Isaiah

Brand-New Website about Ancient Prophecy

John Barry — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 23:20:41 -0700

My new website, ResurrectedServant.com is now live! Subscribe to the RSS feed today and start learning about the resurrected servant prophesied 500 years before Jesus. This is also the subject matter of my new book.

Check out ResurrectedServant.com here.

A Resurrected Servant in Isaiah?

John Barry — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:50:29 -0800

The servant in Isaiah 52 and 53 is one of the most intriguing figures in the prophetic Scriptures. The questions about this passage are many, the interpretations are diverse, and the answers always seem to be different.

Some have looked to Isaiah 52 and 53 in search of Jesus, others to reclaim Israel’s role in the world, and some to find a historical explanation for this prophetic text that seems to have no precedence.

Here's my translation of part of Isaiah 53:10–11:

If she places his life a guilt offering, he will see offspring, he will prolong days ... From the trouble of his life, he will see light. He will be satisfied. In his knowledge, my righteous servant shall make many righteous and he will bear their iniquities.

In the past thirty years, there has been little examination of the servant’s possible resurrection in Isaiah 53:10–12. Two scholastic interpretations have been cited as disproving the resurrection in Isaiah 53. Even though these interpretations have been cited multiple times as disproving resurrection in Isaiah 53:10–12, discourse analysis, a method that has been pioneered since these scholastic works were written, suggests otherwise. My book, The Resurrected Servant in Isaiah, re-evaluates the scholarly consensus about the resurrected servant and proposes a new interpretation.

Pre-order the print edition from Paternoster Press (aka Biblica, aka The International Bible Society) here. Or get it on Amazon.com here.

Pre-order the Logos Bible Software digitial edition here.

(Each version has its own cover. I think that's pretty cool. But, of course I would.)

Learn about the resurrected servant prophesied 500 years before Jesus came on the scene. Learn about the prophecy that foretold a servant who would reconcile God's people to him and restore them to their land. Learn how resurrection of this servant means resurrection (metaphorically and physically) for God’s people.

This passage in Isaiah is incredible. So much of prophecy that comes later hinges on the ideas in this passage. I now see this passage “written” on almost every page of books like Daniel, Ezekiel and throughout the New Testament stories of Jesus. I truly believe that seeing this prophecy in Isaiah through the lens of the ancient world and Hebrew poetry will change the way you read Isaiah and the Bible in general. So, pick up a copy in print or for Logos Bible Software and dive into the world of prophecy and resurrection.

Note: Since I am the author of this book, I will make a royalty on any purchase you make. Likewise, some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which means I will be paid if you buy something through one or more of them. But since the majority of my scholastic work over the past three to four years has been devoted to writing this book, you can trust that I believe in it. I truly do think that this work changes the way we understand resurrection in the ancient world.

New song for 2010

Christy Tennant — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:41:24 -0800

Obama, Prophecy, and a Voice from the Past

John Barry — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 22:33:11 -0800

What will the spiritual environment of the U.S. look like in the coming year? How will the world be different now that there is a new, African-American President sitting in the oval office? A man who has claimed that our country will see change: financially, diplomatically and even spiritually. Aside from your political allegiances (or lack thereof), you may be wondering the same thing. Let’s talk about the book—the Bible—the President-elect will place his hand on when he is sworn in, and what the voices of the ancient prophets, recorded in that book, tell us about this historic day.

Many claim that we can interpret world events with the Bible in one hand, and a newspaper in the other, but I disagree. The prophetic accounts in the Bible shed light on what is happening, but they must be understood in their own historical era before we jump light years ahead to our generation.

Even though prophecy rarely (if ever) foretold today’s events (it was usually about the events in the prophet’s era), it can help us understand our world because God, our needs, and human nature in general, are the same. Through reading prophecy, we learn to speak with our own prophetic voice, and speak true spiritual change into our generation. Change just at the economic or diplomatic level will never be enough. This is the prophetic message: We must all change who we are to be more like God.

On the brink of this new voyage for the U.S., I would like for our conversation on "The Infinite in Everything" to turn a new corner. I want us to re-discover the ancient way of looking at prophecy together. Let's converse over one of the most important prophetic books of all time: Isaiah; especially Isaiah 53:10–12 in light of Isaiah 40–56 . Through this book, God has transformed who I am. I now want to learn from you, and hear what you think about the book. To begin, here is my own translation of the passage from the traditional Hebrew text, known as the Masoretic Text:

10 Yet Yahweh was pleased to crush him; he afflicted [him] (with sickness). When she makes his life a guilt offering, he will see offspring, he will prolong days and the will of Yahweh will succeed in his hand. 11 From the trouble of his life he will see. He will be satisfied by his knowledge. My righteous servant shall make many righteous and he will bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore I will divide him among [the] many, and with [the] strong ones he shall divide bounty, because he exposed his life to death and was counted with transgressors, and he carried [the] sin of many and will intercede for transgressors.

Please drop a comment if you are interested in discussing this passage in light of Isaiah 40–56—my plan is to start blogging on Isaiah 40–56 almost daily—the more people who tell me they are interested, the more likely I am to post everyday. Furthermore, if you have any insights on the passage, please feel free to dialogue with others, as well as me, right here. Let your voice be heard. Your words have the power to change.