Yes. Hezekiah was a very righteous King. Have you not studied him?
2Kings18: 5 Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. 6 He held fast to the LORD and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the LORD had given Moses. 7 And the LORD was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook.
That is very high praise. So, yes there was a big increase in his government as Hezekiah restored the people back to Torah Judaism. Yes, his decedents blew it but the lineage to David through Solomon is in tact. And the David line is forever. (side note: Jesus's genealogy is fatally flawed in both Matts and Lukes accounts, Matt has him decended through cursed king Jeconiah, which is impossible and Luke has him decended through Nathan to David, it has to be Solomon to David.)
Isaiah 7:14-16 is prophecy. Here is why I believe that: First the ‘virgin’ is the same hebrew word used in the account of Rebekah being found to be Isaac’s wife.
No that is not the case. The word in Hebrew in Isaiah 7 is Haalmah, the young woman. Gen 24:16 shows Rebekah as a virgin: 16 And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her; and she went down to the fountain, and filled her pitcher, and came up. But that verse uses the proper word for virgin, Betulah.בְּתוּלָה
Also, if you insist on Isaiah 7 meaning a virgin birth, then that means there were two virgin births and Jesus was not unique.
I really have to marvel at the Judaism interpreters’ views of Isaiah 53, as well as Psalm 22.
Why? Both Is 53 and Ps 22 are badly mistranslated and taken out of context by the church. In Is 53 the "servant" is identified numerous times by Isaiah as the Jewish people, the nation of Israel. Isaiah is constantly switching from the singular to the plural, at times he uses both! Isaiah 43:10
"You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me.
And notice there is no revelation of a god-man son. Only One G-d.
Listen to this audio, it explains Is 53 very well:Isaiah 53
Psalm 22 again in context, in the previous verses explain verse 16.... 12 My enemies surround me like a herd of bulls; fierce bulls of Bashan have hemmed me in! 13 Like lions they open their jaws against me, roaring and tearing into their prey. 16 in JPS 17 For dogs have encompassed me; a company of evil-doers have inclosed me; like a lion, they are at my hands and my feet.
That makes perfect contextual sense. This is David talking about his enemies. Not about Jesus. The Christian bibles mistranslate the word Ka Ari.
Concerning the rules regarding the sacrifices; Jesus wasn’t fulfilling only the Passover sacrifice, but all the sacrifices. His was a composite of them all. He had to be.
This is impossible. A) the passover is not a sin offering. The passover "lamb" is not the lamb of G-d. The passover lamb was the Israelites slaughtering the Egyptian god (lamb-ram) and defiantly placing the blood on the door posts. It wasnt a matter of the blood saving the Jewish people from G-ds wrath, G-ds wrath was being poured out against Egypt. The angel could obviously tell who was Jewish and who wasnt without the blood. The blood was for the Egyptians to see. Also, the passover lamb had to be eaten before morning. Jesus wasnt eaten.
B) He was a composite of them all? Where in the Tanakh (OT) does it say that the Messiah will be such a thing? No where. Where does it say that human sacrifice is allowed? Where does it say that vicarious human atonement is allowed? Where does it say in the OT that the Messiah will end time dependant sacrifices and make a once for all sacrifice? No where. Where does it say the Mashiach ben David is a god-man? Dont you think that G-d would plainly say so? Why would G-d tell us in Deut 30 that we can do the law and then 1500 years later tell us we cant? That makes G-d a liar or a deciever. Why would G-d tell us that the law is forever and then 1500 years tell us the law is over. Again making G-d a liar or a deciever.
But those same diciples were given the promise of the Spirit prophesied by Joel; then they boldly preached in spite of lashings and imprisonment.
No these events in Joel have not happened yet. If you read the verses preceeding and after, the context clearly shows that those prophetic visions did not occur in the first century.
**Hezekiah was a very righteous King.**
Absolutely! Too bad about his falling to the weakness of pride; showing off the riches of his dominion to potential/ future enemies.
**Have you not studied him?**
Oh yes, and I find at least equal praise for Josiah:
“Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah;.....And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.” (2Kings 23:22-25)
**..Matt has him decended through cursed king Jeconiah,..**
Well, you brought up Matthew, so why don’t we take a look at some in the lineage:
Judah’s son through adultery was Phares,
Soloman started great, then crashed,
Rehoboam continued the decline, with the Egyptian king dropping by to clean out the house of the Lord, and the king’s house.
Ahaz was an idolator,
Manasseh, just wow! Bad to the bone, but Chronicles says he called on the Lord and restored the kingdom to some degree.
This is only a partial response, I should have been asleep 2 hrs ago, the harvestor must be rolling 6 hrs from now. Makes me tired just thinking about it.
I’m back with a few thoughts.
**The passover lamb was the Israelites slaughtering the Egyptian god (lamb-ram) and defiantly placing the blood on the door posts.**
So when you celebrate the feast of the passover you eat an animal that is symbolizing a pagon god. Huh?????
But, the OT that I read is very clear that the blood applied to the sides and top of the doorway of their houses was there so that the Lord word bypass them during his plague for the firstborn. Of course he knew who had ate the passover, but being a God that required strict obedience, it was another command to be followed to see who will obey him.
So, in your view, when Messiah comes, he resumes animal sacrifices. So, by that logic, God will still not have completely freed man from the curse of sin. So, when does He finally remove the curse of sin from the earth. ( I know what I believe, just want to hear your view.)