For over 2,000 years this Crown Jewel has been overlooked, bypassed, skipped, and even forbidden to be studied by Jewish people in their homes and places of worship. Some leaders including Rabbis, Sages, Priests, Governors, Statesmen, Kings and other leaders have forbidden it's reading. Some state it was Isaiah himself, one of the prophets, or the nation of Israel doing the suffering; or maybe even King David. However, a careful look at the verbs rules out the nation of Israel. When I started studying and teaching this portion of scripture over 25 years ago it was obvious it is about a person, not a group of people, and that person would become a blood sacrifice not only for Israel, but for the whole world.The Hebrew Scripture really starts in Isaiah 53:12, and breaks down into five three-verse stanzas, almost like Isaiah was preaching his way through it. When I started studying and teaching Isaiah 53 over 25 years ago, there were only 5 books dedicated to this chapter in print: one from the 1700's, two from the 1800's, and two from the 1900's. Now there are about 20 in print; most of which are sermons compiled together.The 'Crown Jewel' is a verse-by-verse exposition; line upon line, word by word. After many requests by Jewish and non-Jewish students, I finally put the teaching notes into a manuscript and polished it. This is a labor of love, my Magnum Opus if you will, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. David Baron, in his book, the Servant of JEHOVAH, referred to Isaiah as "The bad conscience of the Synagogue." It is far from done, and I hope you can add a lot more to it as you continue to add more 'jewels' to this "Crown Jewel" from Isaiah. To God be the Glory.
