Within this website's 60 pages (and thousands more available for download and links to other resources) scriptural treasure is unburied!
"For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light." Mark 4:22
A prophetic scripture compendium (with cross references) expounded with
conservative Bible commentaries
(many more can be viewed on the downloadable pages on the opposite side of this page)
The following scriptures are given to encourage you to study the above holy writings from God's prophecies as found in His word.
"It is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 13:11
"God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." 1 Corinthians 2:10
"Now to him that is able to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which hath been kept secret since the world began, 26 But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: 27 To God the only wise, {be} glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen." Romans 16:25-27
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Jeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) said to His discipes;" 'O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory?' And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself."Luke 24:25-27
After reading this reproof from the Resurrected Christ Himself, I was challenged to find those very prophecies, in particular those respecting His Resurrection.
I invite you as believers or unbelievers to search with me "all" those versus so important to Jesus that He gave a Bible study to His disciples as proof of His Resurrection before being exalted to His glorious position at the Right Hand of the Father. It should be noted that Jesus did not take these doubting disciples to his empty tomb or even show them His wounds as He did for Thomas thus giving the church the basis for establishing the Resurrection coupled with believing without seeing.
Romans 10:9 through 11 says: 9"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth to righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made to salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed."
Preface
( to go directly to the key prophecies of Jesus Resurrection scriptures, cross references, and commentaries do so by clicking above to page 6 or click on the underlined download sections for the various portions of the study )
In this first portion of the prophecy study I have compiled various Messianic Resurrection texts with commentaries based on the most ancient Old Testament scriptures used by the Church, The Greek "Septuagint" Old Testament. These ancient scriptures in the greek (and it's translations into the vernacular) are quoted in the New Testament more often than not and are thereby worthy of diligent consideration and study for our own edification and to be able to teach the unlearned.
It has been documented extensively that Jesus Himself, the Apostles, and the early "fathers" more often than not relied on Old Testament prophetic texts that were the same or closer to the LXX (Septuagint) than that of our relatively "modern" Hebrew texts translated much later by the "Massoretic" Jews.
A Jewish (believer in Christ) fisherman of men, Peter, gives us a background of the historical nature of the search for the Messiah's glorious resurrection as we read in vs.10-11 (but especially in.vs.11) of 1 Peter chapter 1; "Of this salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come to you:
Vs. 11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ who was in them did signify, when he testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow."
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The evangelical scholar F.F. Bruce once said: " But the key which opens the door to the Greek New Testament fits the lock of another treasure-house with which the student and expositor of Scripture ought to make himself familiar. That treasure-house is the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible produced at Alexandria in the closing centuries B.C. The student of the Old Testament, whether he is a Hebraist or a non-Hebraist, cannot afford to overlook the Septuagint, because it bears witness to at least one form of the text and interpretation of the Hebrew scriptures current in the period immediately preceding the birth of Christianity. But the student of the New Testament must equally come to terms with the Septuagint." F.F. Bruce, "The Greek Language and the Christian Ministry," Clifton Theological College Magazine (Trinity Term 1956): 5-10.
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F.F. Bruce says in his book "The New Testament Documents" ; "For various reasons it was necessary for the Church to know exactly what books were divinely authoritative. The Gospels, recording 'all that Jesus began both to do and to teach', could not be regarded as one whit lower in authority than the Old Testament books. And the teaching of the apostles in the Acts and Epistles was regarded as vested with His authority. It was natural, then, to accord to the apostolic writings of the new covenant the same degree of homage as was already paid to the prophetic writings of the old. Thus Justin Martyr, about AD 150, classes the 'Memoirs of the Apostles' along with the writings of the prophets, saying that both were read in meetings of Christians (Apol i. 67). For the Church did not, in spite of the breach with Judaism, repudiate the authority of the Old Testament, but, following the example of Christ and His apostles, received it as the Word of God. Indeed, so much did they make the Septuagint their own that, although it was originally a translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek for Greek speaking Jews before the time of Christ, the Jews left the Septuagint to the Christians,.."
I. Watts wrote around 1800 A.D. ; ".how much we are indebted to God for the revelation of the New Testament, which teaches us to find out the blessings that are contained in the Old, and to fetch out the glories and treasures which are concealed there? The writers of the gospel have not only pointed us to the rich mines where these treasures lie, but have brought forth many of the jewels and set them before us. It is this gospel that brings life and immortality to light by Jesus Christ , 2 Timothy 1 :10. It is this gospel that scatters the gloom and darkness which was spread over the face of the grave, and illuminates all the chambers of death. Who could have found out the doctrine of the resurrection contained in that word of grace given to Abraham, "I Am thy God," [my ft]
[ft] Watts is quoting the Septuagint here as the Massoretic text (Hebrew Old Testament) has "And when Abram was ninety and nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said to him, I am the Almighty God; (the italisized "am" here signifies that this word is not found in the Hebrew text but rather has been added) walk before me, and be thou perfect." (Genesis 17:1) where the LXX (Septuagint) has ; "And Abram was ninety-nine years old, and the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, I Am thy God, be well-pleasing before me, and be blameless." The "I Am..." being found in the Greek Old Testament is just one of many small yet significant differences between the Greek and Hebrew texts.
if Jesus, the great Prophet, had not taught us to explain it thus, Matthew 22:31? "God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."
We who have this happiness to live in the days of the Messiah, know more than all the ancient prophets were acquainted with, and understand the word of their prophecies better than they themselves ; ." (see 1 Peter 1:10-11 )
"But we read all this fairly written in the gospel. Do you think that good David could have explained some of his own Psalms into so divine a sense, or Isaiah given such a bright account of his own words of prophecy, as St. Paul has done in several places of the New Testament, where he cites and unfolds them?"
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The evangelical scholar F.F. Bruce once said: " But the key which opens the door to the Greek New Testament fits the lock of another treasure-house with which the student and expositor of Scripture ought to make himself familiar. That treasure-house is the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible produced at Alexandria in the closing centuries B.C. The student of the Old Testament, whether he is a Hebraist or a non-Hebraist, cannot afford to overlook the Septuagint, because it bears witness to at least one form of the text and interpretation of the Hebrew scriptures current in the period immediately preceding the birth of Christianity. But the student of the New Testament must equally come to terms with the Septuagint." F.F. Bruce, "The Greek Language and the Christian Ministry," Clifton Theological College Magazine (Trinity Term 1956): 5-10.
Charles Thomson wrote: " As the quotations which the writers of the New Testament made from the Old (Testament), either to show the predictions of the prophets are fulfilled in Jesus Christ, or to confirm and enforce the doctrines they delivered, or convey their own thought on different subjects, are chiefly taken from the Septuagint; and as, upon inquiry, I could not find that there was any translation of this into English"
Whereby he (Thomson) set upon to translate this most noble and massive undertaking himself!
Charles Thomson had two Doctorates of Law (L.LD.) ( whether they were "earned" or "honorary" degrees is unclear from his history); one from the University of Pennsylvania (1784) and the other from Princeton (1822).
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The Apostle Paul, originally called Saul, is a shining example of a proven and Holy Spirit-anointed writer of Holy Scripture under the New Covenant as he was acknowledged by the Jews themselves of his Judaic Biblical abilities [ft.]
[ft] Acts 23:6 But when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, "Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee; concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged!"
and was an eye witness of the risen Messiah, Jesus Christ, [ft]
[ft] Acts 9:1 "And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disiples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,"
2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.
3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do."
Paul was himself tried, as it were through fire, in many persecutions (too numerous to mention here) and ultimately died a martyr's death believing in and preaching about the Lord Jesus Christ. His rightly-dividing the Word of God and his untarnished witness attest once more that the Gospel story of Christ Jesus' resurrection is truth with solid testimony of not only this Apostle but many others who failed not their Lord and Saviour, faithful to the end.
From the Introduction to the Old Testament in Greek, Swete says ; "St. Paul, as we know from the Acts, could speak in the Hebrew (i.e. the Aramaic) tongue, and doubtless could read his Hebrew Bible, yet as a missionary to Greek lands, he made the Septuagint his companion, and more than half of his Old Testament quotations are drawn directly from it. In fact, as Professor Deissmann said in Cambridge last summer, "St. Paul is not comprehensible without the Septuagint." It may be added that in his missionary work St. Paul would have been badly crippled had the Greek Bible been taken from him. Greek was in his time the usual language of communication throughout the Roman Empire, as French was until recent years in Europe, and Italian in the Levant. Even in Cicero's day, as the great Latinist confesses, "Greek was read by almost all the world, and Latin confined to narrow limits." The heart of the empire was no exception. St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans is written in Greek, and forty years later, when Clement of Rome wrote in the name of his Church to the Church at Corinth, Greek is again the language employed. Indeed, there is reason to think that the Roman Church continued to be a Greek-speaking community, headed by Greek-speaking Bishops, offering a Greek liturgy, and using Greek Scriptures, until nearly the end of the second century. The only Latin-speaking Church in the second century of which we have any knowledge is the Church of Carthage; at Rome and at Lyons, as well as at Alexandria, Corinth, and Ephesus, Greek was the official language of the Christian societies, and the Greek Bible of Alexandria was the Bible of the Church as it had been of the Hellenistic Synagogue.[my ft]
[ft] Jews of the "Diaspora" who had adopted the Greek language
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Indeed, it was to the Alexandrian translators that the early Church of the Roman empire owed her possession of a Bible. It must be remembered that at first the Christian Church had no writings of its own which were recognised as sacred; until after the middle of the second century there was no New Testament, no sacred canon of books which ranked with the Jewish canon. It was to the Old Testament that the first preachers of the Gospel appealed, and to the Old Testament in its Alexandrian Greek dress.[my ft]
[ft] "dress" i.e. directing words toward other people ; as in "address"
Even when, in the second half of the second century, the New Testament emerged into sight as a canon of Holy Scripture, there was no disposition to substitute it for the 0ld; the Church was content to place it by the side of the Septuagint as another collection of equal value and authority. Irenaeus, for instance, who is the first Christian writer to quote the Gospels and Epistles with any freedom, scarcely falls behind Justin in the frequency of his appeal to the Greek Law, Prophets, and Psalms. When the more learned teachers of the Church began to enrich her literature with commentaries on the Scriptures, they commented as freely on the Old Testament as on the New, though with two or three exceptions they were unable to have recourse to the Hebrew original, and their commentaries on the Old Testament are in fact commentaries on the Septuagint version of it. Moreover, in her official acts of worship the early Church used the Greek Old Testament ; out of it she sang the psalms, and read the lessons at the Sunday Eucharist. Lastly, when the non-Hellenic Churches within the Empire, such as Latin-speaking Carthage and Coptic-speaking Egypt, began to translate the Scriptures into their own tongues, they translated the Old Testament as well as the New, and they translated the Old Testament from the Greek and not from the Hebrew, of which, in fact, they knew nothing. The Hebrew Bible was indeed as good as non-existent to the Church of the Empire ; its Old Testament was a Greek book, and the inspiration of the Hebrew writers was unconsciously transferred to the Alexandrian translators, who had to all intents taken their place.".
Elswhere Swete says; "To Tertullian and Cyprian, as well as to Clement and Barnabas, Justin and Irenaeus, the Septuagint was the Old Testament authorized by the church, and no appeal lay either to any other version or to the original.".
"Nor was this tradition readily abandoned by the few who attained to some knowledge of Hebrew. Origen, while recognizing the divergence of the LXX from the Hebrew, and endeaverouring to reconcile the two by means of the Hexapla, was accustomed to preach and comment upon the ordinary Greek text."
And "No question can arise as to the greatness of the place occupied by the Alexandrian Version in the religious life of the first six centuries of it's history. The Septuagint was the Bible of the Hellenistic Jew, not only in Egypt and Palestine, but throughout the Western Asia and Europe. It created a language of religion which lent itself readily to the service of Christianity and became one of the most important allies of the gospel. It provided the Greek-speaking Church with an authorized translation of the Old Testament, and when Christian missions advanced beyond the limits of Hellenism, it served as a basis for fresh translations into the vernacular."
Edersheim points out the consequences of the ignorance of the scriptures concerning the Messiah on the part of the grieving disciples after His death and their foolish disbelief ; "...Their sorrow arose from their folly in looking only at the things seen, and this, from their slowness to believe what the prophets had spoken. Had they attended to this, instead of allowing themselves to be swallowed up by the outward, they would have understood it all. Did not the scriptures with one voice teach this twofold truth about the Messiah, that He was to suffer and to enter into His glory? Then why wonder-why not expect, that He had suffered, and that Angels had proclaimed Him alive again?
He spake it, and fresh hope sprang up in their hearts, new thoughts rose in their minds. Their eager gaze was fastened on Him as He now opened up, one by one, the Scriptures, from Moses and all the prophets, and in each well-remembered passage interpreted to them the things concerning Himself.
Oh, that we had been there to hear -though in the silence of our hearts also, if only we crave for it, and if we walk with Him , He sometimes so opens from the Scriptures-nay, from all the Scriptures, that which comes not to us by critical study: ' the things concerning Himself."
Alfred Edersheim aptly points out; "...First and foremost, we learn the insufficiency of even the most astounding miracles to subdue the rebellious will, to change the heart, or to subject a man unto God. Our blessed Lord Himself has said of a somewhat analogous case, that men would not believe even though one rose from the dead. (Luke 16:31) And His statement has been only too amply verified in the history of the world since His own resurrection. Religion is matter of the heart, and no intellectual conviction, without the agency Of the Holy Spirit, affects the inmost springs of our lives."
The second century martyr, Justin, comments on Jesus teaching the prophecies of His resurrection ; ".after He was crucified, even all His acquaintances forsook Him, having denied Him, and afterwards when He had risen from the dead and appeared to them, and had taught them to read the prophecies in which all things were foretold as coming to pass, and when they had seen Him ascending into heaven, and had believed, and had received power sent thence by Him upon them, and went to every race of men, they had taught these things, and were called Apostles."
Justin, as found in the "Ante-Nicene Fathers" (volume 1, pages 234 and 235) also decries that already some Messianic prophetic words found in the Septuagint (Greek text) were be being deleted from the scriptures by the unbelieving Jews. "But I am far from putting reliance in your teachers, who refuse to admit that the interpretation made by the seventy elders who were with Ptolemy[king] of the Egyptians is a correct one; and they attempt to frame another. And I wish you to observe, that they have altogether taken away many Scriptures from the translations effected by those seventy (from which the term Septuagint is derived from) elders who were with Ptolemy, and by which this very man who was crucified is proved to have been set forth expressly as God, and man, and as being crucified, and as dying; but since I am aware that this is denied by all of your nation,."
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Regarding the the New Testament writers use of Messianic prophecies (Psalm 16:8-11 -Acts2:25-28 one writer (Herrick Th.M) concludes the following concerning the Apostle's use of the LXX, according these versus to the Messiah's Resurrection ;
" Though the texts (MT and LXX) differ, and the LXX lends itself more readily to Peter's meaning in a resurrection context, the point could be made from the MT. Concerning the expression of this truth, Peter did not hesitate to employ Jewish hermeneutical methods (midrash/pesher) such as were consistent with his audience's understanding."
The Septuagint was the "vernacular" Bible of it's day and no doubt had been found in the hands of the Grecian philosophers and the Sybill (some of the sybill may have been legitimate pre-church and early church prophetesses).
Philip Schaff, a church historian gives the historic background of the use of the greek language by the new testament writers who often employed the use of the greek Septuagint Old Testament. ; " ..."Greece gave the apostles the most copious and beautiful language to express the divine truth of the Gospel, and Providence had long before so ordered political movements as to spread that language over the world and to make it the organ of civilization and international intercourse, as the Latin was in the middle ages, as the French was in the eighteenth century and as the English is coming to be in the nineteenth. "Greek," says Cicero, "is read in almost all nations; Latin is confined by its own narrow boundaries." Greek schoolmasters and artists followed the conquering legions of Rome to Gaul and Spain. The youthful hero Alexander the Great, a Macedonian indeed by birth, yet an enthusiastic admirer of Homer, an emulator of Achilles, a disciple of the philosophic world-conqueror, Aristotle, and thus the truest Greek of his age, conceived the sublime thought of making Babylon the seat of a Grecian empire of the world; and though his empire fell to pieces at his untimely death, yet it had already carried Greek letters to the borders of India, and made them a common possession of all civilized nations. What Alexander had begun Julius Caesar completed. Under the protection of the Roman law the apostles could travel everywhere and make themselves understood through the Greek language in every city of the Roman domain."
Alfred Edersheim in his " History of the Old Testament" elects the Septuagint over the Massoretic texts, [ft]
[ft] most "Protestant" Bibles have the Massoretic Texts know as the "MT" as their Old Testament source
in several passages in 1 Samuel chapter 17 ; " * There is considerable difficulty about the text as it now stands. That the narrative is strictly historical cannot be doubted. But, on the other hand, vers. 12-14, and still more vers. 55-58, read as if the writer had inserted this part of his narrative from some other source, perhaps from a special chronicle of the event. The LXX solves the difficulty by simply leaving out vers. 12-31, and again vers. 55-58; that is, they boldly treat that part as an interpolation; and it must be confessed that the narrative reads easier without it. And yet, on the other hand, if these verses are interpolated, the work has been clumsily done; and it is not easy to see how any interpolator would not have at once seen the difficulties which he created, especially by the addition of vers. 55- 58.
Besides, the account, vers. 12-31, not only fits in very well with the rest of the narrative . but also bears the evident impress of truthfulness. The drastic method in which the LXX. dealt with the text, so early as about two centuries before Christ, at least proves that, even at that time, there were strong doubts about the genuineness of the text. All this leads to the suggestion, that somehow the text may have become corrupted, and that later copyists may have tried emendations and additions, by way of removing difficulties, which, as might be expected in such a case, would only tend to increase them. On the whole, therefore, we are inclined to the opinion that, while the narrative itself is strictly authentic, the text, as we possess it, is seriously corrupted in some of the expressions, especially in the concluding verses of the chapter.."
The Dead Sea Scrolls, found in the caves of Qumran near the Dead Sea in Israel in the late 1940's-early 1950's quite often substantiate the Septuagint readings of the Scriptures.
What has become so strikingly apparent to me in my studies of the Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament, in particular His Resurrection, is that many versus in the Septuagint and corraborated in the Dead Sea Scrolls (written before the Messiah's birth) are directly speakin of or figuratively pointing to the Messiah to rise from the dead but are strangely lacking in the Massoretic texts. As one example, see Isaiah 53:11 in this study in this "Messiah Resurrection Prophecies Christ's Resurrection In Accordance With the Greek Scriptures"
In conclusion to the question of which texts, the Hebrew/Massoretic texts, the Greek Septuagint, or the Dead Sea Scrolls (of which they are generally in close agreement) are more genuine (closest to the original "autographs") may it be agreed that we must didligently adhere to the following scriptures to gain scholarly insight and spiritual discerment :
"Study to show thyself approved to God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." ( 2 Timothy 2:15) and as another scripture instructs us : "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." (Romans 8:14).
God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him, not those who do so half-heartedly. If we apply these truths then we are assured that the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth.
I have spent several years of study in this important search of those scriptures that Jesus expounded on the road to Emmaus after His resurrection with the foolish, doubting, ignorant, and slow of heart to believe (the prophetic scriptures of His resurrection) disciples and I believe I have found treasure in my search. Jesus today is still willing to expound those scriptures to us by His Holy Spirit. If he did so for those disciples then certainly He will do the same for us if we ask and search.
One more conclusion that I came to is that for me, the "Authorized"/Massoretic Old Testament texts are no longer my "default" Old Testament but rather the Greek Septuagint (original language as well as translated to English) Nevertheless, along with the ancient Greek texts I will continue to consult the Hebrew/Authorized version as well as the Dead Sea Scrolls.
This website and my study CDrom uses all three texts as it's sources with the majority of the texts derived from those used almost exclusively for over 1500 years by the Christian Church and it's "fathers" as well as the majority of New Testament writings (Matthew being the exception), the Septuagint (LXX).
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Isaiah 53:11 LXX Thomson's Version; " Moreover it is the determination of the Lord to remove him from the trouble of his soul-to shew him light and fashion him for knowledge -to justify the Righteous One who is serving many well, when he shall bear away their sins"
Isaiah 53:11 Dead Sea Scroll ; "Of the toil of his soul he shall see light and he shall be satisfied and by his knowledge shall he make righteous even my righteous servant for many and their iniquities he will bear."
For an online photo of the Great Isaiah scroll go to : http://www.ao.net/~fmoeller/qum-44.htm
and it's translation at: http://www.ao.net/~fmoeller/isa53trn.htm
cross references:
2 Timothy 1:10 "but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,"
Ephesians 5:14 says ; "Wherefore He saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light."
John 12:24 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit."
2 Corinthians 4:6 "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to [give] the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."
Psalm 85:11 Truth has sprung up out of the earth; and righteousness has looked down from heaven."
Job 33:28, LXX ; "Deliver my soul, that it may not go to destruction, and my life shall see the light."
Proverbs 16:15, LXX ; "The son of a King is in the light of life; and they that are in favour with Him are as a cloud of latter rain."
Peter 1:19 "And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts;"
Ephesians 5:14 "Therefore He says: "Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light."
Psalm 4:6 LXX ; "Many say, Who will shew us good things? the light of thy countenance, O Lord, has been manifested towards us."
Our spiritual resurrection union with Christ's Resurrection is seen here in Ephesians as "light" just as " Christ's resurrected glorified life is seen in the word " light" in Isaiah 53:11. The Dictionary of Biblical imagery confirms this type ; ".Therefore it is said, 'Awake O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.'..The implied maessage is clear: if God is light, to come to God is to come to the light and to receive light. We might note also the echo of Christ's resurrection in the picture of the sleeper's arising from the dead."
The "Dead Sea Scrolls" or "Qumran" scrolls also confirm that the word "light" is in the manuscripts written before Christ's birth..."Of the toil of his soul He shall see light and He shall be satisfied and by His knowledge shall He make righteous even My Righteous Servant for many and their iniquities He will bear."
F.F. Bruce , in his book "Paul" comments ; "The noun 'light' evidently dropped out of the Massoretic text at some stage, but it was retained in the LXX and is attested by two pre-Christian Hebrew manuscripts found in Qumran Cave (1QIsa , 1QIsb )."
The early church "father' Clement quotes this verse as "And the Lord is pleased to relieve Him of the affliction of His soul, to show Him light, and to form Him with understanding, to justify the Just One who ministereth well to many; and the Himself shall carry their sins."
and Justin (Martyr) ; " And the Lord is pleased to cleanse Him from the stripe. If He be given for sin, your soul shall see His seed prolonged in days. And the Lord is pleased to deliver His soul from grief, to show Him light, and to form Him with knowledge, to justify the righteous who richly serveth many. And He shall bear our iniquities."
The " Interpreters Commentary declares ; " ... the Dead Sea Manuscript and the LXX verse 11 (a) is rendered 'after His travail He shall see light' ; for this phrase indicates the idea of a new coming to life..." [my ft]
[ft]cf. Isaiah 60:1 Dead Sea Scroll ; "Rise, shine; for your light is come, the glory of YHWH is risen upon you."
Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon confirms the parallel definition in the following context ; ".Used of the eyes of a faint person when he begins to recover,."(see #215 p.23 ; for the online version of this copy and paste this URL address: http://books.google.com/books?id=dxCBQLh9-9kC&pg=PA1&dq=gesenius&as_brr=1#PPA26,M1 ) [my ft]
[ft] Of coarse Jesus had more than "fainted" ( He expired) and His "recovery" was no less than resurrection from the dead.
The online version of the Gesenius Lexicon contains this additional definition :"...light of life Isaiah 26:19 ("God's dew will refresh those raised from the dead...dew of light"[ http://books.google.com/books?id=dxCBQLh9-9kC&pg=PA27&dq=Isaiah+26:19&as_brr=1 ]
Lactantius : "And therefore the Sibyl said, that after three days sleep he would put an end to death:
'And after sleeping three days, He shall put an end to the fate of death; and then, releasing Himself from the dead, He shall come to light, first showing to the called ones the beginning of the resurrection.' "
For He gained life for us by overcoming death. No hope, therefore, of gaining immortality is given to than, unless he shall believe on Him, and shall take up that cross to be born and endured."
The Day of Resurrection
St. John of Damascus. Transl. by John Mason Neale (circa 780 A.D.)
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Kittel's Theological Dictionary of the New Testament in ancient references to "light" says; "...separation from it (is) death, ." "...The deliverer appears as light ." "...Light accompanies the manifestation of the divine, ..." ".The verb "to shine" denotes the break of day, 2 Samuel. 2:32, the brightening of the eyes, 1 Samuel 14:27, 29, cf. .. Ps. 13:3. has a transf. sense at Is. 60.1]." "...Light characterises natural life, Ps. 38:10; 56:13, and also spiritual life, Ps. 37:6; 97:11; 112:4; 119:105. God enfolds Himself in light, Ps. 104:2 320, 4. He is the light of the righteous, ... and the possibility of life: In His light we see light, Ps. 36:9..." "...Light is a term for life in the absolute sense, not as mere existence, but as possibility. It thus denotes salvation, cf. light and life in Psalm. 36:9; 56:13. To see light (313, 6 ff.) is to live, Job 3:16; 33:28, 30. Part of salvation is to be in the light.."
Even an ancient "Rabbi" used "light" in a similar fashion that does the Apostle Paul ; the former concerning Moses birth, the latter concerning Yeshua (Jesus) as being "Firstborn from the dead":
Light surrounds the birth of the man of God, the son (Moses),'
cf. Colossians 1:18 "And He is the head of the body, the church, Who is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence."
Isaiah 53:11 John Gill instructs us so diligently as he was apt to: "He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be "satisfied", &c. "The travail of his soul" is the toil and labour he endured, in working out the salvation of his people; his obedience and death, his sorrows and sufferings; particularly those birth throes of His soul, under a sense of divine wrath, for the allusion is to women in travail; and all the agonies and pains of death which He went through. Now the fruit of all this he sees with inexpressible pleasure, and which gives Him an infinite satisfaction; namely, the complete redemption of all the chosen ones...he shall have all his children with Him in glory; see Hebrews 12:2. (see ft2)
(ft2 Hebrews 12:2 "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.")
The words are by some rendered, "seeing Himself" or "His soul freed from trouble, He shall be satisfied" ..so He saw it, and found it, when He rose from the dead, and was justified in the Spirit; ascended to His God and Father, was set down at His right hand, and was made glad with His countenance, enjoying to the full eternal glory and happiness with Him: and by others this, "after the travail of His soul, He shall see 'a seed', and shall be satisfied"; as a woman, after her travail and sharp pains are over, having brought forth a son, looks upon it with joy and pleasure, and is satisfied, and forgets her former pain and anguish; so Christ, after all His sorrows and sufferings, sees a large number of souls regenerated, sanctified, justified, and brought to heaven, in consequence of them, which is a most pleasing and satisfactory sight unto Him.."
Matthew Henry observed: "Come, and see how Christ loved us! We could not put Him in our stead, but He put Himself. Thus he took away the sin of the world, by taking it on Himself. He made Himself subject to death, which to us is the wages of sin.
Observe the graces and glories of His state of exaltation. Christ will not commit the care of His family to any other. God's purposes shall take effect. And whatever is undertaken according to God's pleasure shall prosper. He shall see it accomplished in the conversion and salvation of sinners."
Keil and Delitzsch in their " Commentary on the Old Testament" critique this verse with "...Let us remember also that the Servant of Jehova, whose priestly mediatorial work is unfolded before us here in Chapter 53, upon the ground of which He rises to more than regal glory..." and "...The dead yet Living One, because of His one self-sacrifice, is an eternal Priest, Who now lives to distribute the blessings that He has acquired."(ft3)
[ft3] as Justin says ; "He who shall shine an eternal light in Jerusalem; this is He who is the King of Salem after the order of Melchizedek, and the eternal Priest of the Most High."
Keil and Delitzsch summarize the verse : "...His continued lading of our trespasses upon Himself is merely the constant presence and presentation of His atonement, which has been offered once for all. The dead yet living One, because of His one self-sacrifice, is an eternal Priest, Who now lives to distribute the blessings that He has acquired."
Hengstenberg ; "...overlooked by nearly all interpreters, that the figure of a husbandman {ft]
[ft] farmer, tiller of the ground, and also master of a family; see Webster's original Dictionary
lies at the foundation, Who, cultivating His land with labour and care, first beholds with pleasure the ripe fruit, then gathers in the harvest and satisfies Himself ; He has sown in tears, and now reaps in joy."'
Matthew Henry ; "He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied'. He shall see it beforehand (so it may be understood); He shall with the prospect of His sufferings have a prospect of the fruit, and He shall be satisfied with the bargain. He shall see it when it is accomplished in the conversion and salvation of poor sinners. Note, [1.] Our Lord Jesus was in travail of soul for our redemption and salvation, in great pain, but with longing desire to be delivered, and all the pains and throes He underwent were in order to it and hastened it on. [2.] Christ does and will see the blessed fruit of the travail of His soul in the founding and building up of His church and the eternal salvation of all that were given Him. He will not come short of His end in any part of his work, but will Himself see that He has not laboured in vain. [3.] The salvation of souls is a great satisfaction to the Lord Jesus. He will reckon all His pains well bestowed, and Himself abundantly recompensed, if the many sons be by him brought through grace to glory. Let Him have this, and He has enough. God will be glorified, penitent believers will be justified, and then Christ will be satisfied. Thus, in conformity to Christ, it should be a satisfaction to us if we can do any thing to serve the interests of God's kingdom in the world. Let it always be our meat and drink, as it was Christ's, to do God's will. 2. He shall have the glory of bringing in an everlasting righteousness; for so it was foretold concerning Him, Daniel 9:24. [my ft]
[ft] Daniel 9:24 LXX ; "Seventy weeks have been determined upon thy people, and upon the holy city, for sin to be ended, and to seal up transgressions, and to blot out the iniquities, and to make atonement for iniquities, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal the vision and the prophet, and to anoint the Most Holy."
And here, to the same purport, "By His knowledge (the knowledge of Him, and faith in Him) shall my righteous Servant justify many; for He shall bear the sins of many", and so lay a foundation for our justification from sin. Note, (1.) The great privilege that flows to us from the death of Christ is justification from sin, our being acquitted from that guilt which alone can ruin us, and accepted into God's favour, which alone can make us happy. (2.) Christ, who purchased our justification for us, applies it to us, by His intercession made for us, His gospel preached to us, and His Spirit witnessing in us. The Son of man had power even on earth to forgive sin. (3.) There are many whom Christ justifies, not all (multitudes perish in their sins), yet many, even as many as He gave His life a ransom for, as many as the Lord our God shall call. He shall justify not here and there one that is eminent and remarkable, but those of the many, the despised multitude. (4.) It is by faith that we are justified, by our consent to Christ and the covenant of grace; in this way we are saved, because thus God is most glorified, free grace most advanced, self most abased, and our happiness most effectually secured. (5.) Faith is the knowledge of Christ, and without knowledge there can be no true faith. Christ's way of gaining the will and affections is by enlightening the understanding and bringing that unfeignedly to assent to divine truths. (6.) That knowledge of Christ, and that faith in Him, by which we are justified, have reference to Him both as a servant to God and as a surety for us. [1.] As one that is employed for God to pursue His designs and secure and advance the interests of His glory. "He is My Righteous Servant, and as such justifies men." God has authorized and appointed Him to do it; it is according to God's will and for His honour that He does it. He is Himself righteous, and of His righteousness have all we received. He that is Himself righteous (for he could not have made atonement for our sin if He had had any sin of His own to answer for) is made of God to us righteousness, the Lord our righteousness. [2.] As one that has undertaken for us. We must know Him, and believe in Him, as one that bore our iniquities-saved us from sinking under the load by taking it upon Himself. 3. He shall have the glory of obtaining an incontestable victory and universal dominion," Acts 26:23 ; " that the Messiah must suffer, and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, He would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles."
In Acts 26:23 we read of the historic event of all times, the Lords redemptive work completed. The Resurrected Messiah who was shown the light of life, declared Himself resurrected, and proclaimed this light of the Gospel, that we might be shown the light of life."
Spurgeon ; " To the wheat the barn is the place of security. It dreads no mildew there; it fears no frost, no heat, no drought, no wet, when once in the barn. All its growth-perils are past. It has reached its perfection. It has rewarded the labor of the Husbandman, and it is housed. Oh! long-expected day, begin!
Oh! brethren, what a blessing it will be when you and I shall have come to our maturity, and Christ shall see in us the travail of His soul!"
Elsewhere Spurgeon says ; "...'He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied.' "You know the meaning of the suggestive figure couched in those words: the soul of Christ was in pangs, like a woman in travail, for these souls, and they are born to eternal life as the result of his soul's labor; and then, as the mother sees the child, and remembereth no more her sorrow for joy that a man is born into the world, so does the Savior see each one of his beloved ones born to himself, and feels a joy so great that he is more than recompensed for having died on the cruel tree. Oh, the joy of Christ over a soul that turns to him! O my hearer, think of it! Consider! Is it really so? You are capable of making the heart of Christ to throb with joy unspeakable even now!"
F.F. Bruce : " In Jesus the promise is confirmed, the covenant is vindicated, salvation is brought near, sacred history has reached its climax, the perfect sacrifice has been offered and accepted, the great priest over the household of God has taken His seat at God's right hand, the Prophet like Moses has been raised up, the Son of David reigns, the kingdom of God has been inaugurated, the Son of Man has received dominion from the Ancient of Days, the Servant of the Lord, having been smitten to death for His people's transgression and borne the sin of many, has accomplished the divine purpose, has seen light after the travail of His soul and is now exalted and extolled and made very high."
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Deuteronomy 18:15, LXX ;" The Lord thy God shall raise up to thee a prophet of thy brethren, like me; him shall ye hear:"
and
Deuteronomy 18:18, LXX (Thomson version) ; "I will raise up for them, from among their brethren, a prophet like thee, and I will put my words in his mouth, and he will speak to them as I command him:"
Cross references :
John 5:45-47 "Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is {one} that accuseth you, {even} Moses, in whom ye trust. 46 For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote concerning me. 47 But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?"
Acts 7:37 This is that Moses, who said to the children of Israel, A prophet will the Lord your God raise up to you of your brethren, like me; him will ye hear.
Matthew 17:5-6 5 While he was yet speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold, a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye him. 6 And when the disciples heard {it}, they fell on their face, and were in great fear."
Acts 3:22-26 "For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever He shall say unto you."
23 And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.
24 Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.
25 Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
26 Unto you first God, having raised up His Son Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities."
John 12:49-50 ; "For I have not spoken from myself; but the Father who sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.
50 And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatever I speak therefore, even as the Father said to me, so I speak."
Hebrews 3:1-6 ; "Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
2 Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses {was faithful} in all his house.
3 For this {man} was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath built the house, hath more honor than the house.
4 For every house is built by some {man}; but he that built all things {is} God.
5 And Moses verily {was} faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were {afterwards} to be spoken.
6 But Christ as a son over his own house: whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence, and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end."
John 5:45-46, Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.
Vs 46 For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote concerning me."
Matthew Henry ; "That God would raise Him up from the midst of them. In His birth He should be one of that nation, should live among them and be sent to them. In His resurrection He should be raised up at Jerusalem, and thence His doctrine should go forth to all the world: thus God, having raised up His Son Christ Jesus, sent Him to bless us."
John Gill ; "...the Messiah, with whom the whole agrees; and upon this the expectation of a prophet among the Jews was raised, John 6:14 and is applied to Him, and referred to as belonging to Him in Acts 3:22 ; 7:37, who was a prophet mighty in word and deed, and not only foretold future events, as His own sufferings and death, and resurrection from the dead, the destruction of Jerusalem, and other things; but taught and instructed men in the knowledge of divine things, spake as never man did, preached the Gospel fully and faithfully, so that as the law came by Moses, the doctrine of grace and truth came by him; and He was raised up of God, called, sent, commissioned and qualified by Him for the office of a prophet, as well as was raised from the dead as a confirmation of His being that extraordinary person: from the midst of thee; He was of Israel, according to the flesh, of the tribe of Judah, and of the house of David, born of a virgin in Bethlehem, preached only in Judea, and was raised from the dead in the midst of them, and of which they were witnesses:"
Spurgeon ; "...In all respects our Lord was raised up from the midst of us, one of our own kith and kin. "For this cause He is not ashamed to call us brethren." He was our Brother in living, our Brother in death, and our Brother in resurrection; for after His resurrection He said, "Go, tell my brethren;" and He also said, "My Father, and your Father; my God, and your God." Though now exalted in the highest heavens He pleads for us and acts as a High Priest who can be touched with a feeling of our infirmities. God has graciously raised up such a Mediator, and now He speaks to us through Him. O sons of men, will ye not hearken when such an One as Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of man, is ordained to speak of the eternal God? Ye might be unable to hear if he should speak again in thunder, but now he speaketh by those dear lips of love, now he speaketh by that gracious tongue which has wrought such miracles of grace by its words, now He speaketh out of that great heart of His, which never beats except with love to the sons of men-will ye not hear Him?
Surely we ought to give the most earnest heed and obey His every word."
Gill on verse 18 'I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren like unto thee,' &c.] "So that it seems this promise or prophecy was first made at Mount Sinai, but now renewed and repeated, and which is nowhere else recorded; see Deuteronomy 18:15 when they were not only made easy for the present by appointing Moses to receive from the Lord all further notices of his mind and will, but were assured that when it was his pleasure to make a new revelation, or a further discovery of his mind and will, in future times, he would not do it in that terrible way he had delivered the law to them; but would raise up a person of their own flesh and blood, by whom it should be delivered, which was sufficient to prevent their fears for the future:
and will put my word in his mouth; the doctrines of the Gospel, which come from God, and are the words of truth, faith, righteousness, peace, pardon, life, and salvation; and which Christ says were not his own, as man and Mediator, but his Father's, which he gave unto him, and put into his mouth, as what he should say, teach, and deliver to others; .
and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him; nor did he keep back, but faithfully declared the whole counsel of God; and as he gave him a commandment what he should say, and what he should speak, he was entirely obedient to it; ."
Hengstenberg ; ".Moses had Christ here in view, though not merely in reference to his visible manifestation, but also to his previous invisible influence ; as the Spirit of Christ is said by Peter to have spoken through the prophets. He does not indeed speak of the prophets as a collective body, to which Christ also in the end incidentally belonged, as Calvin and other commentators supposed ; but the prophetic order appeared to him personified in Christ, in whom his idea of it was completely realized. There is then here a reference to the other prophets also,."
"It was His Spirit that gave them their being."
Keil and Delitzsch ; " ...This prophecy, therefore, is very properly referred to Jesus Christ in the New Testament, as having been fulfilled in Him. Not only had Philip this passage in his mind when he said to Nathanael, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the law did write, Jesus of Nazareth," whilst Stephen saw the promise of the prophet like unto Moses fulfilled in Christ (Acts_7:37); but Peter also expressly quotes it in Act_3:22-23, as referring to Christ; and even the Lord applies it to Himself in John_5:45-47, when He says to the Jews, "Moses, in whom ye trust, will accuse you; for if ye believed Moses, ye would also believe Me: for Moses wrote of Me." In John_12:48-50, again, the reference to Deuteronomy_18:18 and Deuteronomy_18:19 of this chapter is quite unmistakeable; and in the words, "hear ye Him" which were uttered from the cloud at the transfiguration of Jesus (Mattthew_17:5), the expression in Deu_18:15, "unto Him shall ye hearken," is used verbatim with reference to Christ"...
Mark 8:31 "And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, and the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again." (Jesus, the greatest Prophet of all, High Priest, and King prophecied His own death and Resurrection )
Cross references :
1 Samuel 8:7 "And the Lord said to Samuel, Hear the voice of the people, in whatever they shall say to thee; for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me from reigning over them."
Hosea 6:2, LXX (Thomson Version); "In two days He can restore us to health ; on the third day we shall be raised up and live before Him."
Mark 9:31 "For he taught his disciples, and said to them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day."
Mark 10:33 Saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles:
Mark 10:34 And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again.
Matthew 16:21 "From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day."
Luke 9:22 "Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day."
Luke 24:7 Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again."
Matthew 12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
John 2:19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."
Acts 3:14-15 (Jewish eyewitnesses whose testimony was unopposed) "But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; vs.15 And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.
John Gill ; "Ver. 31. And he began to teach them, &c.] For as yet he had said nothing to them about his sufferings and death, at least in express terms; but now they being firmly established in the faith of him, as the Messiah, he thought it proper to inform them,
that the son of man must suffer many things; meaning himself, as that he should be betrayed, apprehended, and bound, should be smitten, spit upon, buffeted, and scourged; and which things must be done, and he suffer them, because it was so determined by God, and foretold in the Scriptures:
and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests and Scribes; which composed the grand Sanhedrim of the nation, and are the builders that were prophesied of by whom he should be rejected, Psalm 118:22,
and be killed; in a violent manner; his life be taken away by force, without law, or justice:
and after three days rise again: not after three days were ended, and on the fourth day, but after the third day was come; that is, "on the third day", as the Syriac, Arabic, Persic, and Ethiopic versions read; and even the Pharisees themselves thus understood Christ, Matthew 27:63,64, so the phrase, "after eight days", is used for the eighth day, being come, or that same day a week later"; see Luke 9:28 compared with Matthew 17:1 Joh 20:26.
Abbott ; "He explained these things that they might not now, upon his tacit acknowledgment of his Messiahship, begin to form expectations of worldly power and grandeur.--After three days; on the third day."
John 11:24-26 ;vs. 24; " Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
Vs. 25"Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:"
26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?"
cross references :
Isaiah 26:19 Dead Sea Scrolls ; "But your dead ones shall live with My dead body they shall arise. They shall awake and sing O inhabitants of the dust. Because your dew is as the dew of light and the earth shall cast out the departed."
John 5:21 For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.
John 6:39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
John 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Adam Clarke ; "Verse 25. I am the resurrection, and the life] Thou sayest that thy brother shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day; but by whom shall he arise if not by Me, who am the author of the resurrection, and the source of life? And is it not as easy for me to raise him now as to raise him then? Thus our blessed Lord raises her hope, animates her faith, and teaches her that he was not a mere man, but the essential principle and author of existence.
Though he were dead Every man who has believed or shall believe in me, though his believing shall not prevent him from dying a natural death, yet his body shall be re-animated, and he shall
live with me in an eternal glory. And every one who is now dead, dead to God, dead in trespasses and sins, if he believe in me, trust on me as his sole Saviour, he shall live, shall be quickened by my Spirit, and live a life of faith, working by love."
John Gill ; ".He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: believers in Christ die as well as others, though death is not a penal evil to them; its curse is removed, its sting is taken away, being satisfied for by Christ, and so becomes a blessing and privilege to them, and is desirable by them; but though they die, they shall live again; their dust is under the peculiar care of Christ; and they shall rise by virtue of union to him, and shall rise, first in the morning of the resurrection, and with peculiar privileges, or to the resurrection of life, and with the peculiar properties of incorruption, power, glory, and spirituality. So likewise such that have been dead in sin, and dead in law, under a sentence of condemnation, as all mankind are in Adam, and being in a natural and sinful estate, and as the chosen of God themselves are; yet being brought to believe in Christ, that is, to see the excellency and suitableness of him as a Saviour, and the necessity of salvation by him; to go out of themselves to him, disclaiming their own righteousness; venture their souls upon him, give up themselves to him, trust in him, and depend upon him for eternal life and salvation; these live spiritually; they appear to have a principle of life in them; they breathe after spiritual things; they see the Son of God, and behold his glory; they handle the word of life; they speak the language of Canaan, and walk by faith on Christ, as they have received him; they live a life of sanctification and justification; they are manifestly in Christ, and have him, an interest in him, and so must have life; they live comfortably [my ft]
[ft] "in a manner to give comfort or consolation" (see Webster's 1828 Dictionary)
they live by faith on Christ, and his righteousness, and have communion with him here, and expect to have, and shall have eternal life hereafter."
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Zephaniah 3:8 LXX (Augustine's version) ; "Wait ye upon Me, saith the Lord, in the day of My Resurrection, in the future, because it is My determination to assemble nations, and to gather together the kingdoms."
Zephaniah 3:8 LXX, (Thomson version) ; "On that very account, wait thou for Me, saith the Lord, until the day of My resurrection for a testimony. For this judgement of Mine is for the assemblies of nations ; to admit kings, to pour out all the fury of My wrath on them."
Zephaniah 3:8 (Transl. of the Latin Vulgate) ; " Wherefore expect me, saith the Lord, in the day of My resurrection that is to come, for my judgment is to assemble the Gentiles, and to gather the kingdoms: and to pour upon them my indignation, all my fierce anger: for with the fire of my jealousy shall all the earth be devoured."
Zephaniah 3:8 KJV/AV/MT ; " Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy."
note that the phrase "rise up to the prey" in the King James version gives a different (non-resurrection) context to the verse, thereby not following the more ancient Septuagint (LXX)
The Latin Vulgate/Douey Rheims, Augustine's reference to, and Thomson's Septuagint (LXX) inclusion of the phrase "the Day of my Resurrection" in prophetic reference to Christ's ( "the Lord") rising from the dead is indeed a stunning find in my quest for prophecies of Messiah's Resurrection. In this treasure hunt, as-it-were, for just such a revealing reference, this is the crown jewel among so many more that were always there in Scripture just waiting to be quaried from the Holy Writ. It seems very odd indeed that the vast majority of Bibles do not even so much as footnote that such a verse is to be found in the most ancient Biblical manuscripts!
cross references:
Isaiah 55:3-5 LXX (Thomson version) "Incline your ears and follow in My paths; hearken to Me and your soul shall live on good things; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant-the gracious promises to David which are faithful. Behold for a testimony [ft]
[my footnote] Grk. "marturion" , or "witness", "testimony"; "evidence", "proof";
to nations I gave him,-a chief and a lawgiver to nations. Nations which knew thee not will fly to thee, for the sake of the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, because He hath glorified thee."
Isaiah 30:18 ; "And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him."
James 5:7 "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain."
Revelation 19:11, verse 11 ; "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon Him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war."12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written, that no man knew, but He Himself.13 And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called The Word of God.14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."
John Gill ; " Ver. 8. "Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord,' &c.... this is said to the disciples and followers of Christ among the Jews; for there were some few that did fear the Lord, and received his doctrine, and submitted to His ordinances, and walked in His ways; and these are encouraged to wait upon the Lord; upon the Word of the Lord, as the Targum; or for Him, and to expect that He would appear, and work salvation and deliverance for them, when distress should come upon the unbelieving Jews: 'until the day that I rise up to the prey': until the day that He rose from the dead, quickly after which He ascended to heaven, leading captivity captive; Satan, and His principalities and powers, which He made a prey and spoil of upon the cross: or, till I rise "up for a testimony", or witness {Grk. 'heis marturion', Septuagint.}; of His being the true Messiah; for His resurrection from the dead was the signal He gave as a testimony of it, (Mt 12:39,40). Some render it, "till I rise up to perpetuity": or, "forever"... for, when Christ rose from the dead, He rose to an immortal life, never to die more; and ever live He does to make intercession for His people, to secure their happiness for them, and to preserve them unto it; and therefore they have great encouragement to wait upon Him, and for Him:"...
Matthew Henry ; ( here ties the two victories of Christ, the former and the latter, together) "Principalities and powers shall be spoiled, and made a show of openly, and the victorious Redeemer shall triumph over them. The end of those that continue to be of the earth, and to mind earthly things, after God has set up the kingdom of heaven among men, shall be destruction (Phillipians 3:19); they shall be devoured with the fire of God's jealousy."
Note that Augustine's passage does not have the "to admit kings, to pour out all the fury of My wrath on them." phrase of the Scripture. The Lord will indeed gather his people from all nations in the marriage supper of the Lamb. (see Revelation chapter 18)Yet even if the other versions with the judgment in the verse are accurate, it does not negate the resurrection passage as we know that the Lord has since His resurrection brought judgment (as the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A. D.) and will again bring destruction to the unbelieving inhabitants on earth.
According to the "Pulpit Commentary" the following church "fathers" interpreted Zephaniah 3:8 as Christ's resurrection and/or "dividing the spoil" ; Cyril, Jerome, Eusebius, and Augustine. (See "The Pulpit Commentary for detailed references.)
The Massorites ( Jewish translators) said this was the only verse in the scriptures that used the entire Hebrew alphabet.
In the following, Justin (Martyr) pursuasively demonstrates Christ's fulfillment of the portion of this scripture: "for a testimony" , by design or otherwise (highlighted in yellow) ;
"THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST PROVES THAT THE BODY RISES.
If He had no need of the flesh, why did He heal it? And what is most forcible of all, He raised the dead. Why? Was it not to show what the resurrection should be? How then did He raise the dead? Their souls or their bodies? Manifestly both. If the resurrection were only spiritual, it was requisite that He, in raising the dead, should show the body lying apart by itself, and the soul living apart by itself. But now He did not do so, but raised the body, confirming in it the promise of life. Why did He rise in the flesh in which He suffered, unless to show the resurrection of the flesh? And wishing to confirm this, when His disciples did not know whether to believe He had truly risen in the body, and were looking upon Him and doubting, He said to them, "Ye have not yet faith, see that it is I;"(3) and He let them handle Him, and showed them the prints of the nails in His hands. And when they were by every kind of proof persuaded that it was Himself, and in the body, they asked Him to eat with them, that they might thus still more accurately ascertain that He had in verity risen bodily; and He did eat honey-comb and fish. And when He had thus shown them that there is truly a resurrection of the flesh, wishing to show them this also, that it is not impossible for flesh to ascend into heaven (as He had said that our dwelling-place is in heaven), "He was taken up into heaven while they beheld,"(4) as He was in the flesh. If, therefore, after all that has been said, any one demand demonstration of the resurrection, he is in no respect different from the Sadducees, since the resurrection of the flesh is the power of God, and, being above all reasoning, is established by faith, and seen in works."
A. Barnes comments on the Masorretic phrase "the day I rise up for a prey" (not in the LXX): "And since the whole history of the Church lies wrapped up in the Person of the Redeemer, "the day that I rise up to the prey," is especially the Day in which the foundation of His Church was laid, or that in which it shall be completed; the Day whereon He rose again, as the first-fruits, or that Day in which He shall "stand again on the earth" , to judge it; "so coming even as He went up into heaven" Acts_1:11. Then, "the prey" must be, what God vouch-safes to account as His gain, "the prey" which is "taken from the mighty" Isaiah_49:24-25, and "the lawful captivity, the prey of the terrible one," which shall be delivered; even that spoil which the Father bestowed on Him "Who made His soul an offering for sin" Isa_53:10, Isa_53:12, the goods of the strong man Matthew_12:29 whom He bound, and spoiled us, His lawful goods and captives, since we had "sold" (Romans_7:14;. Isaiah_50:1; Isaiah_52:3) ourselves "under sin" to him. Cyril: "Christ lived again having spoiled hell, because "it was not possible" (as it is written) "that He," being by nature Life, "should be holden of death" Acts 2:24."
Jonah 1:17 and 2:1-3 LXX "Now the Lord had commanded a great fish to swallow Jonas, so Jonas was three days and three nights, in the belly of the fish. And when out of the belly of the great fish, Jonas prayed to the Lord his God, and said, In my affliction I cried to the Lord my God, and He hearkened to me: thou didst hear my cry from the womb of Hades: thou didst hearken to my prayer: thou hast cast me into the depths of the heart of the sea. When streams encompassed me-all thy billows and thy waves passed over me." [my ft]
[ft] the greek is literally "hades" rather than "hell" as the Friberg Lexicon states ; "... Hades (lit. an unseen place); (1) the place of the dead underworld (Acts 2.27); (2) usu. in the NT as the temporary underworld prison where the souls of the ungodly await the judgment (Luke 16.23); ..." also, verse 1 is actually verse 17 of chapter 1 in Charles Thomson's unedited version)
Cross reference:
Psalm 86:13 LXX (Thomson version) "For Thy mercy to me hath been great; Thou hast delivered my soul from the deepest mansion of the dead."
Psalm 4:1 LXX (Thomson version) ; "When I made my supplication, my righteous God heard me: Thou hast enlarged me in distress: be gracious to me and hear my prayer."
Psalm 16:10 LXX, (Thomson version) ; ..." that thou wilt not leave my soul in the mansion of the dead, nor suffer thine Holy One to see corruption." [my ft]
[my ft] The MT/KJV or so-called "authorized version" has ; "Psalm 16:10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption."
Apostolic (Peter) commentary and scriptural reference Acts 2:22-36 " Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know -- 23 "Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; 24 "whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. 25 "For David says concerning Him: 'I foresaw the LORD always before my face, For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. 27 For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. 28 You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.' 29 "Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 "Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 31 "he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. 32 "This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 33 "Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. 34 "For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: 'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, 35 Till I make Your enemies Your footstool." ' 36 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."
1 Samuel 30:6 6 "Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God."
Psalm 18:5-6 LXX, (Thomson version) ; "The pangs of Hades surrounded me, and the snares of deth were before me.
Vs 6 In my distress I called on the Lord, and to my cry before Him reached His ears."
Hebrews 5:7-9 : "Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears to him that was able to save him from death, and was heard, in that he feared;
8 Though he was a Son, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered; 9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation to all them that obey him;"
Matthew Henry comments;"...When Christ lay, as Jonah, three days and three nights in the grave, though he prayed not, as Jonah did, yet his very lying there cried to God for poor sinners, and the cry was heard. "...and..."As a type and figure of Christ's resurrection He died and was buried, to lay in the grave, as Jonah did, three days and three nights, a prisoner for our debt; but the third day he came forth, as Jonah did, by his messengers to preach repentance, and remission of sins, even to the Gentiles. And thus was another scripture fulfilled, After two days he will receive us, and the third day he will raise us up, "(Hosea 6:2)
John Gill : "...In this Jonah was a type of Christ, who, amidst his agonies, sorrows, and sufferings, prayed to his Father, and claimed his interest in him as his God, .."
"...'out of the belly of the grave' (b); out of the midst of it; that is, out of the belly of the fish, which was as a grave to him, as Jarchi observes; where he lay as out of the land of the living, as one dead, and being given up for dead: and it may also respect the frame of his mind, the horror and terror lie was in, arising from a sense of his sins, and the apprehensions he had of the wrath of God, which were as a hell in his conscience; and amidst all this he cried to God, and he heard him; and not only delivered him from he fish's belly, but from those dreadful apprehensions he had of his state and condition; and spoke peace and pardon to him.".
"...and the floods compassed me about; all thy billows and thy waves passed over me; which was his case as soon as cast into the sea, before the fish had swallowed him, as well as after: this was literally true of Jonah, what David says figuratively concerning his afflictions, and from whom the prophet seems to borrow the expressions, Psa_42:7; and indeed he might use them also in a metaphorical sense, with a view to the afflictions of body, and sorrows of death, that compassed him; and to the billows and waves of divine wrath, which in his apprehension lay upon him, and rolled over him."
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In the following, Justin (Martyr) persuasively demonstrates Christ's fulfillment of the portion of this scripture: "for a testimony" , by design or otherwise (highlighted in yellow) ;
"THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST PROVES THAT THE BODY RISES."
If He had no need of the flesh, why did He heal it? And what is most forcible of all, He raised the dead. Why? Was it not to show what the resurrection should be? How then did He raise the dead? Their souls or their bodies? Manifestly both. If the resurrection were only spiritual, it was requisite that He, in raising the dead, should show the body lying apart by itself, and the soul living apart by itself. But now He did not do so, but raised the body, confirming in it the promise of life. Why did He rise in the flesh in which He suffered, unless to show the resurrection of the flesh? And wishing to confirm this, when His disciples did not know whether to believe He had truly risen in the body, and were looking upon Him and doubting, He said to them, "Ye have not yet faith, see that it is I;"(3) and He let them handle Him, and showed them the prints of the nails in His hands. And when they were by every kind of proof peruaded that it was Himself, and in the body, they asked Him to eat with them, that they might thus still more accurately ascertain that He had in verity risen bodily; and He did eat honey-comb and fish. And when He had thus shown them that there is truly a resurrection of the flesh, wishing to show them this also, that it is not impossible for flesh to ascend into heaven (as He had said that our dwelling-place is in heaven), "He was taken up into heaven while they beheld,"(4) as He was in the flesh. If, therefore, after all that has been said, any one demand demonstration of the resurrection, he is in no respect different from the Sadducees, since the resurrection of the flesh is the power of God, and, being above all reasoning, is established by faith, and seen in works."
Matthew Henry ; ( here ties the two victories of Christ, the former and the latter, together) "Principalities and powers shall be spoiled, and made a show of openly, and the victorious Redeemer shall triumph over them. The end of those that continue to be of the earth, and to mind earthly things, after God has set up the kingdom of heaven among men, shall be destruction (Phillipians 3:19); they shall be devoured with the fire of God's jealousy."
Isaiah 55:4-5, LXX vs.4 "Behold for a testimony to nations I gave him, a prince and commander to the Gentiles. 5 Nations which know thee not, shall call upon thee, and peoples which are not acquainted with thee, shall flee to thee for refuge, for the sake of the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel; for he has glorified thee."
Isaiah 55:4-5 Dead Sea Scroll (4.) "Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people. (5.) Behold, a nation that you do not know you shall call, and a nation that you have not known shall run to you because of YHWH your God, and the Holy One of Israel; for he has glorified you"
Cross references:
Zephaniah 3:8 LXX, Thomson version ; "On that very account, wait thou for Me, saith the Lord, until the day of My resurrection for a testimony. For this judgement of Mine is for the assemblies of nations ; to admit kings, to pour out all the fury of My wrath on them."
Zephaniah 3:8 Augustine's LXX (Septuagint) ; "Wait ye upon Me, saith the Lord, in the day of My Resurrection, in the future, because it is My determination to assemble nations, and to gather together the kingdoms."
Isaiah 55:3 3 Incline your ear, and come to me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, {even} the sure mercies of David.
Isaiah 45:15, LXX, "For thou art God, yet we knew it not, the God of Israel, the Saviour."
Isaiah 45(15.) Dead Sea Scroll ; "Therefore you are a God of hidden places, O God of Israel, the Savior."
Revelation 1:5 "And from Jesus Christ, {who is} the faithful witness, {and} the first-begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. To him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,"
John 17:10 "And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
Acts 3:13-15 13 The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let {him} go. 14 But ye denied the Holy One, and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted to you, 15 And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; of which we are witnesses.
Acts 13:34-35 34 And as concerning that he raised him from the dead, {now} no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David. 35 Wherefore he saith also in another {psalm}, Thou wilt not suffer thy Holy One to see corruption.
Isaiah 45:22, LXX Turn ye to me, and ye shall be saved, ye that come from the end of the earth: I am God, and there is none other.
Isaiah 45:22, Dead Sea Scroll ; "Turn to me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth: because I am God, and there is no other."
John Gill..."He is a witness of Himself; of His deity and perfections; of his divine and eternal sonship; of his existence before His incarnation; of His Messiahship; of the end of His coming into the world; of His sufferings, death, and resurrection; of His second coming; and of the several characters He bears: He is a witness of the covenant itself, as well as the surety, Mediator, and messenger of it, and of truth in general; to which He has bore witness by His word and doctrines; by His works and miracles; by His sufferings and death; by the Scriptures of truth; by his Gospel, and the ministers of it; and by his spirit, and a Faithful Witness [my ft]
[ft] the word in greek is martu,rion marturion" or martuj"martu" (same word for martyr) meaning;"witness","evidence","proof" example Revelation 2:13
F.B. Meyer gives insight on the use of the terms "leader' or "prince" as respecting the Resurrected Messiah in this verse ; "This title is applied to Christ after His resurrection."
Pulpit Commentary ; ".Almost all commentators allow that the Christian covenant is intended ? that "new covenant" (Hebrews 9:15) under which man obtains pardon and salvation through the Mediatorship of Christ. Even the sure mercies of David. The "sure mercies of David" are the loving and merciful promises which God made to
him. These included the promise that the Messiah should come of his seed, and sit on his throne, and establish an everlasting kingdom (Psalm 89:2- 5, 19-37), and triumph over death and hell (Psalm 16:9, 10), and give peace and happiness to Israel (Psalm 132:15-18). The promises made to David, rightly understood, involve all the essential points of the Christian covenant.
Ver. 4. ? Behold, I have given him for a witness. By ordinary rules of grammar, the pronoun "him" should refer to David; and so the passage is understood by Gesenius, Maurer, Hitzig, Ewald, Knobel, Delitzsch, and Mr. Cheyne. But, as Isaiah frequently sets aside ordinary grammatical rules, and as the position to the person here spoken of seems too high for the historical David, a large number of commentators, including Vitringa, Michaelis, Dathe, Rosenmuller, Umbreit, and Dr. Kay, consider that the Messiah is intended. It is certainly difficult to see how the historical David
could be, at this time and in the future, a "leader and commander to the peoples" who were about to flock into the Messianic kingdom.
A witness. .a leader and commander. Christ was all these. He "came to bear witness to the truth" (John 18:37), and "before Pilate witnessed a good confession" (1 Timothy 6:13). He "feeds and leads" his people (Revelation 7:17), and is the "Commander" under whose banner they serve (2 Timothy 2:3, 4). What he is to his people, he is also of the "peoples" generally; for they have been called into his kingdom, People.
Ver. 5. ? Thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not (comp. Psalm 18:43). The object of address in this verse appears to be the Messiah. He, at his coming, will "call" into his kingdom "a nation," or rather, "people," with whom he has had no covenant hitherto; and they will readily and gladly obey the call. Thus God's kingdom will be enlarged, and Israel's glory will be increased,
Because of the Lord. for he hath glorified thee. The great cause of the attraction will be the "glory" which God the Father has bestowed upon his Son, by raising him from the dead, and exalting him to a seat at his right hand in heaven (Acts 2:32-35; 3:13-15)."
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