Quote from TraderZones:
You
Try reading Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 and compare it to the purpose of Christ and the crucifixion in the New Testament. It clearly describes a man being crucificied centuries before Rome even appeared in Israel with this method. The parallels and purpose are evident even to the blind.
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Was Isaiah 53 Even a Prophecy?
Be very careful with this stuff. Isaiah 53 is very tricky because it is such a tough one to crack. However, keep in mind that almost all the others are relatively simple. And the apparent "success" of Isaiah 53 would in no way make up for the monumental failures of the others. Isaiah 53 is a failure, to be sure, once you examine the nature of prophecy and see that it is not a prophecy at all and was never intended to be one: you must twist this thing all out of context to turn it into a prophecy. However, at first glance, Isaiah 53 looks pretty good! Remember, though, Isaiah 53 is just one passage out of 39 (currently canonized) books of Hebrew Scripture, and it says some things that have nothing to do with Jesus, and also omits some important elements of the Jesus story that you'd expect to see in something alleging to be a prediction about him.
The most crucial omission is even a hint -- a suggestion -- that this is intended to be a prophecy at all! It isn't a prophecy. At all. It has none of the elements of the classic Ezekiel "Thus Saith The Lord" if you don't do this, then such and so will happen. Isaiah even contains a prophecy just so we'll know what one looks like (assuming both sections were written by the same man). I shall retell the story based upon the famous commentary by United States Founder Thomas Paine: In Isaiah 7:14, the famous "Virgin shall conceive" passage is actually about Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz -- not Jesus -- and Isaiah gives this prophecy as a sign to Ahaz, the king of Judah, that he'd win the upcoming battle when Pekah, king of Israel would join himself to Rezin, king of Syria, to make war against Ahaz. In other words, the birth of this child would prove to him that these two kings should not succeed against him! And so, in order to "fulfill" the "birth of the child" section of this prophecy, what does Isaiah do? In 13:2, Isaiah says, "I went in unto the Prophetess, and she conceived and bear a son." Ah, okay! Well, there's a self-fulfilling prophecy if I ever heard one! In verse 18 he reiterates: "Behold I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel."
Was Isaiah Even a Prophet of God?
Oh, but even Isaiah is not fool enough to carry us through to the finish of this story. Another chronicler, one who was not working in league with Isaiah (and perhaps was unaware of this "prophecy"), tells us what became of this upcoming battle. In II Chronicles 28:1, the chronicler tells us, about Ahaz: "Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign. and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, but he did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord." Okay, so we have a different picture: Instead of the Lord giving the king signs as a trusted servant, here he is disobedient and about to be punished.
But look very closely at the precise nature of this punishment, described in verse 5: "Wherefore the Lord his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria, and they smate him, and carried away a great multitude of them captive and brought them to Damascus; and he was also delivered into the hand of the king, of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter." So, instead of things going according to the prophecy of Isaiah, they ended up happening in the exact reverse of what Isaiah is said to have prophesied!
You don't need to try to verify this one from outside sources, the whole thing is contained right here in the Bible itself. Also, the Deuteronomy 18 gives us a test to determine whether we're dealing with a false prophet:
[20] But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
[21] And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?
[22] When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.
If the prophet makes a single mistake -- if the prophet predicts one thing that does not come to pass, then that prophet has not spoken with God. So, since the Bible god botched this one, we don't have to believe a word that the Bible god says, right? Well, no, it's a bit more complicated than that -- but we've at least nullified Isaiah's claim to having been a prophet of God! According to the Bible, Isaiah was a false prophet, and ought to have been put to death. Do not pay attention to what Isaiah 53 says, no matter how impressive it sounds.
http://www.positiveatheism.org/mail/eml8612.htm
