ashai said:
Ushta Scott
Even if I were to grant your position, which I do not, the fact remains that there is no reason to prefer maiden to young woman. As to Isaiah dedicating so much space , I don't know what you call much space but Isaiah has a lot of chapters and this 'lot of space' is not even one chapter
Ushta Te
Ashai
Well, it is a significant prophecy, and prophecy often has many meanings. Prophecy may often refer to events which turn out to repeat themselves in metaphor at any rate.
So Isaiah predicted all this importance to a child that vanishes in the Hebrew text? Sure, Isaiah may have been stroking the king's ego - so what?
The prophecies of Isaiah and Micah have a lot of importance not just to Jesus, for He did not fulfill all those prophecies Himself. The event of Christ's birth, according to the text of the Gospels triggered the attention of the Magi - who were Zoroastrian!/Manichaean? sages who were renowned for their astrological researches and prognostications - so something in the heavens - a one time phenomena, or more likely a Zodiacal event sent emissaries from these seers traveling a long way to research and authenticate. Something of this event was to trigger one of the greatest faiths the world has seen and be considered as essential to the founding of a second great religion (Islam) in the home areas of the faith of Zoroaster(Persia). Somehow the significance of the events of the Gospels and the Surah of Maryam and the Table Set would seem to overpower the birth and death of an insignificant prince of Judea.
Now look at the prophecies of Isaiah and Micah and see the prophecy that Christ did not fulfill:
"
THE MESSIAH WILL APPEAR TO GATHER THE JEWS BACK TO ISRAEL
Both Isaiah and Micah identify the general time when this redeemer will appear.
Isaiah 2 promises: "It shall come to pass in the
last days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established... and all nations shall flow unto it."
In Micah 4:1 we read: "But in the
last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains... and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths..."
These sentiments are echoed in the Book of Job where it says: "For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the
latter day upon the earth..." [SIZE=-2]-Job 19:25 (KJV)[/SIZE]
"
The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see..."[SIZE=-2]-Isaiah 40:5[/SIZE]
"The excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the
glory of the Lord ... [when] the ransomed of the Lord [the Jews] shall return." [SIZE=-2]-Isaiah 35 (KJV)[/SIZE]
Isaiah continues in this same passage by next identifying the "redeemer's" family line. He wrote: "there shall come forth a
rod out of the stem of Jesse... and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding... with righteousness shall he judge..."[SIZE=-2]-Isaiah 2 (KJV)[/SIZE]
The "redeemer", "the glory of the Lord" will appear at Carmel and Sharon in the "last days". He will come from the family line of Jesse, who was the father of King David.
Isaiah continues by next describing an event which will unmistakably identify the time of the coming of the "redeemer". He wrote: "it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time
to recover the remnant of his people... and shall
assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth."[SIZE=-2]-Isaiah 11 (KJV)[/SIZE]
The redeemer will begin to "recover", "assemble" and "gather" the "dispersed" Jews back to Israel when he appears in the "last days."
We can be certain that the time we live in right now is the "last days" referred to in the prophecies because we know that the Jews have already returned to Israel. These prophecies have already been fulfilled! Their fulfillment began in the mid-1800s with the coming of Baha'u'llah, who is a direct descendant of Jesse and David and whose name, when translated into English, is "the Glory of God".
THE GLORY OF GOD COMES TO ISRAEL FROM THE EAST
Isaiah continues by next telling us the direction from which the Messiah will come. He wrote: God "raised up the righteous man from the
east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings..."[SIZE=-2]-Isaiah 41:2 (KJV)[/SIZE]
He continues: "I am God... calling a ravenous bird
from the east, the man who executeth my judgement from a far country." [SIZE=-2]-Isaiah 46 (KJV)[/SIZE]
Similar statements can be found elsewhere in the Bible. For example, in Ezekiel 43 it says: "the
glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east... and the glory of the Lord came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward
the east".
Baha'u'llah, the "glory of God", literally came to Israel from "the east" at the "time of the end" when the "dispersed of Judah" were beginning to return to Israel "from the four corners of the earth."
MESSIAH COMES WITH A NEW NAME
Isaiah next promises that the "redeemer" will appear with a "new name." He wrote: "
I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off." [SIZE=-2]-Isaiah 56[/SIZE]
Again he promises: "
thou shalt be called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord shall name." [SIZE=-2]-Isaiah 62[/SIZE] And again he warned: "ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the Lord God shall slay thee and call his servants by
another name." [SIZE=-2]-Isaiah 65 (KJV)[/SIZE]
Some Christians assert that the redeemer's new name is Jesus. This might have been true if it weren't for the fact that Jesus did not appear in the "last days" at a time when the Jews began to return to Israel. And also if for the fact that Jesus also promised that he too will have a "new name" when he returns.
Jesus promised: "Him that overcometh... I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is
new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him
my new name." [SIZE=-2]-Revelation 3:12 (KJV)[/SIZE] Jesus repeats this same promise of a "new name" two other times in this same book. [SIZE=-2](See Rev 2 and Rev 19)[/SIZE]
When the "redeemer" comes to Israel from the "east" he will have a "new name." His "servants" shall be called "by another name." He will make "all things new." We will get a "New Jerusalem" which will also come with a "new name."
Baha'u'llah, whose name in English, is translated as "the glory of God", came to Israel from the "east" at a time when the "dispersed" Jews began to return to Israel and his voluminous writings have created a "New Jerusalem"... a new system of religious belief and practice.
MESSIAH COMES TO AKKA AND MT. CARMEL
Isaiah began by telling us where the Messiah will come from. He wrote that the redeemer would come to Israel from the east. Next, Isaiah continues by telling us the place where the Messiah will come to.
He wrote: "The excellency of
Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord ... [when] the ransomed of the Lord [the Jews] shall return." [SIZE=-2]-Isaiah 35 (KJV)[/SIZE]
In another place in his book Isaiah repeats this same promise: "
Sharon shall be a fold of flocks and the valley of
Achor a place for the herds to lie down in for my people that have sought me." [SIZE=-2]-Isaiah 65 (KJV)[/SIZE] In these two passages, Isaiah has described a very specific area of Israel. He says that "the glory of the Lord" will come to "Carmel", "Sharon" and "Achor". The city which was known in ancient times as Achor (also spelled Acre), today is called Akka. The city of Akka is located at the foot of Mt. Carmel in Israel and both Akka and Mt. Carmel are situated on the plain of Sharon. As you can see, Isaiah was very specific about where the Messiah will appear. He said that the redeemer will come to Akka and Mt. Carmel. "http://www.planetbahai.org/cgi-bin/linklibrary.pl?pageid=714
That's for starters, and Jesus did not come from the east, nor did the nations pour into Israel (they were already there until the Romans cast the native people out).
In my opinion this expected individual (Jesus) would have sent the Parsi and the Magi looking to see if the Shah Bahram had come. Jesus was not the Shah Bahram - the second individual of the prophecies of Isaiah and Micah MIGHT indeed be the Shah Bahram (indeed I believe He is).
Regards,
Scott