Isaiah 53: Jesus, Israel, or Michael Jackson?
Was Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, really the suffering servant predicted in Isaiah? Let's find out:
52:13 See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
I don't think we can doubt that Michael was highly exalted by many, but did he act wisely?
Here is a quote from Steven Spielberg:
It must be hard for Michael to know how much the world wants to know him, to be like him, to consume him. He's wisely created his own world in which to preserve the most honest parts of his identity.
mjifc.com
Can we say that Michael was raised and lifted up?
Here is a fan report from one of his concerts:
One of the highlights of the show for me was in Earth Song, when Michael got on his platform/crane and it was rotated out over the crowd, right over us. We all reached up as high as we could, but it still was nowhere near high enough.
mjifc.com
52:14 Just as there were many who were appalled at him -- his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness--
I think a picture is worth a thousand words here...
salomon.si
52:15 so will he sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand.
From another fan report of a concert:
By the time he was as high as the clouds, Michael invented a masterpiece. His admirers were way below him just waiting for the man to sprinkle us with his sheer magic and indeed he did.
mjifc.com
The second part of the verse is obviously talking about Michael's "Heal the World" charity, which supports the Singapore School for the Deaf.
home1.pacific.net.sg
53:1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
If you take the standard interpretation of Israel as the arm of the lord, then Michael's meeting with Prime Minister Sharon sheds some light on this:
web.insidevc.com
53:2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
Michael always considered himself rather plain, even ugly. This is why he got all that plastic surgery. But he grew up in the public eye "like a tender shoot".
53:3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
This obviously refers to all the bad press he got from the child molestation charges.
53:4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
Michaels charity work does not need to be repeated, but I will link to it anyway...
mjifc.com
Yet Michael himself suffered from a skin disorder called Vitiligo.
mjifc.com
53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
Of the many charities Michael supports, the Brothman Burn Center is one of them. This was motivated by the burns he suffered (for us!) during the filming of a Pepsi commercial when his hair caught fire and burned him. His career was crushed, his ego pierced. But he gave all the money from his lawsuit with Pepsi to build a new Michael Jackson Burn Center.
universal.nl
53:6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
The depravity cynicism of our society is such now that we cannot even allow a man who enjoys playing with children alone. We try to lock him up and take his money, all because He loved too much. He must suffer because of us.
53:7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
Despite having the best lawyers money could buy, Michael chose to settle quietly out of court, to save the dignity of the children who persecuted Him.
53:8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
He had to flee the country to avoid prosecution, living away from the homeland that He loved.
53:9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
I've already spoken to Michael's innocence. We cannot yet see what happens with prophecies of His death, but it is a safe bet to say that He will be buried among the rich and the politicians(criminals).
53:10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
The oxygen tank he lives in will prolong his days. He has two children now, Prince and Paris.
53:11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
Here is a recent interview that I think shows Michael seeing the light of life and being satisfied:
When I became a father, my whole sense of God and the Sabbath was redefined. When I look into the eyes of my son, Prince, and daughter, Paris, I see miracles and I see beauty. Every single day becomes the Sabbath. Having children allows me to enter this magical and holy world every moment of every day. I see God through my children. I speak to God through my children. I am humbled for the blessings He has given me.
beliefnet.com
53:12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Again, we will have to wait for Michael's death to see this prophecy out, but rest assured it is coming! |
