Haftarah Shoftim

Haftarah Shoftim

Yeshayahu – Isaiah 51:12-52:12

Isa 51:12  I, even I, am he who comforts you: who are you, that you are afraid of man who shall die, and of the son of man who shall be made as grass;

Isa 51:13  and have forgotten YHWH your Maker, who stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and fear continually all the day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he makes ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?

Isa 51:14  The captive exile shall speedily be freed; and he shall not die [and go down] into the pit, neither shall his bread fail.

Isa 51:15  For I am YHWH your Elohim, who stirs up the sea, so that the waves of it roar: YHWH Tzeva’ot is his name.

That we trust in Elohim is one of the main things that he desires of us.  A lack of trust leads to all sorts of other sins.

Isaiah, continued:

Isa 51:16  I have put my words in your mouth, and have covered you in the shadow of my hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and tell Tziyon, You are my people.

Isa 51:17  Awake, awake, stand up, Yerushalayim, that have drunk at the hand of YHWH the cup of his wrath; you have drunken the bowl of the cup of staggering, and drained it.

Isa 51:18  There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she has brought forth; neither is there any who takes her by the hand among all the sons who she has brought up.

Isa 51:19  These two things have happened to you. Who will bemoan you? Desolation and destruction, and the famine and the sword; how shall I comfort you?

Isa 51:20  Your sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as an antelope in a net; they are full of the wrath of YHWH, the rebuke of your Elohim.

Isa 51:21  Therefore hear now this, you afflicted, and drunken, but now with wine:

Isa 51:22  Thus says your Adonai YHWH, and your Elohim who pleads the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of staggering, even the bowl of the cup of my wrath; you shall no more drink it again:

Isa 51:23  and I will put it into the hand of those who afflict you, who have said to your soul, Bow down, that we may go over; and you have laid your back as the ground, and as the street, to those who go over.

The primary application for this prophecy will occur at the end of the Tribulation, when Elohim has finished refining his people like an assay of gold, and turns instead to punish those who afflicted his people.

Isaiah, continued:

Isa 52:1 Awake, awake, put on your strength, Tziyon; put on your beautiful garments, Yerushalayim, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean.

The primary application for this is the Millennial Kingdom, though the Judeans implemented this procedure at the Temple Mount from its very outset.  Everyone entering the Temple grounds was required to pass through the miqvah, naked.  Such will be the procedure for the entire city during the Millennial Kingdom.  No one who is physically uncircumcised will even be able to enter the city, much less worship at the Temple.  Ezekiel confirms this prophec in his chapters discussing the Millennial Temple:

Eze 44:6  You shall tell the rebellious, even to the house of Yisra’el, Thus says Adonai YHWH: you house of Yisra’el, let it suffice you of all your abominations,   Eze 44:7  in that you have brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to profane it, even my house, when you offer my bread, the fat and the blood, and they have broken my covenant, [to add] to all your abominations.   Eze 44:8  You have not kept the charge of my holy things; but you have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves.   Eze 44:9 Thus says Adonai YHWH, No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any foreigners who are among the children of Yisra’el.

Many Messianic and Rabbinic congregations think they are doing good by inviting the community (or churchgoers) to participate with them at Passover, especially – when we are specifically commanded to EXCLUDE the uncircumcised (Exodus chp 12).   It was not an oversight on Yeshua’s part that he instituted his covenant kiddush of the new covenant at Passover when no uncircumcised persons may be present – it is a deep truth of theology that those who are in violation of the Torah commandments are not part of the Kingdom, period.  They may not even enter the city, much less the Temple, as Isaiah here affirms for us.

Isaiah, continued:

Isa 52:2  Shake yourself from the dust; arise, sit [on your throne], Yerushalayim: loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, captive daughter of Tziyon.

Isa 52:3  For thus says YHWH, You were sold for nothing; and you shall be redeemed without money.

Redeemed with blood.

Isaiah, continued:

Isa 52:4  For thus says Adonai YHWH, My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there: and the Ashur has oppressed them without cause.

Isa 52:5  Now therefore, what do I here, says YHWH, seeing that my people is taken away for nothing? those who rule over them do howl, says YHWH, and my name continually all the day is blasphemed.

Isa 52:6  Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore [they shall know] in that day that I am he who does speak; behold, it is I.

Not only do people who claim to be Elohim’s people continually call him by pagan names and tell lies of Torahlessness to those who seek him, but their actions prove their uncleanness all day long with selfishness and worldliness.

Isaiah, continued:

Isa 52:7  How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes shalom, who brings good news of good, who publishes salvation, who says to Tziyon, Your Elohim reigns!

Isa 52:8  The voice of your watchmen! they lift up the voice, together do they sing; for they shall see eye to eye, when YHWH returns to Tziyon.

When Yeshua returns to Jerusalem, he will not be “Yeshua” any longer, but will be fully manifested as YHWH Tzeva’ot.  There is only one Deity, not three.  “YHWH will be sovereign over all the earth.  And in that day, YHWH will be one, and His name will be one.” (Zech 14:9)

Isaiah, continued:

Isa 52:9  Break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Yerushalayim; for YHWH has comforted his people, he has redeemed Yerushalayim.

Isa 52:10  YHWH has made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth have seen the Yeshuah of our Elohim.

Isa 52:11  Depart you, depart you, go you out from there, touch no unclean thing; go you out of the midst of her; cleanse yourselves, you who bear the vessels of YHWH.

Isa 52:12  For you shall not go out in haste, neither shall you go by flight: for YHWH will go before you; and the Elohim of Yisra’el will be your rearguard.

“Touch no unclean thing” including pork and shellfish, and “cleanse yourself” of your violations of family purity laws including relations during menstruation, and pagan observances such as christmas and easter  – these are Elohim’s commandments for us as we prepare for the Inaguration of the Kingdom.  Ignore them at your own peril, for no unclean or uncircumcised person will be a king or priest in Elohim’s kingdom.  No, the door will be shut in your face.

So repent, and be saved.

Next:  Talmidim Shoftim.