Thus says the LORD,
"Preserve justice and do righteousness,
For My salvation is about to come
And My righteousness to be revealed.

Isaiah 56:1

His watchmen are blind,
All of them know nothing.
All of them are mute dogs unable to bark,
Dreamers lying down, who love to slumber;
And the dogs are greedy, they are not satisfied
And they are shepherds who have no understanding;
They have all turned to their own way,
Each one to his unjust gain, to the last one.
Isaiah 61:10-11

Against whom do you jest?
Against whom do you open wide your mouth
And stick out your tongue?
Are you not children of rebellion,
Offspring of deceit
Isaiah 57:4

"Is this not the fast which I choose,
To loosen the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the bands of the yoke,
And to let the oppressed go free
And break every yoke?
"Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry
And bring the homeless poor into the house;
When you see the naked, to cover him;
And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
"Then your light will break out like the dawn,
And your recovery will speedily spring forth;
And your righteousness will go before you;
The glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
"Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
You will cry, and He will say, 'Here I am '
If you remove the yoke from your midst,
The pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness,
And if you give yourself to the hungry
And satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
Then your light will rise in darkness
And your gloom will become like midday.
"And the LORD will continually guide you,
And satisfy your desire in scorched places,
And give strength to your bones;
And you will be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.
Isaiah 56:11

The "pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness" is the yoke in our midst that God commands us to remove?

Yes, feed the hungry. Provide shelter. Provide clothing. Care for family. These we are to do in Jesus Name. But remove people who are with us?

What if an organization does a good work of providing housing; but they also are a liberal organziation that promotes abortion and points the finger at Christians for hindering world peace? Should we join with them in doing the good works? It is a no-brainer. God does not want us to be unequally yoked to secular charities. Before you volunteer to help an organization, find out what else they do with their money - like pay lobbyist to further an agenda of hate and death. Find out who else promotes the organization - like a former president who is still trying to hand-over the USA to Muslims. Uh, yeah - Habitat for Humanity.

The above scriptures say that the shepherds will not understand this. Those who do will be silent about it instead of shout a warning. Want the glory of the LORD to be your rear guard? Don't do your good works before men in their secular organizations. Update your research on charities that claim to be Christian to see if they preach the true gospel. Many Christian organizations have become "tolerant" to other faiths as another means of salvation. (Rick Warren P.E.A.C.E. Plan, Robert Schuller, and even Billy Graham.)

Care for the least of the brethren. There should not be a needy one counted among you. Then go and make disciples, caring for one another in brotherly love.

By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation,
who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living
for the transgression of my people,
to whom the stroke was due?
Isaiah 53:8

It’s like the multiplication timed-test of one hundred facts to be done in two minutes. My kids (and students, and former elementary classmates) groaned about it, but were set and ready to begin when the stop-watch started; wanting to make the best of every second! That is how I feel about Daniel 9:27. I have studied it over and over again, but it won’t go away. It just pops up unexpectedly somewhere else in the scriptures, demanding my focus so I won’t skip any of the problems it causes. That is what truth does. It causes problems. As long is there is truth, people will disagree on what (Who) it is. But what joy is mine everytime I study Daniel 9!

All through school, I had to learn the numbers, their functions, and even figure out what the digit coming out of the pretend computer is supposed to be when one of the factors in the equation is missing. But then, Geometry-X class entered my life and took away all the numbers! No one warns you that a math class can be all theory and proofs without numbers! Plus the teacher spoke using the Greek alphabet, so I had no opportunity to dazzle him with my score of fifty-two seconds on the timed-test of basic facts. (Can I get a witness for praying before a test instead of groaning?!) God was so merciful to get me through that math class. I was a newly licensed driver who thought anything other than driving was near meaningless. (Perhaps, if I had been in a math class with numbers at the time I was starting to drive, then maybe I would be better at the numbers on those rectangular signs along the highway? Just a thought.) Yeah, going from just the facts, to Geometry X -no one asks for that. Studying prophecy, to me, is the equivalent of Geometry X; theory and proofs, but no agreement on truth.

So today, following a reading guide, I came upon those familiar passages of Isaiah 53-55. I was once again struck with having to deal with Daniel 9 as a parallel passage to these prophecies. The basic facts surrounding the truth that my Redeemer and God chose to be a suffering servant are marvelous in my eyes. The scriptures are so descriptive! (descriptures/describtures?) And they revealed what God was going to do centuries before he did it! And then once He did it, it is so clear that was what the scriptures were trying to tell people!

Isaiah 53 revealed that the Messiah would be “cut off” just like it says in Daniel 9. Today I became fixed in the above passage on the whole line being stated as a question. The prophecy said people living at the time when the Messiah would be cut off, Jesus’ own people, the Jews, they would not even “consider” Jesus as the One to suffer and take the punishment they deserved for their transgression. It was a crazy thought! God declares His ways are not our ways in this same passage. Indeed! We read in the New Testament of how the Jews didn’t understand. Here, we read, they had never even considered that Jesus would be a suffering servant, even though they had the lives and words of the prophets, the sacrifice of animals, plus the stories of Joseph, David and so many others! Never even considered it. LORD, may I not be so foolish in neglecting Your ways! What is it I am missing in the scriptures about Jesus’ second coming because I have not even considered it?

That is where Daniel 9:27 pops up again and again. I am finding more proofs for the hypothesis that the passage is speaking of Jesus, and not the anti-Christ, as I had been taught. Instead of trying to refute the theory with another theory - let’s consider the hypothesis that Daniel 9 speaks of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. not an anti-Christ. So here is Daniel 9 again, demanding to be seen in the light of Isaiah 53-55 this time.

Daniel 9:26-27 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself…

That fits perfectly with Isaiah 53:8 as posted at the start of this entry. Beginning from a few verses down:

...If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,
He will see His offspring...
Isaiah 53:10b

...For the sons of the desolate one...
Isaiah 54:1b

For this is like the days of Noah to Me
Isaiah 54:9a

If you know the basic facts, then you too regocnize these verses pertain to things of which Daniel wrote, and to references of Jesus in the New Testament.

And My covenant of peace will not be shaken,
Says the LORD who has compassion on you.
Isaiah 54:10b

Whose covenant of peace? God’s covenant.

Daniel 9:27 speaks of Jesus confirming the covenant even though His own people, did not receive Him, but destroyed Him.


27And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease…

The Jews never even considered that Jesus came to confirm the covenant in His own blood, ceasing the need for the sacrifice of animals that were merely a picture of Himself, the Lamb of God.

Incline your ear and come to Me.
Listen, that you may live;
And I will make an everlasting covenant with you...
Isaiah 55:3a

Basics facts again of Jesus saying the New Covenant was an everlasting covenant sealed with His blood.

And it will be a memorial to the LORD
For an everlasting sign which will not be cut off.
Isaiah 55:13b

And Jesus said we were to keep the sign of the everlasting covenant when we take the bread and cup that represent His blood poured out like a drink offering and His flesh as a guilt offering. These oblations were the very things that God said in Daniel 9:27 would cease when the Messiah was cut off half-way through the week, ending the need of the Old Covenant with its sacrifices.

Her princes within her are like wolves tearing the prey,
by shedding blood and destroying lives
in order to get dishonest gain.
Ezekiel 22:27

The Good Shepherd named all His sheep, for He knows each one.
One day, Deep-the-Sheep was leading a conversation about the love of the Shepherd. The group ponderings caused Deep and his friends to lag at the back of the flock; something they had never before done.

All of a sudden, Beep-the-Sheep cried out to his buddies,
“You are grazing with a wolf! Creep-the-Sheep is really a wolf! Pull the fleece off your eyes, and run to the Shepherd!”

Panicking, Beep took- off running as fast as he could, continuing to scream,
“Wolf in sheep’s clothing!”

Deep-the-Sheep turned to Leap-the-Sheep, and reassuringly stated to his friend,
“Number one: Creep looks like a sheep.
Number two: Creep follows the Good Shepherd, just as we do.
Number three: Everyone loves how peacefully Creep creeps. Creep is so positive!
Number four: Even though Creep is the strongest of all the sheep, he kindly stays at the back of the flock to help the Shepherd care for the weak ones.
Number five: How shameful for Beep to say such a thing about another sheep! Perhaps Beep needs to take that leaf off his own fleece before talking about Creep's fleece.”

Being struck by the profoundness of his deep thoughts, Deep began to weep saying,
“And finally, Number six: When a sheep says another sheep is a wolf, it makes the Shepherd look bad. Beep is acting shameful to beep about Creep! Beep needs to turn over a new leaf so things can return back to peacefulness among us."

However, wanting to reap the benefit of the warning from Beep, Leap-the -Sheep went leaping toward the Shepherd shouting back to Deep,

“I have never seen that *sheep* eat any grass!”

Abandoned by his friends, Deep said to himself,
“I will leave it up to the Shepherd to know His own sheep. He will only allow the sheep who know His voice into the pen when night comes. Who am I to judge another sheep? I can’t know if he hears the voice of the Shepherd or not. Since the Shepherd has lead me to these delicious pastures, I am thankful and content; unlike those ungrateful sheep who allow judgment to seep from their bleat.”

In the pen that night, Beep and Leap looked everywhere among the ninety-nine sheep for their buddy, Deep. At last, Beep praised the Shepherd when he saw His Jeep approaching with Deep- the-Sheep safely wrapped around His shoulders. Though Deep was bloody and barely breathing, the Shepherd hadn't lost him.

Leap turned to Beep thanking him for the warning about Creep. Beep wagged his tail behind him as he thanked Leap for taking a leap of faith. Soon, the mangled heap named Deep-the Sheep was sound asleep without a peep. The Good Shepherd had laid down His life for His sheep, and now the Shepherd laid his weary body down across the opening to the pen as the only door. Diligently, the Good Shepherd keeps the sheep who quickly leap without hearing a peep from any creep.