A week ago I posted “Jesus Was Daniel’s Suffering Son of Man.” I wrote, “Among those modern scholars who reject that Daniel’s “one like a son of man” refers to Jesus, many of them do so because Daniel 7 [v. 13] does not depict this figure as coming to earth or, more importantly, as suffering and dying, which latter Jesus did. . . . And as for Daniel 7 not saying this “one like a son of man” will experience suffering and death, this also is implied since so many of these saints in Daniel 7 are persecuted and suffer martyrdom in the endtimes. Jesus taught that the disciple is not greater than his or her master. Thus, the master, ‘the one like a son of man,’ must become the model for his people, the saints.” For Daniel 7.14 says of him (in the NRSV), “To him was given dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him.”
But I didn’t say anything about the foremost Old Testament text about a righteous, suffering “servant” of Yahweh (God), which is in Isaiah 42-55. In this large section, Isaiah sometimes present’s Yahweh servant as sinful, but usually as very righteous. I think these two figures should be distinguished, yet the righteous servant somehow identifies with the sinful servant. Christians have always interpreted, and rightly so I think, that this righteous servant is Jesus. And I think the unrighteous servant depicts Israel. Isaiah’s foremost text that describes Yahweh’s righteous servant as suffering is Isaiah 52.13–53.12. It amazingly and so graphically describes Jesus’ atoning death.
But how and where does Isaiah make the connection between this righteous servant figure with Daniel’s “one like a son of man” figure? Isaiah says of behalf of Yahweh concerning his righteous servant, who is Jesus, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth” (Isaiah 49.6).
This message about Yahweh’s suffering servant being spread throughout the world as a light to nations is the gospel about Jesus, and it is a far greater thing than Jesus delivering Israel as a Warrior-King at the end of days, which he indeed will do. But before that, and for at least two millennium now, this message of God’s righteous and suffering servant as won the hearts of billions of people who have been of the derivation Daniel said, “of all peoples, nations, and languages.” This connection between Daniel 7.13-14 and Isaiah 49.6 is just further biblical affirmation that Daniel’s Son of Man would suffer greatly and die for his people who will comprise his kingdom that God gives him.
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To see a list of titles of 130+ posts (2-3 pages) that are about Jesus not being God in the Bible, with a few about God not being a Trinity, at Kermit Zarley Blog click “Chistology” in the header bar. Most are condensations of my book, The Restitution of Jesus Christ. See my website servetustheevangelical.com, which is all about this book, with reviews, etc. Learn about my books and purchase them at kermitzarley.com. I was a Trinitarian for 22 years before reading myself out of it in the Bible.
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