they will trudge behind you, coming over to you in chains. They will bow down before you and plead with you, saying, ‘Surely God is with you, and there is no other; there is no other god.’”15 Truly you are a God who has been hiding himself, the God, and Savior of Israel.16 All the makers of idols will be put to shame and disgraced; they will go off into disgrace together. 17 But Israel will be saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation; you will never be put to shame or disgraced, to ages everlasting.18 For this is what the LORD says— he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty but formed it to be inhabited— he says: “I am the LORD, and there is no other.19 I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I have not said to Jacob’s descendants, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I, the LORD, speak the truth; I declare what is right.20 “Gather together and come; assemble, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood, who pray to gods that cannot save.21 Declare what is to be, present it— let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me.22 “Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.23 By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear.24 They will say of me, ‘In the LORD alone are deliverance and strength.’” All who have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame.25 But all the descendants of Israel will find deliverance in the LORD and will make their boast in him.
Here's an interesting excerpt from the book, “Israel and the Nations”, a history book about ancient Israel by scholar F.F. Bruce.
According to Dom Gregory Dix, “The tapestry of history has no point at which you can cut it and leave the design intelligible. Yet the sudden rise to Empire in 550 BC of Cyrus, the prince of a petty Persian tribe, is almost such a point. Herodotus saw in this event the turning point of all Greek history…The life’s work of this one man molded the destiny of three great civilizations and set the main lines upon which universal history would run for more than fifteen hundred years, with consequences that are still potent today.”
Cyrus also created a new approach for subsequent kings, in how they handled Israel's religion. While typically kings purged the previous gods of the people they conquered, Cyrus' handling of Israel, based on personal prophecy, led to the following kings leaving Israel's religion intact.
That lasted until Antiochus IV Epiphanes, a Greek king, tried to eliminate Israel's religion and tried to make Israel's culture one with Greece. That led to the Maccabees' successful 100 year revolt, which gave Israel a new sensitivity for the later Roman conquerors, adding weight for them to compromise with Israel on religious matters.
Isaiah 46
9 Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.10 I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’11 From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said that I will bring about; what I have planned, that I will do.12 Listen to me, you stubborn-hearted, you who are now far from my righteousness.13 I am bringing my righteousness near; it is not far away; and my salvation will not be delayed. I will grant salvation to Zion, my splendor to Israel.
Isaiah 48
1 “Listen to this, you descendants of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel and come from the line of Judah, you who take oaths in the name of the LORD and invoke the God of Israel— but not in truth or righteousness— 2 you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city and claim to rely on the God of Israel— the LORD Almighty is his name:3 I foretold the former things long ago, my mouth announced them, and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.4 For I knew how stubborn you were; your neck muscles were iron; your forehead was bronze.5 Therefore I told you these things long ago; before they happened, I announced them to you so that you could not say, ‘My images brought them about; my wooden image and metal god ordained them.’6 You have heard these things; look at them all. Will you not admit them? “From now on I will tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown to you.7 They are created now, and not long ago; you have not heard of them before today. So you cannot say, ‘Yes, I knew of them.’ 8 You have neither heard nor understood; from of old your ears have not been open. Well do I know how treacherous you are; you were called a rebel from birth.9 For my own name’s sake I delay my wrath; for the sake of my praise, I hold it back from you, so as not to destroy you completely.
10 See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.11 For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another.12 “Listen to me, Jacob, Israel, whom I have called: I am he; I am the first and I am the last.13 My own hand laid the foundations of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I summon them, they all stand up together.14 “Come together, all of you, and listen: Which of the idols has foretold these things? The LORD’s chosen ally will carry out his purpose against Babylon; his arm will be against the Babylonians.15 I, even I, have spoken; yes, I have called him. I will bring him, and he will succeed in his mission.16 “Come near me and listen to this: “From the first announcement I have not spoken in secret; at the time it happens, I am there.” And now the Sovereign LORD has sent me, endowed with his Spirit.17 This is what the LORD says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.18 If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the waves of the sea.19 Your descendants would have been like the sand, your children like its numberless grains; their name would never be blotted out nor destroyed from before me.”20 Leave Babylon, flee from the Babylonians! Announce this with shouts of joy and proclaim it. Send it out to the ends of the earth; say, “The LORD has redeemed his servant, Jacob.”21 They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts; he made water flow for them from the rock; he split the rock and water gushed out.22 “There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.”
Isaiah 49
1 Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the LORD called me; from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name. 2 He made my mouth like a sharpened sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver. 3 He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.”4 But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing at all. Yet what is due me is in the LORD’s hand, and my reward is with my God.”5 And now the LORD says— he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself, for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD and my God has been my strength— 6 he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
Isaiah 53
1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. 4 Surely, he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people, he was punished. 9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. 11 After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.