Isaiah 53: 4-12 NIV1
4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied ; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors
Isaiah 53: 4-12 KJV
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
16 When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.
17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.”
Matthew 8 KJV4
16 When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:
17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.
Let us begin by focusing on the scriptures from Isaiah. First of all you notice that there are 9 verses written here. I was taught in English Comp. 101 that when you are quoting from a paragraph that you should review the whole paragraph before you dissect it and that when you are presenting your results that you show the entire paragraph so there is no question as to where you derived your material.
You will see that there are two versions of the Scriptures for today‘s message. The first is the New International Version and the second is the King James Version (authorized version). I will first focus on Isaiah 53: 5
The NIV has the scripture as “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed”
The KJV (authorized version) has the scripture as “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
I don’t know if you noticed, I did, that some of the words are changed and when you change words you change the meaning of a passage. First of all Isaiah did not say that he was pierced for our transgressions, he said he was wounded for our transgressions.
Pierced from the Oxford Dictionary means to perforate or puncture. I looked up the word pierced in the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and there was no reference to Isaiah for the word pierced. I had to use what definitions I thought might work and there were six of them. Three referred to scriptures in the Old Testament and three referred to scriptures in the New Testament. Now I don’t think that Isaiah spoke or wrote in Greek so you can eliminate the three that referred to the New Testament. Of course if you want to stretch the truth you might try to use one of the Greek meanings for the word pierced. However any intelligent scholar could see right through trying to pass off a Greek word in the middle of a “book” full of Hebrew words. The Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary has pierced as the following: (I will list the definitions using the concordance numbers)
738 sense of violence I do not think that Isaiah would say that
1856 thrust through Isaiah could have meant that but wounded does not mean that
5365 dug The only way that Isaiah could have meant this is that Isaiah was a child of the 60’s or better yet a hippie. So we can discount the NIV for an accurate translation of what Isaiah said in Isaiah 53:5
Wounded in the Oxford dictionary means injured or offended
So the KJV would be the correct text for this scripture. And what is the definition for wounded in the Hebrew language of that day according to the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance Hebrew dictionary? It means to be hurt or offended. However if you read the whole sentence you will find the word healed at the end of it. So what do you do to get the accurate translation and definitions?
Look at the writer and who he was. Isaiah was the Son of Amoz (Amos) who was also a prophet. To be a prophet is those days you were also a rabbi and had studied the law. Therefore Isaiah could very well have also been a lawyer. And if you apply that to the scripture it could possibly read something like this if I wanted to take it to the other extreme: (my translation)
“He was offended for our sins, he was injured because we were sinning, his punishment was for our peace, and by his inheritance we are reconciled.”
However that would not be correct either because the main definition for stripes is wounds, injuries. Stripes were not defined as rank of inheritance until probate law came into being in jolly old England. So the correct translation into modern words we could understand, would be: again my translation
But he was wounded for our sins, he was bruised for our evil deeds: he was chastised for our peace; and with his stripes we are reconciled [with God].
This is a more accurate translation than the NIV5 translation
In fact this interpretation is what most of the Orthodox (non- Word of Faith) Christians ascribe to. It is closer to the character of God and Jesus Christ than what the Word of Faith preachers and teachers would lead you to believe. That instead of total bodily healing, a healing with God, a reconciliation. For that is what Jesus was sent to earth for was to reconcile man with God through him. I was advised that if I wanted to know if a scripture interpretation was right and true to check and see if it lined up with the nature and character of God and Jesus. If it changed the nature and character of God and Jesus it is a false teaching and or doctrine.
We will now focus on Matthew 8:16-17. Some Bibles including the NIV have an end note at the end of verse 17 directing you to a note at the bottom of the page, which directs you to Isaiah 53 and either verse 4 or 5 depending on what year the Bible was printed. Most Bibles printed before 1973 do not have an end note at the end of verse176
As a matter of course the following verses in Isaiah 53 could fit into the translation of the words that Isaiah said, by Matthew in verse 17. These verses are: 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12. However we need to look a little better at what Matthew was saying in verse 16 to understand what the whole paragraph is all about which comprises both verse 16 and 17. Now 16 states that there were people brought to Jesus that were possessed of devils or demons (depending on which version of the Bible you are reading) and with a word cast them out and then healed the sick. The 17th verse states that this was so that what the Prophet Isaiah (Esaias) said about him MIGHT BE FULFILLED, not that because HE cast out devils and healed the sick we are entitled to bodily healing and health when we are born again. This is what the Word of Faith preachers and teachers would have you believe.
I researched the words used in the New Testament Greek7 for infirmities and sickness as used in these verses. Infirmities was defined as a weakness in body and mind. Devil or demon possession would qualify as a weakness in the mind. Sickness used in this context was defined as an uncertain affliction. Devil or demon possession certainly qualifies as an uncertain affliction even today. There was no mention of illness for either one of these definitions.
The whole crux of this paragraph of Scripture, inspired by God, and written by the hand of Matthew the Apostle is that Jesus cast out devils or demons with a word and healed those that were sick (in need of recovery from evil), so that what Isaiah the Prophet had said MIGHT BE FULFILLED. I do not see any promise of future healing for born again believers I only see the FULFILLMENT of prophesy plain and simple.
I am not saying that people in this day and age are not miraculously healed by prayer and the intervention of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. I have personally witnessed and participated in such a healing by my own hands when I was a new born again believer. I am saying that not everyone will receive this type of healing if and when they are a born again believer. I know, I have been diagnosed with arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. I have been a born again believer for over 35 years and have been prayed for and hands laid on numerous times and still have yet to be healed. Some will say it is a matter of the strength of my faith. I say that strength of my faith has nothing what so ever to do with it. God knew me before I was even born (this is biblical) and knows what will become of my life whether I choose him or I don’t choose him. He knows what will happen in my life if I choose Him and He knows what will happen in my life if I do not choose him. However that is theology for another day So in summary the Health myth is just that, a myth. Isaiah the prophet prophesied that Jesus would take our infirmities and bear our sickness. This prophesy was fulfilled in Matthew 8:16. It is not a set of verses from both the Old and New Testament that doctrine can be based on for the bodily healing of the born again believer. It is a prophesy and its fulfillment plain and simple. Isaiah prophesied it and Jesus fulfilled it just as He fulfilled many prophesies by the Old Testament Prophets both major and minor.
So Absolute Health for all Christians is a Myth!
1 The NIV is a bible printed by Zondervan press commissioned by the International Bible Society at the request of The Lausanne Congress on World Evangelism A.K.A The Lausanne Movement.
2The Holy Bible New International Version Zondervan Publishing House 1973, 1978, 1984, 1995 commissioned by The International Bible Society .
3The International Bible Society has been in operation distributing Bibles since 1808
4The Holy Bible King James Version [Authorized Version] Thomas Nelson Bibles 1970, 2001.
5 The NIV is a bible printed by Zondervan press commissioned by Lausanne World Evangelism Conference A.K.A. The Lausanne Movement.
6 I checked with one of my research sources, Clemmie W. Nelson, (1928-2009) who has a Bible printed circa 1948, and also one that was printed circa 1890. Note: Clemmie W. Nelson (my mother) passed a way on October 3, 2009 before this blog could be published.
7 An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words W. E. Vine, M. A. (Riverside Book and Bible House, Iowa Falls, Iowa, 1939, 1952)
Matthew’s use of the phrase “that it might be fulfilled” speaks of actions that will set up a future fulfillment, or ongoing fulfillment of a prophecy, with only one exception. This phrase does not necessarily mean that a prophecy was at that moment fulfilled once and for all. Matthew’s use of “that it might be fulfilled” applies to cases where a prophecy now must surely be fulfilled in the future, even though it has not technically happened yet. If the prophecy was actually completed, Matthew used the phrase “was fulfilled” instead.
Matthew 1:20-23:
But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
At this time, Jesus was not yet born or named, but Matthew uses the phrase that it might be fulfilled because this action set up the future fulfillment of this prophecy. It was not over and done with at the time; it happened in the future.
Matthew 2:16-18:
Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.
Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying,
In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.
In this passage, the event fulfilling the prophecy is over. Matthew says “then was fulfilled” instead of “that it might be fulfilled.” Matthew was specific enough to distinguish between prophecies that were fulfilled once and for all and those that were not.
Matthew 2:23:
And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.
At this point, no one was fulfilling the prophecy by calling Jesus a Nazarene. But when Jesus moved to a place that would later result in his being called a Nazarene, Matthew uses the phrase, that it might be fulfilled.
Some say that the fulfillment in the original text points to a one-time fulfillment. I agree completely; but the one time was Calvary, not Capernaum.
Isaiah’s prophecy stated clearly in its context that Jesus took our infirmities and our sicknesses, not just the ones of the people that evening. The final fulfillment of this took place on the cross, as is clear from its context in Isaiah. Everyone acknowledges that everything else in Isaiah 53 refers to the atonement at Calvary. You cannot justify taking half of one sentence and saying that it refers to one night in Capernaum while the rest of the chapter, and indeed the rest of the same sentence refer to Christ’s atonement on the cross!
The fact that Jesus continued to minister healing to multitudes of sick people shows that this prophecy could not have been fulfilled in its final sense on the evening of Matthew 8:16-17. If it were fulfilled in a final sense, Jesus would not have healed any more sick people after this. Therefore, we must reject the argument that this scripture was finally fulfilled on that day and does not apply to the cross. Because the Messiah did take away illnesses, you could think of it as a partial fulfillment of the prophecy, but certainly not a final fulfillment.
In Acts, we see that Jesus continued to remove diseases from people through his Church; his acts in the gospels were only what he “began” to do and teach (Acts 1:1).
Did you notice in your studies that the use of ‘might be fulfilled’ is the same Greek word πληρόω plēroō for all other ‘might be fulfilled’ passages? All but one of the passages that use ‘might be fulfilled’ πληρόω would not make sense if you used the same reference notes that are found in the Strong’s and Vine’s for Matthew 8:17.
The argument about the Greek verb tense usually states that the Isaiah’s prophecy was completely fulfilled that evening because the Aorist tense of “fulfill” is used in the verse, and that the Aorist tense indicates momentary completed action in the past tense. That is an oversimplification. In general, only the indicative form of the Aorist almost definitely describes a momentary past completed action. The other forms of the Aorist are not time-definite and can in some cases even be used to describe a future action. The form used in Matthew 8:17 is the first Aorist passive subjunctive, which is the same form used in the other passages where the phrase that it might be fulfilled appears. The Aorist passive subjunctive can indicate future action that is guaranteed to happen. This is the case in John 13:31-2: “Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him…” The tense of glorified in all three cases is the Aorist passive subjunctive — the same form used in Matthew 8:17. The momentary event referred to here have not yet happened, but as far as Jesus was concerned, it was as good as done. The idea of a future action being guaranteed to happen by current events is borne out by the other passages that use ‘that it might be fulfilled’. In God’s eyes, the actions were as good as done, even though they had not happened yet by our time line.
If these Greek scholars are right about the Aorist always describing momentary past action, we must believe the following, because the verses that use the same phrase use the Aorist passive subjunctive of “to fulfill” in the Greek — exactly the same word used in Matthew 8:17:
— Mary completed the act of bringing forth and naming her son when the angel stood before her telling her that she would conceive.
— God completed the act of calling Jesus out of Egypt as soon as he got there.
— People called Jesus a Nazarene as soon as he arrived at Nazareth, many years before his ministry began.
— The people of Zabulon and Nephthalim saw the light as soon as Jesus arrived there.
— The Gentiles trusted in Jesus during his earthly ministry, and he “sent for judgment into victory” during his earthly ministry.
— Jesus sat on the donkey before it was brought to him.
— All the prophetic Scriptures about Jesus were completely fulfilled when he was arrested in the garden.
Some Greek grammar sources indicate that the subjunctive Aorist is time-indefinite, but you should be able to figure this out from the English arguments above.
Craig,
You have made some absolutely good points and I will take them to heart when I write and post my next blog.
You are fresh breaze blowing. I am sorry about my negitiveness and will try to do better.
Keep checking back I am thinking about posting a blog on the prosperity doctrine.
Thank you!
I’m liable to join you on speaking against much of the prosperity doctrines that are out there. 🙂